Tis' the Season

Welcome back to the Employers Edge. It has been a wild summer and fall, but all for a good cause. Our foray into the wild world of seminar training has been a great success. But it leads to a lot of questions.

It seems that everywhere you look today, gloom and doom seem to rule. Are you as sick as I am about the "global economic meltdown". Buried in the back of the local newspaper are reports that in the third quarter, our Canadian economy is growing by 1.3%.

Now it has been awhile since my economics studies in University, but I am almost positive that a recession, or a "meltdown" if you prefer, does not include growth.

A good friend of mine in retail sales just finished telling me that they are enjoying some of their best ever post Thanksgiving revenues. Apparently someone forgot to tell his customers about this meltdown.

Now, I am not trying to say that there are no tough times out there, that would be silly. But I am saying that even in a period of slowdown, there are tremendous opportunities.

If our red hot Alberta economy slows down a little just think of the opportunity to tune up your workforce plan. Are your employees getting the training they need and want? Do you have a succession plan in place to replace talent that may be leaving in the next 5 years? What about addressing staff shortages, there may be more to choose from now.

Someone once told me that the glass is neither half full or half empty. It's always full! Half water and half air. A little slowdown can be a good thing if we are prepared for it and use it to wrap up all the loose ends that appear when we spend so much time going flat out.

Food for thought, I plan on updating on a much more regular basis through posting and twittering. Till next time, hope you are getting into the holiday mood and enjoying this time of year to its fullest.

Jim

Happy Victoria Day Weekend

I am just about to finish packing the family truckster and head out on the highway for a beautiful Victoria Day Weekend. I hope everyone has a great one.

Jim

Surviving The Workforce Crisis - Podcast

One more post for today. Check out our new podcast of Surviving the Workforce crisis at http://cc.readytalk.com/f/kzoumix/subscribe.html

Jim

Attract, focus and retain Talented Employees

Today's post is an idea I have lifted from one of my favourite management books. It is "First, Break all the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. If you have not read this book, run, don't walk to the nearest bookstore or library and get a copy. It is fantastic. In the book they discover 12 questions that are most important to our employees. If your great employees have an answer for each of these, chances are they are happy and motivated and not looking to ditch you for the next job offer around the corner. If they don't have an answer for them, well, let's just say you should get your recruiting hat on quick. So without any further ado, here are the 12 measuring stick questions:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Well there you have it. How well are you doing? How well are your managers answering these questions for your employees? Have you implemented some form of measuring stick in your workplace? If not you are leaving turnover and productivity to chance and unfortunately, I don't like your chances.

Jim

Behaviour Based Interviewing

Recently I presented a short webinar on the basics of behaviour based interviewing that got me thinking even more about the interview process. The key to effective interviewing is preparation. So many managers and small business owners go into an interview and "wing it". Winging it is great if you want a snack during a football game, disasterous when hiring someone. The Society for Human Resource Management did a survey and found that the majority of hiring decisions are made in the first 5 minutes of an interview. This means that most of the questions that get asked are just verifying the fact that the hiring manager likes the person in front of them. So how effective is hiring someone in the first 5 minutes, not very. According to a study by the University of Waterloo regular unstructured interviews are only effective 19% of the time. I would submit that most interviews are unstructured and so most hires in North America only work out 19% of the time. No wonder turnover costs billions each year. Remember that the cost of a bad hire is generally twice the monthly salary if caught in time, much more expensive if you keep the person long term. So what investments are you making to make your Hiring more effective? Are you investing the time to prepare for interviews? Are you using assessments to objectively support and review the interview information. Are you investing in courses to learn the proper interview techniques. A small investment at hiring can bring large returns when you calculate the costs involved in bad hiring. For more ideas on Hiring systems check out the services at www.empowergroup.ca.

Jim

30 Reasons Why Employees Hate Their Managers

As promised, here is my review of "30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers" by Bruce L. Katcher. I found that this book covered a lot of really important information and I recommend it to all business owners and managers. The book is written in a style that is very academic and research oriented but gives you lots of anecdotes that are amusing and sad at the same time. Some of the examples used by Mr. Katcher will surprise readers only because you are probably guilty of the same behavior and had no idea how much your employees hate it. I found that this book does a fantastic job of making a case for increased spending on management training and development. It also clearly demonstrates how important it is for companies to implement programs that will give them as much insight into the minds of their employees as possible. How well do you know your employees? Unless you have a process for asking them, odds are not very well and there may be several of the 30 reasons occurring in your workplace. I highly recommend checking out this book, you can pick up a copy here:
http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Employees-Hate-Their-Managers/dp/0814409156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208540333&sr=8-1
Have a great day and learn something new.
Jim

Why Good Employees Leave?

I just started reading a great book. "30 Reasons Employees Hate their Managers" by Bruce Katcher. So far it is a great read, I will give a full review when I am done but I wanted to comment briefly on the first sentence of the introduction. "Employees hate management". Pretty bold statement isn't it? I picked up this book at my local bookstore mainly because of the title. It jumped out at me mainly because I have seen so many great employees leave great situations all because of one person. That's right, their manager. I am a firm believer in the old saying that people leave people, not companies. There is no gimmick or program or HR quick fix that will ever have the same impact on retention as a superior manager. In today's talent wars I see a lot of gimmicks, a lot of "programs" (ie. signing bonuses) to get people in the door and then try to keep them. How many companies are putting some of that cash into training and developing the person who will really determine if that great new employee stays or goes? So be kind to your managers, give them the tools and support they need to do their jobs well and they will take care of your business.

Jim

My Favorite Engaged Employee

OK, one more post today. My favorite video of a "Highly Engaged Employee", enjoy.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=MRkiouh5NEI

Jim

Conflict in the Workplace

Thanks for putting up with me as I took the month of March off. Now back to the business of thinking out loud on workplace and employee performance. How many of you have experienced conflict with an employee or conflict between employees in your workplace? Unless you work alone, I am going to assume that you have. Workplace conflicts have always been a part of working and have long been a source of pain for managers and business owners the world over. Even removing generational differences (a common source of conflict today as more generations work together than ever before) conflict has eaten up more productive time for managers than most other issues. If we could even cut our time spent managing conflict in half think of how much better use we could make of our time as business owners and managers? Time that could be spent working on our business instead of just in it. Time we could use to improve ourselves and the employees that work for us. No matter how much or how little conflict we experience in our workplace, reducing it will have tremendous positive impact on our lives. From improved productivity to improved morale and the reduction of stress on all workers (including managers), to quote Martha Stewart, reducing conflict is "a good thing."

So how do we go about reducing conflict in our workplace? It is one thing to go on and on about the benefits of the cure, but what exactly will cure the disease in the first place? First and foremost you must determine what is causing conflict between managers and employees, and between individual employees. I am going to propose one single strategy at this time that 99% of organizations fail to address. Information. Do you have enough information about your employees? Do your employees have enough information about themselves, about their fellow employees, or about their managers? Do they understand the different behaviors and motivations that cause people to act the way that they do? Do you? Behavioral Science and business have combined today in ways that make it relatively fast and cheap for managers to administer multiple assessments on themselves and their employees that will provide all the information needed. Are you investing in your people, in yourself and your organization to ensure that your future is brighter. You can also gain a lot of this information by spending more time with each employee outside of work and at work but this process of observation will take a long time and be very costly. The properly applied assessment tool can deliver much of the information needed quickly and economically, and as an added bonus will allow you to draft the proper strategy to build a better long term relationship with each employee. This is important! People leave people not companies, and you will only be as successful as the team you are able to develop and retain. Well that's all for me today, for any other questions about the use of assessments in the workplace, why not check out one of our informative webinars at www.workforcesurvival.com.

Tip of the Week - Assessing for Job Match

Well I have enjoyed my time off with the recent holiday, but now it is time to get back to work and bring you the tip of the week. This weeks tip focuses on using assessments for Job Matching. Job Matching is not a new science, it has been around for years, yet most businesses still fail to properly Match prospective hires or promotions to the Job. Why are more companies not matching yet? One reason is that the process is time consuming and in todays thin labor market many business owners or managers feel that they cannot be too picky.

I would counter this idea and propose that in todays thin labor market, job matching and detailed screening is more important than ever before. Studies by the Harvard School of Business provide us with a lot of evidence that job matching will greatly reduce turnover. They also suggest that job matching will greatly increase the productivity of workers and overall profitability of the organization. In todays climate these are all very desirable outcomes, so why are companies still not job matching?

One reason would be that a proper Job Match takes time and few managers out there are really skilled at doing it right. This is where the use of proper assessments can make a world of difference to the busy business owner or hiring manager. Job Matching assessments like the Profile XT can quickly help you establish benchmarks using your already successful employees and then develop a highly specific Job Match Pattern to help you select more productive employees. Assessments like the Profile XT are extremely accurate and provide a tremendous amount of data that can be used for the initial match and also for coaching, training, succession planning, motivating and career planning. Best of all they organize and present this information quickly and succinctly saving the busy hiring manager a tremendous amount of time and money. For more information on the use of assessments in the workplace go to www.workforcesurvival.com and sign up for one of our informative webinars.

Jim

Succession Planning

Consider the following Case Studies:

In a large financial services office, all work on a key project stopped when the top decision-maker was absent for reasons she had not anticipated - a death in her immediate family. She had not appointed or trained anyone to make decisions in her stead.

People at the head of a small manufacturing company failed to anticipate the sudden, prolonged absence of the CEO due to illness. No one knew where he kept key data and information. Even the password to his computer was locked away for a time, putting the brakes on all business. After work slowly started up again, employees continued to operate in crisis mode for a lengthy period of time. The result was low production, high turnover and a serious threat to profits and survival.

Both situations could have been easily handled if the CEO or owner of the business had planned for a successor. In the best-run companies, planning for a future without the current CEO often begins years before the top decision-maker's retirement. Some experts say planning 15 years in advance is not too soon.

Succession planning does not have to be intimidating, but it must be intentional. This means every company, agency or institution should have a well-thought-out plan that lets the CEO-to-be learn the job before they actually have to perfrom on their own.

The key steps to a solid succession plan should be simple and logical. Top players in finding a successor are a company's executives and human resource specialists. Common sense dictates a potential successor is knowledgeable and supportive of the company's business strategy and will reinforce corporate goals. That means a human resource executive should have the successor's credentials at their fingertips. They should know what education, experience and special skills and knowledge the successor possesses.

Here are some steps CEOs often follow when choosing a successor:

• Select the right person. This is often difficult because of the CEO's closeness to the job. The help of other executives, especially those who understand the job and will be affected by the change, should be enlisted. All employees with skill and knowledge should get consideration, and the future CEO should be considered alongside the future goals and needs of the business.
• While no one wants to hand over the job and scurry out the door, it's important to establish a schedule. This goes hand-in-hand with the training process. The successor should learn the job while doing, with a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities.

After the training is complete, the departing CEO should turn the job over and go. Of course, this formerly busy executive will have prepared in advance for leaving - including what they are going to do with the rest of their life - so they will actually leave and not return unless it's for a visit.

While planning a successor for the top job is crucial, company executives must remember all key jobs need the right people. The way to retaining talented people at all levels is to make sure they are in the right jobs to begin with and to provide growth opportunities for them.

Jim

Empower Performance Tip of the Week

This weeks tip is on Stress Reduction. With 75 percent of employees believing that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago according to the Princeton Survey Research Associates, stress management programs at work are popular. Studies show such programs are more effective if coupled with organizational change. Stress at work is caused by duties that go beyond a workers capabilities or resources. With that in mind, employers should make sure the workload is in line with what an employee is able to do. Other ideas suggested by "American Psychologist" include:

• Design jobs to provide meaning, stimulation and opportunities for workers to use their skill.
• Clearly define roles and responsilbilities.
• Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions and actions affecting their jobs.
• Improve communications to reduce uncertainty about career development and future employment prospects.
• Provide opportunities for social interaction among workers.

When possible, try to establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the job.

Hopefully these ideas will give you some guidance on how to decrease stress levels in your employees, and improve the reliability and productivity of your workforce.

Jim

Retiring Retirement

Don't we all agree now that Retirement should be retired? 34% of North American workers now claim that they never plan on retiring which means there is a sizeable workforce out there just waiting to be used. Check out this article in the New York Times by Marc Freedman, an expert and author on the second half of life that explores the idea of a strong second act in ones working life. Discovering Second Acts In Sustained Working Lives will make you think about your own retirement plans, and if you are a business owner or manager, you need to think about getting more from your own future retirees or looking into this group as ways to keep fully staffed. Mature workers are an excellent source of employees as long as you manage the resource properly. Check out one of our "Surviving the Workforce Crisis" Webinars for more information on appealing to Mature Workers.

Jim