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