Is Your Company an Exceptional Employer?
Improving the Workplace is the Best Business Strategy
by Gloria Dunn
Will you have enough good, qualified, and productive people working for you in 2007? Can you keep profits up while the cost of turnover is pulling them down? Do you have a compelling human resource strategy that will make your company successful in the workplace of the future?
Today's key business challenge is to attract and retain qualified, committed and productive employees. Will the lack of an effective workforce place your company in jeopardy?
A McKinsey & Co. study involving 77 companies and almost 6,000 managers and executives showed that the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years is talent. The report also noted that as the demand for personnel goes up, the supply will be going down mainly due to birthrates that have steadily declined since 1955. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by the year 2006, two employees will leave the workforce for every one added.
Many employers are surprised to find themselves in this dilemma, given the rising rate of unemployment and the availability of highly skilled workers.
Not only will organizations have to devise more imaginative hiring practices, they will also have to work harder to retain their best people. This is particularly true since there isn't a lot of "fat" in the number of personnel, and employees must be trained to handle several responsibilities.
Another reason for an ineffective workforce is that many companies today have a high percentage of dissatisfied workers. A survey, conducted by the electronic job board Monster.com, reported that 72 percent of their respondents were unhappy with their employment circumstances. Only 22 percent were committed to staying with their current employer.
Towers Perrin cites five reasons people are dissatisfied with their work and workplaces:
-
An excessive workload
- Concerns about management's ability to lead the company forward successfully
- Anxiety about the future, particularly longer-term jobs, income and retirement security
- Lack of challenge in their work, with boredom intensifying and existing frustration about workload
- Insufficient recognition for the level of contribution and effort provided, and concerns that pay isn't commensurate with performance
A study by the Gallup organization concluded that nearly 20 percent of approximately 1,000 U.S. workers surveyed meet its definition of being "actively disengaged," costing American companies anywhere from $292 billion to $355 billion a year. The cost of dissatisfied workers goes beyond low productivity measures. In fact, according to research conducted over 20 years by the Saratoga Institute, 85 percent of employees leave for reasons other than pay. In more than 20,000 exit interviews, poor supervisory behavior was reported as the predominant reason for people quitting.
Most economic forecasters predict that the Bay Area is on the crest of a turnaround - businesses are likely to improve and prosper in the next few years. Pundits also express concern that history will repeat itself, and companies will not have personnel that are prepared to take on tomorrow's business. Although companies may currently be short staffed, overworked, or not financially flush, now is the time to get ready for the comeback.
Today's employers need to find the competitive advantage that will entice the best people to want to work for them. They must also develop programs and support systems that will keep those employees satisfied, productive members of their workforce. While good wages, comprehensive benefits, employee services and incentive programs are important in attracting and retaining good people, they are not enough. Prospective employees will seek organizations that are more congruent with their values, provide opportunities for meaningful work as well as companies that support life-work balance. These new-era employees also expect their employers to honor employee individuality and provide training and growth opportunities. The job of the manager and supervisor in creating a healthy workplace culture will be to develop and use strategies that support attracting and retaining qualified, dedicated personnel and bottom line growth.
Now is the time to re-energize your organization to meet the coming level of activity that sustains your strategic initiatives and profitable growth. If you want to be among the fully staffed, productive and inspiring workplaces of the future, then you need to invest in your employees now and become an "Exceptional Employer."
In interviews with three North Bay "Exceptional Employers," congruent ideas emerged as they spoke about their leadership roles and how their organizations support an effective workforce.
Exceptional Leadership
When we look at successful organizations in any form-corporate, nonprofit, government-leadership or lack of leadership dictates success or failure. People want leaders who provide visionary leadership and move their organization towards it's goals as well as leaders who are visible, tell the truth and champion solid values.
"The leadership of any organization that aspires to be successful must really know how to treat their people well," says Patricia Kendall, Medical Group Administrator, Kaiser Permanente. "People need to feel valued and respected. Leaders must model their values, work ethic and treatment of others."
Dan Bendetti, President of Clover Stornetta Farms, agrees. "Leadership at the top of the organization counts heavily in developing an employee culture that works and is happy and delighted to work with you. It's obvious that our people care, because they see it coming from the top. It's our job to model how to make us a more cohesive team and to lend inspiration and credibility to our workforce."
Leaders must model the behavior, actions and work ethic they expect from employees. Miles Ferris, Director of Utilities for the City of Santa Rosa, believes in one of the tried-and-true adages in being a good leader. "Leading by example is important. If you don't show up every day on time, you can't expect your employees to."
Culture
A culture is defined as the beliefs, values and assumptions that shape behavior and help individuals understand their organization. People want to work for a company with high values and standards. They want a culture that provides a sense of community.
People acquire the norms and values that are modeled by leaders and coworkers. "When you bring people into an organization, you have to spend some time with them about this magical world of culture. It is important to help new employees understand the culture of the organization so they see it, feel it and experience it. It has to come alive to them, and we as leaders have to model it," said Kendall.
"A company's culture is perhaps the most important untapped resource, and perhaps it is undiscovered and underutilized in many corporations," said Bendetti. Clover is a harmonious place to work. People enjoy working with their peers.
The culture at the Utilities Department is apparent when you walk into Ferris' office. As you sit across his desk, you note that his entire wall is covered with pictures of people. "Some are employees, some customers, some community members, some at work site projects, and at other occasions. They all tell a story," notes Ferris. "It is also a reminder to me to be humble and to be appreciative of the efforts of the people in the organization. This is what makes an organization a success. It's everybody together. I'm only one cog in the wheel, and I have an enormous responsibility to them."
All three leaders spoke about the importance of having their employees feel valued and respected. "Then you need to give them the tools to do their job, and know that someone cares," said Kendall.
Leaders who demonstrate interest in their employees gain cooperation and respect. Ferris reads every one of his 220 employees' annual personnel appraisals, and writes a personal note to each to thank them for the work they contribute.
Training and Mentorship
Skill development is currently-and will continue to be-a major focus for companies as new jobs are created, current jobs change dramatically, and people are called on to "do more with less." Learning is the ability to assimilate new ideas from others and from past experience and translate those ideas into action. In more than 100 studies, the Department of Labor links progressive "people practices" to improved bottom line results.
According to Kendall, "We spend a lot of time training our staff. We take three days in the beginning to teach them about their jobs, how to be of service to the patients and learn our computer applications. This is before they go into their own department. Then, at work they spend a minimum of two to three weeks of training on many other aspects of their work and their workplace."
Bendetti said, "Our program focuses on one-on-one training. We have one of our employees work for a few weeks with a new hire side-by-side as the employee learns his job. Not only are we using this method to help impart skills, but someone is right there to answer the new hire's questions."
Kendall also emphasized the importance of having a relationship with your staff. "An ongoing relationship coupled with ongoing training will help people feel successful and want to stay. If managers don't have skills to manage others, then it might be time to make an investment in management training for this pivotal role," said Kendall.
Leaders who want to build learning organizations must focus on both individual, group and organizational learning. Individual learning occurs as members within the organization acquire knowledge through training and on-the-job experience. Groups-or teams-learn how to develop interpersonal skills and processes that help them work together and focus on mutual goals and outcomes. Organizational learning occurs as its systems and culture share knowledge on many levels that keep the organization alive and current.
Leaders have an opportunity to turn their organization into a magnet that attracts and retains good employees and high profits. Suggestions for doing so include taking an internal audit of strengths and weaknesses and developing a strategic plan that focuses on internal resources to determine how to build your organization for the next level of business activity. Leaders should also consider recreating an infrastructure with the types of employees and systems that breed success and acquiring the tools needed to make it work.
Improving workplaces, processes and people skills is no longer a choice- it is a do-or-die business strategy. Don't wait for the bell to ring before taking critical action to attract and retain the workforce you want tomorrow today.
Three Keys to Getting and Keeping the Best People
- Fitting the right people to the right jobs.
"Help each person find roles (at work) that ask him to do more and more of what he is naturally wired to do," advocate Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their best-selling book, First Break All the Rules. "Help each person find roles where her unique combination of strengths-her skills, knowledge and talents—match the distinct demands of the role. Kaiser fosters this strategy and tries very hard to pick the right people for the right jobs," says Kendall.
"I think many organizations have missed the boat by hiring managers for their technical expertise, instead of hiring people who know how to manage people. A lot of supervisors and managers are ill prepared for their jobs," cites Ferris. "The goal I have and the goal of the City is excellence in customer service. If you have bad management practices and your people are unhappy, you are never going to give good customer service. The two are linked," he added.
- Orientation
Impress your employees on their first day at work. Help them get acquainted with the workplace and their coworkers. Then make sure they attend employee orientation as soon as possible. Employee orientation begins to build commitment and retention.
"I spend the first hour of their orientation with new employees," said Kendall. "It is one of the most important things I do. I want them to know about Kaiser Permanente-our greatest challenges, who is Kaiser Permanente to our patients, and what is expected of them. Then I want to answer their questions. Lastly, I want to wish our new employees the best on this hopefully long journey with Kaiser Permanente."
- Appreciation, Recognition and Morale
Sincere appreciation is the least expensive and most underused method of increasing good morale at work. A spoken or written "thank you" and "job well done" pat on the back go a long way in cementing good work relationships between managers and employees as well as coworkers.
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Gloria Dunn is a management and organizational development consultant, and president of Wiser Ways to Work. She is the author of "From Making a Living to Having a Life", and also writes and speaks on management topics. She can be reached at 415-883-8239 or at
gloria@wiserwaystowork.com or
visit her website: www.wiserwaystowork.com.
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