Category

Leadership

The Importance of Authenticity and Respect in the Workplace

When it comes to putting together a top-flight organization, two questions immediately surface. How do I get great employees to join my organization? And, how do I get those employees to stay?

In a job market where unemployment is low and people have an abundance of choices, it has become much easier for workers to hop from job to job in order to find greener pastures. Those pastures may not always turn out to be so green, but simply the potential of a job change improving one’s outlook makes people take action.

Few metrics better illustrate a company’s culture than the loyalty of an employee.

According to blogger Nick Kasik, “Few metrics better illustrate a company’s culture than the loyalty of an employee.” So then, what are some of the underlying reasons people are drawn to a company and choose to stay when there are so many other options available to them? Two components need to be in place for employees to truly connect with the company for which they work. The company needs to be authentic, and it needs to be respectful of its employees by putting people first.

 

Authenticity

For a company to be successful, and for its employees to stay engaged, it’s extremely important for that company to be authentic. Be who you say you are. The company needs to define a mission, tie that mission to a few important core values, and then live those values every single day. Any successful company will lead through its actions. If a company takes on a “do as I say but not as I do” attitude, it shows through very quickly and can be a culture killer.

Everyone makes mistakes, from the lowest levels to the CEO. The key to overcoming the occasional mistake or bad decision is to own up to those mistakes, learn from them and move forward. That’s a two-way street.

Title shouldn’t give anyone a free pass when it comes to owning up to a mistake, but it can be very powerful when a leader says “I was wrong.”

Title shouldn’t give anyone a free pass when it comes to owning up to a mistake, but it can be very powerful when a leader says “I was wrong.” Doing so shows the human element behind the leader and can help increase authenticity as well as respect from the rest of the workforce.

There are times when an organization needs all its employees to step up and work as hard as they can to achieve a certain outcome. The workforce will rise to the task if they see that the leaders are stepping up and working equally as hard. This creates a dynamic of working together for a common goal, regardless of position or title.

 

Respect

At the end of the day, every employee wants to have the respect of his/her coworkers, managers and leaders. Regardless of how much work needs to get done, the employee wants to feel that in times of need, the organization puts the person above the work.

Good employees want to voice their opinions and have those opinions be heard.

Good employees want to voice their opinions and have those opinions be heard. These opinions may sometimes be in opposition with those of leadership, but any good organization will openly listen to the feedback and give it honest consideration. The employee will remain engaged for only as long as he/she feels heard and, ultimately, respected. Without respect, there can be no foundation upon which to build a company culture, and engagement can turn into disengagement overnight.

 

Final thoughts

The workplace can be a place where one thrives or just survives, depending on perspective. If the organization puts people first and truly respects them for what they contribute as people as well as their work production, the likelihood of that employee staying engaged (and employed) at that organization increases tremendously. And if the organization consistently practices its core values that rally around the company’s mission, those employees will not only want to stay, they’ll encourage their friends to join the organization too.

Article written by Dave Clark, Staff Writer and Editor at TTI Success Insights.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

Why People Quit Their Boss, Not Their Company

[nectar_dropcap color=”#2d8d9b”]T [/nectar_dropcap] hink about previous jobs you’ve had. For one reason or another, you decided that a particular job was not for you and you moved on. Now that you’ve had time to think back and reflect, why, exactly, did you leave that company? Was it money related? Did your core values not align with the company’s values? Or, did your relationship with your manager simply run its course? So many times, workers don’t quit organizations, they quit their boss.

 

Purpose and relationships

Former Pearson COO and leadership expert Ziggy Liaquat believes two things need to happen for workers to remain happy and stay with an organization. They need to connect their personal purpose to the purpose of the organization and workers need to be inspired by the management to really succeed and to stay. In other words, there needs to be a people-connection.

If, as a leader, you can connect your purpose in the world to your purpose at work, then your passion for what you do will course through your veins.

Liaquat’s hypothesis states, “If, as a leader, you can connect your purpose in the world to your purpose at work, then your passion for what you do will course through your veins. You will inspire and motivate people with ease and you will make tough decisions with courage. Why? Because you are being authentic and true to your purpose.

So it’s something of a two-way street. Workers need to be inspired by management and management needs to be authentic and true to their purpose. What happens when one of these things do not align?

Who you work with matters

Eric Reed of thestreet.com received some sage advice during his school years. “Pick the people you want to work with, not the position. How much you like your coworkers will determine 90% of your happiness at the office.” Reed’s article went on to state that according to Accenture, research showed that of the top four reasons people gave for leaving a firm, all four had to do with management and the personnel environment. The four reasons were: they don’t like their boss (31%), a lack of empowerment (31%), internal politics (35%) and lack of recognition (43%).

This ties back to a study conducted by Harris Interactive that states 74% of people today would consider finding a new job, with 32% of those actively looking. In a supposedly stable job market, that’s a lot of potential movement. And so much of that movement could be avoided if the worker/boss relationship was given a little more attention.

What can be done?

When it comes to aligning a person’s purpose with the company’s, that’s something that should be well researched and established during the interview process and, at worst, cemented by the end of the onboarding process. If it’s apparent that the two are not a fit, moving forward is not beneficial for either party.

When it comes to the boss/worker dynamic, the responsibility lies on both sides of the desk. However, the human element should always reign supreme above the work details. Not every project will make the deadline, go as planned or be of the utmost quality originally envisioned.

The key is to learn from mistakes and move forward a little smarter from the experience, but always preserving the two-way relationship.

The key is to learn from mistakes and move forward a little smarter from the experience, but always preserving the two-way relationship.

It’s easy to be a great manager, or employee, when things are going good. When stress hits and the work seems insurmountable, that’s when the true test of a leader’s ability to keep people-first will be tested.

While some projects will succeed and others will fail, a manager will thrive when he or she treats workers as human beings first and, as employees, second. Learning from mistakes is easy, but it’s not nearly as easy to recover from a personal condemnation when something goes awry. Treating people with respect at all times is paramount for leaders to retain the interest and dedication of those who report to them.

 

Conclusion

Does your manager understand and respect what is truly important to you? Do you connect on a human level? Is your manager someone you would willingly have a beer with after work? If you answered yes to these questions, you’re probably working for someone that understands and embraces the human element of the boss/worker relationship. If you answered no, it might be time to dust off that resume.

Article written by Dave Clark, Staff Writer and Editor at TTI Success Insights

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

When it comes to the long-term success of your organization, who you work with matters! [Infographic]

[nectar_dropcap color=”#2d8d9b”]T [/nectar_dropcap]TI Success Insights has been an industry-leading force helping organizations across the globe improve hiring, retention, engagement, and training with effective, valid and reliable assessments since 1984.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

How to Use Core Values to Craft Your Perfect Job

Given that we spend about a quarter of our lives at work – maybe more – it’s kind of a travesty to say we’re going to spend most of our waking hours doing something that we don’t think matters that much. So it’s not a surprise that people are searching for meaning in work.” These are the words of organizational psychologist Adam Grant, who specializes in improving the work lives of employees.

For those who want to change their fortunes at their place of employment, the key may lie in the ability to identify what you are passionate about and work those passions into your job.

 

Discovering core values

“Make a list of the biggest sources of meaning in your life,” says Grant, and then ask yourself a one-word question about each: Why? The goal of the exercise is to eventually reach a core value. These values are at the heart of who we are as individuals. Incorporating core values into your daily activities will provide a much happier and satisfying work life.

Make a list of the biggest source of meaning in your life.

Grant says that once you identify your core values, two actions need to be taken. First, connect parts of your job that don’t feel meaningful to a core value. Second, find ways to work core values into your job.

To illustrate the first action, I will use a first-person perspective. As our company’s staff writer, I craft all types of content from blogs to website copy to emails. Without a doubt, there are some things I enjoy writing more than others. Email composition resides pretty low on my list of preferred tasks.

However, an important core value I live by is to be a great communicator. I strive to communicate in a way that is easy to understand, and leaves little room for misinterpretation. While emails may not be terribly inspiring, doing so gives me a chance to connect with my core value of being a good communicator. When I think of it in those terms, I view the task much more positively.

 

Job crafting

Grant referenced an article from the Harvard Business Review when he discussed the concept of job crafting.

Job crafting is this idea of saying, I have unique interests, values and skills that I could bring to the table that would allow me to be more effective and find more meaning in my work. So, I’m going to become an active architect of my job and I’m going to change the way that I do it, or I’m going to change what I work on.”

Job crafting does not advocate turning your job into a free-for-all, but it does mean incorporating elements that will inspire you and help you maintain a high level of energy and engagement. One idea is to come up with a side project from your day-to-day duties that really speaks to a passion you possess. Even if you spend just 10% of your work time on that project, it will help put you in a better place mentally to take on the rest of your tasks with a clearer mind.

Depending on your interests, this idea might come to fruition in the form of a social group that meets outside of work, such as a book club that furthers learning, or a charitable activity that can benefit your workplace.

Job crafting involves serious introspection about your job with the purpose of redefining it to incorporate your motives, strengths, and passions. Going through this process helps you to have influence on your daily activities, creating a job that will feel more meaningful and fulfilling. It serves the additional benefit of giving you more control over what you do on a day-to-day basis. You are the one that ultimately controls your outcome, not your boss or the leadership team.

Job crafting involves serious introspection about your job with the purpose of redefining it to incorporate your motives, strengths, and passions.

Why would an organization support job crafting?

Most people have more to do than time in which to do it. Having the ability to delegate tasks can free up time to address other important job tasks. Typically, leaders are the ones that determine what a worker does on a regular basis. By delegating job crafting to the employee, it frees up the manager to accomplish other things.

Not only does job crafting empower employees, it can serve the additional bonus of being a company benefit in lieu of cash bonuses or time off.

 

How to job craft

Begin by identifying motives, strengths, and passions, three vital components that will lead to higher engagement, better performance and overall happiness. Then look at how those things apply to work-related tasks, relationships and perceptions. Considering each of these three factors will ensure a thoroughly devised plan and greatly increase its chances for success.

Make sure that you are shaping your job, not letting your job shape you.

Conclusion

According to a survey of 5,000 U.S. households by The Conference Board, only 45% of those polled say they are satisfied with their jobs, certainly a downward trend from the 60% who were satisfied in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. More recent studies from Gallup about job engagement show numbers even more disheartening.

Much of that dissatisfaction may lie in whether or not individuals control their own workplace destiny or are simply following orders and completing tasks on a daily basis. Make sure that you are shaping your job, not letting your job shape you.

Article written by Dave Clark, Staff Writer and Editor at TTI Success Insights.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

When It Comes to Developing Your Organization, Do Your Numbers Add Up? [Infographic]

[nectar_dropcap color=”#2d8d9b”]W [/nectar_dropcap] hen it comes to training your current workforce, including your next generation of leaders, having a first-rate training plan that employs assessment solutions is key. Assessments can be used to uncover the how and why behind behaviors, soft skills, and EQ, producing results and increasing engagement.

Download Infographic

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

Bottom-up Thinking Through Messy Strategy: Creating Alignment Within Organizations

[nectar_dropcap color=”#2d8d9b”]H [/nectar_dropcap] ow do we do what is right by the people of our organization while protecting the company’s bottom line? The answer lies in reimagining the way we plan our strategies. Rather than relying on the age-old method of “top-down” thinking, we need to consider a new, more effective approach, that begins at the bottom and works its way up. This is a method we employ at TTI Success Insights and it works.

The concept of Messy Strategy is based on a “bottom-up” strategic planning process. Messy Strategy involves every employee seeing themselves in the company’s overall plan. This strategy succeeds when all employees have input in the plan and work toward a common goal. When the entire staff feels like they are a part of the planning process, they take ownership of the plan, even if their own personal contribution is a very small part of the overall strategy.

Messy Strategy involves every employee seeing themselves in the company’s overall plan.

What is Messy Strategy?

What if an organization had a roadmap to achieve consistently high-levels of success? What if the organization was able to bubble up all the unique and diverse ideas from the receptionist to the CEO, hearing the voice of every employee and incorporating that into the strategic plan? Imagine the results a company could achieve if every employee felt heard. What would that do for employee morale and engagement?

At TTI Success Insights, we use this approach and have been extremely happy with the results. It starts out with leadership asking the staff for candid feedback to an annual company survey. Year after year, our people contribute more and more constructive feedback, which gives us a better perspective of where we are and where we need to go.

An important thing to understand about the process is that it can be a significant investment of time – and messy – thus the name, Messy Strategy. In our case, the process involves reading hundreds of pages of feedback from employees. Going line by line, we read every single word that is written.

Messy Strategy may be intense, but it is also very invigorating. It gives us the intelligence we need to be able to formulate a plan that makes sense for our business. As leaders, we may believe we know exactly what the organization needs, but it’s not until we get the feedback from the entire staff that we fully understand the breadth and depth of the organization’s challenges.

Messy Strategy gives us the intelligence we need to be able to formulate a plan that makes sense for our business.

Once all the feedback is read, we brainstorm ideas, pasting a countless number of sticky notes on the walls. This helps us sort out what to do now, in the near future, in the distant future and whenever we get to it.

The key takeaway is that it’s not top-down, it’s bottom-up. Messy Strategy means hearing, feeling and understanding what every employee is thinking. Employees want to see themselves in the company plan. When they feel they are heard and that their input matters, they buy in. Having the ability to achieve a bottom-up strategy will give you a top-down confidence to execute your strategic plan.

 

How to make Messy Strategy work effectively

A few basic tenets need to be in place for Messy Strategy to work effectively. Organizations need to have a tolerance for failure, but not be willing to accept incompetence. Experimentation is acceptable if implemented with a highly disciplined approach. Brutally candid communication throughout the organization allows recalibration if the plan veers off course. Any member of the organization should be encouraged to speak up if something is not working.

Collaboration with individual accountability ensures everyone does their part. Finally, over communicate! Too much communication, rather than not enough, helps to address any uncertainty and confusion that may arise within an organization.

7 Techniques to Messy Strategy

Make sure the process fits your organization. Consider your company’s culture and employ a process consistent with that culture so the process feels natural. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Messy Strategy. Do what feels right for your company.

Plan for planning. Be very strategic about dates and times. If possible, break up planning sessions to provide time for reflection. Start with a deep dive, then pause and reflect. We tend to get overly optimistic during planning, so having time to reflect brings real-world perspective back into the process.

For us, taking a break between sessions, or having a day to contemplate the multitude of ideas, provides perspective. Time gives us a true feel for whether or not a strategy makes sense and is viable.

It’s recommended to do the planning on-site if your company has the right space. When employees see the leadership team working diligently to create a solid plan, it’s energizing to the staff. Off-site strategy can easily be misperceived by employees as leisure time for leaders. Let them see you working hard!

Give voice to the entire organization. Get a pulse on the culture. A great question to ask is, “If there is one thing you can change about the organization today, what would it be – and why?” Be sure to ask that question! It’s better to know what issues your employees have with your organization now, so you can make every attempt to correct any shortcomings. Try to ask the same questions year after year to find trends and common themes.

We didn’t realize our need as a company for a human resources professional until that fact came to light consistently during our surveys. Once we had that information, we took action by creating a new position and hiring a great candidate to fill it. The employees know they are being heard.

Identify “start, stop and continue” behaviors and actions. Figure out what is working, what isn’t and what is currently missing. This concept pertains to individuals and the organization as a whole. This recognizes jobs well done, while also pointing out areas of improvement. It’s just as important to celebrate the victories as it is to address the problems and challenges.

Start with actions, end with numbers. Once you can identify what needs to be improved, you can more effectively translate that into numbers, creating much more accurate goals. Taking this route usually results in higher-stretching goals compared with processes that start with the numbers.

Make the plan presentation special. In today’s virtual world, be sure to keep it tangible. At TTI SI, we hand out binders and schedule a full-staff presentation around the year’s strategic plan. We end the presentation with a Q&A session encouraging employee feedback. This interaction makes the strategic plan become a two-way agreement.

When presenting the plan, look for employees who light up because they see themselves in the plan. Positive energy is contagious! Once employees know they are being heard, it encourages them to be even more candid and forthcoming in the future.

Create a meeting cadence and follow it. There’s no “right” formula when it comes to best practices for meetings. Do what works best for your organization. Once you’ve identified a certain cadence, do your best to stick to it.

Circumstances may dictate making changes to the meeting schedule or format throughout the year, which is ok, as long as you clearly communicate those changes with the organization. Employees want to know that leadership has a firm grasp on the pulse of the organization.

Leading by example will help you accomplish strategic alignment with complete buy-in from the organization. Several times throughout the year, we follow up by sending short surveys to the staff enabling us to understand the pulse of the organization. This process lets us know if we are on track or need to make adjustments.

Final thoughts

Every organization has its own culture and its unique way of doing things. How Messy Strategy is implemented will vary company to company. The key is to make it work for your organization. The good news is that this is not the same old way of conducting business. Messy Strategy is an invigorating process that leads to positive results.

At TTI Success Insights, we believe in being as authentic and transparent as possible. Involving your staff and gaining their buy-in throughout the planning process will provide an organization of happy, productive employees aligned to the company’s strategic plan.

Article written by Ashley Bowers, President and Chief Strategy Officer for TTI Success Insights Global Consulting.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

The New Super Hero Team – Business, IT and HR

The ongoing disconnect between business, HR, and IT is legendary and many managers and even some executives may believe this thrilling threesome has nothing in common. Business can no longer operate without good talent management and HR can no longer be effective without IT. Why do these three bickering siblings need to get along for a more successful future?

One might say that business is the hero that built America.

The Business of Business

America, unlike many believe, was not founded for political or religious reasons. When Queen Elizabeth I of England sent people to explore the New World, it was in pursuit of riches. Business helped grow those riches for England and America. Business has spawned many other heroes in the building of America. The United States is still one of the few places on the planet where anyone can build their own empire.  One might say that business is the hero that built America.

The business of business is all about another hero, its people. There will be no numbers to crunch, no products to sell, and no services to deliver without people. While there are giant heroes in America’s past, these are the everyday heroes who continue to build organizations. Boards and CEOs are staying awake at night worrying about recruiting and hiring good talent. This is particularly troublesome for organizations that are not born digital. Many an article has been written about the need for in-depth recruiting, good hiring processes, and fitting the right people to the right job. Oftentimes, an organization will get all that right but fall short once their valuable heroes are on board.

“The workforce continues to change, and people today need different requirements for recognition, communication, engagement, and motivation. A more individual approach is necessary to address these needs and ensure that every worker realizes his or her hero value. The other side of this coin is that organizations need talent that can adapt, be agile, and embrace changes brought about by the market, the economy, customer demands, and of course, technology.

IT is It

Years ago, I remember the sales department arguing that nothing would happen in business without them. They thought they were the business hero. HR would argue that if it wasn’t for them, there wouldn’t be any jobs because there would be no one to fill them. They thought they were the business hero. Today, IT may very well be the hero because neither sales nor HR can function efficiently without them. Technology touches every part of our lives and is now recognized for making valuable contributions to business success, customer service, including making life easier for HR. Indeed, technology touches every part of business playing a significant role in keeping every department operating smoothly. That’s a heroic feat if ever I heard one.

Many of the jobs available today didn’t exist just a few years ago and many new jobs are not too far away on the horizon.

While everyone is smart to keep abreast of trends, IT must do it on steroids. While change is rampant, changes in technology come at blinding speed. Technology not only changes how we work, but the jobs we do, as well. Many of the jobs available today didn’t exist just a few years ago and many new jobs are not too far away on the horizon.

 

HR The Caped Crusader

Having been in HR, I can appreciate the effort it takes to walk the fine line between the dictates of business and keeping up morale. Or, between dishing out discipline and building a friendly culture. And finally, between building diversity and being fair to everyone. Any manager who has forgotten to dot an “i” and cross a “t” who has had HR swoop in, bail them out and, magically make all the distress go away, will call HR a hero. However, HR must now enfold business and IT under its collaborative cape as “friendlies.”

Now HR must become a business partner. It’s not enough to know the organization sells stuff, money comes in and everyone gets paid. Now HR must understand business strategy, marketing, sales, and profit margins. Now HR must understand a lot of technology and partner with IT to operate efficiently, attract hero talent, and use technology to help the business grow and prosper. Technology is changing every aspect of business including HR. It’s changing the way jobs are posted, the way people apply, and employee development.

 

Stay in Your Own Lane

Recently I was at an international conference and the audience had the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of executives. I asked for their thoughts on the CEO, the CHRO, and the CFO becoming business partners. I was told that everyone should stay in their own lane.

Business heroes who might not have thought about being collaborative in the past must change their thinking pattern must solve problems together.

Business heroes who might not have thought about being collaborative in the past must change their thinking pattern must solve problems together. The same can be said for business, HR, and IT.

Article written by Diane Bogino, President of Performance Strategies, Inc.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

Secrets for Attracting High-Performing Talent in Today’s Competitive Marketplace

Today’s workers have different wants and needs compared to those of previous generations. Security and predictability have given way to preferences for flexibility, culture fit and a people-first focus.

Google recently published an article stating that psychological safety can be the number one dynamic that sets a successful team apart from others; more important that actual talent or resources. Psychological safety speaks to an environment where individuals can take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other.

Psychological safety speaks to an environment where individuals can take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other.

Defining employee experience

The employee experience can be defined as a set of perceptions that employees have about their experiences at work in response to their interactions with the organization. The employee experience (EX) signifies the entire life cycle an employee has with a company, from onboarding to departure.

When unemployment was higher, posting a job opening could often attract hundreds of candidates eager to find employment. That dynamic has changed. Now it can take several months to find that high-performing employee that possesses all the desired attributes. A great culture, people-focus and employee experience will be the components that will attract the best candidates.

The employee experience is all about people feeling good about the work they do and the company for which they work. It’s about being excited to go to work. A positive employee experience gives workers a feeling that they are a part of something special and that their contributions are meaningful to the organization.

A positive employee experience is not reserved for the elite workplaces in the world such as Apple, Zappos and Disney. EX is something that all organizations should aspire to in order to compete for top talent in the modern workplace.

“Employers must provide development more quickly, move people more regularly, provide continuous cycles of promotion and give employees more tools to manage their own careers.” Employees don’t want to come in and do the same thing day after day, week after week, year after year. They want to be challenged, know someone is listening to their ideas and that their ideas can and will take the organization to the next level.”

Components of a great employee experience

If an employee leaves the office exhausted day after day, or gets knots in his or her stomach every Sunday just from thinking about the upcoming work week, he or she is probably not having the best employee experience. Companies need to create an environment that attracts people; an environment where current employees want to recruit their friends to work. Imagine the productivity of a company where every employee loves his or her job!

One of the most successful entrepreneurs of our lifetime is Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. He breaks down employee experience simply and succinctly in his quote, “There’s no magic formula. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated. Think of it as the Golden Rule for creating an exceptional employee experience.” Leaders need to think about what type of experience they themselves want and how that experience can be translated to the entire staff.

Leaders need to think about what type of experience they themselves want and how that experience can be translated to the entire staff.

According to a recent Deloitte report, “Employers must provide development more quickly, move people more regularly, provide continuous cycles of promotion and give employees more tools to manage their own careers.” Employees don’t want to come in and do the same thing day after day, week after week, year after year. They want to be challenged, know someone is listening to their ideas and that their ideas can and will take the organization to the next level.

The cost of finding a new employee

For general employment, it can regularly take between 45-75 days, on average, to find the right person for the right job. Hiring for specialty positions can take significantly longer, sometimes many months. Most high-performing workers are currently employed, though they realize they have choices.

A study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that employers need to spend the equivalent of six to nine months of an employee’s salary in order to find and train their replacement. Hiring mistakes are costly. A new employee can take up to two full years to reach the same level of productivity as an existing staff member, according to business expert Josh Bersin of Bersin by Deloitte. A new hire will need to acclimate and be trained, likely taking productive work time away from co-workers.

The Harvard Business Review points out that as much as 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. While organizations may be anxious to fill positions, a more prudent approach is to put a little extra time and effort into hiring to ensure getting it right the first time.

Engagement

Employee engagement is getting a lot of publicity these days. Despite engagement being on the upswing, the majority of workers (53% of them) remain disengaged according to a recent study by Gallup. The question an organization needs to ask is…what’s missing? What can we do to tap into to true talent and abilities of that 53%?

Imagine the possibilities if organizations started to get high-level production from workers that are just working to get by.

Imagine the possibilities if organizations started to get high-level production from workers that are just working to get by. Putting more focus and attention on soft skills may be the answer to moving some of those disengaged workers to the engaged side.

Putting people first

Putting people first – sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Companies that put people first will have a staff of employees that say “I love my job and I’m excited to do what I do.” Not only will these employees do better work, they will act as the company’s own recruiting arm by promoting the virtues of the company to their peers.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

7 Keys to Successful Organizational Development

Business is no longer business as usual. In fact, those who don’t embrace change in the modern workplace run the risk of becoming yesterday’s news. Today, the organization needs to be working in unison, aligned with a strategic plan that has the buy-in from all members of the team, regardless of position.

Organizational development can be defined as the theory and practice of planned, systematic change in the attitudes, beliefs and values of employees.

Organizational development can be defined as the theory and practice of planned, systematic change in the attitudes, beliefs and values of employees. How does an organization get all of its employees to be part of the process? These seven strategies proposed in a recent humanresourcesmba.net article can help an organization create a unified company direction, rallying around a strategic plan created and embraced by all employees.

Involve all employees in decision making

In the days of old, leaders and managers sat in boardrooms and created strategic plans. Once they were done planning, employees were expected to follow the newly implemented plans and be fully on board, even if they had nothing to do with the plan or no say in it. It’s pretty easy to see how that might not be the most successful way to go about it.

“Involving employees in the entirety of the planning process serves the single-most important purpose of giving them input into the company plan. If they have a say in the plan, how could they not be on board with it? By believing they are part of the change, they are more engaged and more willing to go along with the plan, even portions of it that they may not necessarily embrace.

The key is to empower employees with the tools, including the necessary decision-making abilities, to do their job unencumbered. Let them own their unique part of the company’s universe and be fully responsible for it.

Change should focus on groups and departments

Each specific department should be analyzed to see where it is highly functional and where it can be improved. The change should be department wide, not necessarily put on the shoulders of certain individuals. Look at the whole of the group and try to identify common themes. Are certain deadlines not being met consistently? What might be the cause of this? Are there recurring bottlenecks that are inhibiting a smooth work path? What can be done, department-wide, that might improve these workflows?

Build trust throughout the organization

Employees simply will not give their full effort and attention to a company that they do not trust. Building trust with the employee is paramount to getting the employee’s buy-in to the company’s strategic plan. Trust and respect are the building blocks upon which all good company/employee relations are built.

Trust and respect are the building blocks upon which all good company/employee relations are built.

Building trust should not be an afterthought. Without this important component, nothing else really matters. Everything starts and ends with mutual trust.

Encourage collaboration over competition

It used to be common to create internal competitions to spur action. But for every competition, there needs to be a loser. When someone loses repetitively, they may eventually decide to stop competing. A better alternative is to create an environment of collaboration over competition.

When people work together, they all have a part in the success and no one has to lose. Of course, ensuring a smooth workflow free from bottlenecks is paramount to ensuring the success of the collaboration, but as long as safeguards are put in place, a collaborative work environment can produce higher quality work with less stress on individual employees.

Invest in education, benefits and incentives

Helping your employees become masters of their own personal universe empowers them to excel at their activities. Investing in education to help them learn the necessary skills to do their jobs to the best of their ability. On or off-site training can help improve specific skills and keeps employees current on new methods, techniques and information.

Helping your employees become masters of their own personal universe empowers them to excel at their activities.

Create the opportunity for employee feedback

Having open channels of communication is key for an organization to ensure it’s strategic plan gets carried out. Not only should employees have an unrestricted ability to give meaningful feedback, including constructive criticism, during the planning stages, but they should also have the ability to openly communicate all along the way should unforeseen problems arise.

This two-way communication should not be restricted to annual performance reviews or monthly one-on-one meetings. Employees should be able to voice their opinions at any time in order to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly.

Involve all members of the organization

It’s important to showcase the importance of diversity of thought, and the need for every member of the organization to participate in strategic planning sessions. The greatest ideas may not always come from the person with the most prestigious title.

It just may be the janitor that sees something that needs attention that others may miss. It may be the receptionist who talks with people on a daily basis that has the true pulse of the organization and some of its customers’ concerns. Never discount a person’s opinion simply because of their position within the company and get feedback and input from every single member of the organization.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.

How the Difference Generations Stack up in the Workforce [Infographic]

According to Pew Research Center data of 2017, the most recent year for which the data is available, Millennials are the most populous generation in the workforce, having surpassed Generation X’ers in 2016. The numbers will change significantly in the coming years as Baby Boomers retire and more members of Generation Z join the workforce.

Download Our Free Hiring Guide.

In this guide, you’ll get access to the seven most important questions to ask when hiring someone. And yes, they go way beyond a basic job description.