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COUNTER INTELLIGENCE (February 2008) |
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
8 ways to get the most from your workforce
By Richard Hadden
Take away my factories and I’ll build a new and better factory.
But take away my people, and grass will grow on the factory floor. — Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was no bleeding heart, social humanitarian do-gooder, but rather a capitalist with a capital ‘C’—a man whose fortune, in today’s dollars, would stir envy in the heart of David Thomson. Yet the immigrant industrialist was simply acknowledging that in his steel business—just as in the electrical business—people meant profit. And in today’s competitive labour market, your organization’s ability to attract, retain and make productive the best talent available has a direct impact on your ability to grow, make money and sustain a competitive advantage.
To
paraphrase the advertising slogan of Carnation Milk, contented cows
give better milk. This means satisfied employees give better
performances, which results in a more profitable business. In fact, our
firm’s research over the last 15 years shows that intentionally
creating a great place to work—whatever it means—is one of the best
things you can do for your bottom line.
Look at
the financial performance of companies with the strategy of being an
employer of choice—companies like Winnipeg’s Wellington West Capital,
Genentech, Starbucks and Sleep Country Canada—and you’ll find revenue,
growth and profit that far surpass that of competitors not known for
being great companies to work for.
So what
does it mean to be a great employer? It’s not as easy as upping
compensation or plugging in the latest, most elaborate and costliest
employee perks. Instead, today’s best and most profitable employers
focus on sound organizational and leadership practices that get the
most from everyone on the payroll—willingly and enthusiastically. Here
are eight things you can begin doing right now that will have an
immediate and long-lasting impact on your company’s ability to succeed
through its people practices.
1. Hire
for fit. Skills, expertise and experience aren’t enough. Identify what
it takes for people to be happy, productive and successful in your
organization. Articulate those ‘fit’ requirements to all hiring
managers and provide incentives for hiring around those factors. Use
behavioural interviewing techniques to identify those candidates whose
values and attitudes set them up for success in your organization.
2.
Define your mission in clear and compelling terms. I’m not talking
about having the best-worded mission statement in Canada, but having a
clear sense of mission is motivating. Make sure everyone—from your CEO
to your newest hire—knows why your business exists, and can articulate
its most important priorities.
Here’s
something you can do right now to see how you’re doing in this
department. On a piece of paper, write down what you believe to be your
organization’s top three business priorities. Put the paper in your
pocket and go out and ask the first five or six employees you happen to
see the same question. Compare their answers with yours and with each
other’s. Should the answers stray too far from one another, you’ll know
it’s time to get busy focusing everyone on what matters most.
3.
Invest in training. Your employees want to be confident in their
competence. There are few things more frustrating than being asked to
perform without proper preparation. Ask employees what training they
need, source the best training available (internally or from
professionals outside) and make sure people know they’re expected to
use what they learn. Whenever anyone completes any kind of training,
on-the-job or otherwise, ask them to write down in one page or less: a)
three things they learned, and b) how they’ll use the training.
4. Get
rid of systemic barriers. Everyone’s got them: policies, procedures and
rules that get in the way of your employees doing their very best work.
As the late management guru Peter Drucker observed, “90% of what we
call ‘management’ consists of making it difficult for people to get
things done”.
Here’s a
challenge: today, eliminate or fundamentally change one utterly stupid
practice, policy or procedure that hampers the flawless execution of
your mission. (If you can’t think of anything, just ask your employees.)
5. Make
everyone’s work matter. The minute someone loses sight of the
importance of his work (namely, the customer), he can’t possibly
perform at the top of his game. And yet, if you’re like most
businesses, you have some good people who, in the regular course of
performing their jobs, never encounter a real live paying customer.
Change
that! Create opportunities for everyone on your payroll to have a
“customer connection”. Get your back office professionals out on the
counter from time to time. Let technicians go on sales calls. Send your
HR manager out on an installation.
The next
three items fall under the category of CARING. I’m not talking about
coddling or pampering your employees, but doing simple things, every
day, that let them know you care. We know that employees reserve their
very best work for the leader who cares about them.
6.
Listen. Really listen. Don’t just go through the motions. When an
employee needs to talk, clear the decks, quiet your mind and stop
multi-tasking!
7. Give
clear, helpful feedback. One of the most uncaring things I see business
owners and managers do is fail to tell someone their performance isn’t
up to standard. Give bone-honest feedback, with sensitivity, and give
people the chance they deserve to improve.
8. Be
there when the wheels come off. Whether at work or in our personal
lives, we all experience pain, tragedy and difficult circumstances
beyond our control. Caring leaders show up, in person, to help
employees through the tough times. Dan Cathy, president of the U.S.
restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, told a group of his company’s managers,
“When an employee experiences a personal hardship, and you go above and
beyond for them, you’ll have their full attention when you talk about
going above and beyond for our customers”.
Keep them content... and keep them!
What
you’ve heard is true: employees don’t leave companies, they leave
managers; those who have failed them in some important respect. Leaders
who hire well, articulate a clear mission, enable people to do their
best work and care about their employees will both help their companies
outperform the competition and keep the grass from growing on the
factory floor.
 Richard
Hadden, co-author of “Contented Cows Give Better Milk” and the newly
released “Contented Cows MOOve Faster”, is a Florida-based author,
speaker and consultant who helps organizations outperform the
competition by creating a great and profitable place to work. Visit him
online at ContentedCows.com.
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