Top 10 Entrecard Droppers for August 2010
I like to thank to all droppers for their continued support.
My special appreciation for the following Top 10 Droppers for August 2010:
Human Resources Communication and Connection Strategies. How to Build Strong Connections Among Employees.
There are two complaints I most commonly hear from employees
“No one communicates around here” and
“I don’t like the people I work with.”
These two vital strategies go hand in hand — communication and connections. Communication is obvious, but “connections” represents the bonds that exist between people at work. Even though these strategies are emotional, subjective, and difficult to measure, both of them form the glue that leads to retention and increased job satisfaction.
High retention organizations thrive on information and share it to the maximum extent possible. In a survey I conducted, I asked respondents to answer this question, “What can managers do more of?” The overwhelming response was, “Better at communicating.” The more information people have, the more quickly they can respond to the changing needs of customers and the environment.
Building Strong Connections Among Employees
Individual Retention Profile
Each person should have a retention plan. Consider finding out the following information to help build a more power ful relationship with the people you manage.
Questions You Need to Know
- What aspects of your job have you enjoyed the most?
- What has been the least enjoyable aspects of your job?
- Why do you stay?
- What frustrates you about this place?
- What can we do to make this a better place to work?
- Which supervisor would you like to work for?
- What is your dream job?
- What can we do to make your job even better?
- When do you feel most appreciated for what you do?
- How can we communicate better in this department/organization?
- What are you overdue for?
Using Assessments and Behavior Profiles
Today, business success is measured in TALENT — the RIGHT talent for the RIGHT job. Jim Collins said in his book, From Good to Great, “People are not your most important asset. The right people are. Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.”
Having the wrong person is like putting a six hundred pound jockey on a racehorse. No matter how hard you push, you are not going to get that horse to go any faster. Successful organizations have come to realize talent management is integral to sustaining their leadership and growth in the marketplace. Attracting, hiring, and retaining high-caliber employees in today’s labor market challenges organizations to manage talent at every level.
People are not cut out for every job. Past experience is not a predictor of future success. Putting the wrong person in a job is going to generate employee turnover, poor performance, missed business opportunities, lost sales, unhappy customers, and increased costs.
The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
Each job requires a unique set of motivations, competencies, and tasks. To reiterate what Jim Collins said, “Get the right people in the right seat.” Obsolete hiring practices and poorly trained interviewers are not helping the situation. The reasons traditional hiring practices are not working include:
- Failure to detect motivational fit with job
- Applicants “exaggerate” to get a job
- Relying on past experience as an indicator of success
- Legal liability
- Most interviewers are not properly trained to interview appli cants
- Hiring decisions made by intuition, not fact
Each person brings their own set of unique skills, talents, and competencies to the job. The trouble is most organizations fall short in matching the job with the individual. Businesses have not analyzed what it takes to be successful in each job.
Many organizations are taking the next step and turning to behavior assessments and personality trait testing for hourly workers, managers, and executives. Back in the late ’90s, only 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies used some type of assessment. That figure has climbed to 65 percent. A year 2000 study by American Management Association showed nearly half of 1,085 employers polled use at least one assessment in their interviewing process.
To maximize effectiveness, businesses and individuals must understand their strengths and have a well-defined plan to help them reach their potential. How well they do this makes the difference between an exceptional organization and an average one. Assessments and profiles can help you:
- Screen job applicants and identify which positions they are best suited for
- Help managers become better leaders
- Improve retention
- Coach and mentor key employees
- Reduce conflict between teams and individuals
- Design development plans to overcome shortcomings
- Predict a job applicant’s success before they are hired
- Give performance feedback to people in a style they understand and accept
- Enhance communication
- Select, hire, develop, and motivate sales people











