4 tips for managers to help employees realize their potential

Almost every company focuses on hiring and recruiting star employees, but it is not enough to simply hire the best. To utilize all of that “rock star” potential, you must give them the culture and environment in which to prosper.
The inspiration for this blog post stems from a recent conversation with a colleague. He confided that he had a dilemma in which his best employees were doing a lot extra work (which was good), but their efforts didn’t align with the business goals. He said to me in frustration, “If they have extra time, why can’t they just do more on their projects and assignments?”
After talking a while, it became clear he had a team of driven, ambitious employees, but there was something missing — a framework encouraging such overachievers to produce work rewarding themselves and the company. I suffered, too, from not having such a framework early in my career.
In my first job out of college, I was frustrated by my first review — I was rated as average. But I was accustomed to being above average; I could get A’s in school only by completing the homework and doing well on tests. However, in the corporate world, doing only what’s expected, even well, gets you average.
Read the full story:
http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2012/01/26/4-tips-for-managers-to-help-employees-realize-their-potential/
Insightlink Communications is your one-stop source for employee surveys, exit surveys and other research tools for measuring employee attitudes and opinions. We work with you and your team to understand and create solutions for your unique needs - and we do it with unmatched expertise, efficiency and value.

46% of New Hires Fail Within the First 18 Months: Why Hiring for Attitude Will Help

Attracting and retaining top talent is both a priority and a challenge for many HR managers. With 46% of new hires failing within the first 18 months, managers need to determine how to hire the right candidates who will stick around and perform. Without these key people to execute key strategies, problems such as decreased productivity, low staff morale, underachieving on corporate objectives and costly turnover, can and will occur. While there are an abundance of articles discussing the benefits of hiring for cultural fit, there is new research that suggests that it just may be more important to hire for attitude.
In an interview published on Forbes.com, Mark Murphy, founder and CEO of Leadership IQ, discussed why so many new hires fail within the first year and a half and why hiring for attitude can prevent this in the ever changing hiring landscape.

Why do so many fail within the first 18 months of taking a job?
When our research tracked 20,000 new hires, 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising than the failure rate, was that when new hires failed, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill. The attitudinal deficits that doomed these failed hires included a lack of coachability, low levels of emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament.
Read the full story:
http://www.hr.com/en/app/blog/2012/01/46-of-new-hires-fail-within-the-first-18-months-wh_gxvzonck.html

A digital pat on the back from the boss: What's it worth?

Some companies that are too busy for face-to-face recognition of their employees' efforts are turning to recognition software. But will it make a difference to a star staffer with options?
FORTUNE— Call it the itch. Many employees catch it, that desire to find the next great job, discover what new opportunities are out there, search for a more sympathetic manager, and perhaps a raise.
But the employees who actually take the plunge are often the top 10% of performers -- the engineers who create products, the marketers who sell them, the creative ones who develop new revenue streams. And you certainly don't want to lose them.
A December 2011 survey of 3,000 workers conducted by the employment agency Randstad revealed that 47% of employees plan to test the job market in 2012. Complacent employees often sit tight while the ambitious go-getters primed to move up consider new options. But some companies are taking steps to retain their talent and discover why their most valuable staffers might want to depart before it comes time for an exit interview.
Read the full story: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/26/employee-recognition-retention-software/

Employee Engagement in a Multigenerational Workforce

The drive towards equality has in part led to the practice of employers being largely indifferent to the ages of employees in a drive to treat everyone the same. Yet it is through this very indifference that subliminal prejudice can creep into workplace practices resulting in employers consistently failing to maximise the talents and strengths of their staff.
The employment demographic is challenging employers.
Strangely, although the Government’s drive is towards a later retirement age the main employment figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) concentrate on men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. This despite the fact that figures for the quarter to December 2010 show older full time employees at 270,000 with a further 600,000 working part time. Combine these statistics with the current levels of youth unemployment and an interesting pattern appears. The employment demographic is shifting and in the process throwing up challenges for employers.
Same, same but different



The fact is that understanding the differing needs and aspirations of the workforce will enable employers to both align employee engagement and maximise productivity. In this respect true equality means helping people to work to their individual strengths rather than treating everyone the same.
Read the full story: http://www.articlealley.com/employee-engagement-in-a-multigenerational-workforce-2406491.html

More Canadian workers looking for new jobs

Firms in good position to attract new talent
The amount of Canadian workers actively looking for a new job has increased over the last quarter, according to Randstad's latest labour mobility index.
Overall, compared to third quarter results, the mobility index has risen from 103 to 105 points (levels last seen in the first and second quarters of 2011). This increase indicates more employees worldwide expect to be employed elsewhere over the next six months, said Randstad.
In a global context, no other country has experienced greater movement in the labour market in the fourth quarter as Canada has, with an increase of 12 points over the last quarter. Belgium (up eight points) Switzerland (up five points) and Argentina (up five points) have also seen an increase while Singapore (down seven points) has experienced a decline in the fourth quarter, found the index.
Full story on Canadian HR Reporter

To Best Employer Hopefuls: It’s Not About the Perks

Congratulations to all the recipients of the Fortune Magazine annual Best Companies to Work For list. Call me an employee engagement geek but I look forward to this annual report even more than the holiday Neiman Marcus catalog. Primarily for the same psychological reason: The list of perks sparks the same sparkly envy synapses that those over-the-top toys do. It scratches the same itch: The need to know what goodies are the cool kids getting this year.
There are only 100 annual slots for the official Fortune magazine round-up of Best Companies to Work For. But here’s the good news: Any organization can be a great company to work for, no matter what your perk budget may be. It’s not about the perks. It’s not even about being a Best Company to Work For. It’s about giving your best talent a place where they can invest their passions in a community of equally passionate people. You can do that.
Read the full story:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/full_list/

Larry Page: Google should be like a family

FORTUNE -- Almost since the day it set up shop in a garage, Google has been known as one of the world’s best places to work -- if you could get your foot in the door. Crazy-free perks were the reward for graduates of elite schools who had high grade-point averages and who could endure the company's grueling interview process. The perks remain, but as Google (GOOG) has grown, it has gotten more realistic about recruiting -- and kinder about tolerating underperformers. As of last year, the company began recruiting at such nonpedigreed institutions as Texas A&M and the State University of New York at Buffalo; interview sessions that often involved as many as 12 screenings now average between four and five. In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Larry Page, Google's original CEO, who reassumed the position a year ago, speaks with obvious pride about the "family" environment Google tries to encourage, how it differs from his own grandfather's workplace, and how free food encourages people to eat less. And while he doesn't rule out charging for those meals one day, don't count on its happening anytime soon.
Read the full story: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/19/best-companies-google-larry-page/?section=magazines_fortune&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmagazines_fortune+%28Fortune+Magazine%29
You can increase job satisfaction and employee engagement at your company using Insightlink's 4Cs model. We are the only provider of the proven 4Cs Employee Survey methodology.

Promote Employee Engagement to Enhance Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction

Disengaged employees often lead to disgruntled customers. A destination no company wants to reach. But for those employees who feel connected to their company and the service they provide, employee engagement and customer engagement walk hand-in-hand. In fact, 75 percent of employees working for organizations that are customer experience (CX) leaders deem themselves highly or moderately engaged, as opposed to 30 percent at companies that lag behind today's CX leaders.
The "Temkin Group Insight Report: Employee Engagement Benchmark Study" surveyed 2,435 U.S. employees to explore current employee engagement levels. According to Temkin Group, there are four customer experience core competencies: purposeful leadership, compelling brand values, customer connectedness, and employee engagement. However, employee engagement proves to be an area of struggle, as it has been the lowest scoring competency for the past two years despite being crucial to achieving superior business results.
Read the full story: http://www.1to1media.com/View.aspx?DocID=33377&From=RssDocument&utm_source=RSSDocument&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=01-19-2012

Short-sighted Frugality? Employers Who Rein in Compensation Too Much Could Pay a Price Later

As economic malaise bleeds into another New Year, employers are making hard-nosed decisions about benefits and compensation. That means for many in the nation's workforce, compensation remains flat, health care premiums are up, the 401(k) match has disappeared and bonuses are smaller or nonexistent. The result is not hard to guess. When workers feel that "the company is doing fine, but somehow I'm doing worse, at some point there has to be some dissatisfaction with that. It's not sustainable," suggests Wharton management professor Adam Cobb, who studies labor, worker benefits and income inequality. "I think there's a general feeling of: This system is rigged and not in my favor."
A recent survey of 2,500 workers by career website Glassdoor.com found that 17% of workers said employers had cut or eliminated bonuses and 15% had slashed perks such as commuter subsidies. About one quarter said their companies were in a hiring freeze, and about half reported that employers had cut pay or laid off staff in the last six months. January, once warmly anticipated for a year-end bonus, may be remembered in 2012 as the month that year-end gifts -- along with other perks, pay and benefits -- disappeared.
Read the full story: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2931

There’s No Such Thing as Organizational Change

It is everywhere. . .
. . . Political leaders promoting changing policies.
. . . Organizational leadership touting new products or strategies.
. . . Team leaders outlining a process improvement.
Leaders everywhere think their job is to create change across their team, organization or industry.
And they are all wrong.
You can create broad change across people and distance, but you can’t do it by changing the organization.
You can only achieve by helping individuals make the choice to change.
In other words, organizations don’t change, people do.
Read the full story:
http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership/theres-no-such-thing-as-organizational-change/

Is Your Target Success or Significance?

In my work with senior executives, a key question that I ask is, “What are you trying to accomplish: success or significance?” It’s a more difficult question than it seems on the surface.
The “success to significance” journey originated with Bob Buford, founder of the Halftime organization.
Most leaders’ performance is measured on success metrics – net profits, market share, sales growth, etc. These tangible targets are important and desired outcomes for businesses and their leaders. Profits help their enterprise remain viable.
AND, what are the logical consequences of leaders being held accountable only for success metrics? The result is a leadership population (around the globe) that is exclusively focused on success; little else matters in their world.
Often leaders will respond to my question with, “What do you mean, significance?” I try to get them to tell me what significance is, to them. I facilitate a conversation about their personal purpose and about their values. I ask whether the work they do each day enables them to live that purpose & those values – or not.
Read the full story:
http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/?author=1

10 Employee Engagement-Destroying Perceptions You Cannot Afford

If you want to improve employee engagement, boost employee morale, and maximize employee productivity, you cannot simply do the “right things.”
It’s not enough to model best practices demonstrated by employers such as Zappos, Southwest Airlines, and other denizens of the various Best Places to Work lists. You need to identify and eliminate the “wrong things.”
By “wrong,” I mean the organizational and managerial practices that squelch employee engagement and crush employee morale. If you’re doing these, you can guarantee that your workforce is running on only a couple of cylinders. If you are doing these, you can also guarantee that your employees are only mildly interested in producing the best quality product or service.
In fact, it is arguably more important to eliminate the negative than it is to implement the positive. At the very least, it is imperative to quickly identify and eliminate the engagement-damaging and morale-damaging practices before focusing on implementing positive best practices.
http://www.tlnt.com/2012/01/13/10-employee-engagement-destroying-perceptions-you-cannot-afford/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tlnt+%28TLNT%3A+The+Business+of+HR%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

How process leads to the idea

By Jeffrey Hayzlett

“It’s not that Jeff doesn’t care about ideas, it’s just that he knows those are byproducts of performing the CMO job as a true leader.” That’s what FastCompany.com’s Drew Neisser wrote about me, and what that means is it all comes down to process. Some people get caught up in the idea rather than the process, but I think the process leads to the idea.

Change agents know what most business leaders often find out the hard way: When companies are growing rapidly and changing dramatically, things can easily go awry. That’s why change agents, before they shake things up, like to get things under control.

Read the full story:

http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2012/01/12/how-process-leads-to-the-idea/

Insightlink Communications is your one-stop source for employee surveys, exit surveys and other research tools for measuring employee attitudes and opinions. We work with you and your team to understand and create solutions for your unique needs - and we do it with unmatched expertise, efficiency and value.

5 Top Sales Tips for Employee Engagement Success

Employee engagement is the name of the game as we dive into 2012. Talent retention is your priority. And maybe, if there must be great talent on the move, let them be someone else’s and you can snap them up. (You know that carnival machine with blowing dollar bills? That’s what I’m picturing right now, only in this case those bills are Grade A resumes. And you’re the one wildly grabbing at them as they flutter by.) You traditionally tap into your HR team and corporate communications geniuses to develop your employee engagement initiative. It’s time to bring a new corporate player to the talent retention table: Your sales stars.
Read the full story: http://hrcareersuccess.com/career/employee-engagement-success

Make the Most of Criticism in the Workplace

Constructive criticism from your boss can be a gift in the way that a free gym membership can be a gift: Even if you didn't want it, it can benefit you greatly.
Count yourself fortunate if you have a boss who is thoughtful enough to let you know early on that your performance isn't where it should be. Many bosses simply let a poor performer slide until it's too late and their job is at risk. If your boss pulls you aside to let you know that you're just not cutting it, consider the following:
Read the full story: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/01/10/make-the-most-of-criticism-in-the-workplace
More than just an "off-the-shelf employee survey", the 4Cs Employee Survey can be easily customized to fit your organization's needs with additional topics and/or questions to address specific areas of concern you may have. With Insightlink's 4Cs approach, you are not just getting a survey, you are getting survey experts.

New Jobs Report Looks Good. Are We Out of the Woods Yet?

Bullish news for the US economy: this week the ADP employment report and the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that the economy added 200,000 jobs in December and the US unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% (down .6% since August). Many of these jobs are in non-cyclical businesses (healthcare, food service, and manufacturing), which shows that companies are starting to invest for growth.
It’s clear to me (and our research confirms this) that businesses are now investing again. In our most recent research to senior HR executives around the world, 35% of respondents told us that one of their top three challenges was “attracting critical talent in growing markets.” This number is nearly double what we saw a year ago. And many of these new positions are outside the US, located in the emerging economies (India, China, Eastern Europe) where demand is high.
Read the full story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/01/06/new-jobs-report-looks-good-are-we-out-of-the-woods-yet/

What you need to know about employee handbooks

If you’re a growing small business largely operating under a set of unwritten rules, now might be a good time to consider developing an employee handbook. Having a set of clearly spelled-out guidelines could boost efficiency, make relations between your workers smoother and save you from getting into legal trouble in the future.
This also might be a good time for businesses that have employee handbooks to review their guidelines and to update policies addressing new issues, such as the use of social media in the workplace.
Read the full story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/what-you-need-to-know-about-employee-handbooks/2012/01/04/gIQAJKI6cP_story.html?wprss=on-small-business
Companies lose $350 billion a year because of employee disengagement. Your company does NOT have to be one of them. Disengaged employees impact your business' productivity, level of innovation, and ultimately the bottom line.

Employees With Flexible Work Hours Are Healthier

 

Are employees in flexible work arrangements better off than those who stay in the office from nine to five? Researchers led by University of Minnesota sociology professor Phyllis Moen analyzed longitudinal data collected from 659 employees in Best Buy's headquarters before and after the Results-Only Work Environment initiative was introduced in 2006. They compared changes in health-promoting behaviors and well-being between employees who focused on measurable results instead of when and where work is completed and those who passed on the program.

Read more on The Atlantic Study of the Day