Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504070025
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: Dana C. Ackley finds ``hard-working employees, fired for behavior'' are frequently surprised because ``too often, employers don't say anything until they can't stand it anymore.''
Ackley, co-founder of Peak Performance Consultation, says that ``100 percent of businesses have conflict; 86 percent are dissatisfied with the handling of conflict on the job. It's often mishandled.'' Conflict includes dissatisfaction with employees.
Ackley suggests employers learn ``coaching skills as a less expensive alternative to training new employees and waiting for their performance to come up to the desired levels. It's more cost-effective to develop current employees.''
Coaching skills are linked to feedback; Ackley offers a four-step feedback model:
``Approach the person and begin with a clear statement of the problem in behavioral, not personal, terms. Include in this statement why the behavior is a problem.
``Identify how, to you, the employee is valuable to the company.'' Employees who know they're valued ``will listen more closely to criticism.''
Make a ``clear request for changes which need to be made. Tell what you want, not what you don't want.'' The latter detracts from the request you're making.
``Ask the employee for his or her thoughts and his or her cooperation.''
Ackley provides an additional motivation for providing adequate feedback: ``The replacement may be worse.'' If termination brings an ``I wasn't expecting this'' response, feedback is likely the missing ingredient.
Q: We've attracted good employees, but don't keep them long. A fellow manager suggests ``people go where the money is.'' Is it more than that?
A: Roger E. Herman, author of ``Keeping Good People'' (1991), argues that ``people shift their loyalties to a new employer because of ... nonmonetary factors.''
Herman believes that ``people are hungry for opportunities to grow in their jobs. They crave advancement, in position and stature, and in responsibility and opportunity. If they can't find avenues for growth in one environment, they'll seek them in another.'' Growth in responsibility isn't more tasks at one's current level; it's horizontal expansion, rarely welcomed, and it frequently overloads employees.
Strategic responses help keep good employees. These responses include environmental strategies which address 1) ethics and values foundation on which the organization is built; 2) policies that interpret those values and translate them into operative action; and 3) the physical environment - a concrete manifestation of the organization's concern for the space that its people occupy.
Herman's environmental strategies encompass sharing a vision, valuing each individual, teamwork, two-way loyalty, offering stability and security, prohibiting discrimination of any kind, promoting integrity, avoiding stupid rules, and using the organization's business plan.
Relationship strategies include understanding behavioral styles, resolving conflicts, facilitating open communication, showing respect for others, staying accessible, and maintaining a sense of humor.
Herman also addresses task-focused strategies, compensation strategies, and people-growing strategies. These are clear, focused and easily implemented.
While money may be a contributing factor, it's more likely that organizational areas have been neglected. You need to know which areas have pushed employees away.
You may be able to identify them quickly through exit interviews. Ask folks why they're leaving.
Additionally, try calls to former employees - ask if they can help you understand why they left. Withhold judgment and listen carefully; former employees may give valuable insight.
Q: We've spent considerable sums sending staff to off-site seminars. I'd like the information shared with others, but few have the skills to ``re-create'' the seminar for us.
A: Training is an investment - it makes sense to stretch the investment. Establish the expectation that, in staff meetings, seminar participants will give brief summaries of seminars and training sessions. Follow up with the suggestion that those interested in greater detail talk with the participant.
Consider holding infrequent, but recurring, ``learning lunches.'' Learning lunches are relaxed roundtable events where staffers give summaries of seminars they've attended.
The informality of either approach increases comfort levels of reluctant speakers. For experienced speakers, offer the possibility of presenting brief versions of seminars.
With ``expected sharing,'' the organization gets broader information dissemination for its money. Additionally, seminar attenders pay close attention to material and look for ways to utilize what they learn - a real increase in the organization's return on investment.
by CNB