Retain Your 'A' Players with the "Stay Interview"

"People who have too many distractions to actually do any real work are in that bind because they haven't invested enough time, effort or risk in their people, their organization and their processes."

- Seth Godin

 

I propose one of the most stressful times in a business owner's or manager's life is when a top employee walks in and quits.

If you want to improve at engaging and retaining key employees, there's one simple step you can take. This one step is known as a "stay" interview. Dr. John Sullivan, an HR thought leader and former chief talent officer for Agilent Technologies, has recommended stay interviews for more than 20 years.

How to Pull Off a Perfect Stay Interview

A "stay" interview, writes Sullivan on TLNT, is a one-on-one interview between a manager and a valued employee. Its aim, quite simply, is to learn what makes employees want to keep working for you. Likewise, it's designed to elicit what might make key employees want to leave. Conduct enough stay interviews, and you might find  your employees are citing the same reasons for staying (or wanting to go).

Sullivan suggests holding interviews once a year, during a slow business period. Don't space out the interviews, either. Conduct all of them (with all your key employees) within weeks of each other. That way, you can take what you've learned and promptly implement around that information. For new hires, conducting the interviews at four and eight months is acceptable. 

Start the interview. How do you initiate a stay interview with a key employee? Say something like this: "Thanks for taking the time to have this discussion. As one of our key employees, I want to informally pose some simple questions that can help me to understand the factors that cause you to enjoy and stay in your current role," writes Sullivan.

Learn why they stay. One method is to deploy what Sullivan calls the "best work of your life" question. Specifically, ask your employees: "Can you list for me the factors that could contribute to your doing the best work of your life?" Sullivan notes that this is the No. 1 retention factor for top performers. 

 Learn why they leave. Ask about recent frustrations. Sullivan's questions include: "Think back to a time in the last 12 months when you have been at least slightly frustrated or anxious about your current role. Can you list for me the frustration factor or factors that most contributed to that anxiety? Can you also help me understand what eventually happened to lower that frustration level?"

Those are just three of the 20 questions Sullivan says you should consider asking in stay interviews. Ask them, and you'll be well on your way to improving engagement and retention. 

 And remember: You're taking a big step, just by periodically asking your people if they're happy. "Most employees," writes Sullivan, "are excited simply by the fact that the organization is concerned about their future and that their manager took the time to consult with them."

Easy Way to Measure Your People's Happiness - Daily

"I did then what I knew how to do and when I knew better, I did better."

- Maya Angelou

 

I hope you know better when it comes to your employees, your people, your team. The happier they are, the more they share your core values. The more engaged they are every day, the more success your company will have financially and the happier you will be going to work every day. 

There are two take-a-ways here: Core Values -- it is important to have them, communicate them and surround yourself with people who believe in them. Second a great way to monitor the happiness of your employees everyday - simple, inexpensive and powerful. Watch the video and read the article below to find out more.

Core Values Video

Video of a company that embraces their core values and the results of having a great company where people love coming to work. (14 minutes)

A Strategy For Measuring Employee Happiness (And Acting On The Result)

By David Tomas

Happiness and work are two terms that, when put together, some might say form an oxymoron. In our company, we do all what we can to ensure that these two words are synonyms for every one of our employees. Employee well-being is important to us, as reflected in our first core value: admire people. But we've also found it impacts the success of our company overall.

While the idea of happiness and engagement at work are discussed frequently, the problem for many entrepreneurs is, how exactly do you measure happiness? And once you do, then what? We've devised a system that can easily be adapted for your business needs. Here's how it works.

Check in on Each Employee With the Traffic Light Survey (easy approach at end of article)

If your company wants to increase profit, they can compare the current period's profit amount with those of previous periods. Increasing company happiness is no different. You must be aware of current happiness levels to be sure in the future the levels are, in fact, increasing.

 To do this, we ask three simple questions each day through an online form that includes a comment section. For the first two questions, employees can choose between options "super green", "green", "yellow" and "red".

1. What mood did you arrive in today?
2. What mood are you leaving in today?
3. On a scale of one to four, how much did you like the tasks you did today?

Our traffic light survey takes less than a minute to complete and encourages employees to be more self-aware and frank. We use a Google Doc that sends the results to a central location where we analyze the outcome averages and outliers and compare them to previous periods. But there are many other ways to collect and analyze this data, including a device by Celpax.

We also ask employees to fill out a more extensive survey once a month through an online form that includes various topics such as the work-life balance, remuneration, employee relations, ability to express opinions, opportunities for professional growth, alignment of company goals and personal goals, etc.

Hold an Open Discussion

The next step is crucial: discussing the results and brainstorming solutions. Our team meets every Monday for 45 minutes. We discuss many things, but the survey is always on the agenda.

One person reads the results, stating averages and any good or bad comments. "Green" or "super green" has essentially the same meaning as it does on the road: keep going. A "yellow" response signifies that we need to slow down and leave it to the person to decide if there is an issue or if it has since been resolved. A "red" response signifies that we need to stop and address the issue. Importantly, employees are always welcome to speak privately with anyone in our no-doors office if they prefer.

Our team also meets once a month for a longer period of time, where we discuss opportunities for growth and go over the statistics of the more extensive survey, comparing it to the previous month's results. We discuss ways to improve results for the upcoming months.

We have found that this open discussion structure builds trust. Your "boss" isn't analyzing your results and giving you feedback; this isn't a pass/fail exam. This is an exercise with the pure intention of, as a team, being more aware of our happiness and taking actions to increase it. It's also a great example of our second core value: always find a better way. If what someone is doing causes them stress or unhappiness, we must find a better way.

Take Action

Three years ago, we went through a period that resulted in a lot of red answers to the traffic light survey. We were able to identify a pattern. The workload had increased exponentially due to the addition of a new, half million-dollar client that needed some very technical deadline-driven work. It required a big commitment, and the stress was overwhelming the team. Many employees stayed at work late, some worked during the weekends and others simply felt overwhelmed. All, at some point, answered the survey negatively.

After we established this pattern, we knew we had to do something. We were still trying to stay afloat, and the client provided a safety cushion - but they were also causing unhappiness. As a team, we made the difficult decision to let the client go. It was a risk for our company, but we knew it was the right thing to do to remain aligned and true to our core values.

The results we saw in the health of our company were surprising. In 2012, our EBITDA margin was 6 percent. In 2013, the year following the client's departure, we realized an increase in this margin to 10.5 percent. In 2014, it rose to 15 percent. I believe the increase of the EBITDA is the result of our team's motivation to put in their best work and treat each client with the absolute best customer service. Our focus on happiness has also contributed to our high employee retention rate. Only one employee has left in the past three years due to personal reasons.

If you want to improve productivity, increase motivation and enhance the flow of positivity and creative solutions at your company, you have to start somewhere. Regularly surveying your team for both day-to-day happiness and longer-term satisfaction gives you with tangible, analyzable results. Just as with anything else that needs improvement, you need a benchmark. An organized system for surveying and acting on feedback gives you that for relatively little time and money, and in my experience, give you the best return on investment yet.

Follow this link to see an inexpensive, simple way to monitor and get a report of the daily happiness level of your team. Device is on the wall by the door and every employee simply hits red or green as they leave each day. A report is generated with trend lines.  Cost $1 per employee per month.

John C. Maxwell: 5 Qualities of People Who Use Time Wisely

"The key is not to prioritize what is on the schedule,
but to schedule your priorities."

- Stephen Covey, Author and Speaker

Want to tame time? Here's how to maximize the precious minutes we get each day.

 

From John C. Maxwell:

Time is precious.

Ask the coach whose team is behind in the final seconds of a game. Ask the air traffic controller in charge of scheduling takeoffs and landings at a major airport. Ask the news reporter who has just received a breaking story from the AP wire. Ask the cancer patient who just learned he has only two months left to live.

Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have. Our days are identical suitcases-all the same size-but some can pack more into them than others. No one has a magical ability to make time, but if our lives have direction, we can make the most of the moments we have been given.

Time stewardship is perhaps a leader's greatest responsibility. In the words of Peter Drucker, "Nothing else distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time."

How do we maximize the precious minutes given to us each day? Learn and emulate the five characteristics of people who use time wisely:

1. They are purposeful.

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life. By consistently channeling time and energy toward an overarching purpose, people can most fully realize their potential.

We cannot reach peak performance without a peak purpose. Purpose enlivens all that we do. In fact, I believe the two greatest days in a person's life are the day they are born and the day they discover why. Uncovering purpose helps to refine passion, focus efforts and sharpen commitments. The cumulative result is to amplify achievements.

2. They are committed to values.

People who use time correctly underscore their values with the time they spend. By acting in accordance with their beliefs, they find fulfillment. Failure to identify values leads to a rudderless existence in which people drift through life, uncertain as to what they hold dear. Clarity of values is like a beacon of light, guiding the way through life's twists and turns.

When extended to an organization, values inspire a sense of broader purpose. They make work worthwhile. In an organization, if vision is the head and mission is the heart, then values are the soul. Values endow day-to-day operations and transactions with meaning.

3. They are attuned to their strengths.

People who use time correctly play to their strengths. By doing so, they are most effective. People don't pay for average. If your skill level is a two, don't waste substantial time trying to improve because you'll likely never grow beyond a four. However, if you're a seven in an area, hone that skill, because when you become a nine, you've reached a rare level of expertise.

As Jim Sundberg says, "Discover your uniqueness; then discipline yourself to develop it." You are blessed with a unique set of skills and talents. Find them, refine them and let them carry you toward success.

4. They are choosers of happiness.

People who use time the right way choose happiness by prioritizing relationships and recreation. While choosing happiness may seem simple and obvious, far too many people are trying to prove themselves and validate their worth. These people chase after power and prestige, and along the way their friendships wither, their family is ignored and they skip vacation after vacation. In the end, any success they earn is a hollow and lonely achievement.

Family and friendships are two of the greatest facilitators of happiness. Prioritizing time to cultivate relationships is a hallmark of a healthy leader. Likewise, scheduling leisure combats stress and allows us to delight in the hobbies that bring us joy. In the end, happiness is an inside job. We are wise to surround ourselves with family, friends and fun, but ultimately we determine our internal response to the people and circumstances in our lives.

5. They are equippers.

People who use time properly equip others in order to compound their productivity. They realize the limitations of individual attainment, and they build teams to expand their impact. By developing an inner circle of leaders and investing in them, wise time-users multiply their influence.

Equippers recognize that legacies are carried on by people, not trophies. They pour themselves into the lives of others and watch the ripple effect of their leadership spread through those they have taught and mentored. Equippers seek significance over the long term, which causes them to have a vested interest in the success of their successors.

As much as we would like, we can't find more time-it's a finite and constantly diminishing resource. But we can learn to spend time wisely.

My Add:

Identify your ROCKS - the high priority, high value projects/actions - and block your calendar. Make appointments with yourself (60 -90 minutes at a time) and stop and focus on those ROCKS as though it is an appointment with your most important customer. No cutting it, no moving it around, no fitting it in somewhere else. Maybe one block a day.  

Regards,

Rick Wallace

Recruiting - Think Marketing and Sales

"At most companies, people spend 2 percent of their time recruiting and 75 percent managing their recruiting mistakes." 

- Richard Fairbanks, CEO of Capital One

A new Manpower study shows that even though we have the largest amount of people out of the workforce in 30 years, we have a labor shortage in the US.

The top 3 positions that are the hardest to fill are sales, service technicians and drivers.

I would like to share with you some thoughts on how that changes the long held beliefs about recruiting and some ideas about tactics you should be testing.

First, it means the best people are working for someone else. They are probably not looking in the paper or online for a job. Traditional methods to find and attract them are not going to work alone.

You have to think about Recruiting like you think about sales and marketing. What do I mean?

You have to be proactive and take action, not sit back passively and wait for people to come to you. Think about how valuable the right 'A' Player is to your company. Isn't it worth spending a couple of hours a week working on finding and attracting them?

People Marketing and Sales

• You have to profile your Ideal Candidates - just like you do your Ideal Customer.
• You need a Value Proposition - your elevator speech, your message that begins with their pain, the best solution and why you are the best solution provider.
• You have to then get that message out in all the right places and right ways: Social media, Network with business associates, or Email.
• Referrals - Visit your best customers and ask them "Who is the best salesperson that calls on you"? "Who is the best service tech that comes into your place?" Then call them up and take them to breakfast. Talk about the pain they have at their present job (HVAC hot attics, emergency calls at all hours of the night, etc. Sales people who don't have support, have to do it all, are held back, etc.)
• Have a bounty for your employees to bring in candidates and if you hire them give a little bonus on top.
• All this also means you may have to find them young and train them the way you want them to be. 

To Find Service Techs              

1. Use classified advertisements in newspapers, circulars and trade publications. Use your new Value Proposition - not the regular milk toast ads you now place. View Sample Ad with VP
2. Place an outside sign that attracts a "crafts person" or "handy person," rather than saying a "service technician."
3. Advertise job positions on the Internet and radio. Value Proposition again.
4. Sponsor an automotive/handyman related radio/TV talk show. Value Proposition again.
5. Visit with personnel that retire or leave military service and want a new career.
6. Get involved with a high or technical school. Offer to do presentations from the business owners point of view to help prepare students, do product demos, loan them equipment, let them tour your place, etc. Offer assistance to counselors and shop teachers, and participate in career day activities.
7. Develop an internship program for high school students or technical school students to work part-time with experienced technicians.
8. Encourage local high schools and vocational schools to add maintenance and repair as an elective shop course or vocational development program, and help establish a degree program.
9. Offer financial incentives such as signing bonuses, benefit packages, tuition assistance, voluntary overtime opportunities, promotions tied to competency instead of seniority, tool reimbursements and cash incentives for industry training and certifications.

You have to be doing this all the time, consistently just like you market and sell your company's services and products.

In other words, I believe this is the most important couple of hours you can spend each week - recruiting and building that bench - take action because just knowing what to do is not enough.

Regards,

Rick Wallace

Talent Shortage is Real - You Must Recruit Every Day

"At most companies, people spend 2 percent of their time recruiting and 75 percent managing their recruiting mistakes."

- Richard Fairbanks, CEO of Capital One

From Luke Graham, special on CNBC:

More than one-third of employers around the world are experiencing difficulty filling job positions, global employment consultancy Manpower reported on Monday.

Manpower surveyed 41,700 hiring managers across 42 countries in its annual "talent shortage" report in the first three months of 2015. It found that 38 percent of managers could not find the talent they needed - the highest proportion since 2007 and two percent higher than last year.

"Businesses across the world continue to face a crippling talent shortage," said Manpower in a new release accompanying its report.

It found the hardest jobs to fill were sales representatives and skilled trade workers such as chefs, mechanics and electricians.

"Talent shortages are a real problem, hurting organizations' competitiveness. From the data we've gathered and the structural changes we can see coming in the labor markets, we know the problem is only going to get worse," said Manpower CEO Jonas Prising, in the news release.

Hardest jobs to fill globally in 2015: Manpower

1. Skilled Trades

2. Sales Representatives

3. Engineers

4. Technicians

5. Drivers

6. Management / Executives

7. Accounting & Finance Staff

8. Office Support Staff

9. IT Staff

10. Production / Machine Operators

  

The best are working for someone else. You must be looking for talent every day and have you're 'A" Players always looking for talent too. Build that virtual bench.  

Next week we will discuss how. Hint: you have to think about recruiting like you think about marketing your company. It is not your father's/mother's world out there today.  

  

Regards,

Rick Wallace