|
Treating your key employees right is the best way to not lose them.
But how do you know what they want and how they really feel? That's
where the aptly named Keepers Inc. comes in. Toronto-based Keepers
uses one-on-one coaching techniques, along with lots of honest feedback,
to help employees express themselves and to help managers gauge
their own performance.
"At the leadership level," explains Keepers president Daniel O'Connor,
"we work with managers and executives to help them find gaps in
their leadership style."
Keepers does this by having the managers, plus their bosses, employees
and peers, all go on-line and answer a questionnaire called a Leadership
360. The results of this survey are distilled down to a written
report that includes comments others have made about 21 aspects
of the manager's leadership abilities (whew!). Keepers then formulates
action plans to help them hone their leadership skills.
Key employees also get their own coach. "We team them up with a
coach whose job is to help that person become more satisfied with
their job," says O'Connor.
The employee goes on-line and completes a survey called a Career
Values Explorer, which measures satisfaction in 45 different work-related
areas such as work/family balance, recognition, and variety of work.
Every two weeks for the next six months the employee sits down with
a coach - usually someone with counseling or HR experience - for
an hour and a half working to implement personalized action plans
that will lead to improved work satisfaction.
What has O'Connor found that bugs staff the most? "Having managers
that don't give them the respect and recognition they want, we well
as not having the opportunity to develop a clear career path."
His advice to managers: "Spend more time one-on-one with employees
instead of working so much in groups," he says. "Spend more time
finding out what employees want and look for ways to give it to
them."
|
