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FROM
THE PRESiDENT
Take a look at
your very best employees and ask yourself, what will happen if he/she leaves?
If you don't like the answer, then the salient question is "how do I
keep him/her?"
Any good manager
knows that happy, satisfied workers will generally perform better than
those who don't feel as satisfied, and are far less likely to seek alternate
employment.
During the 50's
and 60's, Fredrick Herzberg decided to research the key factors affecting a
worker's performance. He found that certain factors tended to cause a
worker to feel unsatisfied with his or her job. These factors seemed to
directly relate to the employee's environment, such as the physical
surroundings, supervisors and even the company itself. He developed a
theory based on this observation, naming it the "Hygiene Theory."
According to his
theory, for a worker to be happy and therefore productive, these
environmental factors must not cause discomfort. Although the elimination
of the environmental problems may make a worker productive, it will not
necessarily motivate him. The question remains, "How can managers
motivate employees?" Many managers believe that motivating employees
requires giving rewards. Herzberg, however, believed that workers become
motivated through feeling responsible for, and connected to their work. In this
case, the work itself is rewarding.
Almost fifty years
later the same issues continue to dominate employee surveys. When the
"cream of the crop" employees are polled, they rank the ability
to learn more and move ahead as one of their primary motivators. Hence, we
have devoted this month's Directions to motivating workers by fostering the
LEARNING ORGANIZATION.
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Greetings!
Welcome
to the September 2004 edition of DiRECTIONS. Because many of you are
planning for 2005, we wanted to provide valuable tools and ideas to keep
in mind as you define strategies for the upcoming year.
First,
we outline the advantages of becoming a "Learning
Organization". Next, in order to help your company in this aspect,
we invite all clients and staff to take advantage of our free skills
assessment program, which can help your organization determine the areas
to focus training.
Finally,
we provide an outline for evaluating your competitive position within the
market through the use of a Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and
Threats (SWOT) analysis framework.
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Become a Learning
Organization
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The concept of a "Learning
Organization" emerged in the 1980s as a method of conducting
business in turbulent, competitive markets. It applies to all types of
organizations, from restaurants to investment firms, because it
motivates individuals to continue to improve their knowledge base. In
this article, we outline characteristics of a learning organization,
provide tools defined as Best Practices that enable these
characteristics and the result that occurs when an organization
sustains these practices.
We categorize the characteristics into
four categories:
- Communication and openness - This involves being honest with yourself
about situations (self- reflection) and pushing the group to
clarify and evaluate the underlying assumptions about how work
gets done within the organization (participatory reflection).
Additionally, it involves communication flow from the bottom to
the top and vice-versa.
- Inquiry and feedback - This encourages individuals to question
things as a normal course of their work. It motivates them to take
risks to improve their work. Feedback is not simply recognition of
inquiries; it includes activities from which individuals can
learn. It consists of building an individual knowledge base from
proactive rather than defensive thinking. Individuals with more
experience coach those with less, not only in doing things the
right way, but also in the consequences of doing things the wrong
way. This aspect of a "Learning Organization" involves
"why", not just "how".
- Adequate time - In order to accomplish points discussed
above, individuals must have adequate time to focus on such
activities.
- Mutual respect and support - We must treat every individual in the
organization with equal and consistent respect with regard to
their individual contribution to the organization.
Read On...
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Free Skills
Assessment Tests for HRi Clients!
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 To help our
clients emerge as learning organizations, we are pleased to provide you
with free skills assessment tests in over 600 areas. Additionally, we
offer online training in many of theses disciplines for employees
interested in expanding their knowledge.
Follow the link below to view all
available tests. If you are interested in taking a test or in training,
contact Mary Beth Cornett in our office at 443.321.7700 or via email at
mcornett@hri-online.com
Skills
Assessment Tests
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How a SWOT
Analysis can Increase Your Productivity
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Many companies are planning for the
year 2005. Prior to developing your plan, it is imperative that owners,
managers and employees alike, understand the company's competitive
position within the market. One way to achieve this is to analyze both
internal and external forces that influence the organization. A SWOT
analysis framework analyzes internal (S)trengths and (W)eaknesses and
external (O)pportunities and (T)hreats (SWOT). Once the company
understands these forces, it can determine strategies that capitalize
on them and incorporate these strategies into its overall business
plan.
First, the organization performs an
internal scan to identify strengths and weaknesses that influence its
ability to compete. When conducting the scan, consider the following:
- Corporate Culture
- Company Image
- Organizational Structure
- Key Staff
- Access to Natural Resources
- Position on the Experience Curve
- Operational Efficiency
- Brand Awareness
- Market Share
- Financial Resources
- Exclusive Contracts
- Patents and Trade Secrets
Next, the organization must conduct an
external scan to determine opportunities and threats. While doing so,
consider the following:
- Customers
- Competitors
- Market Trends
- Suppliers
- Partners
- Social Changes
- New Technology
- Economic Environment
- Political and Regulatory Environment
After identifying specific Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, plot each on a matrix. List
Internal forces as row headers and external forces as column headers.
Within each cell, combine forces (Strengths/Opportunities,
Weaknesses/Opportunities, Strengths/Threats, Weaknesses/Threats) and
develop strategies to capitalize on them.
Click the link below to see a SWOT
matrix example based on the Campbell Soup Company.
SWOT
Example...
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