TM - June 2008 - (Page 24) recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning [assessment & evaluation] by Lindsay Edmonds Wickman Candid Cul ture: Embracing Employee Complaints Workplace candor is an elusive but important trait to cultivate. When employees feel their voices are heard and their perspectives count, innovation, efficiency and productivity are the result. E ver hear the tagline “Your Vote Counts?” In corporate America, the mantra might read “Your Opinion Matters.” ployees have provided their voice, their perspective, and it’s very important for them to see that it’s acknowledged and acted upon.” While a survey is a great method to gather candid feedback, it can only provide numbers, not stories. The cycle of candor is complete when the managers take the GEOS data back to employees and they work together to find solutions. “We ask the employee’s opinion — take it online, put [it] in reports, summarize it, analyze it, review it and cut it in different ways,” Schumann said. “The meaningful part is once [we] have that information, [we] go back and share what we’ve learned in the aggregate, then have more conversations and ultimately take actions as a result of what was learned. It’s closing the loop. We start with the employee, and we complete with the employee. “We have a terrific culture with respect to candor and employee opinion, but the survey is just one mechanism. It’s an important one, but it’s strengthened because we also have other forums by which our employees speak with our leaders. You need multiple touch points. You can’t ask enough: What’s the pulse of the employee?” US Airways: A Different Kind of Candor Airlines struggle with many industry-specific challenges such as developing an aura of candor in an environment in which the majority of employees work from a cockpit, galley, runway or airport instead of a traditional four-walled office. US Airways overcomes this obstacle by meeting its 36,000 highly dispersed employees where they are: in the field. Cultivating candor at the airline is especially crucial because some areas still operate with two different cul- Unfortunately, creating a workplace that values candid feedback is no easy task. Cultures in which employees feel safe sharing their inner thoughts and breaking down barriers are rare. Promoting this type of candor, however, can produce substantial benefits including the ability to harness innovation, root out underlying problems and increase productivity. “Organizations and leaders look at risk management, but they don’t look at the risk of poor communication and lack of candor,” said Jim Bolton, CEO of Ridge Training, which provides interpersonal communication skills training. “If people felt empowered to talk openly about how to resolve the problems they encounter on a day-to-day basis, huge gains could be made in productivity and efficiency.” General Electric’s Approach to Candor The legacy of candor established during Jack Welch’s tenure still reverberates throughout General Electric. What was once considered the CEO Survey during his reign has become an enterprise-wide initiative known as the General Electric Opinion Survey (GEOS). Approximately 235,000 of GE’s 330,000 employees are eligible to complete the GEOS. Because of its size and scope — it takes six months to prepare and disseminate in 29 languages — the survey is biennial, allowing GE’s business units more time to act on the data. “[We] decided to move it to a two-year cycle to give us more time to work with the insights we had gained,” said Nancy Schumann, GEOS survey co-leader. “Em- 24 June 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The New Components of Compliance Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships Implementing Successful Learning Programs The Succession Fix Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 - (Page Intro) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover1) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover2) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page 3) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 4) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 5) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 6) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 7) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 8) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 9) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 10) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 11) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 12) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 13) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 14) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 15) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 16) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 17) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 18) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 19) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 20) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 21) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 22) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 23) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 24) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 25) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 26) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 27) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 28) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 29) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 30) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 31) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 32) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 33) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 34) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 35) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 36) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 37) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 38) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 39) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 40) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 41) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 42) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 43) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 44) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 45) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 46) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 47) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 48) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 49) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 50) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 51) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 52) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 53) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 54) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 55) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 56) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 57) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 58) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 59) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 60) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 61) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 62) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 63) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 64) TM - June 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 65) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page 66) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover3) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover4)
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