In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the

According to some recently published statistics, there are 400,000 new jobs being created in Alberta between now and 2010 and an additional 100,000 jobs being created as the baby boomer generation begins to leave the workforce. Where are these workers going to come from? Alberta businesses are already experiencing shortages of workers to the point that some businesses have closed their doors. Some fast food restaurants have closed except for the drive-through windows. Turnover rates are skyrocketing. It is not uncommon for engineering firms to be experiencing 30% turnover rates and higher.

In “normal” work environments in North America statistics show that businesses loose between US$45 and $100 billion annually due to lost productivity caused by stress in the workplace. In today’s marketplace this cost could end up substantially higher. It can cost well over $100,000 to recruit, train and get a senior level engineer integrated into a new firm and onto a new project. Add in moving cost, signing bonuses, stock options, referral fees, moving expenses and other miscellaneous costs, the total expense can be absolutely staggering. And this is just turnover cost and doesn’t take into account the decreased moral and productivity each time another person resigns and walks out the door of a company.

So how do companies alleviate some of this stress, financial loss, turnover and low productivity? How can companies keep their employees happier and make them more productive, effective and efficient? How can companies slow the turnover rate?

According to the Gallop Organization and Marcus Buckingham (author of First, Break All the Rules) one of the most powerful things an employer can do is to ensure that their employees have the chance each day to do what they do best. This is one of 12 factors that Buckingham and the Gallop Organization found to directly impact employee retention and attraction. This one factor was found to be huge in keeping people motivated, satisfied and productive in the workplace. But how can you discover what each employee does best without spending loads of money and time on each employee? One powerful way is to ensure that employees are placed into roles that take advantage of their strengths. But this begs the question, “How does one determine the individual strengths of each employee?” The answer is not as onerous as it would seem.

Values

Every person has a unique set of values that are different from the corporation’s values and probably different from the values of the person sitting next to them. This is a fact that most people are aware of but seemingly few people give a second thought. However, people become very uncomfortable when their values are continually challenged as values are like a person’s moral compass. This compass points to what a person’s values determine is correct. Every decision that a person makes is driven by their values. When a person is asked to head in a different direction than their moral compass is leading them it will cause stress and turnover.

In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the c

In “normal” work environments in North America statistics show that businesses loose between US$45 and $100 billion annually due to lost productivity caused by stress in the workplace. In today’s marketplace this cost could end up substantially higher. It can cost well over $100,000 to recruit, train and get a senior level engineer integrated into a new firm and onto a new project. Add in moving cost, signing bonuses, stock options, referral fees, moving expenses and other miscellaneous costs, the total expense can be absolutely staggering. And this is just turnover cost and doesn’t take into account the decreased moral and productivity each time another person resigns and walks out the door of a company.

So how do companies alleviate some of this stress, financial loss, turnover and low productivity? How can companies keep their employees happier and make them more productive, effective and efficient? How can companies slow the turnover rate?

According to the Gallop Organization and Marcus Buckingham (author of First, Break All the Rules) one of the most powerful things an employer can do is to ensure that their employees have the chance each day to do what they do best. This is one of 12 factors that Buckingham and the Gallop Organization found to directly impact employee retention and attraction. This one factor was found to be huge in keeping people motivated, satisfied and productive in the workplace. But how can you discover what each employee does best without spending loads of money and time on each employee? One powerful way is to ensure that employees are placed into roles that take advantage of their strengths. But this begs the question, “How does one determine the individual strengths of each employee?” The answer is not as onerous as it would seem.

Values

Every person has a unique set of values that are different from the corporation’s values and probably different from the values of the person sitting next to them. This is a fact that most people are aware of but seemingly few people give a second thought. However, people become very uncomfortable when their values are continually challenged as values are like a person’s moral compass. This compass points to what a person’s values determine is correct. Every decision that a person makes is driven by their values. When a person is asked to head in a different direction than their moral compass is leading them it will cause stress and turnover.

In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the

According to the Gallop Organization and Marcus Buckingham (author of First, Break All the Rules) one of the most powerful things an employer can do is to ensure that their employees have the chance each day to do what they do best. This is one of 12 factors that Buckingham and the Gallop Organization found to directly impact employee retention and attraction. This one factor was found to be huge in keeping people motivated, satisfied and productive in the workplace. But how can you discover what each employee does best without spending loads of money and time on each employee? One powerful way is to ensure that employees are placed into roles that take advantage of their strengths. But this begs the question, “How does one determine the individual strengths of each employee?” The answer is not as onerous as it would seem.

Values

Every person has a unique set of values that are different from the corporation’s values and probably different from the values of the person sitting next to them. This is a fact that most people are aware of but seemingly few people give a second thought. However, people become very uncomfortable when their values are continually challenged as values are like a person’s moral compass. This compass points to what a person’s values determine is correct. Every decision that a person makes is driven by their values. When a person is asked to head in a different direction than their moral compass is leading them it will cause stress and turnover.

In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the

Values

Every person has a unique set of values that are different from the corporation’s values and probably different from the values of the person sitting next to them. This is a fact that most people are aware of but seemingly few people give a second thought. However, people become very uncomfortable when their values are continually challenged as values are like a person’s moral compass. This compass points to what a person’s values determine is correct. Every decision that a person makes is driven by their values. When a person is asked to head in a different direction than their moral compass is leading them it will cause stress and turnover.

In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the

In a corporation, this can happen when the corporation insists that its needs are more important than those of an employee. For example;
• Family versus career – This is a well recognized situation when an employee’s perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the corporation is demanding that they spend too much time at work and away from their home and family.
• Quality versus quantity – In today’s marketplace there can be an emphasis on getting as much work as possible out the door as quickly as possible without spending the time necessary to review quality.

What needs to happen? First, the corporation has to ensure that its values are well defined and modeled by everyone in the organization from the CEO down through the organization. Second, the corporation has to realize that it’s values cannot violate the values of its employees. This does not mean that values cannot be different. It just means that it cannot violate the values of its employees. Second the employee has to realize that while at work their values need to be aligned with the corporate values. They need to “share” values. This does not mean that an employee has to sell out their values when they walk through the front door, but it does mean that the employee has to align their values with those of the corporation while at work and on company business. If there is a values conflict then the employee is going to have to decide if they should leave the corporation (e.g., an animal rights activist may not have a future at a meat packing plant).

An example that illustrates this concept is the Disney corporation. Disney’s values are safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency. Most family-oriented people would not choose efficiency over spending time with family. However, working at Disney does not force a family-oriented person to violate the value of family. It simply means that the person’s values must be aligned with Disney’s values while at work. Disney understands that an employee may have to leave work should a family member become injured or sick. The company would never force that employee to remain working so it could operate a show more efficiently. Disney understands that would violate all their values (safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency would all be negatively affected due to the employee’s concern about the family member). This is what shared values are all about. The values goal for an employer is to model the values of the corporation in every situation and to understand the values of each of their employees and ensure that they do not violate these values.

Personality

Each person also has a very unique personality. Personalities have a profound impact on an employees performance because personalities determine things like how people;
• Communicate with others
• Deal with stress
• Deal with challenges
• Prefer to be managed
• Make decisions
• Deal with problems
• Deal with power and authority
• Perform when placed in a leadership role
• Perform when placed into a team environment

Without a detailed working knowledge of each employee’s personality, a manager is at an extreme disadvantage. He doesn’t know if his employees prefer to work individually, in a group or as a leader of the group. He doesn’t know when engaging each employee in conversation if he should start with small talk and friendly banter, get to the point or be prepared for a detailed discussion.

If the manager places an employee that is risk adverse but a strong steady producer with a great history onto a project that is fast tracked and full of last minute changes, the employee may fail dramatically or may leave the corporation due to the imposed stress. However, another employee may “wither” on a longer duration steady project as they prefer the fast tracked dynamic projects.

The goal here for an employer is to ensure that they understand the personality types of each of their employees and strive to communicate with them in a style th