Back to basics

T+D, May, 2004 by Eva Kaplan-Leiserson

This past February, I attended ASTD's Tech-Knowledge conference in California. Because the conference focuses on emerging learning tools and strategies, I expected to see a lot of whiz-bang new gadgets and innovative learning approaches. I did see a few of both, but I also saw something that surprised me: a back-to-basics mindset.

Was that a result of the past months of economic struggle, a backlash against the hype of glitzy learning tools, or a reevaluation of what makes a business successful in the wake of corporate scandals? Perhaps the answer is some combination of those reasons, or made up of other reasons entirely. It doesn't really matter. What's important is the result: Companies are going back to the basics of improving workers, leaders, and organizations. That theory is held up by some studies and best practices that have come across the Intelligence desk recently.

Here's a sampling.

Workers. Top companies empower workers. A dissertation study by ASTD member Sylvester Fadal found that among Fortune 500 HR and operations professionals who responded to his survey,

* 98 percent see training and development as a key empowerment tool

* 98 percent see the effect of t&d on profit

* 94 percent consider t&d a business optimization technique.

Ninety-six percent of respondents also indicated they grant employees decision-making authority at functional levels, and view it as a key empowerment tool and business optimization technique. All respondents reported they see the effect of granting employees decisionmaking authority on profit.

Stuart Levine, author of The Six Fundamentals of Success: The Rules for Getting It Right for Yourself and Your Organization, says that the only way to succeed in the "lean and mean future ... is to get back to the basics." He offers these worker strategies:

* Make sure that your daily work includes something strategic to add value.

* Communicate up and down, inside and out of the organization.

* Know how to deliver results (know what you need to achieve and how to do it effectively).

* Conduct yourself and your work with integrity.

* Invest in relationships.

Leaders. The saying that "people leave people" is true, says a trends report from Innovative Employee Solutions, a company specializing in outsourced HR administration services. Thus, for companies concerned about employee satisfaction and retention (important considerations these days as the economy recovers and "cocooned" employees consider leaving their jobs), the quality of leadership is key.

Top tips from Joanne Sujansky, author of The Keys to Mastering Leadership:

* Communicate short-and long-term goals to help employees see the big picture.

* Give frequent, concise feedback to your staff.

* Give out at least three compliments a day.

* Coach or mentor someone who has potential.

* Implement two morale-boosting practices such as pizza Friday, compliments-only day, and so forth.

GO TO Intelligence (March T D) for more on leadership.

Organizations. The Hay Group has helped companies design jobs and organizational structure for 60 years. It offers these critical principles for performance improvement.

* Focus on value. Business strategy should drive an organizaton's structure and then translate to job accountabilities throughout the company.

* Clarify interdependencies to avoid redundancy or gaps in accountability between jobs.

* Ensure that roles are doable. Jobs should have an appropriate number of accountabilities and be aligned with people's skills.

* Provide freedom to act. Well-designed jobs give workers decision-making authority commensurate with accountabilities.

* Define shared accountabilities clearly, and put procedures in place to resolve disputes quickly and decisively.

* Hold teams accountable. All of the above principles apply to teams as well as individuals.

More/www.haygroup.com/library/ working_papers/Designing_the_Accountable_Organization.asp

Ethics Update

Are you looking for a way to keep on top of the latest corporate scandals? Do you want to help fight corporate crime but don't know what to do? Check out the Citizen Works Website and its weekly newsletter Corporate Reform Weekly. The Website offers articles, resources, and tools to help you stay informed and take action. The weekly newsletter keeps you up-to-date on corporate reform developments, as well as the latest news and scandals.

http://citizenworks.org

Another tool, offered by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology, enables you to research organizations' ethics codes. Its database comprises 850 ethics codes from professional societies, corporations, academic institutions, and U.S. and some international government agencies. The site also provides a user guide, literature review, and two guides on developing and using ethics codes.

www.iit.edu/departments/csep/PublicWWW/codes

Source for both ethics items/BizEthicsBuzz, www.business-ethics.com/BizEthicsBuzz.htm

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