Thought-provoking analytical papers on topics of interest from Questar's consultant team...

The idea is ground-breaking. The strategy is innovative. The market is ready. And the competition won't know what hit them. It's go time. Are your employees ready?

Successful business leaders understand the importance of aligning talent behind the strategy in accomplishing goals. But winning the "hearts and minds" of followers is much more complex than speeches and banners. Common sense tells us that employee attitudes, morale, emotion, and buy-in are imperative. Yet the solution is multifaceted and realization is challenging. The quest to harness these factors has led to a century of scientific research on what drives employee performance. One finding is clear: employee engagement is a crucial element in this highly complex puzzle.

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Incivility appears to be an increasing dilemma for managers and employers. Although it is lower in severity than other forms of workplace aggression, incivility can lead to a number of negative individual and organizational outcomes. With more frequent experiences of uncivil behavior, employees are more likely to retaliate, are less satisfied with their jobs, and are more likely to quit. All of these can have a significant impact on an organization's bottom line. Luckily there are steps you can take to protect your organization from the toxic effects of incivility - and to decontaminate an already uncivil environment.

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As talent management professionals strive to balance the changing needs of baby boom employees with evolving expectations of younger employees, talent retention has become more complicated than ever. To retain top talent, competitive companies need to understand what drives an employee's decision to leave or stay with an organization. Conventional wisdom has always been that employees leave supervisors, not companies. However, newer studies are finding that conventional wisdom may be wrong. It's NOT just the boss anymore.

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We live in exciting and terrifying times. Globalization and worldwide competition have become defining characteristics of our time, while we are confronted daily with news of cultural clashes and international conflict. As professionals in the field of Organizational Development, the ability to operate globally is more important than ever. Increasingly, the OD professional needs to be able to maneuver the global organization and implement programs and processes with employees around the world. Moving from local to global adds new levels of complexity to already difficult challenges. In order to be successful, it is increasingly important to understand the complications that arise due to differences in culture, geographical distance and our changing world.

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360-degree feedback has grown in popularity for more than a quarter of a century.  At a time when collaboration is critical, coworkers work remotely, and employees are more autonomous – obtaining objective feedback from peers, direct reports, and others is more important than ever.  Still 360-degree feedback is not without its critics.  Controversy has grown in recent years about the effectiveness of these programs, with some claiming that the process may actually decrease employee performance.  That said, after 30 years of research, we know how the process works best and what we can do to maximize its impact on skill development.

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Pragmatic tips on survey implementation for the practitioner, based on our (and our clients') years of experience...

An employee survey should be a process, not an event. An event has a beginning and an end. A process implies something that is on-going and integrated into an organization. Integration comes about as a result of the critical survey follow-up stage. The follow-up phase - what happens in an organization after the data are in - is where most programs fall apart. When you ask people for their opinions, they assume - they expect - their input will be used. Not following up on the survey results will damage the organization's (and management's) credibility. Why do so many survey follow-up efforts fail? Here are ten sure-fire ways to de-rail your employee survey process.

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The issue of whether or not to use incentives to boost participation in employee surveys comes up regularly. Inevitably, somebody suggests encouraging managers to tell their employees that there will be a company-provided celebration (probably the most common is a pizza party or other type of lunch) for any department that can boast 100% participation in the survey. Other organizations set up "contests" where departments vie to see which can achieve the highest participation - again, with some sort of company-sponsored prize going to the winner(s). A few have attempted to enter individual participants into drawings, often with multiple prizes. So, do incentives work?

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One of the primary reasons for lower participation in an employee survey is employees' fear that their responses are not really anonymous - that whatever they say can come back to hurt them. If employees do not trust the survey process, you will have a difficult time fostering enthusiasm or securing participation. Here are some best practices to help reassure employees.

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Many organizations are concerned about getting a high response rate to their employee survey. After all, getting a poor response makes it harder to generalize the results and make informed decisions. It causes management to question the data and often de-rails any action planning activity that might benefit the organization. So why did your survey response drop? Check out these common mistakes.

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A successful survey program requires the willing participation of key groups and individuals in the organization. People participate because they feel ownership in the process, understand the benefits of a survey effort, and trust that their input will be considered. Communication before, during, and after the survey administration is an integral part of maintaining employee commitment to the process and reinforcing management's credibility. There are three over-arching guidelines for a successful communications strategy.

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Surveys provide us with data - lots of data. Reports full of different numbers. Percentages. Frequencies. N-counts. Mean scores (with or without standard deviations). And you have to make sense of it all. Just knowing what the numbers say is not enough; you have to figure out what the numbers mean in order to use survey results. When survey reports are distributed, one question is on everyone's mind: Is this result good or bad? The answer is almost always "That depends." There are several ways to interpret survey data, and all of them involve context. It turns out that meaning - to co-opt an old saying - is in the eye of the beholder.

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Not that long ago, all surveys were paper-based. The dissemination, collection, and processing of hundreds (if not thousands) of paper surveys, and the subsequent distribution of paper reports, was time-consuming and expensive, especially for large, geographically dispersed organizations. To ease the strain on their resources, most organizations opted for surveying their employees every other year. Today the advent of technology has made administration of annual (or even more frequent) surveys a feasible option. And this has given rise to the perennial question: "How often should I conduct an employee survey?"

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We live in a changing world, and the organizations in which we work are not exempt. Mergers. Acquisitions. Downsizing. Turnover and transition, reorganization and right-sizing. So the question often arises: Should an organization proceed with an employee survey in the midst of significant events that may significantly affect the work environment? Many feel that during a period of dramatic change, you should not be putting more pressure on an organization by expending time and resources on a survey. Others believe organizations should consider most significant organizational events as unique opportunities to use their survey as a tool for change. So, which approach works best?

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Financial crisis. Layoffs. Home devaluation. 401(k) freefall. What is keeping your employees up at night?

During times of crisis, leadership often emerges as the most important factor influencing whether an organization thrives or fails. Research shows that employees look to their leaders for support, reassurance, and guidance during difficult times. Without strong leadership, stress will take its toll on employees and the organization. So what can you do to reduce stress and keep your organization focused during challenging times?

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What if there were a “magic bullet” for improving performance in the workplace?

We all know that workplace performance can be compromised by a lot of managerial behaviors. You know… Susan tends to micro-manage and drives her direct reports crazy. Paul talks but rarely listens and so misses out on critical information that affects his bottom line. Millie doesn’t plan well so her staff is always over-stressed. John doesn’t know how to handle the conflict within his group so he ignores it. Jim is so difficult to be around that even his boss limits contact with him.

That’s where the magic bullet comes in. It identifies problem behaviors, people change them, and problems disappear! Unfortunately, that bullet does not exist – although many companies think it does. They call it 360° feedback (or upward feedback or multi-rater feedback – take your pick).

Don't get us wrong - 360° feedback programs can be very valuable. But they have to be done right. And doing it right takes a lot of work, though the payoff can be worth it.

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The crux of any 360° feedback process is in the follow-up. A good 360° is not a personality test. It focuses on behaviors, and, unlike personality, behaviors can change. But people will not focus time and energy on changing unless they believe that they can change – and they know how to make it happen.

Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, is quoted as saying “The athlete makes himself; the coach doesn't make the athlete.” The athlete must believe in his/her power to take charge, deal with circumstances, and ultimately succeed. The coach’s job is to provide a methodology, a way of thinking, a system that enables the athlete to move forward and reach the goal. The coach doesn’t “do” – the coach guides. It’s the same in business.

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“O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us.”

Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote those words over 200 years ago. Today, through 360° Feedback programs, organizations have the ability to give that gift to their employees – the gift of seeing themselves through the eyes of others. The potential of this gift excites many and terrifies others. Crafting good 360° content is critical to fulfilling the promise of the program and calming any fears it creates.

While off-the-shelf instruments exist, many organizations prefer to develop their own 360°s. This approach takes time and care, but having content customized to your organization’s values and key success factors may ultimately yield the best results. If this is the route you choose, here are some guidelines to make development easier.

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Analytical papers that discuss timely topics that may affect the way you do business today and in the future...

Engaging employees may be the single most important challenge in today’s business environment. Many organizations face decreasing revenues, budget cuts, and tough decisions about what they’ll be able to continue. Yet during these demanding times, smart organizations realize the importance of keeping employees focused, productive and committed to organizational goals. Maintaining a strong employee engagement program throughout the recession may be the best decision they’ll ever make...

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At a time when people and businesses are tightening their belts, non-profit organizations are increasingly concerned with securing financial support. Facing funding cuts and reduced donations, many non-profits find themselves with diminishing budgets just as the demand for their services is growing. In these difficult times, success for any non-profit is contingent on improving efficiencies in strategic planning and service delivery...

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