By Dan Johnson

The Value of Talent Retention

Can your organization afford to lose its valued employees? How may of your organization’s employees are “waiting out the storm” until the economy gets better, so they can jump ship to another job in another organization?

What attracts people to an organization is often quite different from what causes them to stay or leave. People join an organization primarily based on organization issues (compensation, benefits, career opportunities) and job issues (work schedules, challenging work). Leader issues (such as the degree to which leaders make employees feel valued, trustworthiness) are often third on the priority list.

What happens in as little as three months on the job is that those priorities are reversed. Leader issues become top priority for employees and the most powerful reason why employees stay or leave an organization.

This finding was reinforced by a study conducted by the Gallup Organization, where 1 million employees and 80,000 managers were interviewed on issues of employee retention. As summarized in the book, First Break All The Rules, employees leave managers -- not companies.

What employees want is fair treatment, care, concern, and trust. Employees want to feel like their contributions mean something, that they are valued, and they are part of something bigger than themselves. They want a leader who knows them, understands them, treats them fairly, and is someone they can trust. Yet what organizations are often scrambling to give employees is better health care, competitive compensation, and wage increases.

The bottom line: Leaders who are successful in creating a culture of retention are fast becoming the key in why valued employees stay and what drives them away.

As training and performance improvement professionals, we are in an ideal role to influence culture, advocate for stronger leadership in our organizations, and help our leaders strengthen their ability to retain valued employees. To build retention competencies in your organization’s leadership, consider the ten leader retention competencies identified by Training & Development magazine. Those competencies are:

1. Trust -- creating a sense of trust and concern with team members.
2. Esteem -- developing ways to give team members responsibility, the freedom to act, and to feel good about themselves.
3. Communication – communicating (especially listening) using the heart, mind, and intuition. Rather than barking orders or jumping immediately to solve a problem, the leader listens to employee concerns, uses reflective listening skills, AND uses his or her intuition to identify the real issue or concern of the employee.
4. Climate Builder – making the work and workplace enjoyable and fulfilling.
5. Flexibility Expert -- recognizing and adapting to individual needs and views.
6. Talent Developer and Coach -- developing and coaching team members to help them grow and encourage their growth.
7. High-Performance Builder -- reinforcing high performance of individual team members.
8. Retention Expert -- understanding the importance of employee retention and implementing the strategies needed to keep valued talent.
9. Retention Monitor – proactively identifies retention problems and takes pre-emptive action.
10. Talent Finder -- actively seeks to source and select qualified people to fill team roles (within the scope of their role).

At the recent ASTD conference, I listened to a panel of seasoned consultants – Peter Block, Marjorie Blanchard among them – discuss the needs and trends of the business world today. The overwhelming consensus of the entire panel was that simply focusing on skill building to improve productivity is not giving the full return on investment we expected. What is missing is a focus on the relationship between supervisor and employee. Employees are crying out to contribute, but they are also starved of meaningful connection with their supervisors and rarely feel valued for their contributions.

Wherever possible, I challenge you to incorporate the supervisor-employee relationship in your needs assessments for improved performance. You’ll uncover the missing link in many of our performance improvement strategies. The reward will be a more productive workforce in an environment that values employee contributions and is much more enjoyable to work in.

Dan is the founder and president of Performance Mastery. He has been in the field of performance improvement for more than 16 years and has gained extensive experience in management and leadership development, executive and personal coaching, training, and career development.

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• Identify goals, resources and teams for marketing training programs and interventions
• Determine potential target audiences
• Develop specific marketing messages for target audiences
• Identify possible barriers/opportunities for communicating with target audiences
• Create a detailed marketing plan

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Leadership Alchemy

Lou Russell spoke at the June CIASTD meeting. She began by identifying the “big” topics facing trainers. These were topics that were popular at recent training conferences such as the ASTD conference and the Training Directors Forums. The “hot” topics were coaching, leadership, blended training and hybrid training. According to Lou, “The topic of leadership has moved from quadrant 2 to quadrant 1.” She explained that many companies are with out vision, “They are vision-free.” For many companies, the only vision is, “survive.” The challenge is: leadership is important but we don’t have any money. In her book, Leadership Alchemy, Lou focuses on leadership within the information technology field (IT). IT people think that their leadership needs are unique, but Lou reported that when she did the research she found the exact same leadership competencies as any other group.

Lou explained the concept of a “fear-based organization.” We exist in organizations that are changing daily. Technology is changing, management is changing, there are mergers and acquisitions, and change is constant. The challenge is to be a leader in the midst of the change.

“We’re doing pre-K leadership,” says Lou, “because in IT, people don’t even think of themselves as leaders.” Pre-K was a reference to pre-kindergarten levels in elementary schools. Lou worked on a project where they surveyed approximately 200 companies. They surveyed IT organizations from top to bottom. The fact that shocked her was that 80% of the people in the survey considered themselves to be burned out. One hundred percent thought burnout was going to stay the same or get worse. The majority of the people thought the company needed to do something. “Many decided they were going to do something about it. They were going to either do deep breathing, exercise, eat fruit, or leave the company. Many others are opening coffee shops. This seems to be a career path for burned out programmers – leave and open a coffee shop. Have you noticed there are a lot of coffee shops?”

Lou said that the revenge of the programmers is coming. She believes that there are a number of employees in every company who feel trapped because the job market is so tight. So they’re staying at their current companies just waiting for a chance to get back at the company. “You’ve used me,” is the way Lou described their feelings. She described conversation in the company cafeteria as a round of, “Who has it worst.” Everyone is talking about how bad they have it. No one is listening. As trainers, we may be the employee’s only advocates.

So what is leadership? While some may believe that leaders are born, Lou argues that they can be developed. She has identified ten competencies that can help people grow as leaders. Lou had everyone do a self-assessment. She asked the participants to write their own leadership vision statement using three verbs and a noun. Lou borrowed the exercise for the book, The Path.

Lou listed three components of leadership: self-alignment, integration, and working with others. The 10 leadership competencies align with these components as follows:

Lou explained the concept of alchemy and why it was appropriate for leadership. “When you study alchemy, the question always comes up; is it a science or a religion? And the answer is ‘Yes.’ The same is true with leadership. Also, alchemy is about taking the common and making it valuable.”

Lou gave the participants a tool to help them analyze their own leadership style. Using the DiSC model she had everyone examine their own style and better understand how they respond under stress.

An important aspect of leadership is the ability to lead during times of change. Lou explained the difference between change and transition. In essence, change is the external conditions that happen; transition is how we respond to change. She showed several models that depict change. One model taken from William Bridges, illustrated three stages of change. The stages were “ending,” “neutral zone” and “new beginning.” In our social lives, we have celebrations for endings (.i.e., weddings, funerals, birthdays, first communions, etc.) But in business, there are no celebrations and often people aren’t given a chance to work through endings. As leaders, we need to move people through the endings, and get them into and out of the neutral zone as quickly as possible.

She emphasized that stages of change are not linear – people don’t always follow the models sequentially. She showed another model called “The Hero’s Journey” that was illustrated with a circle.

Another key component for leadership is flexibility. Lou presented several tools that can diagnose and help people become more flexible.

She concluded the presentation by challenging everyone to take at least one idea from the day and to implement it. She had the participants put together their own action plans.

The morning was very thought provoking. Attendees were challenged to become leaders and to develop leaders.

Ms. Russell is President and CEO of Russell Martin & Associates, a 15-year-old Indianapolis based company. Focusing on the business results of training interventions and technology, Russell Martin & Associates provides learning solutions for to improve planning process and performance in information technology organizations. Ms. Russell is also the author of several books, including Leadership Alchemy, and The Leadership Training.

Recognition Breakfast

Instead of the Cranberry Cocktail hour normally offered before the monthly CIASTD meeting, we had a full, hot breakfast, served buffet-style, to honor our hard-working volunteers and presenters. Dan Johnson, the President of CIASTD opened the Awards breakfast by thanking all of the contributors who put on the breakfast. He also thanked the volunteers – past and present - who have helped with CIASTD. He then thanked the past presidents and had them stand. Dan indicated that in some ways he was looking forward to joining them in a couple of months as a past president.

Dan gave the following volunteers “President Awards.”

• Program Chairperson, Roger Reeves.
• Fall Forum Coordinator, Ellen Gragg.
• For last Year’s Fall Forum this person served as a huge helper. Dan called him “The Man,” Bill Campbell.
• Newsletter editor, Jay McNaught.

Presenter of the Year went to the presenter with the highest evaluation scores during the year. It was awarded to Thiagi.

Hall of Fame Awards went to two tenured CIASTD members who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment over the course of many years. The awards went to Linda Bush and Sharon Boller.

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The June 24, Technology-Based Training (TBT) Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting was hosted by Anthem and sponsored by Travantis. (SIG’s are special interest groups associated with CIASTD.) Jay McNaught gave a presentation titled, “Web-based Training that Really Works.” This was a revised and updated version of the presentation he delivered at last year’s fall forum. He discussed the critical success factors for e-Learning and examined the recent research. Kathy O’Connell and Lynn Lohmeyer explained what Anthem is doing in terms of e-Learning and they showed us how they are using a product called Lectora to author on-line courses. Travantis, the evening’s sponsor, is the company that makes Lectora. And as always, there was a lot of good discussion!

The next TBT SIG meeting will be held at the United Way offices in Indianapolis on Tuesday, August 19, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. If you are interested in being added to the distribution list for the group, send an e-mail to Jay McNaught, jmcnaught@cinergy.com.

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Maintenance Often Overlooked
by Nicole Kobrowski - Facilitator staff member

Remember that post training material maintenance is just as important as creating it. While in the design process, remember to decide who will be in charge of the "after delivery" maintenance to update or change the course. In addition, decide how changes will be communicated, who will make the actual changes and how these changes will be approved and implemented.

[We hope to make "Training Tips" a regular feature in the Facilitator. If you have a good tip that you would like to share, send it to Nicole Kobrowski at nicole@kobrowski.com.]

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Member Profile: Brent Atwater
by Judy M. Hasselkus – Facilitator staff member

[As a regular feature of The Facilitator, "Member Profile" features a profile of a randomly selected member of CIASTD. At every meeting, we will randomly pick a member from those attending, and profile them. The idea is to help everyone get to know each other better. In this issue, we are profiling Brent Atwater.]

What is a former investment banker doing leading learning and development initiatives? Brent Atwater’s profession may have changed, but his focus is still on maximizing return on investment.

“The crucial point of all our initiatives is to focus our allocation of resources into high ROI initiatives that have strategic impact on the company,” says Atwater, the Director of Learning and Development at InterArt in Bloomington. Along with his colleagues, Linda Dausend and Dotty Sharp, Atwater is responsible for developing a strategy-focused internal consulting group from scratch. The group’s major projects include building future leaders of the company through leadership development, driving revenue growth by developing advanced sales skills among experienced sales staff, improving systems through organizational effectiveness consulting, and increasing the company’s capacity for success through employee career development.

Prior to joining InterArt four months ago, Atwater founded an independent consulting practice, Essential Leadership, and spent two years as director of student services in the placement office at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Atwater’s early career was spent in New York City, Boston and London with primary responsibility for global currency and bond portfolios. In his role as an investment banker and vice president, Atwater discovered a passion for leading and developing people. “I found that I really wanted to help make a difference in people’s lives,” he says. Atwater left investment banking behind and began to write a new chapter in his career. He completed a graduate degree in counseling psychology and economics at the University of New Hampshire, explored various specialties that appealed to him, and transitioned into a consulting role with Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. While at Bates College, Atwater did career counseling and created a vision for the college’s career services operation. That experience—along with a job opportunity at IU and the desire to raise his children near family already based in Bloomington—led Atwater to Indiana and, ultimately, to his current professional role.

When he isn’t busy with his work at InterArt and his consulting practice, Atwater pursues a deep interest in sports psychology and its applications to organizations. He also enjoys time with his wife, Caryn, and his two children, Lindsey and Luke.

A member of CIASTD since 2002, Atwater reports that he joined the organization to “learn from what others are doing and see if I can get more broadly involved with the profession.”

Advice to new professionals:
Atwater offers three pieces of advice to new professionals: “Base your career on who you are and who you aspire to be. Do informational interviews with people in and outside the field in order to get a sense of what people are doing and where you fit best. And focus on creating value for your clients from a foundation of (1) and (2).”

Favorite book(s):
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf

Noteworthy quote:
“Your talents are God’s gift to you. What you do with them is your gift to God.” Atwater says that he heard this quote on an episode of ER at a crossroads in his own career and found it meaningful.

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by Jim McFarland, Facilitator Staff

Consider how many decisions you made, consciously or unconsciously, since you got out of bed this morning. Those decisions help shape all of the roles we play and our success in each of those roles stem from the clusters of decisions we make. Student, worker, entrepreneur, boss, citizen, spouse, parent, etc. illustrate just a few of the roles we play.

Learning to make smart choices will dramatically improve your confidence and increase satisfaction in the decisions you create. One of the challenges is learning to make them better. Smart Choices is a systematic way of thinking about the decisions you have to make. The process helps you focus on what’s really important and helps you to make the “right decision.” Smart Choices bridge the gap between how people actually DO make decisions and how they SHOULD make decisions. Because you spend a significant portion of your time and energy making choices, the arguments for acquiring decision-making skills are compelling. Who you are, what you are, where you are, how successful you are, how happy you are all derive in large part from your decisions.

The connection among decisions you make lies not in what you’re deciding but in how you decide. Whatever model you choose, an effective decision making process fulfills six criteria:

• It focuses on what is important.
• It is logical and consistent.
• It uses subjective and objective factors blending analytical and intuitive thinking.
• It requires only as much analysis and information as is necessary to resolve a particular dilemma.
• It guides the gathering of relevant information and informed opinion.
• It is straightforward, reliable, easy-to-use and flexible.

There are eight keys to effective decision making:

1. 1. Work on the right decision problem. What must you decide? The way you frame the decision at the outset can make all the difference.
2. Specify your objectives. Your decision should get you where you want to go. They are a means to an end. Ask yourself what you most want to accomplish and which of your interests, values, concerns, fears and aspirations are most relevant to achieving your goal.
3. Create imaginative alternatives. These represent the different courses of action you have to choose from. Your decision can be no better than your best alternative. Have you considered ALL alternatives or at least a wide range of creative and desirable ones?
4. Understand the consequences. How well do your alternatives satisfy your objectives? Assessing the consequences of each alternative will help you identify those that best meet your objectives.
5. Grapple with tradeoffs. Because objectives frequently conflict with each other, you want to strike a balance. Your task is to choose intelligently among the less than perfect possibilities by setting priorities for tradeoffs among competing objectives.
6. Clarify your uncertainties. What could happen in the future and how likely is it that it will? Uncertainty makes choosing far more difficult. Confront uncertainty and judge the likelihood of different outcomes and assess their possible impacts.
7. Think hard about your risk tolerance. When decisions involve uncertainties, the desired consequence may not be the one that actually results. People vary in their tolerance of risk and, depending on the stakes involved, in the risk they will accept from one decision to the next. A conscious awareness of your willingness to accept risk will make your decision-making process smoother and more effective. It will help you to choose an alternative with the right level of risk FOR YOU.
8. Consider linked decisions. What you decide today could influence your choices tomorrow and your goals for tomorrow should influence your choices today. The key to dealing effectively with linked decisions is to isolate and resolve near term issues while gathering the information needed to resolve those that will arise later.

Good decisions don’t always mean good results. Bad decisions don’t always mean bad results. Careless can get lucky and careful can be shot down. Display your problem graphically, as a table, diagram or chart for example. Restate it in several forms using different words, phrasings and emphasis. Describe your problem to others asking for their opinion. One more important lesson about making smart choices involves TAKING CONTROL. Create your own decision opportunities. Be proactive in decision making. Don’t simply sit back and wait for what good or bad comes your way. Seek out decision-making opportunities rather than wait for the problems to present themselves. You’ll discover that by taking the time to make a smart choice, you’ll find increased confidence and satisfaction in the choices you make.

[Jim McFarland works for the Vision Management Group. In future issues of the Facilitator, Jim will contribute similar stories that are intended to help us stay “sharp” as trainers.]

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In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or rejoined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have signed 9 members:

If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available (password portected) on our Web site at www.ciastd.org.

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