Best Companies to Work For

Is your company in the top “100 Best Companies To Work For”? This is the 25th year Fortune magazine has studied and published a list of great work places (issue 3.15.15). Millions of employees from around the globe were surveyed by research company Great Place To Work, and their input helped Fortune make their decisions.

They have used the same methodology for their selection process throughout the years, and highlighted two significant changes.

  1. Education and development 
    • In 1998, 41 hours was the average amount of time for manager and professional training; this year that has increased to 78 hours. Development works!
  2. The best are getting better and happier
    • Overall scores increased 13%, and this is attributed to business leaders focusing on workplace culture and using it as a tool.

Why do some companies keep attracting and holding on to the world’s best talent? The answer is simple. They know how to foster strong, rewarding relationships…among their employees.
–Geoff Colvin

It’s noteworthy to share that two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the “Trust Index Employee Survey” which is sent to a random selection of employees. The questions are related to management credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The other one third are responses to the “Culture Audit” which include detailed questions about pay and benefits, followed by a series of questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition, and diversity.

We don’t want to be a spoiler for those that have not read or heard, but Google got the top spot. They have great benefits, with a focus on quality and character. One of those perks includes free, high quality lunches, which they admittedly leverage to build relationships, encourage interactions, and promote learning. They want employees to take advantage of free food, they want employees to stand in line together, they want their talented staff to meet other talented staff, they want employees to share ideas, and they primarily want them to build strong relationships.

The key common qualities for those that made the top 100 list are:

  • Strong leadership
  • Strong hierarchy and clear reporting structure
  • Shared, supported, and attainable goals across the organization
  • Accountability, rewards, and consequences
  • Camaraderie – “we are one” mentality
  • Open-office plan for enhanced communication

Congratulations to those that made the list, and we’re happy to say that we have business relationships with several of them!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Improving Teamwork and Building on Ideas

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Did You Know?

Graduates of PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey Earn:

  • IT Professionals: 19 priSM CPD credits
  • Human Resource SPHR/PHR/GPHR: 19 HR (General) credit hours
  • Project Managers: PMI – up to 37 hours / 3 PSM level points
  • Executive Coaches: 18 ICF CCE’s (Core Competencies) & 5 ICF CCE’s (Resource Development)

Decision Making Tips

Do you feel you are skilled at decision making? If yes, you probably:

  • Make decisions based on analysis, knowledge, and experience
  • Avoid letting emotions impact the decision
  • Take into account deadlines, obtain as many details as possible, and are not afraid to make a decision based on what you know
  • Get solicited by others for advice and ideas for making sound decisions

Decision making is a skill, and does not come easy to everyone.

You’ll never have all the information you need to make a decision. If you did, it would be a foregone conclusion, not a decision.
– David Mahoney, Jr., American Corporate Executive

Tips for successful and timely decision making include:

  1. Avoid perfectionism.
    • Everyone wants to make fault free decisions; this could result in choices never being made. Trust your intuition and strive for a reasonable balance between thinking it through and taking action.
  2. Be disciplined and organized. 
    • This is easy for some and very difficult for others. Keep a log, set priorities, and track your checkpoints. Don’t allow other issues or tasks to divert your focus. If this is a big issue for you, buy books on managing time and setting priorities, work with a coach, or attend a workshop that can provide you with more concrete solutions that address your needs.
  3. Learn from your mistakes.
    • Don’t fall into the “analysis/paralysis” rut because of having made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Review and log what you could have done differently and who the key players were for making the best decisions.
  4. Be prepared to defend your decision.
    • Expect resistance and opposing views. As long as you have done your research and can support why you made the verdict you did, don’t back down unless new data or information is provided to you.
  5. Does it feel right?
    • If your “gut” is telling you something just does not feel right with your decision, take a few hours or even a day or two to re-think it. Rarely does a decision need to be made NOW. If it does, then re-assess what’s known (facts, impacts, historicals), and trust yourself to make the best decision you can. Don’t be afraid to ask others for their input!

We’re not likely to always make the perfect decision as we all make mistakes, and additional information may come to light, but we can commit to conducting due diligence so we can make the best decision at that time.

Good judgment comes from experience. And where does experience come from? Experience comes from bad judgment.
–Mark Twain

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Improving Your Problem Solving Capabilities

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Did You Know?

Graduates of PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey Earn:

  • IT Professionals: 19 priSM CPD credits
  • Human Resource SPHR/PHR/GPHR: 19 HR (General) credit hours
  • Project Managers: PMI – up to 37 hours / 3 PSM level points
  • Executive Coaches: 18 ICF CCE’s (Core Competencies) & 5 ICF CCE’s (Resource Development)

Relationships – Not to be Ignored

How effective are you at working with and supporting others? Whether the interaction is with your manager, customer, direct reports, or coworkers, there’s a need and a benefit to influence and nurture relationships.

An effective leader is proficient in managing and strengthening relationships and understands the need to build networks. They also possess the ability to find common ground and build rapport to drive results and improve satisfaction levels.

Leadership: It’s not something you do to people, it’s something you do with people.
–Patricia Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi

Over 300 managers and executives across the globe were asked if the definition of leadership had changed in the past five years. 84 percent responded yes, and attributed it to having more complex challenges resulting in hardships for their organizations.

Despite the challenges, there was a side benefit: greater collaboration, improved work processes, and expanded work boundaries. Yet an interesting point is that only 47 percent of managers queried believed that collaboration was a skill leaders in their organization demonstrated.

How could this be? Consider the nature and speed of work that is now required by most professions. How many allow time to develop relationships, or invest in the time and expense to develop the necessary skills?

The role of a leader is evolving. There are more female leaders in the workplace, and women in general are found to be more collaborative than their male counterparts. And it’s said that innovation is sparked by collaborative efforts, which are key for remaining competitive (and staying in business!).

Leaders need to listen to, observe, and understand what motivates those they interact with. They need to understand intent, be knowledgeable of skill-sets, and have a foundation of trust to maintain strong relationships.

The number one failure to succeed has been attributed to the inability to build a strong team (or relationship), followed by the leader not being a good fit with the work culture.

In order to succeed you must first have clear and shared goals and objectives. There cannot be conflicting agendas, and the “right” person needs to be assigned to the “right” role.

There has to be a “want” to create an environment where teamwork and collaboration are not only encouraged, but allowed to support goals utilizing the skills and expertise of all team members.

People want to be appreciated, listened to, and have a sense you care about them (not about only obtaining results).

Don’t ignore building and sustaining strong and lasting relationships!

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
–Carl W. Buechner

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Using a Cooperative Approach

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Did You Know?

Graduates of PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey Earn:

  • IT Professionals: 19 priSM CPD credits
  • Human Resource SPHR/PHR/GPHR: 19 HR (General) credit hours
  • Project Managers: PMI – up to 37 hours / 3 PSM level points
  • Executive Coaches: 18 ICF CCE’s (Core Competencies) & 5 ICF CCE’s (Resource Development)

Feeling Valued

Other than being paid fairly, the second major “want” for employees is the need to feel valued and recognized for their skill-set and contributions they provide their organization.

We all want to be appreciated and recognized when we’ve done a good job. As a leader, we sometimes overlook this, or we may have good intentions but don’t make it a priority and it drops to the bottom of our “to do” list.

Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.
–Anne M. Mulcahy

Issues regarding providing recognition include:

  • Given too often
  • Given on a limited basis
  • Given inconsistently
  • Not linked to vision, mission and goals

Letting someone know they are valued can be done in a number of ways: it can be monetarily related, but given tight budgets recognition may also be provided via newsletters, town-halls, employee of the month certificates, cross training opportunities, delegation responsibilities, and simple verbal and written “thank-yous”.

One complaint we’ve heard in the past is being recognized for minimal contributions. People know when they or a peer deserve to be recognized; if the effort is negligible the reward is hollow and not meaningful.

We heard a story about someone being recognized as a key contributor and they had no idea what they had done that was considered “special.” This caused confusion and embarrassment when they were asked why they received the award. The intent is for the receiver of the reward to feel good about their contribution and bottom line, feel valued.

Another dissatisfier is providing recognition inconsistently. We recommend establishing criteria and reviewing team accomplishments on a monthly basis, or minimally, quarterly. True accomplishments will readily be linked to your vision, mission or goals enabling you to clearly state why the recognition is deserved.

We also suggest encouraging individuals to recognize each other at team meetings. This will assist you with being informed of contributions you may not have been aware of, and position you to more formally reward efforts that meet your criteria.

In a nutshell, consistently reward for value added, clearly state what that value was, and celebrate the successes of teams and individuals. Employees are your greatest asset!

QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

For those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Did You Know?

Graduates of PeopleTek’s Leadership Journey Earn:

  • IT Professionals: 19 priSM CPD credits
  • Human Resource SPHR/PHR/GPHR: 19 HR (General) credit hours
  • Project Managers: PMI – up to 37 hours / 3 PSM level points
  • Executive Coaches: 18 ICF CCE’s (Core Competencies) & 5 ICF CCE’s (Resource Development)