Have Your Better Employees Quit, but Not Left?

Written by Grant Todd,
Exclusively for Association Trends

As new generations of workers enter the labor pool, companies are scrambling to claim the best and brightest to fill vacant high-tech positions resulting from those who have moved on to other opportunities. The competition is fierce, and companies that are successfully filling vacant slots with bright young stars are those offering up big salaries, bonuses and perks. However, just filling those empty spots doesn’t answer the question of why departed employees left in the first place.

The bigger picture is, “What are companies doing to create an inviting, attractive working culture to retain valued employees?” Too many companies believe they can retain good employees by merely offering them better compensation when, in fact, what employees are looking for from the get-go is an opportunity to share their ideas and make a significant contribution to the company's bottom line. In other words, they strive to become a stakeholder.

Frequently, companies are not aware that something missing within their own culture may be driving their good employees away. Of equal concern are the attitudes of those who stay — the survivors. Have they already quit, but not left? Have they stopped offering good ideas and thinking creatively simply because no one is listening, or the company never offers to incorporate their ideas into company procedures and practices?

Some companies believe the best innovation method is to analyze company history and use that data to yield ideas. This is known as a Critical Thinking method and is used to identify what is wrong in order to get rid of the problem. Critical Thinking by itself is traditionally a method of looking back, and in today’s industry is considered an inadequate method of solving the problem. Even with complete knowledge of the past, the use of that knowledge for future action requires something more — Quality Thinking Skills.

In order to derive optimum contributions from employees, today’s forward-thinking companies embrace Quality Thinking Skills to create a base which motivates employees and allows their best possible thoughts to surface and be shared. One method of harnessing the power of an employee’s thinking is to engage third party providers who can facilitate the installation of proven methods and skills of Quality Thinking.

Once adopted, Quality Thinking will quickly become part of a company’s culture. It will ultimately work to benefit both the employee and the employer by eradicating complacency and arrogance, and by placing a high value on innovation and results. By integrating Quality Thinking training into the business culture, companies realize longer-term employee retention because the employees feel empowered. Employees benefit by having the freedom to contribute vision and ideas which can lead to action which impacts their own careers.

Is Your Company a Pioneer or a Settler?

The challenge for executives today is to drive their organizations to create the business of tomorrow. In most cases, organizations are looking only at their bottom line and not the route that got them there. The real synergy behind that positive or negative bottom line can be credited to the multiple levels of employees working within the organization. It comes from the collaboration of good thinkers who have the ability to push the good thought to the best thought.

When knowledgeable employees leave, it’s the company that suffers. Replacing employees requires a whole new learning curve for the employer and the survivors — those who stay but stopped thinking!

According to a recent report published by ITM Research (Insead, France) authored by W.Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, "Instead of industry attractiveness and market share, executives should use innovative ideas and value as the important parameters for managing their business. Innovative ideas can only be profitable if they are linked to what buyers are willing to pay. Forward thinking executives understand that only sustained creation will sustain compelling profitable growth in the 21st century. The question is how much of your organization's time and talent is lined up behind building 'pioneers' versus managing 'settlers?'"

Settlers are referred to as businesses offering "me-too" value, while "pioneers" are businesses that represent value innovations. Companies that push for innovative thinking or Quality Thinking are representative of "pioneer" companies that are in a forward motion — always willing to empower its employees to think beyond the norm and be trusted with their ideas and contributions. Employees who are simply placed in a functionary role and not motivated to become a stakeholder will, and probably should, take a brisk walk out the front door.

Unleash and Capture Your Company’s IQ

Today’s employees want to move and think forward. They are not interested in reviving what worked in the past, but rather what good ideas they can bring to the table today. Most businesses have accumulated a wealth of knowledge from their employees. It is generally those same employees who stand willing to contribute a lot to the company once tapped. Triggering Quality Thinking is the key to keeping viable employees and building a stronger organization.

Quality Thinking will help change the traditional posture of an organization — transforming it from an inadequate structure to one that is ready to accept continuous improvement and change. In order to accomplish this, Quality Thinking Skills experts have the ability to facilitate on-site programs customized to suit specific situations and problems within the organization. On-site facilitators can help organizations unleash and maximize their own innovation quotients based on leading Quality Thinking techniques, including:

• Directed Focus Thinking Skills: techniques for consistently making good decisions and focusing on issues, priorities, alternatives and solutions.

• Collaborative Thinking Skills: a system designed to help teams function more effectively and produce better results.

• Creative Thinking Skills: a deliberate, systematic process for generating breakthrough ideas and turning them into competitive advantages.

Incorporating Quality Thinking skills is a major step in retaining company knowledge and opening up lines of communication.

Structured Processes Link Employees to Best Thoughts

For best results, Quality Thinking skills facilitators begin the process of linking systematic methodologies to the employee’s best thoughts. This structured process helps neutralize bias and predisposed positioning in the minds of all involved. The goal is for everyone involved to embrace a common direction in the thinking process. For example, everyone has a different perception to problem solving because everyone thinks differently. Creating a level playing field takes away the bias and misinterpretations and allows everyone to think positively.

When the process is structured and systematic, you are assured of a comprehensive approach with checks and balances in place. Once emotion takes over, the whole process falls apart. Criticism is allowed, but it is not allowed to take over from an emotional standpoint. Criticism needs to be done collectively with all players involved. In doing so, a shared experience evolves. Giving equal balance to emotion ultimately allows Quality Thinking to flow.

Gathering and Sharing Knowledge

Too often companies overlook the fact their employees have the ability to make huge contributions to the company if they are heard. Unfortunately, in many cases employees are looked at as warm bodies to fill dictated and designated positions when in fact their passion lies in generating and sharing ideas. What’s missing is the understanding of the employee in genera within a framework of trust and mutual exchange. As a result, employees have a fear of proposing their ideas; and, employers fail because they have not found the ability to draw from this valuable pool of experience.

Overcoming the obstacles involved in team effectiveness is one of the most difficult challenges for employees to conquer. They may not have experienced trust and acceptance of their ideas from the employer in the past. Once an employee understands there is an open opportunity to share their thoughts, they begin to systemically bring forth consensus-building thought, and positive, constructive innovation.

Kathy Myers, President of Advanced Practical Thinking Training, Des Moines, Iowa, recalls at least one situation where participants in a meeting were not expressing their thoughts and feelings out of reluctance or fear of being misunderstood. "In one particular situation, I was facilitating a Collaborative Thinking exercise with a group of employees whose task it was to select a software vendor, " says Myers.

"There had been considerable internal disagreement regarding which software they should purchase. Those responsible for making the decision had met with all the various affected departments, and people from each department had a different way of conveying their recommendations. Some used a matrix, others used graphs or narratives. There was no common language and no agreement on the software, with strong opinions on all sides.

Perplexed about what to do, they decided to use the Quality Thinking Skills methodology of conveying their selection. When they got to within 10 minutes of concluding the meeting, the group voted on the software choices and were shocked to see a unanimous vote in favor of one specific option. In addition, there was a bonus. Because of all of the collaborative thinking done at the session, they had identified gaps in their original specification. The resulting changes in specs saved the company three million dollars on the software purchase."

Create a Level Playing Field – Eliminate the Meeting Games!

Leaving your ego at the door can be a difficult thing to do, but it’s necessary in order to create Collaborative Thinking. Creating a level playing field is essential to a favorable outcome during any collective thinking aimed at getting a suitable result. Neutralizing the situation and setting up a solid structure for results will subvert egos and help all players focus on the issues and the outcome. Collaborative Thinking skills also reduce adversarial interactions between team members and create a dynamic, positive meeting by stimulating innovation and focusing on creative energy.

In addition, it’s essential for employers to invert the pyramid of command. In this management model, the flames of motivation ignite from the bottom up, instead of being dictated from the top down. When this happens, the organization's focus is more likely to be on what’s really important – the customer. Also, establishing a management model which fosters employee initiative creates an environment that breeds corporate commitment as well as awesome performance.

Quality Thinking Changes a Company’s Culture

Established companies may have been able to retain employee "survivors" for a lengthy period of time, but could also be caught in an unrealistic sense of success. Too many times employees remain on the job physically, but they mentally quit years before simply because they were not afforded an opportunity to mature emotionally and make a significant contribution to the company’s bottom line. Through proven methods of Directed Focus Thinking, Collaborative Thinking and Creative Thinking, facilitators open up lines of communication and trust with an organization and help employees move forward. More and more business executives are realizing innovation is by far the most important criterion for success. Quality Thinking Skills programs can facilitate the fundamentals of creativity, team productivity and effective decision making.

Ultimately, it will be the organization’s culture that will determine how well these skills are utilized. Having the ability to determine and evaluate the company’s culture is the first step toward opening the doors to free and creative thinking that will ultimately enhance the entire organization. Without these criteria, few companies will never be able to determine why the revolving door of resigning employees exists in the first place.

About the Author:

Grant Todd is founder of The Prevail Organization, a seasonedcorporate executive with experience in knowledge process, innovation and leadership design. For more information, call (828) 626-3222.

© Copyright 2006 The Prevail Organization