PPB May 2020

For each ARTS category, what current strategies are in place? • For each strategy you list, how does it impact the organization? Is it producing desirable results? It may be helpful to partner with several individuals across the organization to complete this assessment, particularly if you have a larger organization. When it comes to training and sustaining your current workforce, different managers may have different approaches in place. You may uncover some great ideas to adopt across the organization. You might also uncover a difference between an intended strategy and actual execution. As you review the results of your assessment, you may see areas that need attention, as well as strategies within each category that need to be corrected, adjusted or enhanced. In some cases, it may make sense to identify a new strategy to implement. In other cases, it may be more important to address a strategy that is already in place. To help you prioritize your focus areas, ask a few questions: • How engaged are my current employees? What are the challenges with employee engagement? • To meet my company’s goals, what skills need to be developed or sharpened? What talent needs to be hired? • What positions are vacant, need to change or should be created to better accomplish the organization’s goals? • What are the challenges with employee retention? • What is my company’s reputation in the local community? A primary consideration should be the health of your current organization. Just as a flight attendant instructs passengers to put on their own oxygen masks before assisting others, the internal health of your organization must be addressed before turning your attention outward. So, focus on the internally-facing ARTS categories to train and sustain current employees. Having employees who are engaged and properly skilled to accomplish their work is vital for the success of your organization. If it is not healthy, you will have difficulty hiring and keeping good talent that will succeed and help your organization achieve its goals. Training Current Employees When budgets are tight, and even when they are not, training is often forgotten. But it is critical for the success of your company and the development of your team. Your employees need to be skilled in the latest techniques and technology, well-informed about the most recent legislation and laws, competent in their business skills, confident in their soft skills and engaged with their work. Without training, your business will not be able to keep up with change or remain competitive, which directly impacts your bottom line. So, invest in your people to support their success and earn their loyalty. Here are a few strategies to consider: • Build a solid onboarding program to ensure new hires are set up for success. • Enable your employees to attend external job-related training. • Implement bias training and encourage healthy, ongoing dialogue to minimize the impact of bias. • Offer leadership and management training. • Cross-train your employees in order to create an agile, collaborative workplace. • Ask internal subject matter experts to train and share knowledge with others. • Encourage coaching and mentoring opportunities. Sustaining Current Employees Your employees drive your business forward. Without them, who would do the work? When it comes to sustaining your current employees, it is really about relationships: your relationship with your employees, as well as relationships among employees. As an employer, work to build an inclusive, equitable environment that cares for, values and supports every person in the organization , including both in-office and remote employees. Another way to look at it is through the lens of employee engagement. As described by Gallup, there are three types of employees: 1 Engaged employees: Those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace 2 Not engaged employees: Those who may be generally satisfied but are not cognitively and emotionally connected to their work and workplace 3 Actively disengaged employees: Those who have miserable work experiences. They aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness and may undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish. Three Types Of Employees 34% Engaged employees Those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. 13% Actively disengaged employees Those who have miserable work experiences. They aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness and may undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish. 53% Not engaged employees Those who may be generally satisfied but are not cognitively and emotionally connected to their work and workplace. FEATURE | Diversity 18 | MAY 2020 |