Articles

6 Strategic Secrets from the Best-of-the-Best Benchmark

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 27, January 2012 with No Comments

From the January 2012 Advisor for Workplace Excellence Are strategic plans important? If you asked most leaders this question, almost everyone would say yes. There are exceptions to the rule, however. Herb Kelleher, the founder and former Chairman of Southwest Airlines used to take pride in telling everyone that Southwest Airlines did not have a strategic plan. Kelleher believed that if they had a plan in place, it would limit the company from strategically pouncing on opportunities when they came about. So, if Southwest Airlines, one of history’s all time greatest companies, doesn’t have a strategic plan, how did... Read More ››

The “Why” Factor in Employee Engagement Surveys

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 09, January 2012 with No Comments

Most people would agree that conducting an employee opinion survey can be broken down into two major portions: design and administration of the survey, and what you do with the results. We would also argue that the second half is the more important portion. If you are not going to communicate the survey results to employees and create action plans that address the lower rated questions, you are better off not doing the survey at all. We realize that this may sound odd coming from a company that does employee surveys. However, the last thing we want to do... Read More ››

Are You Puzzled By a Department’s Employee Engagement Survey Results?

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 01, December 2011 with No Comments

Have you ever said to yourself, “What happened with department…,” after reviewing your employee opinion survey results? We have, and many times. The average scores can be all between 70 and 80 percent favorable, then your eye catches it: 40%. You can’t help your desire to be a fly on the wall in that department. As a VP or HR director, it is alarming. After conducting hundreds of employee opinion surveys over the past twenty years, we pride ourselves on being experts in analyzing and interpreting survey data for our clients. Sometimes, though, the data can be puzzling, as... Read More ››

Handling Disappointing Employee Engagement Survey Data

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 19, October 2011 with No Comments

Typically, our clients are pleasantly surprised with their Employee Opinion Survey results, often finding the overall outcome even more positive than was anticipated. Sometimes, though, (particularly in first time surveys) the overall results can be disappointing and not as positive as expected. In these situations, management turns to us and says, “How do we present this honestly, but in a positive light?” Based on our twenty years of experience, the following seven tips will help you confidently take actions that will proactively address your survey results, regardless of the overall outcome. The good news is that if you take... Read More ››

Keeping Your Employee Engagement Survey Alive

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 04, October 2011 with No Comments

Have you ever heard your employees say, “Why bother? Nothing ever changes,” in regards to your Employee Opinion Survey? Many companies conduct surveys and most repeat the process, diligently tracking their results with the goal of improving year after year. A great deal of the companies that we work with have become masters of utilizing the results to improve their culture. When clients repeat an Employee Opinion Survey multiple times, it becomes challenging to keep the survey alive year after year. We want to ensure that you also become masters at improving your culture through the survey process. We... Read More ››

Can You Over-Communicate?

Employee Engagement
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 30, August 2011 with No Comments

If there is one thing about communication that has stuck with me, it would be a quote by Paul Watzlawick, “One cannot not communicate.” Simple, but very true. Not communicating sends a message just as much as communicating, formally or informally, does. During the worst of the recession, organizations were, and continue to be, tasked with communicating (or not communicating) some very difficult news. An organization’s decisions to communicate how the economy is affecting them can have a big impact on the organizational culture. Knowing this, we thought it would be interesting to dive into our benchmarks and see... Read More ››

Will Your Employees Stay or Stray?

Employee Engagement
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 22, November 2010

For nearly three years now, the economy has been in decline and there are a ton of employees who feel stuck in jobs they hate, and, when their backs are pushed up against the wall, dream about walking off the job. In a CareerBuilder survey of workers, 33 percent reported that they plan to start looking for a new job once the economy eases. This is a compelling figure. One third of your workforce may be planning to leave when they perceive they have options. Now is the time to start taking action! Several organizations we are currently working... Read More ››

What Separates the Best-of-the-Best from the Worst-of-the-Worst?

Employee Engagement
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 22, November 2010

For 20 years, Peter Barron Stark Companies has been a leader in conducting annual employee opinion surveys. We have surveyed over 260 organizations, and our PBS Best-of-the-Best benchmarks (those who rank in the top 25 percent in our employee opinion surveys) are based on 90,000 employees’ opinions. In a recent statistical correlation study, we made some exciting discoveries we are proud to report for the first time. We have identified the specific areas you need to focus on to achieve the same standard of excellence as the Best-of-the-Best organizations—and we have learned the one thing that all organizations in... Read More ››

What Matters Most To Your Employees?

Employee Engagement / Tips
Posted by Peter Barron Stark on 22, November 2010

Slowly but surely, the job market is beginning to improve and unhappy employees will be able to execute their exit strategies soon, if they have not done so already. If your focus over the past few stressful years has shifted from employee engagement to the bottom line, realize that you are not alone and that you can still get back on track. To get back in the game, you need to take the time to find out what your employees want from their jobs and from you… It’s usually NOT more money. In our experience, employees have told us... Read More ››