Most organizations conduct employee surveys of various types either annually, every two years or sporadically. Some organizations use the data from the employee survey to affect real change that contributes to their ongoing success. There are organizations who like to focus on comparing their survey scores to the scores of other organizations and there are the organizations that do little with their survey results. The focus of this article is to discuss the middle group: those organizations that like to focus on and compare their employee survey scores against the average scores of all the organizations that are in a third party database.
Many surveying companies sell their services on the basis that they will be able to compare the scores of the one company against the average score of all of the organizations in their database. Comparing yourself to someone else is enticing. We have been exposed to comparative data from the first day we stepped inside a school. Throughout our primary and secondary education we were compared to the rest and typically this comparison was against the “class average”. We knew who the smartest and the dumbest kids were but it was the average that counted. Was I above or below the class average? That was important in terms of dealing with our own self esteem and dealing with our parents. This was not the case for all students. The parents of some students demanded top marks and that is exactly what those few students worked towards. They had to be the best. They had to have the top marks.
This was all very interesting but in the end it was irrelevant. When it came time to apply to university a new standard had to be reached. University entrance requirements varied but one thing was clear. Average marks were not good enough. In fact being above average in many instances was not good enough. University entrance requirements were demanding and one had to strive for a new and much higher standard than “average”. The profile or status of a university that you were interested in attending, determined the level of academic excellence you had to achieve.
It is puzzling to see how many organizations fall into the trap of placing a great deal of emphasis on comparing their surveys scores to a database that represents the average of a number of companies. These comparisons are sought not only for the overall scores of the employee survey, but for every question in the survey.
It would appear that a fundamental question needs to be asked by every organization-why are we conducting an employee survey in the first place and what are we going to do with the results.
From a strategic perspective it would seem reasonable to think that an organization would wish at the very least, to demonstrate that the survey is helping the organization to achieve their strategic goals. In other words, they are conducting the employee survey as a way of obtaining employee information that can be used to improve for example, workplace practices in order to lift their employees’ working experience. In turn this will lift the customer experience and profits.
However, if this or some other strategic purpose is not being fulfilled by the employee survey than the value of conducting the survey is questionable. One could argue that comparing oneself to other organizations is in fact a legitimate strategic objective. It is worth knowing how you compare to the best. How does your stock performance compare to the best in your business sector-not the average of all the companies in your business sector but only the best? How do your employee survey scores compare to the best in your business sector-not the average of all the businesses in the database but only the best?
Comparing oneself to the very best is legitimate especially if the best sets a benchmark that you adopt as your own. But to compare oneself to the average serves no useful purpose. If a senior management group knows that their scores are better than the average of all the companies in a database, strategically of what use is this information. Perhaps it may give them a sense of pride knowing that they are better than the average. But it may also lull them into a false sense of confidence. The question that should be top of mind is “are we really as good as we can be and are we really achieving a level of excellence that will sustain us over the long term.”
For example, employee turnover in the retail sector is fairly high. Most retailers take it for granted. Entec Corporation has been working with Gap Inc. Canada for several years. Gap offers excellent training programs especially for their associate managers and store managers. In 1999, Gap was routinely being raided by other retailers and their annual turnover rate for store managers was 39% and for associate managers it was 48%. This was costing Gap hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in recruiting and training. With over 200 stores and 10,000 employees across Canada, these costs were unacceptable. Entec Corporation was engaged by Gap to conduct an Organizational Health Survey. Gap acted upon the recommendations in the survey and was able to reduce manager turnover rates to 13% in one year.
But these lower turnover rates were accompanied by real business gains. For example, secret shopper scores increased by 5% after only eight months and sales in Canada over the last few years have improved to a level where the Canadian operation moved from being about in the middle to becoming one of the most profitable divisions in the world. The survey results were linked directly to the bottom line.
If Gap accepted “the trap of comparing themselves to the average” and accepted the conventional wisdom that “this is the average turnover rate in retail so we are OK”, they would not have saved thousands of dollars each year in training and recruiting. More importantly they would not have experienced the benefits that reduced turnover brought them; namely preserving human capital of highly trained managers that helped to grow Gap’s business. This last point is typically overlooked. The impact of a reduction in turnover of well trained employees to the bottom line of a company is considerably higher than the cost savings achieved from reducing recruiting and training.
Several points need to be considered when embarking on an employee survey:
1. Develop clear strategic objectives
2. Measure towards those objectives
3. Inform your employees of the survey scores
4. Follow up with positive implementation
5. If you must compare yourself to others, compare yourself only to the best
If this process is not followed the organization can expect:
1. Employee participation rates in the survey to be low (30% or lower)
2. Rising employee cynicism with the organization (why bother if the activity of completing an employee survey does not make a difference)
3. Employees become disengaged from the organization
4. The organization loses an opportunity to make significant strides in performance
Conclusion
The trap an organization falls into when they become focused on benchmarking themselves against others is that they lose sight of what is really important-what is it that we are doing well and where do we need to improve in order to create an even better organization than the one we already have. If you must compare yourself to others, compare yourself only to the best and do not get side tracked. Focus
Benchmarking: Avoid comparing yourself to the industry average.
A Heavy Global Industry
The global demand for heavy construction equipment has increased dramatically over the preceding years. This demand of heavy construction equipment is highly accredited in part to the recovery from a recession in assorted Asian countries, as well as in Latin America, Russia, and Africa. Regardless of the fact that the heavy construction equipment industry is not as heavily concentrated as it had been in previous years, acquisitions are still going strong and substantial partnerships between competing companies are on the rise.
As technical advances in the heavy construction equipment design and security help marketing efforts get ahead, the price increases have a tendency to remain modest in retrospect. This also speaks for all new, used, rented or leased heavy construction equipment alike. Each year the heavy construction equipment industry is meeting a global demand of turnout at about six percent each year. The heavy construction equipment industry has been sharing in the worldwide drive with a number of countries to construct new projects and to restore older public and private structures.
Heavy construction equipment mainly consist of the following main categories: mixers, cranes, loaders, trucks, tractors, graders and rollers, just to name a few, as well attachments and parts. All heavy construction equipment is used in a wide range of applications from major infrastructure projects to office buildings and from housing to factories, power plants and mining. The extent of use of heavy construction equipment is so broad that key measures in demographics, such as the population growth, along with ample growth in economics, are the main influence of the demand for heavy construction equipment in the world today.
Projects that require the sporadic use of heavy construction equipment also call for significant amounts of capital investment. In privately funded projects, investors seem more receptive when interest rates are low and when there is a reasonable rate of return. Most public works programs are ventured upon during recession as part of a broader financial turnout. In developing countries, the rate of sustainable economic growth is a major concern as sporadic trends tend to be shorter and more under consideration in mature markets. This may influence a country's ability to attract external capital or to generate its own.
Heavy construction equipment and its components can be manufactured in fewer locations to service the global market. Heavy construction equipment can now move without any obligation between mature markets, while some emerging countries still require exports to qualify for liberated imports.
Regions and countries vary widely in their demands of heavy construction equipment to perform tasks of building and re-building. The need for heavy construction equipment in these regions are more related to upgrade and maintenance of the existing infrastructure and buildings than it is to new projects. In other developing regions, the need for heavy construction equipment is used to build new projects such as highways, airports and urban buildings, etc. With a growing global demand of heavy construction equipment, the possibilities of building are endless.
Become The Go - To Expert In Your Industry
One of the easiest ways to drive prospective clients and customers to your business is to become the expert in your field. The term Expert carries credibility and prestige that can open many doors for you, and, oddly enough, the term is relatively easy to acquire. This simple three step process can help you quickly and easily set yourself up as the expert in your field.
Step 1: Determine Your Niche
Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, narrow down your focus to the things that you are really, really good at. A friend of mine set himself up as an expert at leadership training for water treatment facilities. When he told me what he was doing, I asked, “Is there any money in that?” He smiled and said, “Every city’s got one, and I’m the only leadership expert in this field in the country.” He was frequently quoted in trade journals and asked to speak at their conventions. Find your niche, and you’ll eliminate your competition.
Step 2: Write about Your Area of Expertise
After you determine your niche, begin to write articles about your area of expertise. Every single day, tens of thousands of editors, web masters, and newsletter publishers are looking doggedly for unique and information-packed articles. If you can write articles that teach readers about your industry, you will find numerous places that will quickly publish your article.
I spent ten years as a trainer before someone, out of desperation, asked me to write an article for her trade journal. A few months later, another editor saw the article and asked if she could reprint it. Before long, I began to get inquiries from companies in that industry, and a snowball effect began to occur. The more business I did in the industry, the more of an expert I became. I followed with other articles, and within a short period of time, I became a recognized expert in an industry that I had never received any formal education in.
Write a few articles, and you can become a recognized expert in any field.
Step 3: Speak as Often as You Can
When your articles begin to get published, you’ll start to receive requests to speak more often.
95% of the population has some type of nervousness about public speaking. So when you stand up and say what you want to say, the way you want to say it, you are doing what 95% of the population wish they could do. When you speak about your industry, you set yourself up as the expert on that topic. You gain instant credibility.
If you get nervous when you speak in front of a group, attend a public speaking class. It will be the best investment of your life, because the more confident you present your ideas, the more competent you will appear in front of a group.
Follow these three simple steps and you will become the recognized expert in your specific niche.
Boating Industry Launches Marketing Campaign
For the first time in U.S. boating history, marine products manufacturers will spend millions of dollars promoting the benefits of recreational boating and boat ownership.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association's "Grow Boating" campaign and $12 million marketing blitz includes national advertising buys, direct mail and other initiatives that the industry hopes will connect with potential boaters whose free time is growing more fractionalized.
"Our goal is to make the two best days in a boater's life every Saturday and Sunday," said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, during a presentation to industry leaders at the recent Miami International Boat Show.
Yamaha, one of the largest marine product brands in the world, agreed to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of the campaign. Yamaha is optimistic that the money spent will further the strategies the company launched internally to make boating more attractive for families.
"We have been engaged in promoting boating as a great family activity for a number of years now and we are gratified to see the entire boating industry joining us in this endeavor," said Mark Speaks, president of Yamaha WaterCraft. "There is plenty of evidence indicating that families that boat together are healthier, happier and more successful. Any parent that has been boating with their family understands what a great way this is to renew the ties that bind the family together."
Yamaha WaterCraft Group is one of the few companies in the boating industry enjoying double-digit growth and is a major voice behind the industry's Grow Boating campaign. To meet the needs of new entrants to the boating lifestyle, Yamaha offers new, fully featured family watercraft starting around $7,000.
According to federal studies looking at U.S. recreational trends, 65 million Americans reported that they go boating annually, and 28 million Americans reported that they ride personal watercraft.
Will DRM Save the Record Industry?
Without a doubt the single most influential agent of change in business trends in the last ten to twenty years has been the internet. There is virtually no business segment or market that has gone unchanged by this powerful force. But of all of the various businesses impacted by cyberspace, the music industry has to the one that has seen the most dramatic change and the greatest challenge to keep up, adapt and survive an onslaught of change unprecedented in its history.
The first major challenge that cyberspace brought to the music business was a complete shift to how music would be sold to music fans worldwide. In what can only be described as an avalanche, the music buying public virtually abandoned conventional record stores and retail outlets and took the majority of their music purchasing business online. But this mass influx of business could not be tracked to any one web site that was executing the revolution. Because of a revolution in how bands and Indie record labels do business online, the music audience followed and began buying their CDs and even concert tickets directly from artists or record labels online and getting those products instantly via downloads.
But as drastic as the market changes this paradigm shift in consumer behavior represented, it was nothing compared to what the internet had in store for the music world. The next wave of change represented a threat to the music business so serious that it had the potential of putting the music industry out of business forever. When music consumers began to share digital music electronically over the internet using file sharing software such as Kazaa, Limeware and BitTorrent, suddenly it was possible for a music customer to access all the music they wanted for free by simply downloading this music from another internet user’s computer.
The plummet in music sales as result of these two forces was drastic and traumatic to the music world in general. At first, the music business executives were at a loss of exactly how to go about stopping the widespread file-sharing phenomenon. They tried to shut down the software services that provided the networks to users with lawsuits and other punitive actions. These litigations took a long time and cost a huge amount of money and all the while the flood of free music going out over the internet continued to increase. Worse of all, when they did slow down one file sharing network, it seemed many more cropped up to replace it which began to look like a nightmare scenario of constant lawsuits against a never-ending and constantly growing enemy.
Public pleas to the music loving public were another attempt to appeal to the conscience of the music world that if artists could not get paid, there would be no more new music. But the opposite seemed to be the case. As more and more Indie musicians began to capitalize on file sharing and using it as a method of marketing, the quantity and quality of good music only seemed to increase in this new music marketplace.
The final attempt seemed to be this technology called DRM. DRM is a digital “lock” that would be required to go on every piece of music released on the internet. Music with DRM would not be playable except to customers who had a legal right to use it. At first, this seemed like a viable solution. But even DRM didn’t stop the flood of lost revenue through file sharing. And hackers seemed more than happy to learn to undo any technical locks the music industry could come up with.
So as we move into the last half of the first decade of this century, the music industry is learning to work with this new music marketplace rather than fight it. And by learning lessons from the Indie labels and how to serve customers in a digital world, there seems to be a new solution on the way but one that is dictated on the customer’s terms rather on the terms of the big music labels. Somehow, that seems like it is the way it should have been all along.