My new column is up at Workforce.com - it's an expansion of something I've talked about here in the past:
"If you could pick any manager (other than the one you currently report to) in the company to work for (regardless of functional area), who would it be and why?"
That, my friends, is the $100,000 question. Who do they want to work for and why? We used this on our last Team Member survey, and rather than being a popularity contest, I was amazed at the clarity of the team members responding. They're looking for folks who are tough, but fair. They're looking for managers who seem to care about development of their teams. Word gets around. Who's interested in the development of the team members in their fold?
Use the question on your next team member survey, and get blinding clarity. Then channel marketing and create some manager personas that you need to develop a leadership academy around. Powerful stuff from a simple question...
Great article Kris - I love how a simple question can reveal so much about an organization's managers and culture!
I have included your post in my Rainmaker 'Fab Five' blog picks of the week (http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2010/08/the-.html) to encourage my readers to include this question in their next employee survey.
Be well!
Posted by: Chris Young | August 23, 2010 at 05:28 PM