Fast Company Jane Dosemagen, December 1, 1999

"Hard Lives, Low Pay, Big Stakes," by Keith H. Hammonds, Fast Company, November, 1999, pg. 94-96

Hiring and keeping the best people is the goal of the best companies. This is important for all workers, including entry-level workers who make a big difference in a company's relationship with its customers. To assist and train welfare recipients in how to find and keep jobs, Dean Curtis and his company, Curtis & Associates, Inc., hold a 1 week class for these people entering the workforce. The class focuses on workplace interaction and developing career goals.

Whether looking at employees at the low or high rung of the career ladder, Curtis points to 3 key issues related to finding and keeping great people:

1. Get people involved and feeling part of the workplace. Curtis says that supervisors who get to know their workers have less turnover. At the 1 week training for welfare recipients entering the world of work, Curtis & Associates, Inc. always shake hands with each person, learn everyone's name, and encourage each person to tell something about themselves. To encourage this, they first ask each person to grab a handful of M&M's, then tell something about themselves for each M&M they took.

2. Pay attention to the basics of the workplace which includes how people get along and interact. In the 1 week training, the group works together to make an employee handbook with rules for staff to get along better. If anyone breaks the rules, they raise a red flag.

3. Assign a formal mentor to each new employee so each person has someone to turn to. If new employees stay a certain length of time, the mentor can be rewarded.

Jeanie Wood, a trainer with Curtis & Associates, Inc., points to 'Responsibility, Ownership, Urgency: the sense that they need to act now' as the most important things you can teach someone on welfare. She is often surprised by people who return to work, land a good job, but fear success, and fail. She says that a lot of the welfare recipients that they train have never had role models for success and positive influences in their lives.

I talked with people in both for-profit and non-profit businesses about their entry-level workers. In today's economy, it's hard for businesses to keep these employees. There is very high turnover. With low unemployment rates, workers often have the attitude that they don't have to care, don't have to show up for work, and can find another job.

In this economy, businesses have to do more than give people a paycheck to hold on to their workers. Respecting and encouraging employees is one of the major goals of visionary companies, according to Collins & Porras (1997) in Built to Last. Visionary companies believe in supporting their employees, treating them respectfully and encouraging their creativity. They also rally their employees around their core value, so they feel part of the company, upholding its core values, sharing the spirit, enthusiasm, and commitment to the company.

I think the mentor program is also a good way to get people involved and more comfortable with the company's culture and its people. In the past couple of weeks, I've talked at length with the Extension Educators working with the Master Gardener program. The idea of mentoring comes up often lately as we plan for the growth of the Master Gardener program in Hennepin County. This is one way to help the new people feel part of the group.

We've also looked closely at the Master Gardener program's core value and mission. As we weeded through 88 applications to the program for next year, and selected 58 applicants to interview, we looked for the applicant's desire to adhere to the core value of the program. We realize that this program is strong because of the Master Gardener volunteers' adherence to its core value. The strength of this program lies with its' clear expectations, clear mission, and the Master Gardeners' spirit, enthusiasm, and commitment in keeping with the core values.

The amount of money people make isn't everything, although it can be very important. All workers and volunteers need to feel valued, respected, and part of the group.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 1999