So folks, this is my last “guest blogger” entry for ASTD. By way of quick recap, here’s the argument I’ve made to date:

    A convergence of economic, social, and political forces has created a growing economic premium for Good Companies – those that are good to their employees, their customer, their communities, and the environment. Simply put, they make more money than the ‘bad guys.’

    It is impossible to be a Good Company (at least for long) without being a Good Employer.

    Hence, the economic premium associated with superior “human capital management” is enormous.

    And yet, most organizations run the “people side” of their business largely by guesswork and hope.

    This undesirable state of affairs is entirely fixable, and there is competitive advantage in doing so.

    Doing so requires learning to tap the wisdom of your workforce, a task that typical employee “engagement” surveys are not up to.

If you’re with me up to this point, you may be wondering, “What’s next?  How can I help my company take off the blinders and learn to navigate in this new economic landscape?”  

Here’s my answer:

1.    Stop wasting money on your out-of-date employee engagement/satisfaction survey.  Replace it with a “smarter” survey that mines the gems of wisdom from your workforce about how to improve your standing as a good seller and steward (as well, of course, as a good employer).  

For a quick example that will give you instant feedback on how your company stacks up as a GOOD COMPANY, click here.

2.    Apply business intelligence tools to the data you collect in step #1 so that you can get beyond gut and intuition.

3.    Focus on creating insightful analysis and reports, not data dumps.  You will find that when you provide leaders with actionable business intelligence about how to improve business results,

they will act on it.

By doing these three things, you will help make your organization a better and more profitable place to work – and in so doing, you will also help make the world a better place.  You will be doing worthy work.

Laurie Bassi is CEO of McBassi & Company. [email protected]