Fulfilling one of Obama’s campaign promises, Congress is now considering the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Because opinions run hot and strong on this proposed legislation, you should read both the union perspective and the non-union perspective.

In short, this legislation would eliminate a secret ballot for union representation, replacing it with a public “card check,” one key difference of opinion is how the card check would give employees a free choice.

But, regardless of your opinion on the legislation, Pat Lynch believes it should be called the “Employer Free Choice Act” because it gives employers a free choice – either take care of their employees or the unions will.

Pat Lynch, Ph.D., university professor and CEO of Business Alignment Strategies has studied unions extensively, focusing on their impact on the American economy. I interviewed her recently to learn more about the EFCA.

She started with a long-term perspective of unions. Union membership has declined as a percentage of the workforce, roughly corresponding to the decline in the manufacturing sector of the economy, to a low of 7.6% of the private workforce as of 2008. Even though union membership in the public sector has climbed to 36.8% in 2008, total union membership is still only 12% of the entire US workforce.

In Pat’s opinion, unions believe EFCA will provide a significant opportunity to organize the newer businesses starting up in green industries. Especially with three key provisions in the proposed legislation:

• No lower limit on company size. EFCA will apply to every company in the United States, whether 10,000 employees or 10 employees.
• EFCA expands the definition of a union worker to include supervisors, in addition to line workers; with this expansion, unions can cover a much larger percent of a company’s workforce.
• EFCA gives unions the right to access the company’s email directory for union communications.

Pat works with companies to improve employee relations. In her opinion, employees rate their job satisfaction on four primary issues:

• Employee satisfaction with immediate supervisor
• Employee voice – do employees feel safe in challenging the status quo, do employees believe their ideas will be considered
• Employee perceptions of procedural fairness
• Rewards and recognition – these go far beyond compensation, which is not a significant element of satisfaction. Recognition is extremely important.

Employers need to improve the actuality, as well as the perceptions, but it takes time. Pat recommends that employers start now—before the EFCA becomes law.

Start by offering an online satisfaction survey to your employees to learn how your employees perceive your team.

Then act on the results.

And come back Thursday to hear Miki’s take on keeping employees happy.

One of my very favorite bloggers, Jim Stroup, has been away for the last couple of months. He’s back now and his first post is one of the best Memorial Day posts I’ve seen.

It’s interesting because the story he tells is one about an attitude I’ve run into multiple times in my life as a headhunter.

Read it and be sure it’s not about you.

And for those of you who don’t read Leadership Turn here are my thoughts translated into a visual by mY generation author Jim Gordon. Thanks, Jim!

I had a thought this morning and asked Jim Gordon, who draws mY generation, the Sunday comic on my other blog, to draw my thoughts for today.

He did a great job; I only wish I believed that it would happen sooner.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: MAPpingCompanySuccess.com

I love questions. Questions are the stuff of life, especially if you’re a ‘why‘ person like me.

Answers are fine, but questions take you further; they’re all about creativity, innovation and the unknown. Questions are the road to the future.

“The first people had questions and they were free. The second people had answers, and they became enslaved.” –Wind Eagle, American Indian Chief (Questions take you further than answers. Hat tip to Slacker Manager for this quote.)

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” -–Galileo (See that; it’s about the questions.)

“I am not young enough to know everything.” –Oscar Wilde (Isn’t that great? Under 25 (give or take) and you don’t need questions.)

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” –Ellen Parr (More questions. Questions are curiosity in action.)

Do you have a favorite question quote? Please take a moment and share it with us.

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Image credit: Jilligan86 on flickr

See all mY generation posts here.

It’s a holiday weekend and I assume (hope) that you have better things to do than sit around reading a bunch of stuff on the Net.

So the links I’ve found for you are made to bookmark; they’re ongoing resources for you to explore as the mood and time moves you.

First is a cool site from Stanford Graduate School of Business with videos, such as the one on Jeff Raikes, head of the Gates Foundation, and a large selection of other topics.

Next is a favorite from Business Week’ Innovation and Design. It comes out weekly with great stories; for example, did you know that McDonald’s Chicago HQ is the greenest building on the planet?

Finally, also from BW is the new Business Exchange, an online community “to access the most
relevant content for you, filtered by like-minded business professionals.”

Have a terrific holiday and stay safe; I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: nono farahshila on flickr

Good grief. It’s already Memorial Day weekend and that means the year is half over, the weather will be kind and the kids will be underfoot out of school.

I have just one item for you today.

Not counting the current economic debacle, have you ever wondered why companies rise and then fail, much like the Roman Empire?

I’ve always wondered how things can go downhill so fast when it takes so much time to turn them around.

Fortunately for me and all like-minded folks, Jim Collins, author of Good To Great, wondered, too.

The result of Collins wondering is found in How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In.

Better than a review, read this excerpt and see if it grabs you as it did me.

On another level, what are you doing this holiday weekend? I plan to spend most of mine digging in the dirt, since our weather is finally cooperating.

Leave me a note and whoever has the most interesting plans will receive a business book. Actually, the winner will be decided at random.org.

Image credit: MykReeve on flickr

Oh goody. Another CEO study. I haven’t seen the study, but David Brooks (NY Times) gives an overview (whatever you do, don’t miss the comments), while Dan McCarthy (Great Leadership laments the fascination with such studies.

I pretty much ignore them, except for their amusement value—sort of like all the food studies that tell us which food that was recommended last year will kill us this year.

Speaking of which, I wish someone would do a study like that on CEOs.

A ranking of CEOs who were lauded for x amount of time before they crashed and burned for the same traits that were their supposed strengths.

And a corollary ranking of all the pundits, gurus and executive coaches who did the lauding and how many have come forward to apologize for mistaking hubris for competence.

Of course, that would be a very long list.

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Image credit: Beeeeezzz on flickr

Are you familiar with risk culture? You should be, no matter your position in your company.

Risk culture is “defined as the system of values and behaviors present throughout an organization that shape risk decisions. Risk culture influences the decisions of management and employees, even if they are not consciously weighing risks and benefits.

“A company’s risk culture is a critical element that can ensure that “doing the right thing” wins over “doing whatever it takes. … When companies reward reckless conduct, or results gained through any means, the risk management message becomes diluted. … Having a strong risk culture means that employees know what the company stands for, the boundaries within which they can operate, and that they can discuss and debate openly which risks should be taken in order to achieve the company’s long-term strategic goals.”

It takes time, effort, commitment from the top, starting in the board room, and support at every level of management.

Once acceptable risk is decided upon, folded into your culture and communicated it’s most important to use it as a filter in the hiring process.

In fact, the only way to ensure that your corporate culture, risk tolerance, values, etc., continues is to hire people who are, at the very least, synergistic with them.

Read the articles and if you have any questions, or want some help learning to use your culture as a filter, give me a call at 866.265.7267 between 8 am and 11 pm Pacific time or email miki@RampUpSolutions.com. (Calls are better; email can get blocked by filters.)

NO charge—I do it for fun.

Image credit: neuza teixeira on flickr

“Is there a single devastating thing I may do unconsciously that messes my people up the most and, if so, what are the effects?”

I’ve heard variations of this question from many managers over the years.

The answer is yes, there sure is and if you aren’t doing it unconsciously then you’re one of the really bad guys and I can only hope that your turnover soars and your reputation spreads.

The action is inconsistency and the primary effect is fear. Secondary effects include intimidation and insecurity.

The end results in the business world are distrust, low productivity, less innovation, abysmal retention and, on a more personal level, poor reviews, fewer promotions and less opportunity.

It doesn’t matter that the inconsistency is unintentional, arbitrary or whimsical the results are the same.

It’s not knowing that really gets to people—even more than expected abuse.

Think about it. It’s one thing to have someone who constantly criticizes (unconstructively) or disparages you, because you can learn how to turn a deaf ear if, for some reason, you can’t get out of earshot. But when a zinger comes out of nowhere in what’s normally constructive, or at least neutral, feedback you’re caught unaware, thrown off balance and it really gets to you.

Actually, the more infrequent it is the worse it is when it does happen. And after it happens a few times people find themselves waiting for it, wondering when it’ll happen again and almost holding their breath to see if this is the time the other shoe will drop.

That fear grows exponentially once it takes root and distrust typically increases at the same rate.

Can you think of a worse scenario for people to labor under?

But when it’s unconscious, how do you know?

If you actually focus on the person with whom you’re talking, instead of checking your Blackberry or thinking about something else, you’ll see the zinger hit and you should be able to identify what it was. If you can’t, then ask! Acknowledge the reaction, state that you know it was something you said, but you’re not sure what. Be gentle if you expect the person to open up, but you stand a better chance if you ask immediately, while he’s still in shock.

But if you did it on purpose to enjoy the show and then get them to open up so you can twist the knife, I sincerely hope that all your teeth and hair fall out and Zeus’ thunderbolt strikes you where you stand and chars you into tiny little bits.

Image credit: tdnb on sxc.hu