June
2003
Positioning employees so they can do what they do best isn't just good for them -- it's good for business. For Stryker Instruments, repositioning just one employee so he could use his talents more effectively saved the surgical equipment maker $1 million in electronic component sourcing.
Companies that rapidly open new locations may impress investors with their sales growth. But unless those locations deliver on the company's brand promise, they won't wow customers.
Consumers and businesses have benefited from the trend toward faster, better, cheaper. But once a company has squeezed all the benefits out of quality and reengineering efforts, what's next? The answer is clear, according to Gallup research: Future opportunities for corporate growth improvements will come from employee performance.
For many employees, it has become almost impossible to maintain strict boundaries between their personal and professional lives. For some, it's a serious problem. While all employees struggle from time to time to balance work and family responsibilities, more than half of all actively disengaged ones -- those who are profoundly disconnected from their work -- report that work stress has caused them to "behave poorly" with their family or friends.
Managing prima donnas can be exhausting. Gallup has found that the biggest difference between the "great" and the "not-so-great" managers is the ability to keep these difficult superstars producing at top levels.