Chris Woolard

Walker

Chris is responsible for the sale, design, implementation, account management, and consulting for his clients’ employee and customer assessment programs. As the manager of program-related activities, his involvement focuses on study design, exploratory research, questionnaire development, client reports and presentations, finalization of all program deliverables, and meeting other unique client needs and requirements. He is currently focusing his skills primarily on employee loyalty consulting and is considered Walker’s employee loyalty expert.

The Future is Bright

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Posted on 2012-03-21

I am sure you all remember my blog from a couple of weeks ago where I wrote about the results of a recent study we conducted that found companies plan to increase hiring. This study was conducted in Indiana only. I just happened to read another company has confirmed what we found across the nation.

This study is an ongoing study by Manpower and they have been tracking the employee outlook for a number of years. They calculate what is called the Net Employment Outlook, which is the percent that say they are going to increase hiring minus the percent that are going to decrease hiring. The Net Employment Outlook is at 10% which is the first time it has been in the double digits since Q1 of 2008. This also marks a considerable jump from the low of -2% in 2009.

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The Importance of Employee Engagement in Picture Form

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Posted on 2012-03-07

A colleague sent me this picture below put together by National Business Research Institute (the full article can be found here). I thought it was a very clever, and easy to understand illustration of employee engagement, its impact, and its drivers. I also think it has some great info, specifically over half say they will definitely leave. Our research confirms that one of the top reasons why someone leaves is there is no room for advancement. What stands out to you?

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And So it Begins

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Posted on 2012-03-02

I have been blogging for some time that eventually the dam will burst and employees will start moving around. I think the dam is starting to leak. We recently conducted a survey of Indiana business leaders and asked if they were going to increase hiring in the next year. The percent of those indicating they were going to increase hiring went up 7 percentage points compared to 2011 (to read more about this study go to www.indianabusinesscouncil.com) . I recently saw a study by Young Presidents Organization (YPO). This is organization of, as you can guess, presidents of organizations that are below a certain age. This study asked these presidents about various aspects of their business; sales, fixed investments, and employee count. In this study, more than 30% said they planned to increase hiring by at least 10% over the next year, with more than 10% saying they will increase hiring by 20% or more. So who do you think they...

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Recognizing Top Performers

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Posted on 2012-02-15

Several weeks ago I shared a blog from Slingshot SEO's CEO, Jay Love, about the advantages of a four day work week. He is back at it with another great blog about employee recognition. I would recommend reading the entire post but I have posted his five types of recognition below. What most companies do is maybe one or two of these. Why not do ALL of these, they should not cost that much and will have a huge impact on employee loyalty.

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The Football Used in the Big Game

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Posted on 2012-02-03

As I was down there, a colleague of mine e-mailed me some links about the company that makes footballs for the NFL, Wilson Sporting Goods. These footballs are what are used in almost every football game across the country and are considered the best out there. I actually owned one for a while and someone stole it from my garage so apparently they are pretty valuable.
As I read about the company, it is quite amazing what they do to get the footballs ready for the Super Bowl which you can read about here. What is more impressive is the apparent employee loyalty at this company. If you look at some of these videos you will hear people talk about being part of the company for 40 years or more, and they seem excited to talk about Wilson and their job. You listen to Willie talk about the bladder in this...

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4 Day Work Week

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Posted on 2012-01-16

In an interview with Slinghshot SEO CEO Jay Love, he talks about the business advantage of having a four day work week. I know many of you are probably thinking, a four day work week would never work in our environment or I am already working 10 hour days every day, how could I get my work done in 4 days. Here is my challenge for you, instead of thinking it won't work, take five minutes and think about how it could work. I would be willing to bet, in most companies, it is not a matter of something like this never being able to work, it is a matter of people who refuse to...

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Grass is Always Greener-Employee

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Posted on 2011-12-16

A couple of weeks ago, Phil Bounsall wrote a blog about how customers can sometimes believe the grass is greener with another vendor, and by reaching out to those customers to find out what is important, you can help prevent wandering eyes.
The same concept applies for employees as well. I am sure many leaders feel the employees are never happy despite giving them a good salary, interesting work, and other perks. Many employees feel they are being taken for granted and aren't truly cared about despite these perceived perks.

Just like on the customer side it is important to ask the employees what they are looking for in the workplace and how the company can improve. While you may not be able to fix everything, you will at least have some direction as to where to spend time and...

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The Benefits of Doing the Right Thing

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Posted on 2011-11-15

I recently tore my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) playing basketball and several weeks ago had surgery. In order to fix this, my doctor apparently needed what felt like my entire hamstring to recreate the new ligament. Felt a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul but in order to walk and be active again, that is what needed to happen. The resulting benefit of this surgery is the joy of being on crutches for almost two months. Being on crutches is an incredibly humbling experience. I have little old ladies holding doors for me, strangers offering to carry things out to my car, my brother even let me borrow his BMW as my car is a stick so I can't drive it for a while. In fact, just this morning, someone from some company in my building saw me hobbling in from the parking lot and ran down to the lobby just to hold the door for me. It has been quite remarkable the kindness and goodness displayed by people and makes me hope I am displaying these same things to others.

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12 Aspects of a Great Place to Work (Aspects 7-12)

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Posted on 2011-10-26

Last week I wrote about the first six aspects of a Great Place to Work. Below I have the remaining six aspects.
"7. Define clear and specific expectations for what success looks like in any given job. Then, treat employees as adults by giving them as much autonomy as possible to choose when they work, where they do their work, and how best to get it accomplished."

If you have read any of my blogs for the past year or two, you know I am 100% on board with this approach and the whole ROWE movement.

"8. Institute two-way performance reviews, so that employees not only receive regular feedback about how they're doing, in ways that support their growth, but are also given the opportunity to provide feedback to their supervisors, anonymously if they so choose, to avoid recrimination."

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12 Aspects of a Great Place to Work (Aspects 1-6)

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Posted on 2011-10-20

Tony Schwartz recently posted this blog about 12 things companies should be doing to be considered a great place to work. I have posted six of the twelve below with a few of my thoughts after each. I will post the other six next week.
"1. Commit to paying every employee a living wage. To see examples of how much that is, depending on where you live, go to this site. Many companies do not meet that standard for many of their jobs. It's nothing short of obscene to pay a CEO millions of dollars a year while paying any employee a sum for full time work that falls below the poverty line."

I completely agree, pay must meet...

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