Return On Payroll
In today’s highly competitive job environment the employee level of thinking suggests their potential value to the employer. This value is the return on the employees’ payroll.
In business, one of the biggest opportunities for better return on payroll is engagement.
Employees are engaged by their employers. Why? Because employers hire employees to pay attention to minding the shareholders’ business.
Salespeople are engaged by their customers. Why? Because customers choose salespeople who pay attention to meeting their expectations.
Attention
Engagement is all about attention and you can use the 20 questions below to rate your own employees’ cognitive engagement across your enterprise: their ability to pay attention and their level of lateral thinking.
On the job, some employees pay more attention than others. In selling some salespeople pay more attention than others. Why is that? Because not everyone has the same level of thinking.
According to GALLUP there are three types of employees: Engaged, Disengaged and Actively Disengaged. (In the latest Gallup Global Report Australia rated 16% Engaged, 60% Not-Engaged and 14% Actively Disengaged).
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Rate Your Own Employees’ level of Engagement
Attention is all about cognitive engagement. Here’s a simple audit for you, as CEO, to rate your own employees level of cognitive engagement in just 20 questions.
It was designed by Dr Eric Bienstock who is Vice-Principal of SOT in New York. Eric holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and a Ph.D. from New York University where he studied Mathematics, Education and Learning Theory.
He based this checklist on the SOT’s Learn-To-Think Coursebook and Instructors Manual (Michael Hewitt-Gleeson & Edward de Bono, Capra/New 1982).
How well do you pay attention?
Use these 20 questions to rate your own employees’ level of lateral thinking …
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer each of the following 20 questions, scoring either 3, 2, 1, or 0 points for each answer depending on your objective estimate of how often your enterprise actually does what is stated. Use your best guess of the following criteria for scoring:
3 – 90% OF THE TIME (nearly always)
2 – 70% OF THE TIME (mostly)
1 – 40% OF THE TIME (often)
0 – 10% OF THE TIME (hardly ever)
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INSTRUCTION:
Answer each of the following 20 questions, scoring
either 3, 2, 1, or 0 points for each answer depending on your
objective estimate of how often you actually do what is stated.
Use your best guess of the following criteria for scoring:
3 - 90% OF THE TIME (nearly always)
2 - 70% OF THE TIME (mostly)
1 - 40% OF THE TIME (often)
0 - 10% OF THE TIME (hardly ever)
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QUESTIONS:
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My judgments of ideas are based on the value of the idea rather
than on my emotions at the time.
I judge ideas not just as "good" or "bad" but also as "interesting" if they can lead on to better ideas.
I consider all factors in a situation before choosing, deciding or planning.
I consider all factors first, before picking out the ones that matter most.
When I create a rule I see to it that it is clearly understood and possible to obey.
I try to see the purpose of rules I have to obey, even if I don’t like the rules.
I look at consequences of my decisions or actions not only as they affect me but also as they affect other people.
I look at a wide range of possible consequences before deciding which consequences to bother about.
On the way to a final objective I establish a chain of smaller objectives each one following on from the previous one.
The objectives I set are near enough, real enough and possible enough for me to really try to reach them.
In planning, I know exactly what I want to achieve.
I keep my plans as simple and direct as possible.
I know exactly why I have chosen something as a priority.
I try to get as many different ideas as possible first,
before starting to pick out the priorities.
I will go on looking for alternatives until I find one I really like.
While most people look for alternatives when they are not satisfied; I look for them deliberately even when I am satisfied.
I am able to tell myself the real reason behind a decision I make.
Before making a decision, I consider the factors, look at the consequences, get clear about the objectives, assess the priorities, and search for possible alternatives.
I am able to see the other person’s point-of-view whether I agree with it or not.
I am able to spell out the differences and similarities between different viewpoints.
Your total score is
Analysis:
INTERPRETATION
– If your total score in this test was between 51 and 60 points, your enterprise may already possess superior brainpower.
– If you scored between 31 and 50 points, your thought-leaders may have better than average brainpower.
– If you scored between 0 and 30, you may possess no additional enterprise brainpower other than the natural thinking ability that most untrained people have.
