As owner of a family business, Stuart Kaye has always cared about his employees and treated them well. After changing the focus of the company from production to custom homes and then having to reduce the number of employees almost in half, Kaye looked to outside help for improving employee morale and management systems. “As we had to reduce our size there were more tasks that people had to pick up in different areas,”says Kaye, “so that’s when we tried to figure out what people were passionate about and how they wanted to spend their time.”
Kaye turned to Organizational DevelopmentInc. (ODI) for help in developing a human resources system. He selected ODI because they go beyond categorizing employee strengths and weaknesses by customizing personality tests to fit a company’s specific responsibilities. The results matched personalities with jobs. For example, the former warranty guy’s new title is customer care and quality control manager.This links his well-developed people skills to the company’s need to give custom clients personal attention.
The new human resources system promotes constant communication. Job descriptions are now position results descriptions and key result areas measure success within that job. Instead of annual performancer eviews, Kaye chats with managers every couple of weeks to get progress reports. Written perspective charts list key result areas or specific goals, who’s responsible for them, and how they’re measured. Perspectives were created for each area of the company, such as financial, internal business process, employee learning and growth, and customer service. The process even applies to suppliers and trade partners who have their own perspective and key result areas. Kaye says this constant communication helps foster a trusting environment where weaknesses can be identified and addressed before they become problems.
Now that guidelines are set, employees work toward achieving their key results however they’d like within the culture of the company.Kaye feels that mutually setting goals makes everyone feel empowered and responsible for the company’s overall success. Rewards formeeting key results are varied and frequent. They might include monthly and/or quarterly bonuses, an annual cruise for staff and significant others, and surprise pizza parties or other treats. “The average person spends more waking hours at work than anyplaceelse,” explains Kaye. “If you can’t help them relieve stress and have fun during those hours, then you’re in trouble.”
Kaye Homes Naples, Fla.; Type of business: custom builder/remodeler; Years in business: 22; Employees: 25; 2007 volume: $21 million; 2007 starts: 27
