Hey Compliance Warriors!

Are Your Employees Using Good Judgment?

Sometimes you have to shake your head and walk away.

• The employee who decides it would be fun to drive the company’s forklift to pick up his lunch, a mile away.
• The employee who gives free food to all her friends because no one else was there.
• The supervisor who takes his team to strip joint to celebrate because and I quote, “They have the best wings.”
• The employee who body shames a customer because of the food they bought in the checkout line.
• The employee who determines it is reasonable to join a Zoom call from his bed.

I could go on.

Take a moment and visualize the different roles in your organization, how important is Good Judgment in those roles? Customer Service Staff, Shift Supervisor, Operations Manager, Organizational Leader – is there any position where Good Judgment is not a necessity?

I don’t think so either.

Each day our employees make hundreds of decisions on how to apply their technical knowledge, their ability, their effort, and their focus to the benefit or detriment of our organization. If they make the wrong decision, it could hurt the organization; it could hurt their team; it could hurt their career.

The question lingers, “Can we help employees make better decisions in the workplace?” The answer to that is a definite yes if we understand that our employees make decisions based on what they regard as important. Studies show that some individuals place a strong emphasis on their role within the company; others put a strong focus on the people they work with, and still, other employees concentrate on long term goals.

Our decisions will be different based on what we value.

If we want employees to make the best decision for the organization, there are a few things we can do.

1. Consistently communicate the organization’s driving purpose to all employees, so they know what is essential to the organization. They can then use this as a guide rail for any decisions they are required to make.
2. Create clear behavioral expectations for all employees within the organization. At times, we consider somethings common sense until we realize no one has common sense. The more explicit we can be, the better behavioral decisions are employees can make.
3. Instead of criticizing an employee for a “bad” decision, use it as a teaching moment. Ask them, “What benefits did they see in choosing that particular option?” or ask them, “Tell me more about your decision-making process?” And then use their answers to have a conversation about better alternatives.
4. Educate your employees about their evaluation process. Based on our life experiences, we evaluate situations in our own way and will make different choices. When we bring to light how we value the available alternatives, we tend to make better decisions for ourselves and our organization.

In today’s world, where employees are working on their own more and more, how important is it that you can measure their ability to make the right decision for the organization. What if you could do this even before employees start working for you? How valuable would that be to your organizations?

It was business guru, Peter Drucker, who said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” This quote has been at the heart of my company, True Star Leadership’s™ success with its clients. Yet, measuring an employee’s capacity to make the right decision alluded me until I discovered The Judgement Index™.

The Judgment Index™ measures how well developed and how well an employee or candidate utilizes their judgment to make the appropriate workplace decisions. It has been validated in over thirty individual studies to ensure its accuracy. And it has been approved by the EEOC to be used in the hiring process.

And now, you can take advantage of this tool to improve your organization’s effectiveness.

True Star Leadership is excited to announce that they are now making The Judgment Index™ available to Help Desk Deluxe Members. The Judgment Index™ can be used throughout the Employee Life Cycle™ from making hiring decisions to improving risk management, reducing stress, and creating a leadership mentor program.

Judgment is the key to success at work.

More than anything I have studied, personality traits, technical knowledge, attitude, experience, judgment is critical to the success of every employee in our organization. If you focus on developing one ability this year, focus on the ability to make the right decisions.

Take advantage of special pricing for Help Desk Deluxe Members.

Click here to learn more.

I look forward to working with you.

John Thalheimer, MS

True Star Leadership – Guiding Your Team to Excellence