NIST, MEP Management Information Reporting System for Business and Talent Management Self-Diagonostic Tool

Diagnostics By Virtue of Comparisons

BUSINESS AND TALENT MANAGEMENT SELF-DIAGNOSTIC

Company Profile

Company Name: __________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________

City: _______________________ State:________________ Zip: __________________

Telephone: ( ) _______-_______ Fax: ( ) _______-________ Cell: ( ) _______-________

Email: ________________________________ Website:________________________________

Name: ______________________________________ Title: ____________________________

Company Information

Business Founding Date: _____________

Publicly held: ____ Privately held:____

NAICs Code: ___________

Current Products and Services ______________________________

Your Legal Structure:

• Sole proprietor

• Partnership

• LLC

• LLP

• S corp

• C corp

At what estimated percent of capacity is the company currently running?

• Less than 25 percent

• 25 percent

• 50 percent

• 75 percent

• 100 percent

What is your most critical component for business competitiveness? Please rank one to four with one being highest and four being least critical.

• Workforce (skilled and non-skilled)

• Materials (supply, acquisition, availability)

• Technology and/or Automation

• Cost Management

Goals and targets will be compared with job positions that enable company to meet those goals or targets, capacity issues and what the CEO deems “critical” components to the business.

If goals or targets were not met, they can be compared to job position descriptions and human performance reviews, including whether or not the CEO thinks the employees understand the business goals. Also, can be compared to expansions (or not) in automation, new markets and customers, supply chain volatility and sustainable practices implementation. Review should be compared to these as well.

Job positions categories should also be compared to business goals and targets and other investments to see if they “match up”.

Whether or not they did a SWOT should be compared to revenue measures and business goals/targets.

We are looking for correlations between how the business is doing and what it is doing.

Company Statistics

Do You Have Explicitly Stated Business Goals or Targets?:

• Yes If Yes, Please List_____________________

• No

Did You Meet Your Business Goals Last Year?:

• Some

• Most

• All

• None

Do Your Employees Understand Your Business and Business Goals?:

• Yes, they all do

• Some of them do

• Very few of them do

• None do

• Don’t Know

Is Revenue:

• Growing

• Declining

• Neither Growing Nor Declining

In the Last Year, Have You Done a Formal SWOT for Your Business?:

• Yes

• No

What is the Total Number of Employees in Your Firm:_________

How Many of the Total Number of Employees in Your Firm are in a Union:_________

How Many Do You Have in Each Category (Do Not Double Count Employees for the Following Positions)?

1. Production Line_____

2. Maintenance Technicians_____

3. Engineers_____

4. Product Designers_____

5. Administrative_____

6. Supervisors_____

7. Specialists_____

8. IT_____

9. Sales_____

10. R&D_____

11. Other­­­­_____

Total:_________ Should align with Total Number of Employees

Have You Invested in Any New Production or Process Technology (Automation) in the Last Year?:

• Yes

• No

• No, but planning to

Have You Expanded into New Markets in the Last Year?:

• Yes

• No

• No, but planning to

In the Last Year, Has Your Customer Base:

• Increased

• Decreased

• Stayed the Same

Is There Volatility in Your Supply Chain?:

• No

• Negligible

• Somewhat

• Considerable

Have You Implemented Sustainable Operational Practices in the Last Year? (For example, no waste manufacturing, green processes, energy efficiency):

• No

• Negligible

• Somewhat

• Considerable

In the Last Year, Have You Hired Employees In the Following Categories? If Yes, How Many?:

• Skilled 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Un-Skilled 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Management 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Temporary 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

Are Any of Your New Hires in a Union?:

• Yes

• No

In the Last Year, Have You Released Employees In the Following Categories? If Yes, How Many?:

• Skilled 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Un-Skilled 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Management 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

• Temporary 5 or Fewer: _____ 6 Or More:_____

Workforce and Talent Management

Do You Formally Align Employee Job Performance With Business Goals?:

• Yes

  

  Job descriptions and performance should be compared to business goals. Competitive wages should be compared to trouble hiring workers and the hard to fill jobs.

  The HR policies and practices and the use of temporary workers can be compared with recruitment efforts and how well those policies and procedures are managed should be compared to whether or not they have an HR professional managing the process.

  We will need to compare the hard to fill positions with the critical positions, wages and benefits and recruitment and retention plans, as well as with retirement assumptions.

  We need to associate career mobility, wages and succession plans with trouble hiring workers, especially critical workers.

• Yes, but only for critical positions

• No

Do You Have Up-to-Date Job Descriptions for Each Job?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Offer Competitive Wages and Benefits?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Have Trouble Hiring Workers?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

If Yes, Which Jobs are Hard to Fill? (Check All That Apply):

• Production Line

• Maintenance Technicians

• Engineers

• Product Designers

• Administrative

• Supervisors

• Specialists

• IT

• Sales

• R&D

• Other__________

Are Temporary Workers A Critical Part of Your Overall Workforce?:

• Yes

• Yes, but only for technical positions

• No

What is the Percentage of Temporary Workers In Your Overall Workforce?:

• Less than 25 percent

• 25 percent

• 50 percent

• 75 percent

• 100 percent

Do You Have Formal Human Resource (H.R.) Policies In Place?:

• Yes

• No

Do You Have An Accredited H.R. Professional on Staff?:

• Yes

• Yes, but doesn’t have a credential

• No

Do You Have A Formal Employee Recruitment Plan?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Have A Formal Employee Retention Plan?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Know How Many of Your Critical Employees Will Retire in Five Years?:

• Yes

• 1-5

• 6-10

• 11-15

• 16-20

• More than 20

• No

If we can get wage spending on workforce as a part of overall costs, we should compare with costs of recruitment/retention, especially for critical positions. Also with costs of training overall and by position.

We should compare/contrast the types of work practices, compensation practices, training practices and human performance measures with revenue, business goals, hard-to-hire answers, and how the business did this year compared to last year.

When the CEO expresses what is wanted/needed to improve upon in the coming year, that should be associated with business practices, HR practices, training practices and human performance practices (and compensation) so a discussion of prioritization, implementation and execution can take place.

Do You Have A Formal Succession Plan for Critical Talent?:

• Yes

• No

Do You Offer Internal Career Mobility (Job/Career Ladders)?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Offer Wage Increases When Staff Skills Are Upgraded?:

• Yes

• Only for critical positions

• No

Do You Value Manufacturing Credentials for Employees?:

• Yes

• Only for technical positions

• No

Do Your Employees Understand Your H.R. and Training Policies?:

• Yes

• No

• We don’t have formal H.R and training policies

Please Estimate The Percentage Cost of Personnel in Your Overall Costs:­­­­­­­­­________(est)

Please Estimate How Much You Spend Annually on Wages plus Benefits For Your Workforce:­­­­­­­­­________(est)

If You Can Annualize Estimated Wages plus Benefits for Employees In Each Category, Please Do:

1. Production Line_____

2. Maintenance Technicians_____

3. Engineers_____

4. Product Designers_____

5. Administrative_____

6. Supervisors_____

7. Specialists_____

8. IT_____

9. Sales_____

10. R&D_____

11. Other_____

Do You Have Formal Annual Training Opportunities for Staff?:

• Yes

• Only for critical staff

• No

Please Estimate How Much Your Company Spends Annually on All Training For Employees:_____(est without counting wages and benefits)

If You Can Annualize Estimated Training Expenditures for Employees In Each Category, Please Do:

1. Production Line_____

2. Maintenance Technicians_____

3. Engineers_____

4. Product Designers_____

5. Administrative_____

6. Supervisors_____

7. Specialists_____

8. IT_____

9. Sales_____

10. R&D_____

11. Other_____

Organizational Training and HR Policies and Practices

To Approximately What Percentage Of Your Employees Do The Following Work Practices Apply? Please check the appropriate boxes.

1% 50% 100% None

to 49% to 99%

(a) Job rotation or cross training: programs in which employees are

trained for multiple positions or employees rotate among different jobs.

(b) Lean or quality circles, problem-solving teams: groups

of employees that meet regularly to come up with solutions to

problems concerning business issues such as productivity or waste.

(c) Self-directed work teams: groups of employees with complete

responsibility for the quality and quantity of their outputs. Self-directed

work teams may have responsibility for work schedules, performance

appraisals, personnel management, budgeting, or setting performance

targets and production quotas.

(d) Total quality management (TQM): an integrated approach to

organizational improvement and increasing production and service

quality whose core ideas include doing things right the first time,

striving for continuous improvement, and a devotion to understanding

and meeting customer needs.

(e) Employee access to key business information: an organizational

policy in which all employees are given access to certain financial and

market information about the competitive position of the firm.

(f) Employee involvement with management in business decisions:

an organizational policy in which non-management employees have

a say in decisions including equipment purchases, market strategy, and

management initiatives which affect the firm.

To What Percentage Of Your Employees Do The Following Employee Compensation

Systems Apply? Please check the appropriate boxes.

1% 50% 100% None

to 49% to 99%

(a) Profit-sharing or gainsharing: plans under which the company

credits shares of company profits or growth to participating employees.

The amount may be available immediately or at retirement.

(b) Employee stock ownership plan: plans under which the company

credits shares of company stock to participating employees. The amount

may be available immediately or at retirement.

(c) Group- or team-based compensation: an alternative pay system in

which employees receive all or a portion of compensation depending on

the performance of their particular team or work unit.

(d) Incentive compensation: an alternative pay system in which

employees receive all or a portion of compensation depending on their

own performance. Examples of incentive compensation systems include

piece-rates, sales commissions, and pay-for-performance.

(e) Knowledge- or skill-based pay: an alternative pay system where

compensation is linked to the mastery of certain skills or work-related

information, rather than employee position or length of tenure.

To What Percentage Of Your Employees Are The Following Training Practices Or

Programs Available? Please check the appropriate boxes.

1% 50% 100% None

to 49% to 99%

1. Mandatory annual training time: an organizational policy stating

a minimum requirement for the amount of training which certain

employees must receive in a given year.

(b) Mentoring or coaching programs: a formal process in which more

experienced workers are matched with less experienced employees

to provide assistance and instruction on an as-needed basis.

2. Apprenticeship/internship training: a formal process by which

individuals learn their jobs through a combination of classroom instruction

and on-the-job training from a skilled expert in that job.

(d) Training resource center: a designated area within an establishment

where training personnel, materials, and information are located.

(e) Use of internet and social media: opportunities to use web-based

programs or social media sites to find information related to the job.

(f) Train-the-trainer courses: training courses which teach non-

traditional training staff members such as managers, subject matter

experts, team leaders, and others training skills such as instructional

design and group facilitation to enable them to deliver formal training

to other establishment employees.

(g) Line-on-loan or rotational training staff: a formal process in which

non-training personnel (such as the CEO) perform training duties on a

temporary basis.

(h) Employer-supported conference attendance: paid time off or

payment of employee travel, hotel, fees, and other expenses for

employees attending an off-site conference or training class.

(i) Tuition reimbursement: partial or full payment for courses that

employees took at educational institutions (can be paid to the

institutions or reimbursed to employees).

To What Percentage Of Your Employees Do The Following Human Performance

Management Practices Apply? Please check the appropriate boxes.

1% 50% 100% None

to 49% to 99%

(a) Annual performance reviews: a systematic, periodic review and

analysis of employee’s job performance by a superior to compare that

performance to a set of predetermined standards, identify strengths

and weaknesses, and develop a plan to improve the employee’s

performance.

(b) Individual development plans: a specific course of action designed

jointly by an employee and a supervisor to outline the employee’s career

development objectives and associated training needs.

(c) Peer review of performance or 360° feedback systems: a performance

appraisal system in which an employee’s work performance is evaluated

(at least in part) by co-workers.

(d) Skill certification: a formal process used to ascertain and distinguish

the mastery for a set of skills according to pre-defined standards.

May be linked either to a particular occupation or trade, or a particular

job or process.

(e) Documentation of individual competencies: a formal record of

the knowledge, skills, and abilities of an organization’s employees in

key, pre-defined areas.

(f) Learning management system: a computer-based system for

assessing, tracking, and improving employee performance. Systems

may include employee training history reports, training course

scheduling and registration, individual development plans, and

training expenditure tracking.

(g) Employee satisfaction surveys: Employee satisfaction describes

whether employees are satisfied with their overall working environment

and their personal career desires. Employee satisfaction is a factor in motivation,

goal achievement, and positive morale in the workplace.

How Would You Rate Your Business’s Performance This Year In Comparison To Last Year In The

Following Areas?

Better Worse Same

(a) Ability to retain critical employees _____ ­­­_____ _____

(b) Employee satisfaction _____ ­­­_____ _____

(c) Customer satisfaction _____ ­­­_____ _____

(d) Quality of products/services _____ ­­­_____ _____

(d) Process efficiency _____ ­­­_____ _____

(e) Sustainability processes _____ ­­­_____ _____

(f) Sales/revenues _____ ­­­_____ _____

(g) Market expansion _____ ­­­_____ _____

(h) Technology adoption _____ ­­­_____ _____

(i) Overall profitability _____ ­­­_____ _____

Which Area of Your Business’s Performance Would You Most Like to Improve Over the Next Year?

(a) Ability to retain critical employees _____ ­­­

(b) Employee satisfaction _____ ­­­

(c) Customer satisfaction _____ ­­­

(d) Quality of products/services _____ ­­­

(d) Process efficiency _____ ­­­

(e) Sustainability processes _____ ­­­

(f) Sales/revenues _____ ­­­

(g) Market expansion _____ ­­­

(h) Technology adoption _____ ­­­

(i) Overall profitability _____ ­­­

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