Chris Dyer- How Do Your Employees Know You Care?

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Kevin Price, Host of the Price of Business on Business Talk 1110 AM KTEK (on Bloomberg’s home in Houston) recently interviewed Chris Dyer.

About the interviewee  

Chris Dyer founded PeopleG2 in 2001 with a singular goal to make his vision for excellence in human capital due diligence services a reality. A recognized authority on human capital intelligence processes and best practices, he understands the complex challenges inherent to talent management decisions.
Chris believes that impersonal, automated background check solutions have no value in the global talent management spectrum, especially as it relates to strategically significant individuals and teams. This is why he built a company with innovative services which mitigate risk and maximize best fits – whether for a prospective candidate, a promotion candidate or even entire executive teams.  Chris believes that people drive business forward so being armed with the best intelligence while making people-related decisions is just good business.
With this in mind, he developed PeopleG2 to support a wide mix of clients—including employers/human resources departments, executive leadership teams, business investors, corporate restructuring, merger-and-acquisition architects and even property owners—as they deal with key people-related decisions such as hiring new executives, restructuring around key executives, acquiring a company, or working with a new supplier, customer or partner.
Forbes shared Chris’ insight with readers in the article, “The 10 Dos and Don’ts of Conducting Employee Background Checks.” More recently, About.com published his thoughts on 7 Best Practices for Employment Background Checks. As an expert on the unique challenges inherent in due diligence services, Chris educates business leaders and organizations on best practices by speaking to groups on an ongoing basis. Most recently, he addressed the USC Gould Law Alumni Association in conjunction with an EEOC trial attorney who shared an overview of new guidance affecting employers and job candidates across the country.
A Southern California native, Chris is based in Orange County, CA. Under his leadership, PeopleG2 is a member of The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Professionals in Human Resources Association (PHRA), The Concerned CRAs and The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). Chris is a board member of Working Wardrobes, a non-profit organization that empowers men, women, young adults and veterans overcoming difficult challenges to confidently enter the workforce and achieve self-sufficiency. They provide career training, job placement assistance and wardrobe services in an environment of dignity and respect.

Tell me about your firm (number of employees, location, type of companies you work with, etc.). 

PeopleG2 has 24 employees and is based in Brea, CA. Please keep in mind we are a virtual company. As for the types of clients we support, the industries range from healthcare and real estate to retail and staffing.

Tell us how you show your employees that you care?

“We use a simple peer-initiated system, where we give Green Flags on our internal IM program HipChat.  So, if any employee wants to throw something out there, everyone come back and gives that person a green flag or a good job, congrats, etc.  This often comes from the employees themselves.  For example, someone says they just landed that big account they have been working on for six months.  In other cases, employees are thanking each other.  In this system, there is no hierarchy.  Anyone can thank anyone.  Anyone can cheer for anyone.  Staff members are not waiting for praise from a top-down view.  Instead, the praise they get is equal from all corners of the company.

We have found this system to be hugely rewarding and effective.  Staff members do not need to wait for reviews, or a formal process to get feedback.  It also creates a small competitiveness between staff, to do great things.  If everyone is getting praise, you want it as well.”

What mistake do businesses {make} when it comes to cultivating a strong relationship with your employees?

“Communication is one of the biggest areas.   Most companies communicate, but fail to do some very simple things to help that message stick.   Things like, asking for feedback, or doing a Q&A at the management level with direct reports.  Also, repeating the communication in different forms, at different times.  Finally, communicating to different people in different ways, to ensure the message was received.  For highly important communications, our staff is broken into segments.  Those that need an in person or phone meeting, those that need and email, and those that want a text.   When we communicate in the manner the employee prefers…adoption rate of the idea or change is nearly 100%.  When we do this, it strengthens the relationship we have with each staff member.

Trust- Strong communication is a part of this, but the company needs to do what is promises and follow through.  It’s okay to change your mind or find a better solution.  That just needs to be communicated.  Employees tend to have trust issues with the company does not follow through on promises, must be reminded or prompted to do simple things to allow the employee to do their job, or to hide (or forget to communicate) information that should be available to that person.”

Why is it important for your firm to make employees feel valued?

Our firm exists to make the world a little safer for our clients.  In order for my staff to carry out that mission, they must care about the client and the work they do each day.  Without their incredible dedication, there would be no company.

Contact information:

www.peopleg2.com