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To: The Boss
From: One of your minions Re: Your Breath
It's bad.
Signed,
John Q. Lackey
Ever fantasized about hitting the send button on a career-imploder like this? The day may not be far off. A new Web site called ImproveNow.com offers a service where employees can anonymously rate their higher-ups on everything from their management skills to their ability to throw a good post-project party.
Consider it one more piece of evidence that in the new culture of the pay-and-perk bonanza, the tables have turned. In the early 1990s, executives could afford to ignore employee complaints. Who cared if Bill in accounting seemed miffed? Where was he going to go? Today, it's a worker's market. The worst labor shortage in modern history has managers pulling out all the stops to retain and lure talent. What better time to let your bosses know what they're doing right -- and not so right.
"Nowhere else in the history of the world has there been ever been a tool like this, where bosses can learn what their employees really think of them," says ImproveNow.com's CEO James Povec, who fancies himself to be an expert in the field after surviving bosses who he says did everything from firing off demeaning e-mails to refusing to listen.
PASSING GRADE.
Povec's site is easy to navigate. A worker just types in his or her boss's e-mail and then goes at it, answering such questions as, "Are angry words between you and your boss quickly forgotten?" and "Would your boss go the mat for you?" There's no charge for employees. But bosses who request that their workers fill the survey out will be charged $10 per head, but for now it's also free.
One such boss was John Zito, the controller of Findlay (Ohio)-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. For years, he nagged his employees to assess him, but they never complied. The Web site gave Zito the opportunity to convince his six underlings that they could do it because it was anonymous. "They didn't have to sugarcoat things," Zito explains. He says the experience helped him grow as a manager. He thought, for example, that he was good at relaying strategy -- until two employees both gave him a C+. "I learned I'm not communicating as well as I thought I was."
Lest managers like Zito despair, ImproveNow.com also offers resources for the boss, including books, audiocassettes, coaches, consultants, and online courses. And the site gives workers a chance to grade their careers and companies, including lots of ways to send a message to your CEO that you aren't being paid enough.
RETENTION ATTENTION.
"What this is doing is creating a dialogue," Povec says. "All of a sudden, the boss realizes he's not quite the effective supervisor that he thought he was, and he has a chance to change, which is crucial given that retention is the most important issue affecting employers today."
Don't believe it? Consider this: 60% of American workers will change jobs this year, according to a new Workseek.com-sponsored study by Los Angeles-based Commsciences. Half of them will leave because they don't like their boss.
At least this way, the supervisor has a chance to know -- before it's too late.
Michelle Conlin in New York EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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