Do you ever have a great idea you'd love to pursue where ever it takes you? Such is the case with Todd McDonald of ATW Training & Consulting, Inc. in Urbandale, Iowa. I can remember years ago when Todd would always talk about an idea he had that seemed to make a lot of sense. "What if we were to ask employees to name just one thing they wish their manager would do to help them be more productive in their jobs?"

Todd pursued that idea and has built a business around the concept to help managers and employees better communicate and understand each other. He has a website (www.iwishyouwouldjust.com) that features his findings and suggestions as to what people could do with the results. Along the way as Todd began to share his findings with managers, he heard a plea for equal time and has since started having managers finish the statement: "I wish my employees would just?"

I Wish You Would Just... has become is great way to:

• Establish trusting, two-way communication between managers and employees.

• Encourage and equip both managers and employees with ideas of how to
  better relate to each other.

• Promote open and honest discussion about how managers and employees
  can help each other be more successful.

Todd recently posted the latest findings from employee surveys conducted throughout 2004. For the seventh year, ATW Training polled employees from across the United States and asked them what their managers could do to help them be more productive and successful. The top responses were:

1. Be available
2. Help me learn and grow
3. Be fair
4. Set clear expectations
5. Tell me what's going on
6. Understand what I have to deal with
7. Listen
8. Tell me how I'm doing
9. Recognize my efforts
10. Relax

Once again, the evidence points to simple actions that any of us can take to make our lives and relationships more meaningful and productive. It's Todd's wish that his research can help employees and managers unleash their human potential and be more content, productive and successful. I for one sure hope he succeeds!

Thanks, Todd, for caring.

Bob Nelson

SOURCE: Corporate Meetings & Incentives, June 2005

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