What's the BIG idea?

When Tom Martin began his new job as editor of the Galesburg Register-Mail, he asked his new staff four questions:

• Of your current duties, which ones do you most enjoy and why?

• What would you like from me in terms of direction, supervision and feedback?

• What kind of training would most help you achieve your career goals?

• What job do you eventually want within this or any other organization?

Martin gave them a week to respond.

“I wanted to force the staff members to think about what they do and what they want from their jobs,” he said. “My experience in newspapers is that there is a lot of doing, but not a lot of thinking.”

The staff’s responses gave Martin insight into how each person approaches his or her job, and how happy they are with those jobs.

“I keep their responses on file and use them when shifting newsroom positions and duties,” he said. “They also come in handy during performance reviews. I use them as a quick reference to re-establish career goals of that employee.

“The responses are only part of the puzzle of each employee. But I’ve found it helpful.”

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