The Quality of WorkLife - Hampton Roads project is an ongoing win/win
community service project initiated by Organization Diagnostics, Inc. to acquaint
Regional leaders with our breakthrough technology services and products. The project
provides a valuable pro bono service to existing and potential Regional employers,
as well as current and prospective employees by publishing an annual Quality
of WorkLife Index for participating organizations. It keeps the "best"
employers at the forefront of their industry by attracting the "best" employees.
And it sends a clear message that Hampton Roads is striving to be more than just
a great place to live, but also the premier place to work!
Preliminary discussions with many area leaders have already captured interest
and commitment to participate. We envision the QWHR project will be
one of the banner initiatives to establish a firm Regional economic foundation. A
cross section of organizations have already been selected for the 1998 data collection
effort and invitations will be released soon. It is likely that annual participation
will grow as project reports become increasingly in demand.
Late April will find participating organizations potentially meeting at the new
corporate Regional facility, the ODI - ProZone at the Harbor. Topics
will include a full description of the project mechanics, a 1998 time line, data
collection options, and selection of the final 50 organizations who will be fully
engaged in the project this year. Final selections will be made based on established
organizational categories, and other criteria that will include the size and locations
of the organizations. Although we expect each of the 16 Hampton Roads communities
to participate, results will not be reported based on those geographic political
boundaries. This will be a Regional focus only, although comparative information
will be available within each industry.
We are also making available three "wildcard" participant possibilities which will be filled from among those interested organizations, but not included on our invitation list. If your organizations desires consideration for the 1998 project launch, or would like additional information, please, respond by e-mail as quickly as possible using the following prompt:
WHAT is Quality of WorkLife?
Quality of WorkLife is a measure of those
characteristics of an organization's culture that attract and retain performers.
Tracking it as an aggregate allows a region to attract high-performing employers
and employees, to grow deliberately rather than accidentally, and to instill pride
and appreciation for what the region offers to the work community as economic growth
potential.
WHAT is Quality of WorkLife - Hampton Roads?
Quality
of WorkLife - Hampton Roads is an assessment of the organization cultures of key
business, industry, and government agencies that make up the Greater Hampton Roads
work community. The assessment produces a QWL Index for the region, and confidential
feedback for participating organizations.
WHAT is Sponsorship in Quality
of WorkLife - Hampton Roads?
Sponsorship in Quality of WorkLife - Hampton
Roads is a win-win-win opportunity for the Hampton Roads business/industry/government
communities and for ODI. The specifics of a sponsorship are defined collaboratively.
We are looking for help in some specific areas:
1. Establishing a network
of the right participating organizations, agencies, alliances, and partnerships -
a role to play in the success of Hampton Roads.
2. Gathering intellectual
capital and regional experience to insure our measurement accuracy and relevance.
3. Offering meeting space that will produce successful collaborative efforts. (ODI
has an established data collection program which is part of our Cultural Diagnostics
mission. It includes facilitating the creation of surveys, distributing and processing
surveys, analyzing the data, and generating comprehensive reports.)
4. Distributing
the reports from central locations, publishing the QWL Index in regional literature,
and delivering feedback to participating communities.
5. Creating awards
for participating organizations.
6. Establishing the QWL Index standard as
a measure of attractiveness for the Hampton Roads region.
7. Linking to an
ODI Website Information Center for the Quality of WorkLife - Hampton Roads initiative.
Benefits
of Sponsorship
o Enhanced image of sponsor's commitment to regional economic
development and on-going economic health. (PR)
o Enhanced relationships with
existing regional business/industry/government organizations. (Visibility)
o
Learning opportunities ranging from enhanced understanding of organization development
(broad) to practical knowledge of tools for improving organization culture.
o
Low-cost/low-risk investment in the future quality of worklife in Hampton Roads.
Benefits
of the Initiative
o Compiles and reports data that will sharpen the region's
competitive edge in attracting new business and industry.
o Introduces an
innovative approach to enhancing quality of worklife in the region.
o Establishes
a baseline (QWL Index) against which improvement can be measured.
o Provides
a potential measure of the return on investment of doing business from a base in
the Hampton Roads region.
o Provides participating organizations with diagnostic
work-ups and recommendations for strategic improvement initiatives.
o Identifies
strengths to lever in attracting new employees and new business to the area.
o
Creates visibility for participating organizations.
Benefits to ODI
o
Expands the ODI industry "normative industry statistics" for the Hampton
Roads area quickly.
o Provides ODI visibility in the Greater Hampton Roads area.
o
Introduces CommunityWare and Cultural Diagnostics to a broader market.
o Enhances
ODI's on-going commitment to improving our technologies.
o Builds ODI's credibility
as value-added business partners with our clients/prospects.
o Announces ODI's
intention to be valued as a regional community service resource.
