DRAKE is proud to be profiled in the August 2002 edition of "Action" in the article "On Becoming an Employer of Choice"...

 

 




Small Business Profile
"On Becoming an Employer of Choice"

    From the Durham Chamber of Commerce,
    ACTION Magazine (August 2002)


Where do you find help for answers to such nagging questions as: How do we effectively motivate and support our employees? With turnover costs being so high, what is the best way to interview and select employees that will fit our organization? What is all this talk about workplace harassment and how does it apply to my company? Help me understand the rules about exempt & non-exempt workers and overtime pay. Now that we have completed our company merger, how do we merge the staff cultures? How can we train our new leaders and managers for excellence in leadership? Employers can find direction to respond to these issues from DRAKE & Associates, Ltd.

"We work with employers to find solutions to their people issues--solutions that make good busine$$ sense and comply with federal, state and local employment rules and regulations," says Mary Lou Drake, president of the ten (10) year old human resource, organizational and staff development firm. "We partner with the company's management team and focus on creating a strong foundation which will enhance and improve employee productivity through sound human resource practices.

"Our clients learn quickly that a well-conceived and executed HR program can save them considerable amounts of money, as well as minimize stress and improve productivity within the organization. We work on long-term strategic projects as well as being available on call to answer the unexpected, potentially troublesome questions. We provide coaching and mentoring for the on-site Human Resources staff. Clients tell us they really appreciate knowing that someone with professional credentials and years of experience is available to help when questions and issues arise."

Drake believes that if employees have a good understanding of their job requirements and they have been trained and coached to succeed, the investment pays off immediately. "That's really a supervisor's major job-helping their employees to succeed. What they supervisory staff usually need is support in "how" to do this effectively. And we are there to help them with coaching and mentoring support and ideas on how to prevent problems in the future."

Since 1992 Drake and her team of professionals have been helping with such issues as productive organizational design, effective recruitment strategies, uniform job classifications, competitive wage and salary structures, fair employee relations practices, consistent and clear communications including employee handbooks and supervisory guidelines, and motivational performance management programs to encourage employees to stretch and grow in their capabilities.

In addition DRAKE offers customized training programs to promote management development, supervisory skills enhancement, interpersonal communications improvement, employee motivation, change management (a.k.a., "Who Moved My Cheese?"), team building, team leadership and many others.

For those organizations interested in a highly effective and comprehensive training program on leadership, DRAKE, in partnership with Duke Leadership Training Associates, offers a series of six one-day leadership courses where qualified participants can earn a "Certificate In Leadership" from Duke University in three months. Two fall sessions are scheduled but interested leaders are encouraged to sign up early because class size will be small to maximize the learning opportunity.

Clients include a full range of organizations from small to large, from high-tech IT to medical, biomedical and pharmaceutical, profit and non-profit, universities as well as local, state and federal government agencies.


DRAKE believes that "People + Planning + Process = Productivity & Profits(TM)" and that through this formula organizations can reach the next level of success and earn the coveted "Employer of Choice" designation.