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September 21, 2006
AURA
This past August, we had our Principal Fellows Orientation for class 13. One of the most powerful speakers we had was General Don Broome, who spoke to us about how to retain and keep great people. I was reminded that there are several parallels between military service and our work in public service. While military service has a longer "contract", it is critical for the military to retain their troops, rather than spend additional time and money training new inductees. School executives have a similar issue- how do you keep the people in your organization that you want to keep? General Broome's comments were inspiring to say the least. He noted that the US Army has an acronym "AURA" that they use to help retain members of their organization:
A-Acceptance. How do you accept new people into the process?
U-Understanding. Does each member of the organization understand the goals and mission? How are we doing this-formally and informally?
R-Recognition. Give proper and immediate recognition
A-Appreciation. Demonstrate appreciation.
General Broome mentioned that one of the biggest ways that he has found is to find ways to take care of the troops and their families-simple gestures such as flowers, cards, and short notes go a long way as reminders that the individual is valuable to the organization.
Thanks General-You're an unsung hero.
Posted by chitch at September 21, 2006 7:56 PM