1.) Communicate to everyone that accountability and commitment are important!
2.) Align every job description to your company’s strategy and goals for the coming year. Ask everyone to commit to a shared vision of results.
3.) Make accountabilities clear for everyone by using the benchmark for their job to start a discussion about how their individual contributions matter.
4.) When you onboard new employees, have job-related professional development planning already in place to help them reach their full potential.
5.) Build accountability into your company culture using “what & by when” goal and task planning. Project management can be very sophisticated, but the bottom line is “who, what, and by when?”
6.) Offer ways for employees to communicate obstacles and request the help or resources they need to achieve their goals. When you listen to them, recognize that what you’re listening to is someone who is committed to producing results.
7.) Involve employees in an ongoing dialogue about how they can identify process improvements or otherwise increase the quality of their work and the team’s productivity.
8.) Use small “course corrections” on a monthly or as-needed basis to guide employees toward behaviors and practices that are effective for meeting goals. Don’t wait for the annual performance review. You wouldn’t wait until arrival at a destination to notice a wrong turn along the way, would you?
9.) “Catch” people doing something right: Give frequent, honest and positive feedback. As a general rule of thumb, a ratio of five positive interactions to one critical interaction will help managers build an open communication channel with direct reports.
10.) Identify ways to recognize and acknowledge employees company-wide when their actions exemplify an “above and beyond” commitment to company objectives. Success breeds success!
If you’re serious about achieving spectacular results next year, get everyone involved. Call your Vantage for help benchmarking jobs, onboarding new employees and creating development plans for everyone on the team.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Serial Entrepreneurs Driven by Need for Practical Return on Effort
Featured in the Harvard Business Review's - The Daily Stat
62% of serial entrepreneurs see it as a top priority to get a practical return on time or money spent, a value that is viewed as primary by only 38% of U.S. adults, according to a study by TTI Performance Systems. Only 10% of repeat entrepreneurs rank the desire for personal power number 1, about the same proportion as the rest of the population, says the firm, a developer of assessment tools for job matching and other functions.
62% of serial entrepreneurs see it as a top priority to get a practical return on time or money spent, a value that is viewed as primary by only 38% of U.S. adults, according to a study by TTI Performance Systems. Only 10% of repeat entrepreneurs rank the desire for personal power number 1, about the same proportion as the rest of the population, says the firm, a developer of assessment tools for job matching and other functions.
Generational Differences in the Workforce
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.” American humorist Mark Twain, who turned 21 in 1856.
Remember when you thought your parents were behind the times? Would your kids say this about you? There’s an old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Technology changes at warp speed, but human nature is fairly consistent. Lately there’s been so much written about Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials that it’s hard to know what’s really true and what just seems true because we hear it so often in the media.People are working longer, so you may have coworkers in your office who range in age from aged 18 to 70 or more. But sizing up a co-worker according to their generation is a waste of time. It won’t tell you what they’re really like, and it won’t help you understand how to work well together. One thing is for sure: if you want your team to work together like the rock stars they can be, you’re going to need to give them some information they can really use to communicate better.
There is a reliable way to understand someone very quickly: If you want to work well together, take a look at their assessment report and let them have a look at yours. Be sure it’s an assessment that shows the values they hold dear, because these are the inner motivations that move them into action. It should include their behaviors and the personal skill competencies they bring to the job, too. Are they talkative, friendly and optimistic? Detail-oriented and conscientious? Can you count on them to put their head down and get the job done like clockwork? Is this someone who will move full speed ahead to make decisions? With one look at a comprehensive assessment, you’ll see who is high in personal accountability, who embraces learning new skills, and who is a natural team-builder.
Knowing a co-worker’s assessment profile tells you how they are going to operate on the job, and that’s what you really need to know. It will tell you about their behavior, what motivates them and the personal skills they excel at on the job. With this information, you’ll understand them based on their own specific characteristics, not just some generalization. You can find common ground, understand each other’s preferred communication style and adjust the way you approach each other. And if you’re a manager, a job-related assessment will tell you exactly how closely they fit what you need from them on the job. It will even tell you specifically how you can help them boost their performance by using professional development only in the areas where they really need it. Like Mark Twain, you may be astonished by how much more they have to offer than you ever guessed.
How do you leverage all of the talent and potential within your organization to build market competitiveness? It starts by identifying each individual’s current strengths and helping them to develop more.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Create a Climate of Truth
The hardest thing about strategic planning seems to be finding the direction that a company should take. In Good to Great Collins suggests creating a climate of truth throughout the organization so that voices can be heard and facts can be confronted. If you’ve gathered the right people and allow them to be heard, the right decisions for the organization will become self-evident. Collins says that creating a climate of truth can be achieved through these practices:
1) Lead with questions, not answers. It seems that the greatest leaders didn’t walk in trying to solve problems. Rather they gathered bright minds together and posed questions that would lead the organization to a sound decision.
2) Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion. Along a similar line as the statement above, encourage discourse among members of the organization in order to bring about a positive change rather than making top down decisions and expecting people to “buy-in.”
3) Conduct autopsies, without blame. This is the cornerstone of “confronting the brutal facts.” In order to find out what works and what doesn’t work, a company must scrutinize and examine every move it makes. If it works, seek to understand why it worked and what can be learned from this. If it doesn’t work, don’t place blame, rather seek to understand and learn from these mistakes. This process of conducting autopsies will go a long way towards creating a winning strategic plan.
Creating a climate of truth can be easier said than done. You can allow people the freedom to voice their opinions, but will they? If people voice their opinions, how do you prevent conflicting opinions from becoming outright arguments? Our assessments can help in this process and provide answers to these questions.
Using Assessments to Create a Climate of Truth
Using (and understanding the theories behind) an assessment like DISC and Meyers-Briggs can aid in creating a climate of truth and provide a more cohesive environment where expression and opinion are welcomed. In assessing a team with behavior based assessments, team members will start to understand themselves and the other members of their team in a way they never have before. In terms of the behaviors, each team member will see their own communication style and the strengths and weakness that their style has in communicating with the styles of other team members. In terms of motivators, members will see what drives their passion as well as the passion of their fellow team members and how that may affect the way in which they relate to one another. The understanding and awareness of these factors alone will improve the team dynamic by leaps and bounds, yielding a true climate of truth.
1) Lead with questions, not answers. It seems that the greatest leaders didn’t walk in trying to solve problems. Rather they gathered bright minds together and posed questions that would lead the organization to a sound decision.
2) Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion. Along a similar line as the statement above, encourage discourse among members of the organization in order to bring about a positive change rather than making top down decisions and expecting people to “buy-in.”
3) Conduct autopsies, without blame. This is the cornerstone of “confronting the brutal facts.” In order to find out what works and what doesn’t work, a company must scrutinize and examine every move it makes. If it works, seek to understand why it worked and what can be learned from this. If it doesn’t work, don’t place blame, rather seek to understand and learn from these mistakes. This process of conducting autopsies will go a long way towards creating a winning strategic plan.
Creating a climate of truth can be easier said than done. You can allow people the freedom to voice their opinions, but will they? If people voice their opinions, how do you prevent conflicting opinions from becoming outright arguments? Our assessments can help in this process and provide answers to these questions.
Using Assessments to Create a Climate of Truth
Using (and understanding the theories behind) an assessment like DISC and Meyers-Briggs can aid in creating a climate of truth and provide a more cohesive environment where expression and opinion are welcomed. In assessing a team with behavior based assessments, team members will start to understand themselves and the other members of their team in a way they never have before. In terms of the behaviors, each team member will see their own communication style and the strengths and weakness that their style has in communicating with the styles of other team members. In terms of motivators, members will see what drives their passion as well as the passion of their fellow team members and how that may affect the way in which they relate to one another. The understanding and awareness of these factors alone will improve the team dynamic by leaps and bounds, yielding a true climate of truth.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Building An Atmosphere of Trust
Like many of the best things in life, trust really is free. Doing without it, however, will cost you dearly, especially in business. What’s at stake is productivity, innovation, and ultimately, profits.
High functioning teams share goals that drive day-to-day activities. Their mutual self-interest greases the wheels of collaboration, but trust is the solid ground they ride on. Capitalizing on their energy and motivation so your team is productive requires that they collaborate freely, and for that, people need to trust each other.
Trust is based on a history of honest relationships. Teams are subtly strengthened or gradually divided by the way simple, everyday differences are communicated. Unified teams have integrity, demonstrating honesty through actions. Having integrity means that what an individual says and what they actually do are consistent with each other. Can your team count on one another to do what they say they will do?
Teams that operate in the absence of trust are guarded, and by necessity more cautious about everything they say and do. Communication becomes a way to defend and protect oneself, avoiding risk rather than reaching for results. The consequence for your business is more of the status quo, instead of the collaborative risk-taking that exemplifies off-the-charts growth.
Harnessing their inspiration and creativity depends on employees being able to trust each other and their managers. Groups innovate when they are comfortable sharing ideas, exploring “What if…?” and can rely on each other to keep the process moving. They need to feel safe discussing “what’s not working” in the context of exploring ways to make it better. If ideas are often met with cynicism and viewed as a waste of time (“Don’t bother, it’ll never be considered”), you may be missing out on great contributions. Are individuals viewed with respect for taking the initiative to pitch ideas, regardless of the outcome?
The answers to these questions are a good indicator of whether your company is already recognized as a creative industry leader or one that follows trends set by more innovative competitors. When trust levels are high, so is the potential that the talented people you’ve hired will coalesce to become a powerful team.
You can discover and measure the level of trust in your team with our Team Performance Survey. This tool and many more are designed to find out what is needed to improve, insight to understand the issues at an interpersonal level, and on-demand resources to take action. And, importantly, the ability to measure progress.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Employment Myths Busted
In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of what we used to know even two years ago isn’t necessarily true in today’s changed business climate. How many outdated ideas do you have about the employment world? Read each question in bold to decide if you think it’s true or false before reading the answer below.
1. Employees always leave managers, not jobs. Wrong. Employees leave jobs even when they like and respect their manager because the fit between their talents, interests and skills isn’t good enough to give them quality of life on the job. In fact, struggling in a job where you spend Sunday night dreading going to work on Monday morning is a dead giveaway of a poor job fit. All jobs have a unique profile of distinct skills, attitudes and behaviors that are required for best performance, just as people have their own unique profile, too. When a person is matched to a job that requires the combination of behaviors, skills and attitudes that come naturally to them, achieving superior performance isn’t a struggle, it’s a challenge they can win.
2. Our superior performing employees may secretly be waiting for the economy to open up more jobs, so they can find another job with more money and opportunity than we can offer them right now. In the present economy with budgets so tight that raises and incentives have been cut almost across the board, employee surveys show that this is absolutely true. But it doesn’t mean you can’t deepen your superior performers’ bond to your company. Savvy employers are investing in professional development that helps them develop talent from within. By doing this, they help current employees improve their performance now, while preparing them for upcoming leadership roles. People understand that budgets are tight right now, but when they see their company’s willingness to develop their skills, they recognize it as a vote of confidence in their potential and their value to the organization. Nothing says “We’ll give you a raise when we can” like investing in an employee’s career development now.
3. If my company asks me to take an assessment, it must mean they think I’m not good enough to do my job and they want an excuse to fire me. If you said that nothing could be further from the truth, you’re right. Just as employees are slow to leave a good job right now, employers are realizing that it’s much more cost effective to mine the talent they already have rather than to start from scratch with someone new. Using assessment reports is a strategy that smart companies are using to build bench strength so they are ready when business picks up. If your employer has asked you to take an assessment, congratulations! You’ve been identified as an employee with high potential to become a superior performer or next-generation manager.
4. Behavioral and values assessments are NOT like personality tests. If you agree with this statement, you’re right. Behavior and values assessments are statistically validated ways to see what a person’s natural style is for communicating on the job, how they like to manage their workflow, how they respond to a changing work environment, and what aspects of the job can make it deeply satisfying beyond the paycheck. Using assessment reports to identify a person’s strengths is a great way to make sure the company is deploying an employee in the right job to play to their strengths and develop more.
5. Managing other people to achieve peak performance is only possible if you’re a really accomplished, experienced manager with a long track record of success, or a manager with too much time on your hands. If you recognized this thought as so outdated that it’s last millennium, you’re right. In the age of research validated job benchmarks and assessments, it’s possible to pinpoint exactly what a person’s workplace strengths and weaknesses are. Smart companies are using the latest technology, available online, to not only generate an assessment they can review with the employee, but to ‘prescribe’ professional development modules that the employee can use anywhere they have access to the internet. Managers can review performance goals and contribute suggestions online, too, without having to micromanage either performance or professional development.
For more information on how assessments can help strengthen your organization, contact Vantage today.
1. Employees always leave managers, not jobs. Wrong. Employees leave jobs even when they like and respect their manager because the fit between their talents, interests and skills isn’t good enough to give them quality of life on the job. In fact, struggling in a job where you spend Sunday night dreading going to work on Monday morning is a dead giveaway of a poor job fit. All jobs have a unique profile of distinct skills, attitudes and behaviors that are required for best performance, just as people have their own unique profile, too. When a person is matched to a job that requires the combination of behaviors, skills and attitudes that come naturally to them, achieving superior performance isn’t a struggle, it’s a challenge they can win.
2. Our superior performing employees may secretly be waiting for the economy to open up more jobs, so they can find another job with more money and opportunity than we can offer them right now. In the present economy with budgets so tight that raises and incentives have been cut almost across the board, employee surveys show that this is absolutely true. But it doesn’t mean you can’t deepen your superior performers’ bond to your company. Savvy employers are investing in professional development that helps them develop talent from within. By doing this, they help current employees improve their performance now, while preparing them for upcoming leadership roles. People understand that budgets are tight right now, but when they see their company’s willingness to develop their skills, they recognize it as a vote of confidence in their potential and their value to the organization. Nothing says “We’ll give you a raise when we can” like investing in an employee’s career development now.
3. If my company asks me to take an assessment, it must mean they think I’m not good enough to do my job and they want an excuse to fire me. If you said that nothing could be further from the truth, you’re right. Just as employees are slow to leave a good job right now, employers are realizing that it’s much more cost effective to mine the talent they already have rather than to start from scratch with someone new. Using assessment reports is a strategy that smart companies are using to build bench strength so they are ready when business picks up. If your employer has asked you to take an assessment, congratulations! You’ve been identified as an employee with high potential to become a superior performer or next-generation manager.
4. Behavioral and values assessments are NOT like personality tests. If you agree with this statement, you’re right. Behavior and values assessments are statistically validated ways to see what a person’s natural style is for communicating on the job, how they like to manage their workflow, how they respond to a changing work environment, and what aspects of the job can make it deeply satisfying beyond the paycheck. Using assessment reports to identify a person’s strengths is a great way to make sure the company is deploying an employee in the right job to play to their strengths and develop more.
5. Managing other people to achieve peak performance is only possible if you’re a really accomplished, experienced manager with a long track record of success, or a manager with too much time on your hands. If you recognized this thought as so outdated that it’s last millennium, you’re right. In the age of research validated job benchmarks and assessments, it’s possible to pinpoint exactly what a person’s workplace strengths and weaknesses are. Smart companies are using the latest technology, available online, to not only generate an assessment they can review with the employee, but to ‘prescribe’ professional development modules that the employee can use anywhere they have access to the internet. Managers can review performance goals and contribute suggestions online, too, without having to micromanage either performance or professional development.
For more information on how assessments can help strengthen your organization, contact Vantage today.
Only 27% of large organizations are Transferring Knowledge from retiring baby boomers to younger employees.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Building Trust in Your Team
Like many of the best things in life, trust really is free. Doing without it, however, will cost you dearly, especially in business. What’s at stake is productivity, innovation, and ultimately, profits.
High functioning teams share goals that drive day-to-day activities. Their mutual self-interest greases the wheels of collaboration, but trust is the solid ground they ride on. Capitalizing on their energy and motivation so your team is productive requires that they collaborate freely, and for that, people need to trust each other.
Trust is based on a history of honest relationships. Do people at your company talk directly to a person when they have an issue with them or just complain about that person to someone else? Teams are subtly strengthened or gradually divided by the way simple, everyday differences are communicated.
Unified teams have integrity, demonstrating honesty through actions. Having integrity means that what an individual says and what they actually do are consistent with each other. Can your team count on one another to do what they say they will do?
Teams that operate in the absence of trust are guarded, and by necessity more cautious about everything they say and do. Communication becomes a way to defend and protect oneself, avoiding risk rather than reaching for results. The consequence for your business is more of the status quo, instead of the collaborative risk-taking that exemplifies off-the-charts growth.
Harnessing their inspiration and creativity depends on employees being able to trust each other and their managers. Groups innovate when they are comfortable sharing ideas, exploring “What if…?” and can rely on each other to keep the process moving. They need to feel safe discussing “what’s not working” in the context of exploring ways to make it better. If ideas are often met with cynicism and viewed as a waste of time (“Don’t bother, it’ll never be considered”), you may be missing out on great contributions. Are individuals viewed with respect for taking the initiative to pitch ideas, regardless of the outcome?
The answers to these questions are a good indicator of whether your company is already recognized as a creative industry leader or one that follows trends set by more innovative competitors. When trust levels are high, so is the potential that the talented people you’ve hired will coalesce to become a powerful team.
Crucial team skills such as trust and innovation are enhanced with Vantage's Team Performance Tools, and the team’s true potential comes into focus when you use team behavior and motivator reports. For more information, contact a Vantage and request our free Team Performance Survey.
High functioning teams share goals that drive day-to-day activities. Their mutual self-interest greases the wheels of collaboration, but trust is the solid ground they ride on. Capitalizing on their energy and motivation so your team is productive requires that they collaborate freely, and for that, people need to trust each other.
Trust is based on a history of honest relationships. Do people at your company talk directly to a person when they have an issue with them or just complain about that person to someone else? Teams are subtly strengthened or gradually divided by the way simple, everyday differences are communicated.
Unified teams have integrity, demonstrating honesty through actions. Having integrity means that what an individual says and what they actually do are consistent with each other. Can your team count on one another to do what they say they will do?
Teams that operate in the absence of trust are guarded, and by necessity more cautious about everything they say and do. Communication becomes a way to defend and protect oneself, avoiding risk rather than reaching for results. The consequence for your business is more of the status quo, instead of the collaborative risk-taking that exemplifies off-the-charts growth.
Harnessing their inspiration and creativity depends on employees being able to trust each other and their managers. Groups innovate when they are comfortable sharing ideas, exploring “What if…?” and can rely on each other to keep the process moving. They need to feel safe discussing “what’s not working” in the context of exploring ways to make it better. If ideas are often met with cynicism and viewed as a waste of time (“Don’t bother, it’ll never be considered”), you may be missing out on great contributions. Are individuals viewed with respect for taking the initiative to pitch ideas, regardless of the outcome?
The answers to these questions are a good indicator of whether your company is already recognized as a creative industry leader or one that follows trends set by more innovative competitors. When trust levels are high, so is the potential that the talented people you’ve hired will coalesce to become a powerful team.
Crucial team skills such as trust and innovation are enhanced with Vantage's Team Performance Tools, and the team’s true potential comes into focus when you use team behavior and motivator reports. For more information, contact a Vantage and request our free Team Performance Survey.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Improve Retention with Better On-Boarding
Forward-thinking companies are taking on-boarding of new employees seriously, because it’s one of the best ideas to be refined in recent years. A superior on-boarding process initiates success in two areas: retention and performance. However, reaping the rewards of a comprehensive on-boarding program requires that you absolutely must make sure you use a selection system that only allows you to hire people who truly fit the job and the corporate culture. Imagine the consequences if you mistakenly hired an inferior performer and then implemented a process that will make sure they don’t quit!
A proper selection process starts with identifying subject matter experts (SMEs) who really understand the job in question. The SME’s first task is to identify the key accountabilities for the job. This process requires a facilitator to assure that key accountabilities are real and void of any individual biases. If the job could talk, it would identify the key accountabilities objectively and without bias.
Key accountabilities do a better job of demonstrating the reason the job exists than old-style job descriptions do, and they are a much more clear way to identify expectations to an employee, too. Once a manager sees how effectively they communicate the job to a new employee, they will see how obsolete job descriptions have become. In fact, since key accountabilities make it easy to recognize the skills, behavior, knowledge and motivators required to accomplish the job results, they make it easier to hire and train for superior performance, too.
This process empowers a company to define the ideal candidate for the job, including:
Education
Certifications
Experience
Ideal behavior, skills and intrinsic motivators
With a process in place to promote longevity within your company, you can once again address an on-boarding system. The best practice is to have the new employee complete all payroll, insurance, and company policy information prior to the actual start date. The new employee’s work station must be ready on Day 1, with equipment such as their desk, chair, computer and phone in place. As much as possible, the work station should be prepared with access to the initial set up information they will need for tools such as voice mail, computer log in, and phone and email distribution lists. This assures that you get your new employee off to a positive and fast start, and the first day can be spent focused on establishing a foundation for performance.
The key components of the on-boarding process for their first day will be:
Introduction to management and colleagues
Manager and new employee discussion:
Key job accountabilities
Skills and behavior required by the job
Corporate culture
New employee’s current skills and any skills that must be developed to do the job
How best to communicate and manage the new employee
Creating and prioritizing a personalized development plan
A plan to hold the new employee accountable for building necessary skills
Assign a mentor to the new employee to assist the on-boarding process
Schedule a meeting between the new employee and senior management
This on-boarding process was developed and refined over a period of years. It not only ensures a company’s ability to select and keep superior performers, it also contributes to attracting top talent by helping to brand the company as the best place to work in its city or industry. Over a 24-month period, tracking the use of this system demonstrated impressive results: it filled 96% of open positions and retained 98% of those hired and on-boarded with this process.
A proper selection process starts with identifying subject matter experts (SMEs) who really understand the job in question. The SME’s first task is to identify the key accountabilities for the job. This process requires a facilitator to assure that key accountabilities are real and void of any individual biases. If the job could talk, it would identify the key accountabilities objectively and without bias.
Key accountabilities do a better job of demonstrating the reason the job exists than old-style job descriptions do, and they are a much more clear way to identify expectations to an employee, too. Once a manager sees how effectively they communicate the job to a new employee, they will see how obsolete job descriptions have become. In fact, since key accountabilities make it easy to recognize the skills, behavior, knowledge and motivators required to accomplish the job results, they make it easier to hire and train for superior performance, too.
This process empowers a company to define the ideal candidate for the job, including:
Education
Certifications
Experience
Ideal behavior, skills and intrinsic motivators
With a process in place to promote longevity within your company, you can once again address an on-boarding system. The best practice is to have the new employee complete all payroll, insurance, and company policy information prior to the actual start date. The new employee’s work station must be ready on Day 1, with equipment such as their desk, chair, computer and phone in place. As much as possible, the work station should be prepared with access to the initial set up information they will need for tools such as voice mail, computer log in, and phone and email distribution lists. This assures that you get your new employee off to a positive and fast start, and the first day can be spent focused on establishing a foundation for performance.
The key components of the on-boarding process for their first day will be:
Introduction to management and colleagues
Manager and new employee discussion:
Key job accountabilities
Skills and behavior required by the job
Corporate culture
New employee’s current skills and any skills that must be developed to do the job
How best to communicate and manage the new employee
Creating and prioritizing a personalized development plan
A plan to hold the new employee accountable for building necessary skills
Assign a mentor to the new employee to assist the on-boarding process
Schedule a meeting between the new employee and senior management
This on-boarding process was developed and refined over a period of years. It not only ensures a company’s ability to select and keep superior performers, it also contributes to attracting top talent by helping to brand the company as the best place to work in its city or industry. Over a 24-month period, tracking the use of this system demonstrated impressive results: it filled 96% of open positions and retained 98% of those hired and on-boarded with this process.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Are You Running Around in Circles?
Are you tired of moving at high speed, trying to get more and more done? Thankfully, economic indicators show us headed toward blue skies again.
Have you been running around the same bases week after week, assuring that the essentials are under control? The urge to concentrate exclusively on crucial, immediate concerns can be overwhelming, but it’s a mistake that can hinder growth. No matter how busy you are, strategy matters.
The economic slowdown compelled organizations to reverse the gradual creep of costly, unnecessary complexity, and that’s good. But it has also meant weathering the storm with a smaller staff, and that’s been a challenge. To drive results going forward, leaders must be equipped to keep every employee on track. With all the re-sizing, restructuring and belt tightening, it’s very possible that many, if not all, of the roles at your company have changed. Make sure that the opportunities on the horizon don’t dissipate into chaos because of cloudy communication and altered roles.
This is an opportunity for clarification, one that can improve your team’s performance and lend momentum to achieving goals. There are day-to-day tasks and projects required to meet those goals. Use a patented process to benchmark jobs at your company and establish the key accountabilities for each position. It’s the best way to communicate revised performance expectations to everyone on the team and ensure that nothing critical gets lost in the shuffle.
The simplified version of strategic planning is knowing what results you need to accomplish and having an action plan to produce them. Benchmarking jobs, identifying key accountabilities and defining priorities is a good foundation for your leadership plan. Getting through the recession requires a unique recovery plan for each business. There are already signs that some companies are doing a better job of rebounding than others.
If you need to be strategic without spending a lot of time, contact Vantage for help getting and keeping everyone moving in the right direction.
Have you been running around the same bases week after week, assuring that the essentials are under control? The urge to concentrate exclusively on crucial, immediate concerns can be overwhelming, but it’s a mistake that can hinder growth. No matter how busy you are, strategy matters.
The economic slowdown compelled organizations to reverse the gradual creep of costly, unnecessary complexity, and that’s good. But it has also meant weathering the storm with a smaller staff, and that’s been a challenge. To drive results going forward, leaders must be equipped to keep every employee on track. With all the re-sizing, restructuring and belt tightening, it’s very possible that many, if not all, of the roles at your company have changed. Make sure that the opportunities on the horizon don’t dissipate into chaos because of cloudy communication and altered roles.
This is an opportunity for clarification, one that can improve your team’s performance and lend momentum to achieving goals. There are day-to-day tasks and projects required to meet those goals. Use a patented process to benchmark jobs at your company and establish the key accountabilities for each position. It’s the best way to communicate revised performance expectations to everyone on the team and ensure that nothing critical gets lost in the shuffle.
The simplified version of strategic planning is knowing what results you need to accomplish and having an action plan to produce them. Benchmarking jobs, identifying key accountabilities and defining priorities is a good foundation for your leadership plan. Getting through the recession requires a unique recovery plan for each business. There are already signs that some companies are doing a better job of rebounding than others.
If you need to be strategic without spending a lot of time, contact Vantage for help getting and keeping everyone moving in the right direction.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
How have the economy and cost cutting measures affected your employer brand?
Keeping a firm grip on every budget dollar continues to be crucial in the challenging business landscape of 2010. Until recent glimmers of improvement in the economy become a reliable upward trend, employers must produce more with fewer staff. Being part of a strong recovery will require three crucial accomplishments: retention of superior performers who can help your business achieve goals this year, strategies for bringing out the best in everyone on the team, and eventually, a careful selection of new talent as you ramp back up.
When your business is ready to grow, will your employee value proposition motivate star performers to join your staff and convince the ones you have now to stay on board? High turnover is equated to low stock value, with a proven connection (up or down) of 30%, so losing key staff now is a costly mistake. It’s vital to create an employment experience that inspires talented employees to stay on board long after the downturn has passed, and you can manage this without breaking the bank.
If your staff is like many others, widespread job losses and other economic fallout has deeply affected their personal and professional lives in ways they can’t control. Now more than ever, leaders must clearly communicate the plan for moving the company from a survival to a growth mode in the post-recession economy. Staff need to understand in very specific terms how their own individual actions in the coming months can lend momentum to the company’s financial turnaround.
Guide employees to access new levels of performance in a supportive, energizing environment. It starts by maximizing productivity and minimizing potential loss of talent with the use of behavioral and values assessments. Validated assessment tools insure that you have each staff member working in the position where they can make their best contribution to the bottom line.
Next, offer opportunities for professional development that move them through specific steps to the next level of effectiveness. In addition to boosting earnings, it gives employees a much-needed shot of optimism. Staff recognize that professional development offerings are a concrete ‘vote of confidence’ from the employer. With budgets for raises and bonuses curtailed, they are acutely aware that this is evidence of an employer’s will to provide professional advancement despite a down economy.
Current employees are the backbone of your employer brand. Inspire them to spread good word of mouth about the company by examining your employer brand appeal from their perspective. Access to superior performers outside your company will also require a strategy that appeals across generations, leveraging all the communication channels available.
Having a great employer brand needs to be an ongoing HR focus. It calls for a mind set of awareness about how your business is perceived from inside and outside, and a commitment to improve and maintain a favorable brand. To learn more about the factors that create and influence your employer brand download our white paper, "A Tale of Two Companies."
Have you already made mistakes by cutting costs like staff development? If so, contact us for an evaluation. See how you can position your organization as THE employer of choice in your area.
When your business is ready to grow, will your employee value proposition motivate star performers to join your staff and convince the ones you have now to stay on board? High turnover is equated to low stock value, with a proven connection (up or down) of 30%, so losing key staff now is a costly mistake. It’s vital to create an employment experience that inspires talented employees to stay on board long after the downturn has passed, and you can manage this without breaking the bank.
If your staff is like many others, widespread job losses and other economic fallout has deeply affected their personal and professional lives in ways they can’t control. Now more than ever, leaders must clearly communicate the plan for moving the company from a survival to a growth mode in the post-recession economy. Staff need to understand in very specific terms how their own individual actions in the coming months can lend momentum to the company’s financial turnaround.
Guide employees to access new levels of performance in a supportive, energizing environment. It starts by maximizing productivity and minimizing potential loss of talent with the use of behavioral and values assessments. Validated assessment tools insure that you have each staff member working in the position where they can make their best contribution to the bottom line.
Next, offer opportunities for professional development that move them through specific steps to the next level of effectiveness. In addition to boosting earnings, it gives employees a much-needed shot of optimism. Staff recognize that professional development offerings are a concrete ‘vote of confidence’ from the employer. With budgets for raises and bonuses curtailed, they are acutely aware that this is evidence of an employer’s will to provide professional advancement despite a down economy.
Current employees are the backbone of your employer brand. Inspire them to spread good word of mouth about the company by examining your employer brand appeal from their perspective. Access to superior performers outside your company will also require a strategy that appeals across generations, leveraging all the communication channels available.
Having a great employer brand needs to be an ongoing HR focus. It calls for a mind set of awareness about how your business is perceived from inside and outside, and a commitment to improve and maintain a favorable brand. To learn more about the factors that create and influence your employer brand download our white paper, "A Tale of Two Companies."
Have you already made mistakes by cutting costs like staff development? If so, contact us for an evaluation. See how you can position your organization as THE employer of choice in your area.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Re-engaging the Workforce
For many organizations it is critical that top management focus on re-engaging their employees. The past five or six years of negative attitudes have taken their toll on our employees.
The workforce has been bombarded by the media with many value-based issues, such as healthcare, taxes, the war in Iraq, unemployment, the recession, etc., etc. These issues have created an environment that has been carried to work by many employees. In some cases, even management has contributed to these issues.
So, no matter what the size of your company is, you need a highly motivated workforce to compete in today’s economy. Here are ten useful ideas:
The workforce has been bombarded by the media with many value-based issues, such as healthcare, taxes, the war in Iraq, unemployment, the recession, etc., etc. These issues have created an environment that has been carried to work by many employees. In some cases, even management has contributed to these issues.
So, no matter what the size of your company is, you need a highly motivated workforce to compete in today’s economy. Here are ten useful ideas:
- Organizational chart – Does your current chart actually reflect today’s lines of authority? If not, revise it so your employees know it, understand it and can follow it.
- Look at all your key jobs to see if they need to be re-engineered. Many jobs have changed to the point that they require the employee to be all things to all people.
- Replace job descriptions with key accountabilities, which do a much better job of helping people understand what they really need to do.
- Analyze each key job and determine if continuous learning is required for superior performance. If so, do you have a plan and budget to help them keep current?
- Engage them in decision making. Think about how our children and grandchildren have helped the older generations with their email, cell phones and computers. They want to be involved; and to be engaged, you must let them be a part of decision making.
- On a regular basis, give them credit for their contribution.
- Walk your talk and live up to your promises.
- Match talent to the task or job.
- Create a positive environment by making sure that everyone’s intrinsic motivators are satisfied on the job.
- Support their ideas about going green and encourage their involvement in community activities.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What does it take to stay on the cutting edge?
Continuous Learning Required
Over the last several years, we have observed changes in jobs. One of the more obvious changes has been moving from tangible work to intangible activities. Building a brick wall is much different from checking your email. The brick wall can be viewed and valued by many, while checking your email is an intangible that is difficult to see and value.
Another change has been the need for Continuous Learning. Today over 50 percent of all jobs require the employee to have mastered the art of Continuous Learning. It is critical not only in the areas of science and technology, but also in a myriad of many other careers to keep up with the latest advancements and stay competitive in product offerings and services.
The biggest challenge with Continuous Learning is that not all people can master it. Continuous Learning is just as much an attitude as it is a skill. In fact, people who have a negative attitude toward Continuous Learning will never master it. They will have other passions that will override the need to stay current.
I challenge you to look at all your company’s jobs to see how critical Continuous Learning is to superior performance. If it is required, what is management doing to support this requirement, such as providing time for social networking and web searches, attending seminars, and purchasing books and magazines? We have a solution that works great for busy schedules through our ThinkBox online tools.
Over the last several years, we have observed changes in jobs. One of the more obvious changes has been moving from tangible work to intangible activities. Building a brick wall is much different from checking your email. The brick wall can be viewed and valued by many, while checking your email is an intangible that is difficult to see and value.
Another change has been the need for Continuous Learning. Today over 50 percent of all jobs require the employee to have mastered the art of Continuous Learning. It is critical not only in the areas of science and technology, but also in a myriad of many other careers to keep up with the latest advancements and stay competitive in product offerings and services.
The biggest challenge with Continuous Learning is that not all people can master it. Continuous Learning is just as much an attitude as it is a skill. In fact, people who have a negative attitude toward Continuous Learning will never master it. They will have other passions that will override the need to stay current.
I challenge you to look at all your company’s jobs to see how critical Continuous Learning is to superior performance. If it is required, what is management doing to support this requirement, such as providing time for social networking and web searches, attending seminars, and purchasing books and magazines? We have a solution that works great for busy schedules through our ThinkBox online tools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
