All posts by tammylfinch

Drivers of Engagement?

While it is possible to measure engagement itself through employee surveys, this does not assist in identifying areas for improvement within organizations. There are a range of factors, more commonly known as drivers, that are thought to increase overall engagement. By managing the drivers, an organization can effectively manage engagement levels of its employees. Drivers such as communication, performance clarity and feedback, organizational culture, rewards and recognition, relationships with managers and peers, career development opportunities and knowledge of the organization’s goals and vision are some of the factors that facilitate employee engagement. Some points from the most recent research out there are presented below:

 

Employee perceptions of job importance – According to a 2006 study by Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim, “…an employee’s attitude toward the job’s importance and the company had the greatest impact on loyalty and customer service then all other employee factors combined.”

 

Employee clarity of job expectations – “If expectations are not clear and basic materials and equipment are not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may result, and the employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he can help the organization succeed.”

 

Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors – “Feedback is the key to giving employees a sense of where they’re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving it.” “‘What I really wanted to hear was ‘Thanks. You did a good job.’ “

 

Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates – “…if employees’ relationships with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade the employees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss.”

 

Perceptions of the values of the organization – “‘Inspiration and values’ is the most important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadership is the ultimate perk. In its absence, it is unlikely to engage employees.”

 

Effective Internal Employee Communications – which convey a clear description of “what’s going on”. “‘If you accept that employees want to be involved in what they are doing then this trend is clear (from small businesses to large global organizations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen at its most destructive in global organizations which suffer from employee annexation – where the head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (who are furthest away from the action and know little about what is happening) are disengaged. In the worst case, employee annexation can be very destructive when the head office attributes the annex’s low engagement to its poor performance… when its poor performance is really due to its poor communications.

What is Employee Engagement and Why Should I Care About it?

business coaching

Employee engagement, also commonly known as worker engagement, is a business management concept. A truly engaged employee is deemed to be one who is fully involved in and enthusiastic about their work. And by definition, if they are more engaged, it is believed they will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests. According to Scarlett Surveys, “Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee’s positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work”. With that being the case, then employee engagement is clearly different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organizational culture. So…..how many of your employees are truly “engaged”? And why is that important to you? Read further and let’s find out!

Emotional Attachment

Recent studies indicate just how important emotional attachment is to the engagement equation.  Here are a few key stats to support that.

  • 31% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 1/3 of the workforce
  • 88% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact their organization, compared with 38% of the disengaged
  • 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service versus 27% of the disengaged
  •  68% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact costs in their job, compared with just 19% of the disengaged

The end message on emotional attachment is clear. The people who are engaged feel a stronger emotional bond with their organization and in turn demonstrate a willingness to recommend the organization to others and to commit time and effort to help the organization succeed. If true, then it suggests people are motivated first by intrinsic factors like personal growth, working for a common purpose and being part of a team with extrinsic factors such as pay/reward being second to that in importance.

 

Commitment

A second key piece of the employee engagement puzzle is employees and their level of commitment. Why?

Employees with the highest level of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave an organization.  A classic example of this is MolsonCoors where it was found that engaged employees were five times less likely than disengaged employees to have a safety incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time incident. The average cost of a safety incident for engaged workers was $63, versus an average of $392 for a non-engaged employee. Through strengthening employee engagement the company saved $1,721,760 in safety costs in 2002. Also, huge savings were also realized in sales through improved engagement. The difference there meant a savings of $2,104,823.

 

Okay, enough stats and cases proving what should seem obvious. Clearly, employee engagement can have a HUGE impact on any organization’s bottom line in a variety of ways. In our coming issues we will drill down deeper into some specifics and how to address and improve your employee engagement results. It seems obvious we all should care about that now!

Create a Culture of Engagement

Over the past couple of years, challenging economic conditions have required organizations to tighten belts and do more with less. While we all accept these measures as necessary for survival, the added stress on rank-and-file employees has been excruciating. Leaders need to do all they can to ensure they foster an engaged workforce that will continue to move forward in spite of the challenges that lie ahead. Those that can pull people together will survive and thrive when times improve.

What is employee engagement?

The difference between engaged and disengaged employees may seem to be a matter of style or personality, but they are based on decisions rooted in loyalty and commitment to one or more levels of the organization. Disengaged employees not only negatively impact the bottom line, but they also misrepresent an organization and its culture.

There are three different levels that can be identified as locations of engagement in the workplace:

1. Organizational – Mission, core values and overall strategy of the
    company.
2. Managerial – Leaders and managers in the organization.
3. Employee – Front-line employees and teams

Addressing engagement at each of these unique levels requires different actions. The remainder of this report will examine the different ways leaders can address engagement and motivate employees to be more committed and excited about their daily tasks.

1. Engagement at the organizational level

Improving employee engagement at the organizational level is strategic and tactical. Before you can attempt to change your organizational culture, you first must examine the current culture of your organization. An organization’s culture is its unique personality: the company’s core values, ethics and norms. The mission, vision, and strategy of your organization are important in identifying whether or not the culture of your organization supports engagement.

After identifying and defining your organization’s culture, you will need to implement five different actions that will help improve engagement at the organizational level:

Identify opportunities
Simplify solutions
Take action
Hold employees accountable
Commit to developing your employees

2. Engagement at the managerial level

Recognizing that the actions of senior leadership, managers, and supervisors are the key drivers of engagement, the act of engaging should be a part of every leader’s job profile and leadership skill set.

Engagement may not be solely an internal motivation issue. There are job factors that affect the engagement of every employee. Ask yourself these questions: * Do I have the right people in the appropriate leadership positions? * Is leadership development an issue? * Is it both of the above?

3. Engagement at the employee level

One way to increase engagement at the employee level is to make sure you have the employee in a position where they can thrive and grow. This will result in greater productivity and commitment.  To survive the demographic changes in the workforce you must rethink your workforce strategies and transform your management and human resource practices to attract, engage, and retain workers of all ages.

Target engaged employees: A target employee is one who has a good fit to his or her current job, is fully engaged on-the-job, and whose performance exceeds your expectations. The target employee not only
achieves the goal, but has the ability to elevate the performance of other employees, team members, departments, and divisions.

Challenge and train employees: You may also need to think differently about challenging your employees. Research shows that managers are up to four times more engaged than front-line employees. This is due to the additional challenges managers face. Provide your employees with stretch goals, avoid micromanaging, and let them learn from their mistakes.

In order for employees to remain engaged, they need to be continuously stimulated. Every new experience you create for your employees is an opportunity for growth.

Bringing it all together

It is impossible to create a culture of engagement without knowing the personality and characteristics of your employees and managers. Leaders must be aware of the engagement levels of their employees.

Assessments provide an opportunity to learn more about each employee and how they fit into their job and the organization.

What is Performance Management?

Gorason business coach

A very visible company practices employee recognition and engagement by recognizing  its employees for good performance by prominently placing their photographs in the lobby display case, along with a brief bio of the employee as well .The employee also receives an extra paid day off, a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant and a convenient reserved parking place for the month. This reward system exemplifies one of the four crucial building blocks of performance management that is effective in combining recognition and reward.  There are other key elements in the system of managing individual performance as well.  None should be omitted or neglected.
 The four key strategies important to managing performance are:
1. Planning
2. Monitoring & Feedback
3. Development
4. Reward & Recognition.
Planning – Set clear goals for your organization and your employees. Everyone from the secretary to the CEO should know what is expected of him or her. In setting your goals, you can create a mission
statement for the overall company, but you must also be sure your employees know their job duties and performance goals.
Monitoring and giving feedback to employees – Making plans and setting goals will do no goodunless a supervisor monitors employee performance regularly, giving clear feedback when necessary.
This feedback should include both praise and constructive criticism, or as GCI prefers to call it “one minute coaching sessions”. The key is to “catch” your employees in the act of doing well and praise them immediately or correct a mistake right away and in the right way – constructively and privately.
Development – Leaders give workers the ability to do their jobs through skills training and other resources. Think of this as giving someone careful directions and a road map to arrive at the destination on time and without mishap. Development has a broad meaning, and your managers should think of creative ways to develop employees to grow into their jobs.
Reward/Recognition – Although rewards need not be given daily or even weekly, they are important to the process and cannot be overlooked.  A reward can be expressed as a simple “Great job!” or as detailed as the recognition scenario presented earlier in this article.  Be creative and match the reward to the performance.
Performance management can seem, at first, a baffling practice.  Take heart readers. You CAN achieve it by ensuring the four key strategies are in place. Your efforts will result in high-performing workers who know what you expect and have the abilities and resources to accomplish it.
Ultimately, your organization will reap the rewards. In a study of 100,000 employees of 2,500 organizations, the Gallup Organization recorded the attitudes of employees at work in highly productive groups. These attitudes are directly related to the rate of employee turnover, customer satisfaction and productivity. Employees in such work groups reported high levels of agreement with the following statements:

  • I know what is expected of me at work (planning).
  • In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress (monitoring).
  • I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right (developing).
  • In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work (rewarding).

Take an inward, honest look at your organization or team.  Are these the kind of statements your employees would make? If not, you have the ability to put these building blocks in place.
(Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

Eliminating Management Derailers

More and more is being asked of managers in today’s business world.  And because of that the importance of their success is even more critical to any organization.  It’s easy as a new, reassigned or just overwhelmed manager to get lost in the shuffle of all the activity.  In this month’s newsletter, we will address some very common, well-documented management derailers courtesy of a case study provided by the PI Research Institute.

CASE STUDY
Alleviate management derailers to become a better manager
Because managers carry more responsibility than any other position in most offices, their personal development is sometimes forgotten. Over time procedures can become routine, and managers can unconsciously begin to derail. How can your leaders become effective managers?

There are three symptoms a derailing manager may possess: resistance to change, inability to deliver expected results, and inability to see beyond their own functional silos. It is crucial to treat each of these symptoms immediately in order to ensure that the manager and organization stay on track and continue to be productive.

Derailer #1: Resisting change
A manager “at risk” of derailing due to resistance to change may exhibit some of the following behaviors:

  • Expresses frustration at the suggestion of change
  • Is preoccupied with reminiscing about “what was” versus “what will be”
  • Continues to do things the same old way yet expects new results
  • Discomfort with ambiguity and lack of openness to discovering better ways of doing things
  • Team members complain about mixed messages from leadership and their manager

There are several ways to remedy this manager’s resistance. The first step is to understand the manager’s appetite for change. People are “wired” differently, and this influences our appetite for risk and challenge. Some find change exciting and embrace it, while others find it threatening and reject it. A balance of both is healthy for an organization. Knowing how someone will respond to change helps you tailor your communication and get him on board.

A second way to assist a manager is to help the manager understand his natural aversion to change. If a manager has a natural tendency to resist change, then it is important to make him aware of this tendency. This will enable him to develop his own way of helping himself adapt to change. When possible, have him think through the process for you so that you can demonstrate how the change will benefit both the organization and the individual.

Finally, when trying to develop a manager resistant to change, ensure that the manager is focused on the new priorities. There are many ways to communicate change, but words are not enough. You need to translate this change into meaningful actions and goals for the manager, and then you need to inspect what you expect. Ask the manager and his people what they believe the manager’s priorities are, especially after a change event. This reveals disconnects and opportunities for realignment.

Derailer #2: Unable to deliver expected results
Another type of manager with potential to derail is one who is unable to deliver expected results. If the manager in question meets these symptoms, they are “at risk”:

  • Results are consistently below goals, especially those that are measurable
  • Manager blames others or makes excuses for his own failure
  • Manager avoids discussions about setting, tracking, and progressing toward goals
  • Manager spends too much time, energy, and resources on low-priority activities
  • Team is unaware of how they contribute to the manager’s or organization’s goals

To “cure” this type of management, first clarify the expected results and goals. It is difficult to hit a target when the target is moving or you’re shooting through fog. Don’t assume that your managers have a clear understanding of the results they need to achieve and how they’re going to achieve them. When possible, go beyond the “what” to the “how,” and challenge the manager to translate goals into subgoals  and activities that must be achieved.

Next, attempt to understand the manager. Not everyone is naturally goal oriented. For those who aren’t, the notion of setting, tracking, and achieving goals can be extremely intimidating. This is especially true of new managers in roles where measurement is difficult. If the manager fits either of these criteria, then expect to spend more time coaching him so that he can achieve his goals. When possible, include him in the goal-setting process to get his buy-in.

Finally, inspect what you expect. Once goals are clear and you have the manager’s buy-in, establish a process for tracking the most important goals. Use these goals to create a personal “dashboard” that helps the manager set his own priorities that drive results. Require the manager to update his goals weekly, and use his progress to facilitate a coaching discussion. Finally, check back with the manager on a periodic basis to ensure that his priorities are properly aligned.

Derailer #3: Missing the big picture
The final type of manager with potential to derail is a manager who cannot see beyond their own functional silos. Symptoms of a manager “at risk” of derailing include:

  • Unwilling to communicate or collaborate with others outside of his unit
  • Makes decisions that benefit his unit but clearly hurt the overall organization
  • Resists change that impacts him but clearly benefits the organization
  • Hoards information that might benefit others outside of his unit
  • Co-workers complain that the manager is out of touch with the organization’s mission

The first step in developing a manager with high silos is to establish clarity. Don’t assume that the manager understands how he and his people fit in and interrelate with other units to achieve the organization’s greater mission. This should be spelled out explicitly, especially if the manager has spent little time outside of his functional unit. Be sure to include the manager in at least one cross-functional team. Have the manager experience firsthand what it means to contribute to a broader team and depend on others to achieve a significant common objective. Ideally, he or she should work under an experienced team leader who can provide both coaching and a positive experience.

Establish at least one cross-functional goal for the manager. While similar to the previous point, this requires him to participate in an ongoing operation of the organization rather than a special project with a defined endpoint. In this situation, the managers who share the goal should report to someone higher up who can monitor progress, facilitate discussion, offer advice, and drive accountability.

Finally, monitor the manager’s progress. This is more than just an annual performance review; it’s about holding the manager accountable, ensuring that he is aligned with the company’s priorities and changing his behavior. This is done by monitoring his progress and offering coaching and additional development. Input from multiple sources such as the manager’s managers, peers on cross-functional teams, and subordinates is valuable.

These three types of managers are more common than they should be. And these symptoms don’t just occur in newly minted managers or old and grizzled ones – they can surface at any time, so monitor your people regularly. Encourage your leaders to know how to be effective managers. Enable your organization to excel by developing your managers to exceed expectations. Don’t allow management to derail because of their own faults, teach them how to be successful in their position so that they can develop the rest of those in the organization.

Learn more
Want to know how to become an effective manager? Call Goranson Consulting, Inc. at (309) 645-7100 for the full report on Management Derailers and learn more about management development solutions.

Good Employees Gone Bad

In today’s working world, things have clearly changed and will continue to do so. Some of that is good. Some of that creates a unique set of challenges. The phrase used most often with me by my clients is “Whatever happened to the person I hired?”. And when drilling down with them further, the real message and concern was that a good to great employee was now suddenly off track – big time. What happened?   What do I do to fix it? Why did this happen?

 

All of these are great questions. And while there is no clear cut answer at first, the common theme I run into the most is one thing, CHANGE. Something has changed and it has significantly created a challenge for the formerly good to great performer. You need to find out asap what that might be!

 

Types of change to look for that can impact performance are as follows:

  1. A new boss.
  2. A new focus for the organization or team, whether product, service, mission, etc.
  3. Cutbacks resulting in fewer employees but the same amount of work to be done. Additional duties added onto what an employee already has on their plate.
  4. Personal impacts outside of work.

There is a vast array of other possibilities, but these are the key areas most often addressed in my role as a Professional Development Coach. And it should not come as a surprise to anyone. As I have stated before, sometimes today all employees, whether at the top, middle or bottom of the organizational chart, feel that if they are asked to wear one more hat they’re going to need a bigger hat rack. They are at their limit with stress, peaked on the hours they can productively work and often now doing things they a) hate to do and b) aren’t trained or equipped to handle properly and effectively.

 

 

New Boss

A new boss always means change. If you are the new kid on the block and leading your team, how well do you know them? Realize and understand that the sooner they get to know you, your style, your CLEAR expectations of them the better. Now more than ever, people need to feel like more than just a cog in the machine. Build better relationships at work and the better chance you have of maintaining morale, productivity and focus with your people. Pay has never, in any study out there, been rated the number one reason for dissatisfaction, disengagement. The key drivers have always been based on better, clearer communication and understanding of each other and what motivates us and makes us “tick”.

 

New Focus

Okay, you’ve just changed something in regards to what your organization or team within it does, sells, works on, whatever. Did you have individual and team meetings to pre-plan, to discuss, conduct Q & A or town hall style meetings with your people? If so, did you follow up with them afterwards to see how it really went and how they really feel? Is there training needed? What are the expectations of them day 1, week 1, month 1 with this new undertaking or focus? What’s the plan?

 

Additional Duties Due to Cutbacks

This is SO common yet handled so poorly so often, it’s amazing there are not more problems in the workplace than there seems to be right now. Almost every single organization out there has experienced this a little or a lot. And while you may have no choice on needing to divide the work out among your surviving staff, a few very key points need to be considered, explored and thought through before doing so.   This will prove good for you and good for your employees that are impacted. Who might have the expertise or, even more important passion or interest, for the new duties? Does it fit their thinking and learning style, their hard-wired behavioral traits and tendencies, plus what they are passionate or interested in? This is a classic example of one of the key things I have addressed since founding my business almost 8 years ago. It’s all about job fit/job match and the aforementioned areas of thinking style, behavioral traits and interests are the building blocks for getting that right IF you know the answers to those. If not, you need to find out, asap. There are some great tools out there to help you figure that out without guessing and just going with your gut. If I could pick the number one area where organizations are missing the mark and as a result, experiencing the good employee gone bad scenario, this is it!

 

Personal Impacts Outside of the Workplace

This is happening to all of us. If we are experiencing massive change in our workplace, our friends and family are as well. It’s all connected. Don’t just assume that what may seem to be the rare “perfect workplace” you are in is not actually filled with insecurities, fear and stress. Obviously, if people in our lives outside of work are going through what the vast majority of the world is experiencing even if it has not occurred at your organization, the creeping fear that “it’s only a matter of time” is there like the white elephant in the room. Stop ignoring the elephant and address it head on. Honestly, openly, regularly in a genuine style true to you as a leader. Once again, this will help you build a much stronger and valuable working relationship with your team. And that is just another way to keep the good ones from going bad on you.

 

It’s a busy, hectic, non-stop workplace everywhere these days. But it can be more productive and more fun, with many positives coming from slowing down long enough to address just some of the scenarios described here. If you do so, it can only help your days go more smoothly as well. I hope you find some words of wisdom here to help you with your workplace challenges. Best of luck to all of you!

Eight Signs of Ineffective Managers

Effective managers do more than just supervise employees. They take responsibility for ensuring that an individual succeeds, and that the team, department, or business unit achieves expected results. Effective managers are like successful coaches who develop teams that win championships year after year.  Like winning coaches, successful managers are both talented and skilled. Of course, managerial skills can be developed through training, mentoring, and experience. But if a manager lacks natural talent, his or her odds of success will diminish significantly.

 

To keep your team winning avoid these eight signs of ineffective managers:


1. Poor relationship-building skills

Poor communicators forget that manager-employee communication is a two-way street. They talk (some more effectively than others), but they seldom listen. Often they don’t read subtle cues from other people’s gestures and tend to interrupt when others are speaking.


2. Weak leadership capabilities

Sometimes it’s tough to speak the plain but inconvenient truth when people really need to hear it. Great leaders can set an example; they walk the walk and talk the talk. Weak leaders are sometimes afraid to bruise egos – including their own


3. Inability or unwillingness to adapt to change

Change is hard. But effective managers know how to handle it. They can adjust to new circumstances.  In a crisis, they seek solutions. It’s often been said that the only constant is change. On the other hand, those who can’t adapt to change:

  • panic when faced with unexpected problems and sudden crises; they expect the worst
  • get stuck in reactive mode instead of proactively developing contingency plans
  • don’t think creatively to overcome obstacles
  • they’re reluctant to involve others in the problem-solving process, even when they have more
  • experience or can bring a fresh perspective to the table

4. Poor relationship-building skills

Relationships – professional as well as personal – require some work. For example, good communication is a cornerstone of a healthy, productive relationship. So are trust and respect. Good relationship builders respect people’s differences; they’re tolerant. They praise more than they criticize. And when they do criticize they focus on the behavior, not the people. They’re

always careful not to embarrass other people. And they say what needs to be said – even when it’s uncomfortable to say it.

Aside from neglecting to maintain strong personal relationships, poor relationship builders:

  • fail to respect the team or show appreciation for other experiences and view points
  • criticize people instead of people’s behaviors. They rarely offer specific, constructive suggestions for improvement
  • don’t regulate their emotions well, especially during times of stress

5. Ineffective task management

Effective task managers know how to establish priorities and make sure work gets done! They can see the big picture and break it down into specific tasks required to complete a project. They are skilled at assessing their resources, allotting time and materials, motivating people on the job, and ensuring that each and every milestone and deliverable is accomplished on time and on budget.

Ineffective task managers:

  • do not ask for help when they need it
  • procrastinate, especially when a big project seems overwhelming
  • tend to blame others for their own lack of oversight

6. Insufficient production

Insufficient production can have myriad causes. It could be a simple lack of resources or funding.  It could be unrealistic expectations. Some managers lack the technical knowledge to ensure that production demands are met. And, of course, some people lack a sense of urgency, even on matters that are critical to the organization.

These managers:

  • find plenty of reasons not to make a decision
  • waffle, remain indecisive and show insensitivity about holding up projects
  • are easily distracted, unreliable and erratic

7. Poor developer of others

Just like relationship building, developing other people’s talents is an art. Developing others can be hard work. Not everyone is naturally capable of delivering constructive criticism. Nor is everyone observant enough to make note of another person’s habits, including the habits that need to change. Being a role model or a mentor takes commitment. Unfortunately, not all role models and mentors recognize that.  They think their prot�g�s will simply observe and learn. But the fact is, developing skills and talents in others takes much more than just showing up.

8. Neglectful of own personal development

It sounds reasonable enough, but we’ve observed many managers who fail to develop their own communication styles, organizational skills or work habits. They might claim that they’re committed to the organization or the team, but unless they’re willing to continually improve their own skills and talents, how will they ever recognize how important personal development is for the whole team?

WHAT’S BEHIND GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

Great news!  The all important consumer spending index appears to have been up in March.

One key and positive sign on the long road to economic recovery!  But as with all good news comes other potential roadblocks.  A key challenge is the fact that people have been battered, bruised, and shell-shocked by the downturn for so long, that it’s difficult to tell how their long-term attitudes towards spending may have been affected.

Now more than ever, businesses need to maintain their focus on their customers. They spent more in March, but what about the next month?  The next quarter?  Or through the end of your fiscal year? Companies would like to be able to breathe a sigh of relief, raise prices, and start to recoup some of the losses they’ve sustained and to begin to grow a little or a lot! That’s not unreasonable.

But first you have to know who’s buying from you and why. Is it for convenience?  Price?  Brand loyalty? Great customer service?  If your clients suddenly feel more financial confidence and choose to spend more, will they spend it with you, or take their business elsewhere?

The one thing you CAN control is your staff’s understanding of the importance of your clients that buy from you.  And what your expectations are in that area.  Also, don’t forget to spend time talking about and explaining further the most important customers of all, each employee in your organization and how they deal with their fellow employees and leaders.  Lousy internal communication will eventually seep out to the client.  It always does.  So start from the inside and work your way outwards to the external customers for the best, long-term results.

Six Keys to Great Customer Experiences

In both good times and bad the lifetime value of one customer can be exponentially greater than the value of a series of single transactions from one-time customers. In this era of social networking, it only takes one Tweet or Facebook status update to seriously damage a company’s reputation.

One bad customer experience can cost you that customer for life. Think about these situations from the perspective of a customer: It doesn’t take much for a customer to decide that you and your company aren’t worth his time, effort, or money.

There has been some research, courtesy of Profiles International, that has been continually refined over the last two decades with thousands of clients and across hundreds of industries.  Six core behaviors of your customer-facing employees have been identified as those that make the biggest difference for your business. They are:

  1. Trust
  2. Tact
  3. Empathy
  4. Conformity
  5. Focus
  6. Flexibility

The following paragraphs are a synopsis of that years and years of research.  Please take a closer look!

1. Trust. Trusting individuals tend to believe that the motives of others are honorable. It’s easy for your people to become defensive when they’re presented with problems, especially when it seems that the person presenting the problem has a hidden agenda.

  • People with low levels of trust are often described as wary, vigilant, or skeptical.
  • Those with high levels of trust are often described as unquestioning, uncritical, or optimistic.

The optimal degree of trustworthiness depends on your business, but naivet� is never optimal.  For example, an IRS agent will probably be less trusting than the front desk clerk of a Ritz-Carlton hotel.  But you  jeopardize your chance to build long-term, loyal customers if you assume from the outset that their motives are not honorable.

2. Tact. How you say something to a customer can be just as important as what you say. Your customers don’t know what they don’t know, and they may make incorrect assumptions about what they need or how something works.  They also don’t want to feel stupid.

  • Tactful people tend to state their positions without offending others and are often described as discreet, diplomatic, or restrained.
  • Less tactful people are often described as direct, obvious, or forthright

The bottom line is that how you say something to a customer can be just as important as what you say, especially in an emotionally charged situation.

3. Empathy. Customers need to feel that someone cares about their experience. Customers like to feel loved, and they get turned off very quickly when they sense that you don’t care about the pain they’re feeling.  Even if you can’t help them because the situation is beyond your control, acknowledge that you understand both the situation and their frustration.

  • People with high levels of empathy tend to understand others’ feelings and are often described as understanding, compassionate, or sensitive.
  • People with low levels of empathy are often described as detached, indifferent, or distant.

4. Conformity. The optimal degree of conformity for your customer-facing people really depends on your business. The key is understanding your customers’ objectives and expectations.

  • People with high levels of conformity have a strong tendency to comply with the rules and with those in authority. They are often described as traditional, compliant, or conventional.
  • People with low levels of conformity are often described as inventive, free-spirited, or independent.

Some positions also require high conformity due to legal, regulatory, and safety requirements. In this case, it is best to balance the need to conform with high empathy and tact, since it is unlikely that the service provider will be able to bend the rules. Your customer-facing people should be aware of the stress this places on the customer, and they should let the customer know that they feel his or her pain.

5. Focus. Customer service is about relentless focus. Obviously, no customer wants the person serving her to be distracted or preoccupied.  On the other hand, being too focused can be a bad thing.  Be sure your people understand the degree of focus required for the job.

  • Highly focused people tend to stay on task regardless of distractions, and they are often described as attentive, purposeful, or efficient.
  • People with little ability to focus are often described as distractible, preoccupied, or inefficient. They may have a hard time working in an environment with many distractions such as a bullpen-type call center.

6. Flexibility. Companies that provide the best service think in terms of the customer, and this requires employee willingness and flexibility. Highly flexible people can be creative problem solvers, but they risk becoming bored if the problems they are trying to solve are routine or repetitious. They may also try to overcomplicate simple issues just so they can add variety to their assignments.  On the other hand, it’s easy to assume that your customer-facing employees should be flexible in order to accommodate customer needs, but this isn’t always the case.  Less-flexible people often prefer routine or repetitious tasks that change little over time — new methods or routines can overwhelm them. They are often better suited for customer interactions that involve routine tasks with clearly defined rules and procedures.

  • Less flexible people are often described as uncompromising, rigid, or cautious.
  • Highly flexible people tend to explore new approaches to doing things, and they are often described as adaptable, accepting, and open-minded.

The key is to match the core behaviors of the individual to the actual job that they will perform.  Skills can be learned by employees who are willing to put forth the effort, but our personalities and core behaviors are difficult to change.

The more we can learn about existing or potentially new customers and our employees that serve them, the better chance we have for success.  And in the arena of customer service, it really is a “ripple effect”.  Address the items outlined in this research and the results will show up in better customer(and employee) retention.  Better productivity.  And ultimately, an improved bottom line.  I hope this information helps you raise the bar for you and your organization!

 

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it.

It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” – PETER DRUCKER

Succession Management & Career Development are the Keys

I am currently working with several organizations that all face the same challenge. Where are my next leaders coming from? One has less than 15 employees, one with around 35, one around 750 and another well over 1,000. Yet all are asking questions and looking deeper and more seriously into Succession Management. This month’s article is designed to hit the highlights on a few critical things to keep in mind if you are facing the same challenge.

 

SUCCESSION PLANNING – HIGHLIGHTS

 

– Succession Management & Career Development are two sides of the same coin operating hand in hand.

 

– Talent must be CLEARLY aligned with the overall business strategy and business goals to achieve maximum success.

 

– Talent readiness means that the business must designate individuals designated for upward mobility, identify required skills, and establish a time line for development of those skills to ensure readiness to actually fill designated roles when needed.

 

– Engagement equals retention. An employee who clearly understands his or her career path is more apt to stay motivated AND to stay with the organization. Compensation has never been #1.

 

– Critical roles are the positions an organization needs to meet its key business objectives. These are not always just top down, exec level roles. An organization’s success is dependent on full understanding and ongoing awareness of a) critical roles and b) competencies. Competencies are the knowledge, behavior and skills that correlate with organizational success and performance. Example: Retail organizations identify customer satisfaction as a leading business driver and as a result, key competencies for them may include customer responsiveness, relationship building, account management, etc. What are your company’s key competencies, by position?

 

In other words:

 

  1. Identify and track high-performing employees
  2. Begin identifying and addressing knowledge and skills gaps
  3. Learn how or get help in coaching and developing employees
  4. Identify competency gaps AND strengths as well
  5. Assign training as part of succession planning
  6. Generate individual development plans as part of career-planning activities (in order to narrow any identified readiness gaps)
  7. Provide more than one way up in an organization, if possible. It’s not always a straight path.
  8. Not every valuable employee is destined for the C-suite. Create a career track for technical experts and non-management positions as well.

 

Organizations must get a clearer understanding of whether or not they have the right people with the right skills to fill critical roles. Based on current and predicted business and economic trends, those companies that actively coordinate career management and succession plan management most effectively will be the ones to survive and thrive.

 

With the right succession management and career development processes in place, you can empower both your organization and your employees!

Why Smart Employees Under-perform: 7 Hazards to Avoid

Capability refers to the skills, tools, and experience that a person needs in order to successfully perform her job.  When any of these factors are missing, there is an increased chance that the employee will underperform.  It isn’t uncommon for hiring professionals to overlook these basic factors, especially if a candidate has solid academic credentials and comes across as intelligent and confident in a job interview.  Furthermore, it’s no secret that most candidates exaggerate their abilities on their r�sum�s and job applications.

Diagnostics that help you identify if an underperforming employee has adequate capability:

a)Skills– Do you know what skills are needed to perform the job and whether the employee possesses those skills?  If she doesn’t possess the necessary skills, how will you help her acquire them, and how long do you expect that process to take?  Skills training takes time and money, and results are never guaranteed unless there is adequate commitment from both the manager and the employee.

b)Tools-Even if an individual has the skills and experience to do the job, does he have the tools to deliver peak performance? For example, a highly skilled and experienced web designer can’t build a website without adequate computer hardware and software. The tools don’t have to be the most up-to-date, but a system that crashes can be incredibly frustrating and unproductive, even to the best performer.

c)Experience-Just because an employee has the skills to do a job doesn’t mean that he has the experience to apply those skills in his specific position.  This is especially true for recent graduates, outside hires from different industries, and internal hires from different departments.

2. Poor job fit

Many people fall into the trap of choosing a profession or job that is a bad fit. We are who we are.  Our “mental DNA” is influenced by both our genetics and our early life experiences, and it is almost completely formed by the time we are 20 years old.  Rather than trying to understand ourselves so that we can choose a calling that builds on our strengths and aligns with our interests, we choose jobs because of peer pressure and societal influences.  It is important to understand a person’s innate behaviors and interests when trying to match him with the right job.  Know the job, know what type of person is successful in that job, and then hire others who have the behavioral traits that fit that job.  This is easier said than done because it is difficult to gauge behaviors in a job interview, but behavioral assessments can be extremely helpful to close this gap.

3. Fuzzy goals and accountabilities

Employees need to be very clear about their responsibilities and about the results you expect them to achieve.  Daily work and priorities are easily affected by the crisis of the day, new requests, or changes in direction.  Setting and tracking smart goals helps your employees focus on what is most important to your business, and clear accountabilities help ensure that the work gets done with minimal conflict.

4. Poor relationship with manager

Managers and employees who understand each other’s preferred styles will better understand how to communicate and work together effectively.  We have identified seven factors that strongly predict the compatibility between a manager and her workers: self-assurance, self-reliance, conformity, optimism, decisiveness, objectivity, and approach to learning. Assessing a manager and her employees allows her to use objective information about herself and her workers so that they can work more effectively toward a common goal.

5. Poor relationship with coworkers

There are four primary factors that harm relationships among coworkers:
a)
Insensitivity toward others

b)Unclear accountabilities

c)Poor cultural fit

d)Incompatible styles

6. Health and wellness issues

Approximately $260 billion in output is lost each year in the US because of health-related problems.  Whether they are absent from work altogether, or present but working at a reduced capacity, employees suffering from physical or mental illness have difficulty performing at their peak.

7. Physical and environmental factors

Numerous behavioral studies have proven that a pleasant and comfortable work environment improves worker productivity and reduces turnover.  For example, indoor temperature affects several human responses, including thermal comfort, perceived air quality, sick building syndrome symptoms, and performance at work.  Researchers in Finland showed that when the interior air temperature was 30 degrees C, worker performance was 8.9% below worker performance at the optimal temperature of 22 degrees C.