More and more signs point to the end of the recession.  All indicators except unemployment are positive and most experts believe that too will improve in 2010.  Finally, good news for all.  Right?

 While we can cheer these events, new storm clouds loom.  A number of surveys point to pent up frustration and anger building within American workers.  Layoffs, pay cuts, furloughs and benefit reductions have taken a toll.  Employee loyalty has been tested and many workers have indicated they will be looking for new employment when the economy recovers.  Employees have become disengaged.

 For employers, this is a good and bad scenario.  For the optimist, this may be a good time to recruit good workers who want a new opportunity.   For others, now is the time to mend fences and work to reengage your workers before you loose them to greener pastures.  For all employers, it is a time to remind your star employees how much you value and want them.

 This economy has been tough on everyone.  Don’t let the recovery inflict more pain.

We often hear about Performance Reviews and Performance Improvement techniques.  Sometimes the Performance Review is called an Annual review or something similar.  Performance Improvement plans are often associated with  poor results or as the last step in helping an underperforming employee out the door.  Both of these “performance” techniques are somewhat reactionary and only address past performance.

Strategic Employers adopt a different view when it comes to measuring and evaluating performance.  They focus on evaluating an employee’s performance before they are hired!  By creating a profile of the desired performance in advance of the actual hire, these employers are able to predict success and performance much more accurately.  There are several methods to creating these profiles, but the time invested in the process has a significant ROI.  For instance, more objectivity is injected into the interview process.  Everyone involved works from the same set of criteria.  This can greatly compress the time-to-hire and more quickly eliminate unqualified candidates.  Another gain is increased retention of the employee.  They are more effectively matched to a role that will allow them to excel, thus increasing their productivity and longevity.

The process is surprisingly simple, yet often missed by most organizations.  Usually an outside party, detached from internal corporate politics, agendas, and preferences, can quickly guide a hiring manager through the profile process.  From there a standard set of interview questions can be created and assigned to various members of the interview team.

Clearing understanding and documenting the successful results of any job in advance of the hire is much more than a job description.  Strategic Employers bypass the traditional descriptions that outline what a person must have and focus more on what they must do to be successful.  This process is a better predictor of hiring success and increased retention.

This Wall Street article is an excellent example of the kinds of issues Strategic Employers embrace and leverage for retention.  A good chunk of the corporate management corps will have to deal with aging parents.  They will look for employers who recognize and support this need when it arises.   How companies react to this issue will also be closely watched by the younger generations.  They know that one day it will be their turn and they especially want to associate with employers who allow them to integrate their lifestyle with the demands of work.  As the labor pool shrinks and top talent becomes harder to find, Strategic Employers will have to pay attention to these issues if they want to attract and keep good people.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704317704574501891316541578.html

Another possibility for Battle: Baked Goods on Saturday… Apple-Pear Turnovers!

These little pastries seemed to be easier to make on paper than they were.  That was disappointing.  At least the ingredients list was relatively simple!  Apples, pears, frozen puff pastry, a dab of butter, and some sugar and spice — how could I go wrong?

I have never been much of a baker, have I mentioned that?  Yet, here I am attempting things that I have never before attempted, in hopes that I’ll get the hang of it.  What I really did not want to have to tackle was trying to make my own dough, especially a puff pastry dough!  (Is it even possible to make that at home???)  Thankfully, they make frozen dough, so that was the route I took.  I left that on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour to thaw while I caught up on my work email, and went to work on the apples and pears.

Gala apples and Bartlett pears

I started out by peeling, quartering, and coring 2 Gala apples and 2 Bartlett pears,  and dropping them into a bowl of water and lemon juice to prevent any browning while I worked.  I cut the quarters in half lengthwise, then sliced them into fairly even-sized pieces.  The pears were really juicy, so it was hard to actually get them into the bowl without wanting to pop every piece I cut into my mouth!  Most of the pears made it into the turnovers…

From there, I went and unfolded the puff pastry dough.  It started out as roughly a 9″x9″ square, which I rolled out to about 12″x12″.  In hindsight, I might have opted to not roll it out and just made smaller turnovers.  I’m not sure if the rolling had anything to do with the final outcome, or if that’s just the way the puff pastry, well, puffs.

I tried my best to fill and seal each little packet, even resorting to using the suggested water trick to get it to stick, but that just did not seem to work on this unruly dough!  So, I pinched and folded and pinched some more, realizing that I was probably ruining the puff to come.

I didn’t get any photos of the actual process of filling and folding the turnovers because my hands were dirty and I was too involved to even remember that I was going to document the process.   The idea clicked right after I dropped them into the oven that I should probably take a picture, so here you go.

Into the oven!

Thirty minutes later, I pulled four golden brown, acceptably puffy turnovers from the oven in a lake of apple-pear-sugar-juice leakage that covered the tray I had baked them on.  Thank goodness for the foresight of lining that tray — What a mess!  I let them cool slightly before airlifting them from the gooey flooded tray to cool on a wire rack.

They don't look half bad...

Aside from the obvious issue with the turnovers leaking at the seams, they seemed to turn out alright.  I was disappointed in the puff of the puff pastry, as it wasn’t as flaky and puffy as I had hoped it would be, particularly in the pastry covering the fruit filling.  The corners were flaky as advertised, and I’m really not sure why the rest of the turnover didn’t turn out as well.  My suspicion would be that the rolling adversely affected the dough, but that seems somewhat unlikely, since dough was born to be rolled!  (Edit:  With some confirmation to this suspicion, I have eliminated the rolling of the dough from the instructions below.  This supports the idea that these test runs are a good idea!)

Whatever the case, the overall taste of the turnovers (or the one I tried at least!) was pretty good!  The spices seemed right on, and the fruit retained a good bite to it.  Now, I just have to figure out which will be entered into the Aluminum Chef competition this Saturday.  Decisions, decisions.

Apple-Pear Turnovers

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed per package directions
• 2 medium baking apples (I used Galas)
• 2 medium pears (I used Bartletts)
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 egg

Makes 4 servings.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Peel & core apples and pears, then cut into small, even-sized pieces.
3. Mix apples and pears in a large bowl.
4. Mix sugar and spices in a small bowl, then add to the apples and pears.  Stir to coat.
5. Unfold puff pastry dough, and cut large square into 4 smaller squares.
6. Put 1/4 of apple & pear mixture into the center of each square, and place 1/2 teaspoon of butter on top of mixture.
7. Fold the dough over the filling to create a triangle and pinch edges closed.
   • Tip: If dough is not sticking together, try wetting your fingers and pinching it together.
8. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
9. Beat egg in small bowl.
10. Place turnovers on baking sheet, and brush beaten egg over each.
11. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

LEADERSHIP-THE BOTTOM LINE

Monthly Leadership Session Follow-up – October!
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Interviewing, Hiring & Retaining Your Best People!

Remember that people matter – especially now – even more than ever! I’m sure you know as well as I that nothing matters more than the people we hire; and that includes the way we develop them, the way we support them and how we reward them for their commitment to the success of our organization. No matter what your industry is or what your products and services might be, it’s important to remember that you are in a ‘people-driven’ business. Those business leaders who may think that the path to success does not go through a well-selected, well-trained, well-compensated, motivated and committed team are simply fooling themselves.

Jim Abbondante

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Wednesday,

October 28, 2009

Thanks again to all of our participants around the country who participated in our monthly leadership development sessions during the month of October. We had some very interesting and challenging discussions, and even experienced some important breakthroughs in some cases.

If you were in one of the sessions, you already know that we focused this month on two important topics. The first having to do with the need to be extremely clear in our thinking regarding ‘what good looks like’ with respect to the positions we are interviewing for and then having a ‘well-thought-out’ interviewing strategy designed specifically for each position we are wanting to fill. By clearly defining and knowing in specific terms what we are looking for and having a strategy in place designed to help us determine whether or not that’s who we are interviewing, we will end up hiring only the very best people for our team.

Our second session focused our attention on the other half of the equation, that being how to ‘keep’ the new people we hire and also how to keep the great people we already have. When we find ourselves going through tough times, or even in the best of times, we always want to remember that our people are our greatest asset, so we want to choose them wisely, make sure we develop them properly and then give them more reasons to stay than to leave once we have integrated them into our team. With that in mind, let’s take a few moments together to just touch on some of the most important points made in each of the two segments.

“How to Interview, Hire & Fast Start Winners!”

In our first segment we began by discussing the important part the ‘right’ people play in both the short-term and long-term success of our organization. We also reinforced the fact that ‘perspective’ is everything when it comes to interviewing and hiring the right people for our team. For example, we want to consider who we are as a company, our vision and mission statements, our values, our culture, our goals and also our overall strategic plan. As a leader and manager in my organization, I am also going to need to ask myself what my own personal vision is for the team I am developing in my own area of responsibility; and from that perspective, I can then go about the business of identifying, in specific terms, who the ‘right’ person will be for a particular position that I might be interviewing for.

We also included discussions regarding how many people, or groups of people, are actually depending on us as leaders to interview effectively and then make only the best possible hiring decision or decisions. The list included our company, the team members who will be working with the new hire, our customers, the applicant and of course, the manager who will be responsible for the integration, development and success of the new team member. Time will not permit me to go into detail regarding the vested interest each of these have in our ability to make smart hiring decisions, but suffice it to say that each person or group referenced here stands to gain or lose based on the quality of the hiring decisions we make.

Probably one of the most interesting exercises focused our attention on determining the real dollar costs associated with making a wrong hiring decision. The numbers that our various discussion teams came up with ranged from as little a few thousand dollars to as high as $750,000.00 in one case. The object of the exercise was to remind us that as leaders and managers our companies are placing a lot of confidence and trust in our ability to effectively manage the company’s money. Again, these are real people and real dollars and that means that we have a lot of responsibility riding on our shoulders when it comes to interviewing and hiring the right people for our company!

Obviously, we covered a great deal more in our first segment than we have time to review here, but let’s go ahead and summarize the overall process we need to move through when it comes to preparing for and then effectively interviewing candidates for a particular position in our company. We broke the process down into ten simple ‘chronological’ steps to make it easy to follow and easy to get good at. By the way, the interviewing model used as a part this process was developed by Dr. Paul Green, Ph.D, and is referred to as Behavioral Based Interviewing.

Here are the ten chronological steps we covered in our session:

1. Consider your vision, goals, and your company’s overall success strategy. It’s been suggested that wisdom is the ability to see the bigger picture. When it comes to making smart decisions, you always want to start with the broadest perspective possible and then work your way toward the details.     

2. Consider the structure and personality of your team. Fitting into your company’s existing culture, and there being a good fit with respect to the folks they will be working with, is always important for any number of important reasons; many of which you will find listed in your printed materials.

3. Consider the role and contribution of the position. When you consider overall work-flow and how each position on the team is dependent upon and contributes to the productivity of the other positions on the team, you will see even more factors that will need to be taken under consideration in your evaluation and decision making process.

4. Identify the attitudes, performance and technical skills needed to really succeed in the position. Among other things, these three categories need to be considered in detail and also listed on paper. You will be able to find much of this information included in the job description for the position assuming you have one. If you don’t, obviously, one needs to be created before you move any further.

5. Create the related ‘open-ended’ questions you will need. You will need at least two to three behavioral based, open-ended questions for each of the attitudes, performance and technical skills you have on your list. Remember, your goal is to focus on ‘past performance’ oriented questions as opposed to hypothetical “what would you do if . . .” type questions about the future.

6. Develop the structured interview process you will use. Create a track to run on with respect to the actual interview you are going to conduct with each of your candidates for the position. It needs to include your introduction, your rapport building stage, your general explanation of the position you will be interviewing them for, an explanation of what to expect during the interview, a few general open-ended questions to get them comfortable talking about themselves and then the specific behavioral based questions you are going to want to ask, in the order they will need to be asked, and then how you are going to wrap up your interview.

7. Include at the appropriate place in your interview process, the presentation you will use to present your company and the opportunity you are making available. Remember, the best people out there are probably interviewing you while you are interviewing them, and they are most probably going to be interviewing with other companies as well, and will probably get more than just one offer so, if they are someone you are really going to be interested in, how you present your company and the benefits of building a successful career with your organization will be important to their decision making process.

8. Review and become comfortable with your process. It’s been suggested that practice makes perfect. It’s always a good idea to review your interview process a few times before you begin using it, that way you will be much more comfortable during your actual interviews and you will be able to focus more completely on your applicant and less on your process.

9. Begin using your pre-designed process consistently with each of your applicants. This will be important to you for a number of reasons, two of which include the fact that it will help you get ‘better’ at conducting your interviews and it will also go a long way toward insuring that you maintain a level playing field for all of your applicants. This will lead to better hiring decisions.

10. Create ‘win-win’ opportunities by internalizing all of your strategically designed interview processes. The more you internalize your interview processes, the better you get at interviewing. This then leads to a much higher percentage of successful hires. Then everybody wins!

You can refer to your student manual for the specifics associated with each of the ten steps listed above; but essentially, what we want to remember when it comes to interviewing effectively and selecting only the best people for your team is that proper prior preparation prevents pitiful poor performance – and – practice makes perfect! Be sure and take a look at the extra input I have included for you toward the end of this month’s session follow-up about a few important things you will want to remain on the look-out for during your interviews. It’s a short article entitled “Are they really ‘right’ for your team?” I think you’ll find it helpful. Let’s move on now to our second segment.

“How to Develop and Retain Your Very Best Employees!”

In our second segment this month, we began by reminding ourselves that good people are often times hard to find – and that they are even more important to keep. We discussed the fact that hanging on to your most valuable employees is critical to the long term health, success and ultimate growth of your organization. As a matter of fact, it’s been proven that retaining your best employees will typically lead to greater customer satisfaction, increased sales of your products and services, satisfied co-workers, effective succession planning and deeply imbedded, valuable organizational knowledge and experience, all of which secures a successful future for everyone who is a part of the organization.

One of the things we looked at in our second segment was why people typically leave their companies. We learned that the number one reason (statistically) why people leave their jobs is because of the difficult or bad relationship they have with their boss or with their immediate supervisor. The study, conducted by the Gallup organization, determined that people typically leave their ‘managers’ and not necessarily their companies. So essentially, turnover is mostly a ‘manager’ related issue; not in all cases but in more cases than you might think. We took the time to look at the top twelve reasons why people leave companies and by far, the management relationship issue was (statistically) the greatest cause. In reviewing all twelve of the main reasons, our goal was to determine which of those we could directly impact (as leaders and managers) and then challenge ourselves to come up with strategies that, when applied, would begin to lower our existing turnover rates. It made for some eye-opening and very interesting discussions to say the least!

Our second segment this month reminded me of what we covered in our September session on creating a productive work environment. It that session, we learned that one of the most important questions we need to ask ourselves everyday is “what are my people going to need from me to succeed today?” In addition, we also emphasized the fact that we as leaders and managers only succeed when our people succeed. In much the same way, we need to ask ourselves what our people are going to need from us in order to not just be productive, but to become loyal to us as their leader, and also loyal to our organization, and genuinely committed to the ultimate success of the company.

You know, when you think about it, people are just people. They’re not really that complicated. When you boil it down, what do most people really want from their jobs? Our goal as leaders in the people business is to identify and understand what those basic things are that our best people want and need, and then find ways to make sure we consistently give it to them. In the final analysis, your most important goal as a leader and manager is to give them more reasons to stay than reasons to leave!

To remain loyal to both you and your organization, here are some of the most basic things employees want and need:

1. Clearly communicate your performance expectations and set measurable performance standards. You need to make it as easy as possible for people to determine whether or not they truly are succeeding in their position. By providing your people with clearly defined expectations, you are essentially empowering them with the ability to manage themselves. I have learned over the years that most people really do want to do a good job, and it becomes a whole lot easier for them when they are clear with regard to what ‘good’ really looks like. And by the way, when people make mistakes along the way – and they will – you want to make sure that you remember to  separate the value of the person from the mistake that was made. You accomplish this by reinforcing their value to you and the organization, acknowledging their positive intentions and/or efforts and then by giving them the opportunity to analyze what took place and where their mistakes were made. Once that has been determined, you then want to give them the opportunity to come up with their own solution and how they are going to keep from making the same mistake/s in the future. You want to guide them through the process of learning from their mistakes. Being a good coach is about remembering to never ‘tell’ anyone anything you can ‘ask’ them. You need to allow people the opportunity to ‘enjoy’ the process of  learning and growing as the result of their mistakes. They will become more loyal to you and their company in the process.

2. Take time to really listen and to give and receive employee feedback. Connect with each of your people on a regular basis. Let each of them know (from your perspective) how they are doing. Let them tell you how they feel they are doing. Let them share with you any needs they might have and be open to their input regarding how you might be able to lead or manage them more effectively. And probably one of the most important things you can do for your people is to maintain, and even encourage, an ‘open door’ policy when it comes to their input regarding ways to improve on your processes and how you approach succeeding together as a team on a regular basis.

3. Recognize and reward good work in ways that are specific to the individual and their accomplishments. Everyone wants and really needs to be acknowledged on a regular basis. In our August session we learned that a genuine, heart felt ‘Thank You’ is one of the strongest motivators you can employ with your people. When it comes to thanking and acknowledging your people for a job well done, remember to express your appreciation in ways that will be meaningful to the particular employee. For example, tickets to a ball game if my favorite sports team has a big game coming up would be particularly meaningful to me and it would say you know who I am as a person and that you really care. Not only do you want to make sure your expression of appreciation is specific to the employee but that it’s also specific to the accomplishment as well.

4. Create opportunities and new challenges for valued employees. This will not only keep employees fully engaged and involved in the process of continual improvement, but it can also be seen as a source of recognition when it’s perceived as having been earned as the result of having achieved something in particular. People like to remain a part of an organization that will acknowledge their accomplishments and provide them with continual opportunities for growth.

5. Demonstrate that retaining good employees is a top priority. It needs to become common knowledge throughout your organization that you are a company that puts its ‘people’ first! Typically, what goes around comes around. When your people are of the impression that you really care about them, they will, in like manner, really care about you. You need to focus on building meaningful relationships with your people. Get into the habit of conducting ‘10 Minute Check-ins’ throughout your organization on a regular basis. “Hey John, how’s it going?” “What’s the latest in your department?” “How’s the ‘such and such’ project coming along?” “You have anything you need my help with?” You will be surprised at the difference taking this kind of interest will make when it comes to the development of the kinds of working relationships that motivate people to want to remain an important part of your organization over the long haul!

It all comes down to you remembering the kind of business you are really in – the ‘people business’! Enjoy!!
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Additional Opportunity!

We would be pleased to schedule a convenient time to meet again with you on an individual basis, or as a group, to answer any additional questions you might have about creating effective interview processes or any of the specifics we discussed in our second segment about what team members really want and need from their company. You may have a few specific applications you’d like to discuss. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to be of additional help in any way we can.

Please email or contact us at the number listed below to schedule a convenient time for us to get together – or you can reach us through our main website by clicking on ‘contact us’. There are no additional costs involved other than the costs associated with you taking no action!

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“Are they really ‘right’ for your team?”

In a discussion that took place in one of the sessions this month, there was an executive who said that he had learned through his own experience that the most important part of hiring correctly is to not hire the wrong person; and that the second most important part of hiring correctly is to hire the right person. I responded by saying that what that must mean then is that it is better to not hire anyone at all if you can’t find the right person for the job.

So the obvious next questions were “who are the right people and who are the wrong people?” To get the discussion started, I responded by saying that when you get right down to it, it’s not really that hard to tell the difference. You develop a feel for it after a while.

The right people are the ones that really, really want to go to work with you. You can tell they’re really excited about the possibility of becoming a part of your team. There’s an ‘energy’ about them; they’ve done their homework, they know about your organization and in many cases they have even done their homework with regard to the person they will be interviewing with.

In visiting with them you get a sense that they are achievers; that they are the type of person that actively looks for problems to solve and for creative ways to achieve more. These are people that are ‘winners’ by nature. This is a personality type that is very easy to spot once you know what to look for – they’re full of life; they have fire in their eyes. They’re warriors!

I’ll take the enthusiastic, fired up ‘warrior’ any day over the more experienced but otherwise meek alternative. Skills can be learned quickly on the job but if you aren’t already the kind of person who’ll just jump in there and get the job done no matter what, you’ll likely never be.

Some of the warning signs to look out for during an interview are people who care about status symbols like titles, people who resent the success of others, people who act like they’re doing you a favor by just talking to you; and people who want to negotiate salary endlessly but couldn’t care less about the long-term opportunities associated with the position.

If you hire badly, it isn’t just going to be that particular employee who’s not performing. They end up negatively influencing the entire organization. For example, if everyone is pushing hard to get a finished product out the door, but one sulking individual is passive aggressive about working late, morale drops across the board. It spreads like a cancer. I can’t really say enough about the importance of making sure your candidates are wired up correctly and that they really can bring the right set of characteristics to the game. When that is the case, your odds for success grows exponentially! (Thanks for a great discussion!)

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Application Projects!!!!

“How to Interview, Hire & Fast Start Winners!”

Turn in your manual to page 10-20.

Review the information we covered in our first segment this month regarding how to create powerful behavioral based interviews for each of the positions that you interview for. Consider the next interview you have coming up and following the guidelines listed for you on page 10-20, go ahead and begin making preparation for a successful interview process. The steps are easy to follow and will lead you into being prepared to not only conduct a successful interview, but to you being able to hire the best possible candidate for your organization.

As we stated in the session, one of our participants gave us permission to provide you with a copy of their completed application project for you to use as a template or guideline to follow. You will see it there in your student manual. It will come in handy as you begin to go to work on the development of your own interviewing process. They did an exceptional job as I know you will!

Complete the simple exercise on Page 10-20, and be prepared to turn in a photocopy of your completed project as you check in at the beginning of the November session!

“How to Develop and Retain Your Very Best Employees!”

Turn in your manual to page 10-31.

Leadership means really understanding your employee’s needs; all your employees, even the ones you may not think would be considered your ‘keepers’. You might be surprised to learn after getting to know them that they really do have the potential to become one of the ‘best’ you have ever had on your team. It is all about really getting to know your people and then developing an understanding of what they really want and need from their job – and then being consistent when it comes to finding unique ways to provide them along the way.

In this Application Project, your goal will be to determine which team member you want to start with and then to develop a strategy that will allow you to begin to understand them better and a strategy for applying the five important steps we learned in our session while keeping in mind the fact that you really can get everything in life you want if you will simply help enough other people get what they want! (Thanks Zig Ziglar!)

Complete the simple exercise on Page 10-31, and be prepared to turn in a photocopy of your completed project as you check in at the beginning of the November session!

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Application Projects . . .

When it comes to any of our application projects, the idea is to see them as the first formal step in terms of getting the content out of the classroom and out there into the real world where it belongs and where it will do you and your people some good. Your goal is to take the information we covered, the material we discussed in our session together, and find as many opportunities as possible to apply it out there in your real world. Remember, adults learn by doing and they grow as the result of being given the opportunity to succeed on a repetitive basis. That’s the meaning behind our madness with regard to all of our application projects.

Their design is always simple; just read the directions at the top of the pages, follow the prompts, answer the questions, fill in the blanks, take the appropriate steps, then be prepared to share your results with us at the beginning of the next month’s session. You’ll do great!! You always do!!!

Call us if you need any assistance with any of your application projects.

We want to make sure you receive the maximum benefit possible from not only the application projects referenced above but from everything you’re learning as you progress through the complete leadership development process with us!!

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Great Idea!!

Why don’t you go ahead and follow through and get started on your application projects now while the content and all the concepts are still fresh in your mind?

As a matter of fact, once you get started, you’ll really enjoy thinking through the processes and succeeding! Your people will enjoy you applying the processes too!

Remember:

Please feel free to email or you can give us a call if you would like any personal assistance and/or coaching when it comes to completing your application projects this month.

You can call or email – or reach us through our website!  (See Below!)

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Coaching!

Let me remind you once again to plan to take full advantage of your opportunity for individual ‘on-site’ coaching in any of the areas that pertain to the application of the concepts, principles and processes we cover in our monthly sessions.  In addition, we are always happy to assist you in any areas pertaining to everyday ‘people’ issues.

We can assist you by phone or at your location. Just email or give us a call and we will go to work on scheduling a convenient time for us to get together.

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Next Month . . . November!

Our first segment in the November session will focus our attention on developing a much better understanding of ourselves and the people we work with on a daily basis. For example, have you ever wondered why some people seem to be easier to work with than others? Have you ever wondered why one person will remain open to constructive input while another person will seem to resist you every step of the way?  Why one person seems to brighten up a room when they walk in while another person seems to brighten up the room when they leave? If you haveever been ’stumped’ in your attempt to answer these types of questions, you will really enjoy and appreciate next month’s first segment.

In our second segment next month, we are going to look at how to create that all important ‘buy-in’ from the members of your team when it comes to coming up with new and creative ways to solve problems and/or improve the ways things are done in your organization.  As a matter of fact, as you begin to understand both the concept and the process we will provide you in the second segment next month, you will find yourself better utilizing the most expensive and valuable resource you’ve been given to work with which is your people!

You’re going to really enjoy and genuinely benefit from both segments next month! I’ll tell you more about what to expect in the November newsletter & monthly reminder.

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One Last Thing . . .

Would you take a minute to provide us with some feedback regarding the October session by leaving a comment for us at the end of this follow-up article. You can just click on ‘leave a comment’ below. We always appreciate and enjoy hearing back from you.

Have a great month and remember . . . .

“The will to win is worth nothing unless you have the will to prepare.”

Sincerely,

Jim

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Leadership works best when people are equipped to manage themselves. When that happens, everyone on your team is working proactively. Everyone is participating in leadership. You create this type of environment through win-win agreements which stem from quality relationships built primarily on respect and trust instead of on authority alone.

— Jim Abbondante
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Contact Information . . .

Jim Abbondante
President, Director of Training
Direct Line: (817) 304-2225

Leadership Institute
Main Number: (817) 405-0012

Student Services Number:    1-800-955-0109
(Personal and/or Executive Coaching, Misc. Needs, etc.)

E-Mail:    Leadership.Team@LeadershipInstituteUSA.com

Web-Site:    www.LeadershipInstituteUSA.com

Wanted to throw out some thoughts after the first Pacers’ game of the year in Atlanta:

1. This is a young team.

The average age of this team is 26.1, which was evident as the Pacers committed 25 turnovers in Atlanta tonight. You have to expect mistakes from a young team, particularly against a team that puts a ton of pressure on the ball like the Hawks do. But if you are going to be a good team, that turnover number needs to be cut in half.

2. We need to defend the paint better.

We struggled mightily in allowing dribble penetration and easy buckets in the lane. One major problem I saw was very slow rotation by the weak side defense on guys driving into the lane, particularly by Roy Hibbert and Troy Murphy. If we are going to have a chance, we MUST keep the ball out of the lane. The Hawks finished tonight with 54 points in the paint, accounting for 45% of their points. That is part of the reason why they shot 53% from the floor. Which leads me to…

3. We have to defend better.

More specifically, we have to get consecutive stops more often. According to my records, we finally got back-to-back stops on Atlanta’s final three posessions of the third quarter in the second half. In order to win, you have to be able to stop your opponent in key spots. The Pacers kept the Hawks from scoring only three times in the entire second half. When you turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, you HAVE to get more consecutive stops than that.

4. We did a nice job attacking the basket.

One thing the Pacers did well tonight was attack the basket. Though they only scored 38 points in the paint, many of those came off of drives to the basket in the half-court set. I was especially impressed with Danny Granger, who was in attack mode for most of the first half, when the Pacers built their largest lead of the game (9).

5. Shot selection will be key.

Dahntay Jones scored a surprising 17 points, but all of them came on lay-ups or free throws. The Pacers ran into some droughts when he started shooting jump shots. He needs to remember what a good shot is (for him). I also liked how Earl Watson played in relief of T.J. Ford. Ford really struggled from the field (1-9 FG), and was forcing his own shots at times. I thought Watson (7-8, 20 points) found his shots within the offense. I hope he continues to get more playing time.

All in all, I take the season opener as a moral victory. We hung with a playoff team from a year ago, in their building, for much of the game (even leading mid-way through the fourth quarter). Danny Granger (31 points) had an excellent night. The bench looked productive. With a little more defense and a few less turnovers, the Pacers (0-1) could definitely be moving in the right direction.

The New York Times had an interesting article last week related to the profusion of talent in the market right now – “Tables Turned, Former Hires Can’t Get Hired“  We all understand that there are lots of people on the street right now looking for jobs; what’s different, though, is that a lot of those people are really really good.  It’s easy to think that the lowest performers get let go first, but that’s definitely not true in an environment where the factors driving workforce reductions are dynamic, widespread, and to a large extent uncontrollable.  The other big difference: no one is picking this talent up as quickly as they used to ’cause there’s nowhere to put them.  Or is there (Vincent Price cackle in the background)?  And that’s where my deviousness comes in…

Take a look at your under performers…or your marginal performers…or even your sub-optimal performers and see if now’s the time to upgrade.  Yes, that means involuntarily separating people from the organization simply for the fact there are better people out there to take their place.  This would be the epitome of the “up or out” approach to talent management – Jack Welch would love this.  One of the guys referenced in the article was a former SVP at PNC Bank responsible for providing Human Resources to 3,500 employees.  The guy can’t find a job.  Tell me he wouldn’t be the perfect candidate for that organization where the HR Director just can’t seem to get up the curve, can’t get to the table, can’t play a more vital role in directing the success of the business.  Get rid of that guy already.  And a lot of these guys are willing to take a pay cut just to get back on the playing field.  Why would you drive the Chevy Malibu when you could have the Saab 93 Turbo for close to the same price (I know, I’m the king of mixed metaphors)?  Here’s what the naysayers will throw at me:

1. You’ll say, “Yeah, but they’ll leave when they find something better.”  And I say, “Maybe…if there’s something better…ever.”
2. You’ll say, “There’s some employment law risk here.”  And I say, “Maybe, but the decision is based on legitimate business criteria  – we found someone who could do the job better.”
3. You’ll ask, “But how do you know whether that person is really better?”  And I’ll answer, “my screening process is thorough, my performance management system is reasonable, and I’m a bettin’ man.”
4. You’ll say, “but that just isn’t nice.”  And I’ll say, “Maybe not, but you know where nice guys finish.” 

Tough times call for tough measures and I say it’s all fair play.  Get that former SVP of HR, who the board squeezed out, to be the new HR Director for your fledgling organization.  Find that HR Manager, who was on the fast track only to be tossed aside during a downsizing, and put them into an HR Generalist role.   Get rid of the laggards, who are doing your HR Team a disservice, and give yourself a makeover.  Your (new) HR Team will thank you, the leadership team will respect you, and your employees will love you.

Do you have a problem with high turnover in your company? Do you know why? Of course it is easy to blame others: competition is paying more or have better benefist, employees leaving don’t see the value of what you’re trying to build, etc. I find that high turnover is caused by a few and basic elements…

Vision, Mission & Core Values

Do you know those little things that you keep pushing because you never have time to nail them? Well, I find that employee attachment is highly dependent on company culture – and your vision, mission and those often-neglected core values are at the heart of it. Do your employees understand and like your vision and mission. For example, if you want to be the biggest at something, make sure that this mission resonates with EVERY employee. Would you commit to a long-term relationship with someone that does not share your values and culture? Neither would your employees. They might start working for you (as you could start dating someone) but ultimately your core values (or lack thereof) will impact their desire to stay for more than a few years.

Leadership at the top

How respected is your senior leadership? Do people aspire to follow them thru the good and bad times (can’t just be all good)? Great leaders will make do great things from ordinary people – and employees like to be driven towards success, to be pushed to new boundaries that will help them grow their personal and professional life. Senior leadership is hard to find – when we see one, get him at all cost. Too many times I see companies reluctant to pay a little more for a senior leader. I always believed that paying a little more for your top people is a smart investment. Just think on the cost saving or opportunities gained if you can save a few additional employees each year.

Weakest link: middle management

I have seen countless companies where the middle management layer is pretty weak – either because the managers where never trained to become people managers (it is quite different to manage human capital than it is to manage a spreadsheet). Are you investing in your managers to be with leadership development programs? Are you coaching and mentoring them? If you have a high turnover, probably not … to become a good people manager requires time and effort. This is not a natural gift that most people have. So if you just promote people because you like them or because they have been with the company long enough, you are creating yourself the problem of high turnover.

Employees are humans

Each person in life wants to be appreciated, valued, challenged and need to feel important. No matter how many employees you manage, you need to focus on this. Thinking that people will be as motivated as you is very optimistic. Take the time to listen to your employees, to understand what drives them (everybody is different and unique), to communicate at the person’s level.

At the end of the day, you should never be surprised when someone leaves the company. If you are, it means you are not close enough to the problem and your high turnover will just continue, or even get worse…

Cutler's awesome helicopter TD run

After last Sunday’s Redzone meltdown against the Atlanta Falcons, the Chicago Bears hope to go on the road and get a win against the Cincinnati Bengals. With the season more than a quarter of the way finished, the glaring problems of the Chicago Bears are becoming obvious. One of the problems is that the Bears can not run the ball, and it is not all of Matt Forte’s fault either. After a very good rookie season, Forte is struggling to get yards but the difference between this year and last year is the offensive line. The Bears O-line is just not run-blocking very well. My pre-season observations led me to believe the Bears O-line would struggle protecting Jay Cutler but instead the O-line is struggling to get any push in the run game. An indication that the offensive line is to blame rather than Forte is that opposing teams have been hitting Forte in the back field (that’s my personal observation). Running lanes have been scarce so far. The biggest problem – and unfortunately one that is out the Bears control – is the injury bug that has hit the Bears. The linebackers corps has been hit the hardest but the defensive tackles have been injured as well. Last week in the fourth quarter of the Atlanta game, Pisa Tinoisamoa suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee. The linebackers unit has already missed star MLB Brian Urlacher (out for the season) and all the other Bears linebackers except Lance Briggs have been injured at some point of the season and missed time (that includes pre-season and regular season). The latest high-profile Bear to be injured is Tommie Harris, who will not suit up for Sunday’s game. Israel Idonije has already missed time but did come back to play last week against Atlanta.

Are these problems worrisome for Bears fans? Surprisingly not yet. The Bears have been competitive in every game so far, but football adage says that the great teams win the close games. The Bears are 2-2 in their close games and 1-2 on the road. Not bad for a pretty tough starting season schedule. Despite the injuries to the defense, the unit has hung in there with good play from the fill-in linebackers of Roach, Williams, and Hillenmeyer. ‘Peanut’ Tillman has played very well, and Briggs is playing like Briggs – which is always good. Yes, there have been some defensive lapses here and there (evident last week when the Bears struggled with the no-huddle). Hopefully, the injuries are over as the unit can not afford anymore losses as then it would become worrisome (thankfully, the Bears are deep at both the linebackers and D-line). As for the O-line run-blocking I just can’t see the Bears turning on the switch permanently, but now would be the time to do so as the Bears enter the “softer” part of their schedule. The Bears can not put it all on Cutler’s shoulders and that became clear last week when Cutler threw an interception in the redzone. Had a running game been established, that crucial INT might have not happened.

These are only two obvious problems, while there are a lot more positives for the Bears. For one, Jay Cutler has been pretty damn good, and while he has not been flashy he has been a big part of the reason the Bears have been competitive this year. Another positive is the play from the wide receivers this years. I’m not quite ready to jump on the Johnny Knox bandwagon just yet, but it is not hard to see he has been pretty special so far. While Devin Hester has not come up on the stat sheet as fans would like, he has done the ‘little things’ that has impressed me. Hester route running is pretty good not playing the position for too long, and I’ve seen him make some big time blocks that most receivers don’t make. Plus, Hester has made some pretty tough catches in traffic. Aside from the Green Bay bomb and Calvin Johnson nearly having a field day, the Bears secondary has been the third positive in the Bears early season. In pre-season I really thought teams would pick the secondary apart but they have not been as bad as I expected. Lastly, the special teams – specifically the punting of Maynard and the kicking of Gould – have been awesome. Maynard especially impressed me with his punts landing inside the 20 yard line. Hey, its not pretty but field position goes a long way.

Gould & Maynard

Knox & Hester

Don’t know if we could’ve had more turnovers if we tried. This was my second time shooting college football, and I’m not sure if I improved over my last effort or not. Here are my top five shots, if you want to see the other 11 that I picked check out my flickr at http://flickr.com/andrewdickinson – the final score was Nebraska 7, Iowa State 9.

Two Iowa State players celebrate after an interception.

Dontrayevous Robinson prepares for the imminent tackle.

Dontrayevous Robinson says a quick prayer after scoring his first career touchdown.

Niles Paul attempts to break an Iowa State tackle.

Tim Marlowe lands on top of an Iowa State tackler.

Strategic Employers give more than just lip service to employee empowerment.  They know that the best people are looking for this, particularly workers in Generation X and the Millennials.  Last week I wrote about the first five of ten employee empowerment tips.  Here are the rest….

6) Glory through delegation – don’t just give your employees the “grunt” work, give them an opportunity to shine with important tasks and jobs as well.

7) Demonstrate that problems are caused by faults in the system, not by faults in  people.  Let your employees solve the problems by changing the systems, not their co-workers.

Feedback, feedback, feedback – do yourself a favor and tell your people how they are doing and tell them often.

9) Recognize and reward your people when they do something  through their empowerment.

10) Provide direction by asking lots of questions.

OPINION – Published October 21, 2009

Furniture manufacturers see the light

Designers believe that Singapore can be the next Milan but it will have to create something special first

By ARTHUR SIM

THERE are times when yesterday’s so-called sunset industries can become the sunrise industries of tomorrow. Such has been the happy fate of Singapore’s furniture manufacturers. Like many developing nations, Singapore turned to furniture-making in the 1960s to help kick-start the manufacturing sector. But neighbouring countries quickly caught up and it soon became clear that furniture manufacturers here would not be able to remain competitive.

Businesses could have pumped in more capital to upgrade this sinking industry but many decided to either give up or move out. Bert Choong, chairman and group managing director of Nobel Design Holdings remembers how, about 25 years ago, the government had indicated to industry players that the outlook was ‘not rosy’. ’The government encouraged us to move out of Singapore,’ he added.

With the help of government agencies such as the Productivity and Standards Board (PSB), these pioneer furniture makers moved to lower-cost countries such as Malaysia. Mr Choong, a former president of the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), also recalls how, in the early 1990s, a group of about 20 industry players went to China to set up a ‘furniture hub’ in Kunshan.

Today, it’s a different story. Singapore’s furniture industry has staged a comeback. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong even recently dubbed it a ’sunrise industry’, holding it up as example for all SMEs. James Koh, deputy chairman and managing director of furniture maker Koda believes much of this revival has to do with design. ‘The focus on design is moving the industry substantially and quickly up the value chain. This enables us to catch the latest trends and appeal to the customers’ sense of aesthetics,’ he adds.

Koda understands it cannot simply compete on price. ‘Cut throat competition is not going to be sustainable,’ says Mr Koh.

Rising output

For whatever reason, things are looking up for furniture makers. Latest figures from the SFIC reveal that the total furniture trade amounted to $4.2 billion in 2008, of which exports accounted for more than 75 percent, or $3.2 billion. Official statistics from EDB and Spring Singapore also show that between 2006 and 2007, total output for furniture manufacturing firms increased by 10 per cent, from $564 million to $619 million.

Koda represents one of the bigger players in Singapore. For its financial year 2008, revenue was close to US$55 million (although it did fall to about US$38 million in 2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis).

But while its business strategy emphasises R&D, marketing, supply chain management and quality control, the actual manufacturing takes place in Vietnam, Malaysia and China. Mr Koh says Vietnam is Koda’s most important manufacturing base. Apart from lower overheads and the availability of skilled carpenters, he revealed that, the Vietnamese government is very supportive of the industry and offers a wide range of incentives.

Koda depends on foreign support in other ways too. While it has Singapore-based designers, more recently, it has found that some foreign designers have a better understanding of markets in the US and Europe.

Even for Nobel Design Holdings, which registered an annual turnover of $44.3 million in 2008, a significant chunk of the business happens outside Singapore. In order to service US clients such as the chain store JC Penney, for instance, Mr Choong explains that the company maintains an office and warehouse in Chicago. Moreover, US designers dictate much of the design, with the furniture subsequently imported directly from China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

So while the industry may be turning around, one has to wonder whether Singapore can capture more of the value-added components. For instance, is it inconceivable to have manufacturing (and logistics) bases in Singapore? Interestingly, the president of the Italian furniture manufacturer association – FederlegnoArredo (FLA) Rosario Messina – who was recently in town, revealed that all Italian furniture is actually manufactured in Italy, even if some components are imported.

And with an annual turnover of 37.5 billion euros ($78.2 billion), and exports of close to 13.5 billion euros, the industry is an important contributor to the Italian economy. Apart from manufacturing much of the world’s high-end furniture, design capabilities and services are also an important reason why Italy is a furniture capital.

Lessons learnt

There are perhaps some lessons Singapore can draw from the Italian experience. Tan Soon Kim, deputy director for lifestyle and business services at IE Singapore notes: ‘From starting OEM to ODM (original design manufacturing), our companies began to add value to their customers by offering complete solutions across the value chain even as they try to lower the costs of production by shifting production bases to the region while maintaining the core functions in Singapore.’

He added: ‘It is important to note that (furniture companies) headquarters remain here, contributing to the talent pool and knowledge economy in Singapore.’ Andrew Ng, president of SFIC also believes that through funding by the Local Enterprise and Association Development programme launched by IE Singapore and Spring Singapore, SFIC has developed ‘many initiatives aimed at helping the local furniture industry’ which includes nurturing a quality workforce, promoting design as well as branding and marketing.

If Singapore is to become a furniture design capital, it will need more companies such as Air Division to help it build an identity. Air Division started in 1991 because its founding partners felt that Singapore lacked a design-led furniture company.

It began by serving a largely local market but this has changed, with exports now accounting for about 15-20 per cent of its business since it began export operations five years ago. According to a study by KPMG, turnover tripled between 2003 and 2006 to $2.6 million.

Air Division has to tap the Asian manufacturing base too. But that a Singapore company is actually recognised around the world for its brand and designs is encouraging. Michael Toh, managing director at Air Division claims: ‘What we offer to consumers is something that one will not be able to find anywhere else in the market.’

Singapore-based designs

Partly because of their Singapore-based design strengths, Air Division and others in the industry actually have an advantage over regional competitors. The industry has even been able to draw the attention of the Italians, who through the FLA, signed an MOU with SFIC to further trade ties earlier this month. As the Italians probably know already, a new design capital closer to the manufacturing base (Asia) will inevitably emerge.

So while Singapore may not be able to have the full spectrum of activities as a furniture manufacturer, there still appears to be a window of opportunity for it to seize the high ground as Asia’s new furniture design capital. The window, however, is small. And few understand this better than designer Patrick Chia.

Among Singaporeans, Mr Chia is a veteran of the international design scene, having first exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair in the mid-1990s (at his own cost) to critical acclaim – Philippe Starck bought Mr Chia’s designs. Today, he is also design director of the Design Incubation Centre (DIC) at the National University of Singapore.

So it is with some authority that he can say: ‘Milan is no longer the reference point for global designers. They have been doing the same thing for the last 10 years.’

Can Singapore step in?

‘We need to be more aggressive. At the moment, we are still aping the west,’ he points out.

But he is working on bringing about change. Through the DIC, Mr Chia hopes to find new ways to create products such as the Dandella, a pointing device that can be paired with a GPS enabled mobile phone to ‘point you in the right direction’. Dandella, designed by Singaporean designers Yong-kai Tan and Priscilla Lui, received the only Gold Prize in the International Design Competition 2006 in Osaka.

Mr Chia believes Singapore can be the next Milan but it will have to create something special first. ‘The world order is changing and everything has been reset to zero. Whoever makes what is most interesting, that can resonate with the buyer, will come out on top,’ he says.

Source : The Business Times 21.10.2009

Are your employees are happy with their jobs? These days, maybe so—employees across the country are simply thankful to have a job with a regular paycheck and benefits. But when the economy turns around or if a better offer comes along, will your employees choose stick around? If your talented employees leave, where does that leave you?

You have to find a replacement, and that takes time and money. You’ve got to advertise for the job, sort through the resumes, have a couple of rounds of interviews (I know one hiring manager who recently planned to do 25 first interviews. Assuming each interview took no more than an hour, she cost the company around $750 just for the interview time.), make an offer, negotiate salary and benefits, and then it still takes time to get the new hire “up-to-speed.” Who has time for that?

You can avoid losing talented employees if you create the right workplace environment–one where employees feel appreciated and respected. I know “all the generations are different,” but I think all of us, from Traditionalists to Gen Ys, want respect and recognition for the contributions we make. Do you treat your employees with respect? Do you treat them as the adults they are? Do they think you do?

If you don’t know what your employees think about their jobs, it’s okay to ask. You have permission—as long as you’re prepared to act on what they say. Meet with them individually, and ask, “What do you like about your job?” or “What challenges or interests you at work?” or maybe “What ideas or suggestions do you have that would improve our productivity or customer service?” Listen to the responses. Take action. Your employees will realize they are making a contribution to your company’s success. That’s empowering and engaging. It’s what Connecting Your Employees to Your Business © is all about.

According to a recent study by SHRM and the Wall Street Journal, employers “might need to brace themselves for an upcoming surge in voluntary turnover.” Unfortunately, the previous options of offering high performers additional perks or bonuses in order to retain them may not always be available given today’s market. Instead of focusing only on how to avoid losing your top performers, perhaps it’s a good idea to identify super-stars in the market right now that you could bring into your organization later, if needed.

Before the problem of turnover strikes, there will be a LOT of people who are just waiting for their phone to ring to talk to a recruiter or HR about a company where they might like to work. Now is the perfect time to start connecting with these people! Obviously, a recruiter can easily help you build and manage your candidate network, but this can also be done by internal HR departments. If a top performer applies to a job or comes to you through a referral, take the time to have a real phone interview with them – even if they’re not a good match for any open positions! Get to know them and invite them to learn more about your company, possibly through additional conversations or an on-site visit. Keep in touch with them regularly and establish a professional relationship that keeps dialogue open to discuss new roles as soon as they become available – better yet, be able to call them BEFORE you’ve even posted the job!

This is especially effective with sales teams. Most salespeople are willing to talk/interview, even if they’re not looking for something new immediately, and welcome the opportunity to broaden their network of potential employers. Additionally, these bench candidates may help you fill jobs that are currently open by offering referrals and directing other top performers to your organization.

In time, you’ll have a short list of top performers you could call at any time to discuss great, new opportunities available with your company. The investment is small, but the returns are fantastic! I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve built a place where top candidates want to come to work, it’s likely your own top performers will want to stay.

It was 2006, and Kevin Mench was inching up on the competition.  The Texas Rangers right-fielder found out mid-April that he had been wearing the wrong size shoes for years.  “Shrek” (as he was known by his teammates at the time because of his size 8 head) wears a size 12 1/2” shoe, but he had been cramming into size 12” sneakers since he was fifteen.

The revelation came after a recurring sprained toe forced him to miss five games early in the year.  The ball club sent him to a foot specialist, who quickly diagnosed what was cramping Mench’s style.  After the minor correction to his footwear, Mench began to pick up his pace.  Having failed to drive in a single run during the first ten games of the season, Mench drove in 27 immediately following the half-inch upgrade.  Even better, during the same timeframe, he dinged ten home runs (seven of them in a row and two for grand slams).

People change.  Circumstances change.  Maybe yesterday’s “perfect fit” for your team is now confining to them.  Some team members may have outgrown their jobs and need new challenges.  We know from data gathered by the Hay Group (from 500,000 exit interviews) that the most common reason your top hitters will go into free agency (how much mileage can I get from this metaphor?) is because they don’t have enough learning opportunities to develop their skills.  But give them some growing room, and watch them start to hit for the stadium lights.

Take new measurements on each of your team members on a regular basis.  You may be surprised at how much they’ve grown!

As the Boomers retire from the workforce, Strategic Employers must rely more and more on the upcoming generations.  Both Generation X and the Millennials value work and
work/life issues very differently than their Boomer managers.  There are also much fewer of them willing to devote the same degree of corporate loyalty as does the Boomer and
the Veteran generation.

One easy, inexpensive, and smart move Strategic Employers can make is to appeal to these generations in a way that motivates them to stay.  Employee Empowerment is valued by
both of these generations, but not in the same way it was used to influence and generally coerce their predecessors.  If you truly want your employees to be empowered, and enjoy the benefits of an empowered workforce, you should begin with these ten principles:

1)    Show that you really do value them.
2)    Don’t keep your Vision a secret, tell them about it.
3)    Let them know your company’s, your group’s, or your team’s objectives.
4)    Give them the information they need to make good decisions.
5)    Show your trust and believe in their ability to do the right things.

Next week I’ll add the other five…

I know most of us aren’t privileged enough to work for organizations that have their own Communications or PR departments. Sometimes Investor Relations takes over on this front for those of us with public companies. But more often than not, the responsibility (implicitly) falls on HR. In a recent Deloitte survey conducted as part of their “Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy” series, 62% of employees who indicated they intended to leave their current job faulted lack of communication from executives during the recession.  Isn’t this to a large extent our (HR Department’s) fault?  I bet a bunch of those employees would say exactly that.

WORK PERKS

Some of the perks for employees at Abebooks include:

- Monthly social events to celebrate company “wins” and milestones;

- Three weeks paid vacation for new employees;

- Share purchase plan for all employees;

- Company matches RRSP contributions;

- Free monthly bus passes;

- Company pays employees $80 if they do use a parking place;

- Secure bike storage and Bike To Work Week promotions;

- Free fruits, juices and other healthy snacks and regular consultations with a nutritionalist;

- Free access to an office specialist to ensure employee work stations are properly fitted;

- Free flu vaccinations;

- Free access to massage chair;

- On-site massage therapy by registered masseuse;

- Flexible work hours with staggered starting times that accommodate doctors’ appointments and children’s activities;

- Several green initiatives, including onsite composting and recycling.

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What kind of fall would it be without delicious apple turnovers.

These are juicy, full of walnuts and have that great christmasy taste of cinnamon.

When I tasted them they left me completely and utterly speechless.

And the same happened to my boyfriend.

So it has been a pretty quiet household today.

~~~

Ingredients:

3 frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

3 larger apples, peeled, cored

6 tablespoons chopped walnuts

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon corn starch

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

~~~

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Cut apples into tiny little dices (about 1/4 inch – 0,6 cm).

4. In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and corn starch.

5. Unfold the thawed pastry sheets on a floured surface.

Cut them into 5-inch-by-5-inch (13cm) squares.

Place about 3 teaspoons of filling on each square leaving about 1 inch (2,5 cm) border.

6. Use a pastry brush to brush the lightly beaten egg on the border of the pastry.

7. Fold each pastry into a triangle.

Try to give the filling no chance to leak. (But still it will, that’s the rule.)

8. Crimp edges with a fork.

Brush the tops with the egg.

Cut 3 small steam vents in the top of each turnover. (Do it after you’ve applied the egg, otherwise you would seal the vents shut again.)

9.  Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Enjoy!

Success as a manager depends upon having a workforce that is committed to your organization and a management staff that knows how to supervise people. This organizational self-assessment will provide you a quick evaluation of your workforce and will highlight areas of strengths and weaknesses.

So how can you tell if your workforce is engaged? Here’s a quick evaluation you can make on your organization:

SELF-ASSESSMENT FOR A WELL RUN ORGANIZATION

Answer each statement with “agree”, “disagree”, or “not sure.” In the “comment” box add points of clarity, proposed next steps, etc. Once done, determine your score.

 Self-Evaluation Scorecard:

Count the number of “Agree” statements. That is your score.

My Score:                                           

If you had:

14-15:        You’re in great shape. Give yourself a pat on the back. Your workforce is humming. Build on your strengths and address any problem areas.

12-13:        Things are generally OK. Put together a plan to address problem areas before you begin to lose employees and customers. You can’t afford to slip here.

10-11:        Got a lot of work to do. Get going. Without a rapid turnaround, you face serious problems.

Under 9:  Get help fast. You’ve got problems with your employees and customers that are costing you a bundle. A rapid turnaround is necessary before you lose control or worse.

 Fostering an environment where employees are “willing to give their all” to guarantee the success of their organization is paramount. When managers take care of their employees and inspire them and when employees believe in their boss and their organizations, then success is guaranteed. This is pragmatic, uncomplicated, bottom line approach to business.

Excerpted from my book, Uncomplicating Management; scheduled for publication on November 1, 2009.

To get a free download of Uncomplicating Management, click http://www.dacri.com/book_uncomplicating_management.htm

A business core values initiative that is done well affects all levels of an organization as well as all employees.  In the months and years that follow, the level of interest and enthusiasm naturally fall off.  This is when it is the role of leadership to keep the principles alive through constantly reminding the employees of what the mission is about, and how it is achieved.  In the absence of engaged leadership, what happens to the values that are still hanging on the lobby wall? 

There is much written about the negative effects of ignoring culture as an aspect of a healthy business.  Virtually all writers on the subject drill down to the small decisions that are made every day, at all levels, and all over the organization.  What is odd is that no one deals with examples of what those decisions could be, and  then and ties the actions back to the fading or nonexistence of business values.  Here is a set of three examples, followed by an explanation of the forces at work.

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Gary drives a forklift for a living.  He feels like he used to really understand his company, but now he’s not so sure.  Now layoffs feel like a real possibility, and Gary is not sure he now knows what the criteria will be.

A few years ago, after the big “core values” rollout, he felt like things were going in the right direction.  For once, everyone seemed to be working the same plan.  When he was doing a good job, his manager told him.  If a new process was important, he knew why, and what his role was. 

Now, no one talks to him or anyone else on the warehouse floor.  The daily shift kick-off meetings are gone.  He just shows up to work, does his job and goes home.  Gary feels like something is going on, but no one in management is ever available to talk about it.  He also knows that in the years since the rollout, his value to the company has somehow diminished, and this makes him afraid that he could lose his job to a layoff, in spite of his seniority and work record.

The union recruiters were in the parking lot again today, handing out t-shirts, and asking warehouse people to sign cards.  Some of the younger guys signed them.  Gary has been around long enough to know that union membership is something to think about, not trade a signature for a t-shirt.  Nevertheless, he’s been considering signing a card.  The union guys claim they can save his job, and that with a labor contract his seniority will mean something.  Gary also knows that his worth to the company is not that he has been around so long as much as all the things he does right every day he is on the job.  Still, no one has noticed his work in many months.  Maybe belonging to a union is what is best for him and his family after all.

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Joe is a Sales Manager and he is feeling vulnerable.  Sales are down this month, as they have been on his team for 3 of the last 6 months.  He and his salespeople are struggling just to hit last year’s volume.  He has seen some good managers let go for results like this.

Back after the values initiative sales were strong, and the salespeople were flying high.  The merger last year brought a fair amount of confusion to the business though, and some brands left the company.  What was supposed to bring a dynamic “synergy” of complimentary strengths had actually made the sales role more confusing, and competitors had taken advantage. 

Joe’s new Division Sales Manager was not on board yet at the time of the core values rollout.  In fact, Joe has the feeling that the new boss wouldn’t have had enough patience for the type of leadership that was developed at that time.  The new boss is all about action with no excuses, so losing brands and having less to sell was a non-starter conversation.

At the demand of the new boss, Joe has been spending virtually all of his time working with his salespeople in the trade in order to help get orders up.  At first, the sales team welcomed Joe’s assistance.  Over a few weeks it became apparent that Joe was not going to go back to occasionally working with them … the new normal was that he was going to be with them often.  Joe spent the most time in the territories where sales were down most. 

Jenny was an experienced sales representative whose area was most affected by the lost brands.  One day Jenny asked Joe, “Do you remember when you trusted me enough to be out here on my own without you shadowing me all the time?”  Joe was taken aback.  Joe said, “Trust has nothing to do with it … the boss says to help those whose sales are down the most, and that’s you.”  Jenny turned in her notice the next day…the competition had been waiting for years for a chance to steal her away.

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Susan is CFO, and she has mixed feelings as to what to do next.  The Chief Executive Officer wants the quarterly financial report on his desk in the morning.  Susan just had an argument with the Controller over some general ledger adjustments that were made at the last minute. 

 At issue was nearly $100,000 in “other” income.  This is the line on the income statement that is used to describe sales of non-product nature.  This could include income from recycling, rebates, allowances from suppliers and so forth.  It appeared to the Controller that one of the sales executives had turned in a credit for a supplier-funded sales training session that the Controller was quite sure never took place.  The credit was already in the AR system, having been hand posted earlier that day.  Citing the company’s mission statement and values, the Controller wanted to back out the credit from the income statement.  It was already 6:00 PM, and only 14 hours before the financial summary was due.  Anyone who knew about this particular line item had gone home for the day, and, the supplier credit in question was just enough added revenue to hit the profitability goal for the quarter.

What made matters worse is the entire executive group had a lot riding on this quarterly report.  In the wake of suppliers leaving earlier in the year, no one in senior management had received their portion of the shared profitability bonus for the last 2 quarters.  Visits from sales executives, the operations VP and others had been frequent in the past couple of days as they all wanted to know how the bonus looked.  Susan herself had much to lose if this report did not show the company hitting its target because she also shared in the bonus.

If the controller was correct, and this was a fraudulent supplier credit, then it was more than an unethical attempt to pad sales in order to hit the targeted numbers.  It also could jeopardize the company’s relationship with the supplier, and everyone knew that another supplier leaving would not be good news.

She thought about what to do.  Susan had no personal knowledge that this credit was not valid.  If it were problematic, she could back it out at the end of the next quarter.  The supplier would understand the correction if one were needed, and everyone would be happy that the company hit it’s quarterly projection, and bonus checks would be cut tomorrow afternoon.  Susan set the financial report on the CEO’s desk, and went home.

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Communication is the common denominator in the Value Void.

An issue can be a lack of information coming down to the employees, as was the main issue with Gary, the veteran warehouse worker.  Absent the flow of communication Gary had been used to, he began to fear for his job.  Whether this anxiety is warranted, ironically, does not matter.  Gary is still evaluating what is going on around him, and making decisions based on those conclusions.  All humans will attempt to “fill in the blanks” when information is not forthcoming, and the warehouse people were no different.  His dilemma regarding whether to sign a card giving his support to union representation is a direct consequence of management failing to talk about what is going on, and failing to recognize great performers.  The result to the company could be the necessity to negotiate with a union representing the warehouse workers, a condition that could cost millions over the next few years.

A second way that poor communication causes issues in the Value Void is when new comers are not initiated into the company properly, and with no reference point.  This is what was causing much of Sales Manager Joe’s problems…his new boss had been brought into the firm without education in the company’s values and beliefs.  Joe was told to get sales up by riding the sales people, and because Joe was also afraid for his job, he did it.  The loss of Jenny, the veteran sales person, was unwanted turnover caused by a new manager entering the company without grounding in the company values.  Turnover is a major indicator of issues in the company culture, especially when the most experienced employees begin to leave.

The final and potentially most deadly of the communication traps is sending mixed messages.  Susan the CFO was definitely feeling the Values Void.  She was pressured by the CEO to execute to an unreasonable deadline.  Simultaneously, she felt the stress of politics weigh upon her because not only her own, but the other senior managers had their quarterly bonuses ridding on the outcome.  Meanwhile, the Controller was doing her job in indentifying possibly fraudulent credits that could be a threat to the business.  In the end, Susan did nothing, and let the financial report stand – not because she did not have her own doubts, but because of the mixed messages she was receiving.  Integrity is an important value in virtually all companies, but when all the CFO is hearing is that the report is due, and the results had better look good, misrepresenting the profitability of the company gets very easy to do.

Symptoms of a Values Void:

1.  Lack of Communication
2. Lack of Reference
3. Mixed Messages
4. Turnover
5. Inconstancy
6. Politics
7. Deception
8. Fear
9. Uncertainty
10. Distrust
11. Cynicism

Once employees perceive that the organizations stated values have no meaning it is going to be long road getting back to where decisions are made based on them.  The range of options available contain no easy to implement solution, yet it can be done.  As a starting point, here is a partial list of strategies.

Begin at the top.  It is time for soul searching.  At some point in the past, it was an enormous effort to design and roll out the company values.  Somewhere in the top leadership of the organization, apathy towards the initiative took hold.  What was designed to last virtually forever did not.  If the leadership does not have the courage to look at themselves first, then nothing is going to change.

Redesign.   Going back and going though the process of selecting values and beliefs for the company a second time can yield results if done well.  Taking the time to get people at all levels involved in the initiative will create interest and buy-in.  Coming up with the same list of values that the organization collectively ignored may create more logical conflicts than enthusiasm.  However, it is likely that there was nothing wrong with the values selected … just adherence to them was lacking. 

Re-Roll Out.   Reintroducing the same values can create renewed enthusiasm for the initiative.  By getting the values out there in meetings, emails, posters, coffee mugs, you name it … awareness can be built-up again.  Without consistency from all levels of management however, the message will once again fade to apathy.  A re-roll out requires a level of humility in senior management.  Someone from the top needs to admit that organization has strayed from its stated direction and way of being in order for a re-roll out to be effective.  Absent this message, employees are very likely disbelieve the initiative is rooted in sincerity since the values were ignored in the past.

Build Supporting Company Values into Management Job Descriptions.  Often this missing piece has lead to the ignoring of company values in the first place.  When championing values-based decision making is part of each supervisor’s job then keeping core values alive can become much easier.  A key element is make sure that this is included in all management performance evaluations.  Judging management on how they have personally supported and lived the values during evaluations is key.  When future advancement, raises in pay and so forth are tied in to supporting the company values then buy-in becomes second nature.

Realize that some managers will not “get it”.  In every core values initiative, a supervisor somewhere in the company will ask, “This stuff is great, but how am I supposed to do this and my regular job?”  The answer is simple … supporting core values is your job!  In the final analysis, senior management has to be brave enough to acknowledge that some very good managers may not be qualified to lead the organization in this manner.  Skilled supervisors who do not live the company values are simply not good enough.  This is likely one of the factors that lead to the decay of adherence to the values to begin with. 

Getting back on track after a company enters the Values Void is hard work.  The common theme for what it takes to get the importance of values reimplemented is courage in senior management.  Often, this is where the problem started.  Therefore, humility and candid self-evaluation is what begins the recovery.  Without this first step, the stated values of the company will remain just words hanging in the lobby.

Throughout the weeks of this module I will be investigating an online DVD rental company LoveFilm.com. LoveFilm provides DVD rental subscription service in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. It offers a range of online DVD rental options in each country. These packages include unlimited and capped DVD rentals each month, free postage and no late fees.

LoveFilm.com

LoveFilm.com was established in 2002 and allowed internet users an easier way to rent DVD movies. It has grown by mergers and acquisitions of rival companies such as ScreenSelect and VideoIsland. It now has Amazon as its biggest shareholder when their own rental service became part of LoveFilm International. In January, 2009, LoveFilm claimed to have over 1,000,000 members, over 65,000 titles, and over 4 million rentals per month across five countries, and now has moved into legal movie downloads either for rental or for users to keep.

LoveFilm last year recorded a £70m turnover resulting in a profit for the first time. It is expected that the company will reach £100+m next year as memberships increase. It employs more than 250 staff.

LoveFilm.com is only online transaction based; it houses its titles in Peterborough where they are shipped to and from members. It was founded in May 2002 by two men; Paul Gardner and Graham Bosher, which originally was called Online Rentals Company.