Posts Tagged ‘feedback’

Are You In Constant Contact?

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

You just don’t know what your employees and customers are thinking if you don’t stay in constant contact with them; you need what they know to be successful and to drive greater results. And staying in touch is good, but staying in constant contact is better.

In an earlier blog post, author Seth Godin suggested that we end the annual reviews, big sales meetings and other large events, and instead, move to “frequent cheap communication” – that is, constant meaningful contact.

Let’s see the value of this in the workplace.

Constant contact (communication) with employees provides:
1. A venue for providing feedback to reward exceptional performance and to correct problem performance.
2. A connection to employees’ ideas, social connections and thoughts to drive business opportunities.
3. The ability to relate to employees as people – that critical personal connection that drives loyalty and inspires performance.

Constant contact with customers provides:
1. The venue to ask meaningful questions about service levels, needs, values and expectations.
2. The ability to assess new products, services and ideas before they are fully invested in or initiated.
3. The ability to relate to customers as people – that critical personal connection that inspires loyalty.

Remember that communication is the method to move today’s enormous amounts of information. It is less effective if delayed until a major event. It is most effective in the personal one-on-one connection that happens regularly, clearly and intentionally.

Is it a requirement of your culture to stay connected to your customers?

Is it part of your management and leadership style to stay connected to your employees?

In today’s instant information age, check in on the frequency that you stay in touch. Constantly ask what your employees and customers think. Then get good at listening and using what they tell you.

For more information on connecting to and inspiring employees, check out Fire Up! Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition, and other tools at www.LiveFiredUp.com.

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Here Today, Here Tomorrow – Keeping Great Employees

Monday, December 13th, 2010

At a time when most companies’ conversations with their employees are about just surviving today, a company I work with is actively talking about the future – their future and how their employees are part of it. They have and share a vision of success and impact, and a plan to get there. This doesn’t mean they are going through tough times – they are. But their employees are more focused on the long view of work. Here is how they bring this about:

1. They create opportunities to provide recurring feedback about current performance; positive performance is applauded; poor performance is coached and corrected. Feedback is a daily event.

2. They create performance expectations for employees; employees know what is expected and are held accountable for results and performance. They have a culture of accountability and no excuses.

3. They regularly meet with employees to talk about the future. They are honest about opportunities – within and out of the organization. They value their employees’ personal and professional development. Employees know where they are headed; they are connected to both a vision and a plan for the future.

This works because their managers are held responsible for building and sustaining relationships with their employees. This daily focus on personally connecting to employees creates a rapport that facilitates a discussion about many issues that other organizations can’t discuss – including career development and the future. This not only allows employees to have a longer vision of employment and helps the organization with succession planning, it inspires employee loyalty.

Knowing the strength of your people and guiding them to a meaningful future allows the organization to plan for its growth and how to staff it. It allows them to better manage their intellectual capital and talent. This is how one company ensures that the best employees are here today and here tomorrow.

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you develop an employee retention approach for 2011 that keeps your best employees. More information at www.FireUpYourEmployees.com.

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What You Say And How You Say It

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

In today’s economy, your employees are face-to-face with your customers. This means you have to wisely hire or promote employees who are a good fit for their jobs. And to me, good fit means:

o The employee is good at what the job requires; he has the talents and natural abilities and is capable and competent in the job.
o The employee likes doing the job; the job is well aligned to his interests and passions.

So, if you do a great job hiring the right employee who has the right combination of talents and passions, and you customize the job to create a strong emotional connection and investment in the job, you have now invested significantly in your employee. This employee is a critical component of your team, your service response and your ability to be profitable. The employee is a treasured asset of the organization.

And then the employee does something completely human like screw up an order or loose his cool with a customer. And you deliver your outrage and anger in your feedback by yelling, accusing and punishing the employee.

Stop. Isn’t this a valued member of your team? Shouldn’t you use the moment of non-performance as a time to focus on performance improvement and support?

Today’s managers must be coaches. Their jobs are to find the right talent, activate it to great performance, provide continual feedback to improve when needed, celebrate when performance and effort is outstanding, and to amplify the personal connection to performance. The better the personal contact between manager and employee, the greater the performance.

So the next time your employee needs feedback, do the following:
1. Start with a positive comment; win the employee into a discussion.
2. Describe the behaviors needing improvement or applause; allow the employee to corroborate facts and share perspectives.
3. Describe the impact and consequences of the behavior; find the “hook” that will encourage the employee to change something unproductive or continue something productive.
4. Create a plan; allow the employee to create and own a solution.
5. End with a positive comment; ensure the employee feels valued and sees the coaching (feedback) as a win-win event.

Not only are these five steps effective in changing behavior and improving the personal connection with employees, but they work great at home. Feedback done well is powerful. So watch both what you say, and how you say it.

Contact me to help you learn how to attract, hire and retain the best employees.

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Get More Done With Less

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Many organizations have been carrying extra employees for years – employees who continued to show up each day without adding a level of value commensurate with their pay and benefits.

The recession forced virtually all organizations to reduce their spending. And in today’s intellectual and service workplace, most of these expense reductions related to manpower. Thanks to the recession, most organizations have now seen they can get more done with fewer of the right employees, than more of the wrong employees. Great lesson.

Getting more done with less is not about overwhelming employees by adding the responsibilities of laid off employees to surviving employees. Rather, it is about understanding employees talents, strengths and passions and realigning employees to roles that use these to make a more significant difference. Studies continue to support that employees who are engaged (intrinsically and emotionally connected – they are good at what the job requires and like doing it), out perform all others. They are more creative, more focused and more interested in their work. The result is greater performance. This requires a greater attention to “fit.” Fit determines the “right employee.” Right employees get more done.

So to get more done with less:
1. Define the talents, strengths, skills and experience needed in each role.
2. Realign existing talent to roles that match and need their attributes.
3. Hire those positions for which you do not currently have the right people.
4. When interviewing, use talent-based questions (workplace situational questioning) to assess candidates’ talents and assess their responses and fit.
5. Clearly define performance expectations and allow employees greater freedom in achieving expectations.
6. Provide recurring feedback to encourage employees to perform.

We are in the new “normal.” The recession showed us we can get the work done with fewer of the right people, keep costs down and improve profitability. Did the recession change how you hire and who is on your team?

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it, and contact me to show you how to get the right people in the right roles to build your A-Team.

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