Fired Up! » millennial management

A Recession Thank You Note

jforte — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:22:09 +0000

Dear Recession,
I know many people are upset with you. I am not surprised. You have made things tough for many organizations. But at the same time you have made us better. So here are ten things I wanted to thank you for:

1. For forcing us to get rid of the deadwood and the non-performing employees who felt all they had to do was simply to show up for work.

2. For the reminder that we are stronger and more profitable in some areas of our business than others, and that we should always focus on our strengths because they provide the greatest value to our customers.

3. For helping us to relearn the value of customers and the need to focus on customer loyalty, not merely satisfaction, and to never miss an opportunity to do the extraordinary.

4. For reminding us that our people are our profits and that fewer of the “right” employees can consistently outperform more of the “wrong” employees. Fit matters and a greater effort to hire and retain the right employees drives greater results.

5. For a reminder that we must support an employee-focused workplace to be capable of creating a customer-focused workplace. We now are better connected to our employees’ talents, values and interests; we know them better and can better match them to their best performance areas.

6. For the reminder that every employee must add value or they are not needed on the team; all employees are now held accountable for results, ideas and solutions.

7. For forcing us to eliminate the barriers to communication, so that information can move more freely around the organization to accelerate action and responsiveness.

8. For reminding us that we (management) must be more visible, more human, more approachable and integrated in the performance of the employees; constant contact is critical to building strong relationships with employees to earn their loyalty and to know how to activate their performance.

9. For reminding us to use our employees to stay connected to our world through their worlds (social networks) as a means to grow and develop the business in a meaningful way.

10. For the lesson that even when things are tough, employees who are valued, respected and believe in what we stand for, have the reserves needed to pull through and do the extraordinary.

I have learned many valuable lessons that somehow got forgotten in better times. You have reminded me to watch the details, own the results and inspire my people. Though I don’t need this lesson often, I am pleased to have learned it today.

Best regards,
Jay Forte

Please forward this to someone who will benefit from it and contact me to help you reactivate the performance power of your people.

BizTalk Radio interview

jforte — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:41:48 +0000

The process to Fire Up! an employee starts with the manager. Today, it is the manager’s role to hire the right employee, activate his/her passion for performance and stay in constant contact through coaching, mentoring and educating. Today’s intellectual workers need an engage-and-inspire manager – one who know how to connect to employees, and one who knows how to connect employees to performance – not a command-and-control manager. These managers chase the great employees away. So, what type of manager are you?

Catch my interview with Jim Lobaito at BizTalk Radio at www.Biztalkradioshow.com; it overviews Fire Up! Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition, its approach, and how to easily and successfully implement a fired up! attitude in your workplace. See the “For Managers” section in the right column, or go to the Products page for more information. Get your copy today.

Before you hire or before you apply for a job…read this.

jforte — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:23:40 +0000

Talents are the key to hiring the right employee or for job seekers to apply for and get the right job. Fire Up! makes it easy with the Talent and Thinking Style Assessment for MANAGERS to learn how to assess employees’ talents (click on Talent and Thinking Style Assessment above) and for JOB SEEKERS (click on the link above) to learn how to assess your talents. For managers, once you know the talents of your employees and the talents needed in each role in the organization, you can locate and hire employees who are a good fit. And if you are a job seeker, once you know your talents, you can better define the kinds of roles and responsibilities that are line with your thinking and will lead to greater performance and ultimately greater success. So to hire the right employee, or to apply for the right job, be sure you know talents. Use these tools…choose a job that is a good fit for you or for your employees; then you and your employees will become MAXperformers.