Rules of Employee ENGAGEMENT Part III ~ John J Arent

The world is not perfect…there will always be ups and downs.  You are not perfect…there is no such thing…so why do so many employees not feel part of their organization.  It is because they are not engaged.    

This is the final of the 3 part series that I shared with you on my blog about “Engaging Employees”. 

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/07/3-simple-steps-for-employee-engagement.html

Today’s blog will the need for better GRATITUDE.

Gratitude is feeling thankful ---GIFT

  This week the subject is giving Thanks! GIFT -  Gratitude is feeling thankful.

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com

How often are we appreciative of the many things that “go right” in our lives?   Despite all our good intentions and actions, have you ever found yourself complaining about how you have been dealt the wrong hand.  Somehow when things go wrong they multiply like rabbits.  Our good intentions quickly sour and we are left with moaning and complaining. Being mean and creating issues rather than looking at the bright side of things. It’s human nature to want to be liked.  To be appreciated for what we bring to the table. We are all hungry for genuine appreciation and thanks. We want others to know that we matter, that our efforts are making the world a better place.  However how often is the reverse true.

Think back on the past year. It's been tough for many of us, for many reasons. The Recession,  High Unemployment, Illness, Death of a loved one, Change of Job, Loss of Job… the list can go on & on. We can spend time on the negative side of our fortunes or we can rise above it and show our thanks.  When was the last time that you showed your appreciation for the good work of your associates & that you are truly thankful for their efforts?

Let’s talk about Spring tune-up.  In the next couple of months… how can you communicate your appreciation for the people that you work with? How can you give your associates the GIFT? How can you catch people doing the right thing? Take some time now to put together a list of people who you work with that you are sincerely grateful towards. Then create an action plan to communicate your thanks, with no hidden agenda.

One caveat is that your GIFT must be genuine!!! Your thanks/gratitude…your GIFT needs to be sincere.  In the words of President John F. Kennedy over 50 years ago…” As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. “
Good selling & make it a great week!

Rules of Employee ENGAGEMENT Part 2 ~ John J Arent

The world is not perfect…there will always be ups and downs.  You are not perfect…there is no such thing…so why do so many employees not feel part of their organization.  It is because they are not engaged.    

This is Part 2 of the three ideas that I shared with you on my blog about “Engaging Employees”. 

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/07/3-simple-steps-for-employee-engagement.html

Today’s blog will the need for better LISTENING. Communications or the lack of dialogue within an organization takes on many shapes and sizes.  Some of these will be explored below:

Listening

“We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less. ”

Diogenes Laertius - Biographer Of The Greek Philosophers

By sheer ratios listening is 2X more expected to happen than speaking.  The opposite is more likely. The bigger problem is how much is actually remembered.  Research indicates that only 10 – 30% of what we hear is remembered.  If these findings are accurate we have a major dilemma regarding communications. 

Consider a special two day meeting that you are having with your team.  Each day you have an 8 hour planned agenda.  You have 10 team members present and there are multiple issues to address.  What is the chance that you are successful that you get 100% buy-in and desired actions from the attendees?  The odds are very strong against you! I am going to look at this positively and search for ways to help make sure that I have done a good job communicating and that my team is doing a good job of listening. Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming better listeners, we improve productivity and our ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. We also will be on the same team and minimize misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for workplace success!

How can we become better listeners?

Our action and body language speaks volumes without verbally “saying anything”.  Paying attention to certain external factors can help ensure that you hear the presentation and also that the presenter knows that you are listening.

·         This may sound foolish but make sure that you are looking at your presenter and making eye contact.

·         Ignore outside factors.  Put your own thoughts on hold.  Try not to be pre-occupied with your own thoughts.

o   Often times to minimize the chance of being pre-occupied with an opposing thought it may be good to ask a question or paraphrase…”what I hear you saying…” is a good way to reflect back and hone your listening skills.

o   For clarification purposes, you may ask direct questions…”what do you mean…”?

o   Try not to interrupt flow with counter arguments or “devil’s advocate” questioning.  These types of interruptions waste time and are frustrating to the speaker.  It also will have limiting impact on your other team members.

·         Pay attention to not only your body language, sitting erect, nodding your head in agreement etc….but also to the speaker’s body language. Smile and use other facial expressions which will “connect” with your presenter.

·         Refrain from side bar conversations.  These are distracting to the presenter but also will decrease your “hearing” exponentially.

·         Show respect above all.  Listening is a skill set that requires a lot of attention.  It is a core value that is based on a model of respect and understanding.  By actively listening to a presentation you are gaining information and perspective on various topics.  You may not agree with everything and in most cases “should not agree” but you should always treat the presenter in the same way that you would wish to be treated.

Rules of Employee ENGAGEMENT Part 1 ~ John J Arent

The world is not perfect…there will always be ups and downs.  You are not perfect…there is no such thing…so why do some senior executives of organizations feel that they “know it all”.  They don’t but still some of them want us to feel that they do. Decisions oftentimes being made without inputs from others.  

This is Part 1 of the three ideas that I shared with you on my blog about “Engaging Employees”. 

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/07/3-simple-steps-for-employee-engagement.html

Today’s blog will deal with one of the major causes of employee dis-engagement.  “The lack of true communications within an organization.” The desire to be perfect in an imperfect world. Communications or the lack of dialogue within an organization takes on many shapes and sizes.  Some of these will be explored below:

Picture in your mind the “pompous” ego and you have one example of this.  These managers typically have an ego problem where they are afraid of exposing their weakness or areas of development.  It's been said that "Humility is a virtue", these executives did not wait for that virtue to be bestowed.  They withhold various ideas so that they can appear superior but fail to realize that by refusing to share their thoughts they are weakening the overall impact of the organization.

Another aspect that you will want to get a grasp on is those managers who manage from their desks.  Picture the person who is totally absorbed in metrics.  They spend all day doing analysis and neglect to be with their people.  My forte is sales management and there are many organizations where the major responsibility of a sales manager is being in the field coaching and helping to develop salespeople.  However there are also organizations that have their sales management crunch numbers at the expense of employee development.  These managers seldom get to know their people, their strengths and development areas but are quick to point out any deficiencies in metrics.  Another example would be the warehouse manager who is so busy doing schedules and administrative work in his cubicle that he fails in observational skills of his employees in the work environment.

Lack of Inter-departmental collaboration is also a “flag” to look for.  Are the department leaders comfortable in their expertise to share ideas or do they hold back fearing their inputs could be copied and thus weaken their competitive edge?  The “silo” mentality that was built in the 50’s have endured in some organizations today.  We need to break down those silos so that we can partner together to make major progress as a team.

There have been many recent articles on “annual” Reviews and how often times they are done with little input from the employees.  All too often this comes as a surprise to the employee when expectations are not met.  This may be due to the employee but often times should be traced back to the manager in that there was probably little guidance or progress reports throughout the year.  I am of the belief that annual performance reviews should never be difficult to put together.  It is a collection of factual data that has occurred throughout the year and also discussed one on one several times during the year.  A major accomplishment in conducting annual reviews can be made by clearly stating the goals upfront and measuring  progress at various points throughout the year.

Town Hall Meetings, where executive management gives updates to the rank and file are great ways to involve the team but the challenge for those communications is to be upfront and honest.  If this communication is not truthful and forthright, it will quickly be discussed amongst the employees and challenged.  Consider the “leader” who goes to the dais and proclaims that he personally has worked in the trenches and experienced firsthand inputs…when in fact, he never did.  

These are a few examples of how companies can quickly disengage their employees by a lack of communications.  On Monday, we will discuss the 2^nd idea on Engaging Employees ~ Listening!

Have a super weekend and if you would like, please share this with your colleagues!

3 Ways to improve Employee Engagement ~ John J Arent

Are your employees engaged?  No, not to each other but in their work!  According to a recent study by the Hay Group, "Engaged Teams" are 43% more productive than those who are not.  Quality suffers and there is a real question mark as far as the company's core beliefs and culture is concerned...

I once was in conversation with C level executives of a small company that had high turnover.  The discussions were heated and I remember that the executives were discussing all the wonderful things that they had given their employees who still were not satisfied. Some of the comments were:

“We raised their salaries”…
”We have a great incentive plan”…
”We increased their benefits”…
”They are unappreciative of everything we try to do for them”.

Yet, this company continued to “churn” employees.  T/O rate was approaching 40%.  The problem was not only the high turnover but many of those leaving were good employees.  The question from the group is essence was: “What do these people want from us”?

Never once did the executives look at themselves as a potential source of the problem but rather they chose to “blame” their lost productivity and high turnover on their employees.  Often times, a reflection on the part of management gets into a "We vs. Them"  mode.  My suggestion was not to cast guilt on someone but seek to understand and ENGAGE them in the corporate goals!

Employee engagement can be broken down into 3 somewhat simple steps.  Today I will list those steps and over the next several days, devote the blog to each individual step in depth.  

The three main steps are:

Recognize that you are “imperfect” -  You do not have all the answers!  Show some humility, it goes a long way!

Listen

Be Grateful

That’s it folks, that’s how simple it is to truly engage your employees.  Tomorrow, we will go in depth for each of these steps!

WHY do we work? John J Arent

Why I do what I do.

Working for a living is a necessity for the vast majority of people.  I recently came across surveys that show that over 60% of employees today are unhappy with their current employers.  There are various reasons for this which I hope to entertain in a future blog.  Today, the purpose of this post is to answer the question…”Why I do what I do”?

I conducted a survey recently that had over 300 responses….The overwhelming majority of the comments received was financial liabilities.  A distant second was personal enjoyment.  There was a total of 311 respondents and the poll showed the following results. The multiple choice responses were as follows:

Career position/advancement                         14                           4.5%

Pay the bills                                                   219                         70.4%

Enjoyed company/culture/colleagues             18                           5.7%

Liked working for direct manager                    2                          < 1%

Other                                                               58                         18.6%

Unfortunately, I was unable to categorize the “Other” reasons collected on the survey.  I am following this up with the hope of a much larger poll (17,000) in the next few weeks.

The bottom line as I see it from this unscientific poll  is that we as business leaders have much work to  be done in creating an environment that is conducive to long-term commitment.  If the #1 reason that employees are spending over 50% of their waking hours is simply to pay bills, something is wrong.  Do you agree?


Please forward this along to your channel of colleagues....we need to get this information out so that corrective measures can be made!  Thanks and God Bless!

#1 need for Leadership ~ John J Arent

I often have been asked about what one attribute I would look for in a Leader.  This is an incredibly difficult task since Leadership has many components.  We have all read countless books on leadership and what it takes to be successful in helping to direct a group to success.  Most people who agree that there are several distinct areas that need to be exemplary.

My assignment was to select ONE…My view is sure to create a good deal of controversy but here it is…

HUMILITY

There are so many references about humility and a great number of them come from the Bible.  Without quoting the particular verse, here are my main reasons for choosing this virtue.

The Golden Rule

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

You gain respect by first respecting others.  Sharing and putting yourself second gives us fulfillment.  Most leaders are not afraid to admit their faults.  They are human and the first three letters in HUMILITY share that fact.

Never talk about others in a negative manner.

Conceited and Egotistical talk fuels the fire for discrimination and hatred.  Caring about others and showing it by our words and actions is like an aloe on those burns. Words make or break human relationships. Words can make war or make peace. The words we say have tremendous power as it relates to how the meaning is interpreted in either a good or negative way.

Spreading rumors  is an act of hostility intended to harm someone's reputation. We must avoid the temptation to misrepresent someone's character or actions as an act of revenge or prejudice. “if you do not have something nice to say….don’t say it”

Judging Others

Self-righteousness is very difficult to avoid because it is so much easier to see other peoples faults rather than to acknowledge our own limitations.

Anger and Revenge

The easy way to answer setbacks or disappointments is with anger. It is far more challenging, but much better, to react with understanding and empathy. In this way, we can quickly settle disputes and avoid turning minor incidents into major battles.

Never confuse HUMILITY with weakness.  It is clearly a strength for those who wish to be successful over the long-haul. 

If you agree with this, please forward to those who are your friends and colleagues.  We need more humility at all levels of society today!

How are your People Skills? ~ John J Arent

In today’s organizations, virtually all professionals need to have excellent people skills.  These skills are known as “soft skills” which go beyond knowledge and technological talents.  The “bed-side” manner so to speak that long was missing from the medical profession comes to mind when we talk about certain social skills that top leaders possess.  Today, Medical Schools across the country have as part of their curriculum, courses in treating patients kindly.  Why do we not have the same in business?  There are many companies today that continue to promote employees to management positions without any formalized training.  The training that most managers receive is "after the promotion" and also generally centers on "hard skills" such as analysis, metrics, administration, etc...This omission I believe is a major mistake and can cause failure to both the employee that was promoted as well as the company itself.  In some extraordinary cases, it could cause the company to go out of business.

What are the major people skills that are needed today for our newly promoted managers?

There are many “soft” skill sets that need to be developed PRIOR to promoting your employees.  The key areas that come to mind are:

Interpersonal Communications ~ this is a catch-all which has many facets. Some of these include:

Listening

Feedback

Understanding

Collaboration

Coaching

Body Language

Presenting Skills

Managing Conflict

Humility

Support of your people

Support of your company

Empathy

Image

I will be following up with specific blogs on each of these “soft” skills and ideas to enhance these skill sets in upcoming blogs.

Positive Body Language can mean a lot ~ John J Arent

In yesterday’s blog, we talked about “soft skills” that are needed in a leadership role.  

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/07/7-key-people-skills-john-j-arent.html

These are the people skills that top executives exhibit on a daily basis.  One of the skills that we talked about was “body language”.  The unspoken word is often more powerful that what is said.  It is very easy to convey either support or negative reactions in our everyday communications.  Consider using positive body language to help support your colleagues and add strength to your spoken word!

Some examples of encouraging body language:

Nodding your head – Try this… you can’t say anything negative if you are nodding your head in agreement.

Facial Expressions -  A smile takes a lot of energy.  It also conveys a positive approach to your thoughts and verbal communications.  A simple smile is perhaps the greatest and easiest way to convey positive body language!

Eyes wide open -  In most cases, this shows that you are in agreement and share an interest with your colleagues.  The excitement and enthusiasm that you generate is contagious.

Hand gestures –

Steepled hands -  show that you are contemplating and showing interest in what is being said.  Doing this with a smile, not a frown conveys positive emotions.

Open arms and palm of hands facing up – Shows that you are being honest and taking in what is being said.  You are showing a true interest in  the conversation.

Good eye contact – you are showing interest when you make good eye contact with your colleague.  Avoid “staring” and let your eyes show agreement with your team mate.

Never Point with one finger– It is a negative sign, if you need to show someone something, an open hand, palm up or use at least two fingers with palm up if you need to “show the way”

Hope that these ideas are helpful to you.  Please let me know if you have other ideas as far as positive body language.  We can all help each other!

Promote your BEST people ~ John J Arent

Over the past six months, I have posted multiple original blogs on manpower development.  This has been a core belief that I have had throughout my career.  Being fortunate to be a sales manager for over two decades has allowed me the opportunity to help develop various colleagues in advancement of their careers.  A few weeks ago, I saw an article whose title was “Never promote your Best People”.  I did not read the article due to my beliefs but I have thought about it often and felt pressed to once again share my thought on "people development" Holding back someone in their personal development due to a "fear" that a manager has in losing their best people is very short-sighted and selfish of the manager.   I have always believed that my #1 responsibility as a manager was to develop my people.  Not just the skills to be successful in their current position but to broaden their scope on the total business.  In this way, you are strengthening the entire organization.  I have written several blogs, and have links to three of them that I have done recently.

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/04/never-support-promotion-hastily.html

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/06/5-factors-to-consider-before-you.html

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-line-manager-development.html

Never short-change your people but also do not just promote someone due to their stellar results in their current position without developing the skills necessary for success at the next level. People skill development or soft skill sets are vitally important in order to be a successful leader.  I will devote future blogs tot my thoughts on those skill sets!

8 Factors in Team Building ~ John J Arent

The overall goal of teamwork in most organizations is ultimately to improve return for your customers. However in many organizations today due to a multitude of reasons including politics, Divisional barriers, management egos and other factors, few organizations, are able to advance their ideas due to a failure of team development.  If you feel that your team development is below average, evaluate where you are in each of the 8 areas below and explore a bit deeper. 

Communication – Is your message similar to “Surround-sound” messaging which allows for give and take interaction without penalty.  Ability to transfer information fluidly without redundancy or non-factual interchange of ideas.  Consistent updates either through personal, e-mail, written or oral routine transmissions.

Opportunity – Are your Goals clearly established and the possibility of productive outcome clearly defined?  The ability to secure the potential gains by keeping the team on track.  Sharing the vision of what will be accomplished by unity.

Framework – Employing a structure within the team that is transparent.  Breaking down the chance of any silos forming and allowing the support and interaction within the group to flourish. 

Ability – Hiring a diverse team of professionals who have the skill and aptitude to work together in solving problems.  Solution-oriented thinking to use you capabilities to reach your capacity.

Participation – Have you experienced “Across the board participation” and contributions from everyone in the group.  The ability to gain involvement from all team members by active contributions without penalty or bias.

Partnership – Affiliation of all team members for the common purpose of the group.  Promoting an alliance and relationship where it is a common undertaking for all involved.

Innovation – Not just improvements but novel ideas of discovery to grow.  Advancement to the goal by original ideas that are creative and unique.

Synchronization – Orchestrating the many ideas and people to form a agreement and accord in a harmonious way.

How do you measure up?  Work on reviewing each of these areas to ensure your work teams contribute most effectively to your over business goals.  The often used word of “empowerment” will help bring the individuals together as a team and help allow them to take greater responsibility for their work through ownership.

Could CONFIDENCE be OVER-RATED? John J Arent

The title of this post is a mis-print, right?  No, it is not a typo.  

One of my most popular blogs was one written a few weeks ago on "How to build confidence".  

http://amgtconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/06/9-ways-to-build-confidence.html

Now, just a month or so later, I have done a 180 on it and say that Confidence is over-rated.  Here are my thoughts...

It is that "over the top" disposition that I am describing when I state that confidence is over-rated.  I have always been a devotee of CONFIDENCE and routinely looked for this trait in hiring or mentoring.  Confidence, as a quality has dropped appreciably in my hiring standards and before you agree or disagree, take a moment to read the short post that I put together today.  I would really appreciate any thoughts that you may have on this topic!

Would you enjoy working for a pompous manager?  One who often times is arrogant, pretentious and “full of himself”?   Most people would say no.  They would dread going to work every day being told exactly what to do, how to do it and be under a microscope for everything that they did.  They also would benefit from some ear plugs so they do not have to “listen” to the self assured egomaniac.  In fact, despite the current economy where job loss is abundant, over half of the working public either are dissatisfied with their current company or “hate” their jobs!  So, with that said, why do we seek people who show a tremendous amount of confidence in what they do?  Isn’t it confidence that leads people to be pious, self righteous, snobbish people?  In some ways, it is and my thoughts are that perhaps we need to re-look at “how confident someone is” before we bring them on board.  The worse thing that one could do would be to hire and cultivate a culture of ruthless leadership where people are so insecure that they need to pounce on people.  This said, we obviously want knowledgeable and bright people who decipher through complex problems.  There has to be a fine line between the two.  Here are my thoughts:

It’s been said that only fools are certain of anything.  With this in mind, let’s start here as a preliminary point.  We want to hire good people who can grow.  These people are more receptive to coaching and mentoring issues that help self-development.  There is no one whom I have ever met who knows everything, yet how many times have we run into someone who exhibits no humility whatsoever?  This person always has to be right.  Give me the choice and I will choose the man 100% of the time when they are truly open to exploring new ideas and techniques.  Look for people who are routinely challenging themselves to be better.  An individual who is on the cutting edge of skill sets in their profession and is always seeking ideas to re-invent themselves with newer and better technology.

I believe that there are a number of managers who are reading this right now who have a different viewpoint.  I used to view confidence as a key hiring trait.  I no longer have that view.  I want to make the best hiring decision for the company and the candidate.  I also use the company culture as a key factoring in my decision making process. My #1 priority is for both the company and candidate to prosper.  I also want to ensure myself that I am not hiring a group of people who will ultimately become leaders of my organization who feel that they “know it all”.  This will help to pave the path for a great tomorrow by having people on board who want to develop and grow.  The innovation that top companies encourage can only come from people who feel that they are not "above it all". 

This is a growing challenge in today’s business environment and I wanted to post my thoughts on it.  What are yours?

8 Key Traits of Great Communicators~John J Arent

I am on a communications kick and have researched many traits of Good communicators.  Ronald Reagan was known as the “Great Communicator”.  Other US President’s as well have often been considered extraordinary spokemen including JFK, FDR and Bill Clinton.  Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey and others all have the special ability to captivate us with their communications.  What are those special ingredients when mixed together are able to deliver such fine presentations?  I have listed 8 key traits.  The more that you can master, the greater your impact will be!

Enthusiasm & Excitement

• Figure out what you're truly passionate about and use your passion to communicate to your colleagues.

Motivation

• Be excited about your new product, service, company, or cause but never just the features, you need to let your colleagues know WIIFT….What’s in it for them

Do your Homework!

• Great communicators prepare and rehearse. Very few people in this world have the ability to “go on the fly”.  Practice, practice, practice!

Know your audience

• Who they are?  What is their background or expertise?  How you can help them?

Start strong and end strong

• People always remember how you start…Get your GRABBER out there and a CALL TO ACTION at your finale!

Precision

• No hesitations with verbiage, PAUSE is good, no “you knows, ers, ums, etc…
• Cut out the fluff. 
• PowerPoint bullets to highlight, not read word for word

Energetic Delivery

• Engage, Vary tone, Vary speed and be careful of body language

Be an Authority!

• Eye contact, Hand gestures
• Dress the part
• Always dress one level above your audience

4 Keys to Clarity in Communications~John J Arent

Do you ramble?

Have you ever gotten feedback from an interview where people thought you were just rambling or not being specific about various questions? I have and my original thought was “No Way”.  I have been to countless public speaking seminars and consider myself an expert in communications.  How could they think that I “ramble”?

I decided to revisit my communication modules and see if I fit the “rambling mode”.  In some ways, I was quite terse and to the point but in other situations, I did “ramble”.  Why did this happen…and what do I need to do to fix it?

I strongly believe that the “why” can be answered by one’s experiences.  As you become skilled in a number of areas, you have a tendency to want to share those exposures with your colleagues.  The problem is that one example is not enough and the person begins to share multiple examples from his many experiences.  As this comes out in the communication process, the answer that could have been 10 words becomes 1,000 words…your listener has stopped listening!

In written communications, most business executives are concise and to the point.  Writers generally like to "paint the picture" a bit more and begin to insert extras along the way.  My written communications have always been above average to the point of exemplary.  Recently the more articles that I have written, the more wordy that i have become.  I need to be watchful of this and keep my comments succinct!

Here’s are some of the things that I’m working on and some things that you should watch out for, as well:

Fillers - um… uh…er… you know…  Many of us have a tendency to fill in voids where a pause should be with “non words”.  This can be annoying to your listener and cause you to disengage with your colleague.

Avoid Cliches – The actual definition of a cliché is “useless or meaningless” Stop using them!

Here are some things to keep in mind: The keys to clarity

Here are four tips for communicating clearly and concisely with your colleagues and clients:

• Think about questions that you most likely will be asked. Before you speak or write, "Wordsmith" what you want to communicate. Try writing out your response for a few trials and massage them until you are concise and to the point.
• Do you know what makes your audience tick? . What will they understand? What is their background?  What is their expertise?
• Always be truthful.
• Be concise!  Be succinct! Use as few words as possible to get your meaning across.

That last one sounds crazy. Most people love to express their ideas in as many ways as they can.  Without a doubt,  if you keep finding new ways to express an idea, something will stick, right? Wrong. The more noise you make, the less of it penetrates.