Beyond Performance - Leaders Get Results!

I really encourage everyone in a leadership role to read, "Beyond Performance: How Great Organizations Build Ultimate Competitive Advantage" by Colin Price, Scott Keller. Their book focuses on organizational health, which they define as the ability of any organization to align, execute, and renew itself faster than your competitors can. According to the authors, as we work more and socialize less, our sense of meaning and identity is increasingly derived from the workplace. More and more people are looking for that sense of “belonging, which was originally defined by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need.

Job satisfaction in the US has dropped from 61% in 1987 to less than 45% in 2009. Productivity during the same period has increased more slowly than in any fifteen year period since 1950.

As our economies emerge from the recession, the ability to lead and manage organizations in a way that motivates employees to be more productive than ever is extremely important. In other words, the health of any organization must encompass all the human elements required to achieve sustainable success.

The process for organizational health is defined by the authors as the Five A’s;

Avoid Being the Black Cloud of the Office

AND Show Your Positive Side
If your boss had to characterize your attitude, would you be described as a ray of sunshine or a black cloud? Some employees don't realize that they unintentionally project negativity. To become the employee that the boss can't wait to see in the morning, take these steps:

1. Suggest Don't Complain - If you disagree with a new procedure or rule, offer alternatives and solutions not recrimination and a bad attitude
2. Air Problems in Private - Don't challenge your boss in front of co-workers or other managers.
3. Learn To Pick Your Battles - There are times when it's best to keep quiet and do what you are told. Not every battle is worth fighting. Winning can cost you more in the end than the battle was worth.
4. Take Responsibility for Your Mistakes - Show your maturity by admitting when you are wrong.
5. Be a Team Player - Give your boss positive information about co-workers or jobs well done.

- Adapted from "Tips for Communicating Effectively with Your Boss"

The Battle Cry for Employee Engagement

I had read an article written by Chris and Mel Wildermuth, titled the 10 M’s of Employee Engagement (Training and Development, January 2008). The subtitle noted that Workplace Learning and Performance Professionals need to be engagement champions. The article demonstrated 10 M’s of engagement to help create engagement-friendly organizations. It appears that consultants and the management experts have turned this engagement crisis into a movement and should be uttering a battle cry much like “Remember the Alamo”. It seems we are losing the battle of employee engagement and have the American worker is now totally apathetic in their jobs. Also, it appears that we are fighting for our lives to keep engagement strongly entrenched as a core value of any company or organization. It is now our responsibility to make sure that our employees, leaders, and customers are engaged. But wait, hasn’t that been our responsibility for decades?

Whose responsibility is it to do that? Is it the Human Relations or Resources Manager responsibility? OR is it the CEO and the senior executive team that should do that? Like the article noted in the previous paragraph, it starts with an “M” or “MM”, which of course stands for manager or middle manager. The most critical ingredient for employee engagement is the front-line manager. It has been reported that a 5% increase in employee engagement results in a 2.5% increase in growth. In this era of “do more with less”, the employee who freely gives that extra effort if most valued by their manager.

It’s time for HR Professionals to march directly into the C-Suite and state that they need to train and develop their front-line managers and tell them that these people are the most important component of our plan for sustained growth. We must get our managers to connect the dots between strategy, culture, performance, and motivation. These front-line managers are the future leaders of the company and they will make the difference in the future of the company.

We have to allow our front line managers to:

• Be responsible for employee development and talent management


• Be able to challenge the employee’s abilities and teach them the skills to expand their strengths


• Be able to communicate openly providing clarification for the employee


• Be goal-oriented and provide focus on their contribution to the overall success of the organization by coupling the outcome to the strategy

The skills and competencies of the front-line manager will provide the sustained growth and innovation need in this highly competitive marketplace. Communication, forward thinking, prioritization, and other skills must be learned and applied in the workplace by managers if we can expect to improve employee engagement. Employees need a manager who is willing to provide an “open” communication platform that includes feedback in a timely fashion, candid discussion on performance and appropriate behavior, a willingness to clarify expectations and use metrics to measure results, and to include the employee in the awareness and planning stages for the company’s vision.

We have to get away from telling the employee what they have to do, but why the company’s success is so dependent on them performing at the highest level of commitment. Train and motivate the manager, and the employee will be part of the team.

Join us May 19 12-1pm for a Lunch N Learn on Employee Motivation. Registration is free and we provide lunch. More Info.

What Do Workers Need?

We are starting to focus on the “bottom of the barrel”. In the majority of companies, we have not integrated our business strategies into the culture of our workforce and are not challenging people to learn the skills that will enable them to lead our company long after the disappearance of the baby boomers.

Globally, we are struggling to acquire the employees we need. The demand for workers in the emerging markets like China is outpacing the supply of talent in those areas. The exodus of the “boomers” in the US coupled with the downsizing that occurred in the last fifteen years has left us with a void in talent that is now needed to fill key management positions.

We have not developed the talent that will provide the skills that we will need to achieve our business goals. Linking talent to strategy is something that we must focus on now, not in the future. Companies must focus on their best employees and make sure we give them what they want. We can no longer afford to spend the majority of our time bringing up the “bottom of the barrel”. The top performers in most companies want opportunities for personal development, feedback and positive discipline, and the ability to work with a mentor/coach in a non-threatening environment.

We have to re-energize the “boomers” to become the best teachers of experience and get the younger workers to become the teachers of technology so that the end product will be a high achieving workforce. We have focus on changing behaviors and learn to measure the change…..isn’t that what Human Resources all about?

Time For an Attitude Tune-Up

by Richard Hohmann, Vice President of Innovative Leadership www.InnovativeLeadershipdv.com

Spring is the time for an attitude change. Maintaining a positive attitude through the winter months can be difficult. In our leadership courses, we define attitude as “Habits of Thoughts.” A formulated attitude appears as the behavior of the individual performing a particular activity or action that may or may not be productive.

On the surface, attitude is the way you communicate your thoughts to others. A thought is sometimes described as mood and is your mental focus on the outside world. By focusing on things that are appealing to you, you see situations as either opportunities or failures. It is important to realize that attitude is the disposition you transmit to others at home or in the office.

A positive attitude is certainly the most priceless characteristic that one can possess. Positive attitude is the common thread of all leaders and successful business owners. It is important to see things from the inside looking out. By focusing on the positive factors of our environment, it is easier to maintain a positive attitude. We spend over half of our waking hours in the work environment. The workplace becomes a more pleasant environment when employees and managers exhibit a positive attitude. Workplace diversity, whether it is cultural or generational, can be rectified with a positive attitude. This can help communication with each other, even with a language barrier.

Success in the workplace depends on both your technical skills and human relations competencies. Building good workplace relationships must begin with a positive attitude. Everyone must understand that they have the capacity to be positive under any circumstances and the behavior they exhibit in conflict and communication is a direct result of their attitude. A positive attitude triggers enthusiasm in our self and in others. We devote a whole session to enthusiasm in our “Selling Strategies Course,” in regards to the development and maintenance of a positive attitude.

Do not underestimate the value of a positive attitude. It certainly helps generate higher energy and greater creativity. Attitude maintenance is a daily and weekly process that everyone should engage in. No matter how strong we think we are, we need to renew or tune-up our attitude.

For information on Courses and Workshops Available for Leadership and Communication Skills call Rich at 609-390-2830