Resolution - Increase Employee Productivity - The Largest Risk in Your Business

In a recent Taleo Research Study, they reported that the largest risk to their company’s bottom line and brand is low employee engagement and productivity. Most companies are asking people to do more with less because companies can no longer afford to have suboptimal performance from any employee.

No one argues the fact that there is a direct correlation between engagement and productivity. The real question is, how do we sustain high levels of productivity on the job while keeping people engaged?

The first step, in an ongoing sustainability process, is to teach the employee to become goal-oriented. All of our Leadership and Management Development Courses are goal-oriented and we teach people how to get results. Performance and productivity enhancement is defined as our desired outcome.

The second step is to align the business goals to talent goals. Executive level management must provide the vision and articulate the strategy. Mid level management must provide a work environment that allows the strategy to be driven while presenting a responsibility, accountability and self-empowerment culture to support this highly engaged workforce.

Our Making of an Effective Manager helps mid-level management get executives and employees on the same boat while keeping it on the straight and narrow path to success. Middle Management is what makes things happen. If they are not trained, they will not understand the value of setting goals, and nor will they know how to get employees to realize they are part of that goal.

It is documented that 85% find linking talent management to corporate goals challenging. The reason for the high percentage is that most people are not goal-oriented and until they learn the competency that will help them get the desired results, they will struggle.

The value from engagement and alignment can pay big dividends for your company’s future. As an owner and/or HR professional, it is your job to drive the process and select the right tools to achieve the desired results.

Call Innovative Leadership now to help you define your plan of action for engagement and alignment at 609.390.2830. Or click here to learn more about The Making of an Effective Manager.

Engage and Align Your Employees with Your Business Strategy

How do you engage and align employees and how do you go about it? Employee engagement is achieved by strengthening and developing the competencies and skill sets of your people coupled with a communication plan to clarify both the business strategy and workplace expectations.

That’s a tall order, you say? Here are 10 steps that can help you improve your employee engagement:

1. Focus on Development of a Communication Plan – this plan of action enables everyone to understand the overall business objectives and how their role and responsibilities relate to the strategy of your business.

2. Focus on Responsibility, Accountability and Self-Empowerment – encourage individual ownership of a project or task, and have each of your employees design a plan of action that will create the willingness by all to be held accountable.

3. Create a Goal and Results-Oriented Culture.

4. Use Appropriate Metrics to Measure Progress – Use a tiered system of goal-orientation both upward and downward toward your businesses goals.

5. Ensure Consistency by Thinking in 3’s – Three goals relative to the company, each department, and each person.

6. Monitor – Review compliance of the goal-oriented process and the results at all levels helps maintain your culture of goals.

7. Identify performance gaps – When a gap is spotted, determining which learning and training initiatives to focus on makes decisions easier.

8. Review Your Performance Management Process – Ensure your process maximizes the use of individual development plans to reinforce the overall goal-orientation plans.

9. Create an Internal Employee Action Marketing Plan – This compliments the achievement of your business strategy.

10. Revisit the Vision, Mission, and Purpose of Your Company - Upgrade if necessary.


It is important that HR Professionals focus on the Five C’s of Engagement to gain alignment. If you focus on the Five C's , you will certainly give your company the “Slight Edge”. In other words, a competitive advantage in this highly competitive global marketplace. It is time to realize that people can make the difference but only if they are totally engaged.


Richard Hohmann
Senior Vice President
Innovative Leadership
Phone: 609.390.2830
Cell: 609.980.0086
rohmann@innovativeleadershipdv.com

Small Business Desired Outcomes

It has always been my philosophy to focus on the desired outcome and then determine a plan of action that will ensure business success in relation to that goal or objective. It is apparent that most businesses do not focus on the desired outcome since the majority of employees are not focused on the strategy of the company.

It is imperative that employers focus on their talent management but which of the talent management areas do we focus on first, hiring and selection, retention, engagement, or development? Forget about all the talent management trends and recommended solutions. Create an employee engagement vehicle that will provide the opportunity for the employee to focus on the strategically developed outcomes.

So, what are the challenges facing your organization in the next year or so? Do the majority of your company or corporate challenges center around revenue generation, systematic cost reduction in operating expense, profitability, customer maintenance, etc.?

Now that we understand the company or corporate challenges and we have formulated a strategy to overcome those challenges to provide the desired outcome in terms of revenue, cost reduction, personnel succession, or profitability, isn’t that when we should provide a talent management assessment.

I find that most HR Professionals either are not asking themselves the following questions or they are not being asked by the executives of their company or corporation to provide answers for those questions.

- “Do our employees feel connected to this strategically developed plan of action?” I would review the process to determine if clearly defined goals were established and how far down the organizational chart have they been presented and understood.

- “Do we have the right people in the right places to allow us to accomplish our goals and objectives moving forward?”

- “Do we have turnover concerns at any or all levels within the organization, particularly the front line?”

- “Do we have any key employees leaving the organization over the next twelve months and what does our succession plan look like with those positions?”

There is a real disconnect. When are companies or corporations going to realize that the strength of their organization is based on the strengths of the individual employee? We have not only lost focus of the desired outcome, we have lost focus on what will allow us to grow and to sustain this growth moving forward. It is the strengths of our people from the latest hire to the most senior officer.

So HR Professionals, what does your executive summary and recommendations for implementation of action plans for the strategic development process look like in terms of providing solutions to turnover, engagement, lack of talent or skills, and providing the employee with the needed resources to do the job?

The People Development and Organizational Effectiveness should start with a plan and this plan should be evaluated periodically using an assessment process that tells the company or corporation how they are doing in terms of engagement, skill development, and encouragement using strengths as a basis for success, and sharing information among peers and management to improve communication and outcomes.

The real problem in my opinion is that HR must take a proactive role in the people development and organizational effectiveness and be willing to be measured for achievement in the areas of turnover, retention, engagement, and achievement. Human Resources must exhibit their leadership skills and take charge of maximizing the effectiveness of their employees to achieve the goals and objectives of the company or corporation. Make sure your talent management processes include middle management particularly if they are the hiring manager. Remember to “eat the elephant in small bites” because when we try to eat the whole elephant in one sitting, we tend to have difficulty swallowing”. Start small and look for significant and meaningful results. Focus on the challenges and the talent needed to meet those challenges.

That’s what business is all about.

10 Business reSolutions for 2010

1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis for 2009 and analyze your sales, operations, people, and financial commitments.
2. Conduct a Customer Satisfaction Survey to define benchmarks in your core competencies
3. Develop a Strategic or Business Plan for 2010.
4. Meet quarterly with your professional advisors (Accounting, Legal, Business Consultant, Financial Planner, etc.) to review progress and determine action plans.
5. Focus your energies on your talented people
6. Complete a course or take a workshop for self-improvement and/or business development
7. Focus on your strengths, the strengths of your people, and your processes.
8. Prioritize your tasks and make sure others do as well.
9. Remember that time management is personal management.
10. Celebrate success; offer praise and recognition to your top producers.

By Richard Hohmann, VP of Innovative Leadership
Business Consulting - Leadership/Management Development, Strategic Planning and more

Evaluate Talent from Day One

Where is Your Focus? on Your People or on Your Process?

In a recent article in the Investor’s Business Daily, Kevin Harlin points out that Employment consulting firms say it is vital to track and nurture promising leadership candidates even though the economy is sluggish. Steve Krupp, partner and leader of the executive talent management practice at Delta Organization & Leadership, asserts that if a company fails to engage and communicate its top performers, they might be inclined to depart.

Rather than focusing on your processes, focus on your people. They are your biggest asset. Remember that turnover can cost you double of just one employee’s salary. A survey from Delta found that most U.S. companies fail to monitor their best performers, even fewer communicate with these employees, and few top executives support such initiatives.

PPG Industries, a global glass, paint, and chemical firm, has been tracking its best employees for about a decade. Roughly 30 percent of workers are regarded as top talent, and just 1 percent is deemed suitable for the CEO position. Identified employees get first priority for training, special projects, and responsibilities. Executives also meet with these employees from time to time at informal settings like breakfast or lunch. Global business software firm SAP provides potential leaders with six-month fellowships in another division, typically in a different location, to ensure that these employees have adequate insight into the company.

The above synopsis of the article that appeared in Investor’s Business Daily demonstrates the need to evaluate talent from the first day of hire in terms of recognizing potential and people development as the priority for any organization. I really question whether companies today are focused on their future leadership and understand the need to develop people’s potential.
Innovative Leadership offers an Assessment Process called the Achiever Series that can assist you with people development and also compliment certain aspects of succession planning, downsizing or transformation.

We are a company that is focused on helping companies develop their potential of their people that will result in organizational effectiveness. Please call us at your convenience to discuss our Assessment Processes that can make the difference in the future of your company at 609.390.2830.

What is Leadership?

• Leadership is being responsible.
• People expect more accountability and transparency from its leaders
• Leaders must be authentic and responsible
• Leaders must be inspire people to accept and implement company strategy
• Leaders consider how their decisions impact society as a whole
• Leaders need to show people how to act responsibly.
• Leaders should adopt missions and visions that espouse social themes and values
• Leaders must combine social responsibility with company goals to help intellectually stimulate others, engaging them in the company’s plan
• Leaders must allow employees to participate in the decision-making process
• Leaders must give employees flexibility by allowing them to choose how to get something done.
• Leadership welcomes being held accountable.
• Leaders empower themselves to get things done.
• Leaders must provide clarity with their workplace expectations
• Leaders must demonstrate why employees need to own any type of change initiative.
• Leaders must teach people how to learn.

Key Business Resolutions for 2009

In these turbulent times, it is imperative that companies optimize their strengths and utilize their resources to provide the customer with quality products and/or services. So here are my recommended resolutions for Businesses:

1. Strengthen your relationship with your client
- Use every possible tool and practice to both touch your clients frequently. Determine what is important to them and show them how you are meeting their expectations.

2. Make a Plan
- Create a plan that is both tactical and strategically. Make sure you include a creative and financially sound marketing plan.

3. Improve communication with your management team and employees
- Focus on your key employees and make sure that they understand the need to improve communication and be accountable for results.

4. Implement cost cutting techniques without sacrificing quality
- Be prepared to budget accordingly in relation to the external and internal factors affecting your highly competitive market.

5. Build a support team
- Lean on your advisory team of professionals to help you formulate a financially focused action plan that offers the metrics to define success.

6. Become goal-oriented
- Create a goal-oriented culture that thrives on achievement.

7. Monitor your progress
- Make sure you create dashboards for you and your management team to monitor the key performance indicators.


Article written by Richard J. Hohmann Jr., Senior Business and Management Consultant for Innovative Leadership, a strategic partner with Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni, & Kelly, PC, and also a member of the Collaboration Team for Leadership Management International. Richard can also speak at your next organization’s meeting, to invite him to speak call 609-390-2830, For your business solutions click here: http:// www.ILDV.org

Public ESM Graduates

Making of an Effective Manager Graduates! Congrats!!In Alphbetic Order: Jerry Barberio, Sakeenah Davis, Nancy Haig, Audrey McCant, Deborah Parker, and Donna Woodlin

Fatal Errors in Business

I was leafing through the business books at my local Borders and came across a title that caught my eye, The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them by Jim Muehlhausen, CPA, JD.(Maxim Communications, 2008).

The first Fatal Error noted was, “Hiring Your Competitor’s Rejects”. The statement reflects the fact that when you hire experienced people, you are really hiring your competitor’s rejects. The author goes on to say that most employees are better at interviewing than they are performing the task. It is important that interviewing be a process not just an instinct or “gut feeling” The candidates ability to fluff up the resume or speak well during an interview should only make the interviewer play up to the competition.

The interview is a process and it consists of several face-to-face sessions, testing, background check, and whatever other features you add to your process. In our management development course, we ask the participants if they would prefer to higher the experienced employee with a defined behavioral style and good technical skills or an inexperienced employee with an attitude that reflects a willingness to achieve and collaborate with the ability to learn at a rapid pace. The response is most often mixed.

Most firms feel that there is a need for improved interviewing skills, a testing methodology for hiring and selection that results in a more effective hiring and selection process. If they feel that way, then why isn’t this going to be in place tomorrow? Because the hiring and selection process is not reflected on the bottom line, whether it is on the Profit and Loss Statement or the Balance Sheet. Most companies feel that their “gut feeling” about employees is so good, why spend the time, energy, and money on developing something we are all so good at. Companies do not realize that it is more important today to hire a person that will compliment the culture of the organization, perform at a high level, align themselves with the strategic goals of the organization, and prioritize their task list. I would like to see all the managers that can provide the “gut feeling” to hire those candidates only.

Less than sixty five percent of our intentions are followed through in terms of implementation. Doesn’t that tell you something about our hiring practices? Isn’t it time you use all the tools at your disposal to create a formal Hiring and Selection Process and leave the “gut feeling” to your competitors.

Manager vs. Man-Eater

I am starting to read articles in which many people have expressed an opinion that due to the tougher economic times, many managers and employees are starting to compete against each other in the work environment in unhealthy ways.

“Survival of the Fittest” has always been nature’s way of adjusting to the changes in the environment. Competition can be healthy or it can be destructive and it is important that the owner or senior management team, including the HR professional, focuses on the depth in which the competition presents itself. From past experience, we know that becoming “leaner and meaner” does mean that advancement opportunities are reduced and the workload per employee usually increases causing more stress in the work environment. Do we need to add a more competitive spirit to the equation or not?

Competition is one method many managers believe that can help individuals achieve their “real” or “true” potential. I am all for helping people reach their potential since most people believe that our capacity today is less than 10%, but competition is good as long as we can see the reason for our effort. Winning a race is a goal…..improving performance should be a goal. Competition may get us to the finish line in much less time than we ever imagined. This is good because we are getting closer to our potential.

What I see in many companies is this atmosphere of “competition” with no real goal defined. This lack of vision or visualization of the determined outcome must be classified as a communication disconnect. What happens too many times is that inappropriate behavior in the workplace becomes more evident as the competitive level rises. This “survival of the fittest” mentality takes hold and all the appropriate behaviors go out the window, like feedback in a timely fashion, recognition for something well done, and other basic collaboration practices.

When will we realize that when workers feel threatened, they usually don’t improve their performance but become disgruntled and belligerent? The worker becomes disengaged, discontented, and leaves the company.

Isn’t it time to focus on how we can better understand the employee by focusing on their behavioral style and communicate the organization’s objectives to them in a manner that is consistent and realistic? People need to hear the truth, understand the strategy of the leaders, and assume responsibility for their actions relative to the plan. They then need to set goals and set out to achieve them while monitoring their progress along the way.

Manager vs. Man-eater

I am starting to read articles in which many people have expressed an opinion that due to the tougher economic times, many managers and employees are starting to compete against each other in the work environment in unhealthy ways.

“Survival of the Fittest” has always been nature’s way of adjusting to the changes in the environment. Competition can be healthy or it can be destructive and it is important that the owner or senior management team, including the HR professional, focus on the depth in which the competition presents itself. From past experience, we know that becoming “leaner and meaner” does mean that advancement opportunities are reduced and the workload per employee usually increases causing more stress in the work environment. Do we need to add a more competitive spirit to the equation or not?

Competition is one method many managers believe that can help individuals achieve their “real” or “true” potential. I am all for helping people reach their potential since most people believe that our capacity today is less than 10%, but competition is good as long as we can see the reason for our effort. Winning a race is a goal…..improving performance should be a goal. Competition may get us to the finish line in much less time than we ever imagined. This is good because we are getting closer to our potential.

What I see in many companies is this atmosphere of “competition” with no real goal defined. This lack of vision or visualization of the determined outcome must be classified as a communication disconnect. What happens too many times is that inappropriate behavior in the workplace becomes more evident as the competitive level rises. This “survival of the fittest” mentality takes hold and all the appropriate behaviors go out the window, like feedback in a timely fashion, recognition for something well done, and other basic collaboration practices.

When will we realize that when workers feel threatened, they usually don’t improve their performance but become disgruntled and belligerent? The worker becomes disengaged, discontented, and leaves the company.

Isn’t it time to focus on how we can better understand the employee by focusing on their behavioral style and communicate the organization’s objectives to them in a manner that is consistent and realistic. People need to hear the truth, understand the strategy of the leaders, and assume responsibility for their actions relative to the plan. They then need to set goals and set out to achieve them while monitoring their progress along the way.

Talent Management Means Competent Leadership

Talent Management is an entity that has been slowly evolving within many corporations. Most corporations list the following practices as part of their overall program:

• High potential employee development
• Leadership Development
• Professional Development
• Succession Planning
• Career Planning
• Learning and Training
• Performance Management
• Competency Management
• Retention
• Employee Engagement

Talent Management should concern itself with competencies. Companies should focus on the competencies that make a difference today and will continue to make a difference tomorrow. It means fitting the “right person” to the “right job” and then measuring their impact on the company’s strategy or goals.

In simplest of terms, Talent Management is people development associated with organizational effectiveness. Most companies do not have a clue about what Talent Management means to them and what competencies will provide sustained growth and success. It is important that they focus on their Strategic Development plan now and don’t wait until it is too late. It will be too late when they do not have the people who are able to learn and perform the roles and responsibilities needed for sustained growth. Do we have the people that can respond to the rapidly changing, highly competitive marketplace?

Most companies have not yet assessed the talent within their organization. How can the learning and training components be applied when you don’t know what is needed to develop the people. People are starting to talk about succession planning only because a lot of key people are leaving the workforce for retirement or alternative careers. I joined a pharmaceutical company in the late sixties and within three weeks, the company has decided that I was a “High Potential”….an HP as we called it back then.

A fast track of combined learning and training programs were laid out before me while at the same time, my performance was monitored as if I was under the microscope. It appears that many companies have strayed away from labeling “high potentials” and providing a program to accelerate their careers within the company. Now, I know some companies have accelerated programs and call these designated potential leaders something, like top producers, achievers, or whatever.

It just seems like the same old story. We have been concerned about this problem for many, many years but we have done nothing to provide a fully integrated set of human resource functions that can be called a people development process. We hesitate to assess anyone or anything because it will cause conflict and we can’t have conflict when we need to retain good talent.

Is Talent Management really meeting the needs of most companies? What are we waiting for? The leadership of our companies must step up and focus on a Strategic Development Plan that includes people, processes, and performance. The integration of those three entities often results in employee engagement, motivation, and success.

Human Resources in many companies is defined as the human capital experts. So, when are these so-called experts going to jump up and down and give their leadership team a real assessment of the culture, the people, and the potential to more forward while sustaining growth and reaching goals? It will probably be when all the Talent has left.

Are You Focusing on Your Dashboard?

I am working with an organization today that is creating a Decision Support Department to integrate all the data and information available to assist in making the “best” decision. Most small businesses and mid-size companies do not have the financial capabilities or available people to create such a department. All companies have the ability to manage data, monitor progress, and formulate benchmarks…..but they don’t or, let me be kind, don’t do it well.

Let’s compare companies to automobiles. All managers and supervisors, no matter what vehicle they are driving, need to glance at the dashboard periodically and it hopefully will reflect some sort of information that will be valuable in determining how the vehicle is performing and assist them in their decision-making processes relative to good car care.
The number of gauges available to you will vary according to your role and responsibilities associated with the vehicle. Some of the managers or supervisors will be driving “Mini-Coopers” while others may be driving “Chevrolet Malibus”. Senior management may drive a “BMW or Audi”, while the CFO and CEO will drive “Mercedes”. Remember, the difference in vehicle relates to the size and sophistication of company they work for while the dashboard enables them to view their performance at any point in time with the vehicle running.

Dashboards (a millennial business buzz word) should be popping up in most businesses because we need to get back into a goal-oriented environment. Competition is hotter than ever, great employees are scarcer than ever, knowledge pools are retiring at a rapid pace, and technology is moving faster than a speeding bullet. In other words, we better have a pulse on the performance of our vehicle to make sure it can handle the long trip or the excessive weight of the trailer. We need to make sure we glance at our gauges every few minutes to make sure we don’t overheat or ruin the engine by not adding oil.

One of the competencies that are needed by the leader of a company today is forward thinking. It relates to the ability to focus on the desired outcome and formulating a plan that can be implemented to achieve that specific outcome. Outcomes are only as good as the metrics you have incorporated in the plan and measured during implementation and define the desired outcome…..in other words, metrics allow us to measure our performance.

There are all kinds of fancy software that can make your vehicle’s dashboard look like a Mercedes. Or, there is a simple screensaver program that allows you to put the Dashboard right on your computer screen. We need to get back to basics. We need to focus on the things that got us here and monitor the things that are going to get us where we want to go. By clearly establishing benchmarks and monitoring our progress by recognizing what we do that makes a difference, we will continue to be highly competitive, profitable, and here for years to come. CEO’s and Business Owners, start your engines and watch your gauge . . .you need everyone in the company to focus on your goals!