I'm a manager, I don't need training. Right?

Training for anyone who is new to managing a team is critical. It can be difficult to transition from exclusively being an individual contributor to driving team performance. This often requires very different skills, which perhaps they may not even know what is required of them.

There is a real need in many organizations to help new managers learn to manage their expectations of time management, so that they continue to contribute as individuals, but also are able to lead their teams successfully.

But your managers have been managing for a while now, they don't need training right? More than likely, they do need it.

The Value of Mid-Level Management

I define management as the act of getting people to work together to achieve a common goal. In most organizations, the responsibility and roles of management vary by level and in most, the senior level management is responsible for the overall direction or strategy of the company and the middle level management is responsible for the tactical component that implements the plan developed by the senior level.

Strategic business initiatives and desired outcomes are normally focused on the financial results including shareholder satisfaction. Mid-level managers are responsible for the interlocking functions associated with management like organizing, planning, controlling, coordinating, and commanding. This responsibility also includes the utilization of available resources needed to produce the desired results.

How to Motivate Employees

How will you motivate employees, improve staff retention, increase productivity, and boost morale this year? All of this can be and should be summed up into one word: TRAINING.

Take for example Derek Christian's business, My Maid Service. He had extremely high turnover, two out of three new employees were leaving, which meant a less experienced and productive staff. The quality of work also lacked and it was having a huge impact on his business.

Once training was introduced, there is now virtually no turnover, his employees and customers are happier, which all translates into loyal customers and a bigger bottom line. Read His Full Story

So, what are you going to do this year? You can still give them a box of candy, but we highly suggest you take a serious look at the coming year and how training can help your company tremendously.

Innovative Leadership is a performance improvement company that provides solutions for today's business, small or large, challenges. Unique programs, products and processes all of which can be customized to fit specific needs of your company is what sets us apart.

Communication Process to Drive Growth

Most companies are focused today on driving growth, as I’m sure you are with your business. Many don’t realize that to drive growth you have to start at the beginning with interviewing the candidate and end it with the exit interview or retirement dinner.

Your company needs to focus on hiring the people that will perform better and stay longer. Then, you must identify the high achievers at a very early point in their careers and the retention of these high achievers must be considered paramount to the organization. How do you do this? Employee retention starts with the on-boarding process or orientation. This is best opportunity to start the communication line, explaining the business strategy of the organization and how their role and responsibility provides value to that equation. Communication is the key ingredient for any leadership team to articulate where the company is heading and how they plan to get there. This is the best time to align your employees appropriately but most companies do not spend the time to do such.

The next step in the process is make sure the capabilities of your people can support your company’s strategy and create a competitive advantage; a slight edge as we like to call it. Last but not least, we have to hold our people accountable and in most cases we assign that role to our middle management team. It is their responsibility to structure reporting relationships and evaluate individual performance to ensure the desired business results. They are the ones that execute the strategy.

Companies need to construct a training and development process that enhances communication between the employee and management, improves individual productivity, enhances performance and makes a more effective organization that achieves its revenue goals. Human Resource executives must take responsibility for administering this training process and utilize this process to shorten the learning curve and make employees much more productive and engaged earlier. This will allow companies to achieve sustained growth during these difficult economic times.


Innovative Leadership helps companies connect their people success strategies with their business objectives to drive growth. It's time to get that process into place, we can help.

Employees Want Good Management

A recent poll of the employees demonstrated that the most important thing to people at work is good management (36%). The employee also found that the respect of colleagues was very important (26%). Money, benefits, learning skills, and having fun in the workplace were far behind.

Our company, Innovative Leadership, focuses the majority of our training and development programs on the front line supervisor or manager. The roles and responsibilities of any supervisor or manager have changed over the years and it is important for companies to realize that the middle management of their organization is the real “glue” that holds the company together.

• Management today must learn to focus on the “bigger picture and translate the company’s goals into meaningful steps or action plans.
• Management must make sure the worker today is both engaged and responsive to change
• Management must also learn the legal do’s and don’ts of supervising to avoid legal mistakes that can cost them and their companies financial losses and embarrassment.
• Management must help elevate morale and retain the high achieving worker
• Management must be good decision-makers and problem solvers to enable them to give the proper direction

Management must also provide a leadership focus. Success must be viewed as a journey and it is the responsibility of management today to demonstrate the skill sets and competencies relating to:

• Talent Management
• Strategic Business Development
• Change Management
• Productivity and Performance
• Implementation with measured results
• Leadership Development

It is important to realize that in today’s workplace, 85% of employees are giving a less than average performance. Management’s primary role in the workplace is the development of people by helping them reach their potential. The most important factor in the workplace today is to engage the worker by providing a better understanding and clear definition of the direction of the company and future strategy.

We need to finally realize that strategy plus people equals success and your middle management team is the one that can ensure that the summation of the two is achieved. Our courses and workshops teach mangers the skill-sets and competencies that compliment the foundation elements to leadership and produce the desired results. We do things differently and the outcome is defined upfront. Call now for more information on our Leadership and Management Development Process at 609.390.2830.

Is anyone still listening?

The confidence from the C-suite to the employee is down in most companies. The conversation is focused on cost containment and expense reductions. Budgets again are being slashed and people are being asked to “do more with less”.

Many companies are discarding the talent that took them to the top. Experts today note that Talent Management is more important than ever but it appears to be falling on deaf ears.

Are you listening?

Changes in the economy are often precursors to changes in the ways we do business. Why are we still focused on everything except what we need to do? We need to retain top talent and develop the future talent for our company needs. The ASTD just published a major report titled, “Mission Critical – Keep Learning. This publication demonstrates “How to Communicate the Value of Learning in Difficult Economic Times”. Their publication is calling for all learning professionals to get in involved and make sure they contribute to a successful talent management strategy. The author feels that the ability to get the right people with the right skills into the right jobs in a cost-effective way makes it possible for a company to respond strategically. The publication also goes on to say that the entire organization must make the learning function support the organizations goals. The key decision makers in the organization must see a meaningful relationship between learning initiatives and results. Now there is a thought! Be more effective than just focusing of efficiencies. Isn’t it time to make sure that all programs focused on people development are directly linked to business goals?

Are you still listening?

The next thing is for everyone to realize that our middle management is the “glue that holds the company together”. I just recently read an article in HR Daily Advisor titled, “Top Five Mistakes Leaders Make in Tough Times”. In her opinion, Ellen McDargh,CSP, CPAE, felt that in tough times, leaders become reactive and reactionary, huddle with only the corporate folks, subscribe to the “cut…cut…cut” philosophy, target new clients and customers, and subscribe to the “do more with less”. Middle management is the leader of the majority of the staff. They must focus on being effective and producing the desired results in areas that have been bludgeoned to death by cost containment measures and layoffs.

A recent survey of the American workers demonstrated that “Good Management” is the most important thing that employees want in the workplace. Things that finished far behind “Good Management” included respect of colleagues, money and benefits, learning new skills, and having a fun environment.

Is anyone listening?

We need to make leaders out of every employee but the most important ingredient for business success is the development of the middle manager. Middle management must elevate morale in poor economic times, retain and motivate the high achieving employee, their team is expected to comprehend the “bigger picture” in terms of strategy and recommended plans of action. It is more important for the middle manager to break down the strategy into goals that can be comprehended and implemented by the action of the staff. They need to give direction, monitor performance, discipline the staff, and demonstrate organizational effectiveness by getting results. In addition to all of this, they have to understand that their actions may put them in the same legal liability position as that of their company. That’s quite the responsibility! Shouldn’t they continue to learn how to manage their employees as well as themselves?

I have read article after article on the Benchmarks involved with Human Resources Departments and have not found Mid-level management development as one of the major benchmarks for success. I have heard about the metrics associated with organizational performance, HR service and delivery, employee engagement, voluntary turnover, HR practices, budget management, technology assessment, and more. What is HR and the C-Level doing to continue their company’s success??

Here at Innovative Leadership, we have focused our company on the development of middle level managers and our programs compliment all of the metrics ever associated with a strategically oriented HR Department:

1. Tools that qualify potential management candidates from the date of hire.
2. Training and Development Courses that highlight goal-orientation and business results
3. Provides an organization with the ROI prior to the start of the program
4. Offers a variety of cost effective platforms including online application.
5. Course evaluation processes measure the changes in the behaviors and skill-sets associated with high achieving mid-level managers

We do things differently and our results demonstrate just that. Please tell me just one thing . . . Is anybody still listening?

Key Areas of Focus for Managers

In these turbulent times, it is imperative that management create a plan of action that reflects the Strategic Business Objectives of the company and gets each and every staff member to be engaged in activities that will produce the desired outcomes. Here are my recommended resolutions for managers:

1. Focus on your key clients and make sure you understand the Pareto Principle…..the 80-20 rule that reflects the fact that 20% of your clients provide 80% if your revenue.

2. Improve communication with your staff and make sure that your platforms are effective. Make sure you spend the time for One-on-Ones with all team members.

3. Identify your key employees and make sure their development plan reflects a succession plan for your company.

4. Create Dashboards that reflect the financial implications including revenue generation, operating costs or expenses, and profitability by your area or department. Use Dashboards to make quicker decisions or take actions that are more effective.

5. Focus on your strengths and how you can elevate your performance without dwelling on your weaknesses.

6. Create specific metrics for your department and individual team members

7. Be open to create cultural change in your department and company.

8. Delegate and cross-train to the maximum.

9. Use technology to become more effective, not efficient.

10. Lead by example: exhibit a goal-oriented process at all times.

It's Time to Pay Attention to Personnel

We should never lose sight of the fact that people make a company what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. Also, we should not forget our people in the development and organizational sense as well as the retention situation. Have we taken our people for granted? Like other industries, the employee in the Home Healthcare market does not always feel as passionate as the owner about the mission of the organization, and they may be confused about how they fit in to the organization’s changing future. Many employees are becoming discouraged when they hear or read about the industry’s problems.

In all types of industries, the training and development of the employee is usually ranked first or second by most surveys listing the Top Five Methods to increase employee retention. 73% of all companies provide Leadership Development Programs, with Team Building, and Empowerment Programs. However, in the Home Healthcare Industry, many of the key executives, managers, and supervisors in a Home Health Care company are licensed professionals with extensive clinical backgrounds, but they possess very little in the way of formal management training. Is it like this for your company?

Home Heathlcare example of business: Take orders for products. Process the order after it has met all the qualifications. Deliver product in a timely manner with minimal expense and upon receipt of acknowledgment of delivery, bill the appropriate payer and await the payment that normally takes approximately 85 days or more. Phew!

How many people in your company get involved in any of those above processes? Now is the time to develop both your people and organization simultaneously to improve productivity and profitability through training and education. Leadership starts at the top. The application of this type of training, both philosophical and practical, must be instilled in all managers and supervisors by the executive team. Many companies suffering from the normal industry problems can provide resolutions to such by looking at organizational and personnel development that can lead to enhanced performance with improved productivity. There is no better time than now for the small to medium sized business owner is to start acting like a real leader and develop your people to make your company stronger to handle this highly competitive environment.

Leadership Management Programs are available in presentation, seminar, or spaced- repetition formats. A spaced - repetition program is convenient for most management in the fact that the time required for presentation will allow the manager to miss the least amount of time from the office. It also will provide multi-sensory impact, compliment the classroom activities with audio reinforcement, and allow the participant to complete assignments at home or at work. More importantly, it has been demonstrated that participants completing such programs implement more course techniques into their daily work activities and change many of their current behavioral processes. Almost any program, product, or process can be customized to meet the needs of your company. Every member on your management team should participate in a Leadership Management Program custom designed to compliment your mission, vision, and values. Quality management starts at the top and the best way to demonstrate such is to “lead by example”.

For more information on our management training visit www.ILDV.org or call 609-390-2830.

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

More ESM Graduates

More Graduates of our Making of an Effective Manager course!!
Learn more about our course HERE

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.

Middle Managers are the Implementers

Today, I sat in a management meeting observing the dynamics of the meeting and watching the body language of the participants for an hour and a half. It is important when I am coaching executives that I observe the environments that can make a difference. It became evident that most of the managers in that meeting have not been told how their performance brings value to the organization and as a result they rarely pass on the value message to their employees. Employee appreciation is not new but understanding the value to the organization may be new to some. Concerns about communication, accountability, responsibility, and collaboration were expressed in one form of another by almost everyone around the table. The facilitator was particularly good today with his fairness and recognition of the other manager’s contributions to the overall success of the organization but I left with the feeling that his hands were tied in terms of getting the desired results.

It was important for all of them to realize that communication is a key element in getting people to understand what they can do to contribute to the success of the organization. At this meeting, there could have been more concrete objectives, more story-telling, more real-life examples, etc. but the defined need was to take responsibility for taking action. A commitment to take an action that may change this environment to a more positive experience.

I now know why there is no question why we call them middle managers. Middle management needs to listen to the senior or executive leadership team and while being responsive to the rest of the employees. As we know this listening and implementing position, AKA middle management, has always been the buffer between the top and the bottom. This is why middle management is often called the “glue” that binds the top to the bottom, much like an Oreo cookie.

It is my opinion that middle management is the one component that cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately, companies continue to put these positions in jeopardy when the economic climate turns cold. Middle managers continue to be the implementers of the strategy and policy. Middle managers are the change initiators. If change is not managed well, it has been shown that employee engagement never happens and low morale starts rearing its ugly head. It is my opinion that when external factors become evident and competition gets more aggressive, it is time to focus on the middle management and make sure that we are meeting their needs. Remember, middle management is the layer that attracts, retains, and develops top performers. Let’s not let the normal knee-jerk reaction occur when times get tough. Let’s focus on what we can do to develop our middle management team and allow them to implement the changes needed to satisfy the strategic direction of the company. Let’s give them the tools to do the job right and those tools involve training, career opportunities, feedback and recognition.



Don’t just eliminate the tools that help develop people, like training, education, and incentives.
When looking for training for your middle managers keep these points in mind:
Focus on programs and processes that guarantee results.
Use programs and processes that are time-tested, research-based, and results-oriented.
Use programs that that focus on the adult worker and are designed to change behavior, not just focus on behavior.
Make sure that measuring results is part of the plan.

It is estimated that 20% of all new hires will either rise to the top or fall to the bottom and remaining 60% will be productive and be engaged but only if your middle management team is committed to their success. Their achievement can make the difference with both performance and productivity and it must be acknowledged and recognized by their manager. Providing the tools and career path for people to achieve is what makes the difference between a good employee staying or walking out the door.

Innovative Leadership has a public course, open for enrollment, starting September 17, 2008 from 3-5pm. Click Here for more information

Congrats, MORE GRADS!

Congratulations to the newest "Making of an Effective Manager" graduates. Each grad earned 6.6 continuing educational credits.
Also, available as New Jersey State Nurses Association: 67.1 contact hours,and State of New Jersey Board of Accountancy: 28 CPE. Read more about this course here

Adults Learn Differently

I have been training managers for over thirty years and I still find that most organizations have not realized that adults learn differently than children and for training programs to be successful, we must understand the methods needed to help managers realize their potential growth.

As Lisa Haneberg notes in her new book, “Developing Great Managers”, ASTD-2008, people who facilitate management and development programs must be well versed in management training theory (MTT): She lists the main tenants of MTT as follows:
· Managers are too busy therefore the training must improve their abilities to succeed or it won’t be worth the diversion. In addition, shorter training sessions are easier to fit into a manager’s busy day.
· Managers often suffer from fuzzy priorities, competing priorities, scope creep, and meeting overload. Management training should acknowledge and assist with these challenges
· Many managers feel overwhelmed and stressed. The best management training programs will reduce feelings of stress and being overwhelmed.
· Many managers work well below their capabilities. For managers to try new approaches, they need more training about how to conduct their days and why the techniques are recommended.

Most training programs do not address the basics of adult learning:
· Adult learners cannot be forced to learn
· Adult learners resist forced attendance at training sessions
· Adult learners are invested in their careers and achievements
· Adult learners take responsibility for their progress and appreciate clear, concise feedback on their development
· Adult learners responds well to real-world examples and applications
· Adult learners come to training with a years of developed behaviors, experiences, and knowledge
· Adult learners may be on the defensive when their supervisor recommends training
· Adult learners need to feel that the new information and skills directly relate to their job role and help them achieve their goals

In 1999, Innovative Leadership made a conscientious decision to make sure that all our programs and courses satisfy the basics of adult learning and MTT. We focus on an “application and action” methodology for learning. All of our training has a basic foundation that is research-based or validated by demonstrated results. We find that challenging the status quo is fun, but introducing something for fun is a waste of time and resources. We use a proven process for adult learning and facilitation.

We incorporate video and audio to reinforce the issues or key points of discussion. We find that people learn and retain more if they can “see it”, “feel it”, “taste it, and “smell it”. Many of our videos and audio are usually entertaining in nature but reinforce the research or content needed to be learned.

We also find that the facilitators of any adult training program must make the connection between the new material being introduced and the application of the learned material into the workplace. We tend to differ from the academic community in this regard since we use facilitators that have previous management experience so that this connection can be related to a real workplace environment and not a text book hypothetical.

Our public workshops bring management personnel together from all types of industries and we have found in our post – course evaluations that this small inter-disciplinary group found the open discussion on how the learned material was applied in their workplace environment was just as important as the learned material itself. Sharing the knowledge of how to apply the learned skill and seeing things from a different perspective are certainly two of the most beneficial components of our unique adult learning process.

We realized long ago that people development requires a learning environment where conversation is the key ingredient to adult learning. We focus on creating conversations whereby managers learn about techniques and then tell others how they have applied their learned materials in their work environment. We provide several tools that may help the mangers implement their newly learned information in the workplace and we evaluate and allow them to re-design the tools for a more effective outcome.

Speaking of outcomes; isn’t that what learning is all about? All of our programs are goal-oriented and give the participant the opportunity to set goals that will provide success for them as managers with a system to measure the results. Most workplace environments today are results-oriented so we need to focus our managers on improving their skills to produce a desired outcome, using the tools to implement the application for the learned materials, measuring the results in terms of performance and productivity and measuring the results for sustained growth.

You can choose any training company, program, or material. When you choose a vendor or program, please ask yourself the following questions prior to the selection:

• How does the management training program meet the standards established by MMT and satisfy the basics of Adult Learning?
• Is your management development program goal-oriented?
• What tools does your management training program provide to measure personal growth and development?
• Does your management training program provide a process for implementation or application?
• Is the ROI for your management training program available upfront and how is the success of your management training program measured?
  
  Make sure your management training programs meet those requirements. If they do, you will see enhanced performance and improved productivity from your management team. It is the measured results that make the difference in achievement.

New Training Facility for Innovative Leadership

Innovative Leadership partners up with Cumberland Insurance Group to unveil their newest training facility to accommodate the growing demand for management training, business consulting and coaching in the Cumberland County area. This conference space will enable more clients to take advantage of Innovative Leadership’s unique adult training courses and workshops, as well as their complimentary “Lunch N Learns”. Innovative Leadership is continually looking for ways to improve their services to clients, and this is just one more way they have done so.

Innovative Leadership offers similar programs at their other two conference facilities located in Marmora, and Cherry Hill. This new conference facility is located at The Cumberland Insurance Group complex located at 633 Shiloh Pike, Bridgeton NJ.

Innovative Leadership’s team has over thirty years of experience with Fortune 500 companies, mid-size companies and small businesses. By working with Innovative Leadership, you can increase productivity, enhance employee performance, focus on your strategic initiatives and achieve your desired goals. We have the Tools, You have the People. Visit us on the web for more information www.InnovativeLeadershipDV.com
Or call 609-390-2830.

Chewing Gum and Band-aids

I just received the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey’s Board Council’s on Responsible Government Report – Phase III – Meeting the Challenge: Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Adopting Best Practices”. The publication pointed out the differences between the Private Sector Practices and that of State Government followed by recommendations to the State for improvement by implementing these best practices.

This publication focused on the following: Job Classification Systems, Hiring Practices, Employee Assessment & Pay for Job Performance, Professional Development, Disciplinary policies, Human Resources and Personnel Management.

This is not a political commentary but when hasn’t the private sector had to focus on hiring and selection, retention, performance management and people development. What I questions, is, “How many companies in the Private Sector do anything more than acknowledge the need or focus on the concern?" Most companies today are aware of the employment statistics facing us today and many have moved on to the planning stage and have started to develop Succession Plans, Behavioral Interviewing Scorecard, utilization of an Assessment Process, implementing some type of “three strike rule”, retention of Key Employees or Top Producers, and a Career Management program.

I still would bet that those same companies have not implemented formalized plans or more importantly, designed processes to compliment the needs and focus of the company. Band-aids and chewing gum are being used to cover the gaps created by the “good to great” employees that are bailing something better or we are doing everything in our power to keep the baby boomers from jumping ship. I really feel that this “quick fix” mentality will not hold for long.

We are loosing a talented management pool that we are not training and developing at a speed equal to that of the exodus from the workforce by the baby boomers. We will find ourselves with a inexperienced, non-communicative, non-inspirational management team that can only lead by example because they will not have the skills to move the workforce upward and onward. They will have to be task-masters to gain the knowledge that the exiting management team declined to share.

There is only one Best Practice out there that satisfies the needs of any company in the areas of productivity, performance, and passion. It can eliminate the worry about employee engagement or motivation and it can provide the foundation for performance management. The Best Practice that needs to be embellished by both the private and public sector is to spend the time and money on your middle management. In simplest of terms, train the immediate supervisor because he or she is the one that is going to make the difference in hiring and selection, personnel development, performance management, positive discipline, and more.

The ROI for the training and development of your management team will easily be satisfied when you look at turnover, key employee retention, knowledge sharing, cross training, and behavior in the workplace.

Training is a Waste of Time

This weekend, I opened the latest issues of Training and Development and my eyes were immediately draw to the title “Why most training is Useless”, written by David H. Maister. My initial “gut” reaction was to say, “Oh no, another article that I have to read and prepare a defense for.” As I continued to read, I started to become more in tune with the ideas presented and certainly started leaning toward the author’s point of view.

I have found that most companies expect training to provide a “quick fix” and they utilize the training as an event to “kick-off” a change initiative. This type of thinking will certainly lead to failure if the desired long term effect is a change in behavior or culture. It takes much more than training but when used properly, training can be the most positive factor in the achievement of the initiative.

I have spent the last ten years in the business of training and I find that it is as difficult as ever to get anyone to view training as a process as opposed to an event. The reason we don’t usually see training as part of the process is that we have no strategy or plan to implement the change over time. We expect our trainers to sprinkle “fairy dust” over the participants and almost immediately, their company’s productivity and performance will elevate beyond possibilities.

I have only found a few companies where the leadership had a good understanding and visualization of the outcome resulting from the training. They know “what matters most!” but they aren’t willing to focus on a plan of action and implementation process to achieve the desired outcome. Most companies just ask, “What do you have for team building, conflict resolution, harassment, or what do you have to improve communication? We want to change behaviors and the culture but we don’t know what we want to look like.” We just want to get better and the prescription calls for training.

I find that most training programs do not have any research-driven basis for application and most training does not focus on the application of the knowledge learned versus the amount of information delivered. I can honestly state that most companies that pay good money for training do not see the learned materials being applied in the workplace to help achieve the desired outcome. The key word is application and as the author states, “helping people develop as managers doesn’t mean discussing management or leadership. It means putting people through a set of processes in which they have to experience, try out, and develop their emotional self-control and interactive styles”. I have yet to hear a customer ask me about how programs allow the participant to apply the learned knowledge in the work environment to improve their skills or competencies needed to make them a better manager.

The right approach is to focus on the outcome and then determine the best format to present the knowledge, demonstrate how they can apply the knowledge, and monitor the results whether it is a behavioral or a culture change. Our unique adult learning process is much more effective than event training, yet we have never been asked what format we use to initiate change or focus on desired behaviors. Awareness is an event, planning is an event; implementation requires a process of application and understanding to provide a desired result. The process you choose is the most important ingredient, yet most don’t even care. The learning process you choose can make your training initiative not only immensely powerful, but effective as well. I really find it ironic that most executives are process and results-oriented except when it comes to training. Training is a process that needs to satisfy the needs and desired outcome for any organization or company.

Is your training initiative an event or a process? I bet I know the answer.

Gloom in the Workplace

Generational diversity is a not subject in the HR community and we all realize that in not the too distant future, we will have five generations in the workplace. Leadership IQ, a Washington DC based training company polled over 11,000 employees in the United States and found that all generations expressed some dissatisfaction. Furthermore, they note that the rate of disconnect was almost directly related to age. The older worker was the most satisfied and the younger generations expressed the lowest satisfaction rate.

The survey asked a variety of questions relative to the workplace and the management style being presented today. The title of the article was “Workplace Gloom is Universal” and appeared in the February issues of Training and Development by staff writer, Michael Laff.

We have focused our training and development course, programs, and processes on mid-level management and we also believe that many managers are not learning the intangible skills necessary to manage a staff. Most employees want feedback in a timely fashion and they want to know exactly where they stand if relation to their peers in terms of performance and productivity. Keeping the workforce content is not a priority in most organizations today. Competition, economic conditions, cost of materials and supplies, healthcare benefits and more are keeping us all very “short-sighted” with our employees. It appears that the younger generation craves praise and become frustrated easily. Don’t we all?

People skills have been lost in history. They obviously haven’t been passed down through the generations. It must be because the older generation has accommodated to the “lack of praise” in the workplace and is no longer offering that commodity. When will we realize that we must continue to motivate our employees and keep them engaged in the strategy and development of our company? If we don’t, they will continue to move on until another company does just that. How many jobs do we expect them to have by the time they are thirty five?

We need to start training our managers or that figure will be in double digits.

Innovative Leadership Events Announced

Lunch n' Learn Series:

3/31/2008 - Monday - 12pm-1pm
Location: Marmora, NJ

Subject: DiSC Dimensions of Behavior helps you discover and capitalize on your unique behavioral strengths. DiSC can also help you better respond to the communication needs of other people. What is your Dimension of Behavior? Register



4/28/08 - Monday - 12pm-1pm
Location: Marmora, NJ

Subject: Relationship Selling Register

_______________________________________________________________

Workshops:

Behavioral Interviewing Workshop
4/10/08 - Wednesday - 9a-12p
Location: Marmora, NJ


This workshop provides a step-by-step plan of action to complete the interviewing cycle. You will learn how to excel in an interviewing environment.


- Save time and money by focusing on key performance skills
- Learn questioning techniques that will give you control of the interview
- Improve your retention by hiring right

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Congrats to New "Making of an Effective Manager" Graduates!

"The Making of an Effective Manager" focuses on giving your managers skills necessary to become 'high achieving' managers. Course Curriculum, View Available Classes

1st Row:
Mark Corey, Atlantic County Utilities Authority
Carolyn Conover, Atlantic County Dept of Intergenerational Service
Cindy Smith, Atlantic County Dept of Family Community Development
Terry Petruzzi, Atlantic County Animal Shelter
Karla Guy, Atlantic County Dept of Family Community Development
Audrey Alpheaus, Atlantic County Dept of Family Community Development

2nd Row:
Ryan Broadley Driscoll, Broadley Mechanical Contractors
Clarence Davenport, Atlantic County Dept of Family Community Development
Jeff Monroe, Atlantic County Dept of Human Services
Bob Ellis, Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni, and Kelly CPAs

Not Pictured: John Hurff, Gleeson's Audio Video

"I just completed my last class tonight and I want to thank the ACUA for allowing me to attend this class. This class was spread out over sometime and I feel that this made it more of a learning experience over the time and I highly recommend this class for all the group leaders." - Mark Corey, Group Leader, ACUA