Is there another way to get hired, a better position, opportunity, or make my business grow? by Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky

Posted on May 24, 2012 by DocFred

Of course, there is no easy way, magic bullet, secret, or trick. It just takes stamina, fortitude, and a thick skin when it comes to rejection. But, there are a few things that can make a difference besides networking, rubber chicken dinners, cold dried out scrambled eggs and bacon at breakfasts, using a head hunter, paying someone to write your resume and cover letter, cold calling, or threatening to blow a place up unless they hire you or use your services (the last one was a joke, if you couldn’t tell).

30 second elevator speeches can only get you so far. After all, how many people can you talk to and approach in an elevator or on the street or at Star Bucks before you get arrested as a nutcase or masher?

So how do you get noticed? That’s the question and the answer!

No one will hire you, give you a chance at a better opportunity, or improve your business unless you can offer something they need, get noticed! Or better yet, get them to believe they need it and/or you so they ask you. So where to start?

1-      Why should anyone hire you, give you a better opportunity, or improve your business? You need to figure that out and how to sell it. What can you offer others? What is your competitive edge?

2-      How will others benefit from what you are offering? Why should they change or help you?

3-      Then, how to let people know? The big question.

There are several ways to let people know who you are besides the usual stuff:

A-    Discussion groups on Linked In, FOCUS, Chambers of Commerce websites, a blog, or articles in local newspapers, Twitter, Facebook are great ways to introduce yourself but you need to find a way not to sell to them but get to know you through what you have to say, how you think, showcase yourself in totality.

This is important- trying to get people into discussions on places like LinkedIn or Focus, for example, by asking questions everyone knows the answers to or have been asked a dozen times previously by others just makes you look like a jerk! No one responds. Worse, they wonder if you have any IQ at all. Writing angry pieces doesn’t help at all. Stay positive and relevant.

B-    Try to get on a local cable show or radio show to get yourself introduced and noticed. Try going to a website called “whorepresents.com” to get contact info for people who can help you in this endeavor.

C-    Start your own talk show like I did- my show is Visions of Success Internet Talk Radio and it is featured on the Amazing Women and Men of Power Network, in conjunction with RAVEN International Network. It reaches up to 3.5 million listeners every Friday on the internet and airs twice. I can help you there by getting you in touch with the right people and I won’t charge you a dime for the assistance. Internet talk radio is in its infancy and growing daily.

D-    If you don’t want to start your own talk show on the internet, get on a talk show like mine to introduce yourself. With 3.5 million listeners and growing, someone is bound to get curious about you if you have something to say and/or offer whether you are an entrepreneur (self-employed), under-employed, and unemployed. If no one knows you, you’ll never get anywhere.

What do you think of these additional ideas for success? I’d love your opinion.

Are you self-employed, under-employed, or unemployed and want to try something different?

Check out my website http://www.visionsofsuccessradio.com in its totality (all the pages). Listen to some of my interviews. Schedule a call and let’s talk about your future- https://my.timedriver.com/WBZYQ. It will only cost you some time and effort.

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development, talent management, certified master coach building more effective organizations and individuals. His objective is to work with an organization and/or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 35+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss any of this with a coach who has helped over 750 individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance? Call me, DocFred 510 506 8281 or schedule a call at your convenience: https://my.timedriver.com/WBZYQ or email: fredsimkovsky@yahoo.com

Want to learn more about Docfred?
http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com/meetdocfred.html

Listen to DocFred’s Visions of Success Internet Talk Radio Show
http://www.visionsofsuccessradio.com. Just click on the Programs and/or Programs Archive Page at the website.

Posted in Culture, Performance Excellence, STAR Employees, STAR Organization, Strategic HR, Strategic Learning and Development, Workplace Excellence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why does it take so long to hire new employees with unemployment still over 8%?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by DocFred

I see searches going on for 6-12 months or more even with all the qualified workers out there. Why? I spend a lot of time while doing client consulting working with their recruiting efforts. Unfortunately, corporate recruiting is still in the 20th century for a lot of companies, and it is no one’s fault. It is just the nature of companies and how they do business- slow to change when they believe a process is working even if it is inefficient because they often do not evaluate accurately the cost/benefit of how they are accomplishing a task e.g. recruiting/hiring.

Regardless of the APS and assessments they use today like Success Factors, Lominger, DISC, or other assessments, most all APS and assessments are good but it is the way you use them that makes the difference. I find that managers are taught how to read the systems and assessments but few are taught well how to interpret them and utilize them effectively because they can be really complicated and unless you have a doctorate in management and behavioral science and human behavior, like me, you are in the dark and confused more than enlightened. I spend a lot of time at clients doing training how to use the APS and assessments, they have, effectively and integrate them into their recruiting, hiring and interviewing processes that the vendors did not do effectively (that is to say not all vendors are ineffective but there are enough out there that keep my practice humming).

Why do I wind up doing this re-training for clients? The clients, the real clients- the managers who have to use the applications daily, feel it takes too much time to read, understand, interpret, and use. Many still feel they don’t get it. How do I know? I hear complains all the time at clients from the managers. Why don’t they speak up to their bosses? The company has spent so much time and money for these applications that managers feel the upper management appears to be unapproachable because of the money spent. So companies aren’t getting the most out of these applications. Because the applications are used ineffectively, the companies lose more talent than they hire in their recruiting practices.

I know, executives and managers out there will refute all this because they swear by their processes and assessments but they are going through life with blinders on. How do I know? When I do a real assessment on their ROI on the applications and process they have, I, time and time again, can show them they are losing money not recouping their investment because they are using an outdated turnover calculator and cost/benefit analysis that doesn’t account for all aspects of the employee development cycle.

What are the other challenges for hiring managers?

1- Managers who have to hire are almost never trained in the hiring/interview process. Their companies haven’t realized that recruiting and hiring and candidate interviews are skills you have to learn. There are very, very few naturals out there. I spend a lot of time doing this training for clients. Being on the other side of the hiring/interview desk is a very different experience. One experience doesn’t naturally transfer to the other side of the desk.

2-      Hiring managers still tend to hire people most like themselves because of a lack of training and/or feel more comfortable with people most like themselves, which is a mistake in my opinion. Why? If everyone is like you, there isn’t enough positive conflict to get the creative juices flowing and new ideas implemented. Hiring managers need employees who bring diversity of thoughts, creativity, and innovation. They should not be hiring just to manage another person by hand holding or controlling which happens when you are just filling slots and not hiring real talent better than yourself! The new blood has objectivity by not having a vested interest in the status-quo and that makes for genius and excellence. A lot of skills today are transferable. Exact industry experience, a lot of times, hampers objectivity, creativity, and innovation. Instead of saying- that can’t be done here – new, fresh ideas beg the question-why not?

3- Those who are over-qualified and don’t get hired: what does that mean?

  1. The hiring manager doesn’t want to pay you what you are truly worth because they haven’t figured out that if you can save them or make them $1 million, a salary of 90-100K is peanuts. This person would be working for nothing even if you had to pay them another 15-20K for relocation. They use salary range as an excuse and limit hiring real talent instead of fighting for a more appropriate salary range for really talented candidates.
  2. They are filling slots and not hiring talent. An SVP at one of my town hall meetings, at a company I worked at, once said, “We must begin hiring talent and then find the right slots for them or our company will stagnate and we shall lose our competitive edge”. He knew what he was talking about! He only hired talent, found places for them, and was one of the most successful SVPs I ever worked with.
  3. The hiring manager is threatened by someone as bright as themselves or of a higher caliber and they might take their job. They haven’t figured out that you always hire people better and/or more qualified than yourself because they will make you look good. You, as the hiring manager, will get the recognition. Hiring managers who suffer from this malady lack self-confidence. I coach a lot of these people to understand what holds them back and how to gain self-confidence.

The real joke about this last one is that they will hire a consultant which they believe more qualified than themselves and pay thousands in fees (more expensive in the long run) rather than hiring the candidate that they say is over-qualified. I don’t get it! They are not threatened by the consultant but are threatened by an employee they hired. HUH?

4- Those who are under-qualified or don’t have the right industry experience: what does that mean?

  1. The hiring manager has a false idea of what the ideal candidate’s qualifications should be. They want the candidate to have everything possible but the candidate shouldn’t ask for much money. Guess what? These people really don’t exist but they keep looking for Mr. or Ms Ideal. Good Luck to that. These managers hire on the “WOW” Principle. If you “WOW” me, you’re hired. These WOWers usually peter out in the first 90 days and lose their luster.
  2. Or, they don’t know what they are looking for because they haven’t really figured out what they need because they are using some job description from 5 years ago which hasn’t been updated since and they are just trying to fill an empty slot because if they don’t fill it, they lose a position, or they don’t have a job description at all. I do a lot of training and re-training on how to do Smarter Recruiting to solve this challenge.
  3. c. Or, they insist the candidate must have specific industry experience which is valid if you are a welder to do welding, an engineer to build a machine but if you have human resources experience, as an example, people are people no matter the company or industry. No matter the industry, people want to know:
  4. i. They are appreciated
  5. ii. They are recognized for their contribution
  6. iii. Their contributions are valuable
  7. iv. They want to make a difference and be utilized to their best abilities and skills

All this transcends industry! But hiring managers, at all levels, cling to the idea, for example, that you don’t know how nurses or doctors act or what training they need if you haven’t worked in a hospital. That is true if you are hiring a trainer for technical training but if you hiring someone for, let’s say, leadership development- leadership development is the same no matter the industry and I’ll argue that point with anyone!

5- The last I want to touch upon is those who are “more experienced”- a euphemism for candidates over 50 and too old. The worse kind of stereotyping. The argument is that they will only stay a little while or they are difficult to handle or relate to because of their age, they want more money than you want to pay.  Or, worse yet, we more experienced people are just grumpy curmudgeons that grouse all the time and take too long to think and respond to challenges or can’t talk to the younger generations. They want your expertise and experience but don’t want to pay you or pay for benefits that are more costly for “more experienced” employees. For this group of candidates, all the above reasons for poor recruiting apply in this article. They are the most discriminated against, besides minorities, and the hardest to prosecute for discrimination because they are discriminating for age bias but it is under the guise of all of the above reasons for not hiring.

Now I know a lot of executives and hiring managers and/or companies won’t agree with any of this. But over the past 5 years, having spoken to so many recruiters, internally and externally, from companies, they all agree and are frustrated with this old process that is not working as well as it could. They are frustrated that they bring well-qualified talent to the table only to be rejected for some of the worse excuses you can imagine.

Let me give you an example:

About 6 months ago, a recruiter, I know, asked an individual to apply for a position with a company he felt that person was thoroughly qualified for, in fact the perfect candidate with the perfect resume having everything the hiring manager wanted and needed. The hiring manager came back to him, angry (probably having a bad day) and said the person’s resume was the worst resume she ever saw. He asked why. She couldn’t or wouldn’t respond but had the recruiter removed from account for arguing with her even after trying to discuss her objections and why she felt the resume and credentials were so bad. He later found out she was fighting for her job and was afraid if she hired such a qualified individual, she’d lose her job. My answer to that is HUH? Talk about a lack of self-confidence. She needed to read this article and my coaching really bad!

What are your thoughts about recruiting, hiring, and candidate interviewing in the 21st Century? Does any of this make any sense? What are your experiences?

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development, talent management, certified master coach building more effective organizations and individuals. His objective is to work with an organization and/or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 35+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss any of this with a coach who has helped companies and individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance? Call me, DocFred 510 506 8281 or schedule a call at your convenience: https://my.timedriver.com/WBZYQ or email: fredsimkovsky@yahoo.com

Want to learn more about Docfred?
http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com/meetdocfred.html

Listen to DocFred’s Visions of Success Internet Talk Radio Show
http://www.visionsofsuccessradio.com. Just click on the Programs and/or Programs Archive Page at the website.

 

Posted in Culture, Performance Excellence, STAR Employees, STAR Organization, Strategic HR, Strategic Learning and Development, Workplace Excellence | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Why do People Misuse Social Media? by Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky

Posted on April 10, 2012 by DocFred

In my last blog article I talked about Communication is the key to relationships. I want to expand on that article to talk about why people feel they have a right to misuse social media, our latest tool of communication.

Social Media has definitely added to our tools to communicate. We can reach more people from different walks of life all at once. But to a certain extent it is done anonymously. People use “handles” so others don’t really know who they are or at least try to hide behind a cloak of anonymity. Why?

Like anonymous email and not being face-to-face, people feel less threaten so they think they can say anything they want without consequences. Let me give you an example; my ISP give users the ability to post comments on all news items. People usually post anonymously or using “handles”. They not only say the most outrageous things but slam one another using some of the foulest language, epithets, and statements. They feel no one can touch them so they act out, if you will. Why do people take advantage like that?

1-      There are a lot of angry people out there in cyberspace. They are frustrated with their lives, their situations, etc and feel they have a 1st Amendment right to say anything they feel like it and if you don’t like it, you know where you can go. They don’t care who they might be hurting or what riot they might be inciting.

2-      Then there are the unhappy, depressed people who want people to feel sorry for them and try to make us feel guilty. That’s the way they can get attention. If you can’t get positive attention, you look for negative attention. My five year old grand kids even understand that.

3-      Then there are the know-it-alls. These people know everything and the rest of us are stupid. They shout us down so they can feel superior.

4-      Then there are the passive manipulators who feel by making us feel guilty or afraid they somehow can control the rest of us.

The facts are these people win when we respond in any shape or form. If we would ignore them, they’d eventually go away because they couldn’t get a rise out of anyone. That’s why we have the freedom to use Social Media in a positive way for everyone’s benefit. When you feel you must respond in kind, they have won!

So what is there to do about this growing problem?

1-      Be more careful as to what Social Media tools you are using and how you are using them. Using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and there are several others, are fine but limit access to the types of people you are interchanging communication with.

2-      Limit how much information they can get about you.

3-      Don’t respond to negative individuals but do report them. Just about every Social Media tool has a reporting mechanism. Learn how to use them.

4-      If you are going to report someone, be sure they are the negative ones and you are not just viewing them from your own negative perspective. Try to be as objective as possible. If you are not sure, ask a friend or family member to assist you in determining who the real problem is.

5-      Don’t use Social Media when you are angry! Anger is contagious and you’ll spread it as much as you will contract it. Yes speak out for injustice but be sure you are doing it objectively and not in a bias, stereotypical response. Don’t become the origin of negative feelings or words. WORDS STAB AS SURE AS A KNIFE AND THEY DO CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE. That’s why that movie about bullying is so important for all to see!

6-      Do be positive always when using Social Media and you will be rewarded in many, many ways.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development, talent management, learning consultant building more effective organizations through true employee engagement and leadership development. His objective is to work with an organization or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 35+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss this with a coach who has helped over 750 individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance? Call me, DocFred 510 506 8281 or visit:

http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com

NOTE: To leave a comment, at the top of this page, to the right of the date, click on the # for comments. Then go to the bottom of the refreshed screen to leave your comment.

 

Posted in Culture, Performance Excellence, STAR Employees, STAR Organization, Strategic HR, Strategic Learning and Development, Workplace Excellence | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The State of Job Hunting and Recruiting in our economic times by Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky

Posted on March 4, 2012 by DocFred

I have been doing independent consulting for 3 years now but get tired of spending the major part of my time developing business instead of doing the work I love and have a passion for; executive and employee coaching, organizational development, and training. So every now and then I look at and for opportunities on the market.

I now know why most people are unemployed for so long. You are either over qualified or under qualified because of salary not because of skills, talent, ability, or experience. Recruiters, both internal and external, spend a lot of time focusing on salary levels because that is what the hiring managers are focused on and not what people are passionate about, excellent at, or enjoy doing. They focus on the old adage, “If you accept a job for lower pay or position, you won’t stay”. Oh, really? If someone is unemployed for 1, 2, 3 years or more, they will stay at the job they can get especially in these economic times. If they believe they are getting a fair wage and the company is engaging and out for the benefit of their employees as well as their customers, the people stay, especially in this economy.

I hear all the time, from employers and recruiters, “We can’t find the right people.” That’s ridiculous. We (the royal “We”) are out here but recruiters are doing recruiting the same old way for decades because that’s what the hiring managers want. Look for buzz words on resumes, check salary people are asking for and eliminating candidates without speaking with them to find out what they are really looking for; what are their passions, what are their goals? Why is this job good for you? Why do you want it? Hiring managers say they are looking for talent but I find most don’t really have a clear picture of what they are looking for or want tons of talent, skills, and experience for cheap dollars. You can’t have it both ways! That’s why jobs and people go begging.

When I was at SAP Labs, a VP at a town hall meeting said this, “Let’s focus on hiring talent first then let’s think about where to place them in our organization.” The only one who knew what it is all about!

Unemployed people are frustrated because they only want a place to ply their passions, skills, and talent. The really successful companies realize it is about true employee engagement and not salaries alone. Every survey shows what employees really care about in this order, most times:

  1. Being appreciated
  2. Being valued and used to the best of their abilities
  3. Given opportunities for development and advancement

Salary comes in 4th, 5th, sometimes even 6th in this order. Employees care about their work, employers care only about dollars. At least that’s what people believe. The companies that recognize the order above are thriving. Those who are still doing business like it was the 70s are struggling while good, talented people are still unemployed.

What do you think? I’d love to know.

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development/learning consultant, certified master coach, Winslow Profiles Assessment and Workplace Stars Org 360 Consultant building more effective organizations through building Stewardship (listening to the market), Engagement (listening to employees), and Service (listening to your customers). His objective is to work with an organization and/or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 35+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss this with a coach who has helped over 750 individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance? Call me, DocFred 510 506 8281 or schedule a call: https://my.timedriver.com/WBZYQ or
email: fredsimkovsky@yahoo.com
http://www.workplacestars.com/lcbc
http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com
http://www.vissionsofsuccessradio.com
http://www.profithunters.biz/fred-simkovsky

NOTE: To leave a comment, at the top of this page, to the right of the date, click on the # for comments. Then go to the bottom of the refreshed screen to leave your comment.

Posted in Culture, Performance Excellence, STAR Employees, STAR Organization, Strategic HR, Strategic Learning and Development, Workplace Excellence | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are all Hiring Managers Lame? By Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky

Posted on February 1, 2012 by DocFred

That’s a question I was recently asked by one of my client’s I coach. After he was done venting about how he thought the interview went well but the recruiter after numerous check-backs finally said they found someone else more qualified. I said this-

1-      Most hiring managers, while excellent at their jobs, very few have ever been taught how to deliver a professional, quality hiring interview. It’s not their fault. It’s the companies they work for just don’t think of teaching that skill until they get a discrimination lawsuit.

2-      Most hiring managers, when they have an open requisition, just get a job description dump and use that for a job advertisement. Most job descriptions don’t ever state what the hiring manager is actually looking for and the hiring manager doesn’t do a good job of making sure the recruiter really understands what they are looking for.

Finally, I said, it’s all about the ability to communication and exchange expectations by the hiring manager, recruiter, and the candidate. I further referred the client to my quickie presentation on my website -Smarter Recruiting and Effective Candidate Interviewing (http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com/SmartRecuit.swf) where he could get more insight into what the process should be.

What are your thoughts about this client’s dilemma?

To add a little bit more: I also mentioned to the client that hiring managers tend to hire those they believe are most a reflection of themselves. Sometimes, the hiring manager does not have a clear, objective picture of themselves but an idealized one. That’s hard to overcome. I also mentioned that many times it’s just a matter of chemistry and sometimes it’s just not there. I mentioned that he, the client, needed also to make sure they were hitting the high points of what he believed they were looking for and to ask pertinent questions to dig out the info he needed to make the interview more successful. Finally I suggested before he goes on his next job interview to call me and we’ll role play to help him. The hiring interview is a two way street and I believe no one has a good understanding of all the aspects of it. everyone, hiring managers, recruiters, and candidates all need to be more open to exchanging expectations objectively and honestly without being cruel (as Elvis said).

Again, what do you think?

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development/learning consultant, certified master coach, certified Winslow (Assessments) Business Consultant, and WorkplaceStars Licensee building more effective organizations through true employee engagement and leadership development. His objective is to work with an organization and/or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 35+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss this with a coach who has helped over 750 individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance. Call me, DocFred 805 306 1485, ext 5 or 510 506 8281.

http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com, http://www.visionsofsuccessradio.com

NOTE: To leave a comment, at the top of this page, to the right of the date, click on the # for comments. Then go to the bottom of the refreshed screen to leave your comment.

 

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Culture Drives Performance Excellence

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bob Ebers Founder

Culture, like the air you breathe, is difficult to get your arms around lever of high performance and workplace engagement. Other commonly recognized performance excellence levers appear easy to move in comparison. Got bad managers? Fire the worst; then train—and reward—the remaining managers for behaviors that engage. Experiencing a disconnect on the branding front? Enlist the training department to lead a learning program to skill-up the workforce.

But culture? It’s amorphous and intangible. Not long ago, biologists were the only ones creating it — in Petri dishes. Organizational development experts studied it, and there were a few maverick businesspeople, like Hal Rosenbluth, chairman and CEO of Rosenbluth International and Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, who credited culture as the secret to their firm’s success. Most businesspeople dismissed it as soft HR stuff — until leaders like Hal Rosenbluth and Herb Kelleher started getting attention for the successes they enjoyed, especially in adverse economic times. Organizational culture is far from fluff. It’s potentially the most powerful performance excellence tool at your disposal. If you get culture right, it provides a foundation for high performance and workplace engagement that can sustain your workforce through good times and bad. That’s because your culture, like the air you breathe, touches all employees. Culture is not an engagement program portioned out to a select group of managers, or a workplace perk that drives high employee survey scores but can succumb to budget cuts when times get tough. Culture is there whether you have deliberately shaped it or not. It makes good business sense to make sure your culture is working for you — to drive high performance and workplace engagement.

Posted in Culture, Performance Excellence, Strategic HR | Leave a comment

How HR and L&D Be an Effective Business Partner

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Bob Ebers Founder

The simple answer is by linking your HR and L&D work directly to business success.

From a strategic (not tactical) HR and L&D perspective you must start by linking your focus and results to key business strategies and drivers of business success:

Key Business Strategies
Optimize Profitability – Intense price competition for materials and services, more sophisticated customers and less predictability all require a new approach to sustained profitability.

Drive Revenue – A changing customer base and new markets and fierce competition require an organization to focus on driving revenues.

Improve Productivity – Competing in a mature market with intense competition require an organization to focus on overstretched/lack of investment in employees, employee motivation/engagement, performance tracking/ management, rewards and recognition programs.

Increase Efficiency – A mature or declining market require an organization to seek operation and human resource efficiencies and economies of scale from access to more customers and markets to increasing efficiency it its supply chain.

Manage Change – All companies face with challenge of change to achieve or sustain success. To succeed requires orchestrating the collective actions on the human side of the organization — the alignment of the company’s culture, values, people, and behaviors — to achieve the desired results.

Drivers of Business Success
Quality - The customer’s perception and evaluation of product or service dimensions (e.g., reliability, responsiveness, assurance) to consistently satisfy their need.

Cost – Being effective without wasting time, effort or expense.

Speed – Rapid response can include responsiveness to customer, product development cycles, product or service improvements, speed in delivery or distribution or information sharing and technology.

Revenue – Revenue growth is achieved though an intense focus on customer needs, servicing them and by the messages everyone in the organization gives to customers.

We have a tool call the ORG360 which is links organization behaviors and practices to these strategies and drivers from which HR strategy and a learning curriculum can be derived that strongly links to the success of the organization, without guessing.

Posted in Strategic HR, Strategic Learning and Development | Leave a comment

How Important are Employee Mindsets?

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Bob Ebers Founder

Employee “mindsets” are of critical importance and need to be measured.

Business owners and leaders agonized over questions like: Do I have the right people to get us to the next level? How can I get everyone to personally understand how they contribute to success? How can I get more people taking ownership, and going beyond what’s expected for our customers? How do I get everyone to understand where we are going? And get there as a team with less struggle?

Many answers can be found by examining your organization’s performance culture “mindset”—practices that shape it—everyday behaviors that cost or make profit. More success will come from embracing proven practices known to attract talent and provide your people with the information, training and leadership to begin thinking and acting more like an “owner.” Owners become accountable for impacting profits. They measure performance as a guide to improving it, and take action to execute ideas. Owner mindsets are key to pursuing a culture of service and operational excellence leading to improved profitability.

We’ve identified three employee mindsets within modern organizations:
Owners—passionately care about and work
for the success of your organization; are
generally profitable.
Renters—indifferent about the success of
the organization; are usually breakeven.
Visitors—resistant or negative about the future
of the organization; are generally unprofitable.

What do you say?

Posted in STAR Employees, STAR Organization, Workplace Excellence | Leave a comment

What is True Leadership? By Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky

Posted on January 10, 2012 by DocFred

What is true leadership? You can give the same old tired definitions:

  • The Easy Answer: leadership is getting people to do things they have never thought of doing, do not believe are possible or that they do not want to do.
  • The Leadership in Organizations Answer: leadership is the action of committing employees to contribute their best to the purpose of the organization.
  • The Complex (and more accurate) answer: you only know leadership by its consequences (results) – from the fact that individuals or a group of people start to behave in a particular way as result of the actions of someone else.

But I believe all these definitions are true in one form or the other, but they don’t tell the real story and give the kind of results we want.

True Leadership begins with:

1-      The premise and understanding that:

  1. Everyone wants to make a difference in this world
  2. Everyone want to know their contribution is valued
  3. Everyone wants to know they are appreciated

2-      Next, a true leader helps individuals to attain those wants above. How?

A true leader sits down with each individual and/or group and wants to find out and understand: where are they today, where do they want to be tomorrow and six months from now, and where do they want to be 2-5 years down the road.

Next, a true leader wants to know what the individual/group expects of him/her. How will the leader assist the individual/group to success? It is not about what the leader expects of the individual/group at first. Remember, it’s about our premise. It’s about the individual, the group. It’s about expectations in the long run.

Next, a true leader draws up plans with the individual/group to lay out the Vision of Success and how it will be attained. When this occurs, this is the time the leader shares with the individual/group what the leader’s expectations are of the individual/group and how will they mesh, fit into each other. Why?

A-    It is first and foremost about the individual/group

B-     Second it’s about the individual’s/group’s Vision of Success

C-     Third, the total sharing of expectations now comes when everyone understands the route to success and how each contributes to the attainment of success

D-    Fourth, now it becomes how the individual’s/group’s contribution will add to the whole. How it will be valued and appreciated

E-     When this occurs, the individual/group takes the necessary responsibility, authority, and accountability needed to make things happen. Why? They are in at the beginning, have their say and feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves.

That’s when a true leader excels. Not because they changed anyone’s behavior but gave people the opportunity to use their talents, abilities, and skills to the best of their ability. It’s not about changing people. It’s about motivating people! It’s about getting people to use what they possess to peak performance.

John F. Kennedy is recognized by the entire world as a great leader. Why? He understood these concepts above. When he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!” sums it all up. He understood the 3 important premises:

  1. Everyone wants to make a difference in this world
  2. Everyone want to know their contribution is valued
  3. Everyone wants to know they are appreciated

He understood that people want to know they accomplished something in their lives that is recognized by all. It’s as simple and as complex as that.

You don’t have to be in the lead, up front, to be a leader. Some of the greatest leaders led from behind! Think about it.

About Dr. Fred (DocFred) Simkovsky…

DocFred is an accomplished organizational development/learning consultant, certified master coach, and speech mastery trainer, certified Winslow (Assessments) Business Consultant & Certified Workplace STARS Organization 360 Consultant building more effective organizations through true employee engagement and leadership development. His objective is to work with an organization or individuals that truly understand the concept and value of Visions of Success. Visions of Success fosters that each individual contributes their talents, abilities, and skills to a shared achievement of peak performance where everyone benefits for the whole. DocFred has a dynamic 25+ years of experience in multi-disciplinary environments both nationally and internationally.

Want to discuss this with a coach who has helped over 750 individuals in 6 countries in the last 10 years to reach their peak performance. Call me, DocFred 805 306 1485, ext 5 or 510 506 8281.

http://www.lifecareerbusinesscoach.com, http://www.visionsofsuccessradio.com

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Workplace engagement: Formal vs Informal channels

Posted on May 5, 2011 by MrProductivity

Organisations speak, quite rightly, about how their people are their most precious resource.  Some even write about it in their formal publications.

Their senior managers worry about how they can fit their ‘People management and team leadership’ responsibilities into calendars that are already crammed with conflicting priorities.

Their HR Department and Change Management project leads nod sagely and speak eloquently about the need to bring their people along with them on the journey, the need to engage their people more fully in the purpose of the enterprise.

Truth is – most organisations seem to understand how important employee engagement is but don’t seem to understand how to create workplace excellence through employee engagement.  Many see it as another project or initiative that would be ‘Nice to do’ but can’t be shoehorned in to the schedule right now. For many it remains an aspiration rather than a reality.

Of course, there are some Star Workplaces that shine as beacons of excellence in the business landscape.

Now, I don’t claim for one moment to have all the answers, and this post is not the place to go into yet another white paper on the subject. I do, however, know a little and work with a lot of clients who are well ahead of the curve on employee engagement.

So, with this in mind, here are just 2 things that I have noticed that Star workplaces with high ratings for employee engagement and satisfaction have in common – no matter how big or small they are as a business unit.

1: Engagement is built into the DNA of the business. It is not ‘Something else we do to/for our employees’; it is rather ‘How we do things through our employees’. BIG difference!

Examples include:
In a 60 person advertising agency client: The main reception desk area is decorated with the paraphernalia of recent charity fund raising endeavours by the staff. Muddy bicycles hung on the wall, sweaty t-shirts and photos of red, puffy, sweaty smiling faces….. all arranged by the staff themselves. It speaks volumes about the quality of the people in the business.

In a multi-million dollar corporate client: ALL the managers are expected to schedule, protect and demonstrate precious time in their crowded calendars for direct report coaching, mentoring and development – and their people rate them on the support they provide throughout the year. Compare that with the multitude of organisations where managers reschedule then rush through one appraisal meeting a year.

2: Management understands and facilitates the informal communication channels that their people use to facilitate teamworking and knowledge sharing within an often matrix-managed and distributed workforce.

I know of many examples where these ‘back-channels’ are not seen as subversive but as highly facilitative. Examples where the senior team invests resource into measuring and strengthening these ‘social media’ type collaborative platforms rather than insist that the rigid corporate information management systems be enforced.

These are but 2 overarching examples. I hope they provide food for thought if not for contribution here.

Richard Maybury, Mr Productivity
Regional Director Priority Management
www.richardmaybury.co.uk

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