Workplace Motivation: What Gets People Enthusiastic?

Lack of employee engagement is a serious problem in today's workplace, as many employees "go through the motions". This leads to expensive employee turnover, with associated costs that we all pay for in terms of employee recruitment and training. These are added to the costs of the products and services we purchase. In addition, lack of employee engagement could lead to increased costs for legal and safety issues.

Here is a fascinating article describing 7 studies on employee engagement. The conclusions show simple techniques that most managers should be able to use - if they know about them. Read the article at  http://blog.ted.com/2013/04/10/what-motivates-us-at-work-7-fascinating-studies-that-give-insights/

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in verbal skills, including communication strategies for leadership development. We also offer an e-book on this topic, packed with tips on 18 critical leadership communication skills,  for inclusion in leadership development curriculi.

Multi-tasking and the Non-verbal Message

The supervisor typed busily away on his computer, while his employee, who had an appointment with him,waited uneasily for him to look up. "Go ahead, I'm multi-tasking," encouraged the supervisor. The employee thought, "I even made an appointment with him, but he doesn't care  enough to give me his full attention."

Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you feel when someone did not look at you and give you his full attention?

Many research studies have shown that multi-tasking is an ineffective way to accomplish your work. One study at Stanford by Clifford Nass shows that you may be 40% less effective when you multi-task. That does not even count the impact on others when you multi-task instead of giving them your full attention.

One leadership project had corporate leaders deliberately give others their full attention during meetings. They reported people were impressed enough to mention this to their peers.

Great speech makes business sense. Learn  18 crucial communication skills leaders need to be effective in their organizations, from the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies!

This is the e-book you'll wish your boss had read. Get it today!

What is the job of a leader?

                         What is the job of a leader?  

New Year's is a traditional time to reflect. As I begin another year of leadership, I am trying to define what the job of a leader is, and how I can do it even more effectively.
According to Max DePree, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. " Theodore Roosevelt put it another way, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

Leadership to me is developing a plan for the future, selecting motivated people, coordinating and cheering on the team of workers, providing resources if needed, and staying out of the way while the workers figure out how to do their jobs.

What do you think are the 5 most important jobs of a leader?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized training in verbal communication skills. This includes executive communication skills.

Modeling: How to Increase Positive Behaviors in Business (and Life)

To see today's blog posting, go to our new site, www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/more/blog.

Modeling: How to Increase Positive Behaviors in Business (and in Life)
What behaviors would you like to see more of in your organization? For example, when was the last time your boss sent you a written compliment or thank you note? Never? How do you think it would have made you feel if he had? When was the last time he gave you a sincere, specific compliment about your work? You can't remember that either? Ouch! It's time to change that - even if you are at the bottom of the career ladder.
Picture yourself in a large parking lot, trying to make a right turn into the flow of traffic. Finally someone nice lets you into the line. If you (very carefully) look back a minute later, you are likely to see the car behind your nice "savior" is also letting someone into the line, and the pattern will repeat a few times.
In another example, you're at the checkout line in a crowded supermarket. You enthusiastically (and slightly loudly)  thank the cashier and bagger for doing such a careful job with your groceries. The next person in line is also likely to thank them. Imagine how great they will feel after this! Think also about the impact on their work behavior, and on their desire to stay in that job.
That's the power of modeling, of one person taking the time to demonstrate the positive behavior for others. All it takes is you complimenting someone else, for example.
If you are at the bottom of the career ladder, give a specific verbal compliment. (For example,
When you clean a floor here, it really shines! Thanks for your hard work!)
 If you are a manager, take a few minutes each day to write some brief and specific thank you notes. (For example, That report you wrote on the X Project was excellent! You clearly put a lot of time and effort into it, and made some excellent points I had not considered. Thank you for being such a valued member of our team!)
People work for more than money; they want recognition of their efforts as well.
In 2014, make a resolution to give at least one enthusiastic compliment a day. It's easy, it's free - and it has tremendous benefits.
Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in executive communication skills. We also offer a valuable e-book, Executive Communication Strategies, on 18 vital verbal skills for leaders. It's the e-book you'll wish your boss had read!

9 Easy Ways to Improve Employee Retention of Your New Hires

What are you doing as an organization to actively encourage retention of your new hires for their first year? Communication here, in various forms, is crucial!

New hires are the people who have the least loyalty to your organization. They have not built up a retirement account or pension with you; they usually have no great long-term friendships among the other employees or appreciation for how the organization helped them when things were tough for them a few years ago.

New hires know how to find jobs, and have fresh contacts among recruiters and other influential people. They will have no difficulty leaving for a better job elsewhere, if they are unhappy with your company.

New hires need a lot of training, from technical skills to corporate culture. It is very expensive to train them and difficult to watch them leave if they are unhappy. New hires'  first impression of your company should be an impressive one, where  a supervisor, colleagues and trainers communicate enthusiasm about their new hire and have a coordinated plan to work with the person. If a group of people (including people currently in that job less than 2 years themselves) thinks ahead of time about what a newcomer needs to know, there will be fewer episodes of "you should know by now to _____" or "someone should have told you when you started to __________" when in fact orientation did not include that information (or maybe a formal orientation did not even happen).

Provide new hires with a dictionary of acronyms and jargon used at your company and in your industry. One new hire walked into a staff meeting her first day, and was handed an agenda filled with acronyms. In addition, the person leading the meeting used many more acronyms. The meeting leader was aware of all her new staff members sitting there confused, but did not explain what the terms meant. She was in effect providing a negative first impression of her organization and wasting the time of the new hires. If a dictionary of acronyms had been provided, or the acronyms had been explained, at least they would have understood the subjects being discussed, and felt that somebody had prepared for their arrival.

Avoid hitting new employees with a tsunami of new information the first days. Teach them the essentials then, and then bring them back for more on a frequent basis. How much can new employees be expected to understand in a day?  Clearly, all the information they are given is not equally important for their job. In many organizations, each department representative is asked to present the most important information new hires need to know about that department. This includes many forms and procedures.

Later, some of the many department heads and others who presented information to dazed and overwhelmed new employees  made comments  to the new employees similar to these:
When I talked to your group at your orientation, I told you you must never do X; don't you remember? (Clearly the department representatives had no idea of how many facts, procedures and forms the new employees heard that day from many representatives, or how many such facts a person can recall.)

When you teach new employees how to use software, be prepared to give them their user names and passwords immediately.  This is especially true when the company uses several types of software and the employee may get confused between them. As one frustrated trainer scolded a new employee, "You were taught on your first day how to use that software; even though you didn't get your password for 4 months, you should have remembered what you were taught!"Adult learning doesn't work that way; how much would you recall from a detailed-filled course that was given that long ago and not referred to since then?

Focus on your new hires! Meet with them at least quarterly, and preferably monthly, to review their progress.  Ask them simply, "How are you doing? How can I help you?" Then...simply listen to them. If they don't answer, maintain a 30 second pause until they hopefully say something.  At first they may be reticent, as you are their supervisor. Keep asking, that day and on future days, until they trust you enough to ask for your help. Frequently praise specific details of their performance, and let them know how they can climb the career ladder or otherwise achieve their career goals. If you can give them a small raise sometime during the year, it will make a big impact.

Find out as soon as employees are hired what matters most to them: career growth, continuing learning opportunities, job security, team work, travel if related to work, or something else. Use that knowledge as you work with them.

On the first day the employees are at your company, ask one of their colleagues to take them to lunch (on the company nickel) and get to know them as people. Have those colleagues mentor them for the first month or so, checking in with the person frequently to see how he is doing and if he has questions.  Help the new employees make more connections, possibly through being involved in cross-departmental  teams or working on projects with various employees. Friendships help an employee decide to stay at a company.

Make a photo gallery of all the employees in a given department or in a small organization. Underneath their photos, write their names and job titles. Post this where the new employees can see it; it will help them learn their colleagues names' faster, especially if the organization is large,  operates on 2 or 3 shifts, or has employees (such as sales or training staff) who are frequently in other locales. It will also help the other employees' learn the new ones' names.

The Gallup 12 questions, as they are known, are powerful ones. Use them when an employee is hired, and then regularly to assess progress and increase engagement.
 
It takes a lot of work for a new employee to fit into a corporate culture and learn all that is expected.
Work to retain the new employees, or you will be training their replacements soon! Show them that you value their prior experience and ideas they bring to your organization. Take time to ask them to tell you some things that other organizations do differently, and which may help your company. Their fresh observations may help you understand what potential employees (and maybe customers) may see when they look at your company. If you ask for this information on an anonymous basis (maybe through a checklist) soon after they are hired,  it is possible that they will be more willing to tell you helpful negatives as well as positives.

For many more tips on powerful communication and leadership, get the e-book Executive Communication Strategies, by Katie Schwartz of Business Speech Improvement.    

Business Speech Improvement offers seminars on communication strategies for leadership development. Check out the details (including the agenda) now!

Leadership development and executive communication

This year, reportedly 40% of American workers are planning to leave their jobs, often because they dislike how their boss treats them. Are you one of them? Such a "brain drain" has dire effects on a company's profits, as it can be expensive to recruit, hire and train a new worker. In addition, the productivity of new workers is usually lower for a while. A smart solution would be to spend time, effort and funds on training supervisors to be more effective communicators. For many supervisors, a simple e-book just released, called "Executive Communication Strategies" would provide many strategies they could use. This concise new e-book offers many easy tips. Special ones include a list of questions smart leaders use when considering new ideas, professional listening strategies, conflict resolution suggestions, explanations of why many people do not speak at meetings (and what a wise leader could do about this), and even tips on how to let employees know you appreciate them. (After all, how did you feel the last time your manager told you what a great job you were doing? (If your manager has never told you this, do you want your employees to feel as unappreciated as you feel?) The basics of training strategies for adults, improving communication at meetings and much more are included. "Executive Communication Strategies" could be included in a leadership development seminar, an MBA course on leadership, or in private Mastermind groups to share new techniques. Great communication matters! Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching and e-books on many aspects of communication. Visit us today!

Trained Mentors Can Motivate New Employees

Starting a new job can be confusing and overwhelming. Employees often seek out mentors who are not their direct supervisors, but may be people the employee admires.
New employees, because they need time to learn the company procedures and culture, are inherently less productive. They also have less invested in the job (and long-term benefits such as retirement plans) and may be more willing to "jump ship" and go to another employer because of this.

A well-trained mentor can make a difference in helping guide the employee, listening to his concerns and helping motivate him to stay. The mentor needs to be aware of the importance of being positive, being on time for meetings with the employee, having excellent listening skills and being alert to signs the employee is unhappy.

Business Speech Improvement
provides intensive, customized training in verbal communication skills. A seminar on Executive Communication Coaching: The Power to Lead is now enrolling learners.

Executive Communication: Employee Motivational Strategies

When jobs become more plentiful, a lot of employees are going to be looking for new jobs. The loss of an experienced, valued employee can cost a lot of money, knowledge and sometimes goodwill. Managers and CEOs should work now on employee retention.

First, administer and evaluate the results of the Gallup Q-12 http://gmj.gallup.com/content/811/feedback-real.aspx . These vital questions can help unsuspecting managers see who may be likely to leave when the opportunity presents itself.

Second, see what drives the satisfied employees: public recognition, career growth opportunities, continuing education, private praise, or other rewards. Use them!

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive coaching in executive communication skills, making presentations, accent, diction and other aspects of verbal communication. Training is offered through coaching and e-books. Great speech makes business sense!

Overwhelm your customer!

Do your customers or guests REALLY get the impression you and your employees care about them?

I recently returned from a family member's college graduation in another state. While there, I stayed in a hotel that had recently been purchased from another chain. I had stayed at the same hotel 4 years ago, and had experienced a room in disrepair and a "worn-out" attitude of apathy from the staff. What a difference there was this time!

Every single staff member who passed me in the hall, or interacted with me in some other way, cheerfully asked me how I was or smiled and said "hello" as if he or she really cared. There were some problems again with my room, and the staff at the desk immediately offered a significant discount, free breakfast the next day and asked if I wanted to move to another room. The staff appeared so welcoming that my impression of the hotel was much more positive.

It costs so much more to get a new customer (or employee) than to keep the current ones; put major effort into caring and your bottom line will look a lot better!