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2014- The Year of the Fired Up! Employee

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Your people are your profits. The more engaged, passionate and fired up they are, the greater your results. So, what if you made 2014, the year of the Fired Up! Employee? What could you do to activate the performance power of your employees in a more significant way that gives you exponential results? Worth trying? Here are some ideas:

1. Hire the right employees. Employees who are not good at what the job requires or like doing it, are nearly impossible to fire up. Employees who have the talents and passions to do the job, show up big. In 2014, be sure to define the behaviors required in each job, in addition to skill and experience. If you hire employees simply based on whether they have done the job before, you have no indication if they are both good at the job and interested in doing it (these are the components of powerful performance). Defining the behaviors means defining the attributes or thinking that is needed to do the activities in the job – for example to be successful in the job, the employee must be methodical, empathetic, competitive, analytical, engaging, decisive, etc. Couple behaviors with skill and experience and you hire better fit employees.

2. Make your workplace all about your employees. Sure, your business is all about your customers, but only after it is all about your employees. Employee-focused workplace cultures support their employees in all they do so employees can concentrate their entire effort on customers. Cultures that are employee-focused have a clearly defined vision/mission, are ethical, hire for fit, have fair and attainable rewards, provide constant performance feedback, provide education and development and are inclusive. Fired up! employees are fired up because their workplaces focus on ensuring they have what they need to be successful.

3. Talk to employees openly and honestly, about things that matter. Fired up! employees are included in the easy and the difficult conversations. They are fired up because they feel important amd valued – their perspectives, ideas and performance matter. Keeping information from employees encourages them to disconnect – they lose their performance fire. Including them not only expands your return on payroll investment, but it taps into your employees greater thinking, ideas and solutions; it amplifies their sense of value, contribution and importance.

4. Set clear and big expectations. You know the phrase –people rise to the level of expectation. Fired up! employees first need to know the expectations (over 70% of employees admit that they are not clear about their full set of expectations in the workplace), then they need BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). Go for something bigger, bolder and better this year. Fired up! employees want to show up big, play to win and achieve for their potential. Raise the standards and employees will dig deep and respond.

This year, we’ll constantly share ideas about what organizations can do to Fire Up! their employees – to have a year of Fired Up! performance. We are also stepping up our game and will start our Fire Up! Your Employees podcast on Feb 1. Watch for more details as we move from writing to speaking, and soon to videos, to share more powerful ways for you to help your employees show up, step up and stand out.

As always, good news needs to be shared and committing to the year of the fired up! employee is good news. Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. Contact us to hear about our CEO and executive coaching and watch on Feb 1 for our 5 new workshops, all designed to fire up your organization. More at FireUpYourEmployees.com.

Tags: employe engagement, employee performance, employee potential, experience, fire up your employees, skills, talents
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Only Some People Are Talented

Monday, November 18th, 2013

This is what an employee of a client of mine said to me this week. He continued, “And that we should only hire the talented people.”

This is worthy of a conversation. All people are talented.Each person has unique abilities that make him or her amazing at some things and very average at others. No one person is amazing at everything. Aligning employees’ abilities to areas that need what they do best and they will earn the title “talented” – capable, awesome, expert.

Another way to say this is that only some people fit the job. Only some people have the unique abilities that match the abilities needed to successful and consistently do the activities needed in the job. This is how to define talent – right abilities and fit for the job. Obviously, knowing how to define these abilities needed in the job allows companies to better source people who have what it takes to succeed in the job.

As a workplace coach and human capital consultant, I still see most organizations still rely on experience as the primary criteria from which to hire. The thinking is that if someone has been able to do the job in the past (mind you we don’t know at what level), they will therefore be able to do the job in my workplace.

But the statistics about employee engagement from the Gallup Organization shares that only 29% of employees show up proficient, passionate and engaged in their work. This low percentage happens because most employees are in jobs that don’t align to their core or best abilities – they don’t feel or act talented.

To be successful in today’s workplace, employees have to be good at the job (they have the right talents and abilities for the job) and like doing it (they have an interest or passion in the job). Just having experience doesn’t mean that an employee is both good at the job and likes doing it. I have spoken to many employees who move from job to job, blaming the companies when the real problem is they choose a job that they have experience in but no real interest or aptitude in.

A waitress I met a couple of months ago said it best. I was asking about items on the menu because I have some food allergies. She told me that I had to take the food the way they prepare it or I could leave. I asked what she thought that response would do for my loyalty; she quickly said she didn’t care. She said she has been working as a waitress for 25 years and has always hated that people want to make changes to the menu. She even offered that doesn’t like people.

On the resume this waitress had the experience. In the real world, she doesn’t have the talents for this job; she doesn’t fit. So if experience continues to be the lead criteria instead of talents and behaviors, this candidate would have looked like a likely high performer. True, if management knows about talent-based interviewing, there is a chance she could be found out in the interview process. But more than likely, she would be hired and then brought the same disappointing service to the new establishment’s customers. Though she has talents (because we all do) hers do not align to a job that puts her in regular face-to-face contact with others.

So, it is not true that only some people are talented. It is true, however, that only some people fit the job because of the thinking, talents and passions needed in the job to perform at a successful level. Define the talents needed in the job. Source those who have both the experience AND the talents and you access what it takes to create loyal and engaged employees.

For more information on rethinking your hiring or job alignment process, contact one of our Fire Up! workplace coaches, or see the tools and programs at FireUpYourEmployees.com.

Tags: abilities, employee engagement, experience, managers, passions, skill, strengths, talents, workplace
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How You Treat Your People Is How They Treat Your Customers

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

The start of the workday in Japan: you meet with each other for a short time to get reacquainted since you last saw each other. You share information. You reconnect. You relate as people. You start each day from a place of commonality of mindset and purpose.

The start of the workday in the US: you create your personal to-do list, check your e-mail, get a coffee and get to work. Not much communication. Even less interaction. There is very little reconnection with others or to the commonality of mindset and purpose. Get to work.

At the center of all work is the “person” – the feeling, emotional and (we hope) thinking person. Work happens because of the people. They generate the ideas, the approach, the response, the energy, the attitude and the connection. Your people are your profits.

Customers connect best with people, not technology. Customers are loyal or leave because of people. Improvements and efficiencies happen because of people.Your people are your intellectual capital – the thinking, inventing, and solution-providing engines – of the company. And these engines need fuel – that fuel is emotion.

In today’s interpersonal and service workplace, the personality of your employees is the personality of your business. Customers are now face-to-face and phone-to-phone with employees. These are thinking, feeling and emotional employees who bring their lives into the workplace (and bring their work into their lives). Emotions are a critical component of the personality and connection between employees, and between employees and customers. Emotions are not just for home anymore.

Studies presented in the book by Dr. John Fleming and Jim Asplund indicate that loyalty (something greater than “satisfaction”) in customers is inspired by an emotional connection to a brand, product, organization or person. Emotions drive loyalty. Loyalty drives results. So I guess if I remember my transitive property from high school geometry accurately (If A = B, B= C, then A=C), then if emotions drive loyalty and loyalty drives results, then emotions drive results.

Here are two ways to activate your employees’ emotional connection to and emotional investment in their work:

1. Job sculpt – customize jobs around what matters to employees. Get to know your employees – particularly their talents, interests and values – and build these into their roles or responsibilities. If the employee loves to write, involve him in the social media of the company. If the employee is great at coordinating events, charge her with the next company retreat. Add meaningful responsibilities that appeal to the employee and make a difference for the company to their existing roles. This activates their emotional connection to, and emotional investment in, their work.

2. Provide constant feedback. Spend the time with employees to catch them doing something great and provide (high-five) feedback; or catch them needing to improve, and support them with a process to get better. This creates constant contact between manager and employee in a supportive and “human” way. It helps the employee feel important, respected and valued (this feeds our emotional side). It also creates a bond with management that improves our personal connection.

How do you encourage your employees’ emotional commitment to and investment in their work? Do you treat them as critical valuable assets (things of value) to the organization or are they perceived as expenses (disposable and replaceable)? Remember, how you care for your employees (as people) determines how your employees care for your customers (as people).

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. And contact me to learn how the Fire Up! Your Employees book and process has been created into 6 interactive learning modules to help every manager learn how to attract, source, interview, hire and retain today’s best people. Learn how once – and then bring this success approach and tools to your workplace.

Tags: customer service, emotional connection, emotional intelligence, employee performance, employees, feedback, fire up your employees, interests, job sculpting, manager, talents, your people are your profits
Posted in For Managers | 2 Comments »

3 Ways Managers Can Become Better Teachers

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

In today’s intellectual (service) economy, organizations need employees to constantly learn, share information, coach each other and think on their feet. The more employees know (and how to use what they know) the better they can respond and perform in a changing workplace. Helping them learn is a strategic management responsibility.

Here is a great line use by nearly every educator: “Telling isn’t teaching.” But telling is the way many managers approach teaching and guiding their employees. There is no sustainable learning in this approach. All effective learning is a partnership between teacher and learner – manager and employee – that specifically focuses on the needs, motivations and values of the employee.

Consider these 3 ways for managers to become better teachers:

1. Stop talking and start listening. Listening allows you to understand where an employee is in his skill development and subject knowledge. Also listen for the employee’s talents, values and interests – for what inspires and motivates the employee. Knowledge without motivation gets little done. For learning to stick, employees must emotionally connect to both the learning and the reason for learning.

2. Work with employees to develop a learning plan. This mutually-determined plan should be based on what employees need to be successful in their day-to-day work, an area that will advance the employee in the future, and an area that is of personal interest to the employee. This makes it practical and personal (and comes from listening to the employee). Include completion dates, incentives for completion (if any) and planned improvements in performance. Creating the plan together is critical for its success.

3. Get good at performance feedback. In addition to a formal learning plan, on-the-job training must be part of employee education. Spend more performance time with employees to assess their work as it happens; reinforce successful behaviors, train and coach unsuccessful behaviors. On-the-job training is accelerated training as it reviews both skills and skill applications – what to do and how to do it. It is effective because it is real-time learning.

In a world where information doubles every couple of years, creating a workplace that constantly learns (and wants to learn) is critical to its success. And behind a learning workplace are managers who are adept at listening, observing, coaching and teaching their employees. How do you inspire your employees to want to learn more and to use what they know to improve, invent, add value and make a difference?

Tags: corporate education, employee education, employee interests, employees, feedback, fire up your employees, great managers, jay forte, knowledge economy, learning partnership, management, performance education, talents, values
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