Inspiration from the Wind

If you feel like getting your business started, or improving your results, is too hard at the moment, you might find this story from CNN inspiring!

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy/index.html

After you've read the story, think about how you can apply the same attitude to your current challenges. When you are feeling a little buffeted by the winds of change or the storms of economic misfortune, are you looking at ways to harness the energy and use it positively? Are you using all your available resources (perhaps including things or ideas that have been previously discarded) to best effect? Can you get more creative about solving some of the problems you are facing?

Use the power of a positive attitude to help you and your team survive and even thrive in stormy conditions. Your business will be stronger for it!

In Praise of Praise

Having had numerous conversations in recent days about how to get people more motivated (perhaps driven by a sudden return of Winter to my wonderful home town, Melbourne! It gets harder to stay motivated when it is sleeting and blowing a gale!), I thought I'd post a few thoughts...

Sometimes, I hear managers say that their people don't like compliments, or don't respond to them. I wonder whether they have identified how the individual likes to receive them. Probably the only thing worse than not getting ANY recognition or praise, is getting it in a way that doesn't 'resonate' with you; doesn't feel right.

So, what should we avoid - false praise, overzealous praise and most importantly, acknowledgement delivered in an environment that the recipient feels uncomfortable about - it's all about customising your approach to suit the individual.

Options include in person, in private, in public, in writing, by phone, by email, etc - you get my drift. It's also worth considering what they value, in terms of feedback - is it just the regular "doing of their job" or do they see that as superfluous ("of course I am") or is it more important to them to be acknowledged for extra effort or better accuracy or more results or faster response than usual. The key is to make sure that you are delivering the kind of positive feedback that they value in a way that works for them. You may need to let them know that you are keen to be able to praise them, but are finding it hard to do so in a way that they appreciate.

If you already doing all of this, well done! Consider yourself praised!

Now, go out and find someone doing a good job, and tell them about it (in a way that suits THEM, remember!).

Boost the Juice in your Customers and Staff

Would you like to be able to create improvements in customer loyalty and staff retention, year after year? A newly released study indicates that Employee Engagement is the key.

Eight out of ten leading companies in the study attributed changes in profitability and/or revenue DIRECTLY to employee engagement initiatives. Even in these financially stressful times, keeping employees connected with business goals and outcomes is delivering positive business results. Read the study at http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6050.

"Top companies are moving beyond employee satisfaction -- a one-way street which only measures if the employees needs are being met by the organization -- to employee engagement, which is all about aligning individual, organizational and customer needs," comments Mollie Lombardi, analyst at research firm The Aberdeen Group.

Employee engagement does not have to be an expensive project. Even small changes can make a big difference! What changes could you make today to increase the connection and communication with your team?

The good news is that it’s about implementing simple ideas to connect your employees with your business, not about spending a fortune. A simple way to start is to create is to conduct a survey of employee opinion and get input from your people. As a special offer for my blog readers, call me in August for a free survey of the Juice Levels (engagement, energy, alignment) at your place - either email me at helen@helenmac.com or call +614 199 30864.

Disengagement is Costing Business Big Bucks

Disengaged workers in the UK have cost the economy between £59bn and £64bn in the past 12 months according to research carried out by the Gallup organization. The key question is what are your employees costing you?

I’m delighted to announce that a UK government-backed study into employee engagement has identified a critical link between involvement of staff and bottom-line success in business – more proof of the connection between attitude and profit. Commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the report outlines the enormous benefit of accessing the potential of people at work and enabling them to be the best they can be. (These are two key aspects of the “Juiced Up Principles”.) You can read the report at http://tiny.cc/dy5PU

Whether we are in tough times like we are now, or when the economy recovers, engagement is a key to productivity and profitability, because amongst other things it increases creativity and a healthy sense of competitiveness.

The good news is that it’s about implementing simple ideas to connect your employees with your business, not about spending a fortune. A simple way to start is to create is to conduct a survey of employee opinion and get input from your people. As a special offer for my blog readers, call me in August for a free survey of the Juice Levels (engagement, energy, alignment) at your place - either email me at helen@helenmac,com or call +614 199 30864.

Beware of "Parachute Packing"

There are lots of businesses struggling at the moment – fighting to stay aloft in a storm of negativity; buffeted by gusts of media messages of doom and gloom; tossed about by the expectations set up by economic forecasters seemingly determined to predict us all into disaster.

The current business climate is a little like being on a plane approaching bad weather in mid-flight. Storm clouds are brewing; the wind is shifting in the wrong direction; turbulent times are ahead.

To come through the storm intact, the pilot and crew need to stay calm, put into place the systems planned to ensure survival and take careful steps to look after each other, the passengers and the craft.

If they are all panicking and putting on their parachutes, preparing to jump off, the survival of the aircraft and all the fellow travellers is distinctly under threat!

If you are a manager, or business owner, your calm and assertive position that the business will survive this storm will calm your team and allow them to focus on doing what they need to do. Then you can all get on with the most important job at hand - maintaining the profitability and sustainability of the business - no parachutes required!

Great Questions for Change Leaders

The only constant in life (and in business!) is CHANGE! So, especially these days, we ALL need to be change agents - taking personal responsibility for improving our own performance in whatever part of the business we operate.

To stay on top of some of the elements that we need to monitor, here are ten key questions for Change Agents, based on an idea from Harvard Business Magazine...

1. Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see? Do you look for different ways to see the world and your customers?

2. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas? Do you tap the brains of your team?

3. Are you the 'most' something (most efficient; most creative; most caring; etc)?

4. If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why? Who are your raving fans?

5. Have you figured out how your organization's history can help to shape its future? Learn from the past to create a better result in the future!

6. Can your customers live without you? What would they do if your product or service was no longer available from you?

7. Do you treat different customers differently? If so, how? If not, why not?

8. Are you getting the best contributions from the most people? Are you accessing all of the potential of all of your people?

9. Are you consistent in your commitment to change? Do you recognise that change is a journey, not a destination?

10. Are you learning as fast as the world is changing? What are you doing to increase the speed of your learning?

Use these questions as an audit of your attitude to change and take action on any that are real gaps in your change strategy. Remember, a positive attitude is always the best place to start. Believing that there will be a good outcome of the change program is half the battle!

Are your attitudes contagious?

Listening to the media meltdown about the dreaded Swine Flu, and experiencing the impact of people's responses to it, has me thinking (again!) about the contagious nature of attitudes.

Coming from the Australian Swine Flu capital (Victoria), I'm distressed at the media stories suggesting that the whole state is infected (one story had one in every three people with the new flu - which, by the way, is less severe than the everyday variety!). Our tourism industry is being hammered; hotels and restaurants are feeling the pain. From a local's perspective, it feels like a very big 'beat-up'.

So, thinking about this pandemic, here are a couple of important questions for you. Is there a contagious "flu" of negativity at your workplace? And who are the carriers?

As a manager, you need to make sure your attitudes are strong, positive and healthy because you are more likely to be contagious - people will be looking to you for guidance on how to respond to all the storms that are racing through the business world at the moment - GEC, Swine Flu, etc, etc.

If you start 'sneezing' - sending out bad vibes - before you know it, everybody will catch a sniffle. If you notice symptoms in yourself, or others, take immediate action. Your prescription is to take two smiles (do something that makes you happy!) and call me in the morning!

And if you have the flu, of any type, I hope you feel better soon!

Focus on Engagement

New research shows that many employers plan to focus on employee engagement as a measure of reward programme success during the current global downturn. Cynics might suggest that it's about time! Creating an environment in which your highly-engaged employees are working at their best is a great idea all the time!!

Interestingly the survey - "Reward Next Practices" - found that only just over half of organisations polled said they would be focusing on employee engagement. I wonder what the others are planning to do?

"When times are tough, more employers are looking for ways to improve engagement," said Colin Evans, UK head of reward services at Hay Group. "It's essential they remember the motivational power of intangible rewards, the role of the line manager in establishing a great work climate, and the importance of communicating effectively with employees."

The survey also found that:
44% of respondents plan to use reward to foster a culture of creativity and innovation.
67% said they'd make line managers more responsible for managing the 'pay for performance' relationship between employer and employee.
60% said they'd focus more on non-financial rewards such as career and development opportunities.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you just need to throw money at people. More money is not necessarily more motivating. Your staff are looking to you for reassurance that they are doing a good job; that the business is doing ok; that what they are doing is making a difference. As a manager, staying connected with your people is one critical way to keep them engaged. What are you doing to keep your team connected?

Tough Talk for Tough Times!

There is no denying that we're in tough times. Many managers and business owners are so stressed that they’re neglecting the basics. They’re so busy keeping the doors open that they risk losing connection with their people…and that’s bad for business!

I believe that there are five Critical Conversations that every manager or business owner must have to keep people productive and effective under recessionary stress.

1. “Keep up the good work!”
Your best performers still need attention, particularly when you are relying on them to deliver the goods in a tighter market-place. If they feel unloved and unappreciated, they may go elsewhere.

2. “I’ve noticed the improvement.”
For your staff members who are doing better than they were. Be careful not to put them off, though, with your corrections.

3. “You’ve dropped the ball.”
One of your good performers has fallen off the pace. You need to get them back up to their usual high delivery levels without creating a negative backlash from your correction.

4. “Conflict is counter-productive.”
When times are tough, as they are now, there is no spare energy for on-going conflict between individuals or teams.

5. “Shape up or ship out!”
Your team member needs to either decide to rejoin the team and change their behaviour and their results or you’ll help them make the decision that they are no longer part of the team.

So, which of these five are missing from your armoury? Which will make the biggest difference to your team's output...starting now?

Engagement Key to Beating Recession

More reinforcement of my belief that Engagement is critical to business success - especially in a recession!

According to market research agency ORC International, organisations that succeed in making employees feel engaged and positive about their work situation could make the difference between survival and administration.

In its latest report, "Putting it in Perspective", published this week, ORC International reports a rise in employee satisfaction rates. A record 71 per cent of employees surveyed were satisfied with their current employer, up from 67 per cent in 2007.

I wonder whether they are just expressing more satisfaction because of increased nervousness about their job prospects!

The Director of Employee Research at ORC International agrees with me. "Uncertainty in the retail world, or the reported bad publicity of the banking world, could have wider ramifications for how employees feel about their work," she says.

Commitment is a key measure of employee engagement and ORC International’s research shows that 72 per cent of UK employees will not be seeking to leave their current employer in the next 12 months. "This reported increase in intention to stay in 2008 could be a reaction to the recession, with few employees looking to change employers to avoid the risk of being ‘last in, first out’," says Pritchard. "However, there is a danger of employers taking this increased loyalty for granted, assuming that they will continue to retain their valued employees when the economy picks up. This will only be the case if employee engagement is a continued focus."

It's a hopeful note for those of us who believe that a positive workplace is the key to success, particularly in tough times. in summary, the report said: "Employers are increasingly starting to recognise the value of establishing and maintaining a workforce that really feels positive about the organisation. However, in these uncertain economic times, employers are going to have to work hard to preserve that level of engagement. Pride and positivity are easily contagious. On the opposite side, cynicism and apathy are equally contagious - complacency is best avoided."

Pride and positivity also get people focused on getting better results, rather than checking whether they have properly packed their parachute!

Tough times don't last; tough conversations will get you through!

Personally, I'm refusing to participate in this recession! That doesn't mean that I'm pretending that there are no economic pressures around me...just that I'm choosing to get into action to overcome them, rather than let them get me down!

I believe that one of the keys to thriving in this environment is having better conversations - in business and personal relationships. In stressful times like these, we need to be in active communication with our team members and our life partners, sharing the good, the bad and the potentially ugly. If we don't, we risk the danger of people making up their own version of what's going on, or of what MIGHT happen. Almost inevitably, their imaginings are worse than any reality.

So, what kinds of conversations are you having, with the individuals and groups you work with? Are you empowering them to take positive action, or are you letting them make their own decisions - possibly bad ones? Are you consciously driving yourself and your team through the confusion that reigns at the moment, or are you crossing your fingers and hoping that it will all come out alright? Just in case you're confused, it probably won't unless YOU take some positive action!