Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings

Have you ever sat down at a meeting table and asked yourself, "why the heck are we even here?"? Me too - many times. I used to have a department head that held a basic "what's happening" meeting the last hour on Friday and again first thing Monday morning. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

According to the Wall Street Journal report on Wharton Centre For Applied Research, the average CEO in the United States spends 17 hours a week in meetings that costs the company $42,500 per year. Senior executives spend 23 hours a week in meetings and cost up to $46,000.00 per year each. Middle managers spend 11 hours a week in meetings and cost up to $20,000.00 a year each.

There are some things that you can do to counteract some of these expenses. First and foremost, ask yourself if the meeting is really a necessity. Look to see if there's a more cost-effective way to achieve your objective - by phone, email, or water cooler.

Speed up your meetings by supplying all participants with an agenda two to three days prior to the meeting. Include objectives, issues to be discussed, start and end times for each issue, a list of attendees and any preparations required. Assign someone as a time-keeper to keep things on track according to the set time limits.

When making out your participant list, be sure the people you're choosing really need to be there. If not, you're just completely wasting their time. Pretty soon everyone will be questioning their need to be at any of your meetings.

And by all means, manage your meetings. Keep discussions on track. Use the parking lot - if the group starts getting off track, write that issue on a sticky note and post it to discuss it more at the end of the meeting, if there's time, or at a later date.

Good meetings don't just happen. If you manage the process, the results will take care of themselves.

Speech Tics

After a little time off - I'm baaaaaack. And I want to talk about something you hear about a lot when discussing training or speeches/presentations. Speech tics. Speech tics are when you repeatedly use words, sounds, or phrases over and over. Things like "okay", "ya know", "I mean", and "um" and "uh".

Speech tics can be VERY annoying to your audience. PRACTICE your training or speeches prior to performing for the first time. You may think you don't have any tics, but you may actually find out that you do.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was listening, with a group of others, to a presenter. We all eventually tuned out what he was trying to get across because we were too busy counting his "um's" and "uh's". I actually can't recall what his presentation was on.

Repeating your speech tics - repetitive sounds - gets old and boring really fast. It's a sure way to lose your audience. In addition to just losing them, you also stand the chance of being made fun of (I saw some of that) and also decreasing your believability (saw that to).

Recognize your pet phrases and words and work on eliminating them - PRACTICE. Ask someone to keep a record each and every time one slips out. Use videotapes or even audiotapes to play back to see for yourself. Warning: it may not be pretty. Watch your audience while you're giving your presentation. You can pick it up by noticing their mannerisms and looks.

Even the most seasoned presenters will fall into the speech tic mode from time to time. If getting up in front of people isn't your main occupation, chances are you're going to fall into it more than what you think. PRACTICE.

Love Your Job

The keys to success come from being good at what you do. Lets face it, you're paid to work and to do a good job - everything else is extra. You're not always going to like 100% of your job. So concentrate on the part that you do.

It's easy to fall into the rut of hating a job - just because there's some aspect of it that you don't like. I've known a lot of people in that position, including myself. You really have to look past some aspects of what you do and seek out the reasons why you liked your job in the first place.

In Larry Winget's book, It's Called Work for a Reason, he says, "Fall in love with the 10 percent of your job that is really your job and just put up with the rest of it - the other 90 percent - because it's just part of what must be done to get you to the 10 percent that you enjoy". Winget gives a good example in explaining that he's a professional speaker about 200 days out of the year, yet he only spends about 100 hours on stage. The rest of all that time is spent traveling, waiting, etc - not really exciting stuff. But he has to wade through all that other stuff to get to the part that he really enjoys. They're necessary evils.

You may have to do some adjusting to get that love of your job back. Find that 10 percent, work at it, and you'll be good at what you do. You may even be excellent at it. That 10 percent is most likely that portion that gets noticed.

Think back to when you started your job. What was it that drew you to it? What aspects of it did you like the best? Make yourself a list. Find that old spark and work at getting it back. Forget all the other stuff and focus on the positive. Pretend that you've just started your job - all over again. Approach it from a new staff perspective - except that you already have the knowledge. Winget says that, "you don't have to love your job in order to be excellent at it. But it helps". It helps a lot!

Stay Informed

Donald Trump says that, "Ignorance is inexcusable; it's the surest way to fail. No acceptable reason exists for not keeping well informed." As a supervisor, this is essential. In order to excel you need to go above and beyond.

I watched a program on TV last night on the National Geographic channel about Air Force One (the Presidents plane). It was really worth my time. It showed just how much preparing and planning it takes to make any kind of trip - especially overseas. The pilot (Air Force Colonel) oversees EVERYTHING. He's constantly reviewing maintenance, scheduling and weather reports. He knows everything that's going on with that aircraft and plans for multiple scenarios.

The thing that was most interesting was the trip they made with President Bush (W) to Iraq for Thanksgiving. It was kept with the utmost secrecy - at that time Baghdad was a true battleground. In order to be able to pull this trip off the Colonel had to be sure that what his crew was doing was in total sync with the rest of the plans. They had to switch planes at one point and ensure they landed at the precise given time. While on the ground they had to be ready - literally at a moments notice - to take off. Now the Colonel could have had the attitude that, "I have great people and they'll handle everything". Sure. He has a highly trained and motivated crew and they each have a load of responsiblity. But he was the glue holding all the pieces together.

This is not a drill in micro-managing. Ugh - I hate that word. It's a matter of being ready, being prepared. It's a matter of gaining knowledge so you can make better and quicker decisions. It's a matter of being the best. Everyone wants to work with and deal with the best. If you work hard, hard workers will want to work with you. Remember - you are a role model. The ability and desire to keep informed will trickle down to your staff. That will make them more knowledgeable, motivated, and productive.

Wanted: Morale

I recently read a survey by the consulting firm Towers Perrin that said that "75% of employees polled believe that they can have a direct impact on their company's success and 72% derive a sense of accomplishment from their jobs".

Employees are looking for more than just a paycheck these days. They want to be treated like human beings, not just another piece of equipment. They WANT to be able to make a difference. The thing is, a lot of managers still don't get the idea. They're still in the age of "do as I say, not as I do". Employees are constantly under a microscope.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "do unto others . . .". It goes both ways. Just as you expect to be treated fairly and in a mature fashion, so do your employees. If you show them that you don't care about them, guess what, they show that right back to you. Show them that you care and can work for and with them, and they'll do the same.

Energize your employees - remember, we're all customers to each other in the workplace. Sharon Harwood, from Disney University said, "(Walt) Disney knew you couldn't have a supervisor in the back room yelling at you and then walk through the front door and greet a guest with a big smile as if nothing were wrong".

1001 Ways to Energize Employees by Bob Nelson, talks about how "energizing managers aren't afraid to tell their employees how much they appreciate them. When Ed Stewart, an employee of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, turned down a better-paying job offer to stay with Southwest, CEO Herb Kelleher walked into his office and kissed him". Now I'm not saying that you need to go around kissing your employees, but it doesn't take much to let them know how much you care for and appreciate them. People want to feel good about where they work and who they work for. They want to be able to wake up in the morning because they want to go to work, not because they have to go. The better they feel, the more committed and productive they are.

Dave Longaberger, CEO of The Longaberger Company summed it up pretty well - "Having a good time is the best motivator there is. When people feel good about a company, they produce more."

How to Lose Trust

Trust - a balance between what staff are giving and what they're receiving. If staff detect an imbalance between these two things, their trust in you or the organization will suffer.

You can gain trust by empowering people. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you have to give them the keys to the executive washrooms (that's another topic). It can simply mean trusting them to do the right thing, keeping them in the loop, or noticing the things that they do.

Every once in awhile you need to sit back and reflect on your relationships. Here's a list of behaviors, from Motivating Employees by Bruce and Pepitone, that cause employees to lose trust:

• you say you'll empower them, but you find excuses not to,
• you deliberately instill fear and anxiety in them,
• you're manipulative,
• you fail to deliver on promises or you make empty promises,
• you inform the public about something before telling employees about it,
• you don't tell them what you expect from them,
• you give rewards that mean little or nothing to them,
• you're inaccessible and always behind closed doors,
• you delegate responsibility without authority.

Any of these sound familiar? If they do, it's time that you sit down and draft a new game plan. Give them what they need in order to do a good job and let them go at it.

Remember, I've said this before - most people don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.

Futurism

Well I'm baaaaack. I've been concentrating the last couple of weeks on the new job - and I love it. But it's time to get back to sharing my thoughts and "insights".

I can't remember what I was doing the other day when I saw the name Joel Barker. Wow. I hadn't heard that name in years. Barker wrote the book Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future. It's been one of my favorite books - and movies.

Barker is a futurist. He believes that paradigm shifts can happen at any time. And so do I. The thing is, if you look to the future, you may see them coming. This is where the futurist comes in with anticipation.

Too many managers lead with a reactionary skill. In his book, Barker discusses Peter Drucker's book Managing in Turbulent Times. He writes about the skills that a good manager needs and "suggests that one of the most important managerial skills during times of high turbulence (and anytime really) is anticipation."

Successful managers have always been strong problem-solvers. When a real problem occurs, they solve it. This is what they're paid for and this is what they concentrate on.

Drucker suggests that managers improve their skills in the area of anticipation and problem avoidance/opportunity identification. This is where you have the greatest leverage over the future - in business and in personal lives.

By looking ahead - anticipating - you'll dramatically improve your ability to deal with things before they happen, which in turn is going to give you more smooth sailing time. Sure, there are always going to be problems to solve. But by being a futurist and anticipating, you'll be able to head them off easier - or before they even happen.

Real Team-Building

How many times have you mentioned "team-building exercise" and seen eyes rolling and people heading for the door? That many? Without even knowing you I bet I can tell you why. It's because your exercises have nothing to do with any kind of relationship to your staff's jobs. A 250 pound man falling backwards for a 125 pound woman to catch is not going to help them at work.

When developing a program ask yourself what your real need is. Is it to actually build teamwork? Is it simply to improve morale? Is it to increase communication? Depending on your answer, the way you go about developing is going to be quite different.

If you're going to team-build, it has to be more than just a fun activity. It has to be something that will apply back at the workplace. Referencing a team-building book (there are tons of them out there) is great, but you still have to tweak it to your needs. Remember to be sure that you work in your organizations mission and values. This is the perfect opportunity to do so without the "here it comes again" attitudes. Team-building done correctly will leave them feeling more apart of the organization.

If your goal is to improve morale, by all means, go out and do something fun. Take everyone to a ballgame or go play laser-tag (very fun). Do something totally different.

If you're trying to increase communication, get that team-building book out. You'll find a lot of ideas in there where staff have to work together in order to get something accomplished, things where they have to talk with one another in order to get the job done. They'll get a sense of camaraderie and a better understanding of each other and how they think.

The whole idea with these three programs is to engage or reengage your staff. Nancy Mann Jackson summed it up best in a recent article in Entrepreneur magazine - "An engaged employee will stop and pick up a piece of trash in the hallway, a disengaged employee will walk by the piece of trash and leave it, and an actively disengaged employee will throw the trash on the floor." Which employee do you want?

You're Not Alone

If you could do everything as a manager, you'd be indispensable and probably make a lot more money. But guess what? You can't do everything. You're not alone. You didn't get to where you are by yourself.

For those of you who sit on that high horse, let me try to illustrate this to you. Most people think of the Blue Angels as a team of six shiny blue and gold F/A-18 Hornets and their pilots. They fly from air show to air show and thrill millions of people every year with their precision aerial moves. Well, that's only the tip of the iceberg. It takes a whole lot of people behind the scenes to make sure that those birds can fly.

In over 60 years, the "Blues" have never cancelled a show for maintenance reasons. Every person on the Blue Angels is dedicated to making sure that everything falls into place and everyone is safe. This is a true team. The pilots would not be up in the sky thrilling us all if they didn't have the support of the ground crew and support staff.

Teamwork isn't a part-time activity. Each member is representing the rest of the team at all times. That includes the team members at the "top". Managers and supervisors have to be just as much a part of the team as anyone else. Without that, you really don't have a team. You have a bunch of people working for the good of the boss.

Be apart of the team and develop your staff. This is how you accomplish things that others can't. Be upfront and of course, lead by example. You're the one molding the team. If you're a slouch, your team members will become slouches.

To succeed in management, you have to be able to accept responsibility and not hide behind desks. You don't lose the team player role when you move into that office. You become a motivating part of it.

Learning to Take Command

In Captain Michael Abrashoff's book, It's Your Ship, he discusses how taking command of USS Benfold required a change in his own leadership model. He found that time and age changes many things. In order to tackle these challenges, he researched exit surveys and interviews and found that the top reason people leave jobs was because of "not being treated with respect or dignity; the second was being prevented from making an impact on the organization; third, not being listened to; and fourth, not being rewarded with more responsibility". Low pay was way down in the fifth position.

In leadership or staff training, you really must look at your demographics in order to be effective. Organizations have very diversified age ranges these days, from Baby-Boomers to the Gen-Y'ers. These two groups, and all in between, have very different mindsets. Like it or not, you may have to adjust your own ways in order to be more effective. The old "my way or the highway" type of leading just isn't going to fly with the younger folks.

A good way to demonstrate the differences in the generations is to look at the way they compare work and life.

• Baby Boomers - view themselves and their career as one and the same
• Gen X - balance work and life; like flexible working hours and job sharing
• Gen Y - express themselves rather than define themselves through work

In the Gen X and Y'ers, we've lost the "company man" attitude and gained a more entrepreneurial, flexibility attitude. In order to create better unity, treat everyone, from your newest member to your most seasoned employee, as if they have great things to offer and are motivated to do their best. And of course, keep continuing training a priority so staff don't don't get stagnate in their jobs.

Training and Customer Retention

Good customer service doesn't necessarily come natural to some people. They need to have training and follow-up. Most organizations have some sort of customer service training but it's too often not enough. One basic class during orientation doesn't cut it. New staff are commonly overwhelmed with information already. Give them a little bit of time to get acquainted with their job and to see just how and where they fit in. They'll be able to adapt to their role in customer service a lot easier.

Don't leave training with the one class. Do follow-up in-service's, seminars, etc. Keep customer service at the forefront of your staff's minds. You don't need to (and don't want to) cram it down their throats. Just make sure that they at least know the basics, can use the basics, and be able to form some type of relationship with their customers. Customers should be treated like guests in their own house. Relationships are a key influence to holding on to customers, especially in service-oriented industries.

There are five basic standards for treating guests that you should be reviewing with staff:

• welcome them using their name,
• introduce yourself,
• take care of their needs,
• thank them, and
• invite them back.

Good customer service is that easy. You can include these standards in your training in many ways - video's, role-play, "how would you" questions, "pick the best way" scenarios, etc.

Markets, for any organization, are constantly changing so "people skills" become extremely important. Reminders in staff meetings or pre-operation meetings will go a long way. Focusing on this key area will not only give you a good ROI on training, but also show staff how important it actually is and where your priorities stand.

Competitive Customer Service

In my customer service classes I discuss the fact that some organizations (like mine) and their competition do things so similarly that the only way to distinguish themselves as the better organization is through superior customer service. The quality of employees and services are the only distinctions between organizations that provide the same or similar service.

I read a great example of this in the book Blue Streak, by Barbara S. Peterson. In beginning the discussion about JetBlue U (university), the trainer for the flight attendants comes in the first day still upset about the JetBlue flight he had had the prior day. One of the attendants on his flight seemed like he was "not really there" for various reasons. [I'm making a long story short here] The attendant didn't do anything bad and wasn't rude. But this is exactly why people want to work - and fly - at JetBlue. "The sort of indifferent service that one would take for granted on another (most) airline would gain you some very unwelcome attention" at JetBlue.

JetBlue does the same "job" as many other airlines. They fly people from point A to point B. But if you talk about customer service within the airline industry, who's name is at the top (along with Southwest)? JetBlue.

Be the paradigm shift. So many organizations can benefit from this kind of thinking. Why was Disneyland successful so quickly? One of the reasons was in a paradigm shift of what amusement parks were like. When Walt started Disneyland his wife would ask him, "But why do you want to build an amusement park? They're so dirty." To this he replied that, "mine wouldn't be".

Don't bank on, "this is the way it's done everywhere else". That will just make you look like "everyone else". Train from the start to be the best of the best.

Ethics

I recently read someplace that today's society tolerates too much questionable activity, whether it be by our kids, businesses or managers. I got to thinking about it and I'm not quite sure I agree. Do kids today really think that cheating or stealing is okay? Do businesses and managers really think it's okay to cheat and steal?

I think basic misbehavior is considered just as wrong today as it ever was. People are just coming up with more creative ways to try to get away with things (ahem-Madoff) and others are just stupid (ahem-AIG). Society doesn't accept these ways, but people are still going to try, and try hard they do.

Laws don't always require us to do the right thing. This is where ethics has to take over. Ethics are standards of conduct that we "ought" to follow. Good ethics in business is akin to good sportsmanship in athletics. We are to play by the rules, be fair, and be a good sportsman. The rulebook doesn't always tell us specifically what we can or can't do, but yet we know. Ethics guides us in those situations.

As a supervisor/manager, we have a responsibility to promote ethical behavior - and take action when unethical behavior is suspected. We have a duty to:

• set a good example,
• ensure others act according to laws, values, and policies,
• make sure your staff have the resources to do the right thing,
• enforce standards and policies,
• report noncompliance,
• never retaliate or permit retaliation against "whistle blowers".

You can pretty much sum this all up with the phrase, "do the right thing". If it doesn't seem right - it probably isn't.

Communicate

Com-mu-ni-cate: to share: to convey knowledge of or information about: make known.

Sounds easy. Then why don't more supervisors do it? Nancy K. Austin, a Management Consultant said, "Employees deserve to know what's up and will handle the responsibility better than you imagine." Share.

Staff at all levels of the organization should be considered links in communication. Appropriate information should be freely passed up and down the chain. The key is that it's done quickly, not just by work of mouth. You can't just tell one or two people something and expect that the "grapevine" do the rest. Staff that are kept informed are motivated because the feel like they're involved and a part of the big picture.

Here's a good example of how communication makes a big difference. The book "1001 Ways to Energize Employees" discusses the manager of a Holiday Inn that had a low occupancy rate of 67% - not too good. He decided to communicate the hotel's occupancy rate to all staff every day. Within 18 months, the rate had climbed to 85%, and staff were literally falling over themselves to greet customers, carry guests' bags, and generally be helpful and friendly. Without a doubt, staff who are "in the loop" are staff who are an energized and vital part of the organization.

The word communicate is a verb. There is an action associated with it. Communication is not just something that happens - you have to make it happen.

Field Suggestions

As I've discussed before, the best place to find out how things are really done is the field - your front-line staff. They're the SMEs. Books and manuals are the basis of how a job is done, but experience tops it off.

If you really want to effectively improve a process or business, you've got to get input from the people who actually do it. Be open to suggestions - gasp - yes, suggestions from your line-staff. Just because you're a manager doesn't necessarily mean you're an expert.

You need to encourage staff to make suggestions that can make improvements on anything from customer service to process flow to product marketing. The key word here is "encourage". Just mounting a suggestion box on a wall is not enough. It doesn't matter how small or insignificant of an idea someone has - encourage it. The smallest idea can become the biggest improvement.

Don't forget to respond to your staffs' suggestions. Respond quickly. The longer it takes, the more they feel as if it's just a canned response. Especially if it's something that you're not going to implement. Acknowledge the time they put in to develop the idea and to write it up for submission.

And by all means, let the group or the whole know that suggestions are being considered and implemented. Publicly acknowledge the staff who make suggestions and the changes that come from them. Once staff see/hear this, you'll start to get more suggestions (that's a good thing), and more thought-out suggestions. Staff will definitely begin to feel more valued, appreciated, and motivated.

Negativity Is Not In Your Job Description

Negativity breeds negativity. Sometimes you need to remind your team (leaders and employees) that negativity is not in the job description.

As a leader, when you walk through the door, you're on stage. Your every move is being watched and imitated by your employees. Therefore, you must be consistent and predictable in how you interact with your employees and how you deal with life’s (organization) challenges.

Your attitude is the foundation for your employees’ attitude. If you come in to work smiling, optimistic and approachable, then it's easier to expect a positive work day. If you come to work with a scowl on your face, are angry or have a "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" attitude, you can expect to be working in a negative work environment - and have no one to blame but yourself.

In addition to watching yourself, moderate the flow of gossip. If you notice rumors being circulated among your employees, verify them from the source. Despite what people may think, work is not the place to gossip. And besides, most gossip is just plain made up. It creates animosity, tension, and ill-will. When dealing with the gossiper, call their bluff! Invite them to join you in confronting the other individuals that are being gossiped about. Chances are, that will be the end.

If employees are allowed this negativity for too long, it becomes habitual and they can't stop. It becomes who they are. You'll begin to realize that every time you come in contact with these people, you'll be hearing complaints. Negativity will spread like a disease. Negativity breeds negativity.

What you send out is what you get back. Everyone is in control of their own/your own attitude - it's sometimes one of the only things you can control at work.

To Do Lists

A few months back I saw writer Larry Winget for the first time on FoxBusiness's Happy Hour. I was immediately intrigued by his attitude towards business life. He writes/talks about business in a straight forward, to the point manner. He "tells the truth and doesn't give a damn if you like it or not". Yesterday I started reading his book "It's Called Work for a Reason". I found a fantastic idea in the first few pages.

In his book Winget suggests that you get rid of your "Things to Do" list and replace it with a "Things That Have to Get Done" list. How many times have you taken time to make a "to do" list and only partially gotten any of it actually completed? Herein lies the problem. According to Winget, your "to do" list is nothing more than a wish list. "Your "Things That Have to Get Done" list is more focused and concise, and acts as an action plan for your day." It has a more psychological effect.

Lists that you make up of things that you need to accomplish are part of your time management. By making a list you hope to be able to accomplish more. But if you're constantly only getting bits and pieces done, you're not really accomplishing anything.

It's time consuming to manage time. Winget says that "Everyone should forget about managing time and should instead focus on managing priorities. When the right things get done, time takes care of itself". Focus on what has to get done, not what should get done or would be nice to get done.

Roy Disney once said, "When priorities are clear, decision making is easy." Set the right priorities and everything else follows.

Follow-Through

I read a quote in a recent American Management Association (AMA) publication that hit my funny bone. Not only because it was comical but also so true - "After spending so much money on organizational change programs and leadership development, why do I always end up with Dilbert and re-runs of The Office?" Sound familiar?

The issue, a lot of times, is that we come up with a "theory of the month" on why things are the way they are. We quickly put our resources together to come up with a training "program" on coaching, or diversity, or motivation techniques. The problem is that in order to be a "program" there has to be follow-on training, follow-up, and follow-through. Like throwing a football or hitting a tennis ball, you can't be effective without follow-through. You can't hold one class or seminar and expect people to "get it". Sure it may be all great at first, but doesn't it usually die a slow, or often fast, death?

A good example is the Rockhurst or Padgett seminars. They're good seminars to attend and give you some great tools. But without someone back at the ranch to help you keep those ideas going, they normally die off very quickly.

Another good example (my soapbox again) is orientation classes. For the most part, they're worthless. New staff get thrown into these classes, told to read a bunch of stuff, and take a test. Then that's the last they hear about the origins of the organization, the vision, the mission, and how their job impacts the rest of the organization. What's been accomplished? Next to nothing.

Point is, you need to follow-up and follow-through if you want programs of any type to continue.

Ask What YOU Have Done

I bet I can describe one of the top leaders of the world and you won't be able to guess who it is. Okay, here goes - he runs an organization that you know of but you've never seen. He runs his own manufacturing, packaging, AND distribution companies. His many employees are among the happiest in the world. He doesn't sell any products, yet he continues to stay in business. Any guess yet? 100% of distribution is completed in one night. He's a very jolly individual - his belly even shakes like a bowl full of jelly. Yes, it's Santa Claus.

As "magical" as Santa may be, he still has to possess great leadership skills to get everything accomplished. Employees (elves) must be kept happy. In order to do this Santa must continuously monitor progress through self-evaluation. There are a few questions he asks of himself to ensure that he's keeping a focus on his most valuable asset - no, not reindeer - his employees. Santa asks himself - "In the last several months, what have I done to . . .

• Be accessible (physically and mentally) to employees who would like my attention?
• Be considerate of staff-member needs?
• Provide employees with the training, tools, resources, and feedback required for success?
• Keep employees in the "what's happening" information loop?
• Help team members maintain an appropriate balance between their professional and personal lives?
• Demonstrate respect for employees' time and talents . . . as well as respect for them as individuals?
• Solicit, and listen to, staff-member ideas and concerns?
• Help everyone develop and grow?
• Fairly distribute the work and workload?"

It doesn't take a lot of extra effort to be a caring leader. There's no extra costs to ask yourself a few questions. It doesn't take but a few minutes. But what you'll get is more time since you'll have more dedicated and motivated employees - you won't have so many problems to deal with.

For more information on Santa's leadership skills check out the book, "The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus" at www.walkthetalk.com.

Bailout DeMotivation

I imagine everyone knows about the Wallstreet, etc Bailout, by now. All of those companies getting bailout money should be somewhat motivational for employees. You work for a company that's falling in the market and jobs are looking more and more endangered. Uncle Sam comes along and gives you money to pull your bootstraps up. Should be kind of motivating right? Here's all of this money to get your company moving, lending, and prospering again. Great. You can rest a little easier.

Then you have companies like Citigroup who gets $45 billion of taxpayer money (part of which comes from the employees of the company) who turns around and lays off 75,000 workers and completes their purchase of a $50 million company luxury jet. Hello!!!! How can anyone at Citigroup interpret that as motivating? It's de-motivating, reducing dedication, productivity and customer service.

Yesterday on Fox Business Happy Hour, I heard a Senator talking about how these large companies should be able to keep their jets because otherwise the people who fly and service them, etc will be loosing jobs - including people who manufacture them. Hello again!!! This Citigroup jet was built in FRANCE. The last time I checked, France was not in The U.S. of A.

C'mon guys, lets take some responsibility and stop the expensive jets, the $1.2 million office makeovers, and the pre-bailout bonuses and start thinking about your employees.

What Is A Leader?

What is a leader? A question that can bring a miriade of answers. But in this forum, you're going to get mine. A leader is someone who influences others lives. A leader can help you grow by exploring new capabilities and strengths. A leader builds people.

One of the jobs of a leader is to be a guide - guide teams from formation through operation. For that, he/she also must be a mentor and facilitator. You must understand that learning never ends. We are always building and strengthening our knowledge. As a leader you have to be constantly alert to any opportunity you have to do so.

To be an excellent leader means you have the ability to "read" people. How do people react differently to various situations? The ability to be flexible helps you in dealing with and relating to people. We're not all the same - other people won't want the same type of response that you might.

In John Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You, he lists seven "deadly sins" that excellent leaders avoid:

• trying to be liked rather than respected,


• not asking team members for advice and help,


• thwarting personal talent by emphasizing rules rather than skills,


• not keeping criticism constructive,


• not developing a sense of responsibility in team members,


• treating everyone the same way, and


• failing to keep people informed.

Integrity, vision, optimism, responsibility, motivation, and communication. That's what makes a successful leader.

The Habit of Excellence

With my holiday break over now, it's time to get back into the swing of things. Sometimes that's difficult to do unless you have some good habits. Excellence, for instance.

Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do . . . excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit". You must practice at being "excellent". Practice at obtaining knowledge. Know that you need to constantly increase your understanding of what, how, and why something needs to be done. All of this will lead to new or improved skill sets which with repetition translates into habits. Those habits then translate into excellence.

As an example of how this works, think about learning a new language. Learning a language in a class is good, but it's limited. What happens when you go to visit the country or even live there. How far do you think the classroom instruction is going to get you? Sure you'll be able to ask for a taxi or where the bathroom is, but that will only get you so far. Fact is, you'll have a lot more learning and practice to do in order for it to become an involuntary "habit" - before you become an excellent linguist and able to hold a meaningful conversation.

Put these types of habit forming applications to work in your organization and see how much further you go. You'll be surprised. It will not only benefit you, but also your team and your organization. The habit of excellence brings with it a better attitude, higher levels of commitment, and a better chance for advancement and responsibility. You can't wait for excellence to come to you or be given to you - you have to go after it.

Holiday Note

As Christmas quickly approaches (tomorrow actually) don't forget to thank the people that have supported you all year. If you think about it for a minute you'll probably come up with a much bigger list than you thought you would. Thank your:

• supervisor/manager,
• team members,
• assistants,
• organization,
• mentors,
• family members,
• business associates,
• students/learners,
• office mates,
• financier,
• lawyer,
• dry cleaner,
• insurance agent,
• mail delivery/newspaper delivery, and
• God.

The list goes on.

You didn't get where you are, all by yourself. You can't do what you do, all by yourself. Skip to the end of the Scrooge movie and go right to the thanks!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Look For Results, Not Salutes

“Look for results, not salutes.” This is a great quote that comes from a chapter in Captain D. Michael Abrashoff’s book, It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. In it he describes how he broke down the time honored traditions of officer/enlisted separations. Not completely, of course, but enough to make a harmonious difference.

It takes just simple things sometimes to make a difference, and to show that you, as a manager/supervisor, are part of the team and not just the overseer. For instance, Captain Abrashoff talks about taking his place at the end of the food line at steel beach picnics (cookouts on the flight deck). This just normally is not done – officers go to the front. It wasn’t long, of course, before other officers took his cue and were doing the same thing. Going to the end of the line was one of many ways of showing his crew that he genuinely cared for them and he was working WITH them.

You can easily use these same types of techniques in civilian business. Just like the military, we also have ranks and privileges – executive parking spaces, cafeterias, even restroom’s. But take a look at the difference in where you spend most of your time. In your office – which is segregated far from the lower ranks?

I often talk about Tom Peters' concept of MBWA (management by wandering around). Step out of your hideout and become part of the team. Make it habit to eat in the break room once a week. Give staff the opportunity to talk with you freely, whether they’re happy about something or concerned. This is where new ideas and improvement comes from.

More Than A Manager

In order to be a successful supervisor or manager you also have to be a motivator. With that comes a number of roles - coach, facilitator, and trainer. You must constantly be working with your staff in order to help them be more successful. Motivated staff means greater work performance and more success for your business.

You have to understand that YOU directly affect your staff's motivation to perform. You also have to understand that you're either a positive or negative motivator. Be a coach, a facilitator and a trainer, and you'll be the positive motivator.

Motivation, for the most part, is intrinsic, meaning it comes from within us. We naturally want to be involved rather than just being a bump on a log. A big part of motivation comes from having the ability to do things for ourselves and being involved in projects. Knowing that we're an actual contributor to the organization. There has to be more than just incentive bonuses and awards. Those things would take on a whole new meaning when it's the result of increased responsibilities and knowledge.

Your staff need to know that you care, not just that you know your "job". Coach them and train them. Keep them interested and involved. You'll find that it goes a very long way.

By the way - yes I'm a Bears fan!

Tense Times

In tense times people tend to change in one way or another. They take shortcuts in procedures, they hurry through steps, they skip steps in reviews. Procedures are made for a reason - to document correct ways of doing things so that there is consistency throughout the organization.

Supervisors need to step up during tense times to ensure that procedures are being completed correctly. Depending on the type of company you work at, skipping steps may not be a real big deal. In others, like the medical field for instance, it could literally mean the difference between life and death.

Do things right the first time, all the time! If people are allowed to slack off at particular times there's a good chance that it's going to happen more often than what you want. They soon begin to reason for themselves in order to substantiate non-conformance. That will then trickle down to other staff and soon into the training of new employee's. Then you've got new employee's thinking that it's the common practice and you have new issues to work with - in particular, additional time for retraining.

Walk the talk. It's up to the supervisor to be a role model for employee's. If they see you slacking off and taking shortcuts it becomes an excuse for them to do the same. Put yourself in the customer's shoes. No matter what kind of business you're in, would you as a customer, tolerate anything but perfection? Of course not. Act as if you're part of the team, not always the head of it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Employee Partnership

Fostering a sense of partnership with your employee's is an important aspect of motivation. People typically want to do good and feel like they belong. Don't just focus on the success of the company or your management team. Realize that you can't do it all yourself. The increased success of the company rely's on the future success of its employee's.

Continuous training and communication is a must if you want employee's to develop and succeed - or help the company succeed. You need to take a proactive role in looking at what's required. Take a look at any kinds of barriers there are to success. This very often has to do with a lack of communication or hoarding of power. If you hoard power and knowledge, someone's not getting information they need that may increase productivity and quality of work.

A former manager of customer satisfaction at Disney summed up success like this:
"Recruit the right people, train them, continually communicate with them, ask their opinions, involve them, recognize them and celebrate with them. If you show respect for their opinions and involvement, they will be proud of what they do and they'll deliver quality service."

Don't forget about your new employee's once the next crop comes in. Set them up with a partnership to help them grow from the start. They're going to need guidance while they're getting used to their jobs and responsibilities. And make sure you "take them" to the corporate culture - don't let the culture come to them. That will be a topic for another day.

Using Humor to Make Your Point

Over the past few months I've been given a fantastic example of just how important humor can be in getting your point across. A friend of mine sent me a training video that his organization had made that was produced by a physician. It was to be shown to all of their staff of "semi"-professional medical people. The information was way over any of their heads, and there was a lot of it. On top of that, the physician himself narrated the video. We've all known medical types that just aren't quite, shall I say, exciting. My friend told me that by the time the short video was over, most of the people were either falling asleep or talking amongst themselves. In a different setting of people this video probably would have gone over much better. It just didn't fit this group.

A couple of months later this same friend sent me their revised video - a cartoon. When I first turned it on, my first reaction was, "what the heck?". "This is just too goofy." But then as I watched it, I noticed that I was much more intrigued with the cartoon than the original video. Why? It was cute and comical. Even kind of silly. And you know what? I soaked in the actual point of the cartoon a lot easier and quicker than I had in the original. It turns out that it produced the same reaction with the employees of my friends organization.

According to the book, Motivating Employees, by Anne Bruce and James S. Pepitone, "humor helps us put things into perspective." "When you encourage people to have a sense of humor about their work, it forces them to take a step back from the situation at hand. When they do that, they can usually see more clearly and in more detail everything surrounding the situation."

I'm not saying that everyday has to be "Hee-Haw" (70s TV), but there is a direct correlation between having fun on the job and staff productivity, motivation, and retention.

Honor, Courage, and Commitment

Honor, Courage, Commitment - the core values of the United States Navy. These are attributes that can guide anybody, in any business, at any level. It should especially hold true to the supervisor or manager. These are three sound values that will make you stand out in a crowd of otherwise average people.

• Honor - "I am accountable for my personal and professional behavior." Everyone is accountable for themselves. You must take full responsibility for your actions and keep your word. Dating back to at least 1500 Scotland, the motto "my word is my bond" still holds true today.
• Courage - "Courage is the value that gives me the moral and mental strength to do what is right, with confidence and resolution, even in the face of temptation or adversity." Overcome challenges while adhering to your own personal high standards. Make your day to day decisions based on the good of the organization and your employee's.
• Commitment - "Join together as a team to improve the quality of our work, our people and ourselves." You must be able to care for your employee's AND respect them - no matter what level they're at (including up the chain) or how long they've been with the organization. High personal standards and morals are your ladder up.

Just like attitude, what you put out there is what you're going to get back. Adopt these three values and you're sure to go far.
www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/DON_Core_Values_Charter.pdf

Personality Assumptions

I recently went back in time (1960) to read an article by Douglas McGregor. In The Human Side of Enterprise Douglas describes two interesting concepts of human nature, Theory X and Theory Y. As I read his two lists of assumptions I realized that I have known and worked with supervisors and managers that actually buy in to Theory X a lot more than Theory Y.

Assumptions of employees falling into Theory X goes like this:

• Work is inherently distasteful.
• The average person is lazy and unambitious.
• People prefer close supervision.
• Typical workers avoid responsibility.
• The principal worker incentive is money.
• Workers must be coerced or bribed to achieve the organization's goals.

If you subscribe to the Theory X concept, I think you have some soul searching to do. Now don't get me wrong, there are people who fall into portions of this concept but research over the past few years has proven a number of these points wrong.

Check out Theory Y:

• People enjoy work.
• Work is as natural as play.
• Recognition and self-fulfillment are as important as money.
• Employees are committed to their work.
• Employees exercise self-direction and seek responsibility.
• Workers at all levels will exhibit creativity and ingenuity when given the chance.

As research and surveys have been showing, I think Douglas was way ahead of his time. Compare employee attitude and management styles of the '60's to today and you'll see just what I'm talking about.

These two theories determine just how you interact with your employee's. It determines what motivation (or unmotivational) tactics you use. It determines your overall relationship with your employee's.

Human nature causes us to act on our assumptions, opinions, etc. Take a step back and look at the true attitudes of your employee's and compare that to your assumptions - and act on it.

What Motivates You?

A lot of supervisors think that what motivates them motivates everyone else. That's simply not true. Everyone is different. If you're going to hold a public presentation of an award for one of your staff, you may just be DE-motivating them. If they don't like public attention, they may just fall back and punt, not wanting it to happen again.

With respect to awards and motivation, The Walt Disney Company does something that more organizations should think about doing (one of many). When a new castmember is hired they're given a survey which asks them how they like, and don't like, to be rewarded and what motivates them. By doing this, their supervisor can tailor, to the particular castmember, the way they're rewarded.

It's commonly believed that money is the biggest motivator for employee's. Nope. A number of research papers over the last few years have proven this wrong. Sure people like money, but they also like recognition, career development, and influence.

Two of the best types of recognition are peer and customer. It's very easy and cheap to start a peer recognition program where co-workers can nominate others for going above and beyond. A certificate and maybe a gift card is all you'd need. It goes a long way.

Customer recognition is another biggie. If you have ANY means of receiving customer feedback in which employee's or teams are named, SHARE IT with them. They can then see that what they do really matters to someone other than the boss.

Whatever you end up doing, make sure that your motivation techniques and rewards always revolve around organizational goals. Employee's often attribute their success to how they're able to contribute to the organization.

Leading by Example

Almost nothing can create as much credibility as leading by example. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "What you do thunders above your head so loudly I cannot hear the words you speak". In other words - actions speak louder than words.

One of the jobs of a supervisor is to be a role model. You were put in that position because you "fit the mold". You are a "model" employee. Just because you are now a supervisor/manager doesn't mean it's time to sit back and take it easy. You are expected to be setting an example in keeping with the standards of the organization. That may mean MBWA (see 08/22/08 blog) or rolling up your sleeves and giving a hand.

There are a few things that I think may guide you down this road to better leadership:

• Don't be afraid to get out there and see what's going on and be the first to give praise - sincere praise - not just a painted smile and "good job".
• Infuse inspiration into your talk, your body language, your memo's, etc. Let people know that you're excited about your job and your organization - 'this is a great place to work!'.
• Share in your rewards and at-a-boys. Chances are, you didn't do it all yourself. Let your staff know how much they're appreciated. A small gift may be in order, or a pizza lunch.
• Along with sharing in rewards comes taking responsibility. If you mess something up, take the hit. Never play the blame card. This will encourage others to do the same. And you know - you'll spend alot less time trying to figure out 'what happened?'.
• Be honest. Anything less than that and you can kiss everything else you've done good-bye. No honesty - no trust.

Doing anything less than these five things will surely produce an unmotivated team for you - if you have a "team" at all.

Don't Get Even

Getting even. One of the easiest ways for supervisors to lose their integrity. With getting even comes a focus on something that has absolutely no purpose or good. It's unproductive and just causes a wedge to be pounded in between you and your staff.

You'd be much better off trying to resolve issues with staff - or bosses. Getting even or carrying a grudge causes phyiscal, emotional, and mental draining. All of which is unhealthy. Why should you put yourself in such a position? Is it all worth it to "show you who's boss" if you're also the one that's getting hurt? I bet you had no idea that scientists from the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah suggest that this type of stress may induce cancer at an earlier stage. Wow. I don't know about you, but I see no benefit here.

It pays, not only personally but physically, to stay upbeat and positive around your staff. Anyone who's had any kind of communication training should know that whatever attitude you send out, you're going to get back. Getting even with someone just starts a vicious circle in which that time could be better used in improving your relationships and increasing productivity. The need to get even underscores every personal weakness. All you do is magnify them.

There are a handful of things that really separate winners and losers. One of those things is the ability and speed that we drive out our grudges and desires to get even. Remember, most employees don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do - the four basic standards that drive Disney. Think about it. How can this work for you?

You're probably much smaller than the U.S. Government, but they also hold these standards. Take the space program for instance. Dream-going to the moon, Believe-President Kennedy believed in this program, Dare-we sent rockets into outer space, Do-astronauts stepped foot on the moon.

You can't rest on the past - "it's always worked for us" takes you on the road to nowhere. Open up and allow staff to participate in these standards. It will make them feel more a part of the organization. Who has the most first-hand information? Frontline staff. A lot of their motivation comes from knowing that they're valued.

In the book "The Disney Way", by Bill Capodiagli and Lynn Jackson, they list the 10 concepts that are at the heart of the Disney standards:

• Give every member of your organization a chance to dream, and tap into the creativity those dreams embody.
• Stand firm on your beliefs and principles.
• Treat your customers like guests.
• Support, empower, and reward employees.
• Build long-term relationships with key suppliers and partners.
• Dare to take calculated risks in order to bring innovative ideas to fruition.
• Train extensively and constantly reinforce the company's culture.
• Align long-term vision with short-term execution.
• Use the storyboarding technique to solve planning and communication problems.
• Pay close attention to detail.

Now these are the standards that Disney follows. But you can't BE Disney. Every organization needs to have their own unique brand and identity. Gain an understanding of these standards as they apply to your business, gather your supervisors and managers, and put them to work.

Develop an organizational culture and mission that's open to change, with Dreams (ideas) coming from all levels of the organization. Talk about motivating! If you take a look at the most successful organizations today, you'll find that staff participation is a major reason for their success. Look at Disney today and remember, "it all started with a mouse".

Developmental Training

Walt Disney once said, "The growth and development of the Walt Disney Company is directly related to the growth and development of its human resources - our cast". This is true in ANY organization. Think about it. Where would you be without your employees?

Just to put someone through orientation (one of my sore spots) and train them on their job is not enough. In order for them to perform at their best, training must be functional, complete, and on-going. Developmental training needs to be given top billing. It's an essential investment in your employee's future. Without it, how do you expect them to get better? How do they become leaders, or better leaders?

You can't sit on the bubble for years saying, 'we should be doing developmental training'. By the time you finally get around to it, it's usually to late - at least for the employee's you currently have. Habits have set in. When I first joined the Navy, it was near the beginning of the "kindler, gentler Navy". The "in your face" days were on the downswing and being replaced by 'would you do this' and 'please' - and even providing explanations (gasp). ALOT of the old-timers resisted and I even know some that ended up retiring just because they couldn't stand it anymore.

To many organizations developmental training means sculpting for leadership. If you subscribe to this type of belief then you're wasting a valuable resource - your front-line. Everyone must be included. There is a plethora of training out there. Google "soft skill training" and you'll find numerous places that will give corporate discounts for groups of online courses. Everything from customer service to computer skills to communication and time-management. But remember, just providing this type of training isn't quite enough. You need to set up some type of recognition for completing courses. This provides motivation to go even farther.

With development training investment, you'll see improved retention because it shows employees that you're taking an interest in their future, cost savings (caused by retention), higher quality output and even strengthened customer service. Learning causes positive habits which benefits both the individual and the organization.

Now don't you think it's time for you to recognize this win-win program? You won't be sorry.

BusyWork

Busywork, as opposed to busy AT work, is a habit that all supervisors, and all employees, should watch out for. Yes, I've fallen victim to it just as much as the next guy. And I tell you what - at the end of the day I feel like I've just wasted 8 hours of my life or someone elses.

Merriam-Webster defines busywork as: "work that usually appears productive or of intrinsic value but actually only keeps one occupied". Busywork is when you feel as if the work you're doing is useless or unproductive. It's usually done just to occupy time.

In a lot of jobs there's often a higher focus on activity rather than results. Giving people menial tasks to perform only bores people and actually causes them discomfort in their job. If you're giving people things to do just so they have "things to do", chances are they see that and probably feel less than essential. Supervisors will give employees things to do in order to keep them occupied so they themselves can concentrate on other things and not be bothered. I've seen this type of busywork backfire many times. The employee sees exactly what the supervisor is doing so he/she gets the work done as quickly as possible so the supervisor has to keep coming up with more "things to do". Talk about a time waster.

If you're in a position where employees are often needing additional tasks, do them - and yourself - a big favor. Make up a list ahead of time and constantly keep it updated. Put some some thought into it and come up with some "busywork" that actually adds value to the day/business/organization. Not only will the employee feel better about their job and their worth, but you'll feel that much more successful yourself.

MBWA Revisited

Since I first got into TQM while stationed at Naval Hospital Orlando back in the early 90's, I've been a great proponent of Tom Peters' Management by Walking Around (MBWA). The whole idea revolves around getting out of your office, cube farm, etc and walking amongst your staff. There is no better way to get a real picture of what's actually going on in the "trenches". By getting a first hand look at the atmosphere you can actually head off potential problems before they happen, or get the opportunity to reward someone as they do something good.

Most employees won't go to their managers with problems - they just go to other employees. This is in no way a productive, motivating way of business. In MBWA the supervisor is "around" so employees don't have to go out of their way to find them. Talk to employees and find out their feelings and ideas. Let them know that their input is encouraged and appreciated. This is not a spying mission.

A lot of supervisors just don't like to get out among the troops, but the benefits of just walking around strongly outweigh the "inconvenience" of it. The thing that you, as the supervisor, must expect is - da-da-da - honest feedback. But if you make MBWA a routine part of your day - every day - you'll find that suspicions will go away and productive honesty will increase.

Check out Tom Peters. He's been around awhile but his ideas are still highly relevant http://www.tompeters.com/. Mr. Peters' books In Search of Excellence and The Pursuit of WOW! are still on my best-read list.

Restaurant Service

I had such a great customer service experience this weekend I just have to share it. My wife and I went to Buffalo Beach http://www.buffalobeachbros.com/ in Virginia Beach this weekend. This is a "family-friendly spin on the sports bar and grill". We'd been there once before and really enjoyed the atmosphere AND the food. Judy ordered the Caesar Salad with chicken. When it was brought to the table some of the chicken was pretty burnt. They were very busy, so we understand "stuff" happens. About a minute later our beverages were brought over and we asked for the dish to be taken back - we didn't realize it was the bartender, not a waitress. Without hesitating or looking for the waitress, she apologized and took the dish to the kitchen. In the next 5-10 minutes, both the bartender and our waitress stopped by at least once to ask if they could do anything else - all with a smile - every time. They seemed so dedicated to making sure that we were happy with our dining experience.

I was so impressed with these two that I asked to talk to a manager. The person who came to the table actually happened to be one of the the owners, Steve. I told him how we appreciated their staff's concern and smiles and that it was because of their service (and the atmosphere and the FANTASTIC food) that we'll continue to come back.

It's opportunities like this that staff have to kick it into a different gear. If handled wrong, this could have easily turned into a "we won't be back" situation. I like to tell people about good restaurants we've been to and the better the service, the higher the praise. Four thumbs up to Buffalo Beach!

To Smile or Not to Smile

Donald Trump wrote in his blog this week that "a German scientist has proven that people forced to smile and take on-the-job insults suffer long-lasting stress that may harm their health". C'mon now. Is this really something that today's business leaders need a study to prove?

Any descent leader - at any level - should know that if someone is 'mentally abused' and forced to keep their feelings inside by masking them, they're going to be miserable. In order to be a successful leader, you must always be open to the feelings of your employees and counterparts. This is basic damage control. You wouldn't abuse your vehicle and expect it to consistently give you its best would you? Then why would you do that with a human-being - and a colleague at that.

Employees shouldn't need to be babied. They shouldn't need to have their hands held. And you surely shouldn't hold back from expressing your displeasure with someone. What you should do is watch the temper. Insulting and yelling does not cause motivation. It's just the opposite. Sure the person may then turn around and give you a better product. But how long do you think that's going to last? How long do you think they're going to last. I've known people, and I'm sure you have to, that have left great jobs at wonderful companies ONLY because of their leader. You'll find that most people quit their boss, not their job.

So take a deep breath and rethink your response the next time you want to tear into someone. You might just be saving their job - or their life.

Attention To Detail

I recently had a conversation with someone about how attention to detail affects customers. Staff's attention to detail may not be noticed by customers. But you know - that may be the best outcome. That's where I remembered a couple of great attention to detail examples.

Take Walt Disney World (WDW) for example. Most people have been there or Disneyland at least at some point in their lives - or have seen pictures. Think about when you first come into Main Street and walk down the sidewalks. Have you ever noticed the hitching posts? Most everyone I've ever asked say they haven't noticed them. Is that good or bad? In a way, it's good. What would cause you to notice? Knicks, scuffs, chips in paint. The good people at Disney realize just that. That's why the hitching posts are painted EVERY night. They'd rather have you NOT notice them then to notice that they're all scuffed up. That's attention to detail.

Being a Disney fan I have another good example. One of their most extraordinary exhibits is the Hall of Presidents. Anyone who's the LEAST BIT interested in the history of our great country would enjoy it. Anyway, that's where they have life size replica's of all of the U.S. Presidents on a stage where a number of them talk to you. Pretty cool - and perfectly lifelike.

We all know (most of us) that Franklin D. Roosevelt had polio. That meant that he wore braces on his legs. What I bet you don't know is that if you were to lift the pant legs on FDR in the Hall of Presidents that you would find - a complete set of braces on his legs. You can't see them otherwise. It's all about accuracy.

Attention to detail makes the difference.

Employee Orientation

Formal orientation programs should be something that is constantly looked at. Orientation can either make or break a new employee. I've actually known of people who have quit their new job because of orientation. Orientation quite often shows a direct correlation to your organizations overall training system. If orientation is unbearable . . . chances are so are the rest of your training programs.

Organizations normally want to get their new employees up to full productivity as soon as possible. That means cramming all of the new employee material into a reduced amount of time. Bad news. If employees are immediately overwhelmed with information that they probably won't remember anyway, there's no way they'll be able to contribute effectively to the team or be able to give quality customer service. If they're taught right off the bat to get through as fast as possible, then that's the way they'll approach the job from there on in.

If you have a number of things that need to be taught, keep to the basics. Cut out the "nice to know stuff". Give more time and repetition to critical information. The human brain can only hold on to so much new information. Overload it and it shuts down.

Facilitators also hold a very important role for orientation. These are some of the first people that the new employee will meet. Make sure they're enthusiastic, personable, and can project a positive perception about the organization. Without these characteristics bad attitudes could begin right here.

Remember - orientation is another type of welcome to your new employee. Make it count just as you would with a customer.

The Home Depot - Building Family

A fellow employee (we'll call her Reaper - from the TV show) recently took on a part-time job at The Home Depot (THD). After a few days of hearing her talk to different people about her early experiences I thought, 'hey, this sounds like a place that cares'. So, I had to check it out. From what I found, I wish more companies would take a cue from THDs Values http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/Values.

The number one Value on a list of eight is Taking care of our people. The thing that really intrigued me is that this goes right along with the things that she's been describing. THD doesn't just talk it - they walk it. The description begins by saying, "The key to our success is treating people well." I'll say a million times over - if you treat your employees well, they WILL provide better customer service. Excellent customer service is number five on THDs list of Values. It can be that low because of the focus on their own people. Excellent customer service will come naturally.

The second part of Taking care of our people says, "We do this by encouraging associates to speak up and take risks, by recognizing and rewarding good performance and by leading and developing people so they may grow." I'm getting excited here. Encourage employees to be a part of the company, not just a warm (for most people) body to put on the sales floor. Allow them to develop. Reaper told me about the incentives they get for learning about the different areas of the store. The more areas they learn about, the more they get. In this case it's monetary, but incentives come in an abundant amount of possibilities. Check out Incentives Magazine http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/publications/incentive.jsp.

Another Value that caught my eye - actually made me go oooooo - is number seven, Entrepreneurial spirit. "The Home Depot associates are encouraged to initiate creative and innovative ways of serving our customers and improving the business and to spread best practices throughout the company." This is the epitome of employee empowerment. THD has specific overall guidelines, I'm sure. But to be able to do your job without the constant fear of being told 'you're wrong, it should have been done this way', employees can be more open and service oriented with customers.

The whole theme here is to make employees part of the company. With that comes happiness, dedication and sincere customer service.

Easy Diversion

A little fun heartfelt recognition for employee's can be so easy and cheap. It can even spark creativity. How many companies have little or no immediate recognition program? Quite a few I'm willing to bet. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant or expensive. You don't need trophies, or gift cards, or big productions. It can be as simple and cheap as a white board and a couple of markers. One of the best types of recognition comes from peers. Put up a white board in an area that's highly traveled (hallway, break room, time clock, etc) and let them have at it. When a co-worker has done something extra or over-the-top on any particular day, peers can jot it down for everyone to see. As a supervisor, you'll see things here that you would never have heard about otherwise.

The white board form of recognition not only recognizes the individual or team, but also serves to motivate others to better themselves and their work so that maybe they'll get the chance to see their name(s) on the board. A caution though - keep an eye on the board to be sure that it doesn't become a bitch n moan board instead.

One thing I will say over and over again when it comes to any type of employee "program", - if you start it, keep it going. It's not enough just to begin it. It WILL die an agonizing death.