Is Your Sales Team Capable of Long Term Success?

As I look back over the past 13 years in my recruiting experience, the one question I am most often asked is “What are the keys to helping sales people stay focused, engaged and successful long term?”

This is a very good question that is sometimes very difficult to answer, as there are many moving parts to the success equation for sales professionals.

Most people consider key skill areas such as those listed below to be critical for success in sales:

• prospecting
• cold calling
• lead generation
• skills
• negotiating skills
• good questions
• being a good listener
• being a “good closer”

The problems is that many good sales people who excel in many of these areas still over time break down, lose their focus and firepower and get out of the game prematurely.

Why is this?

The light bulb went off in my head last summer.

In 2009, as I was training to break a world record in long distance swimming.  As an endurance athlete, I have seen many parallels between what it takes to train and perform at very high levels of athletics and what it takes to be successful as a sales person and stay successful long term.  Principles such as focus, repetition, efficiency, discipline and good coaching are ones that are more obvious.

Let me set the stage to explain:  In October of 2008, I decided to take a shot at breaking the world record for the longest distance swum non stop in a pool, which I learned was 101km (about 63 miles).  I train in what is called a Masters Swim group.  To give you an idea of distance and difficulty, a normal workout is about 1hr and 15 min and covers about 4,000 meters.  Most triathletes and people I train with do this workout about 4 times a week for a weekly total distance of about 15,000-18,000 meters per week.  To achieve my goal, I was swimming about 70,000 meters per week which averaged about 4-4.5 hrs per day in the water, 6 days a week.  I did this for about 8 months to prepare for the record.  By the way, this distance is what Olympians do to train for gold medal performances.  The most common question I got was, “how can you do this and not get bored or go crazy?”  The answer is that I built my “Staying Power” by discovering what my “Optimal Rhythmic Zone” was and staying in this zone.

Let me explain more clearly what this zone is and how it relates to sales people staying successful.  One’s Optimal Rhythmic Zone is a particular pattern and speed of activity that is pertinent to each person’s ability and current condition.  That speed of activity is defined as not being too slow, as you need a certain amount of speed to keep momentum and a rhythmic pattern of activity, and it is not too fast, as you can not burn your fuel at too high of a rate or you will run out long before the race is over.  Think of a car burning gasoline at its most efficient point.  If the car goes too slow, you don’t get optimal gas mileage, as the car engine is running too long covering a given distance.  On the other hand, it is not too fast, as the rate of consumption relative to the distance covered is too high.  That is why it is often stated as somewhere around 50-60 mph is optimal for maximum fuel efficiency.  This would be the car’s optimal rhythmic zone.

Transition to sales people.  I will contend that if a sales person is going to be successful and stay successful for the long haul, it is imperative that a sales manager help each of their sales people to really identify each person’s Optimal Rhythmic Zone and manager their activity relative to that number translated into selling activity.  For each of 10 sales people, those zones may all be different.  That is OK.  Only when a sales person is operating in this zone can they operate efficiently and then make progress in realistic increments and stay successful for the long haul.

Check and see if  your hiring methodology is in the zone of attracting top performers. Download our FREE Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to get yours.

When was the last time you and your team assessed your culture. Take our Culture Quiz and see if your team all describe the culture the same way. CLICK HERE to download the quiz.

LinkedIN is a powerful tool for hiring top talent. Join our Hire and Retain Top Talent Group. There is a wealth of articles and discussions for you there. CLICK HERE to join.

Mike Pierce

Hiring Top Talent – Determining A Cultural Fit – Audio Recording

The number one reason candidates fail in their brand new job is that they cannot deliver your expected results. The second reason is that they cannot adapt to your unique culture and environment. Adapting to your culture must be measured to ensure a successful hire. Unfortunately, measuring the ability to adapt to your culture is one of those items everyone talks about, but is not sure how to do it effectively. In this Audio Program, Barry and Brad break down the specific tactics on how to measure whether a candidate can replicate their past accomplishments and achievements in your unique culture.on.

To download or listen to the recording CLICK HERE, then scroll down to the recording

Preparing Your Organization Now For The Recovery: How to Tap into Your Best Resource Part 2

“The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.” La Rochefoucauld

In part one, we focused on issues that come up with communication and we will delve further into this complex subject. We knew one organization that placed a very high performing accounting coordinator into a sales role. This person was very unhappy and ended up leaving the company. If they would have simply recognized the skills and desires of the individual, they would not have lost a top performer. If someone is a troubleshooter, let them troubleshoot. If someone is in need of a process then strive to provide that for them. If someone is very creative then tap into it; otherwise, they could feel unchallenged and bored. When we strive to understand people’s strengths and manage accordingly, we then set them up for success. Use the information you gathered during the interview process, reference checking, and an in-depth work style and personality assessment to gain deeper insight for how to effectively work together.

A Success Story

One final story. An organization with a customer service department was not meeting the volume level they had set for inbound calls. The manager blamed the reps and identified them as “C” players. Later, this manager was placed in a different department and a new manager was brought in. This person sat down with each individual and then with the whole group. The manager utilized information collected from in-depth work style and personality assessments of the team to understand the team members.

As a team, they discovered that within twenty-four hours of delivery, calls were coming in to inquire about the time of the delivery and additional questions about the product. The team brainstormed ideas of how to reduce the inbound questions so that they could take new order calls. Together they came up with a simple idea of providing updates to the customer regarding the delivery as well as creating an information page for the typical product/delivery questions. The call volume changed dramatically. The team members were later asked why these ideas had not been suggested in the past. The response was very simple—no one had ever asked them. They had been reprimanded for lack of performance rather then asking for their input in order to solve the problem. The results were improved productivity, performance, and job satisfaction, since they now had an environment that invited participation and teamwork.

Discover Your Leadership Style

To find out what your leadership style is, you can take a quick leadership assessment by clicking on this link:

http://www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com/LeadershipTest.php

It is a very helpful tool for managers, supervisors and team members to complete and discuss with their team.

Action Items

The following are some action items to consider:

1. Contact Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to learn how you can use an in-depth work style and personality assessment for the hiring process, staff development, and personal growth (www.lighthouseconsulting.com).
2. Utilize the information gathered from in-depth work style and personality assessments to manage more effectively. This will in turn reduce the learning curve for on-boarding and help to better understand the individuals that you work with.
3. Place yourself and others in positions that take advantage of strengths to ensure success.
4. Be clear with expectations, listen carefully and paraphrase when something seems to be an obstacle for the person.
5. Take the time to mentor people to succeed through empathic understanding of how they might approach an opportunity or challenge, and work together to build a common bridge. You can learn more about in-depth work style and personality assessments and how to incorporate them into a hiring and staff development process for your organization by visiting our website, www.lighthouseconsulting.com. There you can sign up for our Keeping on Track publication that provides monthly proactive articles.

Is your hiring methodology designed to attract top talent. If you want to assess the quality of your hiring process download a free copy of our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to download.

You should also join our Hiring and Retaining Top Talent group on Linkedin. There are many great articles and discussions on  hiring. CLICK HERE to join.

Author’s Bio

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO and Ellen Borowka, MA, COO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC have over 25 years experience in the area of business and human behavioral consulting. They have been helping organizations both nationally and internationally in raising the hiring bar through using in-depth work style assessments.  They are nationally renowned speakers and radio personalities on this topic. They have built a well recognized organization that provides expert interpretation of in-depth work style assessments during the hiring process, providing a variety of workshops and assisting those with communication challenges. They are authors of the book, “Cracking the Personality Code”. To order the book, please go to www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA  90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services, including in-depth personality assessments for new hires & staff development, team building, interpersonal & communication training, conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee coaching.

Preparing Your Organization Now For The Recovery: How to Tap into Your Best Resource Part 1

“The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.” La Rochefoucauld

Communication has come so far over the years. In less than a split second, we can send emails to thirty different people around the world and everyone will receive the same data. Yet the most difficult challenge that can cost organizations thousands if not millions of dollars is still miscommunication in interpersonal exchanges. It’s amazing that this one area has not changed in thousands of years. One could say to a group, “Think of a whale.” Everyone in the room will have a different vision of a whale in their mind’s eye. Similarly, the occasion for a misunderstanding can occur easily when someone is sharing an idea or giving an assignment.

A lack of loyalty and connection to an organization can develop if people feel misunderstood or not valued. This can result in turnover and the loss of top talent. We are often contacted by individuals who have graduated from top schools, have a good job history, and are looking for career guidance. When they are asked why they are looking to leave their current position, we usually hear that they do not feel valued, engaged, or appreciated. They are typically high-level performers, and the loss to their employers is costly. If organizations take time to simply manage individuals according to their needs rather than just treating them like a mechanical part, then these star performers probably would not have the need to look for other opportunities.

Each of us is a valuable part of the whole, and we need to develop an empathic company culture in order to open lines of communication for creative contribution. That leads to engagement of ideas and respect so individuals feel that they can participate in a vision. Developing a supportive environment that encourages mentoring will create opportunities for knowledge to be shared with the various generations. Additionally, this provides a creative foundation for new and exciting processes, products, and services.

Cracking the Interpersonal Communication Code

But where to begin? How do we crack the interpersonal communication code? First, include others on your team or in your department in the discussion and ask the following questions:

• What is an area of your interpersonal communication that is not working as well as you would like?
• Have you seen this come up before? Give an example.
• What would the ideal outcome look like?
• What are you doing that is not working?
• What are you doing that is working?

Next, analyze the answers and look for patterns. Now you can start to develop an action plan. Be sure to utilize information from an in-depth work style and personality assessment as described in Chapter 5 that provides the eight ways to gain true insight into personality. This knowledge will illuminate a more effective way to communicate, encourage greater engagement of individuals, and contribute to creating respect, loyalty, and appreciation. The end results: enhanced retention, performance, and positive word of mouth for attracting top talent.

Over the next 10 to 30 years, finding qualified people is going to get more difficult with a predominantly maturing population. Retention of top people will be more important than ever, and positioning your organization for recruitment purposes is vital. People talk and reputations get developed very quickly through the Internet and word of mouth. How your organization communicates within itself is a good indication of how it communicates to the outside world. Putting people in the “right” position will lead to greater job satisfaction and success.

Is your hiring methodology designed to attract top talent. If you want to assess the quality of your hiring process download a free copy of our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to download.

You should also join our Hiring and Retaining Top Talent group on Linkedin. There are many great articles and discussions on  hiring. CLICK HERE to join.

Author’s Bio

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO and Ellen Borowka, MA, COO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC have over 25 years experience in the area of business and human behavioral consulting. They have been helping organizations both nationally and internationally in raising the hiring bar through using in-depth work style assessments.  They are nationally renowned speakers and radio personalities on this topic. They have built a well recognized organization that provides expert interpretation of in-depth work style assessments during the hiring process, providing a variety of workshops and assisting those with communication challenges. They are authors of the book, “Cracking the Personality Code”. To order the book, please go to www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA  90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services, including in-depth personality assessments for new hires & staff development, team building, interpersonal & communication training, conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee coaching.

The roast beef story . . .

A newly married couple was beginning their first Sunday meal preparation. The young woman began preparing a wonderful roast of beef while the man was preparing the vegetables. As they worked, the man noticed that the wife sliced off both ends of the roast and then rolled it in spiced flour. Curious, he asked, “Why did you do that?” “Do what?” “Slice the ends off the roast,” he responded, “Does that make it juicier or something?”

“Well, I don’t really know. Mom always does that when she cooks a roast.” So they called her mother and were amused to hear that she also didn’t know why the ends should be cut off the roast. It turns out it was because “your Grandmother always did that and so I do too.” Of course they called Grandmother and heard a hearty laugh when they asked her “why do we always cut the ends off the roast of beef before cooking it?” After Grandmother got control of her laughter, she exclaimed, “I can’t believe you guys are doing that! The only reason I did that in the early years is because your Grandfather and I had only one roasting pan and it was too small for a roast big enough to feed us all.”

How many things are we doing in our businesses that are no longer necessary, no longer efficiently done or are downright damaging to our processes because “that’s the way we’ve always done it?” Do you have a practice of reviewing all of your processes from time-to-time to make sure that they are needed, effective and efficient?

Here’s something to consider in both your personal and business life. Implement a practice of annually or twice a year sitting down and thinking about what you will “Stop,” “Start,” and “Continue” doing from that point forward. Pay special attention to what you will stop doing. As employees, we often will fight this practice since we worry that if we don’t have to do something, then our employers won’t need us. Especially now, with the reduction in force that most companies have experienced, it is critical that we unburden the remaining employees by making it mandatory that they find tasks they can stop doing without jeopardizing customer service. As employees, we need to embrace the concept that we can add value by eliminating unnecessary or less than critical work.

Be ruthless in stopping less than critical work. Be stingy about what you decide to start doing. Make sure the new tasks are goal achieving, effective and integrated efficiently with the rest of the system. And celebrate what you decide to continue doing – that means (hopefully) that those tasks are critical to success, effective and efficient.

Is your culture one of team work and does everyone in your company agree? Have them take our Company Cultural Assessment. CLICK HERE to download your assessment.

Is  your hiring methodology designed to attract top talent and weed out those candidates that embellish? You can download our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard and find out. CLICK HERE to download.

About the author

Dave Kinnear is a sought after Business Advisor and Mentor. He works with highly successful executives through one-to-one mentoring and coaching meetings. Individuals who are presently running successful businesses and executives in transition work with Dave to ensure meeting corporate and/or career goals. Through his affiliation with Vistage International, Dave convenes and facilitates Advisory Boards comprising Business Owners, Company Presidents and Chief Executives dedicated to becoming better leaders who make better decisions and achieve better results.

Loyalty . . . to what?

I’m reminded, from time-to-time, of the inequality of expectations between employees and employers with respect to employment. Especially in the small to mid-sized businesses, the owners are often frustrated with employees who do not seem to put effort into the business. They don’t have a sense of “ownership.” Well, that’s because they aren’t owners, and usually aren’t treated as owners.

On the employee side, they feel that it’s quite alright for them to give two weeks notice if they get a better offer elsewhere, but at the same time seem to think that as long as they want to stay, they should be able to do so. If the employer lets them go (for whatever reason), they feel that somehow it is unfair. Of course, this is not true of all employees nor do all business owners despair over employees not acting as if the company is their own. However, there does seem to be anecdotal data to back up my perceptions.

This situation first came to my attention many years ago as I worked in the semiconductor industry. We had facilities in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale and San Jose). I often heard managers complaining that employees were more than willing to leave for a slight raise and join another company. It seemed to be easy to do in the valley and it seemed to be true; and it made me wonder. So I started asking some questions of the engineers, marketers and sales people who left our company and those still with us. The picture became a bit clearer. It seems that there was a lot of loyalty – but the loyalty was to a particular product line or architecture rather than a company. So if I considered myself a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) kind of guy, I would go where all the exciting things were happening in that field. Likewise if I considered myself a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) person. If I was skilled and excited about one architecture and the company began to emphasize the other, I eventually left to find another employer in line with my talents and passions. This kind of “loyalty to a concept” was even more prevalent in the software and Internet companies.

So managers needed to change the context in which they interpreted the content of their experience with respect to “loyal employees.” If an engineer or sales person believed in a certain product or architecture and we began to de-emphasize that particular product, then we could expect to see folks leave for greener pastures. On the other hand, if we kept pushing the envelope and introduced new products and improvements to existing products, then our employees were “loyal” and mostly content.

Discovering this different view of loyalty led to some insights that served some divisions very well. As long as they were able to stay at the leading edge of product development, they kept the best employees. They found that salary and other monetary rewards were not the biggest motivators. They had to be competitive, but by and large, it was an exciting environment in product development that the employees appreciated and which kept them happy and inspired.

So as we work our way out of this recession and employees begin feeling as though employment changes are possible, how will you hold on to your key players? Do you know what your employees are loyal to? Since they don’t own the company, it likely isn’t the company itself that inspires them. They may be grateful for the company and the employment it provides, but what are they really passionate about?

Is your culture one of team work and does everyone in your company agree? Have them take our Company Cultural Assessment. CLICK HERE to download your assessment.

Is  your hiring methodology designed to attract top talent and weed out those candidates that embellish? You can download our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard and find out. CLICK HERE to download.

About the author

Dave Kinnear is a sought after Business Advisor and Mentor. He works with highly successful executives through one-to-one mentoring and coaching meetings. Individuals who are presently running successful businesses and executives in transition work with Dave to ensure meeting corporate and/or career goals. Through his affiliation with Vistage International, Dave convenes and facilitates Advisory Boards comprising Business Owners, Company Presidents and Chief Executives dedicated to becoming better leaders who make better decisions and achieve better results.

Is Your Organization Going To Make It To 2010 and Beyond? Part 1

If the question above is keeping you up at night, we have some ideas for you to consider and implement so that your organization will not only make it through the current storm but will thrive well into the future!  You’ll know by reading this article if your ship is heading towards the rocks, towards the open sea, or on a clear course to your destination.

Think for a moment about the various components of a boat that are needed in order to keep it afloat and heading in the intended direction.  Observe how they compare to your organization.

Components of a Seafaring Vessel

Hull – Need to have a structure that can endure and thrive in the elements.

Fuel – The energy needed to move the vessel forward and towards its destination.

Crew – The crew will either make sure the ship reaches its destination in a timely manner or cause it to go off course or cause an incident that could result in loss of resources.

The Changing Environment

Water is the most unstable surface on our planet.  No matter how much planning a business does, a rogue wave can come along and cause havoc. This might be changes in the market, unhappy clients, distribution channels, technology, financial, etc.  Preparation can only go so far, yet if your organization has one key ingredient you’ll be able to survive and thrive beyond your wildest dreams.

Key Ingredient to Thrive

The answer always comes back to having the right crew on board.  It all begins with the selection process, mentoring and staff development.  If this is done correctly, or you have the right people with potential for growth, you’ll not only make it through to 2010… you’ll also be ready to ride the wave of 2011 and beyond!  Let’s take a look at how this works.

By having the right crew on board, you’ll have:

• Contributors – That will help the ship reach its course through innovation, ingenuity, timely fulfillment of tasks, follow through, etc.
• Happy customers – They’ll keep coming back due to the outstanding service and quality of the product.
• Happy employees – They’ll go the extra mile for the organization and its customers.  This also leads to positive word of mouth that can attract top talent.
• Open Minded Culture – Problem solving is the key to anticipate needs, deal with weather changes, being open to adapting to the environment.
• Profitability – You’ll meet your organization’s goal and objective where everyone is rewarded for doing a great job and your organization will be able to continue to provide services and products with the opportunity to visit other destinations in the future.

An organization can build a sturdy ship, but without the right people behind the scenes it won’t leave port. All of this starts with the captain of the ship and with its officers.  If they select the correct crew up front, they know the job will get done correctly, in a timely manner and the work can be trusted.  Can you trust that your crew will do their job not only correctly but in a timely manner? Do they also contribute ideas for further improvement so you can get the maximum value from each individual?

If the answer is “I’m not sure” then your answer may be reflective of the future survival of your vessel.  Every organization must have all hands on deck with crew members that are excited and grateful to be aboard and have the ability to perform the best they can.

A Whale of a Tale for Teamwork

A manager once had an outstanding team but always told everyone what to do.  This person didn’t listen, didn’t ask questions, demanded a higher level of volume without asking if the organization could handle it and created a closed environment. Over time things started to slip through the cracks, customers were not getting the attention they needed, sales slipped,  people started to leave and the organization began to develop a bad reputation where recruitment became a problem.  Upper management stepped in and started to ask the team members for their feedback.  It turned out that the manager was not a good fit for that position and was transitioned into another department.  When the new manager was selected, it was based not only on experience but also the ability to work with others.  They learned that it is vital to understand a person’s work style and how they interact with others in order to have a high performing team.  If just one person isn’t “playing well in the sandbox” the effects can ruin a brand and effect sales and future growth of an organization. You can gather additional ideas for working with your current and future crew members by reading Cracking The Personality Code. To order this book, go to: www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com.

Is your culture one of team work and does everyone in your company agree? Have them take our Company Cultural Assessment. CLICK HERE to download your assessment.

Is  your hiring methodology designed to attract top talent and weed out those candidates that embellish? You can download our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard and find out. CLICK HERE to download.

Author’s Bio

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC has over 25 years experience in the area of business consulting and helping organizations both nationally and internationally in raising the hiring bar through using in-depth work style assessments.  Dana is a nationally recognized speaker on this topic and has built a well recognized organization that provides expert interpretation of in-depth work style assessments during the hiring process, providing a variety of workshops and assisting those with communication challenges. He is the co-author of the book, “Cracking the Personality Code”.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA  90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our Website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com. Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services, including in-depth personality assessments for new hires & staff development, team building, interpersonal & communication training, conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee coaching.

Retaining Top Talent With Non-Monetary Rewards Part 2

Part One listed four of seven things companies can do to retain their top talent without spending a lot or giving increases in compensation.

The first four from Part One are:

1) Verbal Praise

2) Achievement Awards

3) Learning and Development

4) Fun and Recreation Events

Each of these can be done at the department or company level.  Each demonstrates a culture that rewards people for outstanding effort, provides a positive culture, and a culture that signals respect for the employee.

The last three are:

5) Company Wide Attention This is a step up from department rewards and recognition. This is at the company level. It is great to be honored or recognized by one’s boss, however, when it is by the CEO or at a company level it is a completely different experience. Examples include, recognition in the company newsletter or on its Website, the up front parking space, a picture on the Wall of Fame, recognition at the annual staff meeting, a medal of distinction, any seemingly small thing for exceptional performance, for performing beyond the call of duty or an event that demonstrates extra effort.

It is often these small things that have the biggest and lasting impact.

6) Impactful and Meaningful Work This is one of the biggest reasons top talent contact executive recruiters. Top talent must be constantly challenged. They want to know what is expected of them. When clear direction is consistently lacking, they become frustrated and disengage. However, when top talent have a target to hit they will not only engage but strive to hit the bull’s eye.

Giving your best people additional  challenges doesn’t mean you have to constantly be expanding their responsibilities. There is a lot of  ground between saying, “That is your job and that is all there is.” to time-to-time challenging them with a special project, taking something off of your desk and giving it to them, allowing them to serve on an ad hoc project, stretching them with some strategic thinking, or involving them in an inter-department project. We find that all it takes is as little as 5% of top talent’s time to be focused on impactful and meaningful work to make a difference.

7) Feedback This seems so obvious but many managers fail to do it. This is not the “good job” feedback discussed earlier. This feedback is at a much higher level. This is feedback that all top talent want and few get. This is what we call, 1-2-1 time. These sessions can be as short as 20 minutes a month. These 1-2-1 sessions focus on their growth, on improvement, build rapport, show genuine interest by the manager, and give time to demonstrate a personal interest in that individual. In our experience, when a manager takes the opportunity to conduct a 1-2-1 on a regular basis, the employee feels a part of the organization. They have the opportunity to be involved in the department, they can give and get feedback, participate, and be heard by their supervisor.

The 1-2-1 can be one of the most powerful experiences for an employee and their supervisor and it can be done in just 20 minutes a month.

Doing one or all of these seven things can dramatically impact your department or organization. In these difficult times any one of these will cement the loyalty of those top performers to you and your company. They will stand by you in difficult times and excel in great times.

Do you have a culture of performance and feedback? To evaluate your culture, download our free Culture Assessment Worksheet.  See if everyone in your company would describe your company culture the same. CLICK HERE to download.

Is your hiring process effective at attracting, hiring and retaining top talent? You can do a self assessment of your hiring methodology by downloading our 8 Point Hiring Methodology Self Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to download.

If you have an idea that we missed I welcome your input and comments.

Brad Remillard

Retaining Top Talent With Non-Monetary Rewards Part 1

As a recruiter for almost thirty years, I have interviewed and spoken with thousands of candidates.  More often than not, compensation isn’t the reason we are able to get them interested in a new opportunity. Most of the time compensation is a secondary concern. In fact, both myself and my partner, Barry Deutsch, have a long standing policy that if compensation is the issue, we will not work with them.

With our candidates, their primary concern is focused on non-monetary issues. Most of the time it evolves around their boss or the company. This is not to say compensation isn’t important to them, but it isn’t the primary motivator to listen to a recruiter.

The reverse is also true. When potential candidates decide not to listen to a potential opportunity, it usually isn’t because they feel they are overpaid and that no other company will pay them as much. Rather it is generally that they have a great relationship with their boss and love working at the company.

After listening to so many potential candidates turn us down because they were so happy working where they are, we have come up with 7 things  these companies consistently do to create a culture that retains their talent. You don’t have to do all of these, but if you aren’t doing any of them you might want to reconsider.

1) Verbal Praise - These companies give what we call, “Standing Ovations” for outstanding performance. They take the time to recognize when someone goes above and beyond the call of duty. They also give praise  or even a simple thanks when someone does a good job. This is sincere praise and thanks, not just given as a matter of fact.  The contrast is a culture in which the employee’s performance  is viewed as, “just doing their job” or “isn’t that what we pay them to do.”

2) Achievement Awards – Another form of praise. These achievement awards are earned. It is not about sooner or later everyone will get one, so everybody feels good. That loses all of their meaning and significance. These awards take different forms in different companies. Some examples include a reserved parking space, employee of the month, a trophy prominently displayed in the person’s office, certificates, mention in the company newsletter, a pin handed out by the CEO, lunch with the CEO and executive team, take a break and cake on Friday afternoon, etc.  The important point is that the employees appreciate the recognition and don’t take it for granted.

3)  Learning and Development – Top performers want to continue to learn and develop their skills. Does your company encourage on-going learning for your employees? This might include giving them some time off to attend classes, bringing a topic expert in to speak to a group, allowing them to attend a workshop, have an on-line training program they can complete, or encouraging involvement in professional association and trade associations. These types of programs generally don’t take a lot of time or can be performed outside of working hours and the ROI to the company can be huge.

4) Fun and Recreational Events – My daughter works for a private university. They recognize that they don’t pay at the industry level. They overcome this in many ways, but one way is that either her department or the administrative team will do some fun thing that takes an hour or two. Some examples include, a putting contest in the office, a picnic at the park for lunch,one time her department took off an hour early to go see the filming of the Tonight Show, they went bowling during lunch time, they will take a few minutes late in the day and play a game of charades or Pictionary, etc. These are just fun things that make it a great place to work. To the workers this is worth making a few dollars less because they enjoy the people and their efforts are recognized.

Part 2 will cover the final three non-monetary rewards you can do to retain your best talent.

A free audio recording from our radio show that discusses these in more detail is available on our Web site. CLICK HERE to download a copy.

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If this article was helpful to you, please pass it on to others so they can also benefit. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

The Silence is Deafening

Have you ever noticed that organizational change initiatives are sometimes “sabotaged” by objections about which you had no clue? All of a sudden, out of the “clear blue sky,” comes a storm of reasons why a particular change can’t be made. They all seem pretty trivial. What’s behind them? When you ask, the silence is deafening.

Have you identified the topics that are “off limits” in your organization? It’s highly unlikely that you are without them. In their recent book, Reframing Change, Latting and Ramsey talk about how resistance to change is not because people don’t like change. It’s because people don’t like being changed. People may have reasons for not wanting to support a particular initiative that are not at all clear to project leaders. One example given was the initiative taken on by a middle manager to change the time of the group staff meeting. His boss was holding them late in the afternoon and they sometimes went past 6 PM, making it difficult for employees with children or adult care responsibilities. Should be easy; it’s a reasonable request.

But it turns out the task is not as simple as just changing the time of the meeting. For lots of reasons, it’s much more complicated and the project expands into investigating quality of life for employees along with flexible work hours and other “family leave” issues. Push back came from someone who was normally an early adopter. It finally becomes clear that all the discussion of “family leave” was very difficult for this person who was in a same gender relationship. The unspoken rule at this company was “don’t ask, don’t tell.” So discussion of how to accommodate change to the employee benefits was difficult at best.

There is a proverb from Spain that claims “Those who stay silent do not say nothing.” How do we create a culture in which it is safe to uncover, discuss and learn about the taboo topics? They may be around the human resource questions such as domestic partner issues, expected overtime, or extra effort to “get ahead,” poor performers who are kept on because they are family members, or reporting misconduct by people in powerful positions. They may have something to do with perceptions about who supports a given business process thereby making it “sacrosanct.” What is important is to make sure the culture we create allows for safely uncovering and discussing these issues.

We can start with the obvious in shaping our corporate culture. We can make sure that the bearer of bad news is not summarily shot. We can make sure that supervisors and managers are not defensive when policies or procedures are questioned. We can make sure we gather performance information in a 360 degree fashion throughout the organization. And we can make sure that the HR department is a fair advocate for employees, not just the executive team. If our organization is open to learning at all levels, is willing to seek and actually listen to feedback, then we will have a vibrant, changing and improving organization.

You will not retain good employees if your culture is one of “hide and seek information.” What are the rules in your organization? Do you surface the “not discussable” issues and make them visible? Do you have a formal, anonymous whistleblower program? Is your suggestion box really used?

Download our Free Company Culture Assessment.  Does everyone in your company define your culture the same? Use this tool to find out. CLICK HERE to download.

About the author

Dave Kinnear is a sought after Business Advisor and Mentor. He works with highly successful executives through one-to-one mentoring and coaching meetings. Individuals who are presently running successful businesses and executives in transition work with Dave to ensure meeting corporate and/or career goals. Through his affiliation with Vistage International, Dave convenes and facilitates Advisory Boards comprising of Business Owners, Company Presidents and Chief Executives dedicated to becoming better leaders who make better decisions and achieve better results.