Archive for the ‘Employee Retention’ Category

Employment Myths Busted

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 by victoria

In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of what we used to know even two years ago isn’t necessarily true in today’s changed business climate. How many outdated ideas do you have about the employment world? Read each question in bold to decide if you think it’s true or false before reading the answer below.

  1. Employees always leave managers, not jobs. Wrong. Employees leave jobs even when they like and respect their manager because the fit between their talents, interests and skills isn’t good enough to give them quality of life on the job. In fact, struggling in a job where you spend Sunday night dreading going to work on Monday morning is a dead giveaway of a poor job fit. All jobs have a unique profile of distinct skills, attitudes and behaviors that are required for best performance, just as people have their own unique profile, too. When a person is matched to a job that requires the combination of behaviors, skills and attitudes that come naturally to them, achieving superior performance isn’t a struggle, it’s a challenge they can win.
  2. Our superior performing employees may secretly be waiting for the economy to open up more jobs, so they can find another job with more money and opportunity than we can offer them right now. In the present economy with budgets so tight that raises and incentives have been cut almost across the board, employee surveys show that this is absolutely true. But it doesn’t mean you can’t deepen your superior performers’ bond to your company. Savvy employers are investing in professional development that helps them develop talent from within. By doing this, they help current employees improve their performance now, while preparing them for upcoming leadership roles. People understand that budgets are tight right now, but when they see their company’s willingness to develop their skills, they recognize it as a vote of confidence in their potential and their value to the organization. Nothing says “We’ll give you a raise when we can” like investing in an employee’s career development now.
  3. If my company asks me to take an assessment, it must mean they think I’m not good enough to do my job and they want an excuse to fire me. If you said that nothing could be further from the truth, you’re right. Just as employees are slow to leave a good job right now, employers are realizing that it’s much more cost effective to mine the talent they already have rather than to start from scratch with someone new. Using assessment reports is a strategy that smart companies are using to build bench strength so they are ready when business picks up. If your employer has asked you to take an assessment, congratulations! You’ve been identified as an employee with high potential to become a superior performer or next-generation manager.
  4. Behavioral and values assessments are NOT like personality tests. If you agree with this statement, you’re right. Behavior and values assessments are statistically validated ways to see what a person’s natural style is for communicating on the job, how they like to manage their workflow, how they respond to a changing work environment, and what aspects of the job can make it deeply satisfying beyond the paycheck. Using assessment reports to identify a person’s strengths is a great way to make sure the company is deploying an employee in the right job to play to their strengths and develop more.
  5. Managing other people to achieve peak performance is only possible if you’re a really accomplished, experienced manager with a long track record of success, or a manager with too much time on your hands. If you recognized this thought as so outdated that it’s last millennium, you’re right. In the age of research validated job benchmarks and assessments, it’s possible to pinpoint exactly what a person’s workplace strengths and weaknesses are. Smart companies are using the latest technology, available online, to not only generate an assessment they can review with the employee, but to ‘prescribe’ professional development modules that the employee can use anywhere they have access to the internet. Managers can review performance goals and contribute suggestions online, too, without having to micromanage either performance or professional development.

Contact your Remodelers Advantage for help streamlining performance management and improvement on any budget.

Posted in Administration and Human Resources, Business Management, Employee Retention | No Comments »

PowerTip: What to Say When Something Goes Wrong

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 by victoria

Conflict Management

One of the most challenging parts of running a successful company is dealing with conflicts.  We are in a people business which means that conflicts are inevitable.  Because most people simply don’t like dealing with unpleasant issues – issues that could potentially mean loss of business or tension in the office —  a common response is to ignore it and hope it will go away!  Experts say that this is exactly the wrong approach. They recommend an immediate response which clears the air and keeps relationships moving productively.

How you handle conflict makes has a major impact on the overall health and productivity of your company. Handle it correctly and your company thrives. Handle it poorly and the it can fall apart.

Here are some tips for handling conflict effectively:

Maintain personal ownership of the problem.

Keep the initiation mild, not threatening. Don’t say, “You do X and it’s wrong!” Instead, start the conversation with a request for help. “Bill, do you have a few minutes? I have a problem that I’d like to discuss with you.” Indicating that it’s your problem helps diffuse any defensiveness – a common barrier!

Use the X-Y-Z Approach to stating a problem

“I have a problem. When you do X (a very specific behavior), Y results (consequences), and I feel Z (emotion).”

Here’s an example:  “Bob, I have a problem. When you don’t show up on time at the client’s house . . . they get rightfully angry since they were expecting you. This makes me feel very frustrated because we try so hard to deliver top customer service. “ Then simply wait for the response.

Don’t make accusations.

Stick with the observable behavior.  Don’t supply solutions. The first step is to agree that there is a problem. If you jump to a solution, you’re assuming that you know what’s going on in their heads and you don’t.  So wait until they acknowledge the problem and then work on a solution together.

Persist until understood.

If you state a problem and they don’t want to listen, don’t understand, or try to change the subject, go back at it again in a different way, still sticking with the XYZ approach.

Encourage two way discussion.

Ask them for input and their view of the issue.

Keep the initial comment short. A rule of thumb is that the longer it takes you to tell them about the problem, the longer it’ll take you to work through it. When someone keeps going on and going on about something, we get defensive and once someone gets defensive, they stop listening and begin to think of a rebuttal making it very difficult to develop a productive solution.

Have the guts to start the conversation! If an employee or trade contractor continually takes actions that are upsetting, bring it up immediately.  Remember, they can’t read your mind so slamming doors and dirty looks aren’t getting the message across. Chances are they are totally oblivious to your frustration.  Plus, if you don’t say anything when rules are broken, what do you think  your other employees are thinking? They’re saying, “Why is Joe getting away with that?” Bringing up issues is may not be easy but speak up early before you are so mad that you’re ready to blow.  And remember the tips above to help you through it.

The more you practice effective conflict resolution the better you will become! This is a managerial behavior that can be learned and the more we learn, the more our customers, employees and subs will appreciate us!

Posted in Business Coaching, Business Management, Customer Service, Employee Retention | No Comments »

PowerTip: Dealing with Unpleasant Conversations

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 by victoria

One of the toughest parts of managing for many people happens when they have to talk to an employee, sub, or client about an unpleasant topic — whether it’s underperformance, a disagreement about a bill, or a misunderstanding about a project. Many people don’t know the best strategies for dealing with these tough conversations so what could have been a productive discussion often turns into an angry exchange after which both parties feel betrayed and hurt.

Because most of us don’t know the most effective ways to deal with these tricky conflicts, we do what most people do — simply avoid it! Hey, if you ignore it, maybe it will go away! Unfortunately, that rarely happens and putting it off just makes it worse.

What a difference it would make to our lives if we could all handle these touchy situations with aplomb, elegance and productivity!

Authors Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler, call these situations crucial conversations and, in their book of the same name, identify them as a discussion between two or more people where 1) the stakes are high, 2) opinions vary, and 3) emotions run strong.

That could describe many situations in the remodeling world. Especially since you’re dealing with someone’s home, a direct reflection of the owner, emotions are particularly vulnerable.

In the book, Crucial Conversations, the authors take a very different approach to dealing with conflict. They share the reasons why we act like we do when faced with a problem from the adrenalin rush that muddies our thinking and pushes us to fight aggressively or flee the situation — to the way our minds create angry stories about the other person’s actions which starts us off on the wrong foot altogether.

These human relationship experts believe that we can all learn how to create productive discussions without anger or defensiveness by using a variety of simple strategies.

For example, the authors describe a tendency that most of us have to let our emotions take over when somebody does something that we disagree with. When this happens, we begin to unconsciously invent stories about why the person involved took the action they did. And in these stories we overemphasize the other person’s guilt and assume the worst possible motives while ignoring any good intentions a person may have.

Then, when we approach them to discuss it, we’re walking in with our minds made up and immediately attack! With this approach, we’re acting as our own worst enemies and the chances of getting what we want is severely diminished.

Instead, the authors suggest, if we learn to recognize this pattern, we won’t be drawn into inventing the reasons behind the decision. We’ll understand that we don’t really know why the person did what he or she did – we’re just imagining that we do. All we really know is the action they took. With this mindset, we walk into a conversation trying to explore the reasons behind the action – which more often than not are totally different than the story we have told ourselves. Once we understand the reason behind it, we can work together to come to a solution. No attacking, no defensiveness – just a dialogue between two people who both want things to work.

I highly recommend that we all read this fabulous book and follow the guidelines that it provides.  If we can all learn  improve in the way we approach and address difficult issues that will always be there, we’ll find less stress and greater satisfaction in all aspects of our business.

Posted in Business Coaching, Business Management, Employee Retention, Leadership | No Comments »

Ten Steps for Creating a Culture of Commitment and Accountability

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 by victoria

We all say that we want our people to be accountable and responsible for their actions, but are we doing what it takes to achieve these results? Here are my suggestions for building this culture within your remodeling company.

1.) Communicate to everyone that accountability and commitment are important! Then model it! If you’ve made a commitment, do it! Your actions will set the tone for all.

2.) Align every job description to your company’s strategy and goals for the coming year. Ask everyone to commit to a shared vision of results. Then talk about it at every company meeting.

3.) Make accountabilities clear for everyone by using a benchmark for their job. This is a document that lists key accountabilities, results that equal employee success and more. Use it to start a discussion about how each individual contribution matters.

4.) When you onboard new employees, have job-related professional development resources already in place to help them reach their full potential. If you don’t have a list now, work with your new employee to develop one. What skills do they want to improve over time? What resources do they need to help them achieve this goal?

5.) Build accountability into your company culture using “what & by when” goal and task planning. Project management can be very sophisticated, but the bottom line is “who, what, and by when?”

6.) Offer ways for employees to communicate obstacles and request the help or resources they need to achieve their goals. When you listen to them, recognize that what you’re listening to is someone who is committed to producing results. Regular meetings are a key to this sort of communication.

7.) Involve employees in an ongoing dialogue about how they can identify process improvements or otherwise increase the quality of their work and the team’s productivity. Your employees are a wealth of information. Remember to keep an open mind to the ideas they bring to the table. There may be a better way.

8.) Use small “course corrections” on a monthly or as-needed basis to guide employees toward behaviors and practices that are effective for meeting goals. Don’t wait for the annual performance review. You wouldn’t wait until arrival at a destination to notice a wrong turn along the way, would you?

9.) “Catch” people doing something right: Give frequent, honest and positive feedback. As a general rule of thumb, a ratio of five positive interactions to one critical interaction will help managers build an open communication channel with direct reports.

10.) Identify ways to recognize and acknowledge employees company-wide when their actions exemplify an “above and beyond” commitment to company objectives. Success breeds success!

If you’re serious about achieving spectacular results next year, get everyone involved. We can help with job benchmarks, employee coaching tools, recruiting services, onboarding programs and more. These tools can transform the results you’re achieving with your team.

Posted in Administration and Human Resources, Employee Retention, Leadership | No Comments »

How To Develop A Superstar Team

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 by victoria

As business begins to pick up again, it may be time to build up your staff. Here are some tips to help you develop the team you want, excerpted from Mastering the Business of Remodeling.

* Consider all employees key employees.
* Hire people who know more about their specialty than you do.
* Hire people who can grow with the company.
* When in doubt, hire the person who wants the job most.
* Be sure employees know what is expected of them.
* Base company pay on merit, not seniority.
* Figure out how to pay employees more than other employers do.
* Tie pay to productivity and performance.
* Keep employees informed.
* Be sure every employee understands how the entire company works and how his/her job fits into that mission.
* Praise often. Develop inexpensive prizes, awards and bonuses to keep motivation high.
* Challenge employees. Give them as much responsibility as they are ready for. Allow them to fail as well as succeed.
* Watch the stress level. No employee should have to suffer burnout on the job.
* Develop simple but effective training programs to keep all employees moving up the ladder.
* Delegate, rather than direct. Agree on the goal, but let the employee have increasing input on how that goal is to be achieved.
* Get all employees vitally interested in job costs, annual sales volume goals, and budgets.
* Be a great coach. Remodeling is a team activity.

Posted in Employee Retention | No Comments »

Getting Your Staff to Think and Act Like Owners by Linda Case

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by victoria

I am fired-up! I’ve been to Ann Arbor, MI and it’s a neat college town. But the reason I’m fired up is visiting and learning from a fired-up company that’s based there. Called “the coolest small company in America” by Inc. magazine, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses opened up their operations to 90 of our clients and we saw an incredibly strong brand in operation, learned how a truly shared vision can power that brand and support it with passion and excellence in execution and learned how a company can grow through diversification and shared risk.

First a caution and a strong opinion. Some remodelers are very linear in thinking and feel that their business learning only comes directly from other remodelers. They are partially right in that we can learn so much from our peers who have already conquered some of the hurdles we face.

But if you want to propel your company forward, if you want to think beyond the edge, if you want to beat tomorrow’s competitors before they even arrive, you have to be learning from the very best in whatever industry they arise. This takes a higher form of thinking because their challenges will not be exactly the same as yours and their solutions must be adapted to our industry. But the payoff can be grand.

Back to Zingerman’s, a community of 32 businesses doing $35 million in annual sales selling premium food products in Michigan’s doubly recessed economy. They started as a deli and have progressed to mail order, restaurants, a bakehouse, a creamery and a training arm. Here are just a few of my takeaways:

They’ve developed a well-defined philosophical infrastructure that allows them to align all their staff and all their systems and their culture. Their mission, vision and guiding principles elevate their daily work from drudgery to significance. As the stonemason said (and Zingerman’s repeats), “I’m not just laying stone, I’m building a cathedral.” And they’ve made this philosophy very simple and very learnable. This shared philosophy becomes more than critical in aligning 32 businesses, each of which is expected to support the brand.

Training of each employee is paramount. Each carries a paper pocket-sized “passport” with what they need to learn in their job and what they need to learn about Zingerman’s and as they learn it through formal class or mentoring, it gets checked off. This training includes the philosophical differences that support the brand as well as the metrics that support the business plus the learning that each needs in their job.

The original business had two partners and as they add new divisions to their community, it is run under the corporate umbrella by an additional managing partner who might be a long time employee who has proved their mettle or may be someone new like a chef. The starting of a new business goes through rigorous vetting and must fit the company’s mission and vision. The new partner buys into the new business. This is a business that grows through new ventures that are aligned with the original venture.

There is a triple bottom line and all get measured. They aspire to great food, great service and great finance. They are open book but will tolerate the long financial nurturing of individual businesses financially but must hit the mark on food and service.

The monitoring of key activities leading to success in each business has been made very simple and is monitored on a daily basis during the morning huddle and posted on a large white board that every staff person can see. These metrics are not static but are changed as needed.

We visited their bakehouse, creamery, and a restaurant, eating all the way. We questioned lots of staff to see if what we had learned was really in operation and indeed, it was.

I have to end with a personal experience of the Zingerman’s difference. During dinner at one of their restaurants, a waitperson named Sharon came by to ask if I was “finished enjoying.” What a nice subtlety. Then she asked if I wanted coffee. I said I’d love some decaf but only if she gave me her phone number to call at midnight if I was still awake because it’s not unusual to have regular coffee substituted. She laughed. But soon I was laughing because between the coffee cup and the saucer was a napkin with her name and phone number on it. Needless to say, I didn’t need it.

Posted in Administration and Human Resources, Business Management, Employee Retention, Leadership | No Comments »

GroupThink Rules!

Thursday, June 10th, 2010 by victoria

I truly believe in the power of group-think — in other words, that better ideas are generated and stronger solutions formulated when one works with a group of sharp individuals vs. working alone.  I see this time and time again. This week, it was demonstrated in our company when a team of us met to brainstorm about our upcoming Business Summit. Linda Case, Arlene Alfano, our Meeting Planner, Rose Grabowski, Director of Member Services, and I spent several hours talking about all of the little details that make our events unique and memorable — the fun in the event. As you can imagine, we laughed, we groaned, we exclaimed as wilder and wilder ideas were thrown into the ring for consideration. At the end, we’d come up with a line up of little extras that are going to add just the right amount of zaniness and interactivity to this great conference.

The power of group-think is one of the most important concepts around which our Roundtables groups are designed. When our members, owners of large-volume remodeling companies, sit together focusing on the challenges of their peers in the room, the ideas, the suggestions, the business management knowledge gained from shared experiences is awesome! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Wow, that was a great idea! It just paid for my entire investment!”

So if you’re facing a challenge, have an important presentation or proposal to create, are stuck on a problem, think about how you can use group-think to help.  You’re probably surrounded by savvy business people who would love to be part of your success. Of course, if you really want to see the best group-think in action, join Roundtables.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Business Management, Employee Retention, Why Join a Peer Group | No Comments »