If employees matter, show it or 6 Signs You Don't Care about Workers

“It has become a sad cliché: "Our People are our Greatest Asset." That hackneyed phrase doesn't mean anything in particular, so it's an easy bit of boilerplate to stamp on hallway posters and marketing brochures. When certain employers do elevate their talent-retention and team-welfare initiatives to the level of strategic priority, it's obvious.”

This article, 6 Signs You Don't Care about Workers by Liz Ryan of Business Week truly hits many of the issues facing companies today. If a company truly respects AND values the contribution that people bring to their company, then they will wholeheartedly display that by having an active and integrated HR Department that ‘listens’ to and addresses the need of their employees. Failure to do so will make your company like so many out there – just a company with no heart – with no soul…


Take care and until next time….

A corporate lattice instead of a ladder

“When people are allowed to explore their personal goals -- whether they want to travel the globe or pursue another degree -- they tend to be happier at work. That's why the best employers try to facilitate employees' personal pursuits without thwarting professional goals.”

This great study by Cathy Benko and Anne Weisberg of Deloitte Review titled
Mass Career Customization - Building the Corporate Lattice Organization truly addresses many of the issues facing both people/employees and companies today. People evolve constantly and are at a different place in their life while employed and it behooves a company to recognize, appreciate and address that in providing opportunities for their workforce. Doing so in our opinion will help companies prosper because they will build trust and loyalty within their team. Building loyalty and increasing retention will help your organization find greater depth in creative problem solving and afford your company the opportunity of truly 'developing' its workforce. If you continuously have high levels of turnover, you will never get past teaching your people the 'basics' of their job. Experiencing that high turnover stymies the creative juices so necessary to drive a company forward.

Enjoy the article and until next time….

10 Qualities that Made Abraham Lincoln a Great Leader – (and really, ones that will make any leader – great)

“President Abraham Lincoln appointed the best and brightest to his Cabinet, individuals who were also some of his greatest political rivals. He demonstrated his leadership by pulling this group together into a unique team that represented the greatest minds of his time.”

Lincoln demonstrated an ability to withstand adversity and to move forward in the face of frustration, said Kearns Goodwin, a keynote speaker at SHRM's 2008 Annual Conference in Chicago. She identified 10 qualities that made Lincoln a great leader. Ten qualities Kearns Goodwin believes we should look for in our present day leaders.

What a great article on leadership and all that it entails! This article appearing in HR.BLR.com by Catherine L. Moreton, J.D.Managing Editor, is a nice synopsis of a keynote address by Kearns Goodwin.

Those ten qualities she highlights are:
1. Capacity to Listen to Different Points of View
2. Ability to Learn on the Job
3. Ready Willingness to Share Credit for Success
4. Ready Willingness to Share Blame for Failure
5. Awareness of Own Weaknesses
6. Ability to Control Emotions
7. Know How to Relax and Replenish
8. Go Out into the Field and Manage Directly
9. Strength to Adhere to Fundamental Goals
10. Ability to Communicate Goals and Vision

Kearns Goodwin does a really nice job defining these attributes. When we look at today's political and business landscape, we really do not believe there is much more to say than to ‘live by these fundamental qualities,’ would help one be responsible, accountable and motivational.

Goodwin sums it up the best by a quote from Leo Tolstoy about Abraham Lincoln.
His greatness consisted of the "integrity of his character and moral fiber of his being."

Enjoy the article…

Don't squander your honor

“To be fair, counter-offers can provide an opportunity for employees to voice issues or concerns about their jobs. When you are recruited for another job, ask yourself: What are the pros and cons of my current position? If the negatives outweigh the positives, you simply must leave. However, you may decide you genuinely like your position, aside from one or two problems, in which case it's time to have an open, honest conversation with your boss - before you accept the offer.”

This great article appearing recently in The Sydney Morning Herald/Forbes.com touches on so many of the fine points of how to handle that time ‘when you have made the decision to accept employment elsewhere.’ Making a career or company change is one of those traumatic activities in our lives and at times we don’t know how to exactly deal with it. This article covers so many of those little intricacies which one needs to think about so that we make that change in a professional manner – with our reputation intact.

But, if we learn to become better and more confident in our ability to foster a relationship with our direct report, many of the issues we feel when possibly deciding on a career change would never occur.

We feel the most important issue here though is "when making the decision – live by that decision! "

Until next time….

Know Thy Customer

“If you desire to possess a true understanding your customer’s needs, it is essential that you interact with them as often as possible. Moreover these interactions should be deep, broad, and come via a number of different inputs and touch points.”

This excerpt is from an article appearing in Business Management - Management Strategies titled Management Matters with Mike Myatt: Know Thy Customer. The article again reiterates the necessity of always staying ‘close’ to your customer. At times we get so wrapped up in the day to day that we tend to forget the importance of asking for constant feedback from our customer. This is the one true measure that can help us stay relevant to what our customer wants, desires and needs. In this way we can ‘grow’ as an organization along with our customer. With our lives changing ever so rapidly now more than ever we need to insure we are staying current with customer needs.

And, we would like to add one more – always stay in close contact with your front-line employee – those that are in constant interaction with your customer. They at times will tell you what no survey or focus group can.

Enjoy the article and we welcome your thoughts.

Know when not to innovate

Southwest Airlines still grows, while others reduce capacity. Their secret? They stay away from fads and keep things simple, which reduces costs and maximizes assets while not building excessive customer expectations. Portfolio.com

This nicely done article - Know when not to innovate, Southwest's Seven Secrets for Success Portfolio.com had some great insights into the 'thinking' within this organization. We admire the leadership – because they stay ‘focused’ on what their core business is and continue to execute their business plan even during such difficult times. At the same time, they had innovative visionary thinkers that were looking out to the future to see which factors – fuel – may have a potentially negative impact on their ability to achieve their goals. It is so refreshing to see a company’s leaders that ‘embrace’ change, stay true to what made them great, and continue to nudge forward during tough times. Too often we see many situations where leaders start throwing everything out there in an effort to spur growth which ‘abandons’ their core business. While we are all for innovation and change, we also believe that you should never abandon your core business and never change just for the sake of making change. Change just needs to make sense and add value to your company. And we all need to be aware of how change affects not only our customer but also the impact that it has – both positive and negative, on our employees.

Enjoy the read….

Shift-on-the-fly leadership

How can you make sure your company not only keeps its edge over its competitors, but also seizes new opportunities? In a new book called Fast Strategy: How strategic agility will help you stay ahead of the game, INSEAD professor Yves Doz and co-author Mikko Kosonen, a former senior Nokia executive, say the best way to do this is by making the most of what they call ‘strategic agility’.

If you like staying ahead of the curve, if you like helping to insure your organization remains completely on the cutting edge; then we encourage taking the initiative to read the article "Fast Strategy: Staying ahead of the game" and perhaps the book. Strategic business planning is an absolute essential for any long – term growth company but in many cases we do not re-visit that plan often enough to keep our business healthy and thriving. A strategic business plan although long – term, must remain ‘fluid’ in such changing economic times. To insure the vitality of their company the leaders must remain focused, loyal to their brand and extremely open-minded.

Enjoy the article and as always, we encourage your comments…

The leader and the moment

“Moments of doubt test and shape every leader.”

Yes, this great little sound bite found in an article, from the pinnacles of power by Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers, reveals Abraham Lincoln’s humble past - not necessarily a good guidepost as to whether he had the qualifications necessary to be a good leader – but that he possessed several attributes which determined his ability to meet the challenges. And, yes we feel strongly that these qualities helped shape the man into his ability to shape the country.

When we read this a couple of other qualities resonate to us – honesty, integrity and oh yes – humility! What outstanding qualities to ‘round out’ those necessary to be that dynamic, well-respected and trusted leader!

Enjoy the article and as always, we welcome your comments….

A Better Way to Cut Costs –

“In contrast, a sustained approach to cost management – one that seeks to build a culture of consistent efficiency improvement across the enterprise and led by top executives – is the real key to financial success.”

This timely article, Cost management more effective than slashing, by Don Ogilvie and Paul Legere strikes a cord with us. Although the article refers to the banking industry the advice and findings they present are relevant for all. Too often we tend to wait until we get into a crisis mode before we react and then at times hastily make decisions which truly can have a long-term damaging effect. The article gives credence to what we have believed all along – focus on building your top line – guest counts – while talking costs on a daily basis. Educating your team members on where every penny of that dollar goes is what helps build long term successful financial growth. We know, the financial guys/gals, always tell us that they only care about the dollars but we know from experience that when we teach everyone on a unit/office level where the pennies go, they take more of a vested interest in helping save those pennies which quickly add up to those dollars. With this becoming part of the every day ‘culture’ of your business, you can reap those results daily which add up to a strong industry leading income statement.

Enjoy the article and we welcome your thoughts…