Creating a highly engaged workforce is as much an art as it is a science. While there are a number of factors that are important to your workforce (see “10 Things Every Leader Should Know About Employee Expectations” http://ecilearning.blogspot.com/2010/02/10-things-every-leader-should-know_15.html), you can’t paint your entire workforce with a broad brush.
In other words, different employees want different things and assuming that something is “good,” and therefore valuable to your employees, is a sure fire way to miss the motivation bull’s-eye.
For example, Work/Life Balance is often cited by employees as one of the things that they care about in their job. In fact, this is one of the key areas that our current Baby Boomer Generation and our Generation Y members have in common. Both list Work/Life Balance as a key motivator. And both generations are looking to create a life outside of work for themselves.
But the expectations around Work/Life Balance can certainly be different between the generations. And beyond that, it can mean different things to different members of each generation. As a Baby Boomer myself, my perception of balance changed over the years. Early in my career I made a lot of sacrifices to get ahead in my career. I put in a lot of extra hours, working nights and weekends to try and impress my boss and the other executives as well. My career was at the top of my list. But when I did leave work, I left it entirely. Once I closed my office door, my time was 100% devoted to my wife and children. My Work/Life Balance was clearly delineated between my time in the office and my time outside the office. So again, painting with a broad brush about what our employees want can lead us into trouble.
When it comes to creating a highly engaged workforce it is important to understand the needs and expectations of your employees. Numerous studies on the subject of engaged employees cite the balance between work life and personal life as a key indicator of employee satisfaction. More than ever before, workers from all generations are trying to create a life for themselves outside of work. For Baby Boomers this outside time is being devoted to volunteer work at a service club or church, pursuing a long time passion like skiing or painting, or even just enjoying their new grand children. For Generation X and Y’ers, their time outside the office is invested in virtual worlds through the internet, social networking and gaming, as well as spending time with friends and music. So while more and more employees are citing the importance of a life outside of work as a key indicator of their satisfaction, the generations tend to have different views of how this time is best spent.
As an employer, should it really matter to you how your employees spend their off hours, creating the work/life balance so many of them seem to be asking for?
I believe it should. And next week we’ll talk about why.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create in energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Two Bosses
A Tale of Employee Engagement
As I write this blog entry, I’m sitting in sunny Las Vegas in March. This is my chance to get away, clear my head, and do some writing. But as I was preparing for this vacation, I had a quick flashback to a conversation with a boss, many years ago.
I had been a manager for several years, but this was my first executive position. I was with a new company, in a new city, and excited about my future. One of the key benefits of being an executive was the three weeks of vacation that came with the position. I had little kids, so this was a real plus for me.
I’d been with the company for about 2 months when the topic of vacation came up rather innocuously. I mentioned that I was excited about having 3 weeks off to enjoy my kids and growing family.
“Well,” the boss said, “you get 3 weeks of vacation, but take 4.”
“Excuse me?” was my reply.
“These are high stress jobs,” he told me. “It would be better for the company if you took 2 vacations of two weeks each, rather than 3 single weeks.”
I was puzzled, and it probably showed on my face.
“When you go on vacation,” he continued, “it will take you a week just to relieve the stress. Then the second week you can actually relax and enjoy yourself.”
“Wow! That’s really nice of you.”
“Nice has nothing to do with it,” he snorted in reply. “This is not about you, it’s about the company. I need you at 100%. I need you fresh and creative. I need you to tackle the big challenges. And you won’t be able to do that if you don’t get the proper time away.”
As I got to know this boss better, I realized that he was right. He was not being nice. It wasn’t in his personality. What was in his personality was the ability to get the most from the people who worked from him. And giving me and others an extra week of vacation to really clear our minds was one way of getting the maximum from his people.
Contrast this with a later boss who had a different view of vacation. I witnessed a number of pre-vacation conversations between him and my co-workers. Those conversations went like this:
“Bill, we need to take a look at our hours per install and create some action plans to reduce them by 25%. I’ll need that plan from you by next Friday.”
“Ok. I’ll have my staff work on it next week while I’m out. I can either get it to you early Monday after I’ve returned or they can give you a draft that I haven’t reviewed on Friday.”
“No. I don’t want your staff involved in this. I want you to do it. And I want it by Friday.”
“But I’m off next week on vacation.”
“You’ve got a laptop, right? And a cell phone? And an internet connection? That’s all you need for this. Get me that analysis by Friday.”
I was privy to a number of conversations like this. In fact, none of my peers ever took a vacation that did not have one of these requests attached to it. Several times the request was not to complete the report while on vacation, but to cancel the vacation entirely.
Can you guess which boss got the most from his employees? Care to guess which employees always went the extra mile to ensure things were done right, on time, and under budget?
Even though that first boss was definitely not being nice to us, he did understand what we needed to be successful, and he made sure that we got it. His primary focus was on the company getting what it needed, but he ensured success by doing the right things for the employees.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
As I write this blog entry, I’m sitting in sunny Las Vegas in March. This is my chance to get away, clear my head, and do some writing. But as I was preparing for this vacation, I had a quick flashback to a conversation with a boss, many years ago.
I had been a manager for several years, but this was my first executive position. I was with a new company, in a new city, and excited about my future. One of the key benefits of being an executive was the three weeks of vacation that came with the position. I had little kids, so this was a real plus for me.
I’d been with the company for about 2 months when the topic of vacation came up rather innocuously. I mentioned that I was excited about having 3 weeks off to enjoy my kids and growing family.
“Well,” the boss said, “you get 3 weeks of vacation, but take 4.”
“Excuse me?” was my reply.
“These are high stress jobs,” he told me. “It would be better for the company if you took 2 vacations of two weeks each, rather than 3 single weeks.”
I was puzzled, and it probably showed on my face.
“When you go on vacation,” he continued, “it will take you a week just to relieve the stress. Then the second week you can actually relax and enjoy yourself.”
“Wow! That’s really nice of you.”
“Nice has nothing to do with it,” he snorted in reply. “This is not about you, it’s about the company. I need you at 100%. I need you fresh and creative. I need you to tackle the big challenges. And you won’t be able to do that if you don’t get the proper time away.”
As I got to know this boss better, I realized that he was right. He was not being nice. It wasn’t in his personality. What was in his personality was the ability to get the most from the people who worked from him. And giving me and others an extra week of vacation to really clear our minds was one way of getting the maximum from his people.
Contrast this with a later boss who had a different view of vacation. I witnessed a number of pre-vacation conversations between him and my co-workers. Those conversations went like this:
“Bill, we need to take a look at our hours per install and create some action plans to reduce them by 25%. I’ll need that plan from you by next Friday.”
“Ok. I’ll have my staff work on it next week while I’m out. I can either get it to you early Monday after I’ve returned or they can give you a draft that I haven’t reviewed on Friday.”
“No. I don’t want your staff involved in this. I want you to do it. And I want it by Friday.”
“But I’m off next week on vacation.”
“You’ve got a laptop, right? And a cell phone? And an internet connection? That’s all you need for this. Get me that analysis by Friday.”
I was privy to a number of conversations like this. In fact, none of my peers ever took a vacation that did not have one of these requests attached to it. Several times the request was not to complete the report while on vacation, but to cancel the vacation entirely.
Can you guess which boss got the most from his employees? Care to guess which employees always went the extra mile to ensure things were done right, on time, and under budget?
Even though that first boss was definitely not being nice to us, he did understand what we needed to be successful, and he made sure that we got it. His primary focus was on the company getting what it needed, but he ensured success by doing the right things for the employees.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thinking Time
Dave and I recently had a conversation about creativity, and the environment that helps each of us generate new ideas, build on existing thoughts, and strategize for the future. That conversation reminded me of an article I read in the newspaper about a local company called ReadyTalk.
It seems ReadyTalk, a Denver area provider of audio conferencing and webinar services, has taken innovative steps to spark creativity in their workers. ReadyTalk gives its engineers one “free” day a week. Employees spend this day learning, experimenting, thinking, visioning, etc… Basically, they spend 8 hours each week focusing on passions, interests, and side projects, rather than their usual day to day tasks.
Apparently this concept, often referred to as a “labs” structure, is not new and has been implemented by several high-tech companies responsible for some of today’s most well-known, leading-edge innovations. While it may seem difficult, if not impossible, to take employees away from their billable tasks for an entire day, investing that 8 hours of overhead is a strategic move that can generate greater productivity and profitability for your organization now and in the future.
This long-term strategy allows employees to vary their routine, keeping their minds fresh and energized. It gives employees the space to be creative and to follow through on innovative ideas. Often this "lab" time leads to improved processes and procedures, increased efficiency, new solutions to existing problems, and ideas for new products and services.
Providing the right environment to jumpstart your employees’ creativity not only benefits their current billable tasks, but can also position your company for future success. And “lab” days are just one idea for creating this kind of environment. Other ideas for inspiring employee creativity include:
Identifying brainstorming partners – Two brains are always better than one. If the company encourages employees to spend time collaborating with each other, people are more likely to request and receive useful and insightful technical feedback.
Creating mastermind groups – Like brainstorming, the purpose of a mastermind group is to harness the power of multiple minds. Hearing thoughts and gathering ideas from a diverse group gives you the added benefit of multiple perspectives.
Offering cross-training sessions – Being too close to a problem can sometimes mask the easiest, most obvious solutions. If you teach employees enough about other aspects of a project or about company operations, they often bring fresh, new ideas to the table.
Providing time and resources for reading – Reading often leads to those key “ah-ha” moments. Reading leads to thinking and ultimately to problem solving. Whether these are solutions to today’s problems or solutions for the future, your organization will reap the benefits.
We’d love to hear what you, as a leader, and your company do to ensure that your employees have the time and space they need to refocus their attention and jumpstart their creativity.
Thanks for reading,
Laurie Valaer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
It seems ReadyTalk, a Denver area provider of audio conferencing and webinar services, has taken innovative steps to spark creativity in their workers. ReadyTalk gives its engineers one “free” day a week. Employees spend this day learning, experimenting, thinking, visioning, etc… Basically, they spend 8 hours each week focusing on passions, interests, and side projects, rather than their usual day to day tasks.
Apparently this concept, often referred to as a “labs” structure, is not new and has been implemented by several high-tech companies responsible for some of today’s most well-known, leading-edge innovations. While it may seem difficult, if not impossible, to take employees away from their billable tasks for an entire day, investing that 8 hours of overhead is a strategic move that can generate greater productivity and profitability for your organization now and in the future.
This long-term strategy allows employees to vary their routine, keeping their minds fresh and energized. It gives employees the space to be creative and to follow through on innovative ideas. Often this "lab" time leads to improved processes and procedures, increased efficiency, new solutions to existing problems, and ideas for new products and services.
Providing the right environment to jumpstart your employees’ creativity not only benefits their current billable tasks, but can also position your company for future success. And “lab” days are just one idea for creating this kind of environment. Other ideas for inspiring employee creativity include:
Identifying brainstorming partners – Two brains are always better than one. If the company encourages employees to spend time collaborating with each other, people are more likely to request and receive useful and insightful technical feedback.
Creating mastermind groups – Like brainstorming, the purpose of a mastermind group is to harness the power of multiple minds. Hearing thoughts and gathering ideas from a diverse group gives you the added benefit of multiple perspectives.
Offering cross-training sessions – Being too close to a problem can sometimes mask the easiest, most obvious solutions. If you teach employees enough about other aspects of a project or about company operations, they often bring fresh, new ideas to the table.
Providing time and resources for reading – Reading often leads to those key “ah-ha” moments. Reading leads to thinking and ultimately to problem solving. Whether these are solutions to today’s problems or solutions for the future, your organization will reap the benefits.
We’d love to hear what you, as a leader, and your company do to ensure that your employees have the time and space they need to refocus their attention and jumpstart their creativity.
Thanks for reading,
Laurie Valaer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
National Employee Spirit Month
Chase's Calendar of Events reports that March is National Employee Spirit Month.
Are you excited yet?
Think your employees are?
I bet that some of you would be thrilled if you could get your employees excited for one month out of the year. Or maybe even one week. Or an hour.
National Employee Spirit Month (NESM) is one of those events that should never be an event, but an every day occurrence. And it’s almost insulting that someone has created an event to remind us.
In other words, it’s a little bit like Valentines Day.
Should I tell someone that I love them just on Valentines Day? Of course not. If I love them I should tell them every day. If I don’t really love them, I shouldn’t tell them at all.
Like Valentines Day, NESM is a contrived event designed to call awareness to something that we might otherwise forget. So in case you’ve forgotten to inspire your team and instill a spirit of teamwork, achievement, and accomplishment in them, now is the time to do it!
I’ll just wait here while you do that.
I’m still waiting…….
What? Your employees did not react positively to your artificial motivation? They didn’t appreciate the clown you sent to the office to entertain them? The ice cream only served as a momentary distraction and then they returned to doing almost nothing?
Wow… shocking….
Ok, I’m done being sarcastic now. Really!
While I’m certainly not a believer in National Employee Spirit Month, I’m a huge fan of spirited and engaged teams.
How does one go about creating an engaged team?
There are lots of things that you can do to improve employee spirit and improve your profitability at the same time. Here are a few of my thoughts. I’d love to hear some of yours.
1. Pay a reasonable wage for reasonable work. If your employees are worried about feeding their family, that is all they will be focused on.
2. Over-communicate your company’s mission. While this sounds obvious, you would be stunned at how often we find the employees have no idea of the company’s mission.
3. Allow employees to utilize their unique talents. First, discover what those talents are. Then find ways to utilize those talents to improve your business.
4. Encourage creativity and problem solving. We often find that employers unintentionally stifle creativity by focusing on what can’t work rather than what can.
5. Focus on the results more than the process. Different people can do the same job in different ways. Don’t try and fit a round peg into a square hole.
6. Create growth opportunities for your employees. In larger companies this may mean helping chart specific career paths. In smaller companies this may mean allowing employees to take on new tasks, teaching them new skills, or encouraging them to take classes that will benefit their career.
7. Show a genuine interest in your employees. With good employees, if you care about them, they will care about you. You did hire good employees, right?
Creating an engaged workforce is one of the least expensive ways to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and improve profitability. Participating in National Employee Spirit Month will likely not do much to engage your workforce. Creating a culture of engagement and getting your leadership team in line with that culture will have a huge impact.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Are you excited yet?
Think your employees are?
I bet that some of you would be thrilled if you could get your employees excited for one month out of the year. Or maybe even one week. Or an hour.
National Employee Spirit Month (NESM) is one of those events that should never be an event, but an every day occurrence. And it’s almost insulting that someone has created an event to remind us.
In other words, it’s a little bit like Valentines Day.
Should I tell someone that I love them just on Valentines Day? Of course not. If I love them I should tell them every day. If I don’t really love them, I shouldn’t tell them at all.
Like Valentines Day, NESM is a contrived event designed to call awareness to something that we might otherwise forget. So in case you’ve forgotten to inspire your team and instill a spirit of teamwork, achievement, and accomplishment in them, now is the time to do it!
I’ll just wait here while you do that.
I’m still waiting…….
What? Your employees did not react positively to your artificial motivation? They didn’t appreciate the clown you sent to the office to entertain them? The ice cream only served as a momentary distraction and then they returned to doing almost nothing?
Wow… shocking….
Ok, I’m done being sarcastic now. Really!
While I’m certainly not a believer in National Employee Spirit Month, I’m a huge fan of spirited and engaged teams.
How does one go about creating an engaged team?
There are lots of things that you can do to improve employee spirit and improve your profitability at the same time. Here are a few of my thoughts. I’d love to hear some of yours.
1. Pay a reasonable wage for reasonable work. If your employees are worried about feeding their family, that is all they will be focused on.
2. Over-communicate your company’s mission. While this sounds obvious, you would be stunned at how often we find the employees have no idea of the company’s mission.
3. Allow employees to utilize their unique talents. First, discover what those talents are. Then find ways to utilize those talents to improve your business.
4. Encourage creativity and problem solving. We often find that employers unintentionally stifle creativity by focusing on what can’t work rather than what can.
5. Focus on the results more than the process. Different people can do the same job in different ways. Don’t try and fit a round peg into a square hole.
6. Create growth opportunities for your employees. In larger companies this may mean helping chart specific career paths. In smaller companies this may mean allowing employees to take on new tasks, teaching them new skills, or encouraging them to take classes that will benefit their career.
7. Show a genuine interest in your employees. With good employees, if you care about them, they will care about you. You did hire good employees, right?
Creating an engaged workforce is one of the least expensive ways to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and improve profitability. Participating in National Employee Spirit Month will likely not do much to engage your workforce. Creating a culture of engagement and getting your leadership team in line with that culture will have a huge impact.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Thursday, March 4, 2010
10 Things Every Leader Should Know About Company Culture
Over the years I have coached a number of people who were unhappy in their job and wanted a change to something better, much better. While investigating the reasons for their dissatisfaction, I sometimes find that the people actually like what they are doing, and to a certain extent they like and respect their boss. Digging deeper, I find that their deep dissatisfaction, their source of discontent and their reason for change, is not in the job, but in the company culture.
What is a company culture?
It’s kind of like the personality of the company itself. And just like every person has a distinct personality, so does every company. And this personality is as much a part of who the company is as your personality is to who you are.
Let’s take a brief look at 10 things every leader should know about their company culture.
1. It’s Tangible - Not only does every organization have a personality, but the personality is tangible and real to everyone in the organization. Your employees are probably more clear about the culture of your company than they are about their individual goals and objectives. They sense the culture from their first day on the job,
2. You Can Define It – Or Not - Some companies understand the value of their culture and take great care to intentionally define it. Other companies let the culture evolve over time. When you define the culture yourself you have much more control over it. When left to nature, your culture will be defined by whichever leader has the strongest personality. Clearly there is some risk associated with this method.
3. It Will Guide Everything That You Do - Just as your personality guides the decisions you make, your company culture will guide the decisions made by your organization. Consciously or not, your team will make decisions that are consistent with your culture, even if it goes against their personal values.
4. There Is No Such Thing as a Bad Culture - While it might seem counter-intuitive, there really is no such thing as a bad culture. There is such a thing as a bad culture for you. And there is even such a thing as a bad culture for the market you are trying to serve. But just like we need different personalities in the world, we also need different company cultures to provide us with diversity.
5. Your People Must Be Consistent With Your Culture - Your culture should impact the type of people that you hire. This is fairly easy, and even common, when the culture is intentionally defined. However, when your culture is the result of evolution, your hiring tends to be inconsistent.
6. Definition of Values – Your culture is part of the definition of your company values. The clearer you are about your values, the easier it is to define the culture.
7. Culture Impacts Attitude, Which Dictates Behaviors – Your culture permeates your organization and is reflected in the inner thoughts and attitudes of your employees. These attitudes will directly impact their behavior, for better or for worse.
8. It is Difficult But Not Impossible to Change – Once your Company Culture has been defined, changing it can only be done with significant effort. But the good news is that it can be done.
9. The Words Must Match the Music – If your company has a written statement of culture, but your processes and reward systems don’t reinforce it, you will be stuck with a schizophrenic organization. And the first people to notice this will be your customers. Or should I say, your ex-customers.
10. It Can Cost You Your Best Employees – Hard working, creative, energetic employees want to work in a culture that rewards their creativity. Good employees routinely leave perfectly good jobs because the company culture is inconsistent with their own needs.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
What is a company culture?
It’s kind of like the personality of the company itself. And just like every person has a distinct personality, so does every company. And this personality is as much a part of who the company is as your personality is to who you are.
Let’s take a brief look at 10 things every leader should know about their company culture.
1. It’s Tangible - Not only does every organization have a personality, but the personality is tangible and real to everyone in the organization. Your employees are probably more clear about the culture of your company than they are about their individual goals and objectives. They sense the culture from their first day on the job,
2. You Can Define It – Or Not - Some companies understand the value of their culture and take great care to intentionally define it. Other companies let the culture evolve over time. When you define the culture yourself you have much more control over it. When left to nature, your culture will be defined by whichever leader has the strongest personality. Clearly there is some risk associated with this method.
3. It Will Guide Everything That You Do - Just as your personality guides the decisions you make, your company culture will guide the decisions made by your organization. Consciously or not, your team will make decisions that are consistent with your culture, even if it goes against their personal values.
4. There Is No Such Thing as a Bad Culture - While it might seem counter-intuitive, there really is no such thing as a bad culture. There is such a thing as a bad culture for you. And there is even such a thing as a bad culture for the market you are trying to serve. But just like we need different personalities in the world, we also need different company cultures to provide us with diversity.
5. Your People Must Be Consistent With Your Culture - Your culture should impact the type of people that you hire. This is fairly easy, and even common, when the culture is intentionally defined. However, when your culture is the result of evolution, your hiring tends to be inconsistent.
6. Definition of Values – Your culture is part of the definition of your company values. The clearer you are about your values, the easier it is to define the culture.
7. Culture Impacts Attitude, Which Dictates Behaviors – Your culture permeates your organization and is reflected in the inner thoughts and attitudes of your employees. These attitudes will directly impact their behavior, for better or for worse.
8. It is Difficult But Not Impossible to Change – Once your Company Culture has been defined, changing it can only be done with significant effort. But the good news is that it can be done.
9. The Words Must Match the Music – If your company has a written statement of culture, but your processes and reward systems don’t reinforce it, you will be stuck with a schizophrenic organization. And the first people to notice this will be your customers. Or should I say, your ex-customers.
10. It Can Cost You Your Best Employees – Hard working, creative, energetic employees want to work in a culture that rewards their creativity. Good employees routinely leave perfectly good jobs because the company culture is inconsistent with their own needs.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
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