High Performance – Star Qualities to Get You Noticed

Strategy Plan One

July 19, 2012

High Performance

Whether you are an employee in the private or public sector, or into self-employment, you need to set yourself apart from the pack.  To make a significant impact on your organization or industry, there are things you can do to achieve high performance.  Possessing and demonstrating qualities will ensure you stand out from the competition, internally and externally.

For the most part, personalities get noticed, but other characteristics and qualities gained through experience can make you shine through.  Your qualities can assist in your performance, but can also rub off also in the higher performance of employees, teams and business itself around you.

High Performance Qualities and Tips

Here are some qualities and tips to performing at a high level and getting noticed:

• Demonstrate excellence in everything you do, strive for excellence and encourage all to achieve excellence
• Set aggressive, achievable goals and demonstrate dedication by hitting them
• Seek and implement continuous improvements for yourself, for your team, for your business
• Be genuine, truthful, honest, respectful and fair; uphold strong values and ethics and treat others as you would want to be treated
• Create an open and transparent environment around you; staff, stakeholders and customers will want to go to as you have gained levels of trust
• Keep emotions in check
• Be consistent in your responses, decisions, and in your daily work
• Be an example of collaboration, partnership building, encouraging team effort
• Rely on other’s expertise; be noticed for calling upon others for their value-added advice, opinions and recommendations
• Value everyone’s input and feedback
• Lead by example
• Be energetic, enthusiastic, creative and innovative
• Be loyal to colleagues, staff, customers
• Hit and make the deadlines, be on time

More on personal and business development:

• Social Media Jobs – What Social Media Companies Are Looking For
• Productivity – 6 Small Steps For a More Productive Day
• Fathers – Great Dads, Great Mentors
• Positive Words – Business Communications in a Positive Way
• Goal Setting – Keeping You Going in the Right Direction
• Presentation Tips for Business Meetings and Interviews
• Values and Ethics – Integrating Strong Principles into your Organization

More business blogs of interest:

• Business Plan – The Next Steps

• Business Intelligence – Keeping you Wired In
• SEO Guide to Higher Conversions with a Few Steps [infographic]
• EService, Social Media and Customer Service Trends [infographic]

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One

Employee Morale Improvements – Small Things You Can Do as a Leader

Strategy Plan One

April 29, 2012

Employee Morale & Leadership Goodwill

As a manager, leader and entrepreneur you have a responsibility to ensure employees are interested and happy in the work that they do, and in the environment where they work in.

There are things you can do to change up the environment and make it more positive for your valued staff, leading to improved employee morale.

Here are some low-cost ideas that will have big impacts to employee morale:

Recognition to Build Employee Morale

In your weekly meetings, whether it’s a stand up meeting, conference call or through video-conferencing, take the time to frequently identify and recognize specific team members or units for their achievements and success.  As part of your core duties on a regular basis, you should be engaging with staff and scanning through your units for performance highlights.  Keep in mind you want to recognize all in phases, so that all who are putting in efforts are recognized.  Even the small successes should be recognized.  With recognition, staff will feel valued and morale in the organization will pick up.

Spend Time and Listen to Your Employees

You will gain much respect as a leader if you take the time to listen to employees about their concerns, either in operations or the personal challenges they all face.  You will understand your operational issues better the more frequently you engage at the ground level.  Employees will feel more valued if they are listened to and if they feel their input will have an impact on change.

Fruit Rewards to Improve Employee Morale (and Health)

Every once and awhile bring in a prepared fruit platter for your team to share during breaks and lunch hour.  Throw in an exotic fruit or highlight local produce to raise attention and interest in what you are providing to staff.  In providing a small token of appreciation, staff will realize that you are giving back.  On your side, you are providing something of nutrition value, promoting a healthy work environment.  If you are in an area where local fruit is plentiful, bring in fruit care packages for staff to take home.  Staff will appreciate this as some may not have the time to pick up the produce and will take this home to share with their family in the healthy initiative.

Volunteer Day

Many employees are either engaged or would like to be engaged in volunteer activities.  In your benefits package to employees ensure you include a paid day per year for employees to partake in volunteer activities.  Provided that it does not impact your essential services, allow employees to pick, choose and schedule in a day to dedicate to good causes.  Give them the opportunity to do a bit of sharing and promoting of causes at your business.  Not only is this a good notion for employees and for community, but it also build solid relationships for your business with the community and organizations in need.

Special Guests Build Employee Morale

Bring in a special guest to speak on topics that could benefit your staff.  You could encourage a partnering firm to come in and speak about a topic or have a motivation speaker enlighten the crowd.  Inviting in and scheduling in a speaker could make your work environment more interesting and gives your team a break from the sometimes monotonous work duties.  To keep your costs down on such an activity, make arrangements for mutual exchanges, or if there is a added benefit for the person to come, they may come at no charge.

As an entrepreneur, always gauge your team for the level of workplace satisfaction and employee morale.  With some back pocket strategies for employee morale building, your team will perform better and will stay with your business longer as an employer of choice.

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One

Success in Hiring Excellent People – Merit Based Approach

Strategy Plan One

April 2, 2012 

As a busy entrepreneur leading and managing a company, you may not and should not be completely dedicated to operational tasks or specialized areas.  If you are expanding there is a need for to find good people and have those individuals lead units.

To find excellent employees for your team, you need to establish strong human resource staffing policies and procedures.  Staffing procedures that are unbiased and objective achieve the best results, with the best people bubbling to the surface.

Merit Based Staffing Process

In this modern era, it is common for human resource management to take a merit based approach, rather than what has been done in the past, such as ad-hoc or word of mouth hiring.  The merit based approach involves the selection of candidates based on pre-determined merit criteria.  Successful candidates must meet the criteria to be awarded the position.  The process is one that is more accountable, more objective and is easy to defend should unsuccessful candidates challenge your hiring practices.

Some processes develop a number of criteria and establish assessment tools to grade responses to criteria.  Federal governments have moved to establish essential and asset criteria that a candidate must meet.  The essentials are one that must be met, while asset criteria would be the “bonuses” that an applicant would have.

Candidates can be screened in on first meeting the essential criteria, and then screened a second time when matched against asset criteria.  In some cases organizations also add in “best fit” criteria.  A candidate meeting essential and asset criteria, along with other factors, would give maximum flexibility to the hiring manager or human resource specialist.

Merit Based Staffing Assessment Tools

Differing assessment tools can be used to screen candidates on your established merit criteria.  Here are some tools to potentially use in your processes:

• Resumes and cover letters
• Exams and in-basket exercises
• Simulations
• Psychological profiling
• Leadership competency matching
• Interviews
• Reference checks
• Trial employment

Always remember to develop the process in advance.  Develop strong criteria and the accompanying assessment tools.  Keep track of each individual on their responses.  To make the hiring process more objective, ensure you have more than one member on the hiring selection team, as you will achieve a more global perspective on a candidate.

Human Resource Policies

Ensure your human resource policies include equitable opportunities for employment.  In this modern era, companies need to set a higher standard when it comes to values and ethics and responsibilities to communities.  Ensure emphasis is placed on equitable employment opportunities for men and women, ethnic groups and disabled individuals.  Some of the best mixes of professional teams can be achieved as a result of responsible employment equity policies.

Ensure you human resource policies, including the hiring process, are well documented.  Don’t discriminate or differentiate candidates from the hiring process.  With strong staffing processes and employee representation from all groups, you will have the strongest professional team.

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One

Lessons Learned … From Your Own Employees

Strategy Plan One

March 26, 2012 

 

Employees Have the Ground, Intelligence Wise

Your business has been successful and booming for a long period of time, and you as the leader / entrepreneur, have been busy in your management duties.

You may be far removed from the ground level operations, not having to grind it out on the floor or crank out code, or deal directly with customers.  However, you are not that removed from your employees who have the greatest wealth of knowledge of the operational level.

Much can be learned from employees who know what is and isn’t working at the operational level, who know what the customer’s actions, thoughts and feedback are, and what other employees are saying behind the management lines.

Engaging and Interacting Frequently with Employees

As a manager, leader, and entrepreneur, engage and interact well and frequently with your employees.  Make it well known that you are openly interested daily about what is taking place on the floor.  It should be a part of your daily routine, either through inspecting your place of retail or office space.  The employees will feel more at ease when the management team is readily and physically available for open discussions.

Grab Intelligence from Employees

Setting the stage with frequent engagement and interactions will assist in your employees openly providing you with a wealth of information to improve operations and/or improve client and customer relationships.  These professionals in your organization may provide valuable recommendations and will look to you as the leader to implement some solutions from issues they encounter.

Make employees feel valued that they can share information and that you, as a tuned-in entrepreneur, are listening and willing to embrace recommendations for approval.

Encourage Continuous Improvements From Employees

To stay on the cutting edge and at the top of your industry, you will need your employees to think and act innovatively.  The best practices and solutions do originate from team actions, and so would innovative practices.

Empower your employees to develop ground-breaking practices that would set the units, team, and business far ahead of the competitors.  Create an environment that is rewarding and promotes recognition for achievements.  Depending on your budgets, you can develop incentive programs for high achievers and for employees that bring innovative solutions to the table.  You may be surprised at the untapped intelligence from all of your professional staff.

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

Strategies to Handle Difficult Employees in Your Business

Strategy Plan One

March 25, 2012 

Difficult Employees

Every organization has difficult employees that are not necessarily the happiest bunch.

Whether is it a personality issue, organizational or environmental issue, it is par for the course to have variance in people’s behaviour, moods, or job satisfaction.

You could have the most successful, corporate culturally rich environment, with great working conditions and compensation and you can still have disgruntled staff.  No fear, there are some human resource tactics to adequately handle some difficult employees who may throw a temporary wrench into your organization.

Identify the Issues with the Difficult Employees

When you as a leader become aware of issues in the organization and with specific staff members, ensure that you approach the employees to better understand the scenario and to isolate the specific issues.  Ensure that in a confidential setting the employee has the opportunity to openly express the situation with you or your human resource specialist.  Encourage open communication in your corporate culture.  Be an active listener first before diving into any actions.

Solutions in Handling Difficult Employees

Take note of the issues the employee has expressed freely, and then ask for some potential solutions from their side.  Employee feedback is extremely important.  You may find that part of the operation or the way things are done in the organization is causing not only this employee but others grief.  Employees provide you with the needed intelligence at ground level.  This intelligence may not be something that you are privy to.

In asking for valued feedback, you make a disgruntled employee feel valued and part of the solution.  In normal circumstances, this should build higher morale with this disgruntled employee, and broadly across the organization.

If the scenario involves more than one employee or third parties, then you may have to engage with multiple parties, seeking solutions from diverse array of people.  Customers, suppliers, and contractors can sometimes be the cause of issues in your organization and with your staff.

Human Resource Resolution Mechanisms for Difficult Employees

With strong human resource policies and procedures your organization will be well equipped to handle difficult employees.  Whenever possible, your human resource specialist can be used to intervene in difficult circumstances to provide the direct assistance to not only you as the leader, but also to the employee.

Your human resource specialist may also act as a mediator between management and the employee in cases where there are challenges between staff and management.  The difficult employees may be more open to discussing the challenges as they may feel that the human resource specialist is one step removed from management.  The specialist can also provide the direct lines and information on the company’s human resource policies and on any labor acts or regulations.

Implement Solutions to Resolve Challenges with Difficult Employees

Once you nail down some workable solutions, be ready as a responsible leader to implement some best practices or solutions.  Implementation in any action plan is critically important to resolving those initial challenges identified.  Have a plan of action to implement those recommendations that were developed from feedback from the difficult employees and the advice from your human resource specialist.

As a last resort to difficult employees who do not change their behavior, or do continuous harm to other employees or the organization, dismissal of the employees may be the last action to resolve.  You should however, make every attempt to resolve before this last option.  Ensure that if you do go down the path of termination, that you abide by your polices, and any acts or regulations.

Following up with Difficult Employees

After implementation, follow up with staff and units on progress.  Is it working?  Did it resolve the problems?  If not, you may have to tweak your approach with a revised action plan to implement.

If your implemented actions have resolved the issues, then you may be on your way to achieving greater job satisfaction with all staff, which will greatly impact the performance in your organization.

Summary of Some Tips in Handling Difficult Staff:

• Encourage open communication on any topic with employees
• Empower employees to make suggestions and recommendations for solutions
• Make employees feel that they are a part of the solution
• Be empathetic, be a good listener
• Show strong leadership and implement solutions
• Track the results of the solutions
• Follow up with staff and measure results
• Be prepared and embrace a continuous improvement process to create a better environment for your valued staff

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One