HOW TO MOTIVATE Inspire PEOPLE | 10 KEYS TO EMPLOYEE...

HOW TO MOTIVATE Inspire PEOPLE | 10 KEYS TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

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How to Motivate Inspire People10 Keys to Employee Engagement

Copyright Rick Conlow & Doug Watsabaugh Published 1st December 2013

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written consent from the author.







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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION

ONESETTING CLEAR GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

TWOTRAINING EMPLOYEES EFFECTIVELY

THREEMANAGING WITH FLEXIBILITY

FOURCOMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE

FIVEMOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH RECOGNITION

SIXDEALING WITH POOR PERFORMANCE

SEVENACHIEVING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE GAINS

EIGHTCOACHING FOR EXCELLENCE

NINECREATING FUN WITHIN A HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK ATMOSPHERE

TENHIRING THE BEST PEOPLE

CONCLUSION4 GREAT TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

ABOUT WCW PARTNERS







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Our book, SuperSTAR Leadership: A 31-Day Plan to Motivate People, Communicate Positively and Get Everyone On Your Side, is about the leadership skills, values and ap-proaches that will not only motivate people, but inspire them to greatness. It pro-vides a developmental process that helps leaders, managers, trainers, supervisors and coaches take a critical look at their management approaches and competencies, build on strengths, shore up weaknesses, and become immediately more effective. Our ap-proach is about revolutionizing leadership effectiveness, considering the fact that man-agement studies show over 50% of managers fail, we prove there is a better way.

This eBook’s foundation is based on our work and consulting experience, as well as research we did to keep improving our own skills. Our experience has been built working with client leaders who want to achieve results fast, something we all aspire to.

To do this, we will summarize the nine core strategies we feature in SuperSTAR Leadership: A 31-Day Plan to Motivate People, Communicate Positively and Get Every-one On Your Side. You may be wondering, why put this into a shortened eBook? The most often asked ques-tion we hear from managers is: How do you moti-vate people? Far too many managers are frustrated and confused about how to deal with poor perform-ers, how to create employee engagement or how to take a team to the next level. SuperSTAR Leadership provides a comprehensive understanding complete with daily exercises that answer this question, how-ever these nine core strategies provide a start to get you on the road to success.

This eBook is a no-cost or low cost solution to provide to any and all managers, supervisors, lead-ers, coaches and trainers. We firmly believe, “If you want your people to be better, you have to be better leader.”

The Superstar Leadership Model speaks to managers directly and challenges you with two defining ques-tions:

1. ”What do employees need from you, the boss, to succeed?”

2. “What is it like to be supervised by you?” As you read this eBook, answer these questions honestly and execute the strategies consistently with passion. As you do, as we have seen other managers, you begin to achieve see significant gains in employee morale, engagement, teamwork and productivity. We wish you the best of success to you.

POSITIVELY,Rick Conlow & Doug Watsabaugh

INTRODUCTIOn







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What do employees need from you, the boss, to

succeed?What is it like to be

supervised by you?







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S E T T I N G C L E A R G O A L S A N D E X P E C TAT I O N S

After years of research, we created a leadership model to answer the question: What separates excel-

lent leaders from the not-so-stellar lead-ers? We infused our knowledge with our experiences with the highest and lowest performing managers. We discovered that it comes down to nine interrelated strat-egies that the top leaders -- we call them SuperSTAR Leaders -- tend to under-stand, grasp and implement better than others. Above all else, SuperSTAR Lead-ers understand what motivates people.

In his classic Harvard Business Review article, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Fred-erick Herzberg states the factors that motivate most people are:

AchievementRecognitionThe work itselfResponsibilityAdvancementGrowthLearning

Our opportunity as managers is to leverage these fac-tors to enrich employees’ jobs. You may notice money isn’t on the list. According to the article, money is seen as much as a job “dissatisfier” as it is a job satis-fier. Herzberg argues that incentives are more of kick in the pants than a motivator. Whether it’s negative or positive, fear-based or monetary incentive-based. Herzberg says both produce movement, not motiva-tion. Movement means there is a change in results, but largely because the manager took action rather than the employee. This lacks sustainability. Motiva-tion means the employee has an internal generator to want to do the job better or more effectively and isn’t influenced by an external reward. Motivation produc-es more consistent efforts.

So how do you motivate people? You don’t! You let them motivate themselves. In fact, you find ways to inspire them, which we will talk more about later. The truth is that employees are always motivated; just not always to do what the leader wants. Different things motivate different individuals. Most of the time, man-agers don’t know what is important to an employee or make an effort to consider their employees’ priori-ties. So again, how do you motivate people? You find out what’s important to them and work to design or create an environment that helps them achieve their goals and facilitates their growth for both the com-pany and themselves.

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Based on our research and experience working with top leaders in companies around the globe, managers need the following to excel:

1. Clear Goals and Expectations: According to a Lock and Latham Study, with clear goals and expectations managers saw a 16% improvement.

2. Training: According to an ASTD Study, companies in top quarter of training expense ($1,500 per year or more) average 24% higher profit margins.

3. Communication: According to a Wyatt Study, with good communication there was a 30% increase in market value.

4. Coaching: According to the Personal Management Association, coaching yielded an 88% positive im-pact.

5. Leadership Flexibility: According to Blanchard, Hersey, Goleman, managers that incorporated lead-ership flexibility saw 15%-20% more results.

6. Recognition: According to a Jackson ROI Study, there was a triple return on equity for companies with more recognition than those companies who do less.

7. Promotions/Incentives: According to the Per-formance Improvement Institute, promotions and incentives had a 22% impact on results.

8. Customer Loyalty: According to a Bain Re-search study, there was a 5% improvement in cus-tomer retention improves profit 25% or more.

9. Hiring: According to the Personnel Policy Service, the right hire saves 3 times the annual salary.

Notice the potential performance gains. Contrast this with the fact that management derailment studies indicate 50% of managers fail today. The Gallup Group reports that 70-80% of employees are disengaged. An enterprising manager can buck these trends and learn to lead, inspire and create a high performing team.

The key to SuperSTARs’ success is that they use these strategies in tandem. The point is not to master one and abandon the others - the goal is to become proficient in all nine. Let’s start with the first strategy.

70-80% of employees are

disengaged. An enterprising

manager can buck these trends and learn to lead, inspire and create a high

performing team.








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Excellent Performance Management: Setting Clear Goals and ExpectationsFirst and foremost, all great performance begins with clear goals and plans. Without direction, how is dedica-tion possible? Without clarity, how does a team know how to commit? Now, this idea isn’t new, but it also isn’t well practiced. Presently, a lot of work is done to create strategic plans in companies, but very rarely is work updated as time progresses.

Secondly, the goals that are made at the top of an organization or team don’t always trickle down to the individuals that are actually responsible for executing the plans—in other words, there is a disconnect between those making the plans and those executing the plans. Even when goals are identified, very rarely do managers maintain their commitment; instead, their plans, ideas and strategies ride any wave that comes their way. Finally, research suggests that less than one third of managers have clear goals and expectations in writing with their em-ployees.

To overcome these unnecessary obstacles, try taking a few small steps:

• Review and update plans on a regular basis so they are relevant, appropriate and effective.

• Ensure that everyone affected by the plan is informed about the plan’s purpose, strategy and connection to their job.

• Sustain the progress of a plan by remaining focused on it and dedicated to it by daily managing performance of the team and individuals.

• Provide timely feedback to your team to recognize progress and to deal with sub-par performance.

80% of performance problems stem from ambiguous expecta-tions; clear goals and plans help focus employees on achieve-ment and the personal growth necessary to accomplish the tasks. As Theodore Hesburgh says, “The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”

“The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision. It’s got to be a

vision you articulate clearly and

forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain

trumpet.”THEODORE HESBURGH








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In this age of services, technology and prod-ucts that are so similar from one competi-tor to the next, people become the primary differentiator. So, are you investing in your people? If yes, how are you doing it? As with everyone, employees need ongoing, engag-ing learning opportunities to be at the top of their game. The training must be relevant, interactive and consistent to increase produc-tivity.

Early in our careers we were eager to learn and move ahead. So, we began the habit of attending 4-5 training sessions a year, which usually added up to over one hundred hours of training time per year. We paired this with reading one-to-two books a month to stay abreast of our field. While we did this we noticed that those around us didn’t take these steps and we were consistently able to achieve faster and more sustain-able results.

Every February, Fortune magazine publishes the top 100 companies to work for in America. What isn’t always mentioned is that these companies regularly provide over fifty hours of training per employee per year. It pays off in both the companies’ bottom lines and employee satisfaction.

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T R A I N E M P L OY E E S E F F E C T I V E LY







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Managers are the Best TrainersSo, where do you start if you know you need to train? Managers are the best trainers because they are the closest to their employees. But, to master training methodology and delivery, most managers need to learn professional training techniques and adult-learn-ing principles.

While not everyone can become a “training expert”, most can learn the basics, which can help reinforce skills and attitudes through their training and subse-quent follow-up coaching. Never forget that the single biggest impact on an employee’s per-formance is their direct supervisor.

How Often Do You Train?So, how often should you train? Well, considering top athletes train almost every day between games and in the off-season, business shouldn’t be any different. Unfortunately, the reality is that employees rarely have the opportunity to participate in more than one train-ing session a year.

Much of a manager’s training can be done in depart-ment meetings. Hold weekly team meetings and conduct hour-long training sessions once or twice a month. This way there is consistent month-in and month-out effort to help employees learn and grow. Topics can relate to company products, company pro-cedures, technology or interpersonal skills like team-work or customer service. Beyond this do a few 1-2 events during the year. You will catapult your team’s energy and results on the job.

One of the keys to employee motivation is ongoing development and growth. Managers that become ef-fective trainers can help their employees achieve self-motivation and self-direction. This leads to improved performance. Various studies by the American Society for Training and Development suggest that companies with more consistent training outperform others by over 20%. This is reason enough to train your team consistently.

Hold weekly team meetings and conduct hour-long training sessions once or twice a month.







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M A N A G I N G W I T H F L E X I B I L I T Y

In any given day, it doesn’t take long to realize that everybody is different. Yes, there are similarities here and there, but

for the most part, we are all very unique. From our background to our appearance to our experience to our personality, we are different. So, flexibility is among the most impor-tant qualities in a successful manager.

Think of it like this: You’d never call someone a chef, or even a decent cook for that matter, if they could only cook one dish. You’d deem someone a chef that has mastered the art of cooking. Now, that doesn’t mean that chefs can’t specialize in one cuisine over another, but the caliber of a chef often depends on one’s ability to im-provise as needed, without compromising the quality of whatever is cooked. The same is asked of leaders.

A leader can’t always pick and choose the type of team, projects, environments, or crises that will come one’s way. If a leader can’t determine how to navigate the unpredictable waters, he or she will probably go down with the ship. To some extent, it’s really about going with the flow to adapt to what your followers need without forfeiting the things that matter.

Your team is going to vary by indi-vidual. The level of need, knowledge, experience, behavior and guidance will inevitably change by day by team member and by project. That’s a lot of change. So, will you be the leader that refuses to make adjustments accordingly? Or will you be the one leading the pack through the unprec-edented territory? Will you expect every member of your team to be on

the same page as you at all times and become frus-trated when one falls short? Or will you willingly and cooperatively work to understand the unique needs of each team member, so that you can effectively and collaboratively reach your goals together? Is it about you or is it about your team members?

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The level of need, knowledge, experience, behavior and guidance will inevitably change

by day, by team member and by project.







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Your approach as a leader must adapt to the needs of your followers. It can’t be all about you if you’re hoping to help your team reach success. For example, if you have team members who are struggling, the help you need to offer them would feel like handholding to a top performer. Yet, what you’d give the star on your team would be too overwhelming for a beginner. And really, the only way to adapt as needed is to KNOW YOUR TEAM. Ask ques-tions; get to know what makes them tick, and determine the skill and will behind your employees so you can tailor your approach as much as possible. This is also a key to fo-cusing each person on individual responsibility for results.

A while back, we came across this anonymous quote, which suits this strategy well. “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” It’s an excellent im-age to keep in mind as you’re hoping to become a better leader. It’s almost as if you’re completing one big puzzle. Each piece is unique, in order for the whole project to be complete. And just like putting together a puzzle, leading a team takes a lot of patience, resilience, and versatility. You can’t know it all before you get started, but you can be open to figuring it out along the way based on what fits, what’s needed and what works.

Note: The strategies discussed briefly here so far and the others to come lead to better employee performance and engagement. Our research proves it, we have suc-ceed at it, and our client managers have experienced it. Remember, first the managers changes and improves and then employees will follow. Each strategy takes persistent practice and review to achieve mastery. All of them go together like a symphony. Each needs to done with a car-ing heart. People are the greatest resource of a company. Nurture, support and coach them and they will go the extra mile for you because they want to.

As you seek to reach the ranks of good bosses if not SuperSTAR leaders, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I know what makes each of my team members moti-vated? Discouraged?

2. Do I know the level of skill of each employee? Am I adapting to the abilities of each?

3. Am I creating an environ-ment that encourages uniqueness and difference?

4. Am I suffocating others by making them feel like they have to be a certain way (“my way or the highway”)?

5. How am I utilizing each person to his or her utmost potential, regardless of how he or she compares to other team members?

6. Am I rigid and unable to adapt to needs and team members accordingly?

7. What am I doing to make progress in this strategy?








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C O M M U N I C AT E , C O M M U N I C AT E , C O M M U N I C AT E It can’t be said enough that communication is key. It’s also critical that it be positive, helpful and motivating. This doesn’t apply for any type of communicating; for example, more yelling, screaming and threatening is not helpful but positively communicating with your team in a way each person can fully understand is essential for workplace motivation.

Recently, CEOs were asked in a survey, why are you successful? The majority said their ability to commu-nicate effectively is what helped them rise to the top. Contrast this with employee feedback from employee engagement surveys. One of the biggest complaint areas for employees is poor communication from leadership.

To begin improving your communication and your team morale, focus on the following areas.

Communicate about goals and plans.Do this with each team member one-on-one, and with the team as a whole. Ensure that everyone understand their priorities, expectations and goals. Review results in “real-time”. Update plans at least quarterly. Studies show you can increase performance 16% or more through this process.

Communicate in team meetings.Hold regular team meetings. We see the best manag-ers doing this at least weekly. Run an effective meeting. If you are not sure what types of topics to cover, see our blog or eZine articles for ideas. Your purpose is to inform, discuss, problem-solve, encourage and train. Without meetings, the rumor mill has a tendency to

run and negativity spreads quickly. With a consistent process you can keep your team focused and upbeat.

Communicate by being available and visible.Tom Peters coined the term: “Managing by wandering around.” Meaning stay involved in day-to-day activities, not to micro-manage, but to engage positively. Leader-ship is a high contact sport.

For the most part, employees want to do well. By communicating about goals, plans, outcomes and problems, we can work together as a team to do bet-ter. A common problem teams face is the difference between what managers choose to communicate and what employees want to know. The lesson learned here is that managers must find iut what their em-ployees want to know, in order to communicate the right thing. Not only that, but it’s important for man-agers to communicate it in the right way. We suggest you attend a few “hands on” seminars to improve your listening and presentation skills. Communicating the right thing in the right way establishes trust and minimizes misunderstandings. This clarity and cohe-sion are bound to benefit your team’s level of effec-tiveness, productivity and success.

FOUR







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M OT I VAT I N G E M P L OY E E S T H R O U G H R E C O G N I T I O N Gallup has done some incredible research on how recognition and results go hand-in-hand. According to their research, employees who said they were recognized in the last week at work, tended to perform better the following week. In the book, The Carrot Principle, authors Gostick and Elton state recognition helps drive employee engagement and productivity. This strategy revolves around assisting employees at cul-tivating pride in their work.

So, how is it that most managers forget something so simple? The truth is, most managers believe that it makes sense to recognize their employees - but most managers either don’t make the time to do this, or they feel uncomfortable doing it. Neither of these are good excuses. In fact, there is a solution that solves both of these problems: PLAN to RECOGNIZE. The more you can make recognition a part of your regu-lar routine, the less uncomfortable and forced it will feel. Recognition can be formal or informal. Do what makes sense for you and your employees. In seminars, consulting and books we differentiate between these two types of recognition. For our purposes here, con-sider these five simple suggestions as to how you can carve this priority into your calendar.

1. Put actual reminders around key projects or dates that will require some form of recogni-tion. This way it’s scheduled!

2. Create competitions around major projects, so there’s a healthy level of competitive spirit generated that naturally produces opportuni-ties for recognition.

3. Make it a goal to recognize each employee on your team at least once during the workweek. Tie this into your coaching time. (See our coaching section.)

4. Establish a small budget at work that allows you the flexibility and freedom to buy a team member coffee or take a team member to lunch when he or she produces stellar results. Not only will your employees appreciate this kind of gesture, but also it will give you one-on-one time to connect with your employees outside of the office.

5. Start team meetings with a five-minute “recog-nition rally” that allows you and team mem-bers to recognize one another for hard work or exceptional work done between team members. This will help to make recognition a natural characteristic of your team’s culture.

Above all, the key to recognition is that it’s GENUINE and CONSISTENT. If it happens once in a blue moon, that won’t be enough to elicit the possible positive responses from your employees. And if it’s not sincere, your employees will know. So, do it right and do it often to make a difference.

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Two of our favorites quotes on this topic lead to the two questions we will leave you to answer. “A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” This anony-mous quote begs the question; are you willing and able to recognize others in the small things, as much as you are in the big things? And lastly, as Steven Covey so bril-liantly stated, “You have to water the flowers you want to grow.” Which flowers have you been neglect-ing that need to be tended?








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D E A L I N G W I T H P O O R P E R F O R M A N C E All managers need to learn to effectively deal with a wide range of performance is-sues if they want to be a better leader. For most managers, not all, dealing with poor performance strikes fear in their hearts because it involves confrontation. Some of these issues include: absenteeism, tardiness, poor quality work, poor service, poor productivity, lack of teamwork, conflict with others, and a lack of communication. Let’s focus on the positive and a few key high performance principles.

• Most people think they are performing better than they are and most people can perform significantly better than they are.

• Most people want to do a good job.• All individuals have an incredible untapped

potential.• Each person is responsible for his or her own

behavior and attitude.• The single biggest impact on an employees’

performance is their direct supervisor.• When giving feedback, positive or negative, to

an employee you must be immediate as pos-sible, be specific and want to be helpful.

• As a leader, if you want your people to be bet-ter you have to be better.

To help an employee perform at a higher level each manager needs to ask these key questions:

1. Have I established clear goals and expectations both in the interview process and on the job?

2. Has the employee been trained or retrained properly?

3. Have I coached my employee one on one regularly?

4. Does the employee have the tools or resourc-es to do the job well?

5. Have I given the employee appropriate and timely feedback? (Praise when things have gone well and constructive feedback for im-provement when things haven’t gone well.)

SIX







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If a manager has provided all of the above, then there are three other methods that can be helpful. Here is a quick overview. Use each one depending on the employee’s situation and capability.

Redirect: This is for inexperienced employ-ees on a new job or who have a new task. This is a training issue; your job is to instruct to the person how to do the job.

Review and Coach: This is for inexperi-enced and experienced employees who are falling short of their goals. Review expectations and then coach. See the section on coaching for more ideas.

Reprimand: This approach is for primarily experienced employees. A reprimand has three steps and usually only takes a couple of minutes. First, meet the employee one-on-one and be specific about the issue. Don’t yell or scream but change your tone of voice for emphasis. Second, state how you feel about the situation, for example, “I am disappointed in how this resulted.” Third, pause for a moment. The em-ployee needs to understand that this is serious. Then, praise the employee for his or her capabil-ity. Remember this is an experienced employee who knows what to do. When you take this kind of approach with a reprimand you focus on the behavior and not the person. Giving direct, constructive feedback like this is a gift that can help people perform at their highest levels more consistently.

It’s important to remember to always follow your company’s policy for documentation and process. Seek advice from human resources. Dealing with performance problems as im-mediately as possible and constructively adds power to the potential improvement. In all cases, leaders need to follow-up and reinforce to rec-ognize progress or correct mistakes. This also helps employees take responsibility for change and gives them the internal motivation to do the job well.

Redirectaimed at: Inexperienced employees on a new job or who have a new taskaction: Instruct to the person how to do the job

Review and Coachaimed at: Inexperienced and expe-rienced employees who are falling short of their goals action: Review expectations and then coach

Reprimandaimed at: Experienced employeesaction: First, meet the employee one-on-one and be specific about the issue. Don’t yell or scream but change your tone of voice for em-phasis. Second, state how you feel about the situation, for example, “I am disappointed in how this result-ed.” Third, pause for a moment. The employee needs to understand that this is serious. Then, praise the em-ployee for his or her capability.







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Continuity is another form of commit-ment. If we continue something, even if we change the details here and there,

it demonstrates that we’re dedicated to mak-ing it what we want it to be and reaching our end goal. Leaders need to understand - perfec-tion is a process, it’s not a destination. Because every one of our employees will vary in terms of what they want, how they work and why what’s important to them is important, defining and striving for perfection is nearly impossible (and most of the time, very unhelpful). Instead, if we remain dedicated to the process of im-proving, we can take into consideration the changes that need to be made without com-promising our goals in the meantime. Famed football coach Vince Lombardi said to the Green Bay Packers early in his tenure: “Perfec-tion is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” We chase perfection through continuous improvement.

SEVEN

It is essential to understand that if we fail to recognize improvement is a process, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. One component of understanding this is realizing and accepting that there is no way we can know every step, every obstacle, and every plan in advance. We can try, but if we don’t adapt as needed our rigid mentalities and stub-bornness will only make the hurdles harder. However, when we lead our teams and enter projects with the mentality that it’s about maintaining a devotion to adjusting as we go, we’re much more likely to stay committed, feel less frustrated, and be more inspiring with our efforts.

Seth Godin, expert blogger, entrepreneur and best-selling author, recently had a blog post that drove this point home. In it he said, “As soon as you accept that just about everything in our created world is only a few generations old, it makes it a lot easier to deal with the fact that the assumptions we make about the future are generally wrong, and that the stress we have over change is completely wasted.” It’s the same when we’re leading others, if we decide at any point that we have it whether it is our employees, our projects or our successes all figured out, we’re in for a surprise.

A C H I E V I N G C O N T I N U O U S I M P R O V E M E N T A N D P E R F O R M A N C E G A I N S







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So, what do you do to stay consistently committed to constant change? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Improvement takes innovation. As leaders, if we create an environment that’s accepting and encouraging of change and growth - we’re naturally inviting our em-ployees to do things differently. Experimentation doesn’t always result in success, but it’s essential at some point along the way. Encourage it and watch your employees’ creativity come to life.

2. Ask questions. Problems are inevitable, and when you’re the leader, you’re bound to be involved in most of them. So, dig deep, ask questions and help expand your employees’ perspectives by inviting them to think “outside the box.”

3. Conduct a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) allows your employees to intentionally take in a comprehensive inventory of information that’s readily available to them when they stop and reflect.

As Warren Buffett proclaims, “We enjoy the process much more than the proceeds.” So ask yourself, what are you doing to ensure that your team enjoys the process? What are you doing to dem-onstrate that continuous improvement is critical to achieving desired and decided-upon goals?

“We enjoy the process much more than the

proceeds.”WARREN BUFFETT







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C O A C H I N G F O R E X C E L L E N C E Coaching is a term we often think of in regards to athletics. No matter how good an athletic team is, we always think it’s absolutely essential for the team to have a coach. But, when it comes to the business sector, we operate differently. Why is that? Most managers don’t think they have the time, or they don’t quite grasp the concept of coaching, or they’ve never been effectively coached themselves, so they don’t really know where to start. Despite this belief, excellent coaching saves time and provides employees with an example that they can carry far into their future.

Passionate and diligent coaching increases your team’s productivity, generates higher sales, and improves the quality of your service. It can be informal or formal, but it should always be a positive process of mutual dialogue. It can be used to do various things, includ-ing building rapport, asking questions, giving advice, providing support and assistance, following through on previous conversations, and simply setting aside time for an employee.

Informal coaching involves any employee contact; it usually takes minutes and can be done every day with nearly every employee. A few examples include:

• Talk to employees about non-business things and care what they have to say.

• Verbally praise an employee in front of others.• Meet with an employee in his or her office just

to see how things are going.

• Ask employees for input on a problem.• Apologize for a personal mistake or error.• Provide a listening ear when you know they

are in a tough spot.

One-on-one formal coaching sessions take more time and are done less frequently. Often, formal coaching leverages an employee’s key motivators and are very valuable for many reasons, some of which include:

• Promotes effective communication and trust.• Creates an employee-manager relationship.• Creates an atmosphere of continuous im-

provement.• Helps businesses and employees reach and

exceed their goals.• Aids daily performance management and en-

gagement.

EIGHT







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There are eight formal coaching steps that the best bosses and the worst bosses do differently. To gauge where you stand on the coaching spectrum, evaluate how you do in each of these areas:

1. Communicate clear performance goals and expectations.

2. Meet regularly in one-on-ones for coaching.3. Ask for a summary of results and activities.4. Set plans and commitments.5. Keep commitments and action plans.6. Praise progress and recognizes positive results.7. Provide timely and regular feedback and guidance.8. Make the time to coach in formal one-on-ones and

builds positive relationships with high expectations.

Learn to do each of these steps well. Next time you’re hesitating about whether or not coaching is right for your working environment, ask yourself if you’d be more confident cheering for a professional sports team that has no coach or one that just secured a coach with an all-star reputation?







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C R E AT I N G F U N W I T H I N A H I G H P E R F O R M A N C E W O R K AT M O S P H E R E

Ask yourself, “Why do people go to work?” The answer is usually pretty straightfor-ward; people have to work in order to make a living. But, what if the first answer that came to your mind was people go to work because they want to? Somewhere along the way the idea that work and fun couldn’t go hand-in-hand was perpetuated. But, who decided that fun shouldn’t be a part of the equation? It’s almost as if above the entrance to the Harvard Business School there is a sign that says, “Anyone entering here will never smile again.”

Similarly, fun isn’t the reason we go to the gym, how-ever we still have the choice to make a workout fun. Fun is never a prerequisite to a vacation, but we still make some serious strides to ensure that fun slips into our holiday. In all other areas of life, fun is some-times intentional and other times organic, so why treat the workplace any differently?

Somewhere along the way, work and play got sepa-rated. However, it’s critical to understand how work and play complement each other and the combination accelerates employee engagement. Employees want to enjoy their work. As a leader, it’s your job to do your best at bringing the fun into your workplace. Why? It helps people perform better. How do you do that? For now let’s review three strategies that help to give your employees the incentive to perform to their ut-most potential. It’s your job to help them have fun, it’s your job to accentuate the payoff, and it’s your job

to prioritize promotions or incentives when they’re deserved. It’s all about challenging your team. Here are a few examples to consider.

1. Create and encourage team projects. When a group is committed to something together, the chances that they’ll have a good time collectively also increases. Positivity is contagious. A healthy level of competition works to inspire employees to bring their best to the table. For example, one company gave its customer service representatives a team customer experience goal. If they hit the goal within the time period they would all go out for dinner at a comedy club. They created a team name, slogan and logo and tracked results daily. They had a blast and exceeded the goal. Everyone attended the event even in the midst of a snowstorm.

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2. Schedule communication activities. Set aside a time each week where employees get together to discuss priorities, progress and performance. These should be ongoing collaborative conversations. Doing this al-lows for more opportunities for fun, as well as increased awareness on everyone’s end, as far as what’s happening within the team. One engineering manager at an aerospace company asked, “Can I have a team meeting?” He was serious. With coaching he learned how to lead a dynamic and engaging meeting. He began getting compliments from his team about how much they enjoyed and gained from his ses-sions.

3. Plan social gatherings. Sometimes it’s considered “unprofessional” to plan non-work events at work. We believe it’s not only profes-

sional (when appropriate), but it’s smart. Learn about what your employees enjoy and plan something that’s “outside the office,” so that team members can get to know one another apart from the stress and seriousness that the office offers. One sales team established a co-ed softball team. While sales soared over the summer, softball wasn’t the reason, but everyone agreed that team spirit helped make a difference.

Plato said, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” As a man-ager, you’ll be amazed at what you can learn about your employees by watching them enjoy themselves. It’s not about all work and no play; it’s about a balance. So now, identify one reason you tend to avoid having fun in the workplace and brainstorm one solution you have to extinguishing that excuse.

“You can discover more about a

person in an hour of play than in a year of

conversation.”PLATO







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H I R I N G T H E B E S T P E O P L E

Your success as a manager is often linked to how well you recruit and hire. Unfortunately, not all

supervisors or managers have complete control over the selection process, or aren’t involved in the hiring effort at all. Corporate or human resources policies can make it difficult to hire the best can-didates. Specific and stringent policies are in place to keep the selection process fair and legal. Other times, the best tal-ent doesn’t seem interested in your job because they like their current job, the compensation isn’t attractive enough or the reputation of your company is ques-tionable.

Regardless, the selection process is a crucial element of a high performance strategy. Employee engagement and having a successful working relationship with em-ployees is a combination of good selection practices and strong employee development. Unfortunately,

many managers use poor, outdated, inadvertently il-legal, and sometimes harmful hiring methods that put their companies at great risk.

Turnover is a pain, and if you are constantly interview-ing and then training new employees, you regularly lose ground. The wrong hire can cost three times the annual salary of a good one. High turnover costs can negatively impact your department, your reputation and the company. Other employees wonder, what’s wrong with this place? High turnover rates suggest that management has poor hiring habits and poor leadership practices. All of this leads to significant lost opportunities for better service, sales, quality, or profit.

The selection process needs to be like a test to be fair. Most efforts at hiring and interviewing reflect some opportunity for legal action because of:

• Poor preparation• Interview questions do not relate to the job• Failure to structure the process to give reli-

able information

Base the Interview on a Structured Busi-nesslike ProcessThink of the interview like a test, successful tests need

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to be reliable and valid. To be reliable, it must generate consistent information for decision-making no matter who does the interview or whom you are interview-ing. Structure helps with this and should include: using a legal application every applicant, having written job descriptions, creating written and clear expectations and goals, and establishing questions about the mean-ingful job tasks and duties. Shooting from the hip and relying on a gut feeling most likely will produce unreli-able information, poor results and sometimes even legal concerns.

To be valid, the selection process and specifically the interviews, must effectively measure applicant skills and compatibility for the job. In other words, does the interview generate information that is a good predic-tion for job performance and success? This can be difficult to do but is an important part of the process. It is critical that the interviewer establish a positive

climate and rapport with the candidate. The inter-viewer must ask specific and job related questions. Also, ensure that consistent questions are asked of each candidate.

Additionally, the interviewer needs to clearly commu-nicate a sense of fairness and realistic understanding of the requirements and skills needed for a specific job to the applicant. Then and only then will the in-terview process be professional and fair and help the manager hire the best people.

Finally, managing high performance begins in the hiring process too. Your communication with a candidate matters, through setting clear expectations and goals sets the tone a good employee/manager relationship. Your job in hiring is not only to select the best avail-able candidate, but also prepare the person to lay the groundwork for a successful career on your team.

The wrong hire can cost three times the annual salary of a

good one.







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4 G R E AT T R A I N I N G A N D D E V E L O P M E N T O P T I O N S 4 Great Training and Development Options to:

• Keep learning how to motivate in-spire employees!

• Improve your skills and knowledge of leadership effectiveness!

• Achieve better team performance!• Accelerate your career forward!• Gain more personal satisfaction and

pride in your work!

1. Do you want to learn now to be a more effective and successful leader? If so, we suggest you check out our Superstar Leadership book. Order the book now: http://wcwpartners.com/superstar-leadership-model/.

2. Do you want to assess or learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership skills, so that you can improve today? Take our complimentary Superstar Leadership assessment. Click here: http://wcwpartners.com/superstar-leadership-model-self-assessment-download/.

3. Would you like to ramp up your effectiveness to achieve better results with your team? If so we suggest you check out our Superstar Leader-ship program Self-Study Program. It includes our book, the assessment, 3-reinforcement leader-ship training DVDs and a leadership workbook that complements the book. Order now by clicking here: http://wcwpublishing.com/wcw-programs/individual-self-study-programs/superstar-leadership-model-indi-vidualized-study-program/

4. Or, would you like to fast track your team’s results, and your career success? If so, we suggest you enroll in our SuperSTAR Leadership Video training series. In this unique series you receive our book, the assessment, the workbook, our reinforcement 3 DVDs and 12 in-depth leadership-training videos. This proven and practical program will help you catapult your career success. For more information and to order go here: http://wcwpublishing.com/ssl-monthly-video-series/#

CONCLUSION






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A B O U T W C W PA RT N E R S

WCW Partners is a management consulting and training company. Based in Minne-apolis/ST. Paul, Minnesota, we work with clients in a variety of industries worldwide to help them excel in sales, service and leadership. We facilitate business growth and vitality through four practices—sales and customer retention improvement, organiza-tion and leadership development, innovation and communications strategy.

Our approachWe don’t mind telling you that we’re different than most consulting firms you’ll find in the marketplace. For one thing, it’s our approach—when you hire us, you get us. But just as important, we’re people who’ve had to wrestle with the same issues you have—how to strengthen sales, boost productivity, improve qual-ity, increase employee satisfaction, build a team, or retain and attract new customers. To us, “We develop the capability in you” is more than a catchy phrase. It’s our promise.

Our experienceOur clients include 3M, American Express, American Medical Systems, Amgen Inc., Accenture, AmeriPride Services, Andersen Windows, Avanade, Beltone, Cana-dian Linen and Uniform Service, Carew International, Case Corporation, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Costco, Covance, Deknatel, Eaton Corporation, Electrochemi-cals Inc., Entergy, Esoterix, General Mills, GN Resound, Grant Thornton, Hasbro Inc., Honeywell, Interton, Kenner Products, Loews Financial, Northern Power, Marketlink, Kemps-Marigold, Meijer Corporation, National Computer Systems, Parker Brothers, Target, Toro, Productive Workplace Systems, Red Wing Shoes,

Rite Aid, Rollerblade, Ryan Companies, Travelers Insurance, Thrivent, Tonka Corporation, Widex and a number of nonprofit and educational institutions.

Our successWe have helped companies achieve: 8% plus gains in retail sales growth in a tough market, 5-7% gains in transaction counts, 57% reduction in customer com-plaints, 75% gain in sales to existing customers, 53% improvement in sales, 34 quality and customer ser-vice awards, Ford’s President’s Award , the JD Power Award for Service and much much more.

Contact usTo learn how you can do amazing things, visit us online at: www.wcwpartners.com or contact Doug or Rick toll free at 1-888-313-0514. Our Other TitlesSuperSTAR LeadershipSuperSTAR SalesHow to Be a SuperSTAR EmployeeGoalPowerDesigning a SuperSTAR Customer Experience






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D O U G WAT S A B A U G H | C O O / C O - F O U N D E R

Doug values being a “regular person,” with his feet on the ground and head in the realities of the daily challenges his cli-ents face. It’s his heart for and experience in helping clients deal with difficult situa-tions that distinguish him from other sales performance and leadership development consultants. His knowledge of experiential learning and his skill at designing change processes and learning events have enabled him to measurably improve the lives of thou-

sands of individuals and hundreds of organizations in a wide variety of industries – financial services, manu-facturing, medical devices, consumer goods and tech-nology to name a few. Before starting his own business, Doug served as the director of operations for a national training institute, manager of organization development for a major chemical company and was responsible for worldwide training and organization development for the world’s third largest toy company. He was also a partner in Performance & Human De-velopment LLC, a California company that published high-involvement experiential activities, surveys and instruments, interactive training modules, papers and multimedia presentations. Doug has co-authored two books with John E. Jones, Ph.D., and William L. Bearley, Ed. D.: The New Fieldbook for Trainers published by HRD Press and Lakewood Publishing, and The OUS Quality Item Pool, about orga-nizational survey items that measure Baldrige criteria. His newest book, co-authored with Rick Conlow, is the SuperSTAR Leadership Model, good boss bad boss which one are you? He is a member of the American Society for Train-ing and Development (ASTD), the Minnesota Quality Council and The National Organization Development Network. Doug’s father taught him the value of hard work, and it paid dividends: He funded his college education playing guitar and singing with a rock ‘n’ roll band, ex-periencing a close call with fame when he played bass in concert with Chuck Berry. Not bad for a guy who admits to being “a bit shy.” While Doug’s guitar remains a source of enjoyment, it pales in comparison to his “number one joy and prior-ity” – his family.







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R I C K C O N L O W | C E O / C O - F O U N D E R

There aren’t many who’d argue the fact that Rick is one enthusiastic and results oriented guy. Even the titles of his books, articles, speeches and initiatives reflect his drive and positive energy. A quick glance at his professional resume leaves you with the strong impression that effort and optimism are a winning combination. Case in point: with Rick by their side, clients have achieved double- and triple-digit improvement in their sales performance, quality,

customer loyalty and service results over the past 20-plus years and earned more than thirty quality and service awards. In a day and age where optimism and going the extra mile can sound trite, Rick has made them a differentia-tor. His clients include organizations that are leaders in their industries, as well as others that are less rec-ognizable. Regardless, their goals are his goals. While many consultants talk about consistent and sustain-able results, Rick helps his clients achieve them. Rick’s life view and extensive background in sales and leadership – as a general manager, vice president, training director, program director, national sales trainer, business owner and management consultant – are the foundation of his coaching, training and con-sulting services. Participants in Rick’s experiential, live action programs walk away with ahas, inspiration and skills they can immediately use. These programs include “BEST Selling!”, “SuperSTAR Customer Service”, “Excellence in Management!”, “Su-perSTAR Selling!”, “The Greatest Secrets of all Time!”, The State of the Art in Improving the Customer Ex-perience, and “SuperSTAR Leadership, Good Boss/Bad Boss – Which One Are You?” Rick has also authored Excellence in Management, Excellence in Supervision, SuperSTAR Customer Service, SuperSTAR Selling, Designing a SuperSTAR Customer Ex-perience, SuperSTAR Leadership and Returning to Learn-ing. He and his business partner, Doug Watsabaugh, published six new books together. Their newest book is the SuperSTAR Leadership Model, Good Boss Bad Boss Which One Are You?

When he’s not engaging an audience or engrossed in a coaching discussion, this proud husband and father is most likely astride a weight bench, or a motorcycle taking on the back roads and highways of any state.







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To continue learning how to revolutionize your performace with SuperSTAR Leadership: A 31-Day Plan to Motivate People, Communicate Positively and Get Everyone On Your Side

For more information on WCW Partners visitwww.wcwpartners.com






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