When people are considered a company’s greatest asset, supporting and growing them must be a strong strategic priority. Each employee brings a wealth of knowledge, experiences, ideas, etc. with them to work, and how you cultivate their personalities into a culture of engaged, connected, integrated workers is primary to a functional organization.

Managers who lead with a foundation of respect and appreciation motivate their employees to better performance and heighten their possibility to succeed and enhance their personal well-being. The leaders who know their work force (who is this person really – what makes them who they are?) have a direct way of influencing positive outcomes for the organizational betterment.

The strategic focus of building an engaged workforce is formed by the leadership intertwining “engagement” into performance expectations so the managers can execute on those well-defined and illuminating outcomes. This includes constant monitoring of barriers that stifle engagement and/or opportunities for practical change. When employees are familiar with the company’s operating environment (processes, systems, customers, products/services, etc.) and themselves as part of the organization, new ideas and possibilities emerge.

Does your organizational vision include a well-defined performance development program to grow your employees? We will explore this in our next article.

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Terry Schaefer offers a complimentary 30 minute call where you can explore how to grow your business past your own expectations.

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For several decades, the Gallup Organization has reported about three types of employees.  In their latest ˆState of the American Workplace” report, about a third of the American workers are engaged in their work.  So what about the other two-thirds.  Who are they?  How do they show up? What can be done to correct this?

To give you an overview, here are three categories of workers defined by Gallup.

• Engaged workers show up differently at work – do things with enthusiasm, connected to their work, their work supports their passion, perform to what they do well, and their company promotes them and the work they do. They are innovative and will profoundly drive your business forward.
• Actively Dis-Engaged workers can sabotage your organization. They are distractors from what is needed, unhappy with the work they do while acting out in work situations, and disrupt what is valued in your organization. They undermine positive work habits and innovative thinking, causing tension within the work force.
• Non-Engaged workers are hard to spot. They fulfill their responsibility, though nothing more. They are uninspired and not motivated to grow, just moving through the day — meaningless.  Their interest and vision for the future is mostly non-existent.

Converting non-engaged workers into engaged workers is an effective strategy which leads to long-term growth.  It provides the opportunity to improve performance, personal involvement and profitability.

Developing an engaged workforce reduces personnel and staff turnover, shrinkage, safety incidents and defective quality/services while increaseing customer satisfaction, productivity, sales and profitability.

Are you managing people?  If so, does any of the information above resonate with you?  In the next several articles, we will explore some ideas on best practices to address workforce issues you may be experiencing.

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Terry Schaefer offers a complimentary 30 minute call where you can explore how to grow your business past your own expectations.

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Have you ever been in an ‘out of control’ family discussion (commonly known as an argument). Families who do this (and mine is no exception) have become intolerant of differences and have lost the ability to listen without feeling emotionally attached to the outcome. They lose respect for one another.

Being thrown “under the bus” is a horrible experience. It causes doubt, mistrust, confusion, and emotional entanglement to everyone involved. It also raises stress levels, which cuts back on proper sleep, exercise, and can lead to destructive habits. Is emotional discord ever really productive or helpful?

Moving to a more controlled and respectful exchange will always yield greater results and preserve harmony. Here are some simple questions that can help those involved to stand back and see the situation with more objectivity and without emotional attachment.

• What simple, focused question can provide you better clarity?
• Where is the source of this disruption?
• How is this issue fueled?
• From where does the discord come from?
• How do we establish better communications habits?

And the list goes on. Walking away is not a solution. Utilizing a professional resource when facing and addressing difficult issues will help set stronger boundaries and align personal perspectives.

COMPLIMENTARY EXPLORATION

Terry Schaefer offers a complimentary 30 minute call where you can explore how to grow your business past your own expectations.

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Several years ago, I was working with a very specialized fabricator who was well respected in the markets that the company served. The family who owned and operated the company was reaching a developmental plateau in their business. As the owner and I worked together, she was interested in our discussion of having the right people in the right positions working on the right things. This led us to uncover something that was not apparent.

This owner was talking to several of her major clients and found that one of her most trusted leaders was not adhering to some of the business’s core values, and had made some decisions that were causing these valued clients to think twice. This led to a discussion on how to salvage being ‘sabotaged’ by your trusted employee.

The focus of our conversation led us to really look at their core values as a family and business culture. Through this discussion, we found that what the family valued, and how the business interpreted those values, were not fully aligned. This led to re-defining the family’s values and integrated them into the daily operation of the company. When you see organizational values in employee behaviors, then you know your team is aligned and focused on the future. And this is an important issue for families in business together. When they think, act and work together, that alignment provides the structure for well understood expectations of everyone in the organization.

1. If someone is sabotaging your organization, it is time to review what you ‘value” the most. It is ‘your wake up call’ to move towards greater systemic structures your staff will embrace, and that provide surety to grow without struggling. Is this ringing a bell for you?
2. How do you know if an employee is sabotaging your company? Observe where your values are being acted out in your company. If they are out of alignment, start there. If not, keep on refining them regularly.

Change is not easy, and neither is identifying this issue. Starting with some tried and true assessments will bring clarity to your circumstances with anonymity. Contact me to get started.

COMPLIMENTARY EXPLORATION

Terry Schaefer offers a complimentary 30 minute call where you can explore how to grow your business past your own expectations.

Schedule Your Call!