Pump Up the Bottom Line with Engaged Employees

What is the motivation to investigate and implement strategies that promote employee engagement? Gallup says that disengaged employees may be costing the US economy $450-$550 billion per year! Their research goes on to say that on the average ONLY 30% of the workforce is engaged. The remaining 70% are most likely committed to undermine what engaged workers accomplish.

Imagine the results at your shop if you could bump up the number of engaged employees. Engaged employees are more dependable, they operate from a “can do” way of thinking versus “can’t do”. Engaged employees are 21% more productivity and leave customers feeling appreciated and cared about. Happy, capable employees help recruit happy, capable new hires. Happy employees leave a positive impression on the customer and the end result is happier customers. Happy customers refer new customers.

Empowering and engaging your employees is about leadership. Provide innovative and effective leadership training. Set the bar high for management; leaders are to be on the lookout for ways to encourage and challenge employees to stretch and discover their potential. Inspiring and coaching employees to increase their capability.

The most engaged workers say they work for a leader that has confidence in them. The road to engagement for employees is paved with a sense of responsibility towards their leaders and a belief that what they do and how they do it is valued.

There isn’t a vaccination or miracle vitamin that ensures employee engagement. What brings engaged employees forward in the workplace is leadership. Leadership is a skill. Provide leadership training. Expect managers to learn how to lead. Then your leaders can pump up the bottom line with engaged employees.

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” – Tom Peters

Still learning,

Honey

 

 

 

 

 

Leading the Way at the Branch

The highly accomplished basketball coach at Duke University, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, has earned a reputation for being an outstanding leader. In his book, Leading with the Heart, Coach K says, “There are five fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride. I like to think of each as a separate finger on the fist. Any one individually is important. But all of them together are unbeatable.” His philosophy for the business world is to approach it like basketball. “Business, like basketball, is a game of adjustments. So be ready to adjust.” 

 

Leadership isn't better than management nor is it a replacement for it. Not all leaders have responsibility for managing others but, more often than not they do. Leadership is circuitous; what you give is what you need to get. A classic example at the bank is the role of the branch manager. Here the leader is given a set of objectives and is expected to work with a team to produce meaningful results. The branch manager will need a dynamic role model that is devoted to encouraging and coaching the manager to success.

 

Effectiveness as a leader doesn't include walking on water or perfection. Rather it includes a genuine desire to make a difference – to continuously work on personal effectiveness. At the same time, recognize that the more you contribute and the higher up the ladder you go, the more vulnerable you become. Taking on more responsibility and signing up for big challenges increases the risks associated with scrutiny, failure, criticism and disappointment. Yet, when weighing all the odds, the chance to experience a deep sense of personal satisfaction that comes with meaningful work will make the effort outweigh the risk.

 

Still learning,

 

Honey

Four Essential Elements of Lead Management

A system of motivation that I am a student of is called, Choice Theory. It is the premise for understanding why all of us do what we do, when we do it.  Want to learn how to succeed at leading others?  Check out this four elements of Lead Management and join me for Supervisor Boot Camp.  Check out our calendar.

•  The leader engages the workers in a discussion of the quality of the work to be done and the time needed to do it so that they have a chance to add their input. The leader makes a constant effort to fit the job to the skills and the needs of the workers.

• The leader or a worker designated by the leader shows or models the job so that the worker who is to perform the job can see exactly what the manager expects. At the same time, the workers are continually asked for their input as to what they believe may be a better way.

• The leaders asks the workers to inspect or evaluate their own work for quality, with the understanding that the leader accepts that they know a great deal about how to produce high-quality work and will therefore listen to what they say.

• The leader is a facilitator in that he shows the workers that he has done everything possible to provide them with the best tools and workplace as well as a non-coercive, non-adversarial atmosphere in which to do the job.

Lead management is the basic reform we need to generate quality and increase productivity. It is the way to manage, coach and lead others so that the worker stays motivated. Motivation is an internal thing it comes from within. Regardless of where it comes from, supervisors are expected to lead the team to perform more efficiently and effectively.

 

Still learning,

 

Honey

Be A Great Boss

How important is it to evaluate your effectiveness?  I would say it is up there with taking responsibility for your health.  High on the list!  You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t have a clear picture of the destination, a road map and plenty of fuel.  Frequently consider where you are and where you want to be.  Lay out the road map to close the gap between the two.

Supervisor Boot Camp, Click here for all the info

Here’s a profile of the ideal leader developed by a group of supervisors participating in a training workshop on discipline.  When asked to identify the ten major functions of an effective supervisor ranked in order of importance, they came up with the following list:

1. Delegates authority in areas affecting their work

2. Consults with subordinates before making decisions pertaining to their job responsibilities

3. Gives employees the reasons for implementing decisions.

4. Doesn’t play favorites.

5. Praises excellent work.

6. Reprimands subordinates who fail to observe the proper chain-of-command relationships

7. Never reprimands or disciplines in front of coworkers.

8. Encourages employees to offer their opinions and criticisms of supervisory policies.

9. Listens to employees’ explanations before placing blame in disciplinary situations; accepts reasonable explanations, not excuses.

10. Obeys all the rules that subordinates are expected to obey.
 

 

This is a great checklist for you to use when scrutinizing your effectiveness.  You can take this a step further and email me for a complimentary Leadership Quiz you can take that will provide you the opportunity to self-evaluate your ability to be a true role model.

Still learning,

Honey

www.interaction-training.com

P.S.  To get my free leadership quiz just shoot me an email at  honey@interaction-training.com

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