SHRM-Atlanta

The Final Four this weekend will feature this season’s four most effective NCAA Men’s Basketball teams; Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville and Kansas.  A common mission, strong leadership, collaboration and execution helped these teams endure the regular season and win in the NCAA tournament.  Corporate teams require the same elements to perform together and achieve business goals.  Developing a strong team, clarifying roles and creating an environment that encourages collaboration are the leader’s responsibility.  

There are a number of team development models out there that are popular and respected.  I’ve made use of Bruce Tuckman’s “5 Stages of Group Development Model” in my team building learning consulting, as well as Glen Parker’s thought leadership from his book “Team Players and Teamwork.”

A great new resource for leaders and team members is the recently published book entitled “The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do.”  The author is my fellow Atlantan Mark Miller, Vice President, Learning and Development of Chick-fil-A. During his time with Chick-fil-A, annual sales have grown to almost $4 billion. The company now has more than 1,500 restaurants in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

What I enjoyed most about the book is Mark’s creative use of a fictitious business and fictitious characters to explore real-world business situations and challenges facing teams.  Through the characters’ experiences we learn that effective teamwork requires a special kind of leadership, a model that is fresh and insightful. 

Mark also provides a “High-Performance Team Assessment” that leaders and their team can take and discuss the results together.  The book was informative but also fun to read, something that isn’t always the case with business books.

I spoke with Mark to ask him a few questions about the book; here is what he had to say:

Q. You describe members of the highest performing teams as having an “all for one, one for all attitude.” What single behavior best describes this mindset at work?

A.  What separates good teams from great ones is a sense of community. That’s what turbo-charges performance. There is no single behavior really. Community is cumulative over time. It’s when you acknowledge great performance or help someone who is struggling on a project that you don’t have to. When you learn about team members’ passions, hopes, dreams, striving and failing when you don’t meet the goal. Communities celebrate together, mourn together and do life together. You can’t force people into a community, but you can create the condition that’s appealing and compelling.     

Q. What is the most important action a leader can take to build an effective team?

A.  There are three key actions. 1) Focus on talent, 2) ensure they have the necessary skills and 3) consciously cultivate an environment of community.  A leader can’t pass on one or two of these; they must acknowledge all three ingredients. Like our popular lemonade recipe at Chick-fil-A you need lemons, water and sugar. You need all three. Building an effective team is challenging. It requires courage and discipline.      

Q. How do you suggest leaders and teams use the High-Performance Team Assessment you provide in the book?

A. I’d recommend you 1) Complete the form individually, and talk about the answers as a group. Look for patterns where you agree and disagree. You’re bound to learn something just by starting the conversation. 2) Prioritize critical gaps and have the team decide what constitutes a critical gap. 3) Create an action plan and measure progress. You can complete the form again at the team’s discretion.    

For a free copy of the assessment, click this link to Mark’s Blog, GreatLeadersSERVE.Org under resources to find The Secrets of Teams Assessment. 

Is your team playing at a Final Four level?  Interested in Mark’s book?  Check out “The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do.”

A recent online poll by Right Management of 104 HR Professionals revealed these results to the question: In your organization, is HR given a seat at the executive table?

• 37% – HR regularly influences strategic decisions
• 35% – HR sometimes influences strategic decisions
• 28% – HR doesn’t have a seat at the table

Other research, including studies by SHRM, reports that in order to earn a seat at the executive table HR leaders need to understand how the C-Suite thinks and communicates.  To move beyond HR conversations into Business conversations requires asking questions differently and establishing a business case for all HR initiatives.

Linkage, Inc. provides Navigating the C-Suite: An HR Leaders Guide, a brief resource of suggestions and tips for how HR professionals can breakthrough and be effective with senior corporate executives.  The tips include:

• Get to Know the CFO: align with the CFO by understanding financial terms, what are the top profit drivers of your organization, how investments are prioritized and measured, and how to you perform against key competitors.  The bottom line is that HR professionals need to completely understand how the company makes money to earn the respect and trust of the CFO.
• Get to Know the COO: he/she is focused on systems, strategies, and processes.  The COO wants HR to be focused on integrating and optimizing HR initiatives as a part of the broader organizational structure.  Reinforcing the corporate culture and brand through talent management programs is also an expectation of the COO.
• Get to Know the CEO: read the CEO’s speeches, annual report letter, quarterly financial reports and other company communication to understand the CEO’s strategies and priorities.  Major HR initiatives must be related to these priorities and HR managers and leaders need to be able to clearly articulate recommendations in the language of the C-Suite.

For more detailed suggestions and tips on how HR can better influence the C-Suite, check out Navigating the C-Suite: An HR Leader’s Guide.

The guide also recommends that HR professionals execute a personal development plan to ensure that they are capable of understanding, communicating and establishing trusted relationships with the executive level.

SHRM-Atlanta and UGA have joined forces to bring high-quality executive education specifically designed for HR practitioners who need more business acumen.  The HR Leadership Academy is designed for:

• HR professionals who are looking to advance their careers to the C-Suite level
• HR leaders who desire a better understanding of business acumen and strategic thinking
• HR leaders who will be required to drive significant organizational change and innovation

The 2012 program starts in February.  For more information and a curriculum overview please click HR Leadership Academy.

 
This post was provided by guest blogger Charlotte F. Hughes, HCS. Charlotte is an expert talent development professional with extensive experience in leadership and organizational development as an advisor to business leaders and HR in multiple industries. In her role as Learning and Development Consultant with Kimberly-Clark she is responsible for helping human resources and business leaders with performance improvement and learning solutions that drive business goals. You can connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn and read more from Charlotte on her TalentFocus Blog.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the virtual version of the Fall 2011 Chief Learning Officer Magazine Symposium which explored the role of learning and workforce development in shaping the future for global organizations.  There were several impressive and informative presenters and the highlight for me was Tamar Elkeles, Ph.D., the head of learning for the high-tech firm Qualcomm and 2010 CLO of the Year.

Tamar is responsible for defining the company’s overall learning and development strategic direction.  Her scope of leadership includes global learning, executive/leadership development, technical development, employee communications, organization development and learning technology for more than 17,000 employees worldwide.  Her keynote presentation was entitled – “A Year in Review: Key Takeaways as CLO of the Year.”

The overall theme of the presentation was that optimal success in learning and development requires not just a sound learning strategy, but integration of that strategy with emerging business trends and organizational goals.  Tamar described lessons learned from her career and some of the award winning programs she has that all of us involved with talent development can learn from:

Key Tips from Tamar – 2010 CLO of the Year

1. Embrace a Talent Management Framework - Establishing a holistic approach to talent development enables learning leaders to anticipate performance  issues and take action to improve results.  Tamar’s framework includes organizational and divisional strategies with 3 pillars of successful talent management 1) Selection 2) Development and 3) Rewards.    
2. Determine Talent Risk Factors – Consider “what if” scenarios and action steps to mitigate risks. The future is uncertain and complex. The ability to clearly and concisely capture current state and trends on a user-friendly scorecard will be invaluable for stakeholders’ decision making.      
3. Change the User Experience – Employees no longer rely on the learning department for content and information.  They search for and create content on their own. The role of the learning department is to simplify the search, accelerate and facilitate connections to experts, ideas and information.    
4. Focus on Talent and Company Culture – There is a direct link between organizational culture, productivity and high performance.  Company culture is defined in the stories it tells to employees. The learning department plays a unique role reinforcing the employer brand through experiences like the Qualcomm Museum (covering the history and vision for the firm’s future).

Tamar’s tip that I can relate with the most from my personal experience is the focus on talent and company culture.  I am involved with a learning initiative to support a transition to a company culture of accountability and have seen firsthand the link between culture and performance that Tamar talked about.

I have experienced Tamar’s thought leadership before and really respect her insight.  If you are interested in learning more, I can recommend the book she co-authored entitled The Chief Learning Officer.

This post was provided by guest blogger Charlotte F. Hughes, HCS. Charlotte is an expert talent development professional with extensive experience in leadership and organizational development as an advisor to business leaders and HR in multiple industries. In her role as Learning and Development Consultant with Kimberly-Clark she is responsible for helping human resources and business leaders with performance improvement and learning solutions that drive business goals. You can connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn and read more from Charlotte on her TalentFocus Blog.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Mary Lynn Miller, Chief Operating Officer
404.869.2568
mmiller@shrmatlanta.org

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Jean Yahres, Association Director
404.760.8129
jyahres@shrmatlanta.org

Georgia’s Largest Human Resources Conference to Gather Hundreds for Education & Networking:  Hosted by SHRM-Atlanta October 17-18

Atlanta (September 15, 2011) – SHRM-Atlanta, the Atlanta Chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management, hosts the 21st Annual SHRM-Atlanta Human Resources Conference on October 17 and 18 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. Human resources professionals and other individuals with an interest in human resources from all over Georgia are invited to attend this two-day conference to network, learn and share ideas with other HR practitioners, as well as earn continuing education credits from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). The event is the largest gathering of the human resources community in Georgia this year; last year’s conference drew over 1,000 participants. Kat Cole, president of Cinnabon, presents the keynote address, “Transformational Leadership: Building Teams for Success through Times of Rapid Change,” on Monday, October 17 at 9:40 a.m.

The theme, “Working for a Better Atlanta,” spotlights Atlanta’s position as a vital economic center and the role of human resources professionals in shaping a more prosperous future. “The SHRM-Atlanta community has really come together to produce an unparalleled opportunity to meet and explore the critical issues – and opportunities – the HR profession currently faces,” said Mary Lynn Miller, SHRM-Atlanta’s chief operating officer. “Legislative changes and compliance, using social networking for recruiting, tackling recruitment and retention as the cost of providing benefits increases… we’re gathering the experts under one roof so HR practitioners at all levels find new insights and tools to improve their personal and company performance.”

Over 60 concurrent breakout sessions organized into seven educational tracks are planned. Confirmed speakers include leaders from MetLife, Merrill Lynch, Cox Enterprises, AARP and a number of other prominent corporations, consultancies and law firms. Tracks include: Business Acumen & Leadership, Law & Legislation, Total Rewards, Organizational Evolution, Talent Management, Diversity & Inclusion and HR Leveraging Technology.

The Resource Partner Showcase opens on Monday, October 17 at 9 a.m. and features over 100 exhibitors providing products and services to help human resources professionals work more efficiently. For the second year, the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) presents “Tech Row,” a series of vendor booths representing TAG’s member companies providing products and services to the HR community. Admission to the Showcase is free and open to the general public.

A highlight of the agenda is the 2011 SHAPE Awards, taking place Monday, October 17, to recognize individual HR professionals and teams who exemplify the highest professional standards in the industry. Networking opportunities also include a roundtable breakfast held Tuesday, October 18 where conference attendees share ideas and knowledge about specific topics or areas of expertise.

Full-access, student and one-day registration rates are available, ranging from $230 – $650. Group discounts for five or more participants from the same organization are available. Admission to the Resource Partner Showcase (exhibition hall) is free. For detailed rate information, the full agenda and additional information regarding the 21st Annual SHRM-Atlanta Human Resources Conference, visit shrmatlanta.org.

About SHRM-Atlanta
SHRM-Atlanta, the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, was founded in 1965, and has current membership of over 2500 individuals. SHRM-Atlanta seeks to promote the professionalism of the Human Resources Management field by offering members a wide variety of professional development opportunities and a common forum in which to share ideas and experiences. Serving the Atlanta HR professional, SHRM-Atlanta provides opportunities for career development and community involvement both inside and outside of the Chapter. SHRM-Atlanta – Working for a Better Atlanta!
www.shrm-atlanta.org

On Twitter: @shrmatl
Conference hashtag: #shrmatl11

I’m always on the lookout for innovative and effective leadership development tools that can take a manager’s performance to a higher level.  A friend who is also the Vice President of Talent Management for a Fortune 500 high-tech firm enthusiastically told me about Nano Tools for Leaders® from the Wharton Leadership Program Blog from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nano Tools for Leaders® are fast, effective leadership tools that executives can learn and start using in less than 15 minutes – with the potential to significantly impact their success as a leader and increase the engagement and productivity of the people they lead.  The format of Nano Tools is organized based on instructional design principles:

(1) The Goal

(2) How it Works

(3) Action Steps

(4) Share Your Best Practices

For archives of Nano Tools for Leaders® including the most recent post click:

• Pull Don’t Push: Designing Effective Feedback Systems: with the goal to create feedback systems that improve, rather than diminish performance.

I was so intrigued I reached out to Deb Giffen to learn more. Deb conceived and developed Nano Tools as part of her role as Director of Innovative Learning Solutions at the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School. In this newly-created position, Deb works with a wide range of Wharton’s global clients to create highly-customized programs that not only build advanced leadership skills but also accelerate the achievement of the companies’ top strategic priorities.

Here are some of Deb’s insights:

1. Her motivation to conceive and develop Nano Tools for Leaders® was to capture the many great ideas from the faculty of a leading business school such as Wharton and effectively make them accessible for corporate leaders.
2. The format and 15 minute “start and learn” duration for Nano Tools enables learning in a short period of time.  Nano tools are useable learning “nuggets.”  With a solid research base, leaders can feel confident putting the Nano Tools into practice and can see their efforts make a difference very quickly.
3. Wharton faculty members are eager to have their ideas delivered via Nano Tools and used by corporate managers and executives.  Satisfaction with the action steps and resources inspires Nano Tools users to read the books and articles authored by Wharton faculty.
4. Future plans for Nano Tools for Leaders® may go beyond Wharton’s Blog and Newsletter and include the classroom, on-demand videos and podcasts.
5. Feedback from corporate clients has been positive.  Many clients are broadcasting Nano Tools throughout their own company and organizations, sharing the knowledge with others.

Deb is a thoughtful leadership development pro who is enthusiastic about sharing information about this creative tool.  To learn more, check out Wharton Executive Education .

This post was provided by guest blogger Charlotte F. Hughes, HCS. Charlotte is an expert talent development professional with extensive experience in leadership and organizational development as an advisor to business leaders and HR in multiple industries. In her role as Learning and Development Consultant with Kimberly-Clark she is responsible for helping human resources and business leaders with performance improvement and learning solutions that drive business goals. You can connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn and read more from Charlotte on her TalentFocus Blog.

What can Tim O’Shaughnessy, the 29-year old CEO of Living Social, teach us in HR? When you are the captain of a two-year old company that expects $1 billion, yes $1 billion, in revenues this year and has 3500 employees…plenty.

1. Keep your hiring process right. Make sure you are getting the people who can live your company core values and culture.

2. The company’s hiring process includes interviews with the hiring manager (of course) as well as people on the team that the potential employees would be working with if hired. In addition, a person from another group, who works with that team, interviews the candidates and has veto power. Lastly, someone is responsible for interviewing for culture fit and also has veto power.

3. Living Social ensures that everyone lives the values. As in many organizations, the value lists are hung on walls around the company. The keys to success are providing tangible examples and recognition for people when they do live the values.

4. The CEO says that people in the company work hard from Monday to Friday. Since the weekdays are company time, sometimes employees have to stay late to finish things. Weekends are for recharging.

So what do you think? Good advice? I think so.

The Core, mission, vision and values, is the centerpiece of your organization. When you hire people who are aligned with the Core, they bring passion and high performance to work each day. Including people, other than the hiring manager, ensures buy-in and fit; the more diverse the interviewers, the better the decision. The precursor to success is to ensure that each interviewer is trained in the interviewing process.

How many organizations have values nailed to the wall (probably covering the holes from the last list) and on the Home Page on their intranet? Until they are explained in behavioral terms and lived, they are just a list. Furthermore, values should be a part of each person’s performance evaluation, another reason for the need to define them in behavioral terms.

O’Shaughnessy’s last point of working hard during the week and regenerating on the weekends emphasizes the work-life balance that younger generations are looking for as they search for the right organization. More employee turnover is caused not by a lack of skills and abilities but by a lack of culture fit.

The bottom line is to take the advice of a successful CEO: (1) Define your organization’s values and culture, (2) hire according to these values and culture using diverse interviewers in the process (3) recognize people who live the values, (4) and remember that your employees need time off from work to regenerate.

Dr. Jane Goldner, president of The Goldner Group, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on talent retention and trusted advisor to Fortune 100 Companies, government and military organizations, and to mid-sized businesses. She is the author of Driven to Success: A 10-Point Checkup for Achieving High Performance in Business, a step-by-step business guide for leaders. Dr. Goldner is a highly rated adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business. She is a recovering “Everything to Everybody Woman” who focuses on helping other women recognize and address these behaviors. 

Dr. Jane Goldner will also be featured as one of the speakers in the Organizational Evolution track at the 21st Annual SHRM-Atlanta HR Conference, October 17-18, 2011 at Cobb Galleria.  More information on Dr. Goldner’s session, LEADER UP to Strategically Lead HR Forward is available here.  For more details on the conference, please visit our conference website

Are you satisfied with the effectiveness of your leadership development programs?  How does your organization rate its current leadership quality and future bench strength?  Well, if you have concerns in these areas you are not alone.  According to DDI’s 2011 Global Leadership Forecast, leadership development practices and processes require a radical transformation.

The research behind the forecast is one of the largest of its kind, involving over 2,600 organizations in 74 countries.  Approximately 1,900 HR professionals and 12,500 business leaders participated in the most recent study that DDI has conducted every two years since 1999.  Here are just a few of the key findings from the report:

DDI’s 2011 Global Leadership Forecast Key Findings:

1.   Low satisfaction with the effectiveness of leadership development – Only 35 percent of HR professionals reported that the quality of leadership development they were delivering to leaders was high.  Only 1 in 3 business leaders feel they are getting value from the learning and development they are receiving.

2.   Ineffective development impacts current leadership quality and bench strength – slightly more than 1 in 3 business leaders rated the quality of leadership in their organization as very good or excellent, with no change since 2009.  HR professionals are even more critical with only 1 in 4 satisfied with quality of leadership in their companies.  Only 18% of HR respondents feel their companies have the quantity and quality of leaders they will need to run their companies 3 to 5 years out.

3.   Leadership skills for the future aren’t the same as the past, and leaders aren’t effective in these skills – Two of the top 5 most important skills for leaders in the future differ from past skills.  Managing Change, Coaching, and Strategy Execution stayed at the top, the new skills are Fostering Innovation and Identifying and Developing Future Talent.  The problem is that about half of the business leaders rated themselves ineffective in these 5 skills.

4.   Development Approaches: Classroom Still Popular – While learning 2.0 approaches are in vogue for other learning objectives, classroom learning was preferred most by business leaders followed by coaching from managers and special projects.  73% rated their formal leadership development experiences as effective or very effective.

5.   Development is only a part of the equation for high- quality leadership – Development is critical to improving leadership quality and bench strength, but it is only one of several components of a winning talent management system.  Selecting the “right leaders,” ongoing performance management and succession management are actually considered slightly more important to organizational success than development programs.  The bad news is that both HR and business leaders overwhelmingly feel that their organizations are not effective in any of these critical systems.

What is the Payoff of Revolutionary Change?

The DDI 2011 Global Leadership Forecast concludes that we need to radically rethink the way we develop leaders, the way we select and promote leaders, and the very role of leadership itself.

Their study pointed out:

• Organizations with ineffective development and talent management systems reported financial performance in the 24^th percentile of the study
• Organizations that revolutionized their leadership development, talent systems and management culture were in the 68^th percentile in terms of bottom-line financial performance

These are just a few of the key findings in the report.  I found the information regarding the leadership practices, systems and culture that create a competitive advantage for companies enlightening and practical.

Does your leadership development strategy need a revolution?   Want more information?  Check out the full report.

This post was provided by guest blogger Charlotte F. Hughes, HCS. Charlotte is an expert talent development professional with extensive experience in leadership and organizational development as an advisor to business leaders and HR in multiple industries. In her role as Learning and Development Consultant with Kimberly-Clark she is responsible for helping human resources and business leaders with performance improvement and learning solutions that drive business goals. You can connect with Charlotte on LinkedIn and read more from Charlotte on her TalentFocus Blog.

 HR Leadership: Becoming a Strategic Partner

Stephen Covey advised us to “begin with the end in mind,” sage words for HR professionals who want to become strategic partners with leadership. This advice is particularly true if you want to add value to the sustainability of your organization by helping senior leaders ask and answer the ten critical questions for creating the culture of the future…now.

Question 1: Have you clearly defined and communicated the Core of your company (mission, vision & values) and given employees opportunities to align their Cores with the Core of the organization? All roads to a successful future begin here. A compelling, shared Core provides the focus, direction and passion that drive results.

Question 2: How well is your business doing from a customer as well as from an employee perspective and how do you know? The right, deep assessment helps you get beyond symptoms to root causes which allows you to pinpoint the gaps and designate priorities. Go beyond the climate survey that asks how employees feel to culture assessments that dig into the many levels of culture that drive the business.

Question 3: What are you doing to develop the current and future generation of leaders? Your organization is the reflection of the quality of your leaders. Providing the right developmental opportunities ensures the sustainability of your company. By the way, training is only one developmental possibility and not always the best choice.

Question 4: How are you building customer loyalty? You are only in business as long as you have customers. This fact is also true for not-for-profit organizations as well as nonprofits. Ongoing communication with your customers is essential for success. Doing something with customer feedback is even better. Many CEOs recognize that customer service has become a key differentiator for success.

Question 5: How are you ensuring that everyone in your business is a strategic thinker, not just senior leaders? The days are gone when senior leaders do the thinking and everyone else is the “arms and legs.” Teaching everyone to ask, “What am I doing in my job today and how will it affect the organization tomorrow?” is essential for success.

Question 6: Are you using more than just a rearview mirror to measure success? You have to know where “there” is before you can declare victory. Using only financial measures puts you at a disadvantage because once the numbers are in, you can’t change them. Leading indicators provide a look into future results so you can adjust appropriately.

Question 7: How are you innovating and improving your processes to keep pace with and ahead of your customer’s demands? As products and services have become more homogenous, innovation is the key to sustainability of the business. Processes should be customer-focused and employee-enabled.

Question 8: What are you doing to attract, develop and retain top-notch employees? It has been an employer’s market in the new economy but the talent war is coming. Understanding what self-motivates the different generations to come, stay and contribute to your organization is essential.

Question 9: How small is your corporate impact on the earth’s resources? How large an impact are you leaving in the community in which you operate? Responsible businesses take action to leave a lasting environmental and community legacy. Younger employees are attracted to organizations that contribute to the greater good.

Question 10: What other actions can leadership take to ensure a belonging, learning and contributing culture that attracts and retains the right people? For example, saying “good morning” when people show up for work, provide motivating and challenging assignments, and showing appreciation for jobs well done.

Do these questions take work to answer? Absolutely. You might pilot the process in your own function so that leadership knows “the cobbler’s children do have shoes,” and, now, everyone wants a pair.

Dr. Jane Goldner, president of The Goldner Group, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on talent retention and trusted advisor to Fortune 100 Companies, government and military organizations, and to mid-sized businesses. She is the author of Driven to Success: A 10-Point Checkup for Achieving High Performance in Business, a step-by-step business guide for leaders. Dr. Goldner is a highly rated adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business. She is a recovering Type E Woman who focuses on helping other women recognize and address their Type E behaviors.

The popular TV show, Undercover Boss, is fun to watch and…to learn from. These leaders learn that, depending upon where you sit in your company, the perspective can be very different. On the show, these real bosses disguise themselves as employees and work at some low level positions in the organization to get a first-hand look and feel for the jobs. Most find the view embarrassingly different from their high-level perspective.

Two undercover bosses from this show talked to a packed house at the SHRM Atlanta meeting on the evening of April 21^st.  They shared video clips from the show, talked about what it was like to commit to doing the project, and, most importantly, lessons learned.

Coby Brooks, President and CEO of Hooters of America, emphasized that culture is everything (music to my ears) and that it is important to keep a culture that works. He indicated that it may be difficult as companies go from private to public, as Hooters is doing, to keep the family atmosphere. Coby also emphasized that people are not numbers, music to HR folks. Through working tough jobs down in the organization and meeting some employees in difficult family situations whom he might not have otherwise met, one of the lessons Coby walked away with was his intention to spend more time with his family. Even CEOs can have a difficult time balancing work and family life.

President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, Joel Manby, discussed the importance of company values which are reflected in the performance appraisals of their leaders. The “how” work gets done and the numbers, “what” gets done, are equally critical. He emphasized the importance of healthy relationships and, to this point, said: “Your customer satisfaction will never be higher than your employee satisfaction.” (Research indicates that employee satisfaction is a six-month precursor of customer satisfaction.) During the recession, the company cut 5% of the vice-presidents’ salaries, gave no raises nor matched 401k plans. The company saved millions and was able to keep from cutting 500 jobs. Through constant communication, the result was that both employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction went up. Joel had the opportunity to meet some employees who had dire financial situations, which caused him to ramp-up the company foundation that awards money to employees for a variety of needs. The experience of being an undercover boss gave Joel the opportunity to hear “the unvarnished truth” which he indicated CEOs rarely receive.

In today’s “do more with fewer employees” mentality, do you and the leadership in your organization really know what it takes and what are realistic expectations of employees in their jobs?

Here is some advice:

1. Leaders are still a “work in progress.” It is never too late to learn.
2. Requiring leaders to have expectation setting discussions with employees allow reality testing as long as employees are encouraged to provide honest input.
3. As your business reorganizes (and it will over time), make sure that you continue to reality-check job expectations. Overwhelming people creates stress and lost productivity, not to mention a revolving door of employees leaving to find better places to work as the economy continues to recover.

Remember, it is about creating a belonging, learning and contributing culture that allows employees to do their best work. Employees want to do a great job. They will as long as they (1) belong to an organization that they are proud to work for, (2) have opportunities to continue to learn, grow and develop and, (3) believe they are contributing to the success of the business.

If you are a boss, how can you get the unvarnished truth and have some of your own lessons learned?  As an HR leader, how can you help leaders in your organization do the same without having to go undercover? Although, spending time in employees’ shoes can do wonders! So, perhaps, go undercover to find out how your employees feel about your organization and whether they are enabled to do their best work…of course, without retribution.

Jane S. Goldner, Ph.D. is president of The Goldner Group, a firm that works with clients to create a successful culture that attracts, engages, and retains top talent. She is the author of Driven to Success: A 10-Point Checkup for Achieving High Performance in Business and is a frequent keynote speaker on that topic. www.thegoldnergroup.com

We all have professional and personal goals that we’re trying to achieve. It may be motivating employees, finding a job or getting promoted, losing 20 pounds or becoming debt free. When we truly commit to our goals and crave them with our heart and soul, we engage the energy of the universe and receive what we need to make our dreams come true. Stress and fear dissipate and we become more positive, focused and productive.

Commit to follow these five CRAVE steps to attract what you desire and deserve.

1) Clean Out the Clutter.
Clutter distracts and confuses us and drains our energy. It often keeps us from doing what’s most important and gets in the way of our goals. There’s a universal law that states: The universe abhors a vacuum. So, when we clear away the physical clutter (like a messy office), as well as the emotional clutter (the regrets, resentments, toxic people and unnecessary obligations) and technical clutter (e-newsletters you don’t read and an over-reliance on your cell phone), we make room for the universe to fill it with what serves our highest good. Commit to begin cleaning out the clutter today.

2) Raise Your Vibrations.
The universal law states: Energy attracts like energy. We are all energy beings and we all vibrate at different levels at different times. Vibration is just another word for feelings and emotions— our attitude. When we vibrate at a high level, it is governed by love and trust and peace and is positive and constructive. We will attract people and circumstances that vibrate at that same level.

Conversely, when we are consumed by fear and worry, when we are stressed out, burned out and don’t feel appreciated, we will vibrate at a low, negative, destructive level and we will attract people and circumstances that vibrate at that same level.

To increase and maintain a high vibration, commit to love and nurture yourself. Eat healthy, exercise, enjoy a hobby, play, sing, laugh, forgive, limit your time watching TV news, seek out positive people, practice random and not-so-random acts of kindness, give thanks, spend time in nature and smile more often. Commit to make your own list and schedule these activities into your day until they become habits. Form a “High Vibration” club with your coworkers and friends so you can have fun supporting each other.

3) Affirm Success.
Studies show we speak to ourselves about 10,000 times and day and 80 percent of that tends to be negative. That’s because we’re human and we’re programmed to protect ourselves by focusing on worst-case scenarios. Affirmations are powerful statements to remind us what we know to be true, despite what others may say or when our own ego plants that seed of doubt.

Affirmations help us communicate with our subconscious mind, which believes everything we tell it and seeks out opportunities and resources to prove that it’s true. The most effective affirmations are short, positive and in the present. Here are a few examples. If you want to be chosen for a supervisory position, your affirmation should include the qualities you possess that would serve you in that role. You might affirm: “I am a dynamic, empowering leader.” If you tend to wake up each morning wondering how you’ll ever get through your burgeoning to-do list, you might affirm: “I have more than enough time and energy to accomplish the most important things on my list today.” If you are struggling with direction and finding the right resources to get the job done, you might affirm: “I am open to receive guidance and support.”

Commit to write down your affirmations and post them prominently—on your bathroom mirror, on the dashboard of your car and at your desk. Say them out loud throughout the day and share them with others.

4) Visualize.
Every top athlete has harnessed the power of visualization. The runner sees herself breaking through the tape at the end of the race and the golfer sees the hole in one. What can you visualize about your goals? Perhaps it’s making a great impression that motivates your prospective client or employer to hire you. Or, you might visualize working in a clean, organized office.

It takes more than just seeing to get the results. Visualization is a three-step, repetitive process.
To give it the power you need to succeed, engage all your senses. What do you hear, smell, feel and taste? And, infuse it with the positive emotions you would feel if this were a reality—like happiness, pride and maybe even relief. Commit to seeing your goals as “real” and they soon will be.

5) Express Thanks.
What you focus on expands. What you appreciate appreciates. It’s a universal law. That’s why it’s so important to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

Commit to write in a gratitude journal a few nights a week, listing all the things you’re thankful for—my health, my family, doing what I love—and adding at least one unique entry each time—I had a great workout this morning or I completed that major project ahead of schedule. That increases your awareness of what’s going right.

Take the time to express your sincere appreciation to others with a phone call or a handwritten note. As it relates to your professional and personal goals, give thanks in anticipation of your accomplishments.

By committing to CRAVE your goals, you will enhance your journey and accelerate your success.

This post was provided by guest blogger Tricia Molloy.  Tricia loves to remind people how wise they are! She is a professional speaker, wisdom mentor and the author of “Divine Wisdom at Work: 10 Universal Principles for Enlightened Entrepreneurs” and the “CRAVE Your Goals!” ebook. Through Working with Wisdom® talks, workshops, teleseminars and webinars, Tricia inspires business people to achieve their goals faster and easier by capitalizing on the power of their subconscious mind and life-changing principles. A seasoned business owner and marketing consultant, she also offers one-on-one, short-term Wisdom Mentoring for Entrepreneurs. Visit www.triciamolloy.com or email tricia@triciamolloy.com.