Effective Training Programs for Managers

Effective Training Programs for Managers
by Barrie Gross

 

The ability to manage people well can have a huge financial impact on a company. Employee turnover rates, cost of talent retention, litigation experience, and employee tenure are just some of the metrics you should look at to try to gauge the effectiveness of your management staff. Most companies offer management training of some sort. But there is always room to enhance the programs so that managers feel better prepared to handle their day-to-day responsibilities in ways that minimize risk to the company while improving relationships in the workplace.
With today's technology, offering a variety of management training has become ever more cost effective. Online training is accessible and affordable. And if you retain the right vendors or design it properly in-house, online training can be customized to your organization and organizational culture. Depending on the topic, live training with an in-class instructor or facilitator will give you more bang for the buck. But regardless of the method you choose, committing to an effective management training program can result in tremendous cost savings.
As a result of events in corporate America over the past few years, some companies have committed tremendous resources to ethics and compliance training. In some cases, the training is required by law. In others, offering the training simply is consistent with the corporate commitment to promote ethical business practices. Either way, an effective management training program includes courses on a company's ethics rules, codes of conduct, and compliance codes.

Some of the most effective management training includes courses on managing within the major employment laws. At-will employment, federal and state discrimination and leave laws, harassment, discipline and termination practices, use of company electronic communication resources, etc., all involve great risk profiles for employers. And while many managers may think they understand and act within the laws, they would be surprised to find out about the many ways in which using their common sense runs afoul of legal requirements.
To be effective, training about employment laws should be targeted to practical application. It doesn't help a manager to be able to define coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act if he or she does not understand how the issues can come up on a daily basis. So whether you are considering online or live training, focus on how the material is applied to real-life situations.
Leadership training is another key element in management training. Many people do not know there is a difference between being a leader and being a manager. Leaders effect positive change, are forward thinkers, and are able to communicate strategic visions and get buy in and support from those around them. Managers control, apply the rules, solve immediate problems, and direct others. Both are valuable roles but do not need to be mutually exclusive. Effective managers understand what leadership means and how to manage and lead at the same time.


[Source: AllBusiness.com]

How Do We Teach a New Manager to Change His Dictatorial Style?

How Do We Teach a New Manager to Change His Dictatorial Style?
	We've recently promoted someone to manager who is very young and inexperienced. His way of dealing with his team has suddenly changed to a "dictatorship." How do you teach him the best ways to lead and manage his team before he actually kills morale within his team?—Toppling a Dictator, database operations manager, software/systems, San Diego
	First, management often falls short in what it can do to effectively guide a new boss. The promotion might have been made for the classic reason: "Joe or Mary was a great sales performer or great engineer, so he or she will make a great manager." But right out of the gate, management needs to clearly communicate the company mission, the style of communication or management, and other expectations of the manager. Once a new boss exhibits dictatorial behavior, it's important to "not let it go"--it simply won't get better on its own, and moralecan be decimated in a nanosecond. Work closely with the new manager, with these thoughts in mind: Tell him you've had feedback from his reports about his authoritarian style. Be clear that you've observed it as his boss, which will ease the perception that he's being ganged up on by everyone under him. Be prepared to call in a coach who specializes in advising on this type of leadership issue. Understand that he is probably not aware he's acting in an outdated "command and control" style. He may have had a boss manage him like that and he's simply emulating what he thinks is an effective style. Understand also that he, like many new bosses, may not know about measurements of progress like 360-degree feedback. An outside advisor can work well and be less intimidating in assisting him to change his style of leadership. Simple, constructive feedback is the best teacher. If and when pushback comes, try to understand why he feels threatened or angry. Let the opinions flow rather than be too quick to lecture or dictate. He is in a learning role, and helping him understand what he is doing wrong takes time and a great deal of communication. When all is said and done, becoming a manager and winning the support of your team is challenging, but can be readily achieved with the right approach and preparation.     [SOURCE: Bill Morin, chairman and CEO, WJM Associates Inc., New York City, October 19, 2006.]

Fixing Executive Options: The Veil of Ignorance

Fixing Executive Options: The Veil of Ignorance

Mihir Desai and Joshua Margolis [HBS Working Knowledge, October 25, 2006]

 

The latest corporate governance crisis is buried in the details of executive compensation contracts. Don't like the timing of the stock option grant you got or the strike price of the contract? No worries! It turns out that this is nothing an eraser can't fix.

While the full scope of backdating option practices remains unknown, this most recent scandal has deepened the sense in many quarters that option contracts given to managers distort behavior in destructive ways. The ability to play with, and respond to, the many variables in an option contract—the timing of the grant, the strike price, the vesting period—appears to vitiate many of the benefits of incentive alignment. How might option compensation be refashioned to deliver the benefits without the distortions?

Perhaps the answer to these problems can be found with philosophers rather than financial or accounting experts. John Rawls developed an influential body of work about justice, starting from the premise that ignorance might just be bliss. His theories were designed to consider a monumental, if esoteric, question: If you were in charge of the world and had to live in that world, how would you decide who got what?

Rawls' insight was that the fair solution could be determined by creating uncertainty about the position the person choosing the outcome would find him- or herself in. In short, the person cutting the cake has to decide the size of the slices and where at the table to place each slice before knowing where he or she will be sitting. Without knowing where you'll end up, you have to really think through what's a fair allocation.

What in the world does this theory of distributive justice have to do with option compensation? Option compensation could be restructured to ensure that managers were aware of the value of their compensation without any knowledge of the details of their compensation. In effect, CEOs and senior management would be kept behind Rawls' renowned "veil of ignorance" with respect to the precise strike price of their contracts and the timing of vesting.

Compensation committees would provide senior management with the value of their incentive compensation and examples of combinations of prices and vesting periods that correspond to the value of their contracts. But, the precise timing of grants, strike prices, and vesting periods would be kept hidden until vesting, or possibly until they leave the firm.

With Rawlsian options, managers would retain their high-powered incentives and know that large fractions of their wealth were invested in their companies. But they would not know all the thresholds that are critical for the value creation. The temptation to adjust the details of grants ( e.g., "I think now is a great time to load up on my option compensations so let's do a big grant now…") or to respond opportunistically to those details (e.g., "I really need an extra penny of earnings this quarter as this is when everything vests…") is tremendous given the amounts of wealth involved. Rawlsian options would keep the fox out of the hen house but keep the fox hungry.

Such a solution preserves the virtues of options and only sacrifices some information sharing. Options still function as powerful incentives, constituting a sizable chunk of potential managerial wealth, and shareholders can remain assured that incentives are well aligned. Managers will not, however, know if they should try to accelerate earnings or delay them. They will not know what stock price they need to beat.

Managers will simply have to think through what the right thing to do is for shareholders as a whole. This uncertainty is a burden on managers and one that will force them not to choose investments, mergers, and accounting decisions based on the details of their contracts. Rather, they will have to consider what they should be considering—how to maximize value for their shareholders as a whole in the most effective way.

Drawing on theories of distributive justice to inform CEO compensation will surely be met with skepticism. From an accounting perspective, Rawlsian options would reinforce the need to expense options at their value at the time of grant and this will surely dissatisfy some. These options are also likely not well suited to middle management and may only be useful for CEOs, senior officers, and directors. Mechanisms would also need to be developed to ensure that a compensation committee withheld these details from managers. But, in just this one case, we think that managerial ignorance might well translate into shareholder bliss.

The Real Meaning of Brand Leadership

The Real Meaning of Brand Leadership

Contributor - Ruan McGloughlin - Marketing Director of DBM IRELAND

 

Your people are your brand, your brand is your culture - and your customers are ultimately 'buying in' to that culture. In other words, if your brand promises reliability, you'd better be reliable! Marketing people may 'own' how the brand promise is made but it is all of the organisation's people and their leaders that must uphold that promise. Ultimately brands are sustained from the inside and 'the inside' is about organisational culture. The culture of an organisation is now being recognised as a key brand differentiator.

 

If you have customers (and hopefully you do!), you're in Show Business. Your people deliver performances everyday that shape your brand positively or negatively. Work in organisational psychology shows that employees not only act 'on behalf' of an organisation, but also 'become' the organisation - embodying its culture to people with whom they interact.

 

Does your company have a culture where people from all functions are on a mission to build the brand, or does it have a work environment where people 'get the job done?' Is the brand at the centre of what all your people do, or is that 'Marketing's job?' Some companies get it. They realise the critical importance of building organisational practice that reflects the brand promise to customers.

 

For example, the brand promise of Patagonia, the outdoor recreational clothing company, is not only tough clothing, but also a commitment to conservation and environmental action. Patagoniaoffers its people the opportunity to train in non-confrontational protest and recruits people dedicated to community and outdoor pursuits. People that work there even refer to themselves as Patagoniacs! The external brand is powered by an internal brand based an organisation and leadership that works very hard to buildPatagonia's emotional ties with its people.

 

However, most do not get it. UK research by PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates less than a third of senior managers believe their companies' external values are matched by internal values. If brands are built on trust, consider the UK financial institution with a brand promise of giving 'everyone a secure future' while at the same time cutting back on the salary employee pension scheme. Research by MORI indicates that a sixth of consumers have been put off making a purchase by the way a company's staff treated them.

 

Place the brand at the centre of what your company does and how your people work together. Sounds like a 'no-brainer.' But organisations offer subtle barriers to achieving this. Often the brand promise is just one more message in a 'spaghetti' of visions, values, strategies and architectures that people have to interpret in relation to their roles. Other times, when attempts are made to bring the brand alive internally, they founder as the exercise is seen by other functional 'silos' as an attempt by Marketing to gain pre-eminence. In many cases leaders do not understand and are not committed to the dynamics of organisational change.

 

More companies are recognising the need to address the 'gap' between brand promise and people delivery. What assistance is available to those trying to reduce this gap? If you have ever been invited to a 'Live The Brand' workshop, you will have some idea of the most common solution put forward by agencies in this field. Participants are likely to receive a pep-talk from a senior manager or consultant telling them how to understand the brand, how each person must take ownership of it and then encouraging dramatisation of the brand through exercises or story-telling with a party rounding off the afternoon. It's sometimes referred to as the'sheep-dip' approach and in one form or another is the chosen weapon of most of the marketing and design led agencies that promise to 'motivate and inspire your people to live the brand.' It's misconceived and it doesn't work.

 

Senior managers often talk about 'rolling out' the brand to the organisation. But the evidence is that roll-outs consistently fail and when they fail cynicism sets in, making future change efforts even more difficult. Why is this? Mostly it's the 'persuasion' by management that seeks to 'push through' change and motivate people to change their attitude. A study by the Chartered Institute of Marketing indicated that companies that have consistently succeeded in building brand equity view their brand as a central organising principle for all company activities, not just something they sell to consumers.

The evidence is that the organisational context in which people work has a far greater influence on behaviour in organizations than anything else. If the conditions for cross-functional collaboration are right, you'll collaborate. If taking risks for the customer is inbuilt to the organisational culture, you'll take risks for the customer. That has more to do with context. And it is a company's leadership that is the key determinant of the context in which people work.

 

Why do internal branding initiatives rarely start with the company leadership? Apart from the fact that Leadership and Change are rarely the primary expertise of consultancies offering internal brand solutions, if the brand is not truly at the centre of how people work together in the first place, the chances are this initiative will just be perceived as some new scheme from HR or Marketing.

 

Also, it requires all managers to trace their decisions, behaviours and conversations with employees through to their impact on the customer promise and the brand. Embracing this exercise is likely to demand that senior managers look in the mirror at their own leadership characteristics and consider how they, often unknowingly, set the organisational context that in turn impacts on delivery of the brand promise. The readiness of people to give their commitment erodes if they experience decisions, behaviours and conversations that conflict with the brand message. In this way peoples' commitment to building a great organisational brand decreases in proportion to their growing and justifiable cynicism.

 

The actions of senior managers have a fundamental bearing ongenerating a culture that supports the brand. At Tesco senior management talk about facilitating a culture that upholds the internal brand promise of 'treat each other the way you like to be treated.'They encourage practices such as answering customer product queries by taking the customer to the item rather than just pointing them in the direction of an aisle. This type of practice along with company schemes such as Save As You Earn provide internal substance to brand promise of 'Every little helps.' With a brand proposition that includes environmental and social principles, The Body Shop backs up this promise through volunteering and giving programmes for their people and though infrastructure actions such as switching stores to renewable energy.

 

If the brand promise is innovation, a commitment to cross-functional dialogue and collaboration is key. Generating conditions in the organisation that sustain these qualities requires leaders to displayrelationship management competencies such as catalysing change, influence and conflict management. Senior managers are often unaware of how their leadership actions and style form a barrier to collaboration and how in turn this can ultimately affect the brand promise.

 

Some companies are investing in leadership development solutions such as Executive Coaching to support their senior managers effect personal leadership and organisational culture changes that will release the potential of their people to meet the brand promise.

 

How does Executive Coaching enable this? It starts by building a 360 degree Profile of the individual's leadership style and the dynamics of 'how things are done around here' in the organisation. This feedback is often the first time that a manager firstly sees how their perception of their own leadership style differs to that of other people and secondly, recognises the underlying dynamics operating in the organisation that set the context for how people work. The manager is also invited to express what it is he/she is 'shooting for' and 'standing for' and how this compares to what they believe their company shoots for and stands for. Most are clear about what they are shooting for, but many struggle when it comes to what they and their company stand for. This is a critical stage in addressing how the brand is aligned internally.

 

In this context the Executive Coach and manager agree on whichspecific leadership characteristics, if changed or improved, offer the best opportunity to transform personal and team performance.They agree on a set of results around a key project or initiative and focus developing behaviour changes on this. For example, if becoming a change catalyst is a target competency, the coach will often assist the executive to lead change by working on a Stump Speech that sets out to stakeholders messages such as 'Where we're going, why it's important, how we'll get there and who is with me.'

 

Senior management often mistake their 'big picture' view of the business for a 'complete picture.' It may be big but it is still only one picture of the company and its brand. The perspective of frontline customer facing people is often overlooked as leaders try to 'push through' their strategic changes. Combining individual leadership development with a group process for change among people in the frontline is a powerful means of building commitment for new brand focused results.

Aligning the organisation with the brand promise is not about Live The Brand workshops. It is about how leaders focus their own and their peoples' 'day jobs' on the brand promise and how the organisation builds emotional ties with its people.

 

Boring Subject, Big Pay-Back: Some Workers Safety and Compensation Tips

Boring Subject, Big Pay-Back: Some Workers Safety and Compensation Tips 

by Jack Turesky

 

Workers Safety and Compensation may not be the most interesting topic, but it is a subject that you overlook at your peril. Ensuring a safe work environment for all co-workers is one of the most important challenges faced by managers. However, it is also our responsibility to control the costs of Workers Compensation so that it is available to those workers who truly need it for the right reasons. If these costs are controlled, workers benefit by receiving aid when they need it and the company's profitability increases.

There are a number of tactics and strategies which, if implemented aggressively, will likely lead to a safer work environment and a reduction of employee accidents, workers compensation claims, and company expenses. I suggest that all managers:

1. Create and Implement Monthly Safety Committees. The meetings should be held each month--no exceptions. If you're serious about safety, then find the time to conduct your safety committee regularly. A minimum agenda should include:
   • A complete property tour. Look for actual as well as potential hazards. Open all doors and look in obscure places. Remember that accidents can happen anywhere.
   • Plan wisely and provide educational in-services for employees. Conduct these meetings on all shifts and make sure that all staff are included. Choose topics that the staff can relate to. Be sure to conduct the in-services in a way that makes them fun, leaves a strong message, and creates an expectation.
   • Ensure that all departments and staff levels are represented so that you get a full perspective of your planning, implementation, and results.
   • Review every claim, open and closed. Discuss the review and analysis with the committee. Ask what preventative steps could have been taken to prevent the occurrence. Implement any proactive practices which will reduce potential accidents.
     
2. Conduct Quarterly Loss Run Reviews. Attempt to include your insurance agent as well as an insurance company representative. Regardless of whether your policy is a guaranteed-cost or a loss-sensitive plan, if your insurance company is not interested in assisting you with a claims improvement plan, find another insurance company. Take personal charge of the claim review process. Document your findings and your action plan. Set specific dates for follow-up. Include other staff as you see fit. Ask the hard questions. Push for results, including: potential settlement, conducting an Independent Medical Examination (IME), surveillance, subrogation, Early Return To Work (ERTW), or a host of other options. The bottom line is that you want the employee back to work and the case closed.
   
3. Conduct Thorough Accident Investigations. Begin the investigation process immediately after an accident is reported. If possible, assign the duty of accident investigation to a particular individual. Choose a back-up in case your regular investigator is not available at the time of an accident. Having a designated investigator allows that individual to become familiar with the process, identify potential opportunities, and educate him/herself with your system (you may even want to consider some formal education). I encourage the use of a checklist so that each step of the investigation is thoroughly documented. This list should include the following:
   • Take pictures. Make sure that you have a digital camera and be sure to take numerous pictures of the accident scene when possible.
   • Get statements. Obtain them from other co-workers or witnesses to the actual accident or anyone having contact with the employee from time of accident to the time of reporting it. If the accident didn't happen on the premises, go to the scene when practical.
   • Document. Take as many detailed notes as possible. Get names and phone numbers of all witnesses. Describe the accident as recounted by the employee.
   • Have the employee complete and sign an incident report.
   • Track the events chronologically. Did the employee seek medical attention? Where? Did the employee miss any work time?
   • Test the explanation of the accident to make sure that it could have happened the way it was described to you. This is the most reliable method for determining if the accident really happened on your property or in some other, non-work environment.
   • Follow up. What is your plan of action? Will you counsel the employee? Will you educate your staff based on the nature of the incident? Will you controvert the claim? Did you discuss the incident with your insurance rep? How will you prevent a re-occurrence of this type of incident? Did you receive a copy of the police report, if applicable?
   • Finally…seek expert advice when needed. Don't go it alone. Navigating the Workers Comp waters can be tricky and potentially very costly.
     
4. Early Return To Work (ERTW) Program. This is an area in which you have a great potential for impact. When legitimate accidents do occur, the primary objective should be to obtain necessary medical attention and then get employees back to work as soon as possible.
   For those employees who are legitimately injured, an ERTW program allows for a transitional phase. The employees can start with light duty and gradually resume the responsibilities of their original positions as allowed by their attending physician.
   For the small group of employees who are not legitimately injured and are using workers comp as a vehicle to take advantage of the system, ERTW programs are a great motivator toward full job duty resumption. I sometimes find that assigning the most boring jobs is an extremely effective way to get these employees to resume their regular tasks.
   ERTW programs should not be viewed as permanent light duty positions. I strongly suggest enforcing 3 months as the maximum amount of time that any employee be allowed to remain on light duty.
   
5. First Aid Claims. Your MOD rates are driven by your number of employee accidents and by the severity of the claims. A severe claim is not usually an abuse of the system and must be reported to the insurance company. Less severe claims, however, may involve no lost time and very little if any medical expense. For these types of claims you may want to consider an in-house first aid practice. An example might be that the company will document but not report employee incidents that are expected to cost less than $300 and the claim cost will be paid directly by the company. At first blush, this may seem imprudent, but the lower volume of claims can significantly reduce premium cost and possibly set the stage for an additional percentage discount.
   
6. Employee Incentive Programs. I have seen numerous incentive programs over the years and I believe some of them work very effectively. Some important aspects of incentive programs are:
   • The rewards need to be frequent (annual awards don't cut it). Also, cash or prizes are less memorable than a public pat on the back. Perhaps you should consider both.
   • The more winners, the better. Anyone who meets the behavioral standards of the program should be rewarded.
   • The program needs on-going promotion by top management and should change regularly to keep it fresh.
   • Competition should be focused against external opponents and not on co-workers.
   • Make it fun and simple.

Reducing workers compensation costs can add significantly to your bottom line and is well worth the time and effort. However, you must be committed to the end result and cannot treat it as the "flavor of the month". Focusing on workers comp and safety may not be the most exciting thing that you do, but it is likely to be one of the bigger pay-offs.

How Do We Determine Loyalty and Satisfaction?

How Do We Determine Loyalty and Satisfaction?
	What is the litmus test we can use to measure employee loyalty and employee satisfaction?—Unsure of Their Allegiance, retention agent, mining/oil/gas, Texas
	Although related, loyalty and satisfaction are different. Loyalty is easier to measure. Look at your turnover and average length of service. How do they compare with industry averages? Is turnover increasing or decreasing? Also, look at such phenomena as employee theft and sabotage--certainly indicators of disloyalty. And, as you're doing all of this, look for pockets of higher turnover and disloyalty--by organizational unit, job type and level, length of service and demographics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age, etc.). For employee satisfaction, I'm not sure there is one best litmus test. Rather, I would recommend a set of tests: 1. Observation. 2. Asking them, e.g., attitude surveys and exit interviews. 3. Business outcomes, which are affected by employee satisfaction. 4. Examining the root causes of satisfaction (or the lack thereof). 1. Observation This test is perhaps the most obvious, but least utilized. Walk around your workplace and watch your employees working and interacting with one another. Chat with them informally. Are they smiling, alert, active, cooperative and energized? Better yet, have an objective third party do this--preferably someone (or a team of people) who has been exposed to many other workplaces for comparison. This could be a professional consultant, but it doesn't have to be. For example, this is what job candidates do, and their assessment weighs heavily in their job choice. 2. Business outcomes In 1998, the Gallup Organization studied the impact of employee attitudes on business outcomes. It found that organizations in which employees have above-average attitudes toward their work enjoy: 38 percent higher customer satisfaction scores. 22 percent higher productivity. 22 percent better employee retention. 27 percent higher profits. If your customer satisfaction, productivity, employee retention and profits are high, you probably have highly satisfied employees. The inverse also is true: Low customer satisfaction is often due to low employee satisfaction. 3. Asking themTo create or select a good attitude survey or process for conducting exit interviews, talk to colleagues at other organizations and contact various HR consulting firms. And consider a unique approach, for example, that I described in Jennifer Koch's January 2000 article onWorkforce.com, or Motorola's "Individual Dignity Entitlement" program, described briefly under Tip 8 in my newsletter. 4. Root CausesThe Families and Work Institute's 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce found that earnings and benefits have only a 2 percent impact on job satisfaction. These need to be fair and sufficient to pay the bills. Period. In contrast, job quality and workplace support have a combined 70 percent impact. Do your employees have meaningful work and an opportunity to learn and grow? Do they feel appreciated and respected and have a sense of esprit de corps? If so, then they must be satisfied. If not, then not. Any of these four "tests" will give you a pretty good handle on employee satisfaction. Using a combination of them--particularly the last two--will assist you in doing something about it.     [SOURCE: Don Grimme, president, GHR Training Solutions, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, November 4, 2006.]

Top Turn-Off for Hiring Managers

Top Turn-Off for Hiring Managers

It wasn't being late, or even lacking company knowledge that was the biggest complaint. The number one turn-off for hiring managers was poor communication skills, according to a recent survey published in Staffing Management, a journal of the Society of Human Resource Management. Noted as particularly displeasing were inarticulate answers to interview questions, and vague accounts of past experience.

Ironically, a candidate can and should have the answers to interview questions mastered long before they ever walk into the hiring manager's office. Whether it's an interview for a new job or an internal promotion (Internal hiring is UP! 53% of management jobs are filled from within the company ranks.) you can stand out as a well-qualified candidate by following these guidelines:

Prepare answers in advance. Write out your answers to the typical and tough questions. Keep your responses concise, factual, and packed with specifics. Use a conversational tone and answer in less than 60 seconds in order to keep the interviewer's attention. Role-play your answers to help you become more confident in your replies.

Paint a picture. Give an example of what you've done by citing a true situation. These details help the employer visualize how you would perform on their job, and effectively confirms you as a good potential hire. Many interviewers now prompt for these situational examples ( i.e., asking you to describe a recent mistake you made on the job that you were criticized for), so advanced preparation IS essential.

Determine a 5 Point Agenda. This is your customized hiring strategy - your top five selling points, a summary of your key talents, accomplishments, and experience. The 5 Point Agenda focuses the interview on your strengths as well as your ability to meet the employers' needs and get the job done. Review the position needs to determine which of your abilities will be most important to the employer. Select five points that build a solid picture emphasizing how you can do their job ( i.e., years of experience, specific accomplishments). Stress each of these points in the interview whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Pay attention to non-verbal clues. Employers evaluate what they hear, while lending credence to what they see. Nervous gestures, such as playing with your hair or tapping your fingers, can absorb their attention. A sincere smile sends a warm, confident message. Eye contact is one of the important things employers notice about you. It is crucial and conveys that your message is believable. Practice until it is second nature to look at the person when answering a question.

Ask the right questions. A top manager at AT&T told me: "I judge candidates by the questions they ask. That's what's most revealing to me. I want someone focused on succeeding in the job and not just centered around how much money I will pay them."

Come to the interview with a typed list of questions. Use this time to gain insight on their corporate culture. Ask about the specific job duties. This is NOT the time to bring up any questions about salary or benefits.

 

- Robin Ryan

5 Tips for Achieving and Living Your Best Life !!

If you wish to live your best life possible – and who wouldn’t? There are several simple steps you can take to make it materialize.

Tip #1: Put Yourself First
Putting yourself first may sound selfish on the surface. In reality, it is not selfish at all. Putting yourself first does not mean you do not care about others. In addition, it does not mean that you hurt others in order to achieve your goals. Rather, it means that you do not allow others to selfishly interfere with your goals and with your priorities. If you hope to live your best life, you need to make your dreams and goals a priority. The more you allow yourself to be separated from that goal and the path toward the goal, the less likely you will be to achieve it.

Tip #2: Don’t Give Up
Along the path toward achieving the life you have always wanted, you will inevitably run into some roadblocks. This doesn’t mean you turn around and go back home. Rather, look for a way to work around that roadblock or to use it to your advantage. Never focus on the obstacles in your way – allowing all of your attention to be drawn to a problem is really just your self-critical voice speaking to you out of fear. Continue focusing on your desired outcomes and working toward your goals.

Tip #3: Learn From Others
Everyone around you provides you with a learning experience. Watch them and learn from them. By being observant and open, you can learn what to do and what to avoid in order to achieve your desired outcomes.

Tip #4: Work from Your Strengths
No one can do everything. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Don’t waste your time and energy beating yourself down, worrying about the things you don’t do well. Instead, recognize your strengths, take full advantage of them, and ask others who have counterbalanced strengths to do the things that you don’t do well.

Tip #5: Follow Your Passion and be Happy Now.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do in this life is to follow your passion. But don’t make your happiness conditional on achieving your goals. Be happy now, no matter what the outcome. With this attitude, you will not lose motivation for your goals, but instead, will gain increased clarity, energy and desire to achieve them.

 

 

Copyright 2006 Sandra Sinclair 

Hiring and Managing Franchise Employees

Hiring and Managing Franchise Employees

 

As a franchise owner, your greatest asset is your staff. Along with your customers, these are the people who can best help you realize your dream of owning a successful business. Your employees are an extension of yourself, and they ensure that the daily operations of your business run smoothly even when you're not there to oversee every detail.
Hiring and managing employees is an involved process that requires your full attention, especially when you're first starting out. Although it can feel intimidating at first, the hiring and managing process does not have to be complicated. It can be broken down into four basic parts: 1) Interviewing, 2) Training, 3) Work Environment, and 4) Employee Incentives.

1. Interviewing Prospective Employees
The reason you are interviewing is because you have a need in your business that can only be met by hiring another employee. Your objective when interviewing prospective employees should always be to hire the best possible candidate for the job. Ideas for making this process go smoothly include:

• Create a job description that identifies the most important qualifications your ideal candidate should possess. Include salary and benefit information.
• Collect résumés of prospective employees through such avenues as employment agencies, trade journals, newspapers, the Internet, and through networking. Go through the résumés and select the ones with the best qualifications.
• Be prepared with questions to ask during the actual interview. Review the information listed on the résumé to verify its accuracy. Listen carefully to how each person answers your questions, and observe if they have a positive and professional attitude.
• Before making your final selection, let representatives of the franchisor or some of your key employees (particularly those who would be working with the new employee) interview the candidate. Don't rush your decision. Choosing the best person for the job is important to the success of your business.

2. Training New Employees
Once you've hired your new employee, the next thing you need to do is train that person. This involves giving clear instructions that detail what you expect from them. The objective is to train an employee to fulfill the needs of the business. In a franchise, you are imparting the training you received from the franchisor along with your own personal experience and expertise. Training ideas include:

• Allow employees on-the-clock reading time to familiarize themselves with the business's operations manual and other key reference materials.
• Give specific examples as to how you want things done (a model of good performance). After you demonstrate something to your employees, have them repeat it under your supervision to show that they have understood. Be clear as to what you expect from them.
• Don't overwhelm people. Have a training program that lets employees assimilate information and tasks at a gradual and steady rate rather than expecting them to remember everything the first day.
• Provide ongoing training to your employees so that they are continually getting better at their jobs.

[Source: AllBusiness.com]

Inspire Your Staff to Generate Healthy Change and New Ideas

For most managers, getting employees to generate fresh ideas is a never-ending task. Obstacles include low morale, misunderstood motivational techniques, inadequate training, and high employee turnover. However, inspiring your staff creates a win-win situation: your team will be more eager to come to work, and when your employees are excited about their work, their productivity soars and your business reaps the benefits.

• Make sure everyone wins. Healthy change and great ideas won't happen if employees see no specific benefits in it for them. They need to know that giving their all will be mutually beneficial. In other words, if they believe you're exploiting them for their ideas, you're doomed. Inspiring your employees requires everyone and every department, from the mailroom clerk to the president, to be mutually supportive. If your employees don't feel appreciated, even the best pep talks will fall flat.
• Provide recognition. Publicly acknowledging fresh ideas and achievements builds morale and encourages healthy change. And praise needn't always be formal either; verbal compliments are often more effective if you make them part of your daily communication. Celebrate your employee's successes with e-mails sent out to the entire department. Or buy them lunch if they come up with a really great idea. Even small rewards are guaranteed to make an impression. L etting your employees know you appreciate their contributions will motivate them to strive for more.
• Walk the talk. Remember, you're every employee's number one role model. That means if you're asking your employees to generate new ideas, you need to show them how it's done. Come up with your own ideas, including some crazy ones, to let them know that no new idea is a bad one.
• Encourage feedback. Great ideas don't come from isolation; they come from a mutually supportive environment. Solicit your staff's input by asking them if they're getting the support and resources they need to do their jobs effectively. Maintain an open-door policy so they know you're willing to listen and provide guidance. Most important, pay close attention to what they're saying, perhaps even repeating it back to them from time to time to show them you're listening.
• Let them know they matter. Take the time to explain to your staff how their individual performance fits into the company's overall goals. This will help them realize that every new idea they come up with can have a positive, lasting impact on the company's overall success and bottom line.
• Show enthusiasm in your work. Eight hours a day can feel like 20, or it can feel like five. The difference is how engaged employees are in their work, and that begins with a mutual belief that everyone is in it together — and that starts with you, the manager. By showing enthusiasm in your own work, you instill the same enthusiasm in your employees.
• Trust in your team. Trusting your team's skills and incorporating their good ideas sends everyone's morale soaring. The opposite is also true — you'll kill their enthusiasm by not give their ideas due consideration. If, after hearing it, you still don't think an employee's idea is so hot, tell them honestly. Your employees will respect you and be more likely to stay by your side if they know you can be counted on to tell the truth.
• To motivate, be a motivator. Employees learn accepted office behavior from how the boss acts. So do your best to maintain a positive, high-energy frame of mind. By teaching your employees to stay in the constructive zone and support one another, you will all consistently experience an engaging, successful work life, one replete with a lot of healthy change and many great ideas.

 

[Source: AllBusiness.com]

No Ray of Sunlight Is Ever Lost - We Need to Capture Our Knowledge

No Ray of Sunlight Is Ever Lost - We Need to Capture Our Knowledge 

by Robin Trehan, B.A, MIB, MBA electronic business

 

We have an aspiration to be the best and we want to do it while making sure we are building on our corporate knowledge. We want to be certain that the knowledge which the organizations have gained over the decade's remains in the organization. According to Albert Schweitzer, a Humanitarian-"No ray of sunlight is ever lost; but the green which it awakes into existence needs time to grow, and it is not always granted to be sower to see the harvest. All work that is worth anything is done in faith."

Knowledge is life and blood of today's organization. Knowledge management is the attainment of the organization's goals by assembling knowledge productive. Information is a process of piling up facts; and simplifying them to use it is knowledge. It is the management of information within an organization by steering the strategy, structure, culture and systems and the capacities and attitudes of people with regards to their knowledge.
The circle of knowledge is created inside an organization, and the, the fact of owning appropriate knowledge and using it correctly has been identified as a key competitive advantage. It is imperative to understand what kind of knowledge is necessary and what is available. Determining the knowledge gap and developing knowledge to fill the gap is of vital importance. The next step is making sure that the knowledge developed remains in the organization and there is open sharing of it.
Creating knowledge based system is building on bit and bytes each and every day. Knowledge ought to flow freely and each and every part should soak in it. A new person should be able to assimilate in the system and person parting the system should be able to leave his knowledge in the system. It is an incessant process and a knowledge management should be made an integral part of the organization.
Knowledge management system creates business intelligence all over the organization and allows the information to be quickly converted into knowledge. A good practice in one part of the organization is quickly adapted and soon it becomes a part of the system. Knowledge is shared and implemented and idea becomes into realty. It is process of breeding innovation, creating value and bringing in new vision. It is about challenging the unknown and some known unknowns.
We need to remember that most precious asset a person or an organization possesses is its knowledge and an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. For this reason, work together as a team, making knowledge sharing one of the main functions of your job. Win the game by making other players learn from you and you learn from them. Sprout success by removing barriers to information and converting that information to knowledge. And above all do not forget that information and knowledge is time sensitive and there is no end to it. When you feel it is the end, it is just the beginning; it is a ring with no beginning.

[Robin C. Trehan is an industry consultant in the field of mergers and acquisitions.]

What Are the Pitfalls of Salary Caps?

What Are the Pitfalls of Salary Caps?
	Our law firm wants to institute salary caps for support staff. What is a basic method we could follow to develop such a program?—Coping With Caps, director of administration, consulting/legal, Columbus, Ohio
	One thing you should know at the outset is that you are facing a common problem. Many organizations struggle with this issue, and the solutions they come up with vary. Let me highlight a few points that I hope will be helpful. First of all, you did not mention whether the organization already has formal salary ranges (with a minimum and maximum dollar value for each job). If you do not have such ranges, then you should consider implementing them (and communicating the rationale effectively to employees). This can help your workforce understand that every job has a marketplace maximum above which your organization may not be able or willing to pay, no matter how well employees perform in those jobs. However, having salary ranges will not completely eliminate your problem. The reason is that employees with long tenure eventually will bump up against the maximum. Although employees may understand the concept of each job having a maximum marketplace value, psychologically they may still feel entitled to a salary increase. "What is my motivation to do a good job," they will ask, "if there is no financial reward at the end?" So an organization has to have a strategy for handling those cases in which individuals reach the maximum of the salary range. Here are two options: Some companies take a hard line by saying that the individual is not eligible for a salary bump until the salary range itself is increased based on market data. Once the salary range is increased, which most organizations do annually, then the individual may once again be eligible for a salary increase, since his/her salary will then be below the maximum. Other organizations provide one-time bonuses to employees in lieu of salary increases. Several organizations I have worked with provide a bonus that is equal to one-half of the amount a salary increase would have been had an individual received it. Their reasoning: A bonus should not equal the amount of a salary increase, as that would defeat the purpose of managing overall costs of employee compensation. In my experience, employee reactions to such schemes have generally been positive. One word of caution: Whatever you decide to do, it should not be communicated as an action applicable only to your support staff. Even though those positions are the ones that concern you most at present, implementing a policy that focuses on one group of the population might create more problems than it solves. My recommendation is that any actions to treat this problem should be general enough to apply to all employees in your organization. [SOURCE: John D. White, JD White & Associates, McLean, Virginia, July 24, 2006.]

How Do We Persuade Our Management That the HR Function Could Offer Strategic Value to the Company?

How Do We Persuade Our Management That the HR Function Could Offer Strategic Value to the Company?
	I am trying to demonstrate the value of having a strategic HR division in my organization. How could I influence our top management about the cost to business of having a nonstrategic-thinking HR division?—Looking at the Big Picture, program manager, software/services, Bangalore
	Strategic HR is more an evaluation of the senior HR staff's performance rather than a checklist of items. Pre-selling your management on the popular-but-vague idea of strategic HR is likely to prove less effective than repeatedly demonstrating that you have a strategic approach to your role. How well do you understand your company's business economics? Do you read the data and business publications (not HR publications) that your top management reads and relies on, so they are not frequently bringing you up to speed--or worse, leaving you out of the discussion? Do you show awareness that HR is a cost center, not a profit center, and constantly and conspicuously seek returns on the investment your company makes in its HR function? Do you look for ways to keep your highest producers at the company, and let your lowest producers leave and go to work for your competition? Do you resist adding faddish, low-value benefits and instead fight for important benefits that have greater impact on employee loyalty, motivation and retention? (Read more about the negative reactions when Hewlett-Packard slightly reduced the number of telecommuters in its huge workforce.) Checklists, unfortunately, are typical of how senior management often view the HR function. Although it may serve some purpose, a checklist seems more likely to address effective HR than strategic HR. Over time, your executive management will form its opinion of how strategic your HR function is from the dozens of examples that result from your analytical thinking, your overall business sense, your orientation toward future company goals, and the quality, not quantity, of your initiatives. Good luck as you proceed down this path. [SOURCE: Harold Fethe, MindSolve Technologies, Gainesville, Florida, July 21, 2006.]

How Do We Persuade Our Management That the HR Function Could Offer Strategic Value to the Company?

How Do We Persuade Our Management That the HR Function Could Offer Strategic Value to the Company?
	I am trying to demonstrate the value of having a strategic HR division in my organization. How could I influence our top management about the cost to business of having a nonstrategic-thinking HR division?—Looking at the Big Picture, program manager, software/services, Bangalore
	Strategic HR is more an evaluation of the senior HR staff's performance rather than a checklist of items. Pre-selling your management on the popular-but-vague idea of strategic HR is likely to prove less effective than repeatedly demonstrating that you have a strategic approach to your role. How well do you understand your company's business economics? Do you read the data and business publications (not HR publications) that your top management reads and relies on, so they are not frequently bringing you up to speed--or worse, leaving you out of the discussion? Do you show awareness that HR is a cost center, not a profit center, and constantly and conspicuously seek returns on the investment your company makes in its HR function? Do you look for ways to keep your highest producers at the company, and let your lowest producers leave and go to work for your competition? Do you resist adding faddish, low-value benefits and instead fight for important benefits that have greater impact on employee loyalty, motivation and retention? (Read more about the negative reactions when Hewlett-Packard slightly reduced the number of telecommuters in its huge workforce.) Checklists, unfortunately, are typical of how senior management often view the HR function. Although it may serve some purpose, a checklist seems more likely to address effective HR than strategic HR. Over time, your executive management will form its opinion of how strategic your HR function is from the dozens of examples that result from your analytical thinking, your overall business sense, your orientation toward future company goals, and the quality, not quantity, of your initiatives. Good luck as you proceed down this path. [SOURCE: Harold Fethe, MindSolve Technologies, Gainesville, Florida, July 21, 2006.]

A Crisis So Immediate And Obvious, You May Have Already Missed It

A Crisis So Immediate And Obvious, You May Have Already Missed It 

by Brecca Loh and John R. Hendrie

 

Is there a bigger challenge than designing the Guest Room of the Future, building the most extraordinary mixed-use resort facility, identifying the dining trends of the rich and famous or creating the next terrifying yet exhilarating theme park ride? Might we posit, there is.
Who, in five years will deliver on your Brand promises, for Hospitality, in particular, and all businesses will be facing a most severe shortage of labor and certainly talent. In large part due to the aging of the workforce, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a shortfall of 10 million workers in the US in 2010. Western Europe will experience a more dramatic deficit. We are already relying on skilled labor from developing countries, such as India and China. The Hospitality Industry does not have the option to move operations offshore or to outsource service. We, just like our colleagues in Health Care and others in the semi and non-skilled arenas, are stuck here, all competing for that rare commodity – reliable labor.
We have not paid close attention or merely accepted long ago a bogus management imperative. We in Hospitality live with a turnover rate of 100%; we spend a mere pittance on training and development. We fight for minimum wage status and minimal benefits, if any. In short, we will be short, and that does not even indulge that spectre of Immigration, which globally has already created massive concerns, social and economic. So, expect significant restrictions and constriction within the labor force. To be candid, enforcement of current Immigration laws would close the doors of many light manufacturers, agriculture, and, you know it, some of your colleagues. Also, keep in mind the general profile of our employees: primarily female, immigrant, not highly educated, and pronounced disenfranchised by many, certainly prime prospects for Organized Labor, whose presence shall become more prominent, because we have not been doing our job. We have effectively neglected the greatest threat to our competitiveness – the dwindling Labor Pool, and we have been averse to take a leadership role as an industry, even as a business. The acquiescence is a shame!
The numbers usually get some attention, spurring some to action, or at least discussion:

• The general population is aging; the available Labor Pool is aging; the birth rate is at historic lows.
• Ages 16-24 are growing at a rate of 15%; ages 25-34 are growing at half that rate; ages 35-44 are declining.
• In the next 15 years, 80% of the North American workforce is going to be over 50 years of age. And, the "Boomers" are walking out that door, hurriedly, representing a huge "Brain/Brawn Drain".

And, these are only figures based upon age. Think of the full panoply: sex, race, education, etc. Do we have your attention, or will you return to the "warm body" philosophy, which will not exist in the very near future. We are alarmed. Let's talk Strategic Manpower Planning! What are your plans?
There will be "Wars for Talent", and you must adapt your philosophies to retain older workers and attract new talent. Those who win the battles will be those wrested in progressive workforce development strategies. You do not have to be a huge corporation to make ready, but you will need to target your workforce and maximize your human capital. We know this argument is unpleasant for many in a labor intensive business, but this is the reality. Choose or close!
Our Template for this mandated change in direction, philosophy and operation is the following, at minimum:

1. Be more competitive in attracting and retaining new employees, especially those with critical skills. Drive your communications to all parties, constructively and honestly.
2. Create performance incentives and training programs which motivate and empower. Invest in your people.
3. Build management-employee relationships, based upon common interests and trust. Become participative.

The above is not new, but the application will be for many, as Hospitality is very slow to change and is not progressive. We are not fortune tellers. Your means to deliver product, service and business processes will change, so you have a small "window of time" to manage that, rather than lose control. Your Human Resources professionals will help chart this journey for you. Bring them to the table, seek their expertise as a Strategic Partner.
So, what will the Workplace of the Future look like? As we know from above, the term Future is relative.

• It will be team oriented and collaborative.
• Emotional Intelligence and innovation will be emphasized.
• Positive attributes will be amplified: loyalty, resilience, adaptability, trust, humility and compassion.
• Change will be embraced.

This is not the usual Hospitality Culture we all know, so some work will need to take place. But, we encourage urgency, for you are at risk. Manpower Planning (sourcing, recruiting, selection, retention) should be an agenda item for your Executive sessions, certainly for your association and professional business meetings. There are a host of resources on the market, as well. Our Brands pronounce our brilliance and service, which very shortly, if not already, shall be challenged by those we employ to represent our best efforts. Who will deliver on your promise? A "Blind Eye" is debilitating and no longer an excuse. Perhaps, this will light the fire.

Bouncing Back To Move Forward !!

Every person who has ever actively worked on self improvement and bettering themselves and their lives will have suffered setbacks. The most successful people in the world did not become successful overnight. They will almost certainly have suffered more disappointments, setbacks and even unmitigated disasters, than most people.

Successful people will definitely have made wrong decisions and expensive mistakes, and taken wrong turns on their journey to success. Things may have been going extremely well and they then encountered events beyond their control, or made choices, which caused them to lose everything they had built up.

Often when we try something new, things can go wrong and everything may not go according to plan. When this happens, we may well question our abilities and ambitions, or think we were misguided in trying to a build a better life for ourselves and our family. Many people consider themselves failures at this point and just give up and retreat to their comfort zones.

However, it’s worth remembering that the only way we can guarantee we will never fail is to never try anything. But just think, if we gave up at the first or second hurdle, or never tried anything new, we wouldn’t be able use our computers, drive our cars, play sports - or even read, walk or talk!

Successful people are also disappointed and affected by setbacks, and certainly get knocked down more often than most, if only because they try more things. This may happen not once or twice, but dozens or even hundreds of times. But successful people refuse to stay down - because they are resilient and will not be denied their dreams and goals.

Many successful people had to go to extreme lengths to achieve their goals. Walt Disney was turned down for finance to build Disneyland by more than 300 banks. They all thought he was mad and that his vision for Disneyland would never take off.

Colonel Sanders had a great chicken recipe and believed he could teach people how to cook his chicken to increase their businesses. He spent two years driving across America, sleeping in his car, and calling on restaurants who weren’t interested. He was often mocked and laughed at, and apparently he was turned down over 1,000 times before he heard his first yes!

The greatest inventor if the twentieth century, Thomas Edison was also one of the greatest failure of all time. For every invention of Edison’s that worked, thousands of attempts over many years didn’t work. But Edison didn’t consider these failures. He confidently expected to find the right solutions after he had learnt from and eliminated all the unsuccessful methods!

How many people would have had these levels of perseverance and persistence and would have been able to bounce back from so much rejection and disappointment?

These men had dreams they believed in and were committed to, and were prepared to do whatever it took to achieve their goals. They learnt from their setbacks and changed their plans or revised their approach, and did whatever was necessary until they got what they were aiming for.

It is, however, important that we recognise that resilience and determination are not the same as stubbornness. There is no point doing exactly the same thing again and again and expecting different results. We must be prepared to be flexible and to adapt our plans and goals accordingly.

Studies have shown that 95% of goals people set will be ultimately achieved if they learn from their difficulties and don’t give up. Lack of talent or opportunity has almost nothing to do with people not reaching their goals and becoming successful. Instead, the main reason is that people lack the determination and persistence to overcome setbacks and obstacles.

Resilience is essential, and there are learnable techniques and strategies that can help develop this characteristic. Successful people know there are no failures because there are lessons to be learned from everything that happens to them, both good and bad.

In fact, it is usually our failures and mistakes - what we learn from them and how we react to them - that build our character and determine our levels our success. The only real failure is to give up altogether.

Quote of the Day
"The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail." - Napoleon Hill

 

 

By: Garry Zancanaro,

7 Ways to Get the Most Out of the Next Training You Attend !!

Sometime soon you will be attending some training. It may be a one hour tele-seminar, a one day class, professional conference, or a weekend retreat. It may be something that you are paying for, or it may be something your organization is investing in. Whether you are paying the bill or not, you are making a significant investment of your time, energy and attention to participate.

 

Many people approach training as an adult much like they approached classes when they were in school - and those strategies aren't always the best ones to maximize the value from a learning experience. Regardless of the length, situation or topic, there are some very specific things that you can do to convert the experience into useful learning you can apply in your work and life.

 

Following are seven strategies that you can apply to convert your time and energy spent in training into real useful learning.

 

1. Have a goal. Been signed up for some training at work? Decided to attend a seminar on a topic you are interested in? Great! The first thing you should do in any case is set a learning goal. If you are already knowledgeable about the topic and have specific things you want to improve, setting your goal or goals should be easy. If this is training you are less excited about attending, or are unclear about, you can still set a goal like: "Learn one new thing I can apply at work," or "Meet one person I can add to my network." Having a goal and writing it down focuses your mind and will help you gain real practical value from any learning situation.

 

2. Take personal responsibility. Take responsibility for your own learning experience. The training may not be the most dynamic or engaging you've ever been to, but that is ok, because you have a goal. Make that your focus. Perhaps the trainer isn't going to cover that topic exactly. That's ok - use their expertise. Ask them at a break, probe for other resources. Stay focused on your goal. Your learning is in your control. Take responsibility for getting from the experience what you want and need.

 

3. Ask questions. Don't understand something? Ask for clarification. Want a little more information? Ask for it. A big part of being responsible for your on learning is asking question to get what you need.

 

4. Ask the Golden Question. The most important question is the one you won't likely ask out loud. "How can I use what I am learning?" This is the golden question because it helps us translate the learning to real life. Ask this question of yourself through the training experience. I keep a separate place to keep notes on the application ideas I get from asking myself this question when I am in training. This truly is the golden question. Ask it of yourself when you start to get distracted, ask it of yourself at breaks. Soon it will become a natural response and an amazingly valuable habit.

 

5. Learn from everyone. There are more people to learn from than just the speaker/trainer. The other people in the room can be a great way to learn. Tap into their experience and knowledge. Talk to the people at your table or around you. Think of them as peer coaches. These people can help you learn during the session and might become great people in your network after you leave. Be involved, participate and allow yourself to learn from everyone, not just the person in the front of the room.

 

6. Build an action plan. At the end of the training, build an action plan. Review your goal(s) and build a plan to implement what you have learned. Reflect on your answers to the golden question and resolve that you will apply those ideas too. If the training has been really valuable, you may have several ideas. This is great, but be realistic on how much you can apply at a time. Build your plan recognizing that you ay be able to implement some things tomorrow, but that other things might need to be spread out over the next week or more.

 

7. Teach someone else. If you want to really lock in what you have learned, share what you have learned with someone else. Talk to a colleague back in the office. Share the concepts with a friend. Not only have you helped the other person, but you have increased your mastery and clarity of the ideas in your own mind.

 

Bonus tip # 8 - Review your notes. If you want to really retain what you have learned for the long term, set up a process to review your notes. Review them the evening after the event. Review them the next day, and the next day. Then put a note in your to-do list to review them one week later and one month later. Each review only needs to be five minutes long. You are simply trying to build the concepts in your mind through repetition and giving your mind a chance to spark new connections and new ideas.

 

As you can see, these strategies don't require any additional monetary investment, just an investment of your focus and approach. Applying just one of these strategies can have a major impact on your results. Applying them collectively will put you among the learning elite.

 

Put these strategies some where so that you can review them before you attend any training event. Over time the reminders will turn these strategies into your own habits - habits that will help you move towards your goals and potential.

 

 

 

By  Kevin Eikenberry