Organizations, both profit and non profit, need to determine how to deliver more with fewer people and resources to customers who demand more for less.  The answer? Personal skills.  This is what sets great teams apart: identifying, developing and maximizing every team members unique personal skills.  But how? 

Let the job talk.  Start with identifying the key accountabilities of all key positions on the team, combine these with a job assessment, and you’ll have a complete job benchmark for each position.  Next, talk to team members within the positions about the key accountabilities.  If possible, assess the individuals and compare them to the benchmark.  Then review the information for gaps or misplaced employees.  Develop those with gaps and realign those who are misplaced.  This shows constituents, management wants to minimize stress levels, and maximize resources, not cut headcount.

Once your team achieves employee-job fit, you’ll see the personal skills that have been identified are being developed and maximized.  This will lead to a more efficient, productive and engaged workforce.

Get your people in the right positions, then they’re positioned to win.

Contact End Game Business and we’ll spill the beans about the benchmark process.

It’s ironic, the word “vision,” associated with sight, is something that’s hard to see. We want our vision to be clear, yet our perspective of the future is often vague, murky or cloudy.

If you’re the leader, and want others to willingly follow you and struggle for a shared aspiration, you must describe a vivid picture of the future. Before the team decides to hop on the train and go along for the ride, they need to know where you’re taking them. They’d like some idea of what it will be like when they reach their final destination.

Inspiring A Shared Vision is one of the five practices of The Leadership Challenge. Studies show most leaders don’t spend enough time thinking about their vision. Why do you think that’s the case?

I was motivated to write this post after watching a video. Did you know it’s impossible to walk a straight line without a frame of reference in the distance? Here’s a mother, conducting a science project with her son. She was certain she’d be able to walk a straight line donning a blindfold. I’ve viewed a number of clips where people have attempted this experiment and the results are always the same. Take a look.

Going through life, or running a business without an end game is the same as hoping to walk a straight line blindfolded. Your journey will look similar to the woman in the video.

How about you? Do you carve out enough time in the day to envision your future? What’s worked, what hasn’t, and what have you learned? I’d like to hear your comments below.

The idea of benchmarking jobs is an effective first step to ensure getting the right person in the right job. However, that’s just the beginning.

The answer is simple. If the job hasn’t been benchmarked, you don’t know, no one does. Benchmarking should be the first step in any talent related process, period. In order to achieve results and affect change, first know what the job is calling for. If the job could talk, what would it say?

End Game Business is among the best in the world at benchmarking jobs. How can we say that? TTI, my assessment partner, and I have the patent on it. The experience itself is money in the bank. First you go through a discovery process in order to establish key accountabilities. Next, you move through a job assessment in order to get a clear and objective view of the job requirements as they relate to personal skills, behaviors and motivators of the job. Once this is in place, you can easily compare current and potential talent to the job in order to assist in hiring, development, training and performance management.

We have choices in regards to products and services. Lots of them.

If you receive average tasting food at a restaurant, you search for an alternative venue that serves wonderfully delicious inviting meals.

If your company runs on an average ERP solution, you’ll move to a software system that provides a competitive advantage.

If you have an average customer experience with an online web store, they’ll be history as soon as you find one that’s better.

Where in your company can you challenge the process? It’s one of the practices in The Leadership Challenge workshop.

Look for ways to go over the top for your customers. Otherwise, eventually, they’ll find a vendor that will.

Here’s a link to Mr. Friedman’s insightful article. http://ow.ly/8JU20

Any building is only as good as its foundation. Your organizations foundation is your workforce. Regardless of the position, all organizations benefit from understanding every role. A person’s assessment identifies strengths and weaknesses in the individual and the team. We often learn of organizations that identify undiscovered talent hidden within their organization as a result of utilizing assessments. This initial discovery leads to tapping the potential of future leaders and getting them started on the right development path. This leads to higher revenue.

When employees are in positions that are not a fit with their behaviors, motivators, and skills, the entire organization suffers including the bottom line. The benchmarking process uncovers the key performance indicators that drive results in the job critical to success. By understanding what the job needs and rewards, you should understand the best way to manage people, develop training and implement strategies. This means greater productivity and ROI of each player on your team.

In the typical hiring process, we review resumes, look at experience, and interview. Then we go with our gut. Our intuition. We’re biased! A job benchmark is an unbiased emotional view of what the Job Wants!

Hiring based on what the -Job Wants- leads to hiring “A” performers the first time, which leads to higher revenues. Your team members are in the right positions, and they’re productive day one. Otherwise, you’ll spend lots of money on training them to get better at positions they’re probably not jazzed about in the first place! This leads to turnover and stress.

Best of all, benchmarking is a simple, cost-effective way to set the foundation for the leaders of any organization to increase morale, improve retention and enhance overall employee satisfaction.

Contact me today and I’ll spill the beans on the entire process.

A few months ago, on an idle Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from my friend, Bob Teska, a CPA at Bowers and Company in Syracuse, NY. He was proud to say he’d been recently elected to the board for Syracuse Habitat for Humanity. In the past 25 years, Habitat has built or renovated almost 60 non-profit houses that were sold to selected families through interest-free mortgages.

Bob was “dialing for dollars,” contacting his circle of influence, recruiting male volunteers for Habitat’s largest fundraiser of the year, “Mr. Habitat.” He asked if I would donate my executive coaching and leadership services for the auction. All I had to do was dance the runway to my music of choice. I told him I’d love to do it.

After I hung up, I decided I must be out of my mind. I never dance in public because I’m 6’5”, I stick out like a sore thumb, and I feel like my dance moves are on a par with Elaine from “Seinfeld.” I considered backing out, but this was such a great cause, I knew I would follow through.

Well, if I was going to strut my stuff in public, I needed a cool piece of music to camouflage my inadequacies. I chose the catchy, upbeat Maroon 5 hit, “Moves Like Jagger.” I began my choreography, playing the tune over and over and refining my moves. I gained confidence and soon felt the urge to spice things up. I searched You Tube and added a hip- hop move to my routine, making things up as I went along. I couldn’t see myself during practice, but what I was creating felt respectable.

I strolled into the “Mr. Habitat” event at the Sheraton Syracuse University Convention Center on this warm November evening. The whole day I channeled fellow coach Maria Nemeth’s mantra to embrace the moment: with clarity, focus, ease and grace. I mingled with the crowd of hundreds, trying to convince them to bid high and often on my services for this great cause. I made a point of letting them know I couldn’t dance.

“Go have a drink!” was a piece of advice I received more than once, but I knew alcohol wouldn’t help. I did encourage everyone else, however, to have one more libation, hoping it would enhance my overall performance, in their eyes.

Backstage, there were about seven male compatriots ahead of me. I worked off my anxiety by rehearsing in the halls, getting strange looks from the kitchen help as they prepared hors d’oeuvres.

When my turn came, local personalities Ted and Amy of 93Q announced to the crowd, “And now here’s Steve Borek, executive coach at End Game Business! Let’s hear it for him!” I hopped on the runway to the loud sounds of ♪♪ Just shoot for the stars, if it feels right and aim for my heart ♫. I was in the zone! I’d been in the zone several times playing sports and it’s a special place. Everything gets quiet, I’m at peace, and movements feel like slow mo. The dance was effortless.

After my services were auctioned off to Ann Goutremout, the owner of Studio 11 in Cicero, NY, I jumped off the runway and was congratulated by fellow volunteers waiting in the wings. What a rush! I walked out and to my amazement, several folks in the crowd complimented me on my performance. “Steve, you can really dance.” I was stupefied!

During the evening I had several “coaching moments.” I learned that being in the land of complacency is a terrible place to be. I hadn’t challenged myself in some time and I was playing it safe. On this night, I scared myself and I grew in the process. I also learned I’m not qualified to assess myself. As with clients, many times you can’t see the forest for the trees. Last, when you have a finite amount of time to achieve an extraordinary and unfamiliar goal, without any prior experience, you can succeed. Believe me, I’m dancing proof.

To learn more about Syracuse Habitat for Humanity contact Kristin Earle 315.422.2230

Photo courtsey of Caityln Bom Photography.

For example, people who are personally accountable and employed in a career that requires continuous learning have a natural passion toward learning and keeping current. Those that are not personally accountable can get left behind very quickly if involved in many high tech careers.

Unfortunately, for the most part, your team won’t share their thoughts with you on this subject. Can you think of a few reasons why?

Research shows that personal accountability is required in most jobs. This illustrates the importance for all hiring managers to totally evaluate each position as it relates to being personally accountable plus making sure that everyone they interview brings personal accountability skills to the job.

If you only hired people who were personally accountable and your competitors hired people who were not personally accountable, you would own the marketplace! Sales people who lack personal accountability will fail unless they have a protected area with repeat customers.

There is a solution to understand the Personal Skills of your team. The TriMetrix HD Assessment. Based on a unique 37-factor analysis, TTI TriMetrix HD reveals a person’s specific traits in three areas that describe the how, why and what of individual performance. A TriMetrix HD can be done in conjunction with a Job Benchmark before you hire. This tool is often used for current team members to see if they’re in the right role. You’ll see if they enjoy their job or if they’re stressing. In either case, you can provide a coaching development plan based on where they need to improve.

Contact me to learn more. I’ll spill the beans on the process.

The most significant changes in my life, that endured, occurred on some idle Thursday when I least expected.

About 20 years ago, I was at the YMCA at 6am on a typical weekday morning, getting ready to do laps in the pool. As I waited for the lifeguard to come on duty, a man in a Speedo walks out of the locker room to the pool area. He had a svelte athletic “swimmers” body. I noticed he looked a lot like a customer of mine. Sure enough, it was Fran Nichols, CFO/Managing Partner, at Eric Mower and Associates. He looked completely different. I’d never seen Fran without his glasses. This was a Clark Kent moment if you will.

We were both surprised to see each other! “Fran, how often do you swim?” I said. “I do one mile every morning before I go to work. Takes me about 35 minutes” Fran replied. “How about you Steve?” Fran asked. “I do a half mile in 45 minutes” I said in a less than confident tone. We shared the same lane and Fran must have lapped me twenty times or more. He moved through the water like Flipper, whereas I resembled a wounded Orca. I wasn’t very happy, considering Fran was about ten years my senior!

After my workout I went to the office and plopped down in my cubicle. I reached for a cigarette to have with my morning coffee. I’d been smoking for all of my adult life. I was so upset at my performance at the Y, I crushed the 14 or so cigs I had left in the pack of Marlboro Lights and threw them in the garbage. I quit cold turkey and never looked back. This big change happened in a split second!

That day, I didn’t have a plan to give up smoking. My incentive to quit was my competitive spirit. Out of the blue, Fran gave me a gift. I channeled all the energy from a lack of nicotine to exercise. Today, on any given day, I can swim a mile in 38 minutes.

Be ready for those unexpected opportunities to change in 2012 regardless of the time of year. Then, take action and see what happens.

p.s. Fran, thanks for the gift that keeps on giving.

Speaking of being prepared, you need two servings of protein in the morning to maximize the thinking process. One serving of protein comes from: 1 egg, 1 oz of cheese, 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 2 TBSP of peanut butter, ¾ cup pudding or 3 oz of tofu.  Carbohydrates and sugars are sources of energy but create highs and lows, as they enter the system quickly.

There is growing evidence that coming to a meeting with the right attitude is also crucial.  Your mindset going into a meeting will dictate what you get out of the meeting.  Our emotions serve as filters, so it’s best to have an attitude that matches my blood type, B Positive.

Note taking and active engagement address the same concept of attentiveness. Note taking forces you to think about what is being presented: drawings force processing of the information, and asking questions force you to listen.  All of these are crucial to the next step of making a protein marker in your brain. But, remember that different behavioral styles will interpret this rationale based on their own filters and may use the tips as an excuse for over application. For example, high Influence styles from DISC, please don’t dominate just to stay involved; and high Dominance styles, as a participant in a meeting, you are NOT in charge, so work on your listening skills as a way to stay engaged.

Reinforcing learning is required to create a lasting memory.  If you do not do something with new information within about 30 seconds after receiving it, the protein marker in your brain does not form.  If you do process the information, think about it, make connections, take notes, or draw an image, the information will be locked in place for about 90 minutes.  Again, if you do not refocus on the information within this window of time, it is gone.  But if you reinforce the knowledge by again revisiting the concepts or information, you now have created a bio-chemical protein marking that will last from eight to 12 hours. A quick review before bed and you are ready to start the process of remembering!

Written by: Dr. Ron Bonnstetter, Senior VP for Research and Development at TTI

If the answer is no, you probably want to begin looking, but if the answer is yes, then employee retention should be at the top of your list. With employee retention statistics that prove your best employees may be sitting on your payroll while patiently waiting for the “right” job, you need to be sure that you are managing employee retention with specific individuals in mind and long-term goals in place. 

Employees Are Not All Alike
A good manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of their employees, but do they know what motivates them? Employee retention studies show money is NOT the reason most employees leave a job, which seems contrary to popular belief. In a recent study of over 19,000 job seekers, only 19% said money was the reason they were looking for a new job. Instead, more popular reasons included stress, mismanagement, lack of room for advancement and lack of employee development.

To effectively manage employee retention, it is important to determine the core values of each individual. What drives them to take action? What keeps them engaged and motivated? What needs do they have that should be fulfilled on the job? For example, let’s assume Arthur is a salesman for a medical device company that sells a new health care device to hospitals. What motivates Arthur to get out of bed each day, put on his suit and give a great sales pitch? Perhaps he knows that each time he introduces better technology to a hospital, he impacts the lives of many every day. Or, maybe Arthur’s  personal goal is to be the top salesman in the company. Yet another possibility is that Arthur comes from a family of salesmen and takes pride in following in their footsteps. Whatever the case , the key is to know what motivates Arthur and ensure that employee retention strategies cater to his unique, personal motivators.

Employee Retention Must Fit Corporate Goals
Developing an employee retention strategy specific to each individual must start with an in-depth look at the company’s long-term goals and what it needs for success. What is the next level? What skills do you need to get there? Who has those skills and what skills are missing in the company? While it is not an easy task, it is an important step in the process of creating an employee retention strategy that will help you meet your long-term goals. Perhaps you will find that job roles should be re-organized, skills of certain employees are better utilized in another way, or certain employees are key to future success. Once you have determined how your workforce needs to adapt to meet company goals, you can implement an employee retention strategy that ensures your best talent is there to help you reach the top.