Employee Retention
1 in 4 Companies Fails to Keep High-Potentials
May 15, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
According to a survey of 562 senior managers and executives by AMA Enterprise, 26% of employers are ineffective in retaining their high-potential workers. Even though more than half (56%) are considered “somewhat effective” at hanging on to high-performing talent, only 18% are “very effective” according to the survey’s findings.
“Management succession and future leadership are paramount concerns at most companies today. Yet efforts of organizations to hold on to their best people often fail. Some organizations make only intermittent attempts to identify their up-and-comers, and it seems that those that do so meet with mixed success.”
One of the most common reasons younger workers leave their jobs is lack of full engagement with the company’s objectives. While the young generation has an insatiable appetite for growth and job success, they also:
- Strongly believe in their ability to make major contributions to the company’s success and growth.
- Dislike change as much as older workers, and want to help their organizations grow and prosper.
- Will leave one position for another to make a real difference, to fulfill their career potential, and grow personally and professionally.
A Wall Street Journal study found that 97 percent of the 40 companies surveyed said they needed stronger plans to retain top talent across generations. In other words, most managers feel unprepared to deal with the high-turnover trend.
According to Sandi Edwards at AMA Enterprise, organizations need to focus their high-potentials program on leadership development. “Talented, motivated individuals need to be developed in a number of ways, including mentoring or coaching, training, stretch assignments, action projects, cross-functional teaming and job rotation.” These programs need to also be align with the business needs of the organization and the overall strategic direction of the organization.
To learn about tailored programs to retain your high-potential employees, contact Loyalty Factor at 603-334-3401.
Turn Any Manager into a Great Leader
May 1, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Did you ever wonder what makes some bosses great and others unbearable? Why do some inspire performance, loyalty and teamwork and others only create turmoil, dodge responsibility or remain unapproachable?
The truth is, great bosses are great leaders, and every day great leaders demonstrate key traits that keep them great.
Develop and Execute the 7 Key Behaviors of Transparent Leadership
- Use the truth to empower others
- Build a better reputation by consistently asking for feedback
- Uphold your commitments
- Take ownership of mistakes to gain trust and respect
- Increase authenticity by letting employees see the real you
- Master ways to deliver bad news kindly
- Use emotional intelligence to make level-headed decisions
Keys to Achieving Respect and Credibility in the Workplace
- Collaborate in ways that supports the business
- Create win-win situations that promote personal improvement
- Develop actionable ways to improve your employees’ success
- Inspire loyalty so people don’t jump ship
For personal coaching to transform from an ordinary manager to a GREAT leader, contact Dianne Durkin at Loyalty Factor – 603.334.3401.
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Leadership Development, Leadership Management | 
Tags: Emotional Intelligence, inspire | 
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Info Exchange – Turn the Ship Around
April 10, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
- Simplifying mergers and acquisitions
Our information exchange this week highlights the book, “Turn the Ship Around “ by L. David Marquet.
How to Create Leadership at Every Level
How would you like to work in a place where everyone around you is totally engaged and contributing their full intellectual capacity; a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work; a place where everyone is a leader?
A nuclear-powered submarine would seem an unlikely place for a new model of leadership to be forged, especially aboard the USS Santa Fe – dogged by poor morale, poor performance and the worst retention in the fleet. That is, until David Marquet took command.
Turn the Ship Around! Is the story of how Marquet took the ship from worst to first by challenging the U.S. Navy’s traditional leader-follower approach and implementing his own framework of leader-leader.
The results: each member of Marquet’s crew became a leader and assumed responsibility for everything he did, from clerical tasks to crucial combat decisions. It became an empowered organization.
How did Marquet do this?
- Rather than telling everyone what they needed to do, he would ask open-ended questions about how they thought the problem should be approached. This strategy of giving decision-making control to the people works very well provided the people have the technical competence. Marquet learned early on he had to ensure the technical competence existed and if it did not, training was a necessity. As authority is delegated, technical knowledge takes on greater importance.
- Applying a questioning strategy is very impactful provided the leader does so in a curious fashion, asking questions to learn, as opposed to asking questions where people feel they are being interrogated for their knowledge. Marquet used the curious approach.
- He provided the organization with goals and objectives and allowed them to figure out the prescribed approach. This allowed for many ingenious ideas to solve issues and meet the goals. With clear and complete understanding of what the organization is about, then individuals were able to make decisions against a set of criteria that included what the organization was trying to accomplish.
- When people executed successfully, Marquet used immediate recognition to reinforce the desired behavior.
With this leader-leader structure, everyone wins – top performance, ensuring excellence and the development of future leaders.
If it can work on board a nuclear submarine, it can work for you.
For guidance on how to adopt the leader-leader approach in your organization, contact Dianne Durkin of Loyalty Factor at 603.334.3401 and visit www.loyaltyfactor.com.
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement, Leadership Development, Magnetic Leadership, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: empowerment, Recognition | Comments Closed
Recognition Programs: Inexpensive Motivators
April 3, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
In my last blog I wrote about the characteristics of recognition programs. With many organizations under cost containment guideless, I often receive the question, “What are some low-cost recognition programs that will motivate employees?”
Below are 10 LOW cost / NO cost ideas of how to recognize your employees:
1. Post a Thank You note on the employee’s door.
2. Give special assignments to people who show initiative.
3. Arrange for a team to present the results of an effort to upper management.
4. Include an employee in a special meeting.
5. Post a large celebration calendar in your work area and tack on notes of recognition for specific individuals on specific dates.
6. Encourage employees to participate in community volunteer efforts.
7. Use a 3×5 card to write You are Special Because ________
8. Widely publicize suggestions, who they came from and the positive impact on the organization / department.
9. Acknowledge and celebrate birthdays.
10. SMILE – Its contagious!
As you can see from the examples, small gestures can go a long way. Are you ready to ask your employees for some ideas?
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement, Leadership Development | Tags: recogniition, Thank You | Comments Closed
Info Exchange – The Price of Incivility
March 27, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
- Simplifying mergers and acquisitions
Our information exchange this week highlights the recent article in Harvard Business Review, “The Price of Incivility” by Christine Porath and Christine Pearson.
The Price of Incivility
Rudeness at work is rampant and it is on the rise. The authors believe this chips away at the bottom line because nearly everybody who experiences workplace incivility responds in a negative way.
Employees are less creative when they are disrespected and in many cases may get fed up and leave.
According to the article about half decrease their effort or lower the quality of their work. Incivility also damages customer relationships. The research by the two authors shows that people are less likely to buy from a company with an employee they perceive as rude, whether the rudeness is directed at the customer or another employee.
After collecting data from more than 14,000 people in the United States and Canada, the conclusion is incivility is expensive and few organizations recognize or take actions to curtail it.
A poll of 800 managers and employees in 700 industries showed with incivility. Below are some statistics on the cost of incivility:
- 48% intentionally decreased their work effort
- 47% intentionally decreased their time spent at work
- 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work
- 80% lost work time worrying about the incident
- 63% lost work time avoiding the offender
- 66% said their performance declined
- 78% said their commitment to the organization declined
- 12% said they left their job because of the uncivil treatment
- 25% admitted to taking their frustrations out on customers
It takes a lot of vigilance to keep the workplace civil. Managers can use several strategies to keep their own behavior in check and to foster civility among others.
Below are some of the strategies:
1. Manage Yourself
2. Model Good Behavior
3. Ask for Feedback on your Behavior
4. Hire for Civility
5. Create Group Norms
6. Reward Good Behavior
7. Conduct Post Departure Interviews
The message is very clear. Just one habitual offensive employee can cost the organization in lost employees, lost customers and lost productivity.
To foster civility in your organization and reduce the impact of incivility, contact Loyalty Factor for aide in improving your organizational relationships!
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement, Leadership Management, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: Engagement, Productivity | Comments Closed
Recognition Programs: How to Be Effective
March 20, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Keeping employees motivated has never been as important as during the current economic downturn. As companies reduce their workforces, employees need to work at optimal levels to ensure increased productivity and profitability.
Now more than ever, organizations must be proactive and have the right strategies in place to keep employees motivated.
Valued employees who feel appreciated for their hard work and efforts are more engaged in their organization, therefore demonstrate high productivity and efficiency.
To be effective, all rewards and recognition must be:
- Timely. Recognition should be as immediate as possible. If you don’t thank someone until long after the effort, it diminishes the importance and sincerity.
- Continual. It should be an ongoing part of your culture. Don’t make rewards seem like after-thoughts.
- Customized. Rewards and recognition need to make sense in your culture and to your employees.
- Balanced. Think about appropriate levels of gratitude for the action you are recognizing. For example, offering a gift certificate to say thank you for a job well done and something more substantial when someone has achieved a milestone for the organization.
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement | Tags: Appreciation, Recognition, Rewards | Comments Closed
Info Exchange – A Golden Age for Working Women
March 13, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
- Simplifying mergers and acquisitions
Our information exchange this week highlights the recent article in Forbes, “A Golden Age for Working Women” by Jenna Goudreau.
A Golden Age for Working Women
As the world job market struggles to rebound from the depths of the Great Recession, one thing that’s not getting as much attention as it used to is how long-term employment trends are changing – and that not everyone may find a job even when the pace of recovery hits its stride again.
In the new knowledge economy, physical and manufacturing jobs have slowly disappeared. Computers disrupted once stable occupations like postal service and administrative work. And it may be just the beginning.
Because technology is improving at such a rapid rate, many now-familiar computer industry jobs will soon be automated as well. The jobs that survive all this change will be those a robot or a piece of software cannot do, requiring social skills, eye contact and a personal touch.
As we move toward a service economy, skills like communication and collaboration will move to the forefront. These are skills that most women possess. British futurist Ian Pearson calls this “The Care Economy.”
Women tend to excel at showing empathy, compassion and teaching others. As we move into the care economy, women will find many jobs easier to survive in.
Dianne Durkin of Loyalty Factor specializes in helping organizations excel by capitalizing on the personal touch! Contact Loyalty Factor today to schedule a consult to improve upon your organization’s soft skills.
Posted in Employee Retention, ~ Loyalty Factor Information Exchange ~ | Tags: Care Economy, Women | Comments Closed
Appreciation Creates Bottom-line Results
March 6, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
“Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.
Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen,
well-timed and sincere words of praise.
They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.”
~ Sam Walton
Once you have engaged, empowered, and enriched employees lives, you have their attention. To have their heart, they need to feel appreciated, rewarded, recognized and valued.
To maintain your skilled workforce and your loyal and engaged employees, it is important to make sure your employees know their efforts matter. Appreciation comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. The best meet the specific needs of the individual.
Sometimes a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds — or a simple chocolate bar — can put a huge smile on someone’s face and energize them with more than just a sugar high. It is amazing to see people light up. It is the simple things that make a difference. The simplest and most inexpensive are often words.
Thank you!
Great Job!
I really appreciate all your work!
It’s the small things that can really make your day or even your week. Usually it’s a gesture from someone acknowledging something you have done. Small things do matter. If you do not believe it, just get into the habit of thanking people and see what happens.
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement, Leadership Development | Tags: Recognition, Rewards, Thank You | Comments Closed
Info Exchange – Five Ways to Keep Employees Excited
February 27, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Welcome to the Loyalty Factor Information Exchange, a bi-weekly service providing summaries of major publications and books on various management and customer relationship topics.
Loyalty Factor has been instrumental in helping companies:
- Increase Customer Satisfaction by 20 – 33%
- Increase Revenues by 50% in 18 months
- Increase Manufacturing Production by 200% in 18 months
- Simplifying mergers and acquisitions
Our information exchange this week highlights the recent article in Fortune, “Five Ways to Keep Employees Excited” by Verne Harnish.
Five Ways to Keep Employees Excited
In a recent article in Fortune Magazine, Verne Harnish describes five specific ways to keep employees excited. He summarizes it by saying, “Get them invested in your firm, and then eliminate the bad bosses and the red tape.”
His five ways include:
1.Give them a voice – Conduct focus groups or retreats to give them input. According to Verne, the more you give people a voice, the more they step up.
2. Clear the roadblocks – Once again, get input from your employees. According to Verne you ask them what stupid processes and obstacles are slowing their work; whether it is long meeting, endless paperwork, or incompetent colleagues and then free them from these hassles.
3. Grow better bosses – People don’t quit companies, they escape lousy managers. One recent survey showed that 65% of workers would prefer a new boss over a raise. If the team is underperforming, take a close look at who is managing that team. Do they know how to coach? Do they know how to manage? Do they know how to help people excel?
4. Take a break from austerity – Reward recognition and appreciation are key for individuals to excel at their work and become highly motivated and engaged within the organization. Do what you can within the boundaries of the organization to show appreciation and how much individuals are valued.
5. Make employees dreams a reality – One company highlighted in this article developed a program called “Dream On” where the company fulfilled one wish for each employee. What they found is that the employee requests were very modest and the voluntary turnover fell by over 35%.
In summary, get employees invested in your firm, eliminate the bad bosses and the red tape.
Contact Dianne Durkin of Loyalty Factor today for a consultation on how to get your employees excited!
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement | Tags: employees, Engagement, Excited, Fortune | Comments Closed
Employee Enrichment: The Balanced Wheel of Success
February 20, 2013 | Author dmdurkin
Think about how you handle employee development. Nothing is more engaging than a person striving to achieve a future goal and knowing they have the confidence and support of management.
From mentoring and managing expectations to conducting performance reviews or reaching team objectives, coaching can take many forms. Regardless of the form it takes, the objective is the same — to positively motivate and enrich employees.
Employee enrichment looks at the complete life of employees — not just their work lives.
- It takes a holistic approach that goes beyond work-life balance.
- It is what I call the Balanced Wheel of Success.
Even for the most successful people, life can sometimes feel overwhelming. Loyalty Factor’s Balanced Wheel of Success helps them take a deep breath and look at their lives from every perspective.
The wheel centers around Vision and Values. The personal vision and values encourages employees to think about where they are going and what their own guiding principles are.
Just by having this discussion, employees know you care, and with that caring comes loyalty, creativity, innovation, responsibility, accountability and trust – all elements of engagement, empowerment and enrichment.
When people are happy, feel cared for and have a clear sense of their own vision, purpose and values, it is much easier for them to identify with and support the vision and similar values of the organization.
Good leaders provide corporate guidance and individual guidance.
In doing so, they engage people in the corporations success,
and in their own success.
It’s a Win-Win situation!
Dianne Durkin is president and founder of Loyalty Factor, a specialized consulting and training company that enhances employee, customer and brand loyalty for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations and many smaller businesses. Dianne’s proven expertise lies in helping companies quickly get to the core issues and outlining their impact on the organization’s profits, productivity and people. www.loyaltyfactor.com
Posted in Employee Loyalty, Employee Retention, Engagement, Magnetic Leadership | Tags: Values, vision, Work Life Balance | Comments Closed