Yearly Archives: 2021

employee performance and productivity

Ongoing Learning Sparks Improved Employee Performance and Productivity

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Ongoing learning and training are key to boosting employee performance and productivity. This is true for everyone no matter how talented the person already is. Besides performance and productivity improvements there are other benefits that I will cover here.


In this video I talk about my dog Chief who is a Vizsla breed and bred as hunting dogs. They are pointers and can smell an animal from far and point in that direction. Once given a command they will go after the prey.


employee performance and productivity

We are not hunters so we looked at what else our dog can be useful for and realized he is excellent with people and provides a feeling of comfort and love to many who we meet in our neighborhood and especially when we travel.


So, we embarked on a training program to have Chief become a therapy dog because of his natural talent to give comfort and his sweet nature. However due to COVID-19 we had to put that on hold


The point is that what you have talent and passion for should continue to be developed as there is no limit to what we can achieve. As well, ongoing learning gives way to new opportunities to expand a skill set into complimentary skills that could evolve into new specialities within a certain job field. For example, a software developer could through ongoing learning expand into a specialty in AI, which is in great demand.


Benefits

I remember a training I did for a client on selling skills and the course covered goal setting. The top salesman for the company had never learned how to write out a goal and he applied his new knowledge to a personal goal related to his finances. Because he picked a highly motivating goal, he was able to further propel his performance to achieve his goal within a few months.  This greatly benefited him, his family, the business owner, and the company.


Ongoing learning and training provide many benefits. Employees will keep themselves current for the job market and they will stay motivated because the new knowledge will make their job more interesting as they tackle new challenges.


The company will have a more motivated employee who produces better work and is more productive. This will generate more profits and enable the organization to scale.


The business owner will have more dedicated and loyal employees as the investment in their talents will be perceived as a commitment by the business to their development. This will also reduce turnover of exceptionally talented employees.


Ongoing learning and training applies to leaders and managers as well. Learning new leadership and management skills can be applied immediately and the impact can be huge. For example, if you act on what I am recommending here and start training employees or even yourself, it will produce instant results and benefits. My call to action then is to do just that. Whether you are the business owner, manager, or an employee, find what is a crucial skill for your job and something you really enjoy and make a point to learn more about it every week. Set a goal and keep track of your progress. You can use my goal planning worksheet and training needs analysis worksheet to help you get started.


improve customer service

Everyone Serves a Customer and Why Knowing That is Important

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Everyone has a customer although it is not always apparent to everyone who their customer is. When we think of the customer we tend to think of the company or consumer who receives the product or service the company is providing.


But along the way of getting the product or service to the end user there are many people who must handoff their part of the product to someone else. Think of an assembler on a production line. Once they complete their part of the production, the product will go to someone else to further complete it and add value. Each person along the way is a customer of the person before them and so on.


This concept is often referred to as internal/external customers, meaning that some people serve internal customers and others serve the external customer. The people in the customer service department may interface daily with the external customers but they also serve internal customers. If a salesperson comes to them to process a special order, they need to serve the salespeople. But the salesperson also serves the customer service rep because if they do not provide the proper information then the customer service person cannot do their job properly and this will affect the external customer.


This concept of internal/external customers was made popular as part of Total Quality Management (TQM). We do not refer to this management approach to producing high quality products often these days but most companies, especially manufacturers practice it in one form or another and may call it something else.


Toyota adapted this methodology in the early sixties and won the Deming Application Award in 1965 and later the Japan Quality Medal in 1970. The transformation of Toyota from a perceived poor-quality automobile to an industry leader in customer perception is said to be due to their investment in the principles of TQM and related approaches.


The idea of serving your customer with the best possible products and service whether they are internal or external is a mindset that is established by top management and then taught to everyone in the organization.


The business owner of CEO is also serving his customers, made up of employees and the external customers. If employees are to deliver excellence to their customers, then the leader at the top must see to the needs of all the employees. Only when these needs are met, and they understand that they also serve internal customers can superior products and services be delivered consistently to the external customers.


The most obvious example is in healthcare. The nurse or caregiver must meet stringent quality standards in the delivery of medication, monitoring of equipment and the attitude and behavior that is displayed. The needs of the nurse revolving around training and development, rewards and recognition and emotional support is crucial for this person to perform all aspects of the job consistently.


A good exercise to improve customer service to both internal and external customers is to define quality standards for each department. This should be done with the participation of all employees, so they get to give their input and agree on the standards they need to be well served. Once quality standards are established between departments a way of measuring performance needs to be in place so quality can be improved over time. Continuous improvement is a foundation principle of TQM and can only be put into practice if standards are established and measurements put in place. This approach transformed many great companies such as Toyota and can be applied to any size company if there is commitment starting at the top.


storytelling

How to Use Storytelling to Motivate and Empower Employees

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A good story can inspire, entertain, teach, and engage an audience. We know this from watching good shows and films. Marketers also use storytelling to move an audience to prefer a particular brand. Canadian Tire had great brand success with this viral TV commercial a few years ago.


Leaders can use storytelling to inspire employees to think creatively and solve their own problems. It’s a great teaching tool when used wisely in the right situations.


storytelling

I have been coaching Victor, a young man from Uganda who contacted me after viewing my video on goal setting about breaking down exceedingly difficult goals into small steps. He wanted me to help him achieve a goal that seemed to be unattainable.


Victor’s goal is to become an entrepreneur and open a hardware store where he lives in Kampala, Uganda. However, he has no money and can barely make ends meet.


storytelling

had him fill out my goal planning worksheet and saw that the solutions to the obstacles were unrealistic based on his current situation.


I spoke with him a few days ago and told him a few stories about entrepreneurs I knew from growing up and how one of them started with almost nothing and yet became one of the wealthiest businessmen in my city.


The story goes that the fellow was ambitious but could not stomach school and so decided to start selling clothing from the trunk of his car. He managed to find a supplier who fronted him some products and he went around to high schools selling from his car. Because he had very little expenses, he could sell popular clothing to teenagers at lower prices than the stores.


Eventually he had enough money to open an office and warehouse and started attracting popular clothing manufacturers to sell their products exclusively in Canada. His business and wealth grew overtime, and he employed many people across the country.


After telling this story and a few others to Victor I could sense he was getting excited and he could see new avenues to taking a different path to his dream. I suggested he explore hardware products that he could buy wholesale and sell directly to businesses or consumers at low prices. I also asked him to make a list of his friends and family to see who might be able to invest in his endeavour or provide a loan to get started.


Business owners and leaders can use this same technique to get employees thinking outside of the box and explore new approaches to their projects or problems. For example, if an employee is leading a project team and has run into difficulty in keeping team members on track, you could tell a story of how you or someone you know dealt with a similar situation. You then ask questions to help the person formulate some action steps incorporating elements learned from the story.


Next time someone comes to you for answers, think of your experience with a similar situation and if you can formulate a story to tell to teach, inspire and empower the other person. You can download my goal planning worksheet and other forms here.


avoid misunderstanding

How to Avoid Misunderstanding in Your Communications

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There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding in communications these days. There is not only fake news to contend with, but also what to believe on social media.


But in organizations of all sizes the concern for communications needs to assure that there is mutual understanding between collaborators. Otherwise, there is a risk that deliverables will not meet expectations and affect performance and productivity.


With the onslaught of emails, messaging and teamwork apps, it is easy to write, click and expect that we have communicated well. After all, it is in writing and there is a documented proof.


But unfortunately, this type of communication does not always transfer into understanding. Of course, emails, messaging etc. can be highly productive but when the communication becomes more complex, we need to resort back to good old one to one conversation.


Using real live conversations to communicate complex and important information facilitates mutual understanding. You can sense if the other person is understanding what you are communicating and if they are committed to whatever action is required or requested.


One great technique is to ask the person to repeat what they have understood in their own words. This will help avoid misunderstandings. The communicator can use the same approach especially when there is a lot of back and forth in the discussion.


Usually when working on a project and discussing a problem and solutions, there are actions that both parties need to take. Repeating back one’s understanding is vital to ensure there is no miscommunication.


Another thing to do is to summarize the conversation and clarify the commitments with clear due dates. A next meeting can then be set, and the meeting notes can be documented to ensure that things are clear.


You can refer to my article and video on managing meetings to see how an agenda should also incorporate meeting notes and actions with due dates. This is a recommended practice for high performing meetings but the same could be done for paired conversations. After all you are holding a meeting whether there are just two people or eight.


Having one to one conversations is especially important for sensitive issues such as performance feedback (negative and positive). Do not just send a congratulations for good performance by email or messaging. Call the person and let them know how you feel and see their reaction. This is even more important for negative feedback or dealing with a performance issue.


In the end, you want your communications to be impactful and to generate mutual understanding and alignment so that everyone can do what they need to with clarity.