Visit my new site!

Hello all,

I’ve recently launched a new Web site in support of my new brand, Unforgettable Outcomes. All my blogging and updates will be done through my new site from now on, so please stop by!

www.unforgettableoutcomes.com

Blog: www.unforgettableoutcomes.com/blog

Thanks for visiting!

Bonnie

Seven Ways to Guarantee Employee Engagement

What do you do to help engage your disengaged employees?  Did you know that the Gallup Poll in August 2009, shows that only 33% of employees are engaged in their jobs.  What are the other 67% doing?  What can you do to have more of your emoployees work with passion and be more involved in their job?  Facts show that employee engagement brings in more customers, and more money!  Some ways I’ve found that are effective, and suggestions I received from employees at various client sites:

1.  Mentors Feel Valued. Aligning senior employees who have a wealth of knowledge and experience with newer employees to familiarize new-hires with the company system serves to make the senior employee feel valued.  At the same time, the newer/younger employee may provide a renewed outlook on workplace life.

 2. Raise the Bar. A fundamental way to engage employees to take the initiative to be more engaged is to have managers actively hold them to a higher performance standard. However, the first step is to engage the manager who allows the senior or any employee to perform just well enough to get by.

 3. Plan for Performance. With input from the senior employee, set firm deadlines for completion of specific assignments and goals. Make sure the employee understands that failure to meet the deadlines may result in termination before retirement. Have the employee track his/her own progress and report on a weekly or monthly basis. Managers and supervisors should use a coaching and feedback model with periodic review of goal attainment for all employees beyond their self-reporting. If the employee refuses to attain the established goals and submit reports, the manager or supervisor must follow through with terminating the employee for at least three reasons: disengaged employees are expensive to retain; their slack attitude spreads among the team like a disease; and at this point, the manager’s course of action sets precedence for other employees.

 4. Rah! Rah! Team.  Remind employees they are still part of a team and the bigger picture.  They are needed, and their actions and behavior affect the workplace around them. This ensures the company is doing more than giving “lip service” to the word “team.”  Create an environment where the employees’ can be open and vulnerable so their actions will be supported by other members and only constructive criticism is given.  Team membership involves more than just a one-time activity – it must be ongoing and include everyone.

 5. Find the SPARK!  If you have senior employees, ask them would would bring them  joy in their work?  What sparked them toward the job in the first place? Chances are the senior employee has worked at the organization longer than you, the manager/supervisor. Ask them about the “old days.”

• What was the organization like? 
• What was it like to work there? 
• What did they like about the organization, the job, and the people?

6.  ASK!  Ask the employee what you can do or what can be done to help them be more engaged in their work.  Enlist the Gallup-12 Questions (How Do You Feel About Your Work?). Although trying to ascertain how the senior employee really feels about his or her work, survey all employees. Then conduct a focus group meeting with employees from different generations and ask them to give three or four recommendations on how employees (not only seniors) can become more engaged at work. Listen closely to what seniors and the other generations suggest. It is important to follow-up on the recommendations and apply what is relevant.

 7. Look at the Organization as a Whole.  Does the organization enlist the Gallup 12 Questions:  How Do You Feel About Your Work?  Do the employees feel appreciated and valued by their managers and are they contributing to the organization’s mission? Self-worth predominates employee engagement–primarily feeling appreciated and valued.

• How do employees know whether they are appreciated and valued?
• How is communication handled and what is communicated?
• How is the communication received?

Of course, there is some probability that the employee simply does not or will not fit the position or organization. In those cases, transfer to a position in which the employee fits or termination may be the logical action to take for the welfare of the employee and the organization.

Magnify Your Performance! ®

Bonnie

www.BonnieMattick.com

Remembering Those Who We’ve Lost

Memorial Day – 2010 – a time for remembering the brave ones who gave their life for our country.  Do you have memories of family members and friends who have fought defending our freedom and our country?   Also, we should be mindful of those who gave their life helping to defend our nation during the “Cold War”.   I’ve had friends and family who worked in various industries that helped our country during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

I’ve lost loved ones, family members and friends, and I’m reminded of how much I gained from having them in my life.   Share with someone in your life and tell them what they mean to you.  Name one memorable moment that you’ve shared.  You will be happier for it – and so will they!

God Bless and Make Great Memories!

Bonnie

Using Mind Maps: Move Mountains of Information

Are you collecting data to create stories, write training content, develop e-learning and you just have too much stuff?  You may choose from a variety of techniques to develop the content — two commonly-used methods are: 

1. Develop content using a mind mapping – arranging the flow of the content – I prefer to use this!
   – A free-flowing way to outline content
   – Use key words for main topic areas
   – Connect things that relate
   – Use it as a “tool” – let it work for you
2.  Arrange content on 3” x 5” note cards (sometimes referred to as a “Scan Plan”) 
   – Assemble and write key topics from process map
   – Identify key topics or central idea
   – List the materials, illustrations, examples and facts needed to support topics.

            — Follow the key purpose of the white paper you wrote in planning the project. Arrange cards in order of logical sequence for writing chapters or sections.

These are only two examples of many different ways to develop technical content.  I suggest mind-mapping because it is helpful to have visual images of the technical content you found during the analysis phase.

Mind-mapping is an effective program development tool.  It allows us to see spatially how concepts and information might relate in ways when other methods, like note taking, aren’t as effective.  If you are interested, I can share my basic template for a mind map.  You can take a few minutes to practice the technique, or brainstorm with others on how you can apply this process in your next training development.  Email me to ask for the template.

Magnify Your Performance ®

Bonnie

www.BonnieMattick.com

Making Music With Your Work

Have you considered putting your ideas to music and making an engaging program for your employees?  I worked with Dr. Mike Vandermark, www. MessageWithMusic.com, and we created my program to the tune “Takin’ Care of Business.”  Now, this was not recorded by the original band, Bachman-Turner OverDrive, but it was recorded by professionals who are licensed to do music parodies.  A parody is created when the lyrics to a song are changed – it helps to have a well-known song.  We wrote the words to fit the music, and to go along with my performance improvement program content.  It’s fun and raises the level of energy of the people listening to it; it elevates their attention.  In addition, the music increases retention.  You can create a PowerPoint slide show to go with the music, which further enhances the experience – your employees will not forget the key points you make in your staff meeting, or training program, if you involve music!  See if you agree – Click on this link and it will take you to a site that will play the DVD for you. (This is just a short sample – 32 seconds).

 http://www.emailpresenter.com/viewer/1D1739

Magnify Your Performance ® and Increase Participation!

Bonnie

Focus Team Meetings and the $64,000 Question

What can you do you to coordinate people, processes, policies and marketplace to benefit everyone involved?  One solution we recommend involves using focus team meetings among all the stakeholders. Create a brain-storming activity and ask the “$64,000 Question” as we recently did – we asked:  “What are the barriers that you face related to getting the business within your unit?”

In our example, the individuals in the focus teams brainstormed individually, then collectively shared their ideas in small groups.  We wanted to uncover the issues related to getting buy-in to the company’s cross-utilizaton of people, processes, policies and marketplace.  As a result, they built a sense of community and gained insight with the outcomes:
– They created a cause and effect diagram
– They were able to see the “big picture”
– They made a thorough examination of their processes

The results revealed evidence of the lack of timely reporting and documentation, lack of communication between stakeholder entities, lack of follow-up and follow-through and a “sense of entitlement” by some of the associates.  Other causes:
– Lack of training
– Lack of procedures
– Lack of data integrity

Make all the evidence relevant, and
Magnify Your Performance ®

Bonnie

What Do You Do With Knowledge?

For your organization to thrive, you can’t have subject matter experts hiding on their own turf.  Do you have concerns about how knowledge in one area of your company is not shared with others in the company?  Are there employees who would benefit?  If you do not have a formlized “knowledge management” program, I encourage you to have an information-sharing session, so the subject matter experts (SMEs) with content knowledge from one area work with SMEs from a completely different area, and each of them contribute to the project and learn from each other at the same time.  Two additional benefits you may want to consider:
– You may have more success if you ensure the highest level of management has buy in knowledge sharing.
– Take ownership in leading the project while getting everyone “on board”.

Draw people out of their comfort zones by reassigning them to areas of interest related to their primary expertise. By sharing their knowledge with others it makes them more valuable to the entire company.

Magnify Your Performance ®

Bonnie

Six Key Ways to Motivate Adults

Definition:  “Motivation is that within a person that incites that person to action”

It may seem like common sense, but you should consider these points when working with adult learners — it’s part of having the attitude of a learner.

1. Create and maintain self-esteem and interest.

2. Give praise and encouragement.

3. Foster wholesome participation and competition.

4. Structure experiences to apply to practical life.

5. See the value of teamwork/learning.

6. Give them a choice during activities.

Bring more productivity to the workplace when you consider other methods of motivation:  Music, Rewards, Time Set (time limit on activities, etc.)

Magnify Your Performance ®

Bonnie

Are You Using “Green” Thinking?

I use Human Performance Technology when I’m working with companies to help them be more efficient and productive.  I see ways they can reduce waste and implement the green thinking philosophy.   You can implement this in your company by looking at how to increase efficiency and improve productivity, as well as reduce waste.   Use analysis tools that are effective for helping employees understand how they perform their jobs.  One way of doing this is to use a focus group of people who perform the jobs, to get the following information:
       o Analyze the work processes with a mind map of the job area
       o List the specific activities and tasks that are performed in order to complete the job.
       o Examine details – materials, supplies, manpower necessary to do the job
       o Ask the group to brainstorm a list of actions or ideas that can be implemented to reduce wasteful practices.  (paper flow, recycling processes, ink cartridge recycling) or blockages to productivity.

Magnify Your Performance ®

Bonnie

www.BonnieMattick.com

Lessons Learned from a Big Rig Story

I recently had an article published in an online news journal – Performance XPress, by the International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI) (http://www.performancexpress.org/.)  I was pleased to see the article, although it appears at the end of the newsletter, sort of like an after-thought.  None the less, it’s there, and I was pleased to see my message get out, although it was “printed” without the title that I had writtten for it.  The article was about an experience I had in using human performance technology to design and deliver training to a group of emergency responders.  I had the participants do a practical application.  In my article I describe the train-the-trainer program and I state:
 ”I had a participant announce that he was going to teach me (the instructor) on how to do a vehicle inspection on an 18-wheel truck – an emergency response vehicle. I became the student, and learned the 12 steps critical to a walk-around inspection of an 18-wheeler!” 

I want to emphasize, I was a corporate trainer not a big rig driver, and I had to learn those steps.  Today, I had an “alert” message, or an awakening from a fellow blogger who suggested that my story didn’t go far enough in describing the steps I had to go through.  She makes a very good point in saying that my story didn’t go far enough to tell what the man took me through, or how difficuilt it was to learn these things. I don’t know that I can remember all the steps, but I do remember the feeling of crawling under the 18-wheeler, and the enormous size of the engine, the tires, and other parts on the tractor/truck.  I was out of my comfort zone and knew that I had the expert there with me to guide me through the process. 

The big rig driver was out of his comfort zone as he was training me, and I failed to recognize that at the time. What strategies and techniques do you use when you are “out of your comfort zone” and having to explain a process to someone else?  What can you learn when you are doing this?  I learned that the “expert” is the one who should be doing the training as he has years of experience with the vehicle and knows the intricacies of how it operates.  He knows when there is a strange noise coming from under the hood of the truck, he is able to immediately identify the source.  He trained me with an understanding that I knew nothing about the vehicle he was describing, and he taught it to me in such a way that I was able to understand the importance of doing the vehicle inspection before going out on the road with it.  He thought about the details and the important points he wanted me to know. Will you be ready to “go on the road” when you have to teach someone about your job? 

Magnify Your Performance ®
Bonnie
www.BonnieMattick.com