The Ones That Got Away!
I spent my last years in corporate America learning, designing, understanding, coordinating programs to increase sales and profits with the use of rewards, recognition and incentives. Often times in a bad economy these are the 1st programs to go. Remember the AIG retreat that most Americans complained about, because of their stimulus package take. Well, AIG knew that even in the wake of bad times they had to continue to recognize and incent their work force to achieve greater results or they might lose them to better work environments. I will use this page to provide you with valuable information in building/training your leadership team to be better and thus creating a better more profitable business. Use the contact me form if you want a more personalized training for your teams.
We call it The Ones That Got Away, because the ideas are so simple and what we started with when we began the company, but they have since gotten away from us. Here is the first one.
Hello and good morning
Our first one is so simple you would not believe it. It falls in line with a good corporate culture. Supervisors, managers, Vice-presidents, Presidents and C suite members should be required to learn the names of all the employees of their work site and greet them as they pass them in the hallway. The sheer humanity of speaking to another human being goes a long way. It makes your employees visible and they intern pas on this humanity to your customers for a better experience.
What's going on
Our associates wear their feelings on the outside when they come into work. Some of them just can't hide it. Why would anyone ignore a sad face or even a happy smile? How about asking them to tell you "what's happening" to build rapport. You can also use this information to develop incentives for your team. If you know where the smiling face came from why not try and reproduce it.
Great Work
Those two simple words for some of the smallest output could increase your sales exponentially. I mean you are right there listening every day. How many seconds does it take to say "Great Work", or "Good Job" closing that deal or handling an escalation. Yes you have to be specific. Sometimes we get so involved with the busy-ness of supervising people we never acknowledge the business of the people. So, drink a spot of tea and take a moment to say something specific and nice to someone today.
Share something new
This one is the biggest for the immediate supervisor. One of the areas of discontent in the boss/employee relationship is when the employee thinks the boss does not know anything or can't relate to the stress of the job. A good supervisor is constantly finding ways to make the report to's job easier. I don't mean adding an extra step or changing the process. I mean for what the employee is currently doing right now-helping them reduce a step or add an add on to a sale easier. Present it with lots of excitement.
More to come...