Tip #454 - What is Employee Engagement?

    

Employee engagement does not simply mean "happy employees." Even if a worker is happy, it does not mean that he or she has an overabundant sense of loyalty resulting in higher productivity. While it can help to host parties and thank employees regularly, that does not mean employees are engaged.

Additionally, a "satisfied" employee is not necessarily engaged in their work. Those who describe themselves as satisfied are not likely to put in the extra effort.

Employee Engagement: It's More Than Happiness Or Security In A Job.

Click here to read Forbes' article on employee engagement: It's Time To Rethink Employee Engagement.

Employee engagement is more than happiness or security in a job. It is the indication that an employee is actively and emotionally committed to the progress of your business and its goals.

Employee Engagement Encourages Effort.

Because engaged employees understand their impact on the overall organization, they actually care about the quality of their work and effort. This means that the salaried employee will work more hours than required to make sure the job is done right. Engaged employees do more than what is specifically required.

Examples include:

• Someone who takes out the trash before their shift ends.
• Someone who triple-checks their work.
• Someone who rearranges clothing racks before closing the store.

How Is Employee Engagement Profitable?

  The results are factual: According to Dale Carnegie Training's employee engagement survey, top companies whose employees are engaged boast 6% higher net profit margins.

Click here to download a FREE copy of our employee engagement white paper.

It works like this:

• Engaged employees provide better products and services to customers, which leads to a higher rate of customer satisfaction. And satisfied customers say good things about your company and buy from you again, again and again. This leads to increased sales and more profits. Greater profits results in greater shareholder returns.

Executive Summary: Employee engagement is marked specifically by an employee's emotional commitment to his or her job. Engaged employees produce higher quality work and put in discretionary effort that translates into higher productivity and greater profits.

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Tip #453: How to Win a Sale When Dealing With a Decision Maker

    

As you go through the sales process, you will find that there are often multiple decision makers who analyze the information you or your salespeople provide to them. You and your sales team need to be aware of the verbal cues and body language of each decision maker - this indicates the decision maker's progress in making the buying decision.

How To Win A Sale When Dealing With A Decision Maker.

Have you ever observed a gifted salesperson in action? If so, then you know that effective salespeople know when to move a sale forward with a decision maker. While this is natural to some salespeople, it is also a learned art.

It's All About Buying Signals Based On Asking The Right Questions.

A buying signal is a key element of any sale. Buying signals indicate that it is permissible to move the sales process forward. Buying signals also demonstrate a level of trust between the salesperson and the decision maker, who now sees the salesperson as a trusted advisor with recommendations.

Good salespeople know how to:

1. Ask Key Business Questions, NOT 'Are You Ready To Buy' Questions: 

Asking a prospect a series of open-ended questions can provide you with a number of important answers. From identifying their needs to getting a prospect to talk about how they go about making a buying decision.  The key is asking good questions. 

2. Identify Buying Signals.

Buying signals can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal buying signals include questions about specific products or the level of customization you offer. Examples of nonverbal indications include thoughtful perusal of your collateral material or leaning forward in the chair.

3. Interpret Buying Signals.

An expert salesperson can not only recognize buying signals, but understands how to interpret them. Buying signals demonstrate the decision maker's specific needs at this time. It is up to the salesperson to expertly guide the customer to make the best buying decision without overwhelming him or her. This requires a great deal of focus from the salesperson.

4. React To Buying Signals.

By the time a decision maker is done seriously evaluating a product, an effective salesperson will have specific recommendations. A good salesperson will know whether to explore another avenue or suggest add-ons as well. Additionally, efficient salespeople head back to the office with proposal notes and follow up with a proposal as soon as possible.

Executive Summary: Although this e-tip is specific to salespeople, what we have listed above can improve anyone's communication skills. The best way to truly motivate a decision maker is to focus on providing a solution to their problem - a solution that saves them time and/or money. Understanding buying signals will help you know when it's time to ask for a final commitment. 

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Tip #452: How Much Will a Disengaged Employee Cost Your Business?

    

Whether you are looking at a sports team, business or political campaign, supporters who are not actively engaged by the charisma and content of their leader can quickly become dissatisfied dissenters who will abandon the current effort.

In the business world, losing a dissatisfied employee is more than an inconvenience. It will cost your business time and money and create a lot of aggravation. By the way, United States businesses lose $11 billion annually as a result of employee turnover according to the Bureau of National Affairs.  

5 Ways A Disengaged Employee Will Cost Your Business Money.

The primary difference between an engaged and disengaged employee is the following: The engaged employee believes that he or she can truly affect and positively change the growth of an organization. An employee lacking engagement feels insignificant, and this attitude negatively affects your business in several ways:

Click here to down our free white paper on employee engagement:Engaging Employees: What Drives Employee Engagement and Why It Matters.

1. Impact On Co-Workers: Negativity is contagious, and your disengaged employee has the potential to "infect" his or her coworkers. This has an overall negative impact on team morale and productivity.

2. Their Performance While On Company Time: As you know, time is valuable. The disengaged employee makes poor use of his or her time, costing the company money.  Often times you will find a disengaged person on their cell phone and/or surfing the Internet. 

3. Poor Customer Service: Your employees should be cheerleaders for your business and seek to make the same out of customers. However, a disengaged employee has no enthusiasm to pass on to customers.

4. Less Than Stellar Productivity: A disengaged employee is not motivated to meet goals or go the extra mile when it comes to getting work done. Additionally, an employee without sympathy may dodge phone calls, e-mails and other responsibilities.

5. Lack Of Quality In Their Work: A disengaged employee has little motivation to produce quality results. He or she may struggle with deadlines and will not seek out responsibilities or leadership roles. By contrast, an engaged workforce wants to do what is best for the company. They are generally more creative and innovative and feel loyal and emotionally connected to their work environment.

Executive Summary: The cost of a single disengaged employee may seem insignificant, but most organizations contain multiple examples of this attitude and behavior. Entire departments may feel apathetic, leading to a major productivity issue for the entire company. 

Additionally, our research has revealed that although there are many factors that affect employee engagement, it really only comes down to three key items:

1.     Relationship with someone's immediate supervisor.
2.     Senior leadership's ability to lead the company and communicate its goals.
3.     Organizational pride - vision of organization and corporate social responsibility.

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Tip #451: 9 Great Customer Service Traits to Develop in Your Team Members

    
Having the right corporate culture within your customer service department is essential to the success of your business. Your customer service representatives (CSRs) are the face of your company - they need to be enthusiastic about the product and service you are selling as well as patient and professional. With an engaged customer service team, you will experience increased growth and customer loyalty.

One Bad Experience Can Cost You A Sale. 

When it comes to customer service, it only takes one bad experience to lose a client for life. In this e-tip, we will look at 9 elements to consider developing in your staff - skills that can project a positive image for your company.

9 Customer Service Skills.

Customer service reps who succeed demonstrate the following set of skills - skills that you should train your team on:

1. Positive Attitude When Someone Calls - A cheery outlook is a requirement for any CSR. CSRs who demonstrate a positive attitude are often described as friendly, helpful and likeable.

2. Remain Objective - The best CSR can see issues from all angles, understanding how a problem can affect the organization as well as the customer. They present an objective outlook to the customer.

3. Are Sympathetic To A Customer - A good CSR is always a cheerleader for your organization, but remains sympathetic to the customer. This perspective generates long-term customer loyalty and provides the CSR with a unique opportunity to suggest process improvements.

4. Have The Ability To Manage Stress - Even on a good day, most CSRs will handle serious complaints from customers. They understand the difference between overwhelming stress and the balanced stress of a heavy workload. Effective CSRs keep control of their emotions under duress.

5. Strong Interpersonal Skills - To get things done, a good CSR understands how to create and maintain business relationships in and out of the company. This enables them to get things done quickly and effectively without consuming resources or starting drama.

6. Strong Communication Skills - The bulk of a CSR's job involves interacting with customers. CSRs must be able to separate facts from emotion. They are able to communicate effectively in both spoken and written conversation. Additionally, an effective CSR can summarize a customer interaction to you.

7. Has The Ability To Influence Someone - A persuasive CSR can guide the customer towards the desired conclusion. Additionally, they motivate others to achieve the corporate culture you wish to foster in your organization.

8. Remains Flexible - A useful CSR is adaptable and will try different approaches within set rules or guidelines. Additionally, a flexible CSR is receptive to new ideas and procedure changes.

9. Uses Clear, Simple Language - An effective CSR can simplify information when talking to a customer, helping to minimize the customer's frustration. A good CSR understands that there is not usually a need for a customer to understand your company's internal process or the acronyms you use to identify things within your organization.

Executive Summary: Customer service is not simply a department - there is also an attitude that goes along with it. Whenever a customer interacts with your customer service team, it represents the potential to retain a customer, garner customer loyalty and sell additional products and services to them. CSRs demonstrating the key traits listed above will be assets to your organization.

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Tip #450: Why Should you Care About Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is profitable for both your company's bottom line and the overall work environment. By improving profits and making your workplace more attractive to employees, you can gain a serious advantage over your competition.

Employee Engagement Is Profitable.

Fact: Employee engagement really pays off - a company with engaged employees saw a 19% increase in operating income. By contrast, those without employee engagement saw a decrease of 33% in the same area of income.

Click here to download Dale Carnegie Training's Study On Employee Engagement.

Engaged Employees Are More Productive.

Did you know that an engaged employee is about 25% more productive than one who is not? Additionally, employees who feel valued and connected to their employers are at lower risk for leaving their company.  Specifically:

• 26% of Engaged Employees would leave their current job for just a 5% pay increase.
• 46% of Partially Engaged Employees would leave their current job for just a 5% pay increase.
• 69% of Disengaged Employees would leave their current job for just a 5% pay increase.

Companies who actively recruit with the mentality of employee engagement generally attract the top talents in their fields and produce a higher profit for shareholders. 

Employee Engagement Breeds Loyalty.

Engaged employees also perform well on performance reviews and tend to call out of work less often. When change happens in the workplace, your engaged employees are the most consistently supportive, trusting that the change is beneficial for the organization and taking an active role in implementing it.

How To Begin The Process Of Employee Engagement.

After learning that employee engagement can result in a lower turnover, more productivity and higher profits, are you ready to begin an employee engagement program? Here are two simple ways to begin:

1. Just Thank Your Employees - Are your employees meeting your expectations? If so, say "thank you." Especially in a difficult economy, employees put in extra time and effort to maintain productivity. As the economy turns around, you will lose these dedicated employees if you do not provide recognition for their extra efforts. Engaging such employees starts with a simple "thank you."
2. Provide Recognition Consistently - After you have created incentive and space to motivate an employee to perform, provide a way for direct managers and coworkers to recognize effort that goes above and beyond what is required. This not only lets the recognized employee know that he or she is doing a good job; it shows others that positive contributions are rewarded.

Executive Summary: Employees who feel motivated towards company success must also feel valued. The process of employee engagement begins with thanking an employee for his or her hard work and understanding how such behavior directly correlates to the success of your company. Remember, disengaged employees can have a huge financial impact - from high employee turnover to your business' productivity and level of innovation.

For more information, visit our website!

Tip #449: 4 Tips for Improving Your Decision Making Process

    
Efficient AND effective decision making differentiates industry leaders from the status quo. Not only that, good decision-making skills are critical for any leader. Without them, your employees will waste their time; therefore, their productivity will drop.

Proactive decision making skills affect all aspects of your business.

In business, as in life, you need to have a decision even if you have a limited amount of information.  So how can you make better decisions?   To help you and your staff, we have listed below a number of proven tips. 
  Improve Your Decision Making Skills With These Four Tips.

Tip #1: Find The Facts - Before you can make a good business decision, you need to gather as much information as possible - the key is to remain objective.  Additionally, fact-finding will help you analyze a problem and uncover any underlying issues as well as possible short and long term solutions. Determine and execute the most efficient way to collect and analyze any data that can help you.

Tip #2: Brainstorm Solutions As A Group (And Establish A Defined Deadline) - As you review the pros and cons of each of your options, make sure you do it as a group - with a deadline. This will allow you to stay focused and maintain efficiency. Consolidate your information onto a chart/spreadsheet. It also helps to have at least one associate assisting with your analysis. While the decision is ultimately yours, others can provide insight and/or pros and cons that you may not have noticed.

Tip #3: Evaluate Results - Once you have decided upon a decision and implementation schedule, you need to analyze how you have done. Do not be afraid to make adjustments or take notes for future decisions.

Tip #4: Remain Consistent - As you tackle the decision making process, keep in mind your consistency with the following:
 

• Remain objective in your analysis.
• Manage your stress and stress of others.
• Stay focused on what the options are - both short and long term. 

  
Executive Summary: While there are a myriad of ways to decision making processes, you cannot overlook this one key element: Work on problem solving as a group.  Although the ultimate decision will be yours, an organization cannot move forward or remain innovative without decisive decision makers.  By taking action and carefully streamlining your decision making process, you will improve the organization by just making a decision.  

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Tip #448: 5 Ways to Develop an Employee into a Mentor

   

Your highest performing and most talented employees are obvious assets to your team and organization; however, they tend to get the least amount of attention from management because they need the least amount of help.

Turning your efforts towards your top performers can actually improve your overall team - especially if you can develop them into mentors for others.  

Your Highest Performing Workers Might Be Great Mentors To Others.

Effective leaders understand how to build relationships in and out of an organization, but convincing them to spend their time coaching or mentoring others may require an incentive and persistence on your part.

5 Skills Should You Look For When Considering An Employee As A Mentor: 

1. Look For Someone Who Exhibits Results-Oriented Behavior:The key is finding someone who looks at finishing a project and then moves on to other projects - one that closes any and all open issues. 

2. Look For Someone Who Manages A Project Well: With so many projects being worked on at once, look for someone who can manage large task even though they are being pulled in different directions.  Remember, good project management skills can be contagious.

3. Look For Someone Who Is Proactive: Many good leaders are already proactive. And with a bit of tweaking, a leader can apply this thinking to mentoring.  Additionally, someone who is proactive is never satisfied with the status quo. 

4. Look For Someone Who Exhibits Leadership Skills: In addition to a go-getter mentality, a mentor must have solid leadership skills. As all good leaders know, you need to be goal-oriented, aligned with the organization's vision and make good decisions that add to the overall value to the company.    

5. Look For Someone Who Focuses On Overall Value: Mentors not only enlist the help of others, but they also assist others to contribute maximum value to the organization. Plus, skilled mentors who know value are great resources to use when developing joint ventures in and outside the organization. 

Executive Summary: If you organization has a mentoring program, mull over this vital point: Build upon your organization's core vision and value - but remain a pioneer in your thinking.  Another point:  Select the employees who are engaged, innovative thinkers and are highly productive.

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Tip #447: 5 Tips for Remembering Someone's Name

   
Forgetting someone's name can lead to a huge embarrassment when you are in a professional situation.  And if you do this, the other person may wonder if they are really more than just a number or part of your profit margin.

To prevent you from having an awkward situation with an employee, customer or vendor, you should make an effort to consistently remember names.

5 Ways To Remember Someone's Name:

Tip #1: Listen And Repeat - When you meet someone, they often respond quickly by providing their name in turn. Even if the conversation is truly engrossing, it is possible that you will forget your new associate's name within the next few minutes. To avoid this, listen carefully for the other person's name and repeat it. "It's nice to meet you, ____. My name is ___."

Tip #2: Association Equals Retention - If you can associate someone's name with a person, place or feeling, you will be more likely to remember that name. You could associate new acquaintances with the place you met or the person who introduced you. Do they share a first name with a celebrity? A rhyme could also help, such as "Hank who works at the bank."

Tip #3: Write Their Name Down - Writing is another means of repeating information, and that will help you remember a person's name. If you receive a business card after talking to someone, jot down a few notes on the back describing what you discussed or who introduced you. This will help you associate a person's name with their industry.

Tip #4: Make A New Introduction - An easy and polite way to remember someone's name is to introduce that new person to somebody you already know. Facilitating another introduction will also help the other person remember your name and associate you with helpfulness.

Tip #5: Make An Effort - A lot of people think of themselves as being "bad with names." Do not think of yourself that way ­- after all, you are already on the road to improving your abilities. If you really want to improve your skills, make an effort to remembering someone's name by practicing the techniques listed above over the next several days - even when you are in a social situation. 

Executive Summary: Name retention is not an easy skill for everyone, but with simple etiquette and memory skills, you can improve at recalling names. This will serve to improve your business relationships as everyone likes to be remembered.

For more information, visit our website!

Tip #446: 5 Easy Tips to Resolving a Customer's Complaint

   

Can you recall a time when you had an issue with a business that didn't handle it appropriately?  Of course you can. 

And as you recall that experience, think about how you felt.  Now look at your own company.  Can you walk through the process of how the top 10 customer's complaints are handled? 

A Customer Complaint Is An Opportunity.

A dissatisfied customer presents you with the opportunity to change the customer's mind based on the way you handle the complaint. This is especially essential in the age of social media, when a customer will publicly post about a positive or negative interaction on websites such as Facebook and Twitter. If other prospective consumers can observe the way you professionally handle issues, they will be more likely to patronize your business as well.

Depending on how many family members, friends and coworkers a customer is connected to on Facebook, a positive or negative remark or interaction with your company could be seen by thousands.

How To Resolve A Customer's Complaint In 5 Easy Steps.

As a business leader, there is a good chance that you want to handle a customer's complaint quickly, logically and effectively.

Step #1: Listen To The Customer - Understand that the customer will want to describe their negative feelings and express the frustration and inconvenience that they feel as a result of their disappointment in your product or service.  Your job is to listen to the customer and consider ways you could improve their experience this time and in the future.

Step #2: Repeat The Concern - As with all business interactions, effective communication is essential when handling a customer complaint. To ensure that you understand the customer's issue, repeat the concern and ask the customer to confirm that you understand them.

Step #3: Express Empathy - While the customer expresses a complaint to you to in hopes of finding a direct solution, they also want validation and understanding. As you listen and respond to the complaint, retain a sense of empathy for the consumer's negative experience.

Step #4: Provide A Possible Solution - Once you are sure that you understand a customer's issue, provide a possible solution that will make the customer feel better about the interaction. This could include a complimentary future service or a refund - both of which should pay off in the long run as you retain a loyal customer. Additionally, you might want to ask a customer what they would like for a possible solution. 

Step #5: Personalize The Experience - Instead of simply sending a form letter and a gift card to a customer who has complained, personalize it. Once again, reiterate the initial concern and use the customer's name. Most of all, do not forget to actually apologize for the negative experience and let the customer know what steps you have taken to ensure that it will not happen again.

Executive Summary: While complaints have the potential to create difficulty for your company, it is always in your advantage to handle them directly and to make sure each complaining customer feels understood. Once you are done handling a complaint, make sure to examine the underlying cause of it - this will prevent the same mistake from happening in the future.

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Tip #445: 7 Traits of a Team Player

   

The ability to work effectively in a team is essential to your professional growth. And if this is a concern for you, what type of primary traits should you develop in yourself and/or your employees?

Team Players Get Invited For Special, High Profile Projects.

If others see you as a team player, there is a good chance that you will be invited onto more projects.  Should this happen, you will get tagged as the "go-to person" and meet key decision-makers within your organization.

7 Team Player Traits.

Team members work best together when they mesh well - that is, when they respect each other and enjoy each other's company. While not everyone on your team will be friends, respect is mandatory for successful teamwork. Effective team players tend to exhibit the following traits:

1. Takes Accountability: Team players accept an appropriate amount of personal responsibility. They will follow through with whatever tasks they accept.

2. Has A Great Attitude Toward Challenges: A friendly, positive attitude is required to work well with others. Team players recognize that they must share responsibility and that they cannot control every aspect of a project.

3. Has Strong Communication And Interpersonal Skills:Teamwork requires clear, effective communication. Team players communicate well with those on and off the team. They also know how to build the right working relationships, providing the maximum number of resources for their team.

4. Is Often Times Competitive By Nature: While competitive behavior can prove detrimental to a team, it can also drive the team forward. Team players who demonstrate a competitive spirit can push the group forward towards success. 

5.  Aware Of The Bigger Picture: Team players understand that the actions of themselves and their team members impact the organization as a whole - and they see just how.

6. Is The Consummate Diplomat And Professional: Team players conduct themselves with a professional attitude, respecting other team members. They do not allow minor conflicts or small roadblocks to get in the way of their ability to work on a team.

7. Is Team-Oriented: Processes and procedures work differently in a team environment than they do for an individual. An effective team member will consider what works best for a team when laying out a path to success.

Executive Summary: It takes a great deal of patience to be the ideal team player, but a team player attitude is an incredible valuable asset in the workplace. Team players are respectful, accountable and forward-thinking. By embodying these traits, you can positively affect your team and stand out as a leader.

For more information, visit our website!

Tip #444: 8 Tips for Employee Engagement

   

As simple as this sounds, actively engaged employees exhibit certain tendencies - tendencies that will make any business much more productive. 

According to a Towers Perrin study of 90,000 employees in 18 countries conducted in 2007-2008, "companies with the most engaged employees had:

• A 19% increase in operating income during the previous year;
• While those with the lowest levels had a 32% decline."

Overall, employees are happy when they enjoy their work and they see their part in the organization's progress. What can you do to actively engage your employees?

8 Tips For Proactive Employee Engagement.

Tip #1: Create Activities Outside Of The Office - Employees enjoy socializing outside of the workplace. Once per season, create an activity outside of the office, such as a scavenger hunt, bowling outing or picnic.

Tip #2: Eat Lunch With Your Personnel - While understanding each person's job function is important, you should also be aware of your employees' feelings about processes and procedures. Host an informal lunch on a Friday afternoon to encourage general chat and to assess your level of employee engagement.

Tip #3: Encourage Experimentation - Innovation and productivity happens when employees are encouraged to have some time and space to come up with new ideas. Create a workspace that encourages brainstorming.

Tip #4: Establish Weekly One-On-One Meetings - A short, 5 to 15 minute weekly status meeting can really help you connect with each employee and monitor progress. These meetings also give your employees a chance to discuss any concerns.

Tip #5: Interact With Your Employees - Walk around and talk to your employees every now and then. Check in and observe their progress. This also keeps you involved in each aspect of the operation of your business.

Tip #6: Provide A Sense Of Completion - Most employees crave change, especially if their job duties are repetitive. Once a project or major task is complete, encourage the sense of completion that comes along with it. Allowing this to happen will increase employee retention and the general feeling of accomplishment in your corporate culture.

 Tip #7: Reward Positive Behavior - Always praise positive behavior and reward success with your employee engagement goal in mind. Provide incentives for helpful ideas that can increase sales or productivity.

Tip #8: Survey Your Employees - Employee engagement is measurable. You can judge your level of employee engagement and obtain metrics by creating and distributing a simple employee engagement survey. Be sure to include some extra space for additional comments or ideas. To measure your success, distribute this survey quarterly or semi-annually. You also might want to provide a gift certificate to the best suggestion to improve the company.   

Executive Summary: Employee engagement involves an investment of time (and very little money). Once you do invest more time with your employees, it will result in new ideas, higher productivity, lower turnover and a better work environment for everyone; therefore, investing in meeting your employees' intrinsic and extrinsic needs will provide you a huge competitive advantage in today's competitive economy.

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