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Handwritten Thank You Notes Are #1
April 9, 2015 | Communication, Employee Recognition, Leadership
Photo by Rick Payette on Flickr Remember the days when we were excited to go to the mailbox with the prospect of receiving a letter, note, or card from someone? I have to admit that there are some people with whom I would have never stayed in touch if it hadn't been for e-mail and social networking. I have never been known for my written correspondence. Nonetheless, I believe it is still an important means of communication. In the year of 2015, I personally hope to increase the amount of written correspondence that leaves my desk. In my experience, people still…
Non-Profits also Need the “Human Element”
April 6, 2015 | Leadership
As previously stated, at the core of an organization's human element, we see the need to find passion and purpose in our work. If leaders are not able to help employees find this to some degree, it is difficult to implement other tools to build employee engagement and trust in an organization. By nature, non-profit organizations should have this human element by default as the mission of the organization is likely to help its community in some way. For example, the YMCA's mission on an national level is to make others more healthy in mind, body, and spirit. The mission of a non-profit on…
Addressing Turnover Also Means Addressing Surprise Departures
April 3, 2015 | Communication, Employee Recognition, Leadership, Trust
We've all known that turnover costs companies money, and high turnover costs companies lots of money. The costs depends on the industry and company's cost structure. We do know that turnover costs are derived from the cost of recruiting, training, and the cost of integrating employees into the organization. There are also soft costs that can be a little more tricky to quantify like the cost of grief of having a vacated position or the oppurtunity cost of losing out on other opportunities because of the lack of manpower. That is why it is so important to address turnover as it costs…
We Ignore What Is Important Because Our Focus is on the Urgent
March 20, 2015 | Leadership, Time Management
We've all had a day like this. We have aspirations of working on that marketing plan, making some contacts with customers, coaching an employee, or writing the weekly blog....... However, some how the whole day was taken away from us. Fires needed to be put out. An open office door policy lent itself to a lot of foot traffic. Our email Inbox needed to be taken to "0". Another department pulled us into a long meeting. These days happen. However, we should assess which of these "urgent" activities are actually important versus unimportant. We find that 90% of managers squander their…
How To Effectively Utilize an Organization’s Suggestion Box
March 18, 2015 | Communication, Leadership
I was recently at a meeting where someone came up with the "suggestion" to have a suggestion box. The meeting was with a non-profit organization where I volunteer some time helping with their strategic planning. A suggestion box can be a good tool to collect feedback from its employees or members if it is implemented and used properly. However, receiving the feedback is not the most important piece of this exercise. The most important is responding or acting on the feedback received. One way that any organization can help make its employees or members become apathetic is to solicit feedback but not address it.…
VA’s Quality of Care Not The Problem, It’s People
March 13, 2015 | Communication, Leadership, Teamwork
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been under extreme pressure as of late. We have seen a resignation from their top official, intense heat put on the new Secretary Robert McDonald, strong language from Congress in some cases to scrap the whole system, and outcry from Veteran Service Organizations such as the VFW and American Legion I would agree that the VA has opportunities for improvement, however, I do not see quality of care as the root of the issues in the media. I see "people" as the root of the issues, more specifically investment into the VA's people. Some…
The Human Element – What Does that Mean?
March 5, 2015 | Communication, Leadership
Throughout BetterYourCompany.com, we find the term the “human element”. The “human element” at its foundation is about adding passion and purpose to your job, career, vocation, business, school, or place of worship. A phone menu system designed to improve customer service, a statement reporting a company’s financial health, and a business development plan only have a purpose if someone has defined it and all three items do not possess passion by themselves. No object or idea possesses passion without people. Some people do not struggle finding purpose or passion in their work. I was fortunate enough to help found a company that provided Primary Care treatment to…
The Dream is Now A Reality – Thanks to Patience and Preparation
February 27, 2015 | Leadership
Well, this is a dream come true! My dream of starting my own consulting practice started with a couple of books, an extended vacation and a dream. I had been working in a couple start-ups in the summer of 2011. One had been in existence since 2004 and was doing quite well. We had doubled our revenue between the years of 2009 and 2010 and were on the cusp of submitting a substantial proposal to the Department of Veterans Affairs that would instantly double our size if we were awarded the contract. Despite the success and momentum of both startups,…
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