July 2010

This Month's Features

+	Leadership Book Series
+	FMI's 360 Feedback
Leadership Videos Online
+	Introduction to the Leadership Institute
+	An In-depth Look at the Leadership Institute
+	Leadership Institute Testimonials

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FMI's Executive Coaching

Just as the best athletes have coaches, strong leaders often have coaches as well. In tough times, the need for coaching is even greater. Our FMI coaches bring more than 100 years of combined coaching experience, coupled with specialized industry knowledge, that can help you through these turbulent times.

Click here to learn more about FMI's Executive Coaching.

What FMI Executive Coaching clients are saying:

• "When you have the ability to make change and improvement to someone who affects your business, affects the growth of team members and affects your image – can you afford not to complete something like this? My answer is no!"

• "I already have made a greater contribution to this company as a result of coaching – both from a performance and a supervisory standpoint. In working with my group of a dozen people, they have their subordinates as well; I think it’s important how the impact transcends my group."

The "Practical Tools for Exceptional Leaders" booklet series is designed to help you learn and apply best-of-class leadership principles in your life and within your organization.
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A Letter From Ron Magnus, Managing Director

Each July brings the famous cycling event known as the Tour de France, a race that covers approximately 2,200 miles throughout France and bordering countries. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. Tour participants are some of the most intensely trained and best-conditioned athletes in the world. The winner of the Tour de France displays exceptional performance in different weather conditions and through varying terrain and shows consistency over the course of the entire race. To perform at the level of a Tour rider, cyclists follow a rigorous program of conditioning, diet and strength training, some spending as many as 100 days a year racing. No matter how intense the training, these athletes know that there is no substitute for actual competition.

Business leaders, just like Tour riders, are asked to perform at a consistently high level over extended periods through a wide range of conditions. However, most leaders are not nearly as intentional and purposeful about managing their performance as they could be. In our experience, most leaders "learn on the fly" and spend little time tracking and refining their development. The emergence of individual performance management linked to organizational strategy and direction can be a significant strategic differentiator in the marketplace.

This issue of the E-newsletter examines the role of performance management in driving exceptional results.

Ron Magnus

Accelerate New Employee Performance

Jeff Lukowski

There is no better way to ramp up a new employee than to have a top-notch recruiting program, a solid onboarding process and a plan for accelerated growth.

Professional racecar drivers push their cars to the limit. Shaving literally a tenth of a second off their lap speed helps them accelerate through the track and overtake their competition. A program that enables new talent to move into the front seat and drive at the limit within their first 12 months is beneficial to firms seeking to improve productivity.

By following a structured recruiting process, many firms successfully employ training and orientation programs for new employees. These programs typically include elements such as formal education or rotational assignments, and help employees become familiar with their new surroundings and the firm’s policies. However, while many programs are well organized and information-packed, employees are then left to navigate the firm on their own.

Read on to learn how to step up new employee performance and increase their levels of commitment and performance.

Driving Performance Through Effective Performance-Management Plans

Vance Boyles & Meghan Dorsey

In today’s work environment, where layoffs or restructurings have become commonplace, it is more important than ever that firms find ways to increase communication with employees. One way to do this is through an effective performance-management process. Performance management is about clearly communicating job functions and performance expectations to employees and providing frequent feedback regarding their performance. Many contractors have employees spread out in multiple geographic locations, making regular and formal communications even more important.

An annual appraisal form does not constitute a performance-management process. In many instances, the form is a stand-alone document with no other purpose than to provide a rating. Many managers do not receive training about how to coach employees, deliver feedback, etc. Often, managers see annual appraisals as an interruption of their work, a necessary evil. In an environment where managers and employees alike question the value of the form, it is not unusual to see a high volume of late appraisals. Unfortunately, late appraisals signal to employees a lopsided working relationship with their managers; employees have to complete work on time, but managers do not care enough about employees to deliver reviews on time.

Read on to learn how effective performance-management processes can increase morale, increase performance across the organization, and improve retention and recruiting rates.