News from Leadership Insight

It's a tough job being a manager these days. Managers are under increasing pressure to produce more with fewer resources. They're accountable for holding their teams to a high level of performance while balancing personal accountability for delivering results. They operate in workplace cultures characterized by ambiguity, constant change, often diverse values and competing expectations.

Yet, when speaking with managers many are energized by these challenges. When asked what inspires or motivates them to carry on, many make reference to their staff. These managers get a charge out of coaching and mentoring junior people and seeing them succeed. What do you suppose these managers do particularly well? They know how to engage their people and build strong, trusting relationships. Click here to read the Top 5 Coaching Tips for Building Effective Relationships with your staff. It's not rocket science but we're all about making things simpler for you so at the end of the day, you too can walk out of your office feeling energized!

Enjoy this issue of talent talk.

Rebecca Heaslip

President

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The Interview Process is a Two-Way Street

While marketing your company during a recession is just as important as doing so during good economic times, so is taking the correct approach to the interview process. Fall

At no time is the interview process a one-way street. In other words, at no time should a candidate's time be considered less valuable than yours, especially if the candidates you seek are the best in the industry. Remember, the candidate is interviewing the company at the same time that company officials are interviewing the candidate.

Making a connection

A common mistake in a down economy is to assume that there's urgency on the part of the candidate, that they'll be grateful for whatever time you can give them. That might be true of those candidates who are unemployed. However, the true superstars-the candidates you're really seeking-are more than likely gainfully employed at the moment, no doubt because of the very skills that you covet.

Remember that in times such as these, candidates (including superstars) assume a "hunker down" mentality. That is, they become more adverse to risk, and this mentality most certainly applies to their employment situation and their career. That's why attention to the interview process is crucial to securing the talent of the very best employees.

When you interview a superstar candidate, you should strive to do more than just accurately assess their skill set and their potential for fitting into the company culture. You should also strive to make a connection with the candidate and build a sort of camaraderie or rapport with them. The reason? The candidate needs a very good reason to make the jump to a new company.

Giving them a good reason

As mentioned above, all candidates - including superstars - are avoiding risk at the moment. There's a mental block that exists, no matter how good the opportunity is or might seem to them. Candidates are looking for reasons not to make a move. That's why it's critical for companies seeking to stock their teams with the best talent available to give that talent a good reason for doing so.

Analyze your interview process. Are you marketing yourself to each person interviewed? Are you giving tours of your facility to those candidates who stand out from the rest? What reasons are you giving to superstar candidates to convince them to take advantage of your opportunity?

Your answers to these questions might just be the deciding factor in how prepared you are to take advantage of the good times that ultimately lie beyond today's challenging economic environment.

If you have any questions about this article, or about how we can help you with your current performance, leadership, and/or hiring needs, send an email to info@leadership-insight.com.

Providing Opportunities for Employee Engagement

Employees who have a passion for what they do are Fall practically self-engaging. In other words, they seek out reasons to stay engaged in their job and with the company. But what about those employees who aren't quite as passionate, for whatever reason? The fact of the matter is that you can lead them down the road to engagement just by providing opportunities for them to do so.

Many times, employees don't need a reason to become engaged. What they really need is the chance to become engaged. Below are five ways in which you can provide opportunities to do just that.

� Recognize the accomplishments of employees and celebrate them - Both parts of this initiative are important. By both recognizing and celebrating, you not only increase engagement and retention, you also build a greater sense of camaraderie among the members of your team.

� Celebrate traditions within the organization - This is another way in which to increase both engagement and camaraderie. This could be an annual awards dinner, or it might be something as simple as a summer picnic or Christmas party.

� Initiate a mentoring program - Once again, you're accomplishing two goals at the same time. With this initiative, you're facilitating a knowledge transfer between employees, in addition to bolstering engagement and retention.

� Create a cross-training program - Most employees want to sharpen their skill set and increase their abilities. They also want to know that they have room for advancement within the company. This will accomplish both objectives.

� Involve employees in decisions (whenever possible) - Of course, this might not be feasible in all situations. However, by involving them in the decision-making process, they'll feel more a part of the company.

Evaluate your company and the culture that it offers. Are you providing opportunities like the ones listed above? Are there areas in which you should improve or make a more concerted effort? By simply providing opportunities for your employees to become engaged, you might be surprised by how readily and easily they do so-with no further prompting from you.

Please contact us at info@leadership-insight.com if you have any questions about this article, or about how we can help you with your current performance, leadership, and/or hiring needs.

Business Process Improvement for Better Results

Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a structure which Fall allows companies to know the process to getting better and more efficient results to make money. This is a business dream to always know the best method to increase your bottom line. When a business wants to increase revenue, a business process improvement strategy is very important to research. There are many companies who have tried this in the past and have succeeded. The basic elements in the business process improvement plan are:

1. Understand your company's business current process - This is what you need to know before even thinking to change or modify any business process improvement plan that has already been implemented. Knowing what the current situation of your business is right now is very important for the success of the plan. If you don't have an idea of what they are, then your planning will not succeed. Always know this before by looking into your company's archives. This could be achieved very easily if you know where to look.

2. Road map - Having a plan of action, or "road map" to what is going to happen is vital to any business process improvement that you might have for your company. When you have a plan, the process will go a lot smoother and you won't have to explain yourself over and over again. Having a structured road map of your plans is very important if you want your plans to succeed. It can be difficult to get the right plan at first. Remember to always look to other avenues as well.

3. Organized structure - Organization is important to any business process improvement strategy. If you are not organized in your thoughts or plans then you are in danger of losing your business. Organization is the cornerstone of business operations and should be already implemented in your business before thinking of having business process improvement strategies in your mind. Have your ideas organized or you cannot run a correct improvement plan.

4. A list of stakeholder's strategies - Get to know what the people who are in charge of the money are thinking. Whenever a business needs to change or modify a current business process improvement plan, it is best to determine where your money is coming from and where it is going to. Stakeholders to your company are very important and need to be treated as an important asset to your company. Informing them of any changes or modifications is always appreciated.

When you have understood all there is about business process improvement, then you are ready to get started. There are many aspects to how this can benefit your company. With higher revenue each month and stronger clientele, you can advance into the next year without any problems. It is very hard to find a plan that works without hard work. Always remember this when you are ready to throw in the towel. Be confident that you are making a beneficial investment into your company, and you will be able to reap the benefits when you get started with the business process improvement plan.