Coaching is fundamental to sports.  Why not, business?

• Why should employees have to go it alone?
• How do employees learn teamwork?
• Why should we expect employees to “know” how to overcome every obstacle?
• How do employees learn to set goals and stay disciplined to an action plan?
• Who is their champion in face of all adversity?

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard a client say to me, “I want a candidate who can hit the road running as I don’t have time to train.”  Those are not words from a true “coach.”  Professional athletes never show up on the football field without their coach preparing them for the big game.  Why does this happen in business all the time?

A recent study by Bersin & Associates reveals that coaching significantly improves company results and employee performance. If company performance is not up to your expectations, maybe, just maybe, the reason is not the individuals on our team.  Maybe the coach is not doing his/her job?       

In honor of my hometown Indianapolis hosting the 2012 Super Bowl, my recommendation to all business owners is to run your business like a sports team.  Embrace coaching.  Get involved with day-to-day mentoring.  Teach, encourage, and support your employees.  Coach your team to victory! 

Written by: Ann Clifford

As difficult as it is, turnover is not always bad.  It can be an opportunity to revise an outdated position or to hire someone new with fresh ideas.  To decrease the panic and pain associated with the resignation of a key employee, follow these advance planning tips.

• Transfer the knowledge.
• Cross-train employees.
• Document important procedures.
• Hire a support person to learn key aspects of the role.

Turnover happens.  The key is to be prepared for it, so that you can turn the experience into a positive situation; not an OMG experience.

In recent months, I had several speaking engagements on the subject of turnover with hundreds of business owners in attendance.   I am not a professional speaker, so I was somewhat surprised when I discovered these business owners were totally engrossed in my talk.  Since I know it was not my speaking talents that had them engaged (although I heard I did a pretty good job), it became crystal clear that the subject of turnover had captured their attention. 

Turnover is a big concern about business owners.  They realize that the recession has taken its toll on their employees.  Why wouldn’t it?  It certainly has taken its toll on business owners.  If business owners are feeling stress, isn’t it fair to assume their employees are feeling it too.

The question is what do you do about it?  How do you “undo” the damage the recession has caused?  Yes, you can bring pay back to normal and award raises to your key employees.  Yet, will that be enough?   Are your people still working 50+ hour work weeks feeling worn out and stressed.  Pay doesn’t make the stess go away.  So, how do you reduce the stress? 

Here are a few ideas:

1) Find low cost ways to provide support to your key employees.  Hire a support person to assume the load of adminstrative tasks.

2) Shift responsibilities to other support team members, especially to those you want to groom for advancement.  This cross-training exercise will make your company less vunerable to losing key knowledge.

3) Reinforce the company strategy and be sure to tell you key employees how they strategically fit into the puzzle of successs.  They need to know you value their contributions and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

4) Ask your key employees what you can do specifically to help them.  You might be surprised that it could be as simple as a new keyboard to replace the one with a sticky key.  It’s sometimes the little things that can turn a stressful day into one that is manageable.

You may not be able to eliminate all the recessionary damage, but you can certainly move in the right direction.  Awareness is the first step.  Make sure you know which key employees are feeling the most stress and do whatever you can to ease the pain.

Written by:  Ann Clifford

“If you’re not concerned that the toughest employees to replace are the most likely to bail on you; you should be.”  ~ quote from Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBizMedia

Nearly one in three workers (32%) are seriously considering leaving his or her organization, according to Mercer’s “What’s Working” survey.  Another 21% are not looking, but have “checked out” meaning they don’t care any more.

We have coined the term “retirement on your dime” to reflect this overwhelming lack of employee engagement.  Employers didn’t cause the recession, yet employers are the “scapegoat” for all the things that have gone bad.  And now, many employees need a change to distance themselves from bad memories and to refresh their energy.

As an employer, the questions you should ask yourself are:

• Which key employees can I not afford to lose?
• What can I do to keep them?

The game of “musical chairs” has begun as employees begin to jump ship for better employment opportunities.  The aftermath of a recession is employee disengagement.  Unfortunately, your key players won’t tell you they are dissatisfied until they are walking out the door.  As well-performing companies start to cherry pick top talent, it begins a chain of employee turnover events that will affect many companies.

72% of employers restructured or laid off employees since the recession began in 2008.  The effect has been a significant drop in employee commitment and loyalty.  Engagement has dropped 23% among top performers. 

And, in a recent Spherion Staffing Services survey, 45% of US workers indicated their relationship with their boss has been affected by the recession, of which 75% adversely.  

With these staggering statistics, it would be reasonable to assume that someone in your troops may be looking for greener pastures, and it might be long-term key employees. 

Perhaps there is no better time than now to start a proactive sourcing strategy so you are not caught unprepared when a key staff member jumps ship.

When shifting a sales professional to a Sales Manager role, consider it a “job change” more than a “promotion.” The skill set and responsibilities are uniquely different.  And, it is common that new Sales Managers exchange commission upside for a higher base salary, often resulting in less total compensation.

 Here are 4 tips for a successfully transition:

• Use a sales management assessment to evaluate the new manager’s behavior strengths and weaknesses.
• Counsel the new manager on shifting their relationships with former peers and provide steadfast support.
• Provide sales management training and ongoing mentoring through a credible trainer or organization.

Set specific goals and objectives, and establish clear expectations.

In today’s economy, we all have to do more with less. Pressure to perform is intense, which occasionally heightens emotions and stress, especially among managers. There are five distinct signs managers are at risk of failing:

1. Poor interpersonal and communication skills
2. Insufficient leadership skills
3. Resistance to change
4. Inability to deliver expected results or hit deadlines
5. Failure to see outside their functional responsibilities or departments

The good news is that most of these issues are coachable. It is critical to intervene quickly . . . before a manager begins to negativity impact the people they manage.

Almost everyone has suffered at one time or another under a lousy manager – someone who is aloof, argumentative, authoritative, cold or insensitive.  That person who only appears when there is a problem and then it’s to reprimand some poor slouch who didn’t know what he or she was doing in the first place because goals were never identified and expectations never clarified.  There are also the horror stories of the narcissistic romancer, the clueless storyteller, and the back stabbing wicked witch (oh, wait…those are mine…!)

So, what makes a good manager?  I think we all have our own definitions.  A better way to qualify might be to ask, “What makes an effective manager.”  There are a few key traits that all effective managers share.  I’ve put together my own “Top 10” list– in no particular order.

1.  Trustworthy with impeccable integrity.
2.  Dependable, competent and responsive.
3.  Optimistic attitude.
4.  Productive and results oriented.
5.  Has a clear vision and goals for the team.
6.  Excellent communicator and better listener.
7.  Coach and mentor.
8.  Able to resolve conflict.
9.  Remains calm under stress.
10.Excels in key job-relevant skills.

Leadership is a critical element, and encompasses some of the above characteristics. Leadership is what “separates the men from the boys” in management (sorry girls, it’s an expression.)  The distinction is that management skills can be taught.  Leadership comes from within.

On what qualities do you choose and evaluate your managers?

Online gurus are saying social media is the next wave of recruiting.  Employers and recruiters salivate at the thought of affordably and quickly reaching 500 million Facebook users, 100 million LinkedIn profiles and 200 million Twitter accounts. Yet with these numbers, it can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.

In case you ever wondered, the reason it is called “social media” is because people are free to engage and respond to your information. For recruiting purposes, this means that you need to:

1. Develop a strong company brand.
2. Build a community of followers (an online network of people) by regularly providing relevant and interesting information.
3. Listen to what people say and respond; thus, creating a two-way conversation.

In other words, while LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are great, you better plan to spend a fair amount of time if you want to use these tools for recruiting. Most employers just don’t have the time to create massive “communities,” nor have the time to tweet, post, and search for possible candidates. Worse, social media can be addicting, sucking up precious hours and minutes as you find other “really cool” people on Twitter or that old boyfriend from junior high. No recruiting marketing strategy works if you don’t target the right audience, so you also have to find the appropriate “groups” within your social media of choice and market to them in ways that get their attention.

Hmmm . . . . seems like a lot of work. Perhaps posting on job boards, like CareerBuilder and Monster, and reviewing a couple hundred resume might be easier?

See additional ideas and strategies at Business News Daily.

Wearing the Sales Manager hat can be one of the must challenging roles a business owner assumes.  Why?  Managing sales people is a lot like parenting teenagers.  Your sales reps may challenge the rules (do it their way).  Or, they may be reluctant to do their chores (complete sales call reports).  And, each rep may behave differently!

Top Challenges:

• Sales reps push business owners outside their comfort zone.
• Sales reps are demanding – they ask for the moon.
• Sales reps need training and mentoring which may not be the business owner’s strength.
• Sales reps don’t “follow” well.

If you find these challenges unsettling, it might be time to hire a sales manager who can exercise discipline in your sales process.  Even though performing sales reps are generally independent and self-motivated; they still need to be managed and mentored.