Category

Results

Nov 23
6

Weekly meetings like groundhog day? 10 tips to spice them up

By | Leadership, Results

Running an effective one on one meeting with staff is no easy task.  It is a leadership essential that has managers of people second-guessing their importance, relevance and benefit.  I know CEO’s who don’t even do them – leaving it to their direct reports to schedule time in their diaries if there is an ‘issue’ to discuss. Others cancel them on a regular basis, especially at the last minute, discarding their importance.  Then there are the ones who do conduct them weekly – but with no real benefit for either party. It can leave everyone frustrated and wondering what is the point?

I know for me it was a struggle to get in right – when to hold a meeting, what the agenda would be and ultimately what was the purpose.  Over time, I would change them when I felt they weren’t achieving anything significant. I remember moving them to fortnightly sessions. The results were terrible.

I was happy on one hand that I had more ‘time’ and my week wasn’t full of meetings.  However, what essentially happened was I lost touch with details and I just filled my ‘extra’ time with more “stuff” that wasn’t as important as being face to face with my team. I believed I was giving them more time to do their jobs and more responsibility to make results happen, without being a micromanager. What I missed was the golden leadership opportunity to regularly listen, praise, give feedback, share stories and bring people together. The moment I realised this – I reverted back to weekly meetings instantly and the benefits flowed.  Here’s some tips to getting the most out of one on one meetings with your staff:

  1. Weekly agenda – having a regular agenda is critical for consistency and ensuring that both parties are clear on what is going to be discussed.  Ultimately the meeting should focus on the person’s key achievements, outcomes they have produced and the activity and goals in their pipeline. I had it written on the white board in the office so we could follow it along and if we got lost or sidetracked, it gave us a clear structure to revert to.
  2. Purpose – every weekly meeting should be approached with good intent, especially if there are difficult issues to discuss.  As a leader, our role is to bring out the best in people and lift their performance to levels they didn’t even think possible.  This message can only be heard when you approach all discussions with good intent – the intent to help them perform better.
  3. Help – in all one on one meetings there should be an opportunity for the staff member to discuss any issues they feel strongly about, without it becoming a whinge fest.  It can be tricky to manage and it can be tricky to be heard without sounding like a whinger, or weak or a ‘drama queen’.  The truth is there are problems that do require a leader to listen and help you solve. However, most leaders aren’t that good at solving them – often dismissing the concern, brushing it under the carpet and hoping it will go away.  Do this too often and your people will ultimately stop talking to you.
  4. Connect to the vision – in all jobs, sometimes staff members lose their way. They forget the bigger picture of why they are doing what they are doing or how it contributes to the vision and values of the organisation.  A weekly one on one meeting is prime time to demonstrate and invigorate a staff member about their individual contribution.
  5. Commit to action together – the real magic of leadership happens in action.  When you are in the field, with a client, in a negotiation – somewhere where staff members can look up to you and learn one new thing that might enhance their own performance.  In a one on one meeting take the opportunity right then and there to book a client meeting together in the diary, book a time to have lunch together or a 20 minute coaching session for later in the week on an area your staff member is struggling with. Don’t talk about what you should do – just do it.
  6. Inspiration – the most effective one on one meetings are the ones where people walk out inspired to conquer their day, to accomplish a task that perhaps they were dreading or to make a difference somehow with someone.  This is an intangible something that great leaders know how to do – through asking the right questions, praising specific behavior or encouraging them to achieve.  The quick test – ask yourself how you feel when your staff member has left? In my experience, if you feel a bit unsure that the meeting was effective, your staff member probably feels the same way. If you feel happy and that you contributed something insightful – again they probably feel that too.
  7. Just talk – an important element to all relationship building, especially with your employees is the opportunity and interest to talk on a personal level.  This has to be authentic. You can’t fake interest.  All employees want to know their boss is human too and talking about your lives outside of work, is a well-rounding element to strengthen a relationship.
  8. Share a story – your team wants to know that you have been in their shoes.  They want to hear that you too struggled, made a mistake, hated prospecting new clients or simply weren’t perfect.  Sharing these examples will go a long way to earning respect as well as sharing ways to solve problems.
  9. Be present – if you knew the outcome of your meeting could be the difference between missing or making your budget, winning a new client or making someone’s day – would you suddenly sit up and be a bit more interested? My advice – don’t dread the weekly meeting and stop wasting time thinking about what else you have on your agenda that day. Be in the moment to make an impact.
  10. No hidden agendas – there is nothing worse than being in a meeting and knowing that something isn’t quite right.  I am a big believer in honesty about observations and sharing with good intent.  The critical piece is the delivery around how they can perform better at work and what specifically they can start or stop doing to achieve that. It’s not a game – straight conversations are critical to an effective meeting.

What I have learnt is that every employee is different and whilst the agenda gives the guide, the person must drive the tone and style so it works for them. I had one employee who was highly structured – came in all prepared – graphs, figures, pipeline activity right down to the specific questions she wanted to ask.  Then I had another who always wanted to talk about the weekend before getting into the heavy detail of her results.  Both were successful in achieving their goals to perform at a higher level, the difference was in the format and style.

If you are feeling that your meetings are lacking the impact or that you need to change it up a bit, try changing the location.  One of my clients who works in the sporting arena will take a corporate box overlooking the oval to talk to her team, another takes them to their favouriate coffee shop – or do what I did once a month – sit at their desk, in their space, on their territory. It is all about your people after all and the difference they can make to your business by being a high performing employee.

At the end of the day, if you won’t spend an hour a week with your most important asset – your people, perhaps you’re in the wrong job?

Nov 07
5

Employee retention: how to crack the code

By | Recruitment, Results, Retention

What I’ve learnt over the years is that there is no one secret ingredient to retaining staff. In my early days of running a business, I had high staff turnover and it used to drive me crazy the amount of money, effort, time and emotional energy I would invest in new recruits only to lose them within a 12-month period. A realisation that people are at the core of business success was my breakthrough moment. I became acutely aware that the right people in the right roles with the right leadership is the key to keeping them. I increased the average length of service of staff to six years in an industry that averages eight months for a typical consultant role. What I learnt translates into any business in any profession.

Recruit the right people

First and foremost, recruiting people is not easy, and picking the right person is even harder. I have done this every day in the recruitment industry for over 13 years and advise clients on how to do it better. Finding and recruiting the right people is an ongoing battle for most business owners. The key is to look beyond what’s on paper and what’s technically being said at the interview, and hire for culture and motivational fit. Forget experience and length of service in a similar role—find out what motivates them, what their values are, what they want to achieve long-term and where the best culture that they have worked in has been. Recruiting on competencies, attitude and culture are mandatory for long-term fit and retention, and far outweigh years of experience on a resume.

Believe in people

The best approach you can take as a leader is to assume that people want to perform at their best. Most people come to work to do a good job—they want to perform and succeed. As a leader you need to relate to them as a top performer, don’t expect anything less. This belief speaks volumes, builds trust, delivers results and ultimately keeps top talent on your team.

Empower others

For most business owners, you have created the business, know the ins and outs of how things are done and you probably enjoy being in control. However,  “control freaks” don’t retain top talent; they can often drive it away. Being the leader doesn’t mean making all the decisions and having an ‘I know best’ attitude. Letting go, trusting others to achieve, and supporting this learning curve will go a long way to increasing length of service.

Flexibility

In my business I gave people the tools and freedom to get on with the job. It’s critical to be clear on the outcomes and timeframes, but then get out of the way. People want to achieve their own goals without having to work within rigid and structured environments. Flexibility in approach, hours, and blending home and work situations instantly motivates top performers.

Feedback

People want feedback—they want to know what they are doing well, so they can keep doing it. They want to know what they are not doing well, so they can stop doing it. Those thirsty for greater success and reward will want to know what they can start doing to perform at a higher level. As a leader, it is your job to recognise top performance and reinforce it, so it happens again. On the flip side, when you observe behaviour that is inconsistent, giving this feedback instantly (with good intent) will push people outside their comfort zones, which is necessary for changes in behaviour.

Professional development

Investing in your people is one of the best investments you can make. Hiring an external external coach or mentor  for an individual is a reward that can have incredible effects, such as increased performance and confidence. Paying a professional to just listen or be an external confidante is also a great way to invest upfront in new talent and prevent staff turnover. This goes a long way to reducing unnecessary replacement and re-recruitment costs, as well as increasing engagement levels and ultimately assisting in retaining key people.

Tools of the trade

It may seem a little light or trivial, but having the right tools of the trade and the right support systems in place are critical in keeping staff happy. A candidate once told me she left a job because she was promised a company car and after eight weeks of using her own car, paying for parking and petrol, she gave up on the false promise and decided to move on. Tools such as iPhones, car parks, admin support, remote access, and laptops, are now seen as essential for a lot of roles—get it right from day one to avoid unnecessary ‘misunderstandings’.

Induction

The first 90 days is an important time period for a new recruit in determining whether they stay long-term with an organisation, and day one in particular plays a key role. Who is there to greet them? Is their desk set up, are their business cards ready and is there a welcome message from the CEO? Don’t spend weeks going through a recruitment process to then spend no effort at all on the induction. This is a once-only opportunity to create a lasting impression and increase employee attachment and engagement from the first day.

Invest in your own leadership skills

A leader that is continuously learning and investing in their own professional development is more inspiring to be around. We can never know it all and we can always improve. Being authentic and transparent with your team about your own development and desire to improve will have a flow-on effect.

You can’t win them all

As much as you want all top performers to stay, sometimes it just doesn’t turn out that way no matter how hard you try and what you implement. A partner gets a transfer, a headhunter offers something an employee can’t refuse—it happens. In these circumstances all you can do is give them the best offer you have available and then wish them well if it doesn’t fall your way.

How can you retain top talent? It’s not just about money and perks, such as days off for birthdays and free yoga classes—although they’re nice and staff will appreciate them, that isn’t what gets them to stick around long-term. It’s two things in my experience—leadership and culture.

Become a better leader, have great systems and an inspiring culture. Only then can you attract the top talent that will stay.

 

This article has been written for Australian Physiotherapy Association’s monthly magazine “Business in Practice”.  

Nicole Underwood understands what it takes to create, build and grow a successful business. The essential ingredient is recruiting, engaging and retaining people. Great people. Top talent. High performers. As a previous finalist in the prestigious Telstra Business Women Awards, a regular blogger and entrepreneur, Nicole works with organisations to improve results through hiring and keeping the right people. www.nicoleunderwood.com.au

 

Oct 26
4

Technical competence without people skills – what is it costing you?

By | Leadership, Results

A common problem I see in many organisations is that somewhere in their senior management team they have a person with strong technical competence, but who lacks the essential people skills and leadership expertise. The story goes that they are leading the way with their knowledge and experience, meeting expectations, producing innovative ideas, delivering on project deadlines and are knowledge champions in their field.  However, the issue preventing them from getting ahead or a roadblock to their further success is their inability to deal with colleagues, inspire their staff and get outside their comfort zone to take the next step in their professional and personal development.

One HR Director told me that the response from a technically brilliant manager was “things are good, there aren’t any problems, no-one’s losing money – let’s keep doing things the way they are”.  Another in an accounting firm is a star – she is “a doer”.  In a client meeting, she is all business, discussing the issues and then is firing on all cylinders to get the job done. Meanwhile, the client is still pouring a cup of coffee wanting to debrief and perhaps even converse in a little banter about the weekend. In another, a technical manager has got significant staff turnover and the Managing Director refuses to do anything about his ‘leadership style’ because there is no one as good as him in the industry. Really?

At what point does technical competence excuse someone from poor behaviour and being able to operate under a separate set of rules? At what point does an organisation say enough – we love the results, but you’re destroying our culture, loosing our future talent and just a pain the butt to work with!

I’ve seen it and I’m sure you have too.  These people can sometimes appear as a protected species – anything goes because they have the knowledge, they’ve been in the business forever and are producing the results.  Here’s the problem – you can’t promote them to an executive role because they don’t inspire, empower or lead from the front.  The alternative is to leave them and continue the way they are, improve and coach them on their people skills or let them go. In my observations, most choose to leave them as they are, because it is “too hard” to do anything else.

The long-term recruitment and retention issue here is that high potentials may not be attracted to the firm due to the perceived reputation they have heard on the grapevine.  Similarly, high potentials within the business eventually leave because they can’t see a career path working for this person or in an environment where these behaviours are accepted.

The best result is to build on their leadership and people skills.  Imagine that – your highly valuable employee is now not only producing, but also inspiring others to deliver similar results.  That would be a huge turnaround for culture, results and retention. A typical by-product is the individual also benefiting through increased job satisfaction – due to not being the only technical expert with all critical pieces of work resting on their shoulders.

In my experience a technically experienced performer is not magically going to improve their people skills over-night.  Hoping that it will get better is not a strategy. In the past, what tends to happen is they are sent on a leadership course with fingers crossed that they will return a ‘changed person’.  I don’t know about you, but I have never seen such changes after attending a training program. Of course they come back with increased knowledge, perhaps even some awareness and on the odd occasion you may even see them implement a couple of new strategies! Once the course is finished and becomes a distant memory, these new ideas are generally long gone and tend to disappear.

What is more valuable and can have far reaching effects is when a person is coached on their behaviours and the impacts that they are having on other team members, direct reports or clients and the long term cost to them if they continue in this way.  The key here is of course knowing what this particular person’s triggers are eg: not gaining access to larger projects or more responsibility, bigger clients, bonus payments etc.  Linking the behavior to what motivates or demotivates them is certainly going help drive the message home while keeping them accountable to change.

I was surprised last month when someone I know left a high profile job and what I percieved as a great business.  He said to me after leaving “Nicole, life is too short to work with d#!*heads”.  I was surprised to hear something so blunt, but I got the message loud and clear.  I wonder when some of these leaders are going to get a similar message that technical competence is only one part of a much larger people picture that if dealt with can produce bigger and better results for all involved.

Aug 11
6

Quit while you’re ahead…10 tips for going out on top

By | Change, Leadership, Results

4 weeks ago, I made a BIG decision. I decided to leave my job. 10 years after founding Entrée Recruitment and leading the company to it’s most successful year on record, I felt it was time …. and what better time to do it than when the business is at its peak? My decision has been met with a range of reactions – congratulations! Why? Well done! About time! Really? Are you sure? Hmmmm that’s a big risk, are you crazy?

Funny isn’t it….but setting up Entrée all those years ago was a risk too.  It was late 2001 and the market was going through an interesting time with Sept 11, the HIH disaster, Ansett had collapsed and many big spending Adelaide corporates such as Fauldings were moving interstate.  It was a turbulent time that did see several recruitment companies go out of business.  Meanwhile, at 23 I was relishing the opportunity to start up a business from scratch with not a care in the world about the market, the economy or my competitors.  I wanted to do things differently and I had a vision – the rest seemed irrelevant in the greater scheme of things.

As I have cleaned out my office this week, going through 10 years of “stuff” – I have reminisced on my journey and the highs and lows. Many lessons have been learnt, many relationships formed and many successes enjoyed.  On reflection, I would summarise my 10 biggest lessons in 10 years as:

  1. I can’t do it all – in the early years, I subconsciously thought I could do it all.  I would try and solve every problem, take on every task, talk to every client and I wanted to know everything that was going on.  The result? I was close to burnout and I became a control freak. Letting go, learning to empower others and take a big picture perspective saved my leadership, long-term business success and my sanity!
  2. Health must be a priority – working long hours, drinking copious amounts of coffee, eating poorly and irregular exercise left my system running on empty.   An adrenalin junkie going full throttle is what I thought would deliver the results I wanted. I learnt putting health 1st, family 2nd and work 3rd actually delivered better results for all three areas.
  3. Recruit for culture – in the early days, I had relatively high staff turnover.  It would drive me crazy that I had spent so much money recruiting and then months training only for newbies to leave. I had to have a good hard look at where I was going wrong.  I was recruiting on skills and experience and not on culture (see previous post who’s hot and who’s not….what the perfect resume won’t tell you). As soon as I changed this focus, my hit rate dramatically improved. I learnt that there are 5 competencies that people must demonstrate to join the Entrée team (coachability, achievement drive, negotiation, persistence and decision making).  No matter how great their years of experience in recruitment, I would not hire them if they couldn’t meet these criteria.
  4. Goals = results – every year the team and I have set personal and business goals at an individual level that would then link to business’ overall goals.  This discipline ensured that every year our results improved and people knew how they were contributing to the big picture.  Without a target, people don’t know what to aim for.
  5. Coach on behavior, not the person – have you ever wondered why people end up in tears in your office or you think oops that didn’t come out the right way?  It would happen to me and I realised the issue was in my delivery – not my intent. As soon as I change my communication to focus on observed behaviours, rather than what I thought, things changed dramatically! Suddenly performance increased, staff were motivated and driven and I wasn’t carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.
  6. Set expectations early – why is this staff member texting me that they are sick and not coming in? Why is she wearing that to work? I learnt that you should never assume. People don’t know what you want or the way you want them to do things unless you tell them.  I set expectations right from the interview stage – “this is what we expect here at Entrée…” This way there is always something to go back to if behviour goes off track (see blog how to get what you expect).
  7. Leadership = retention – do you want people to stay? Become a better leader. Simple.  My retention rate went through the roof the moment I started investing in my leadership skills.  This peaked at an average rate of 6 years for consulting staff – a rate the smashes the industry average.
  8. Staff are number 1 – one of the first business books I read that had an instant effect on me was Richard Branson’s “loosing my virginity”.  It taught me many things – the most profound being that staff must come first. When staff come first, clients get great service and the profits look after themselves.  This mantra has proven true year on year in my business.
  9. Feedback & coaching – giving people feedback consistently is imperative to keep them learning, interested and performing.  This delivered immediately with good intention tells them that you have a genuine interest and belief in their personal success.  This regular coaching has easily doubled the profitability of the business. See previous post show me the money, 9 tips to profitable growth.
  10.  Ongoing learning – the leader sets the tone.  Lesson number 10 is imperative to keep the business at the cutting edge of new information, tools and technologies.  If the Leader isn’t learning anything new, then neither is the business.  Doing the same thing actually means the business is going backwards.  I have always maintained continuous learning through coaches, mentors, conferences, business books, blogs and the like.  Up to date knowledge is not only smart business, it actually makes us more inspiring and interesting to be around.

Today, 10 years later, I feel inspired with a similar energy, a new vision, and still a desire to do things differently and better. I want to work with people like me – who are driven to succeed through developing their people and leadership skills.  An entrepreneur at heart, I have taken what some see as a ‘risk’, but what I see as an exciting next chapter to modernize the way things are currently done to recruit, retain and achieve optimum results through people.

My sincere gratitude to Mark Hender, the person who took the chance on me all the years ago, his belief in me was the linchpin that made the journey possible. Lastly, to all the folks who have worked with me over the years, I say a big thank you! Thank you for being patient, open, determined and loyal to me and the vision that we have achieved. It’s been quite a ride!

Jul 08
6

Taking the ‘sales’ out of salesperson…10 ways to increase performance

By | Performance, Results, Sales

“I’m not a sales person” “I don’t like cold calling” “I can’t sell” “sales is not a strength of mine”…are all typical to hear around the Entrée Recruitment office. My Consultants don’t see themselves as sales people, yet we have just achieved our most successful financial year in our 10-year history.  They think sales is a dirty word associated with the image of a used car salesman – someone who is annoying, not particularly helpful and is just trying to make a quick buck! I roll my eyes and mostly just laugh because my team can think they aren’t sales people, but they are and they do it without reallising they are doing it.  So how does a team of non-sales people achieve such high sales results?

Observing the behaviours of these Consultants, I have consistently found the following:

  1. Action – the Consultants making the most sales are always taking action. They are never wondering what to do next, who to call or procrastinating the day away. They just do it. They get on the phone; they get face to face and make decisions quickly.
  2. Feedback – I’ve got a Consultant who has worked in the industry longer than me and she is still consistently wanting to know how she is going, what could she do differently and is welcoming of joint visits and interview observations.  The benefits to her far outweigh the possibility of her feeling uncomfortable. She tells me it is a small price to pay to gain one extra piece of advice that may increase her sales and bring her more success in the long term.
  3. Referrals – my team use an effective face-to-face technique that involves asking existing clients to recommend other people that they think we would enjoy working with. It takes courage to ask and discipline to follow up. Much easier than making a cold call!
  4. Relationships – building longstanding relationships results in repeat purchase clients.  When you have a huge number of clients and are always seeking new ones, you can often forget about existing ones.  Our strategy is fewer clients – stronger relationships.
  5. Curiosity in people – one of my team members says “I hate the sales stuff…but I do like meeting new people and finding out what they do”.  She has a natural desire to ask questions and learn about businesses and people, so the end result is that she is building relationships and selling without realising that she is even doing it!
  6. Listening skills – the best ‘sales people’ at Entrée are the best listeners. They usually have a ratio of 80/20 of listening and talking. They understand they get the best information when they actually shut up. The worst performing Consultants I’ve had over the years like talking mostly about themselves and clients don’t buy!
  7. Reasons to call – you will rarely hear a top performer at Entrée saying “I’m just calling to touch base”.  No client has time for this, we certainly don’t! What is the purpose of the call? Get to the point as quickly as you can as not to annoy the other person with irrelevant chitchat.
  8. Belief & confidence– top sales people have a natural self-confidence. They don’t have huge egos and can articulate their value proposition without being overly pushy.
  9. Organisation – people who are naturally good at sales always know what they need to do, write it down and work from 1 daily to do list. These tasks are very specific and the hardest things are done first as not to distract them from their day. For example, one of my consultants the other day seemed a bit off her game. By 11am, she was noticeably irritable and when I checked in, she hadn’t ticked anything of her list and she was feeling unproductive.  It turned out that she had to make a difficult call to a client and was putting it off.   As soon as she had made the call, she felt clear and didn’t have this hanging over her head, clouding the rest of her day.
  10. Deliver quality – you can’t be a top sales person without delivering what you promise at the pitch.  High performing Consultants at Entrée consistently deliver what they say they will. If they say they will call back in 24 hours, they do. If they say they will be back in 3 weeks with a shortlist, they are.  Some sales people can talk the talk, but fall down in the actual promise of walking the walk.

In any business, being able to sell is an essential skill to achieving long-term financial success. Being able to communicate your value effectively for people to buy your product or service is critical.  In the early days of my career, it was a long hard road and  some days seemed impossible.  The turnaround for me was being persistent, consistent and determined.  I made my sales activity an every day task that I incorporated in my daily agenda rather than it being a one off event when business was quiet.

At the end of the day, successful sales is about building rapport initially and then establishing long term relationships with people.  Let’s not complicate this…. if people like you; they will spend money with you. Ask great questions, listen, deliver and your sales will sky rocket.

On reflection, maybe I should be happy in the fact that my team don’t think of themselves as ‘sales people’ – with this mindset they are focused on what really works – building relationships, delivering a quality service and being passionate about what they do. The outcome…increased sales!

Jul 01
5

Relationship on the rocks? How to get what you expect….

By | Leadership, Results

This week, a senior HR Manager was telling me about her current job search and about a situation that caught her off guard, unprepared and quite frankly a little cranky.  I was surprised, because HR people are generally quite relaxed at interviews –as they are usually the ones on the other side of the table asking the questions. She was called by an organisation after sending in her resume to attend an interview, excited, she asked what she should prepare? “oh nothing, this really is just an ‘eye balling’ exercise” …. The conversation continued in a joking manner “to make sure you have two arms, two legs” etc.  My candidate didn’t think too much more about it, as an eye balling surely suggested a quick meet and greet, maybe a coffee, nothing more. You know what happened don’t you? She arrived 15 minutes early and the PA said “oh they are actually ready, you can go on through”. She looked through the door and saw a panel of 3 people – immediately she thought they were just finishing up their meeting and she would be just be meeting with the 1 person like she was told on the phone. No, there were 3 people on the panel with structured interview sheets and questions ready to go.  She broke out in a mild panic of sweat and went on to ‘wing it’. At the end she shook hands and left thinking she had blown it completely. She was clearly fired up about it when I spoke to her – how could they do this? How could they be so unclear with candidates about their approach?

It comes down to expectations – setting expectations to get what you expect.  This story reinforced to me the importance of doing this from the very start to ensure relationships get off on the right foot. When recruiting and retaining top talent in any organisation, you need to be crystal clear when communicating expectations to avoid performance problems, staff turnover and general frustrations.

Just today I interviewed a potential Consultant and at the end of the interview I gave her a rundown of what we expect around behaviours and performance. I know what works and what doesn’t – so it is only fair that I communicate that. If she runs for the hills scared by what I have said, great because she’s not for us – but if she feels her values are in alignment, we could have a fantastic new recruit! Nobody wins by being unclear or untruthful from the get go – it will either result in underperformance, unhappiness or a general resentment of ‘this isn’t what I signed up for’.

It starts from the moment you pick up the phone to bring that new candidate in for a potential job – don’t say “come in for a chat” and then expect to see someone in a slick matching suit to succinctly answer all your behavioural based questions.  From your very first interaction is an opportunity to communicate your culture, values and expectations.

Quick tips to setting expectations:

  • Be clear on what top performance looks like
  • Communicate how they will be accountable and measured
  • Give examples of the types of behaviour that is and isn’t acceptable eg: can you text your boss when you are sick and not coming in?
  • Tell people what the consequences are of undesirable behaviour eg: continually late from meetings will result in not being invited anymore?
  • Lead by example – walk the talk and behave the way you want your team to behave
  • Consistently reinforce these messages at interview, induction, training, staff meetings, reviews etc.

The benefits of setting expectations are that when things go wrong – you always have something to go back to. Remember at interview when I said….Remember during your induction we showed you….Remember in the training manual we explained…..there is no room for misinterpretation or “I didn’t know”  when your messages are clear and consistent.

Setting expectations at the start of recruitment campaigns, interviews, meetings, employment relationships and even at home, create a solid platform to return to when things go pear shaped. Remember – you get what you expect.

By the way, the HR candidate I mentioned got a strange phone call this morning….she got the job!

Jun 02
4

Staff mojo… how to plant the seeds of motivation

By | Empowerment, Results

This week one of my top performers was having a downday….she’d lost her mojo, was feeling ‘flat’ and told me she was struggling with motivation. “How do you keep motivated and inspired?” she asked me. As a leader, my stomach sank.  There is nothing scarier than a top performer who is feeling worn out…..as Leaders we get scared that if we don’t quickly ‘motivate’ them, they might drop their performance, burn out or dare I say it….leave. The pressure! I wanted to give her an answer, not any answer, a great answer that would make her feel valued, inspired,motivated and happy.  But the fact is there isn’t just ‘an answer’.

Can you really motivate someone? Especially in a 30 minute weekly meeting! Truth is it can’t be done. You can’t physically motivate another person. It is not something I can give to someone else to make them feel good again to conquer the world.  However, I can certainly influence them, share my experiences and ask them questions that may help them find their own internal motivation.

Firstly, what’s not working? What is it specifically that is making them feel disheartened, disinterested or demotivated? Is it just a once-off incident of something going wrong with a client, an internal disagreement or something bigger? Or is it an accumulation of things that have been niggling at them, with something that has made them snap that perhaps in isolation would not have been a big deal but now seems huge. Getting to the crux of their de-motivation is really important because once this is solved; that can often be the end of their bad patch and they return to a positive frame of mind.

In this circumstance, nothing was specifically going wrong with my Consultant. There wasn’t anything in particular that she was unhappy about. So it comes down to desire…..

Whatever job you do, you need to be clear on why you are doing it. What’s in it for you? What are the goals you are aiming for and the benefits you receive from doing what you do? I’ve always been a visual person and it might sound corny, but really having something in front of me to focus on gives me inspiration on days that perhaps aren’t perfect or going 100% my way.  Early in my career, working as a Recruitment Consultant, I had picture of a convertible at my desk – I was determined to have a sports car.  Those days when I didn’t want to pick up the phone and make a cold call or tell a candidate they didn’t get the job or it was 7pm at night and I was screening even more CV’s, I would look at that picture and find my inspiration and that extra mojo I needed to achieve success. As years went on the visuals changed – but there has always been pictures of something (holidays, houses, travel) or someone (family) to inspire me. And it works. I got that silver MG convertible at age 21 – the insurance was a killer! The moment you take your eyes off the goal, you can lose focus, ambition and drive.

So with a demotivated staff member – be clear on what their goals are. What is this person motivated by? Do they have visuals around them? Everybody aspires to something – as the leader we need to show the connection between what they do and how they can go about achieving it in their day to day work.

If this doesn’t work, the flip side is cost. I don’t like to use this method as much – it doesn’t have a nice warm and fuzzy attached to it like the benefit method does.  For example, I have had Consultants tell me in the past they aren’t motivated by money or they don’t aspire to a new house or an overseas holiday. They are happy as they are. Great. Really, that is great.  But you’re telling me you’re de-motivated, you have lost inspiration and are feeling flat – what is the cost to you, your career and your results if you continue this way? Perhaps things won’t be that great anymore.  It is getting them very clear that if they don’t make the calls, see the clients, fill the jobs, generate the results, then actually you won’t be in top performance and then they may not be in such a great place. The ultimate cost here is their job.  This can be the make or break conversation that either gets them back on track or a realisation that change is on the horizon.

Day to day, I have found several things that work as quick “motivation injections”:

  1. Have a conversation with someone who makes you feel good
  2. Read an inspiring article, quote or surf social media for new ideas and excitement
  3. Write down at least 1 new quantifiable goal that you really want to achieve
  4. Take 30 minutes to write a dream list – anything you ever wanted to achieve/have/own and there is no restrictions (dream big!)
  5. Put up a new visual for inspiration – photo/screen saver/picture
  6. Take action – do something that makes you feel uncomfortable (as this often generates big results eg: a new client)
  7. Write a love & loathe list (to re-focus on what you are good at)
  8. Plan a holiday & enjoy the research
  9. Buy a new book on-line
  10. Have a coffee, go shopping or plan a day off to “re-charge”

So for me – how do I keep motivated and inspired? My husband laughs as I’m telling him what I’m writing about – he says it’s the mortgage and my love for shopping that keeps me motivated! There is of course some truth to this – visual goals remember! But I do believe inspiration comes from around us as well as finding inspiration from within ourselves – it is not something someone else can give us or make us feel. I am certainly inspired by other people’s success or by a conversation or a presentation, movie or book.  But real inspiration, the type of inspiration that drives me to succeed and achieve, comes from within.

What tips and tricks do you use to stay motivated and re-focus when feeling flat?

Apr 20
4

“Show me the money”……9 tips to profitable growth

By | Profit, Results

A few weeks ago in my blog Belief Critical to Business Success, I mentioned a business owner had asked for my advice on growing a business.  I met her on Friday and I was impressed. She has built a solid business foundation, identified a niche market, boasts a modern website, uses the latest technology and demonstrates a strong belief in what she does.  So what’s missing? I entered the conversation with no preconceived idea about what I was going to say or what magic advice I may have for her , but as we spoke, I found there were 2 key things she wanted to know – how to grow the business and deliver more profit?

I take it for granted that if you’re in business, you’re making a great income. I can’t quite believe the number of businesses that are running because the owner likes what they do, but they aren’t making any money. I can think of 5 women in business who I have met only over the past few months who without telling me exact numbers or figures, it is obvious that they aren’t making the money they would like to.

How does this happen? They have great ideas, they are passionate, they have great quality products/services – but they aren’t making the dream income that they thought owning their own business would bring. Or in some cases, their expectations are too low. One commented “I’ve only been in business 5 years so I know it takes time and I’ll get there”. Rubbish.  It isn’t the longer you are in business that the money and profits will magically appear just because your doors are open.

By talking to these women individually, it frustrates me that their great ideas and hard work are not being rewarded financially. How can they become more profitable and take their businesses to the next level of performance?

  1. Ask for the business – in my post why is confidence still an issue for women at work?  I express my frustration with women who self-doubt their ability in sales, meetings or negotiations. Being profitable means asking for the business and not just having a coffee, touching base or having a chat.  At the end of every meeting, be clear about asking for the order right now or in the future. Is there any reason Mr Client you wouldn’t give me your next opportunity? Confidence in asking for the business screams “expert” and belief in what you do.
  2. Take a risk – doing the same thing the same way is going to deliver the same result, so if your financial results aren’t what you want them to be, it means changing tact or trying something different.  This will inevatibly feel uncomfortable which is good! This means you are learning something new.  For me, at Entrée Recruitment  this has been promoting the temp and contract side of our business when I personally had a stronger tendency towards permanent recruitment. This change in focus was a huge driver in delivering greater profits.
  3. Build relationships – I often get asked how I win new clients and how I’ve cracked the corporate market? One step at a time, one client at a time. Having one solid relationship with a CEO is more beneficial that having five relationships with non-decision-makers.  Once you have an established relationship with someone who loves your service – duplication becomes easy through testimonials, referrals and targeting like-minded organisations and individuals (you do have to ask again remember)!
  4. Build a brand & profile – marketing in this day and age has never been easier with social media.  Your business needs to be in the press (ads & editorial), on the web, talked about through word of mouth and have a clear strategy on how you want to be perceived in the market.  Whenever I am going out to see a new business, I always Google them, look at their website and try and find out who the key people are.  What happens when you Google your name and your business? Be clear in your positioning and then tell the world!
  5. Discipline – making money in business means taking the right action every day and committing to your high pay-off activities. Highly profitable business owners don’t procrastinate and fill their day looking busy – they are disciplined to do the important things that will generate the biggest results. For me at Entrée Recruitment this is coaching my team and business development.  Ask yourself what are the top 5 activities that aren’t urgent and without them, your business will not grow – then do them consistently.
  6. Hire right & retain the best – the biggest cost in most businesses is staff.  Getting this wrong is going to cost you significantly in real dollars, leadership time, re-training, reputation, culture and delivery.  Getting it right is finding that sweet spot in business – leadership will feel ‘natural’, you stress levels float away and this empowerment brings you work/life balance, confidence and profit.
  7. Invest in your leadership skills – this was one of the biggest turning points in my “growth” journey at Entrée Recruitment.  I constantly invest in books, conferences, mentors and a business coach. Learning from others and being coached to greater individual performance has a direct impact on the bottom line.
  8. Be tight on costs – one of the PA’s at work jokes “here comes Nicole with her calculator!” as I approach my meetings.  As a rule of thumb, I focus on the top line as generating revenue is always going to result in greater profit, but I keep a very close eye on costs, don’t spend unnecessarily and always negotiate with suppliers.
  9. Love what you do – it’s virtually impossible to have financial success without a passion for your business. How can you convince people to spend money with you if you don’t ooze excitement for what you do? I don’t mean over the top bubbly gushing – I mean you are educating your clients every chance you get and presenting the value you can bring to their business.

In my first year of Entrée Recruitment, we generated $3 million in revenue with very low overheads and start-up costs.  This wasn’t by accident, it wasn’t luck and it wasn’t through an established client base. We simply did it better through discipline, relationships, top talent and through making mistakes.

Since I have been talking to these business owners – one has taken a risk and moved out of a home office leasing her first corporate space, one has started building on her relationships by asking a current CEO client for a referral and another has invested in her own development by engaging a business coach.  Financial results don’t just happen by being in business and doing the same stuff – moving forward always involves taking different action.

Become profitable, be disciplined and take action.

Apr 01
5

Belief Critical to Business Success

By | Results, Success

This week I had a new business owner track me down on Linkedin and ask if they could buy me a coffee to pick my brain about how I’ve “grown the business so successfully”. Apart from the fact that I’ve recently given up coffee (my adrenal glands are running over-time!) – I have agreed, because I know in my own experience learning from others can sometimes be the most inspiring way to take an idea or business to the next level.

This happened for me late 2001 when I was working at another recruitment firm where things were going really well from the outside.  I had a great team, a group of repeat-purchase clients and revenue targets were being overachieved.  However, on the inside, it was a different story.  We had a new CEO, who was less than inspiring and had zero recruitment experience, the culture was changing significantly, staff were being treated like second class citizens and I was becoming disengaged.

I was reading Richard Branson’s “Loosing my Virginity” autobiography at the time and I was inspired by his road to success and his theories about growing business. His beliefs included small is beautiful, look after staff first, clients second and shareholder interests last.  He stressed that your key asset is your people and you must give them every opportunity to work at their best.  As I looked around I could see that the opposite was happening in this national recruitment firm – it was very much about the share price, winning volume tenders, cutting costs and reaching the number one position in the market.

Coincidently, I was headhunted at the same time by well known Adelaide businessman, Mark Hender to join his consulting firm.  Although highly prestigious and reputable in the executive space, I was reluctant to move into a sole consulting role again since I was thriving in leading a team of people.  That is when he offered me the opportunity to set up a new business.  A very exciting proposition that I didn’t refuse.

There I was, all of 23 being offered the chance to develop something from inception, put in place everything I had learnt and make the people the focus instead of just the profits.

The recipe for success was clear.  I had something to believe in – a new business where people and quality were going to be the differentiator, I had someone who believed in me and was prepared to take the risk with me and finally I had the confidence and belief in myself to get it off the ground.

The results were generating revenues of $3 million in our first year of business and creating a new recruitment system where clients paid for part of our service upfront and where candidates were king – treated with honesty and respect and very much just as important as the paying client.

I celebrate my 10th year at Entrée Recruitment  this year and as I reflect on what I will say to this business owner over coffee next week – it is very clear that belief is a critical ingredient to business success. You need to believe in yourself, you need others who believe in you and finally you need a business idea that you believe in.

Mar 28
5

How I let my inner “control freak”go

By | Leadership, Results

You could say I’m a control freak….ahhh I mean, was a control freak. Typical Type A personality, my way is best, do it like this, do it now, faster, better and have you finished yet? Okay don’t worry, I’ll do it myself.

Funny right? The results were not so funny. After running a business with this way of thinking, things piled up and suddenly I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Being interrupted 100 times a day, phone calls, long hours, always correcting things, meetings, performance issues and resignations.  I was at the end of my tether and knew things had to change or I was headed to burn out.

I was drowning and did not want to reach out to anyone fearing it was as a sign of weakness. It’s very easy to whinge about circumstances and not do anything to change it – but I’m a big believer in ongoing learning and improving performance so I got a business coach.

The first session I remember being asked to write down all the things that were worrying me, causing stress and anything I was downright unhappy about. I got two and half pages worth and thought oh dear….I’m in big trouble here, can I turn this around?

Looking in the mirror at my situation and largely my leadership (gulp!) I realised that perhaps I wasn’t all that much fun and probably 25% of the time I was a pain to work for.  In fact, I’m sure some of my staff at that time might have used stronger words than that! All in all, I was pretty hard to please.

The ultimate principles that I learnt and still use today are simple:

  1. People want to perform – they come to work with the intention of doing a good job
  2. Give people the tools to do their job and then get out of the way
  3. Give feedback immediately and be specific about what they did or didn’t do and the subsequent results
  4. High expectations are needed for high performance (just don’t demand it!)
  5. Communication delivery is the difference between a delighted and disappointed staff member
  6. Listen to your gut – if I feel a situation isn’t resolved, the chances are extremely high that the other person feels it isn’t either – go back, regroup and resolve it
  7. Don’t hang on to issues – make decisions
  8. Give people opportunities to take on greater responsibility and coach along the way
  9. Mistakes are essential in learning – that’s part of the journey
  10. Take time to think about situations, don’t react immediately

The change was fundamental. I learnt that controlling everything was detrimental to me, the business and the team.  The results were my team thinking for themselves, making decisions and experiencing increased job satisfaction.  Staff turnover diminished, I learnt to love my job again and work/life balance was achieved.

The best advice I have for control freaks? Empower others, let go, live a little and lose control. Go on, I dare you!