Tag: Linkedin

Get on a Best Workplace List by Doing This

Having a workplace that is known for being the best is just as good for the business as it is for workplace morale. Ranking high on a positive list is viewed as the result of the effort of that specific business to build a better environment for its employees rather than itself. The reward ultimately lies in the fact that you have created something that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

If your business is working correctly then the trust will start at the top tier of management and work its way down to everyone else. However, you need to know that high-trust can start in any department, team, or employee and work its way out. Here are a few tips for creating an atmosphere that cultivates a positive work environment.

Take A Look At Yourself

If you want to culture a high-trust environment, you need to work from the inside out. You need to make sure that you trust yourself and have credibility with others before you try to expand your relationships. Work on the core behaviors like listening, clarifying, talking confidently and straight, and making sure you are holding yourself accountable.

Declaring Your Intent

Make sure when you are explaining what you would like to achieve, you are being open and explicit. When you aren’t being direct with what you want to achieve, people aren’t going to understand and might not take you seriously. Be transparent; describe why you want to do this and what your plans are.

When you are direct with your plans and intentions, you are going to change how people feel about your behavior. Leaders should always declare their intent in a simple, direct way. It’s an important way to deploy a feeling of trust and openness in your organization.

Extending Trust

One of the cardinal rules of trust is that you get what you give. If you are working with someone who is equally trustworthy, but neither of you are willing to extend trust, nothing will get accomplished. This doesn’t mean to trust anyone, but to make sure you are reading people well and the risk involved in your project.

Don’t Let The List Be Your End Goal

While lists are important and can show who you are as a company, don’t let your name on a list be the ultimate goal. If your company is able to achieve success and be trustworthy first and foremost, you will climb to where you deserve to be. Rankings and measure will follow the business and workplace that you cultivate.

Need help? Contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professionals.

3 Reasons Why Our Leaders Are in Trouble

A surprising majority of people in the workplace believe the world is currently in a leadership crisis. People in positions of power seem less and less competent to lead and more and more arrogant about the positions they hold. Here are some reasons we believe our leaders may be in trouble.

1. An Obsession With Results

Today’s result-driven world has caused our leaders to become obsessed with the bottom line. No longer are they focused on the process of getting to those results, they are simply driven by profit and results. This can lead to a workplace with a toxic environment where positive production hangs by a flimsy thread.

Leaders should be just as focused on the process as they are the end result. Establishing a healthy work environment and focusing on the basics will become more beneficial to the company in the long run. When all you focus on is profit and income, you lose sight of the factors that cause those outcomes.

2. Failing to Adapt

Companies and the teams working in them being a well-oiled machine is one of the oldest metaphors in business. However, just as technological advances change the way those machines run, cultural advances change the way our businesses run. Organizations are a well-oiled machine, but they are a machine that is ever changing.

Unfortunately, not all leaders realize the importance of being able to adapt to the times. Just because something worked a decade ago, or even just five years ago, doesn’t mean it’s going to work today. A successful leader is willing to change, adapt and implement new leadership styles that keep their team running like a well-oiled machine.

3. We’re Working Harder Not Smarter

As Americans, we have a ‘the grind never stops’ mentality that has been engraved in us since we started elementary school. While other cultures around the world have found success in adopting a ‘less-is-more’ approach, we continue to push ourselves on a daily basis. It might be time to consider working smarter, not harder.

Studies have shown that a decrease in the number of hours can help increase employees’ productivity. The idea behind it is an employee who works less will be more energized, motivated and will be less likely to burn out. Perhaps it’s time for leaders to reconsider how we view the American workweek.

Not All Hope Is Lost

While leaders may be losing the faith of their contemporaries, not all hope is lost. There are steps leaders can take to improve what’s going on around them.

Need help? Contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

A Corporate Board Member’s Toughest Job – Setting Company Leadership

Being a part of a company’s board sounds like a daunting job, and it truly is. And while it may be extremely tough to do, the simplest job lies here – hiring and monitoring the leadership teams, starting with the CEO. Staying focused on this task will mean more time to oversee the culture, strategy, and performance of the company.

Yet even the simplest job comes with difficult tasks to keep up with. It would be too easy if you could just hire the leadership team and watch the company grow. The board also has to figure out how to assess performance, find a new CEO in case the current one leaves, and find the best leadership structure for the company.

Assessing Performance

By completing an annual review, the board is able to accurately track and assess the performance of the CEO. Some companies even hold an off-site retreat over the span of a few days to go over strategies for staying competitive in an ever growing marketplace. Focusing on leaders that have the future of the company in their mind is crucial.

The CEO Succession

There comes a point in everyone’s career that you will either stay with a company and retire or leave for a better opportunity. In any case, the board must have a plan in place to fill the vacant CEO role when it happens. According to Forbes, the average tenure for a US CEO is 9.7 years.

With the lifespan of a company being roughly 11 years before going public or going through acquisition, per EquityZen, the board has to find a CEO that is right for the future. Even though trends show that two-thirds of the CEOs hired from within are successful, you may not have a large enough talent pool to choose from. If you are a smaller company, reaching outside may be your only and best option.

Leadership Structure

Planning the role of the CEO is only one part of the job. The structure of the CEO’s role is extremely important to figure out. In most instances now, the CEO is also a chairman of the board. It is actually quite undermining to the CEO to not be part of the board when they are the head of overall operations for your company.

 

It can also become a bit complicated when the CEO retires or if the CEO is the founder of the company. Having them still be part of the board can cause tension with the new CEO. It would be very difficult for a founder or retired CEO to not overstep boundaries and only handle board duties.

Need help? Contact us today!

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

The True Key to Workplace Productivity

In order to entice the most skilled employees, you need to stay on the cutting edge of workplace trends. We’ll discuss some ways the workplace is changing and what you can do about it. You can make your workplace more job seeker-friendly and increase workplace productivity.

What Does an Agile Workplace Look Like?

More and more employees are seeking a flexible work environment. They want to be able to work on the go, from where they’re at. Workplace agility provides the tools necessary to accomplish this.

Give your employees the tools they need to continue to be productive and efficient from wherever they’re at. Workplace agility is supported by technology that can create this flexibility for your employees. We’ll discuss some of these vital tools in depth later on.

Why Is It Important?

Today, there are more jobs than there are qualified people to fill them. This means you need to be attractive to potential employees. According to several studies, current job seekers care more about flexibility and options in the workplace than they do salary.

They need a space that allows them to work on their own time. Some work best on their own. Some thrive in a space that allows them to collaborate with others. And, yet, even others excel when they’re able to work in their own environment at home. Agility creates space and the tools to integrate all of these needs into the workplace and increases overall productivity.

How to Create an Agile Workplace

This isn’t something you just plunge into without any planning. You’ll need to have a strategy, implement that strategy, then quickly adapt to what’s working. You’ll need to track employee engagement to see how active they are on different tools such as the cloud and apps.

Create a space that has a common area for employees to come together to collaborate, but still has private offices for those that need time to work on their own. Most suggest starting with a cloud-based office suite to aid in collaboration as your employees work together in person and from the comfort of their own homes.

Technology Tools for an Agile Workplace

Virtual reality and augmented reality are several great tools that allow your employees to attend meetings or test products from wherever they are at. SaaS platforms and the cloud are vital tools for remote work. These tools allow your team to collaborate with each other via the internet.

With the desire to work remotely comes the need for a “work as you need to” model. As long as employers are getting their work done, then employers aren’t concerned with the hours they logged doing the work. This is also a great model that allows employees to come together to brainstorm then separate to fulfill their duties on their own.

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.

A Simple Tip to Improve Your Performance Management

As a leader, you are in charge of many aspects of the job such as communication, strategies, management and more. But, there’s one area where leaders often fail. Unfortunately, these mistakes cost them great employees.

Employees Want to Feel Appreciated

The simple tip to improve the performance from your team is this- appreciation. They want to hear that you are happy with their performance and results. Of course, this needs to be genuine thanks about their work and what they accomplish.

How to Show Appreciation to Your Employees

If you google performance management, you’ll come up with the 4 basic steps you need to take for a successful performance management cycle.

These steps include planning, action, monitoring, and reviewing the employees.

What you likely won’t read, is how you can use these steps to show true appreciation to your team.

Planning

The planning or goal- setting phase is a perfect time to sit down with your employee and have a heartfelt conversation with them about how you believe in them. You can easily point to their strengths and qualities that you know will help them with the task. It’s powerful when someone believes in you.

Action

When you get your employees set in motion, you need to be consistent with checking in on them. Many people complain that they only hear from their managers at the start and end of a project. Everyone needs someone on the sidelines cheering them on.

Monitoring

The monitoring phase is not a time to micromanage the employees. Rather, it is a time to give them the ability to reach out to you and share what’s going on. During these conversations, you can take the time to reward their progress. Rewarding along the way helps them push through and keep moving forward.

Reviewing

Once the project is completed, the reviewing phase is a good time to go over how things were handled during the project. You can use this time to assess how well they did during certain parts of the process. Of course, it is also a time to share how they can improve on future projects.

When you realize how important it is to show your employees they are appreciated, it will make a big difference in their satisfaction and retention.

Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com

Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com

574.361.2674

Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professional.