12/11/11


Does Ethical Behavior in Business Bring A Financial Return?

Understanding that business ethics IS an intricate part and perhaps even an extremely critical tool for companies to realize the full impact of its’ value, within their business model.  It is my personal opinion that having a defined ethical behavior strategy will to help to enable more revenue, higher profits and in general a more successful company.
 
Realizing that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “ethics” as:  “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group” [i.e. business ethics, professional ethics, work ethics] here are some additional pointers or thoughts for you to ponder:

A.     Be open for new ideas because if you are involved with improvement and change you are standing still.
B.     Continually ask for opinions and feedback; this should include your customers, vendors as well as your employees.
C.    Truthfulness in Business; According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of trust is:  “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.
D.    Become involved with customers, vendors, employees and community because familiarity in a key component to being trusted.
E.     Be respectful of other, regardless of differences, status in the company or community, age or other comparable distinctions.
F.     Achieving your promised obligations is paramount to gaining trust with current customers; and amazingly it will help you regain past customers once they realize your commitment to meeting your promises and/or obligations is valid and in practice.

So the two big questions for you: “do you measure up?”  “Does your company measure up”

Have a tremendous week and if I can be of any assistance, please call or write and I will respond immediately!  Remember, your comments or suggestions are always welcome.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.
ClientGrowthConsultants.com

12/4/11

Leaders Can Show The Way - George F. Mancuso

Leaders Can Show The Way - George F. Mancuso

Leaders Can Show The Way

Change begins with leadership. Leadership sets the tone and shows the way. How your leaders think will cast the mold for the rest of the organization.

    It must be clear to others that your organization’s leaders believe that management capability is an asset worth time and resources. Where leaders demonstrate this through their own behaviors, the organizations will have corresponding success. Having leaders publicly recognize individuals for outstanding team management (as opposed to personally exceeding business goals) will set the tone for the importance the organization places on the role of the manager in delivering results.

    When leaders spend time with their direct reports, setting clear goals and expectations, providing feedback and actively working to build bench strength in the organization, they are setting expectations for how others will act. Take Jack Welch during his GE days. He spent a great deal of his personal time both developing his own successor ( Gman says: I’ve preached for years that you should always be training your replacement) and developing leadership capability throughout the organization by participating the GE’s management development programs. As a consequence, GE is constantly cited as having one of the best leadership development programs in the world. This happened because the senior leadership believed in the value of its leaders and made investments to insure they could deliver their maximum capability.
  
Also, leaders are the ones who primarily create an organization’s fundamental beliefs, values and culture. Where leaders go astray, organizations often follow. Creating a powerful culture takes time. But leaders can play a powerful role in establishing the outward signs of culture and behaviors that they both embody and endorse.

Communication: Keeping everyone on the same page
    Organizations tend to undervalue communication. But communication plays a powerful role as the vehicle through which leaders demonstrate and publicly recognize the desired behaviors in the organization. How leaders talk about managers sets a clear message for what is expected in the organization. Strong communication systems can help organizations build strong cultures and enhance performance.

Competencies: The essential building blocks
    Identifying the critical competencies that make managers successful in your organization is the first step in creating the new manager role. New managers who are hired and current employees who are promoted into management roles must be selected because they have the capability to deliver on key functions of this role. These competencies include such skills as setting goals that fit the business strategy, providing coaching and feedback to others and helping employees understand how they fit into the big picture.

    Often promotions are given because someone is a good individual contributor. Good technical skills are a far cry from good management skills. We need alternative career structures if the only way to move up in the organization is to become a manager. Not all great individual contributors make great managers. By having management competencies defined within an organization we can also coach and develop individuals on how to improve in these specific areas.

Measuring, rewarding and reinforcing
    It’s a cliché, but it’s true: That which gets measured and rewarded gets done. If you don’t include management competencies and results for such areas as reduction in turnover or developing staff to improve organizational bench strength in performance appraisal systems, managers will not focus on these issues. Organizations that reward their managers for being good managers will stand the greatest chance of building strong management capability over time. Rewards do not need to take the form of money. In fact, simple public recognition of strong management skills sends a message to the rest of the organization: Managers are important to us.

Organization structure: The key symbol
    When organizations design jobs so that managers must spend 90 percent of their time doing non-management work, we send a very clear message about how we view the management aspects of a manager’s role: They are not important. We need to redesign organizational structures to support managers so they can truly manage the talent within the organization.
  
By involving your leaders, crafting key messages, developing managers and examining the current messages managers receive about their role in managing others, HR leaders can change how managers are viewed, and how they view themselves.
 
 The process of building better managers is not fast or cheap. But the rewards can be substantial and well worth the effort.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

11/27/11


Don’t Underestimate the Role of Managers During Times of Change

    Doing the bare minimum of training and development—just enough to keep your organization within the law, and to keep from being sued—can easily lead to behaviors that damage companies’ reputations. Once damaged, a reputation takes significant time and money to restore. Some companies never really recover. Before you find yourself in a position of losing top talent or dealing with a weakened organizational reputation, you can invest in processes to improve the management capability in your organization.

    Human resource leaders are in an ideal position to influence all the elements needed to change the role of managers and to help their organizations build management capability. Many elements are needed, of course, but the first is the sponsorship of the most senior leaders to ensure buy-in and demonstrable support for the process. The rest of the elements involve your organization’s beliefs, values and culture. All of these are initiatives for change and are necessary to reinforce norms and expectations.

    Building management capability goes beyond training. It includes transforming the organization’s culture so that it values the role that management plays in attracting and retaining top talent and setting forth clear expectations for the manager’s role. As this model indicates, all organizations have an underlying set of beliefs about the importance of the manager. Organizations that have strong management capabilities believe that managers are critical for their ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. Strong beliefs influence the values of an organization, and consequently, culture.

    Each of the initiations of change in the model represents an area that organizations must consider if they want to build strong management capability. Just focusing on one trigger point of change will not bring about lasting change in management capability; the current culture will overwhelm small changes. By focusing on numerous change initiatives, organizations can modify the culture and create long-term change. Briefly, review the following considerations:

·        Leadership: An organization’s leadership must both believe in the value of the role that managers play and must lead by example.
·        Communication: The leadership team must consistently communicate the importance of the role of the manager to the organization and its ability to achieve high performance, attract talent and retain it.
·        Competencies: Management competencies must be assessed and developed. Entry into a management role must be predicated on an appropriate, although not necessarily perfect, set of skills.
·        Measurement and rewards: Any effective strategy must be integrated into the scorecard. It must be measured and rewarded.
·        Structure and symbols: The role of a manager must be structured so that the manager can spend sufficient time with direct reports. The term "manager" must mean something in terms of role expectations.
    By focusing on these valid points of change, the organization will develop new norms and expectations for behavior. The organizational beliefs regarding the management role will actually conform to what the intrinsic intention of change is encouraging: a belief that managers’ roles do make a difference.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

11/13/11


QUESTIONHOW DO WE MEASURE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF KEEPING OUR TOP PERFORMERS?

DISCUSSION:  Most companies today recognize the value of attracting and retaining a strong, competent workforce.  But most also don’t fully appreciate how they can improve retention rates.
When surveyed, employees indicate their top reasons for leaving a position are:
·        Not getting along with their direct supervisor.
·        Desire for more money.
·        Need for better work/life balance.
·        Lack of career growth, challenging assignments.
It’s noteworthy that three of the four top reasons are non-financial. Employers can do much to address these issues, but frequently only pay lip service to significantly enhancing the employee experience. If employers paid this little attention to their customers’ experience, they would likely be out of business.
So, what’s an enlightened employer to do?
  • Actively demonstrate that you value the unique needs of each employee
  • Tailor your HR and benefit programs to your workforce (flexible work schedules, choices in health plan options, PTO banks, etc.)
  • Publicly recognize outstanding performance and employee achievements.
  • Teach supervisors how to be good coaches and managers.
  • Provide ongoing training on issues such as handling conflict, delivering difficult messages and conducting effective performance discussions.
  • Ensure alignment between business goals and employee rewards.
  • Appropriately mix base and variable pay.
  • Unambiguously link performance to rewards.
  • Clearly delineate between rewards for top and bottom performers.
  • Nurture the employee ecosystem.
  • Make sure employees understand what the organization values are.
  • Practice what you preach—hold managers accountable for their actions and for tolerating or ignoring unacceptable behavior.
  • Focus attention on high performers; deal effectively with marginal performers (Is an “up or out” philosophy right for you? Or, is a culture of mediocrity acceptable?).
  • Ask top performers what makes them successful at your organization and why they stay.
  • Ask employees what is and what is not working and act on their input.
Commonly used solutions today include pre-hire assessments, (WE OFFER AND UTILIZE THE DiSC® ASSESSMENT PROFILE) variable compensation programs, and links between the performance management and compensation systems (both strategic linkages and automated, processing-type linkages). Planned enhancements over the next year typically include the implementation of learning management systems and online skills/competency tracking systems.

Forward-thinking companies do a reasonable job of tracking the key performance indicators of retention, which have historically covered employee satisfaction levels, turnover rates and benchmarks for similar organizations, and worker productivity metrics. However, these measures do little to illuminate why retention issues occur. 

These basic measures should be expanded to track items such as employee satisfaction with specific areas of their job (their work, their supervisor, their pay, their commute, their co-workers); turnover rates should be evaluated by employee level, tenure, speed of advancement, performance rating, sex, age and other factors.

The key is to progress from simply tracking data to understanding information to determining cause and effect. Then you can affect your bottom line.  Client Growth Consultants is here to help.  Call or write and we will respond immediately!

George Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

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11/6/11

Do You Pay Yourself?

Do You Pay Yourself?
PAY YOURSELF!!!


The holidays can be fun, but they can also add stress to our already crazy existence as business professionals.  If you close your eyes and review 2011 – would you make any changes?  Would your W-2 be higher?  Would you take better care of yourself?



Here is a chance to wave the magic wand…….Picture 2012 as a White Board which is very exciting and full of opportunities!  You can create anything you want for yourself next year.  Now ask yourself this question…..Do you know EXACTLY what you want?  Most people don’t get what they want out of life because they’re too busy worrying about everyone else to take time to determine what THEY want out of life.



During this extremely busy upcoming Holiday Season(s), find a quiet place for yourself for at least one hour.  Close your eyes and envision yourself one year from now, and you are celebrating your BEST YEAR EVER!



Now open your eyes and write down who was at this celebration, what you achieved and what you have to do (starting now) to make it happen.  Make certain some of these goals are “personal goals.”



Think about this…..

What you do for a living is admirable!

What you do for a living is challenging!

What you do for a living changes the lives of other people on a daily basis!  How incredible is that?



Put yourself on your Holiday Shopping List.  Reward yourself each month of 2012 when you achieve your monthly goals.  Your clients, your peers, your friends, your employees need YOU, to take care of YOURSELF in 2012, so that you can take care of them.



Don’t be afraid to pay yourself!  It will be well worth the investment.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

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10/30/11

Employees Want Managers Who Provide Goals and Direction

Employees Want Managers Who Provide Goals and Direction
Employees don’t leave companies; they leave their managers (I’ve said this time and time again) and this IS a key factor to a successful employee retention program.

    Employees want managers who will provide goals and direction, feedback and coaching—and who recognize and reward them for good performance. Yet research indicates that managers are not delivering on these expectations. One possible reason is that managers’ roles are not designed to focus on managing people. Most managers spend 90 percent of their time on technical and administrative tasks and only 10 percent of their time on activities related to managing and developing the people who report to them.

    There is a wealth of research indicating that management behavior is a key factor in retention. This is nothing new. Recent research has consistently shown that dissatisfaction with one’s manager is a top reason for leaving the organization.

    More recently, three different research studies examined the factors that predicted whether employees would stay with or leave their current organizations. Some of the most commonly found items predicting intention to leave were:

•    Insufficient feedback and coaching
•    Insufficient reward and recognition for their work
•    Insufficient learning and development opportunities
•    Insufficient sense that their organization values them
    
Management is responsible for delivering on each of these job factors. No one else can affect how an employee feels as dramatically and tangibly as an employee’s immediate manager. The most effective managers are those who know their employees’ strengths and development needs so well that they know which assignments to give based on balancing both organizational needs and those of the employees.
 
    Coaching and feedback make up one area that is receiving the most attention in organizations today. Employee survey results in company after company are showing that employees want and expect feedback. Research conducted with Gen Xers tells us that this age group not only expects feedback from their managers, but demands it. The Millennial Generation is even more voracious in its need for coaching and input.
 
    Finally, people want to know that they are appreciated when they do a good job or put in extra effort. Good managers praise employees in ways that raise self-esteem and commitment to the organization. Poor managers just expect it all, and, as a consequence, praise nothing. What they really get is turnover, and lots of it. And then they get less productivity out of the people who do stay.
 
EMPLOYEE RETENTION CONTINUES TO BE A MANAGEMENT ISSUE!
 
We Can Help!  Call or write and we WILL respond immediately!
 
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President/CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

www.ClientGrowthConsultants.com


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10/28/11


Ace The Interview

"I Got the Job!"

Use This Simple, Step-by-Step System
and You'll Ace Your Interview
A JOB INTERVIEW IS A TOUGH COMPETITION WITH USUALLY ONLY ONE WINNER.  BUT YOU CAN BE THAT WINNER - EVEN IF YOU AREN'T THE MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE!

HERE IS THE KEY TO; 
  • GETTING HIRED
  • AVOID THE MISTAKES THAT MOST APPLICANTS MAKE
  • AND PREPARE YOURSELF BETTER THAN OTHERS
IT IS NOT DIFFICULT IF YOU USE A SIMPLE STEP BY STEP SYSTEM
AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO SHOW YOU HOW.  CLICK HERE

10/23/11

Does Your Organization Suffer From Management Capability?

Research suggests that most organizations neglect the responsibility of managers, undervalue the role and therefore suffer from a lack of strong management capability. A survey I read a few years ago indicated that employees who plan to stay with their current companies are twice as likely to stay when managers recognize their talents and encourage them to use those talents to the fullest.

I would say that the trend that has emerged is far from a bed of roses. Today’s managers are also individual contributors and they spend more of their time doing their "real" jobs and technical aspects of their positions, than they actually spend quality time managing their employees. This behavior is problematic because today’s employees want more from their managers and workplaces, not less. And they are willing to walk out of your workplace if they don’t get it.  And that is true even in this economic climate.

While employees are hungry for praise and eager to get help expanding their capabilities, there is, unfortunately, a corresponding capability gap among managers to give them what they need. This deficit exists for many reasons, including but not limited to:

•    Years of downsizing means companies expect more from fewer employees
•    There simply is not enough time for managers to devote to mentoring and employee development
•    Insufficient skills. Managers don’t know how to provide feedback and develop people
•    A deficiency of a meaning rewards program
•     Managers are rewarded based upon individual contributions and achievements, not their management skills or a combination of the two.
•    The mistaken belief that "one size fits all." The same rewards tactic won’t motivate everyone equally.
•    Organizations do not place a high enough value on the role of the manager
 
Have a tremendous week.  Call or write if I can help in any way.
 

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants
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10/16/11

What Would You Suggest The Process To Be To Groom Several Successful Mentors In My Organization?

I’d like to begin by suggesting that managers need to play a role in driving employee engagement and performance. I would not recommend that you replace manager-employee coaching or try to make up for bad managers with a mentoring program.
  • Clarify your objectives. An effective mentoring program supplements coaching from managers, and it should be positioned as a way to make the business, not just individual employees, more successful. From there you can add a more specific goal, such as helping new employees get up to speed quickly.
  • Define your mentor selection criteria. Mentors need to be more than willing. They need to have a coaching attitude and ability. Describe these characteristics in writing—and other traits, such as particular business knowledge or specific skills.
  • Equip your mentors. Provide tools and training to help mentors fulfill their role. This process goes beyond basic coaching skills to include an emphasis on:
  • Individualized partnerships. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” may serve people well most of the time, but it can actually get in the way of successful mentoring. Effective mentors understand their individual mentees’ needs and work with everyone differently. What works great for one person can derail another.
  • Career coaching. Although employees may look to their mentors for career “navigation” advice, our research indicates that few are clear on what’s important to them. Mentors need to help people get behind the core values that create job satisfaction for them. What do they like to do and why? What would enrich their work each day? Only then can mentors help employees create a plan for professional development, career progression or job enrichment.

Reinforce mentoring. To reap the benefits that mentors provide, you need to make mentoring a way of life. Senior leaders must be role models and discuss with employees the impact that mentoring has on business and personal success.

Leaders experience success as mentors through practice. The more they mentor, the more successful their mentoring becomes. A virtuous cycle will then take hold: They believe in mentoring, they’ve seen how it works, and they’re motivated to build their own competence.

And don’t forget to build in accountability, metrics and recognition systems. Without these, mentoring can fall by the wayside as a “nice to do that we don’t have time to do,” instead of remaining a core strategy for building an engaged workforce and thriving business.  Of course if you need help in setting up a mentoring program and/or would like to send your managers to a leadership seminar that teaches mentoring, leadership and building relationships to improve your company culture, please call or write and I will respond immediately!
 
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC



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10/9/11

What is a Trusted Adviser Relationship?

There are times when I leave a meeting with my staff or my client and we are just not on the same page. Sure, we agree on what activities, sales or services have taken place and/or what remains to be done, but it seems like I don't know what is going on inside their heads.  George please share any thoughts you may have on this subject.

You are perceptive to recognize that this is an important issue. If you are going to be steps ahead of your staff or client, or at least not behind, you need to understand their mindset, their concerns, and their emotions. It is easier, of course, to just consider your relationship with staff or a client as transactional: they ask you to provide a service and you provide it based on your experience and skills. But that's not the basis of a trusted adviser relationship.

Decisions are highly influenced by emotion;

1.    Do you know to what extent your client or his or her staff is bound by emotion, even for "technical" decisions?
2.    What factors exist that could affect those emotions?
3.    How do they feel about you, trust your professional judgment, or consider you trustworthy as a person?
4.    How does the way they use or are aware of the emotional component of operating and decision making affect how you could, or should, present them with information or a request for a decision?

Before any encounter with a prospect or a client, ask yourself;

A.    What do I want them to think and feel as a result of this upcoming discussion or event?
B.    Am I trying to get them to change the way they think or feel about a certain issue, person or event?
C.    Do I want them to think or feel differently about me?
D.    Is where their head is right now conducive to my short or longer term objectives and is this the right time to inform them of a specific fact or recommend a specific course of action?
E.    Have I correctly understood where they are now and will my approach leave them in the desired thinking and feeling frame of mind?

Although some business professionals may approach every conversation like this intuitively, get into the habit of internally asking these questions before each conversation, meeting, or presentation. This technique applies equally to encounters with a group of people, such as when you are presenting your findings to a management team. Don't get stuck just presenting "just the facts" and forget that you are trying to influence your audience, something tightly bound up with their emotions.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

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10/2/11

Management Wants Assurances

Question:  Management is sometimes reluctant to start a project until they see the full scope of the process but can't visualize the scope until they start and complete some diagnostics. How can I get past this constraint with our executive management?

Answer:  This is always in a manager's mind but probably more so in these risk-averse times. From the manager's perspective, he or she wants to be assured that money and staff time are well spent and wants to know the scope, sequence and content of the project tasks. From the team or team leaders’ perspective, they should want to conduct some diagnostics first before laying out the full scope of the project, even though they have a pretty good idea of how they would proceed. In management, as in medicine, prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.

The building industry figured this out years ago when building slowed down. They developed the design/build concept, where a single firm would do the architectural design work prior to building. Once the project was clear, the buyer could search for and identify the best builder. With this concept, the buyer had already established a trust and confidence in the design phase because they were familiar with the design process itself. More often than not, the buyer would select a firm it knew and by offering both services, the project was more efficient and better for the builder as well.

Offer to provide both design and build services for project curriculum. Approach your management group by offering to scope out the work using fast track diagnostics and limited interviews. For a low cost and risk, you can provide the management an objective and independent view of what might be needed in an improvement project. The management and/or company receives valuable perspectives from you, gets a chance to know you with limited obligation to any project, and you get insight into how best to serve. Sounds like a good plan all around. Hope this helps.



I certainly hope you have a tremendous week.  If I can be of any assistance to you or your team, please call or write and I will respond immediately!


Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants

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9/25/11

HAVE YOU EVER FELT "STUMPED," "STUCK" OR "STALE" WHEN TRYING TO COME UP WITH GREAT IDEAS TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE?

An excellent and simple way to generate a wide variety of ideas is to "brainstorm" with other people who are involved in the situation at hand. When performed correctly, "brainstorming” or what I personally call a “skull session” helps keep everyone engaged and involved in the process. It can also generate excitement, enthusiasm, collaboration and lots of creativity.

Here's one way to do it:


1.    Thoroughly review the details of the topic with the group 

2.    Allow a short time for the participants to think about the issue

3.    Invite the participants to start making suggestions and have a facilitator capture the essence of each suggestion on a flip-chart or whiteboard. (Note: It is extremely important that nobody judges, critiques or rejects anyone's suggestion at this time. It might suppress future participation and close the door on creativity)

4.    Encourage participants to go out of the box and throw as many ideas as they can in a short period of time.

5.    After no more ideas are presented, take a close look at the results. Gain clarification, combine duplicates, and categorize the ideas for more efficient processing. Sometimes the best solution is one that comes from "left field" or is deceptively simple and elegant. Take the time to properly listen, process, and understand or risk missing it! 

6.    Take the ideas above and grow them.  Pick a word or phrase and ask for additional ideas based on that concept.  You will be amazed at the results.
The growing sales or management professional will learn that to be truly successful we should tap into existing information from others to arrive at the best solutions for our clients.  You should always solicit knowledge and input from the people around you with whom you trust.

Have a tremendous week.  Call or write if I can assist you or your company in any way.


Regards,


George F. Mancuso, CPC
President
Client Growth Consultants



9/21/11

Client Growth Consultants Of Grinnell, IA And Quantum Expositions Of Wichita, KS Have Joined Forces As Growth Partners!

PRESS RELEASE:  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2011, Grinnell, Iowa

George F. Mancuso, President/CEO has announced that Client Growth Consultants, a 26 year old Business Consultancy specializing in Employee Retention and Retained Executive Search has joined forces with Quantum Expositions, a 14 year old Organizer and Producer of High Quality trade shows, Job Fairs and Expositions across the United States.

Mancuso says, “….This is a huge and exciting step forward for Client Growth Consultants as it will give us the continued exposure to hiring managers and top executives of companies all over the United States.  Saving money through proper Employee Retention programs and Qualified Recruiting Services all equates to helping people, improving revenue and adding profit to the bottom line.  Quantum Expositions has impeccable credentials and outstanding success within its industry and it is a tremendous pleasure to be associated with them.”

President of Quantum Expositions, Bob Loudermilk states, “We are thrilled with the opportunity to Growth Partner with George Mancuso and his team. For the past fourteen years, Quantum Expositions has specialized in helping organizations to identify and hire qualified people through our recruiting events. Now, by partnering with Client Growth Consultants, we will take this to an entirely new level by providing a service for those companies seeking candidates for a higher level of all around excellence. This cost effective service will first be offered to our existing clients, and then expanded to attract new clients around the country for both firms.”

Client Growth Consultants, www.ClientGrowthConsultants.com
Quantum Expositions, www.QuantumExpo.com

9/18/11

Retention, Conflict and Change


NOTE:  In the last 60 days, I have received 71 Emails requesting additional suggestions, ideas or conceptual designs with regards to RETENTION, CONFLICT and CHANGE.  Your questions vary through this spectrum, so I’ll do my best to address the concept in general, again.

A:  The commonality to most of your Emails, have to do with conflict.  An example; “One person or team wanting or attempting to implement change while another person or team is determined to derail any and all change that THEY don’t think of.  Results = anger, hostility, terminations and resignations.” 

PLEASE REFLECT YOUR CURRENT SITUATION(S) TO THE FOLLOWING:

A.     When you have long term, entrenched employees who are petrified of having their little apple cart upset, you will have conflict.

B.    When you have management that talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk so that change can be embraced, you will have conflict.

C.    When you have employees who don’t “sign up for” OR “buy in to” the upcoming change process, you will have conflict.

D.    When change is dictated and not a team effort, you will have conflict.

E.     When management or supervisors are micro-managers, you will have conflict.

F.    When the dissenting employees get into their “derail” mode AND justify their position (usually confidentially) to weak management, thus getting management to knowingly or unknowingly assist in the derailment, YOU WILL HAVE CONFLICT!

Hopefully you get the picture.  If you are going to implement change, and don’t include everybody in the communication process and offer a defined but reasonable methodology to resolve issues, your change process is destined to fail with no matter WHO you put in charge to initiate change.

For additional edification, I believe that some of the pillars or foundations for a successful team include:
1.     Communications
a.     Keeping employees informed is paramount to success
2.     The Right Leadership
b.     If you have weak or worn out leaders, they don’t make good role models
3.     Effective Decision Making
c.      Make the best decisions you can and without excessive procrastination
4.     The Team is Results Focused
1.     Everybody MUST agree to each other & themselves to stay focused
5.     Defined Mutual Accountability
1.     Team members must know what is expected of them & that they ARE accountable.
6.     Proactive Demeanor of the Team
1.     A team needs to be in the game at all times, not just when something goes wrong
7.     Shared or Collective Accountability
1.     Not only as individuals but as a team, you stand together through the rights and the wrongs
8.     Dependency on Each Other
1.     If you don’t feel comfortable depending on your team member, your team will have gaping holes
9.     A Define Conflict Resolution Process
1.     Without this process, conflict will fester and destruction is just over the hill
10.  Optimism  (Optimistic Teams are Positive)
1.     Must possess a “can do” attitude at ALL times
11.  Supporting Each Other in a Positive Manner
1.     If one member is having difficulty with a process, employee or even a customer, another team member(s) will step up to assist
12.  Set Common Goals and Strategies with Clear Expectations
1.     Don’t set goals that are destined to fail.  Be realistic
13.  Trust and Reliability in the Team Members  (The Right People)
1.     Be certain that the team is filled with credible, honest and dedicated employees.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Employee Retention Specialists
Client Growth Consultants

9/17/11

U.S. Commerce Association Awards Client Growth Consultants Best of 2011 Award

Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Client Growth Consultants, Inc. Receives 2011 Best of Grinnell Award 

U.S. Commerce Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

NEW YORK, NY, September 10, 2011 -- Client Growth Consultants, Inc. has been selected for the 2011 Best of Grinnell Award in the Business Management Consultants Employee Retention category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).

The USCA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

This is the first year that a business has qualified as a Four-Time Award Winner. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2011 USCA Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USCA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Commerce Association (USCA)

U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) is a New York City based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USCA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USCA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

SOURCE: U.S. Commerce Association

CONTACT:
U.S. Commerce Association
Email: PublicRelations@uscaaward.com
URL: http://www.uscaaward.com

9/11/11

Develop a Stronger and More Cohesive Team


I’m often asked, “How can I develop a stronger and more cohesive team?”  The answer is not as simple as waving a magic wand but here is one imperative suggestion to building your team that I’d like to offer here.

“Everyone on the team should be continually training their replacement!”  Yes that’s right, train the people around you just like they were going to replace you.  And I direct this to ALL levels within your organization, from the mail room to the board room.

A few thoughts to ponder;

1.       You know your “job” and you are very good in the performance of your responsibilities!
2.      In the event of your absence, whether planned or unplanned, who will or is totally qualified to act on your behalf without any disruption in the process of your everyday tasks?
3.      How would you feel if your boss said, “I’d like to promote you to the next level in our company, but we don’t have anybody to take your place, so no promotion at this time?”
4.      Are you carrying a heavy load while people around you seem to have more leisure time at work?

Here is my logic with this concept;

To begin with, there is absolutely no room for paranoia in the work place.  I’ve heard people say half heartedly, “soon he will know as much or more than me then he’ll want my job.”  This is stinking thinking folks and needs to be out of the workplace.  All employees want the opportunity to grow. 

The best way to grow an employee and improve his/her confidence level,  is to continually offer them education and a feeling of being wanted, needed and respected.  Making a person stronger by giving them additional knowledge or tools will help your team.  Employees will become contributors and not just a warm body going through the motions.

TIP:  My message today is a challenge to give this concept a try.  Pick one employee and start giving him/her slightly more responsibility.  Do this immediately after you take the time to explain to them your goal and plan and that you’d like them to learn more and add more value to the team.  And don’t forget to tell them that you expect them to “train the people around themselves just like they are going to replace you.” 

A few years ago, I had the President of a company have his Marketing Department make several banners for the office and plant area that said, “EVERYONE ON OUR TEAM SHOULD BE CONTINUALLY TRAINING THEIR REPLACEMENT!”  And in small print it said, “See your supervisor for details”.  The results were multiple company meetings explaining this concept and low and behold, production went up, employee retention improved, and people even looked happy to be there.  What have you got to lose? Give it a try and I’d certainly be interested in your results.

Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Employee Retention Specialist
President
Client Growth Consultants