Communication is the balm of corporate success in that it helps maintain cohesiveness. I have worked for companies that had excellent communication throughout the chain-of-command. Although there were problems and disagreements, communication from the leadership team was always thorough and timely. That fact made the culture far more pleasurable a work environment. In many companies, this need for strong communication is devalued. MarketingProfs.com has this article – Wanted: Leadership and People Skills. The gist of the article is the need for finding CEO’s with strong communication abilities. When asked “what do you look for when recruiting talent” at the recent Leaders in London conference, Richard Branson gave this answer: “People… Read More
Continue ReadingReally Old-School Motivation
Ok, this may be a bit ethereal, but it is Friday afternoon. From ManageSmarter.com’s Burn Your Boat! The ancient Greek warriors were both feared and respected by their enemies. In battle, the Greeks established a well-deserved reputation for their unsurpassed bravery and unshakable commitment to victory. The key to their overwhelming success on the battlefield had far more to do with how the Greek commanders motivated the warriors than it did with issues of tactics or training. The Greeks were master motivators who understood how to use a “dramatic demonstration” to infuse a spirit of commitment into the heart of every warrior. Once the warriors had been offloaded from their boats… Read More
Continue ReadingFixing A Dis-incentive Plan
OK, the Rock Star really hit a nerve with his recent post – A Commission Plan Gone Bad. I’m having flashbacks to a comp plan that still makes the hair on the back of my neck bristle. When a comp plan becomes counter-productive -and the sales team is talking – you’ve created a monster. I can only think of one thing worse – have the paychecks bounce! The profile for the most productive sales people tells us that messing with compensation and the perception of deception is the beginning of the end for retention. Sales people want and need to believe that they are being treated honestly, fairly and with… Read More
Continue ReadingA Commission Plan Gone Bad – Update
The saga continues. My friend as gotten to be a great resource for me on what not to do for sales management and incentive plans. Just after the last post a new turn of events transpired in regards to this latest contest. As I mentioned, her team was challenged to sell 2 specific add-on services (both truly commodities). Extra spiff’s were added by the manager to “motivate” the sales team. One of the team members actually went out and sold 10 of these services which should have entitled them to a half day off (and no small feat to accomplish these sales). Yet, the weekly report listed only 1 sale.… Read More
Continue ReadingDoes Gloomy Weather Impact Productivity?
Yes, according to an article on CareerBuilder. There are more numbers and stats in the article than you can shake a stick at, but I thought I would share a couple with you (FYI, it is cold and rainy here in Minnesota today). One-in-ten workers say that they tend to be less productive when there is gloomy weather outside. Inclement weather can also result in higher absences. One-in-five workers (21 percent) have called in sick because of not wanting to travel to work in bad weather. Workers in the Northeast were the most likely to call in sick due to bad weather (32 percent) compared to the South (21 percent),… Read More
Continue ReadingA Commission Plan Gone Bad
A couple of weeks ago I posted on a friend’s review experience and now it’s time for a follow up. She relayed to me another experience she had with her manager. Once again, this is an example of what not to do as a sales manger. My friend set the personal goals she wanted to attain so that her territory had a good chance at winning the contest. In fact, she started talking with the rest of the team and they each set their own goals to win (unbeknownst to the manager). On the manager’s weekly conference call, the team found out they had already moved up a place in… Read More
Continue ReadingDistributed Decision Making
We have written much about the flattened org chart that the younger generations subscribe. The extremely veridical, military-like chain-of-command days are waning in the modern work world. The decision-making distribution of authority is having a tremendous impact on slow-to-react companies. I encountered this shift years ago working for a company that was headed up by older managers. My group made a presentation to management to streamline the complex business model we were running. Instead of a near-impossible vertical structure, we recommended distributing the decision process to the different business groups. The approach, which we thought made the most sense in terms of efficiency, was to have managers individually guide each… Read More
Continue ReadingCEO Boot Camp
Seriously. From abcnews.com’s Basic Training For Business Types: The most domineering boss has a way of melting in the presence of the drill instructor’s flush cheeks. And the royal waistline loses some of its cache when draped in mesh gym shorts “Yeah, we break down their egos real quick,” said Senior Drill Instructor Matt Terlop. Terlop is a former U.S. Border Patrol agent, and the lead drill instructor at CEO Boot Camp. This is almost surreal. I enjoy the concept and was hooked into reading the entire article when I read this line: “We want this to be an excuse-free environment,” Terlop warns. Amen to that. All sales departments should… Read More
Continue ReadingNo Email Fridays – Part 2
We posted on this topic last November and here it is popping up again. Abcnews.com offers No E-Mail Fridays Transform Office. An interesting stat: The volume of e-mails has exploded in recent years with over 170 billion now being sent daily around the globe, according to technology market researcher Radacati Group. That’s two million every second. I’m not surprised by that stat. But here is the piece of data that spawned the idea: Two and a half years ago, Ellison was receiving an average of 200 e-mails a day, many of which went unopened. After getting cyber-indigestion, he sent out a memo to his 5,500 subordinates. “I’m announcing a ban… Read More
Continue ReadingWork Commute Or Telecommute
This is a timely topic considering we are in the midst of a blizzard up here in the Twin Cities. I personally have a short commute, but this topic is a big deal for the thousands on the road this morning stuck in stop and go traffic. The 2006 Commuter Impact Survey from the TransitCenter, Inc. looks at commuting issues from both an employer and employee viewpoint. We have touched on this topic in previous posts (Energy Prices And Recruitment, Telecommuting Town?). There were some interesting findings in this survey that I wanted to pass along form this 18 page white paper. First, 76% of the employers who responded think… Read More
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