Office gossip, politics rise as the economy shrinks – The Denver Post

Economic uncertainty is on the rise, and so is office gossip. Office workers, perhaps fearful for their jobs and worried about their companies’ futures, are playing office politics and gossiping more than they were five years ago, according to a poll earlier this year. In fact, 55 percent of those surveyed said politicking at work is on the rise. View Full Story

Would Your Team Survive in “Reality” World

Diagnosing the Dysfunctional Team

1.  Gossip or closed door discussions are frequent forms of communication.

2.  Tension and conflict are present most of the time and cannot be resolved

without intervention from management.

3.  Projects are worked on separately with little or no knowledge of other team

member’s participation

4.  You have to watch what you say around “certain” people.

5.  Little or no trust for upper management

6.  Blame and frustrations with others for lack of movement or success

7.  Little or no accountability for commitments that are made

8.  Often discuss or wonder “what if” scenarios

9.  Coffee conga line is strong- One person starts a rumor, story or complaint and

conga’s down the hall build false evidence support their story.

10.  Refusal or fear of asking for help.

_________________________________________________________________________

If you said yes too:

0 -1 symptoms                         You are member of a functional team.  Have a

discussion about items of concern and develop a

plan to eliminate these practices.

2 – 4 symptoms                   You are member of a functioning team.  Create a space to be honest and open with all members and develop strategies to redirect the energy focus.

5 – 7 symptoms            You are member of a dysfunctional team with a base foundation to build on. Get a help quickly while you still have some common interest at stake.

8-10             Well at least you answered the questions – that’s a start!  Now take the next step and call us

Leadership Development is Worth the Investment

“Leadership is applicable to all facets of life: a competency that you can learn to expand your perspective, set the context of a goal, understand the dynamics of human behavior and take the initiative to get to where you want to be.”
~John G Agno

Recruiting, developing and retaining talent in an industry is critical to the success to your company especially in economic uncertainties. These leadership activities are essential components of every successful manager and executive who has the responsibility to help grow and develop talent.

I recently partnered with company to design a competency matrix and succession plan for all of the key executive positions. This powerful process will lead to future success; bringing amazing clarity to vagueness that often permeates an organization.

WHY:

• Visibility to career pathing / succession planning
• Provide skills assessment and the gap analysis
• Improve Organization /Department/Individual strengths
• Foster employee development; enables coaching / feedback
• Ties to functional/ team component of company model

WHAT:

Competency
A competency describes the knowledge, skill, attributes and / or behaviors that clearly defines the requirement for success in a job.

Functional/ Technical:
Demonstrates appropriate depth of understanding and skill in current functional area.

BOTTOM LINE: The differentiation between what you can and cannot learn on the job.

HOW:

• Complete coverage for all proficiencies
• List necessary skills, for successful performance, for each position
• Ensure universally accepted by stakeholders
• Tie into company functional/technical competency and overall performance
management
• Develop communications materials

To learn more about these POWERFUL programs please call or email me for a sample competency grid.

Becca Robinson,MCC
Becca Robinson, MCC
The Robinson Group
Clear Communications For Subjects That Matter
www.the-robinson-group.com
www.linkedin.com/in/beccarobinson
303-329-9555 p

ARE YOU RELEVANT IN YOUR JOB

 

I so often hear that people are not “in it for the money” that they do there job because they love what the do, who they serve, what they can accomplish .  I am continually reminding them that without the bottom line, the ROI, there would not be an opportunity to make a difference.  

 

Are You relevant in your job?  Are you contributing to the bottom line.  Now more than ever it is important  to know if you are relevant in your job. 

 

What are the key accountabilities are you responsible for?

What goals have you committed to achieving it this position over the next year?

If your job could talk, which skills would be identified as most important?

Who truly understands your position?

If your superiors had a clearer understanding of your job, could you be more productive? 

If your direct reports had a clearer understanding of their positions, would they be more productive? 

 How would this understanding affect your bottom-line? 

How would this understanding affect team synergy? 

How would this understanding affect morale? 

How would this understanding impact your hiring process? 

How would this understanding impact your on-boarding process?

 

Soon you will see the importance of a clear understanding of the key accountabilities and performance criteria the job itself requires for superior performance. 

 

To further explore this powerful conversation, contact

 

Becca Robinson,MCC

Becca Robinson, MCC

The Robinson Group

Clear Communications For Subjects That Matter

www.the-robinson-group.com

303-329-9555 p

303-808-9333 c

How to Stop the Spread of GOSSIP

 

As in any circumstance that is communication and relational based at work, leader involvement is critical.  Leaders set the tone for a “No Tolerance Policy” for gossip and other destructive behaviors.

If You Are a Leader

1.       Design a clear policy and procedure.

2.       Announce the policy in person AND in writing to everyone.

3.       Outline the chain of command and create a No Toleration Policy.

4.       Define the roles that each person plays in gossip and the level of responsibility that EVERYONE will be held too.

5.       Do not change or make exceptions to the chain of commands.

6.       Do not threaten people but rather set a strong beneficially precedence.

7.       Reinforce positive feedback and behavior.

8.       Discuss a time that everyone was a victim of gossip and how it felt.

9.       Include the carriers in positive function to contribute to policy effectiveness.

10.   Keep them updated on policy or procedure changes.

 

Although gossip is often experienced in childhood remember that you are now dealing with adults.  Learn to respond not react to any discussion around this subject. Be prepared for the new rules to be tested because they will be.

(this set of bullets needs a title for clarification, but I’m not sure what it would be)

·         Listen briefly and redirect them to their supervisor

·         Notify their supervisor and enforce the chain of command

·         Believe in the process, the effort can seem greater than the outcome but it is not

·         Keep discussions open and ongoing

·         Uncover the source not the symptoms and fix the source (communication channels)*

·         Celebrate the positive side of every situation

 

Clear, constant, constructive communication will keep the vine of gossip from spreading and creating a stranglehold on a positive culture.

Anyone can impact and even stop gossip in the workplace.  I challenge each and every one of you to www.STOPGOSSIPNOW.com.

How to SPOT a GOSSIPER

When you first encounter a gossiper they will seem nice and welcoming maybe even a little too nice.  You will soon become aware of the fact that other co-workers avoid them it may even appear that others are being mean to this person but they have just learned the hard way to keep their distance.  If you don’t learn by observation you may be next target.

HOW TO SPOT A GOSSIPER

• They have low self esteem they constantly complain about something or someone
• They always have something to gossip about and gain favor by being ‘in the know’
• They will point out how they were better or “right” in the situation
• They are high maintenance employees
• They triangulate to gain support
• They are angry and resentful of others success

A gossiper who is not confronted and stopped will just become more confident   The rumors will become more subtle, more dangerous and frequent. The targets of gossip are usually more successful and more competent than gossipers; they are respected and seen as leaders within an organization.

A gossiper has a talent for seeking out disgruntled workers, and they manipulate them into their conspiracy theory  

Why YOU should care about gossip

Why YOU should care about gossip…

Gossip is one of the most prevalent and destructive forms of communication used in today’s society.  It is used in the guise of news or the source of “real” information.  Like the game of telephone, each time a story is repeated or passed on something is changed or added to the original tale.  Gossip is hurtful to everyone involved and is particularly destructive in the workplace.

Managers and Supervisors

Gossipers are the people in the organization who see their success is limited by others.  They spread rumors in order to become popular.  They embellish stories so that they can be seen as “in the know” and a source for information. They use this to gain control over their environments and co-workers.

Gossip

1.       Is the number one cause of decrease in productivity and creation in the workplace

2.       Divides and isolates individuals, compromising or killing teamwork

3.       Causes pain and resentment

4.       Can critically affect customer service

Stop Gossip Now!

 

Who have your gossiped about?

Stop Gossip Now

I feel passionate about wiping out gossip in the world and I want to start in the workplace.  This blog series is dedicated to this end. 

Gossip is like the infamous kudzu vine. Kudzu is native to Japan and China, however it also grows well in the Southeastern United States. Kudzu is a vine that when left uncontrolled will eventually grow over almost any fixed object in its proximity including other vegetation. Kudzu, over a period of several years, will kill trees by blocking the sunlight and for this and other reasons many would like to find ways to get rid of it. The flowers which bloom in late summer have a very pleasant fragrance and the shapes and forms created by kudzu vines growing over trees and bushes can be pleasing to the eye during the summer months.

Once gossip takes hold in a company it is like a kudzu vine. It is uncontrollable, smoothers new growth and is very difficult to get rid of.  The eradication of gossip is not easy but necessary to create an open and honest communication culture.

Please share your stories about a time when you have been hurt by gossip.

Got Gossip?

Join us Thursday, April 10th at 7pm mtn for ….

Click here for details http://www.instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=2478135

See you there!

Success is Optional

Coaching And Profits 
                              
THE HARD FACTS - Americans spent over $60 billion in training in 2003!  Retention of this training was only 8% until COACHING was added then the retention soared to over 85%.
 
Performance and ProductivityThe Bottom Line: Coaching produced a 529% return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business. Including the financial benefits from employee retention coaching boosted the overall ROI to 788%. The study provided powerful new insights into how to maximize the business impact from executive coaching.  http://www.metrixglobal.net/docs/metrixglobalcoachingroibriefing.pdf Among the results of the study: Manchester´s coaching programs delivered an average return on investment of 5.7 times the initial investment in a typical executive coaching assignment.  Among the benefits to companies that provided coaching to executives were improvements in: Productivity (reported by 53% of executives); Quality (48%); Organizational strength (48%); Customer service (39%); Reducing customer complaints (34%); Retaining executives who received coaching (32%).  http://www.coachinc.com/CCU/Newsletters/Student%20Newsletters/march%202002/default.asp?s=1  

The company (Metropolitan Life) put part of its retail sales force through an intensive coaching program, and afterward found that productivity among those salespeople increased by an average of 35%, while 78% of the sales reps embarked on the pursuit of a new license or professional designation, and 50% identified new markets to develop. Perhaps most important, Metropolitan has retained all of the salespeople who had the coaching, a big deal, since industry statistics show that each rep who leaves a company with three years experience costs $140,000 to replace. Annie Weighs In On Executive Coaching3; Fortune. May 13, 2000 A traditional mentor, a veteran executive whose history in an organization runs deep, is practically an endangered species in the new economy. If your company still has one or two, they´re often too overwhelmed with assignments or too stuck in the status quo to be of much help. An executive coach, however, can provide the fresh viewpoint of an experienced outsider. Fast Company issue 5 page 1      http://www.fastcompany.com/online/05/coach.html Executive Coaching Pays Big Dividends:- With the use of an executive coach, the New England branch of Met Life experienced a sales boost of 60% by the end of the year.- An AT&T sales force had a revenue growth of 16% by the end of the year.- Dan Carlson began working with an outside coach last year to solve his part of Kodak´s horrendous challenge: cranking up productivity with a work force that had all but melted down.  Carlson began to work with coach Jan Austin last March on the advice of an outside consulting firm. She met with frontline supervisors and their group leaders. She also conducted, among other things, a dozen two-day clinics to teach managers how to motivate rather than command, how to communicate with workers and elicit their opinions.  As employees became more invested in their work, waste levels dropped significantly, so did overtime. Productivity increased. He wanted workers to “find their voice,” to start speaking up when they saw how to make things better. They started taking more initiative both inside and outside work.So You´re a Player. Do You Need A Coach?  Fortune, February 2000.                                              Training increased productivity by 22.4%. The coaching which included goal setting, collaborative problem solving, practice, feedback, supervisory involvement, evaluation of end results, and a public presentation increased productivity by 88%, a significantly greater gain compared to training alone.                    Smart managers have already removed the defects from their businesses. Now they´re using big-league business coaches to do the same for their business skills.The Zero-defect CEO, Inc. Magazine June 1, 1997.                                                         http://www.inc.com/articles/details/0,3532,ART1251_CNT53,00.html Turnover and Retention “This year, Cisco´s turnover rate was 8.75%, compared to an average rate in Silicon Valley of 12-15%. I believe that coaching has had a lot to do with these results. Cisco employee and corporate coach Dottie DeSelle,   Today’s Coach, December 1999Turnover may actually be higher: 18.2% for technical professionals; 16.8% for technical managers.Inc. Magazine 1/1/1998 Cisco is one of America’s 100 best companies to work for.Fortune, 100 Best Companies to Work For, 6/2000.  At LSI Logic, coaching was used to address retention issues for a team of SAP programmers. “They become completely super skilled, and then they´re worth their weight in gold, “says executive coach Sharon Jordan-Evans. “LSI didn´t want to have eight or ten people stolen away before the project was even completed.” So they hired her to solve the problem, and she created a program that gave each employee their own personal career coach who met with them weekly. Success is in the results. Two years later, only one of those 28 people has left the company, says Jordan.-High Touch For High Tech.  Business2.com                                                              “Most business leaders cannot tell you why their people should be loyal. They get it confused with obedience, or just staying there, or fear. Companies often try to combat turnover with big salaries and option grants. (This) approach is self-defeating because it works only as long as times are good and an organization can afford to pay a fairly small roster of stars above-market salaries. Giving employees a chance to grow at their jobs builds loyalty in a way that money cannot.” -quote from Fred Reichfield, fellow at Bain Consulting, Denver Rocky Mountain News, May 28, 2000. -21% of respondents indicate employee retention is a problem in their company.-Respondents whose companies employ 250 or more people are the most likely to indicate    employee retention is a problem in their company.-Among respondents who identify employee retention as a problem in their company, one-half feel this problem has increased over the last two years.-Respondents indicate employees who have worked with the company for six or fewer months are the ones most likely to leave the company; those with one to two years´ experiences are the next most like to leave their positions.-To retain new hires, almost 30% of the respondents say they offer additional employee benefits at the start of employment. [Conclusion: to stay competitive, companies had better start thinking in terms of unique employee benefits, like coaching.]Thomas Staffing: 14th annual Survey Results 1999  40% of new management hires fail within the first 18 months.70% of companies are turning to third party companies to find their managers.Reasons why new managers fail:Failure to create good relationships with their peers and subordinates, 82%.Confusion or uncertainty about what the higher-ups expect 58%.Lack of internal and political skills, 50%.Inability to achieve the two or three important objectives of the new job, 47%.Don´t Blow Your New Job, Fortune,1998    Leadership: To a great extent, an employee´s experience at a company is shaped by his or her boss; employees rely on supervisors for everything from communication to promotions and rewards. Not surprisingly, a number of studies show that ineffective supervisors? That is, “bad bosses” are the largest single factor driving employee turnover. The Employee Retention Challenge          Development Dimensions International What Employees Feel Is Important vs. What Supervisors Feel Is Important  Item Employees Supervisors Appreciation 1 8 To be included 2 9 Help w/ personal problems 3 10 Job security 4 3 Wages 5 1 Interesting work 6 4 Promotions 7 2 Personal growth 8 6 Working conditions 9 5 Tactful discipline 10 7 Myths About Motivation Most supervisors believe money is the top motivator.  Money is not the top motivator.  Many studies show that good income is usually ranked in the middle of the list of ten top motivators.  Compensation is usually viewed for its exchange value.  Employees “expect” a paycheck in return for completing their work.  Employees want to feel as though their contribution is important.    In those same studies referred to above, managers rate good wages, promotions and job security far higher than do employees.  Employees indicate their top motivators are appreciation for a job well-done and feeling “in on” things.There is a direct correlation between the expense of incentives and level of satisfaction with those incentives. The most important incentives for employees are non-cash rewards.  Employees who feel valued for their work and who receive public praise for their good efforts are the most satisfied employees.Offering motivational rewards to employees, such as development opportunities, will result in higher turnover.  In fact, the opposite is true.  The more you develop an employee’s marketability, the more they want to stay with their current employer.  Development is particularly important for Generation X, who values an employer that allows them to acquire new skills and add challenges to what they do.                The High Cost Of Turnover The assertion is that it costs at least 150% of base salary. You can see this article on my website Bill Bliss, www.blissassociates.com   Salary Benefits Total 150% 50,000 15,000 65,000 97,500 75,000 22,500 97,500 146,250 100,000 30,000 130,000 195,000       Coaching = Business Development and Profits Corporate Build cooperative culture of self-managing teamsEstablish 5-20 year vision, mission, and strategiesTrain non-sales staff to sell, too (and enjoy it).Strategic repositioning in markets/industryDouble firm´s sales volume and profitability   Professional Develop a full, successful practiceDevelop a strong reputation, be known as a modelManage clients betterIncrease sales and profitabilityRecognize and eliminate high, hidden delivery costs LeadershipDevelop a plan to leave a legacyEmpower others to succeedBecome the standard for excellenceExperience and benefit balance in all areas of your life BENEFITS OF COACHINGYou’ll reach for much, much more because of the support and structure. You’ll start making and keeping more money. You’ll make better decisions when you explore ideas with an objective listener.