A new employee’s first days on the job can be a dizzying time.

There are names to remember, new tasks to master. And let’s not forget the all-important directions to the nearest restrooms, and even how to get back to the parking lot!

It’s all the sort of stuff veteran employees take for granted.

Consider this: Several studies show that getting comfortable at work early in the game – the first 90 days of employment – is one of the main contributors to eventual long-term success for a new employee.

Managers and supervisors can get newbies comfortable more quickly, and help them become more successful, by paying special attention to three key steps for success in an employee’s first 90 days.

1. Setting clear performance standards

Most of us believe that employees know what’s what when it comes to expected performance. But a new employee can be anxious and confused about that.

Try sitting down with the employee and explaining, in simple language, what your standards and expectations are. For example: “If you accomplish this in the given time frame, you’ll be considered successful.”

Often, as the employee gains knowledge and experience, those expectations will change, but don’t worry too much about covering the distant future.

Explain the immediate expectations. When the time comes to raise the bar on performance or productivity, you can have another conversation.

The point is to set up a reachable and clear target for the employee.

Surprisingly, too many companies miss this step, often because of good, but misguided, intentions:

• They want to show the employee the company isn’t rigid, that “oh, we’ll get that figured out sometime.” The result is uncertainty for an already anxious person.
• They don’t want to put pressure on the employee. In fact, that’s exactly what they end up doing, because the employee feels the pressure of never knowing what’s considered successful and what isn’t.

2. Defining who does what

How thoroughly you cover this aspect of employment may depend on the size of your organization. But the basics stay the same no matter the size of the employer.

You’ll want to make sure the employee knows who your boss is and understands the organizational chart of the groups you work in and with.

Giving new employees a feel about the organization will make later face-to-face meetings with the people on the chart more meaningful.

3. Defining a course of training

Ask yourself: Are you more comfortable knowing what’s coming, or would you rather not know?

About 90% of us want to know what’s coming. We don’t like dealing with uncertainty.

So it is with most new employees. And in this case, what they want to know is how you’re going to get them ready to do the job.

Even if you don’t have a formal training plan, it’s a good idea to let new employees know how you plan to get them up to speed. Something as simple as “The first couple of weeks you’ll be working with Bill on the Ajax project.”

You can flesh that out as you see fit – including technical training or other approaches, if appropriate.

Just try to give the new employee the feeling that he or she won’t be pushed out to sea alone or without help or guidance.

The post Three key steps for success in an employee’s first 90 days appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

It’s like the old saying goes: “Actions speak louder than words.”

When it comes to communicating in the workplace, body language says it all.

And any manager with a firm understanding of an employee’s involuntary reactions to situations can better determine who’s committed — and who’s not.

The American Management Association created this list of body language signals that managers should familiarize themselves with.

Feel free to pass these on after you’ve mastered the list yourself.

Head to toe

Eyes: A decrease in eye contact will be your first clue for a disengaged employee. When their eyes go from wide open to slightly narrow, almost squinting, it means they’re having trouble understanding.

Mouth: Pursed lips, clenched jaw muscles, or a turned head with sideways eye contact are all signs of disagreement.

Torso: When shoulders are turned away from whoever is speaking, you’ve lost them. Engaged people will face you directly, with their torsos pointed in your direction. Someone shielding their torso from you with a purse, briefcase or laptop is a sign of defensiveness.

Legs: When their feet are pulled away from you, wrapped tightly together, pointed toward the exit or wrapped around legs of a chair, it’s a sign of withdrawal.

When you spot this behavior, check your own body language to make sure you aren’t reciprocating this.

Then consider changing your approach. For instance, you can force them to open up by making them move around by handing them paperwork, or even a cup of coffee.

The post How body language tips off a disengaged employee appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

Studies show employees are more willing to stick with a change for the long term if they had a hand in creating it.

If they don’t participate, you could see workers falling back into old habits before long.

And that means you could end up getting stuck finding the time and the resources to retrain them.

Here’s an excellent example of managing a change process, courtesy of one of the world’s premiere hospitality organizations.

The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans was facing an uptick in customer complaints.

The problem was that customers weren’t getting everything they were promised when they checked in. Over-promise-and-under-deliver is always a recipe for failure.

The Ritz-Carlton team was able to improve performance and reduce customer complaints by 50% after only one year and by 70% after two years.

They made these changes stick by getting staffers involved in the improvement process.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Map it out

The Ritz-Carlton team wanted to get a feel for what was causing the problem of missing supplies.

So they mapped out the entire process of preparing a room.

After they had every step of the process detailed, the team turned to staffers for help.

They asked workers which step caused them the most problems.

This led them to the root cause: Supply closets weren’t organized, so workers had trouble finding what they needed for guest rooms.

Step 2: Show what it looks like

Once they had a grasp on what they were facing, the team started looking for solutions.

One idea was to create a sample closet that could be used to show workers the most effective way to organize and stock the supply closets.

Workers had the chance to tour the sample and make suggestions about ways to improve the set up.

This kept workers involved as the fixes were being made.

Step 3: Talk it over

The team’s next step was to hold “daily line-ups” with staffers and managers.

The goal of these 15 minute sessions was to generate open discussion about how the changes were working out.

Plus, it let staffers propose improvements, in case something wasn’t working.

Step 4: Post the numbers

The Ritz-Carlton team also used daily scorecards to keep workers in the know about the impact the changes had made.

The scorecards showed data about customer complaints, which encouraged workers to stick with the plan and keep moving forward.

The post Managing change: A hands-on approach that works appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

If you read any list of ideas for motivating employees, one of the best tips will be to consistently encourage people to voice their concerns. (And if that technique is not on your list, pencil it in right now!)

Getting people to speak up about work issues is essential to making them feel they are a valued part of the team, a part of the effort — and ultimately a part of the success.

There are scores of reasons why employees don’t offer up their concerns – from a fear of retaliation to a hesitation to appear ungrateful.

Thankfully, there is a proven, two-step process managers can use to assuage employee fears and get them engaged. The first step is to actively ask for input. The second is to give people feedback about how their concerns were handled.

Both steps are critical – like a two-step tango — otherwise someone’s going to fall flat on their face.

Here’s an example of how it works, as  told Capt. Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger during his keynote address to National Safety Council’s 2012 congress.

After finishing a flight to Minneapolis, a ground crew member came to him to report oil dripping from under the plane, which might indicate a problem.

Sullenberger alerted maintenance, and it turned out to be an over-filled oil reservoir. Not a big problem.

Still, Sullenberger made a point to search out the ground crew worker and follow up with him on the results of the maintenance check.

But the hero-pilot didn’t stop there: He also thanked the worker and encouraged him to do the same thing again if he ever saw a potential problem — even though there wasn’t one in this instance.

It is a lesson managers should make part and parcel of their daily routines, and especially when it involves worker safety: Let people know you want to hear about their concerns. Let them know what came of their input.

And no matter the result, thank them and encourage them never to hesitate to do it again.

The post This technique belongs on every leader’s must-do list appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

If you’ve hired well, then you probably have a lot of employees who are eager to expand their on-the-job skills. Good employees always want to learn more and do more. It’s the quality that made them good in the first place.

So, if your suggestion box is jammed with requests from people wanting more training opportunities, don’t keep them waiting. Cross-training is the ideal way to double your staffing strength without ever having to hire anyone.

The key is to do the training without compromising other pressing needs.

Select a core group

Step one is to identify those people who want to be cross-trained.

Use email, newsletter or other communication channels to let it be known that cross-training opportunities are being developed. Once you get a reliable list of people wanting training, sit them down to make sure they have your best interests in mind, as well as their own.

The win-win is to find out which skills people are most interested in and how those skills can be used to support the organization.

It also helps to identify what people are most passion about, and who are best positioned to take advantage of the training.

Just remember, some people might want to jump ship once they’ve mastered a new skill. Teach a busboy to be a waiter, and you’ll soon need a new busboy.

Build an efficient system

Finding the most efficient way to train people is key to success. The obvious route is to have people work alongside those who already have the skills the employees in the cross-training program are trying to attain.

But that creates another challenge: Who will do the jobs of the employees being cross-trained?

There’s no simple solution, so be sure to spread out the training so it doesn’t put undue stress on any one department. A good rule of thumb in the beginning is that an employee can engage in cross-training only when someone can be found to sub on the regular duties.

Sit back and enjoy the results

Employees who learn new skills and put them to good use are invaluable, two for the price of one. Cross-trained employees are essential because they can fill in for others with little or no notice.

And that’s a real benefit for the bottom line.

The post Double down on employee strengths — and everybody wins appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

Identity thieves are constantly creating new ways to scam unsuspecting people. That’s why it’s essential to recognize the three most common technology-related scams known as Phishing, Vishing and SMiShing.

Phishing scams use email, while Vishing attacks come over land telephones. SMiShing scams target the users of mobile devices.

The common element to all three scams is to collect confidential personal and financial information.

Here’s a closer look at how they work.

Phising is an attempt to get your password or credit card number by sending out phony email that looks like it comes from a trustworthy entity, usually a bank but possibly also a social website, an online payment processor or even an IT company. The phony email contains a link to a site that looks and feels like a real company.

If you click the link and go to the site, you’re directed to enter financial or other details, even to log in if it’s a mock up of your real bank site.

But even if you do none of these, the site has probably already downloaded malware onto your computer to try to capture your private information.

The term Phising is derived from fishing, and is a reference to baiting a victim into biting on a malicious link, etc.

Vishing scams use Internet-based telephone systems to gain access to private and personal data. The term comes from “voice” and phishing. It goes like this: You answer the phone and an automated recording informs you your credit card, or maybe your bank account, had suspicious or fraudulent activity and you need to call a certain number right away.

The recording tells you the number to call and says your account or card has been deactivated until further notice. When you call, you get another recording telling you to enter your bank or credit card number on the key pad to confirm who you are. Don’t do it.

This kind of scam is also used to get a security PIN, expiration date, date of birth, etc.

SMiShing is similar to the other scams, but uses cell phone text messages to deliver the bait and get someone to divulge personal information. The name is a combination of Short Message Service technology and phishing.

The hook in this scam is a website or phone number the user is required to connect with.

SmiShing often involves something that needs immediate attention, such as confirming you’ve signed up for a discounted subscription, and you’ll be charged $8 a day unless you cancel the order. Then it gives you a phone number to call to cancel.

Of course, you can’t cancel without entering your vital personal and financial information, which is the raison d’etre behind the scam in the first place.­­­­

A recent variation of this involved retail giant WalMart, which issued a fraud alert regarding a large number of SmiShing texts that offered a phony $1,000 gift card as bait.

The key to handling all three of these scams requires the same reality check: If you feel a need to contact your bank or credit card company, use the number on the back of your credit card or call or visit a branch office you know for sure is real!

The post Progressive Business Publication Scam Alert: Phishing, Vishing & SMiShing appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

Even the most difficult managers have one redeeming quality, and you can win their loyalty with the right approach.

Sometimes the very qualities that make them so difficult, ­ irrational, emotional, close-minded and demanding ­ can help you gain their support on key initiatives when you need it most.

Five tips

Here are five tips that may help you deal with difficult managers when you need their support:

1. Anticipate as many obstacles and objections you can think of when preparing to win their support.  Don’t hesitate to rehearse your responses to avoid being surprised.

2. Avoid letting their negativity affect your response. If you respond in kind, you’re playing their game.

3. Allow yourself time to respond. Try to understand the emotion the manager might be showing, and use patient listening.

4. Dig for the facts. Find out all you can about the manager’s motivations, needs, interests and goals. This awareness can help you create acceptable solutions if the person makes unreasonable demands.

5. Don’t take their behavior personally. Rise above bad behavior and stay in control, no matter what is said.

As any good salesperson can tell you,  difficult business people tend to fall into one of these three categories — and resourceful managers can adapt these  proven techniques salespeople use when dealing with a difficult colleague.

Three distinct categories

The Situationally Difficult: Those people whose circumstances or situation make them difficult. Something may have happened to disrupt their day, their work flow, or any number of things.

The Strategically Difficult: Those who think being difficult helps them get what they want. It’s a temporary state of mind.

The Simply Difficult: People who have an ingrained personality trait. Their behavior is reactive, manipulative, uncooperative or a combination of these characteristics. It’s a permanent state of mind.

The NICE System

While you can’t control the emotions or actions of a difficult fellow manager, you can control the encounter with something called  the NICE approach, a systematic method for dealing with difficult people.

 Neutralize your own emotions. Dealing with difficult people is emotional, and the more emotional you are, the less rational you behave. The more your emotions are kept in check, the more you can be in control and direct things toward of a positive outcome.

Identify the type of difficult person you’re dealing with, strategic, situational or just simply difficult.

Control the encounter. Once you know which type of difficult manger you face, you can employ the appropriate techniques to help shape and determine the outcome of the encounter.

Explore options. Even if you control the encounter, you may still be at an impasse. The process of getting  “unstuck” often requires the development of common-ground options ­and carrot-and-stick alternatives that are beneficial to everyone.

The post Winning over difficult fellow managers appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

The workplace has never been so diverse in terms of age, race, ethnicity and culture, and that means mangers and executives are more challenged than ever to embrace this growing diversity – and still get results.

Overcoming language barriers is the first obvious challenge, but that’s only the beginning. It’s important to recognize the expanse of cultural differences, too, and how those differences impact work.

For instance, different cultures can have very different approaches to essential workplace issues like time management, respect for authority, teamwork, responsibility and even safety.

Different cultures also have conflicting interpretations of transparency, openness and ethics. Some are more reluctant to communicate, or to give and receive feedback. Obviously when customers, clients or co-workers operate on differing belief systems with conflicting attitudes, it creates barriers to success.

These barriers need to be addressed before an organization can run efficiently.  That responsibility falls to leadership to ensure that every worker feels valued—and that people’s needs are being address.

Here are two real-life examples as it relates to workplace safety.

Fatalism, the idea that events are inevitable and can’t be influenced by human action, is common in some Latin American cultures. This mindset presents a challenge for managers trying to promote safe work habits among Hispanic workers who think they’re pre-destined to get hurt – or not – regardless of their habits.

Other safety managers report some Asians are less likely to speak up about hazards because of cultural upbringings that suggest only troublemakers do that.

To begin addressing this issue:

• Provide mentors cross culturally. This will help senior leadership relate to and understand people of other cultures as well as provide them with an experienced guide. Simply assigning a mentor is not enough; the mentoring relationship must be active. Senior leaders are not always comfortable with mentoring and may lack mentoring skills and motivation. Provide training to both mentors and mentees and institute a regular process for monitoring their progress.
• Hold leadership accountable for harnessing diversity and creating cultural awareness. In the world of organizations, what gets measured gets done. Build these systems into a performance metric and regularly review the results.

• Keep communication ongoing. Managers must be willing to continually intervene and follow up to reinforce positive actions and behaviors.

The post Managing differences — and creating cohesion appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

So, you yearn for those glory days of yesteryear, when employees were loyal.

Most people seem to think loyalty has vanished from the employment relationship — on both sides. Back in the day, or so it goes, employers treated workers like family and prosperity was a common bond.

Consider this  recent post on the blog of the Wharton School of Business by Management professor Adam Cobb:

“When you are talking about loyalty in the workplace, you have to think about it as a reciprocal exchange,” Cobb says. “My loyalty to the firm is contingent on my firm’s loyalty to me. But there is one party in that exchange which has tremendously more power, and that is the firm.”

Cobb sees the 1980s as the beginning of the end for worker loyalty: “You started to see healthy firms laying off workers, mainly for shareholder value.” Health insurance costs started to be shifted to employees; pension funds shuttered in favor of 401(k) plans.

“The trend was toward having the risks be borne by workers instead of firms,” Cobb said. “If I’m an employee, that’s a signal to me that I’m not going to let firms control my career.”

Where does their loyalty really lie?

Management professor Matthew Bidwill posted that “there is less a sense that your organization is going to look after you in the way that it used to — which would lead you to expect a reduction in loyalty as well.”

But here’s where he veers off the traditional view: Bidwill isn’t convinced employees were ever all that loyal to their organizations.

“Employees are often more loyal to those around them — their manager, their colleagues, maybe their clients. These employees have a sense of professionalism — and loyalty — that relates to the work they do more than to the company.”

So, it’s loyalty vs. engagement

In today’s workplace, loyalty and engagement are two different things. Loyalty might have gone out the window, but engagement is waiting to be … engaged!

People stick with work because it’s interesting; or it offers opportunities to grow; or they like the people around them; they get paid fairly; and they take pride that their work makes a difference. Loyalty isn’t one of the reasons, it’s a byproduct.

What leaders can do

The trick is to get people engaged, to appeal to what  employees want from their jobs on an emotional level?

So, here is a rundown of the tried-and-true things that resonate with good employees, and gets them engaged :

• Clear expectations. People need to know ewhat they’re responsible for, and how they’ll be judged..
• Sense of control. People need to feel they have the power to decide how their jobs can be completed.
• In the loop.  Good people want to know the big picture, and be secure in their understanding of how what they do fits into that picture.
• Growth potential. These include promotions, training, learning new skills and the using those new skills in different areas of the company.
• Recognition. Extra effort should never go unnoticed.
• Leadership. Good people want to be led by people they trust, meaning managers who act with employees’ best interests in mind.

The post Fostering loyalty: Why’s that so hard? appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.

Just say the words “team building” and most managers who’ve been around a while want to roll their eyes. That’s understandable. Many team building exercises deserve the bad rap they get.

Consultants will try to sell you on the notion that people playing “tug of war” or having “amoeba races” are also having fun and laughing, and that makes them open and receptive to one another. Right?

Maybe, at least while they’re tugging on the rope. And don’t misunderstand. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a day of fun, if that’s all you really want.

But team building takes more than that. What happens the next day when people are back on the job? Are relationships strengthened? Or does everyone just go back to their old habits, grumbling over perceived snubs and practicing passive-aggressiveness until they get what they want?

For real team building results, a day of shooting paint balls at each other may be fun, but it’s a hit or miss exercise — pun intended. And mostly it’s miss.

What does work? Trust building! And the best thing about trust building is it hasn’t changed over time. Trust still comes from the same place it always has, it starts on the inside.

Consider this very practical example from the field of workplace safety. People need to be able to trust that those around them will do their jobs safely. To help foster trust quickly, good companies use techniques that encourage people to get to know one another personally, and to recognize the things they have in common.

For instance, nothing brings people together faster than a common enemy, like a serious safety hazard. Assigning employees to come together to identify and eliminate hazards is an excellent trust builder.

Many managers are surprised to learn that one of the of the most well-established and proven trust building techniques available is the employee newsletter. Publishing and sharing items on a regular basis, like employee birthdays, graduations, weddings or anniversaries, hobbies and interests, and adding personal touches to these stories, provides the basis for trust building and teamwork.

It lets people see they have a lot in common, that they share many interests, and that they’re all in this “work thing” together. It makes them one, like a good team.

The post Team building: It’s really trust building appeared first on Progressive Business Publications.