10 Myths about Executive Coaching You Need to Know

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Successful business owners, executives and leaders know that having an executive coach isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

While many business professionals believe the DIY approach works, it’s a myth! The DIY process will prolong the time it takes to achieve your goals, and in the process you’ll become tired, stressed and hit the proverbial wall.

Many DIYers quit, change their goal to reflect what progress they have made, or fall victim to the allure of some shiny object. At that point,  intended results have been sidelined, dreams diminished, and the vision for success forgotten.

Uncovering myths about executive coaching allows you to see why it’s a critical component to success. Having the right coach allows you to get real about your goals, keeps you focused and reawakens your commitment to succeed.

The Top Ten Myths about Executing Coaching:

1.I can do it myself. (Unfortunately, many DIYers think they can be their own coach. Listening to yourself is a fool’s game and rarely gets you promoted.)

2.A good coach needs a certification. (Certificate programs can be helpful and provide technical skills. However, an executive coach with experience, powerful listening skills and the ability to customized ideas to your unique situation is far more powerful. That kind of experience cannot be learned from a certification program.)

3.It’s too expensive. (Not necessarily. How much are your career, time, family and financial future worth?)

4.My company won’t pay for it, so it must not be important. (There comes a time when you have to value yourself, your career, and be willing to invest in both to ensure your success.)

5.Coaching is only for people who don’t have what it takes. (Coaching is for anyone and everyone wanting to take the next step up in their career. Having a confidential sounding board helps you become aware of your blind spots. And, everyone has them!)

6.If you work harder, you will be successful. (Working smarter, not harder, means doing things in a way that is effective and efficient. The right coach will help you work smarter.)

7.I’m doing fine and don’t need a coach to prepare me for the next step. (Great! Are you ready to handle the next issue or challenge with ease and effectiveness? If you say yes, ask your employees, boss, customers and vendors if they would truly agree.)

8.I have friends and family who provide me with lots of advice. (Yes, many people do. While they mean well, most friends and family members don’t have the courage to tell you what you really need to hear. As a result, you miss out on the critical factors required to make better decisions, build stronger teams and achieve intended results.)

9.I have too much work to do and cannot take on anything else. (If this describes you, coaching should be at the top of your list. Most coaching comes just in time, when you need it most and when it can provide the greatest impact.)

10.I’ve already hit the glass ceiling and no coach can change that. (Nonsense! Anyone can become a successful leader with the right coach navigating them to success. Additionally, success today is about more than just technical and financial skills. It requires being forward-thinking, team-oriented and goal-driven…all areas where an executive coach makes a big difference.)

When you uncover the myths holding you back, you will see that hiring an executive coach is the most critical component for your success. What are you waiting for?

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Jeannette Seibly  has been an executive coach, business advisor and management consultant for over 25 years. Do you need a confidential sounding board, someone that can help you navigate issues and challenges effectively? Are you ready to catapult yourself toward success? Contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

How to Address Unconscious Biases When Managing Employees

UnconsciousBiasMany of us believe we are not judgmental people. Yet we must make judgments every day about everything from what to wear to work and eat for lunch to who is the best person to handle a project. These often-subjective decisions normally reflect biases that we may not be aware of (pants vs. dresses, sandwiches vs. salads—and our favorite go-to employee vs. our less-favorite employees).

It starts with each of us. As a boss, it’s important to become aware of and responsible for our unconscious biases, especially as they pertain to race, age, gender and culture. If we are not aware of them, these biases will influence our interactions with employees, how we make our decisions and how we manage our teams.

As bosses, we most frequently run up against our unconscious biases while hiring, coaching, managing and training employees. Whether we agree we have them or not, these biases are usually evident to others, especially when we hire and manage based solely on our guts. They will also show up when we communicate in an insensitive manner or make decisions without factual data. They determine the company’s culture.

Biases always impact the company’s ability to hire the right person for the job, coach each employee to succeed, train each team member to develop skills, and manage everyone to meet the customers’ needs in an effective and non-discriminatory manner. Failure to be responsible for our biases impacts our ability to create positive and productive workplaces for everyone.

How to Create a Responsible Workplace Culture:

  • -Provide communication and sensitivity training to boost awareness for everyone.
  • -Conduct mandatory bias-awareness training for all employees, including how to handle perceived biases, and repeat this training quarterly.
  • -Train bosses on techniques for coaching and managing all of their employees.
  • -Review job evaluations and stats on promotions, hires and pay to determine biases.
  • -Put together a strategic and tactical plan to correct inequities, and execute it.
  • -Pay attention to the words you use when interacting with employees.
  • -Stop trusting your gut when making hiring and promotion decisions–objective information will always improve these decisions.
  • -Become aware of stereotypes and how your brain will trick you into thinking jokes, comments or innuendos based on race, age, gender and culture are funny.
  • -Use qualified assessments to help you better hire, coach, manage and train your employees. These objective tools create awareness that each employee has unique skills, behaviors, interests and learning styles beyond your biased perception of who they are. Also, qualified assessments provide a foundation for employees to learn and appreciate each other in a positive manner.

If you want to build a positive and productive workplace culture, it’s critical to become aware of unconscious biases and be responsible for them.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Jeannette Seibly  has been an executive coach, business advisor and management consultant for over 25 years. What coaching and guidance do you need to improve your managerial, executive and leadership styles? Are you ready to let go of what you’ve been doing to do something new? Contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

Coaching for Success Is the Boss’s No. 1 Job

coachable3In our current employment environment, it’s more important than ever for bosses to become coaches. Unemployment is at an all-time low, qualified candidates have become passive job seekers and bosses are still cited as the No. 1 reason employees leave. Instead of relying on performance improvement plans when the employee fails to meet expectations, it’s time to focus on developing employees’ soft skills, their ability to follow established systems and procedures, and a can-do attitude in the face of challenges throughout their employment.

For Success, Become Your Employees’ Job Coach

Coaching is needed at all levels within an organization. Being a boss who coaches employees is important. If you don’t have the interest, make sure to hire an experienced coach to help you and your team succeed.

Use Qualified Assessments. This is where you start. As the boss, understanding who your employees really are is required before you can coach for success. Without this, both you and your employee will feel frustrated. Qualified assessments provide coaching, team and managerial reports to clarify specific areas for coaching. For example, a top-level saleswoman had been achieving great results by opening up new markets for her company. In an effort to help broaden her skills, and improve her patience and diplomacy, her company reassigned her to work larger prospects with a much longer sales cycle. Because she was unable to close a sale quickly and change her personality (remember, you can’t fix and change a person), she left and joined a company where her skill set and job fit mattered.

Focus on Strengths. Focusing on weaknesses is a colossal waste of time. Instead, hire the right people for the right job. Build on their strengths to grow their effectiveness.  For example: A customer service rep was having a difficult time working with a system that did not have a procedural manual. To develop her strengths, her boss advised her work with a longtime employee, take notes and create a procedural manual.  Now, she’s the go-to person when something isn’t working and training is required.

Meet Weekly. It’s important to meet with your employees frequently. When someone is struggling, it’s even more important. Meeting weekly will help them fine-tune their skills and approach, and help you uncover any bad habits early. While habits can be transformed, first the employee must become aware of them and then you must customize an approach that works.

Hire Yourself a Coach. To become your employees’ job coach, it’s important for you to have your own coach to help you move forward. With your own coach, you will uncover your blind spots and improve your decision-making, project management and communication skills.

Hire a Team Facilitator. For those bosses who are not interested in being their employees’ job coach, hire a facilitator. A facilitator will help improve team meetings and communication skills, and keep your team focused on achieving success.

For those of you who doubt the importance of these techniques, one of my clients used all of the methods above, and each of his employees went from managing $750K to managing $1.25M.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Remember, being your employees’ job coach will be effective, fun and rewarding!  Are you ready? Step up now! Check out her website, or contact Jeannette for a preliminary confidential, laser-focused conversation.

4 Important Reasons to Stop Hiring with Your Gut

hiring costsAs busy bosses, we often rely on our gut to determine who to hire and why. We falsely believe our intuitive abilities make us foolproof. Yet we are often wrong and our results suffer, clients stray, miscommunication becomes the norm and team conflicts erupt. And, even more sadly, our key employees often leave!

All of this is preventable.

The truth is, objective data will improve hiring decisions!

Facts will always matter!

Why Do You Often Ignore Facts?

  • You’re busy putting out fires and rely solely on resumes to select who to interview. (By the way, 70 percent contain inaccuracies, and we spend less than 6 seconds reviewing each resume.)
  • Statistically, 86 percent of the time you’re unable to discern the lies offered by job candidates.
  • You believe candidates when they say they want to work for you.
  • You believe it’s too expensive to incorporate objective data into your decision-making process.
  • You rely mostly on feelings (your gut) about how the candidate looks, talks and interacts. (Remember, the right person will be trainable.)

4 Often-Overlooked Reasons Why Facts Will Always Matter

Your lack of objectivity will cause stress for everyone. In today’s job market, every employee has other alternatives … they can leave.

1.Job Seekers. They are savvier today than ever before, and unemployment is at an all-time low. It’s harder than ever to attract qualified candidates. It costs a lot of time, money and energy to interview people who are not well-suited for the position, or who do not have a real interest in the job or company. Remember, the right job candidate is out there, waiting to be found. Also, job candidates will decline job offers when they don’t trust interviewers to hire the right way. (They think, Where else is this potential boss cutting corners?)

A job candidate is impressed by:

2.Employees. They are tired of training new people who leave through a revolving door, and of attempting to clean up messes that could have been prevented. So, instead, they update their resumes and reach out to others in their networks. They leave you still hiring the way you’ve always done … by how you feel. They leave you sitting at your desk, frustrated at losing another good person, wishing there had been more money in the budget to keep them. Hint: The No. 1 reason employees leave today is because of their boss, not their paycheck!

3.Customers. They are also tired of training new hires or employees who transferred into positions they don’t fit. I remember calling a company, needing to have a question answered. After I repeated my request a couple of times, I asked the receptionist what else she was doing. I could hear tapping in the background. Her reply: “I’m multi-tasking and typing up a report for my boss.” Needless to say, I did not feel like a valued customer and didn’t get my question answered. I became another lost customer.

4.Vendors. They can be great allies in helping build your company. However, their job and paycheck are dependent on helping as many customers as they can, not training yet another new person who doesn’t have the interest or willingness to do the job. The wrong employee can also hurt long-time vendor relationships by making uninformed decisions about the products and services and by changing agreements, causing chaos throughout the company and hurting customer relationships.

Obtaining objective data is easy. It can also save your own career! Remember, everyone affiliated with your company is depending on you to objectively hire employees based on facts, not on your gut.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Jeannette Seibly is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant. Are you ignoring facts? Are you aware of how much this is costing your company? Are you willing to make simple and effective changes in your hiring process? First, you have to step up! Check out her website , or contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

How to Turn Around Management Team Conflicts

Millennials Lead.2We all want to believe that key employees, leaders and executives get along with one another. However, when issues arise, so do people’s egos. Information silos, inappropriate comments and an inability to resolve differences often get in the way of supporting the company’s success. These conflicts can hurt the profitability, performance and productivity of any company.

While differing opinions and managed discussions can create better decisions, they require using high-level emotional intelligence, listening to understand and employing good business practices. And, when you put the collective success of the company’s management team first, great results can be achieved.

The Only Thing That Matters Is Being Responsible for the Team’s Success

There is no magic formula, and there are no quick answers. Get real and be responsible for your team’s success.

Hire a business advisor. Using the same thinking that created the problem will not provide the solution. I’ve seen companies rely on books, a team member’s strong personality and other non-contributing factors, and still they fail to resolve the true underlying issues. Hoping and waiting for everything to work out is a default strategy that rarely makes a positive difference. Instead, hire a business advisor who can uncover the real issues (not the surface issues) and guide team members to get everyone on the same page by making the required, and sometimes difficult, changes.

Use Qualified Assessments. When attempting to make positive changes, you cannot transform a team without first addressing the truth in a respectful manner. Objective data about the team’s personality can provide insight into how to move everyone forward together.  For example: If you have a team that primarily relies on their feelings to make decisions, interjecting factual information will help everyone move forward.

Listen to Understand.  I remember years ago a business owner stating, “This listening takes too much work.” He’s right. It can when you haven’t developed the necessary communication skills. Always remember when you are feeling impatient that if you take the time to address concerns now, you’ll save a lot of time, money and energy later.

Manage Conflict. Differing opinions, thoughts and feelings can make for better decisions. To make it easier for others to hear you, state your opinions, thoughts and feelings as your own:  “I believe …” “In my opinion …” When listening to others, repeat what you heard them say first and clarify before offering your opinion. You will be amazed at the results. When you see that you agree on some points and agree to disagree on others, you can build better win-win decisions.

Talk Straight When Apologizing. Instead of further upsetting the situation with excuses about why you said what you said, simply say, “I’m sorry.” Then, be quiet! While it’s important that leaders develop a thicker skin, it’s also important to be responsible for what you say and do.

Encourage Team Members to Work It Out Now. Another benefit to using a qualified assessment is that the results can be a starting point for difficult conversations. First, have team members review each other’s results, one-on-one. Second, talk about where you are similar and where there are differences. (Remember: Results are not good or bad, right or wrong). When two strong-willed executives started making negative comments about one another, their coach told them to sit down and work it out now. They used the assessment as their starting point. They learned why they were frustrated with each other’s different work and communication styles. They now have an amicable work relationship that they value.

Stop It Now! If you sense a problem brewing, don’t wait. It’s easier to understand the crux of the problem at its infancy then if you wait until it has become a full-blown problem and everyone has taken an inflexible position.

When the Problem Is You. Each person on a management team is responsible for its success. If you and others are not good facilitators, get the team trained now! Learn how to listen to one another’s points of view, value each person’s input, build on others’ ideas and acknowledge each and every person’s contributions. This will build a strong, successful team and company.

If you truly want to master turning around management team conflicts, use these tools for taking responsibility. When every team member takes responsibility, you will be able to build a successful company.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? As a leader, it’s very important for you to know how to facilitate a group, even if you are not the one leading it. Contact Jeannette Seibly. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Remember, meetings can be effective, fun and rewarding! And, they require everyone to become a meeting facilitator. Are you ready? Step up now! Check out her website, or contact Jeannette for a preliminary confidential conversation.

How to Be a Leader Without the Title

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Note: For those readers with a title, I encourage you to share this article with future leaders.

No one is born a leader. It comes from practice, practice and more practice … until it becomes a natural part of who you are. Developing the right mindset, habits and skills now makes it easier to lead after you’ve received your promotion and title. However, waiting to develop the skills after you become a leader with the title will have you faltering to catch up, if you ever can.

The fastest and easiest way to step up and develop your leadership skills now is to hire a coach to guide you along the way.

8 Important Skills to Develop Now!

1.Listening. This cannot be said often enough! Listen and learn, then listen and learn some more. Fine-tuning this skill will help you hear what others are missing.

2.Decision-Making. Take time to get both sides of an issue–the facts and others’ opinions—before making decisions. Do not rely on tiny fragments of information or base your decisions on your feelings or other biases about the topic or people. Your goal is to develop win-win-win outcomes with those involved.

3.Resilience. Your ability to rally quickly after mistakes and learn from them helps you develop greater confidence. Remember, the key to developing resiliency is to work through the disappointment, embarrassment and other feelings you and your team may experience. Denying these feelings and their impact will come back to haunt you later.

4.Rallying Others. Even without the title, you can learn how to influence others by your actions and attitudes. It starts with supporting the company’s mission, your boss and your team members.

5.Initiatives and Resourcefulness. The mark of a good future leader is stepping up and making things happen, regardless of the budget, or your job title. Become a catalyst for exploring new ideas, creating solutions and understanding financial impacts by working with and through others.

6.Ethics. Be aware of your company’s policies and follow them. If they are not working, rather than ignoring them, recommend changes by communicating with your boss, co-workers and others. Honor your promises, contracts and other agreements, whether they are done verbally or in writing.

7.Developing the Team. To grow into being a savvy future leader, be supportive of others’ efforts. Get involved in the hiring, coaching, managing and training processes!

8.Building on Strengths. We all have inherent business strengths and weaknesses. It helps to clarify them by using qualified assessments and 360-degree feedback tools. The best way to build effective strategic and tactical skills is allowing your coach to be your guide when working on specific challenges.

By developing these skills, you will learn a lot about yourself and what it takes to become a great leader, with or without the title!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? As a future leader, are you ready to develop the key skills now? Contact Jeannette Seibly. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Remember, everyone can be a leader, with or without the title. First, you must step up! Check out her website, or contact Jeannette for a preliminary confidential conversation.

How to Design Your Workplace to Excel!

Culture 2Designing your workplace to excel goes beyond the physical layout of the work space and its location. While these are very important components to consider, the design and development of the company’s culture are often overlooked. (Yes, everyone has a say.) As the leader, you are responsible for a workplace that values and respects people, and promotes opportunities for everyone to excel.

7 Key Elements to Excel

1.Each and every employee is important. Set aside your biases, and value each employee’s contribution. Playing favorites, offering the best opportunities to only a few and dismissing employees’ ideas will hurt workplace morale and team spirit. Design reward programs for both teams and individuals that acknowledge everyone’s efforts.

2.Focus on Work Skills. First, judging work quality and quantity is important. When problems occur, focus on the job skills required, not on the person’s personality. Provide specifically focused training and development programs designed for each person’s needs.

3.Provide Soft Skills Training. Communication, problem-solving, negotiation, critical thinking and other soft skills training is often overlooked. In addition to offering it, provide internal mentors who can be a sounding board for employees and help them fine-tune these skills. Hire an executive coach to guide the resolution of project management challenges and resolve management and leadership snafus.

4.Follow Company Policies. They were designed for a reason … to establish a strong foundation for everyone’s success. They reflect the company’s values, mission and work rules, so it’s important for you and your team to follow them! Be open to expanding on them as needed, when it’s in the best interest of the company.

5.Be a Positive Example. Your leadership style, communication skills and ability to pull together your team are important. Participate in leadership workshops and continue to improve your skills, expand your perspective and be responsible for how, when and why you make changes in your company.

6.Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan. Changing for the sake of change rarely works, and even worse, it can hinder your workplace’s ability to excel. Provide clarity on work assignments and management expectations. This allows employees to feel confident and competent in handling their daily work activities, sharing ideas and developing their skills.

7.Select the Right Person for the Right Job. Job fit is the No. 1 reason employees will excel or fail in their work activities. When your people have work responsibilities that fit their thinking style, core behaviors and occupational interests, they will communicate better, be a valued member of the team and help customers resolve their issues the first time. Remember, a well-designed strategic selection process that objectively recognizes job fit is critical in determining if a person can and will do the job successfully. Don’t forget to customize onboarding and learning and development opportunities to personally and professionally grow each employee.

Design a workplace where everyone can excel to make it a culturally rewarding place to work!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? Which of the seven key elements have you been ignoring that need to be resolved for a successful 2018? Contact Jeannette Seibly. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Remember, everyone has a say when designing a workplace that promotes positive interactions, teamwork and learning and development opportunities. Check out her website , or contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

Your Wall of Resistance Is a Gift!

WallA man hit a wall of resistance in his professional life. He was earning just enough money to pay his bills. He knew he was a results producer not producing results and blamed his work environment. Although he had hired a coach, the coach wasn’t able to guide him to turn around his results. When someone tapped him on the shoulder to interview for a job, he jumped on it. His comment was, “It must be meant to be.” Look out! When you’ve hit a wall, realize that the grass is rarely greener someplace else! Instead, clarify the beliefs, habits and words that got in your way!

When you experience fatigue, loss of energy and/or poor results, you’ve hit the wall of resistance. And, no matter what you say, think or do … nothing changes. When your career is stuck, sales are nonexistent or your ideas fail to produce the intended results, it’s time to get real. Short-term fixes won’t produce long-term results. (Note: According to a Gallup poll, over 70 percent of us are in the wrong job or career.) The good news is you can give yourself the long-term gift of blasting through your wall of resistance.

4 Steps to Blast through Your Wall of Resistance

First, remember: it’s an inside job. Write down:

  • Five beliefs you are holding on to
  • At least three habits that get in your way
  • Ten words you use to describe yourself, others and situations

Second, hire the right coach to review your answers and guide you to the next level. Lone rangers usually experience struggle, strife and frustration because they’re doing it alone. Freedom, clarity and ease are available when you hire the right coach. Remember, every successful person has a coach; ask for referrals based on your challenges.

Third, complete the past year by writing down what worked and what didn’t work. Why? This exercise will bring you awareness of the silent growth you’ve achieved. Then, update and write down your Brag! statements as a reminder of your accomplishments (see It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition for details).

Fourth, complete a qualified job fit assessment to understand why your true thinking style, occupational interests and core behaviors may not fit your job or work responsibilities. Review the results with your coach to uncover your inherent strengths and weaknesses to help you break through your wall. This assessment is an amazing gift you give yourself that will support you for a long time!

Now What? Give yourself a gift and apply these same four steps to the following areas where you might be experiencing your wall of resistance:

Career: Work with the right coach to hold you accountable to achieve your newly created game plan. When new walls appear (and they will), listen to your coach and create customized approaches to blast through them. Also, role-play with your coach before having the difficult conversations you’ve been avoiding; they can hinder your job satisfaction. This will clear up any misunderstandings or issues you are experiencing. The clarity this provides will also help you make better choices for what’s next. If you don’t do this, the same issues will repeat themselves.

Business Owner or Entrepreneur: You’re stymied. Your company is doing OK, but you believe you can do better! You have lots of ideas, but few of them have worked long term. You may have settled for mediocrity or quickly ditched ideas when new ones came along. Impatience is not a virtue. Execution has cost you a lot of time, money and sleepless nights. Stop the insanity! Take the time to objectively work through the pros and cons of each idea with your coach and develop a realistic ROI. One successful entrepreneur I coached created a multimillion-dollar business. “We have hundreds of ideas, however only one or two make it through our vetting process.” Hire a business advisor, select the right team and stay focused on the right action steps to achieve your goals.

Sales Teams: You missed the quarterly sales projection … again. You reassured your boss that the team will do better next quarter. For this to happen, remember: success is an inside job. Who are your salespeople? What are their inherent strengths and weaknesses? What training do they require to succeed? Who might be more successful in a different position? Use qualified sales assessments to get real about your team members. Then, have each person create their own Brag! statements and share them. One woman, who had been struggling to pay her bills, received a $20,000 commission check in 45 days by clarifying her sales strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to brag to sell herself first!

When you are clear about your wall of resistance, this gift will support you in taking the right actions to achieve long-term success.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? What conflicts have you been ignoring that need to be resolved for a successful 2018? Contact Jeannette Seibly. She is the right executive coach and business advisor to provide confidential, laser-focused advice that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Are you ready to move forward in 2018? Blast through those walls of resistance? Make the right changes? Make the difficult choices? Check out her website , or contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

Employee Retention Is the New Focus!

images0VAIFKU3Today’s economy is robust. That’s the good news. The challenge is that most qualified people are employed, so it’s becoming more difficult for companies to attract new, qualified employees.

Although there needs to be a focus on hiring new employees, there is not enough focus on keeping the talent you already have. In this employee-driven market, the focus on employee retention must improve to keep great employees and attract qualified new ones.

How to Develop and Keep Great Employees

Training Is Critical:

  • Include Everyone. Provide learning and growth opportunities for each and every employee, manager and executive.
  • Budget Is Not an Excuse. The reality is, you can’t afford not to promote, coach, manage and train current employees. Budget for, rather than cut, the actual dollar amount available per employee for training, education reimbursement or other internal and external learning opportunities.
  • Focus on Soft Skills. While technical skills are important, many times communication, managing people, critical thinking, project management and other soft skills are overlooked. These skills have become more important as younger people take on management roles. To get the most out of the advanced training you provide, make sure employees are ready to for promotion and leadership roles to use it.
  • Offer Variety. Digital learning, group interactions and one-on-one sessions are equally important. Include opportunities to role-play…this will reinforce and fine-tune new concepts.
  • Library of Resources. When a problem arises (and it will), have a library of online resources and books readily available. Also, provide mentors and coaches to help guide practical applications.
  • Include “Why.” Employees today want to know why something is important for them to learn. Don’t skip this step.
  • Public Workshops. When it’s not reinforced, new training will only impact people for a day or a week. Debrief and focus on three key points they should develop. While new ideas and methods can make a positive difference, if they’re not effectively introduced, they have the potential of turning a team upside down.
  • Cross-training. Employees will develop a broader awareness of how their job impacts their company and customers when they have the experience of working in different departments.

Use Qualified Assessments. This is the best way to broaden employees’ perspectives on how to better communicate, work with team members and manage their work so it doesn’t hinder others’ efforts. It also provides a reality check about why some employees excel at certain work activities but others don’t.

Just-in-Time Coaching. We all have blind spots. A coach can help us uncover them. While internal mentors and coaches can be helpful, an experienced coach from outside the company often provides a broader perspective and customized approach to resolve persistent issues.

Be the Right Boss. A bad boss is cited as the No.1 reason employees leave. Today’s bosses need to be effective people managers.  While they tell everyone they like working with people, it would be detrimental to their future career opportunities to admit they don’t like managing them. Create different career ladders that include management and non-management roles, along with a commensurate pay scale.

Flexibility Is Important. Most employees value a flexible work schedule, opportunities to work from home and other work/life balance options. These are often more important than a pay increase or a new job title. Some would actually take a small reduction in pay if they could work fewer hours and be able to travel, participate in humanitarian work or spend time on their side gig or with family.

Appreciation. Take time daily to acknowledge and thank employees for their work efforts. It shows you value their contribution, and it goes a long way toward employee retention.

Focus on developing and keeping great employees. It will improve the company’s culture, increase employee retention and attract new, qualified talent.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? What conflicts have you been ignoring that need to be resolved for a successful 2018? Contact Jeannette Seibly. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Are you ready to focus on employee retention? Are you willing to make simple and effective changes? Check out her website , or contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.

Momentum Is the Key to Achieving BIG Goals

goals.4Many of us create goals to either check off a box for our bosses or to make a positive difference for ourselves and others. Yet regardless of why we have created the goal, it requires:

  • -Commitment
  • -A vision BIG enough to get everyone on board
  • -Focused action to create and sustain momentum

Momentum is not like gravity, always there regardless of what we do, say or think about it. While momentum is readily available, it requires commitment to achieve BIG goals and taking focused actions steps over time. It’s not about waiting for the right moment, right team or right amount of money.

The reason momentum can be hard to create is that many people are risk averse. Yes, they want to achieve their goals financially, personally and professionally. But they are fearful of stepping outside their proverbial comfort zone. After their goals have been created, many times their initial excitement and momentum wanes, and so do they. Get into focused action early. Do not wait.

Create Momentum Now

(Note: This article assumes that you have created true goals that are BIG, with a focused action plan and the right team committed to getting outside their comfort zones. If not, I would recommend hiring an experienced facilitator to get you on the right path now, before the struggle irrevocably hinders fulfillment of the goal.)

Assemble the Right Team. Assembling the right team is critical to achieving a BIG goal. It requires going beyond what people agree to do now. Ask if they have the interest and long-term willingness to support the project to the end. This is often a question people will say yes to but fail to fulfill. Use a qualified assessment to take the mystery out of whether or not they can and will contribute to the BIG goal.

Manage and Coach for Solutions. A common mistake leaders make is micromanaging individual efforts when team members become stuck. Instead, encourage them to talk out issues with other team members to resolve the problem, not create a conspiracy as to why the project won’t work.

Take Focused Actions. The No. 1 saboteur in any project is when busyness is used as an excuse for giving up. Here’s a secret: Taking the right focused action steps will create new skills and confidence … not the feeling of more work! When obstacles occur (and they will), true brainstorming, resourcefulness and initiative are required. Then, immediately take focused action steps. (This is not the time to change the BIG goal!)

Delegate to the Best Person. Stop attempting to do everything yourself. Trust your team members. Delegate a task or portion of the project to the right person (e.g., give the financial analysis portion of the project to the person who has the skills and interests to get it done). Utilize qualified assessments to understand each person’s best role on the team.

Stay in Communication. Stay in weekly communication. Face-to-face conversations and electronic updates keep the momentum moving forward. It’s harder to hide out on a team call when you’re specifically asked for updates. When problems or excuses arise, have a couple of team members or a vetted, qualified outside resource work together to resolve it (it’s best not to use the whole team – it slows the momentum).

Get Objective Outside Feedback. Talk about the components of the action plan with a small, select group of mentors and your business coach. (Don’t forget to use a nondisclosure agreement [NDA] for people outside the company.)  Listen respectfully to alternatives or points missed. Remember, you asked for their input, and often, seasoned experts offer the greatest insights.

Manage Self-Talk. Your internal mental chatter and word choices when talking about others make a significant impact on fulfilling the BIG goal. Remember, each and every person’s contribution is important. To keep everyone aware of what they have provided and what others have accomplished, use “It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition” to create and share Brag! statements.

You will fulfill the BIG goal if you take the right focused action steps to create and sustain momentum.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

What conflicts are you blind to that need to be resolved for a successful 2018? Hire Jeannette Seibly as a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that gets results! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Are you ready to challenge your status quo? Are you willing to make simple and effective changes? Check out her website , or contact Jeannette for a free confidential conversation.