I think most business professionals would say, “No, I don’t have the time”.  I want to encourage you to reconsider!

This year, DHR was proud to participate in the Junior Achievement of Arizona You’re Hired Internship Program http://www.jaaz.org/pdf/yh-host-intern-2011.pdf Though an application and interview process, we were able to choose an Intern to help us with some projects during the summer.

I must be honest; I was worried about having an intern without any experience that I needed to help, to help me! It ended up being a tremendously beneficial experience for DHR, me and for our Intern.

These are some tips I learned to help make an Intern’s experience and yours positive!

• Know what you want the intern to do for you, have specific tasks and projects lined up for them to complete
• Have a 30 minute weekly meeting to answer questions, review tasks and check status on work being done
• Be available to answer questions to make sure work gets done correctly the first time

Here is the blog post from our intern summarizing his experience:

The Last Day

So it finally comes down to this; my first ever step into the real world wasn’t as big or scary as I thought it would be. My perception of employers and employees was totally wrong. I thought that when I would walk into that office for the first time, everyone would treat me as the new kid on the block who came completely out of left field. Dresses funny, talks funny, doesn’t know what he’s doing, will leave in a week, etc. Little did I know, I’ve never had a crazier idea! Everything was great; the staff, the work, the new friends, the environment, the experience, the opportunity, and even the pay! I have enjoyed the previous 8 weeks of my summer in a different way! Other summers used to consist of travelling and just sitting at home trying to make plans every night to not have to live out the most boring evening of my life! But this job wasn’t just something I picked up to save myself for having nothing to do. It was more than that. It gave me great insight on what my near future is going to look like, and maybe what my long term future might look like as well. The tools and benefits that I received or will receive by working here certainly surpass anything I’ve ever done before. One of my favorite things about working at DHR was definitely the people. Everyone supported me and knew that I was a newcomer into the world of business. They treated me with respect and answered any and all questions I had for them! I want to thank them for being there for me! Other than that, I enjoyed the professional atmosphere. I wasn’t running around getting coffee for everyone, I was actually taking part in real office tasks! Conference meetings, sales calls, go-to meetings, having my own cubicle (YAY), handling big tasks, etc! I really enjoyed it here. There weren’t a lot of things that I didn’t like about working at DHR. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of that is having nothing to do. At times, Anita—my fantastic boss—was out of town or away the whole day or stuck in meetings. Those days I would have small tasks that I would finish in an hour or so and have minimal amounts of assignments for the rest of the day. Besides that, everything was spectacular. I want to thank Anita once again for this marvelous opportunityJ As of now, I have run out of positive adjectives to describe my (incredible) experience here at DHR, but it’s one I shall always remember!

Internships can be extremely helpful and productive. Next time you have the opportunity, I encourage you to take the leap and see how an Intern can help you and your organization!

I recently had the pleasure of being part of an event to raise money for a little two year old boy named Brody http://www.draw10bar.com/brody-blagen-music-showcase-benefit-6411/.  Brody Blagen was diagnosed with AML (an aggressive form of Leukemia) and, by the end of the year, will have undergone four treatments of chemotherapy at Phoenix Children’s Hospital
http://j.mp/17L2KX .

At the event, I had some time to have a heartfelt conversation with his Mom, Kelli http://blagen.com/ and her story was moving.  The part that has changed my course was how she described the generosity of strangers to help her son and her family through this life changing event.  Kelli mentioned how she was overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone at the fundraiser, for out of 200 people, she only knew two!

I too, was fascinated with this, and we both shared how things like this, helped remind us how many wonderful people there are in the world.  Most of all how perfect strangers can come together and support a stranger in need.

Kelli also discussed about how it is not just the money people have donated, but their time, raising money, cooking meals, offering to care for her other daughter while she and her husband stay the night in the hospital with Brody.

Sometimes, I get too consumed in the events of my own life to reach out and give a little. Today, I was reminded of how powerful “a little” is to others, and truly, it isn’t “a little” but “a lot” to those who need it.

I will make a promise to you here, that I will make an effort to give more to those who I don’t know and continue the circle of kindness that so many carried  at this event for Brody. I encourage you to do the same.

If you’d like to stay updated on Brody’s progress, you can see Kelli’s updates on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Brody/206966092650816

As I was driving home at the end of the night, the only song that came to mind is “The Glory of Love” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ShkYcemgU. It encompassed all of my feelings for the day.

What random acts of kindness have you experienced from strangers?

Recently I was invited back to AAAME to discuss StrengthsFinders 2.0 with a group of  business owners.  We discussed their strengths as outlined in the book and moved on to discuss how those strengths played into their ability to achieve their most important goals for the year.

In about half of the cases, the business owner’s strengths were not suited towards excellent goal execution. So the conversation immediately turned to who on their team had the strengths to achieve these very important goals. Unfortunately, most of the business owners did not feel confident that their employees would be able to get these key initiatives completed.  After the conversation, I left perplexed, wondering why not.

Could it be that their teams aren’t engaged? What does it take to be really engaged at work? Here’s a list of things I think help employees become engaged:

• Common purpose. If you can gather the troops around one common goal, big or small, it often helps increase the level of passion towards completing the tasks.
• Deadline. Most people work best under a bit of pressure, creating a sense of urgency and galvanizing a group together.
• Empowerment. I know this is a crazy 2010 buzz word, but it still rings true.  To get to 100% empowerment, we must supply our team with authority plus responsibility plus information plus accountability. These things together will give a team the tools it needs to be empowered!

For more tools and data on engagement, go to the Gallup site.

What are you doing to engage your employees?

How many of you have worked for leaders that implement culture based on the last book they have read? If you are lucky, you may get to experience six different cultures during any fiscal year!

Fortunately, The Whale Hunters Process™, when implemented by a leader and his or her team can alleviate this experience for your workforce! How? In my experience, implementing The Whale Hunters Process™ has helped our team build, be clear and save time.

Team Build:  When we created our target filter, we enhanced our communication and had great debate on what characteristics our clients must have to make them a “right” fit for our services. Still today, when implementing the target filter, our group discusses the 5 W’s around the specifics on the client and how to score them in our filter.

Be Clear:  During the harvest stage of our client interaction, our team is clear on what services and products we need to deliver, based on what was promised during the sales process. This is often the toughest part of the sale, making sure the team is clear on what the expectations are of the client and of our internal service team.

Save Time:  By knowing what “whales” we are hunting, our sales team can save time not hunting targets who are not a match for our products or services. We have been able to stream line our sales process to maximize the talents of our sales professionals, helping them focus on the deals they can actually close, not the ones stuck in “hopa-hopa” land! What is “hopa-hopa”? As our Denver President, Patrick Wieland shares, “Hopa-hopa is an emotional connection to a potential sale.” As a professional you believe you can close it, without objectively looking at the facts around what that client actually needs, so we end up hoping the deal will close when realistically it most likely will not.”

Have you had a deal stuck in Hopa Hopa land? What was the result? Create your culture around process, communicate clear expectations for your team and client, and save time by avoiding Hopa Hopa land in using the great tools outlined in Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company .

So finally, I took the plunge.  I invested in my first Apple product … beyond an iPod. (Keep in mind that I have the firstversion of the iPod, which is now more than 5 years old.)  When the iPad came out, I knew I had to have one. I wasn’t sure why or what I would do with it, but I had to have one. I did know that when I was lucky enough to finally own one, I would just feel a bit “cooler”!

I spent all day with my new friend yesterday, mesmerized by its speed, cool feel and addicting apps. Who knew Angry Birds could make me laugh so much? But when I put down my new BSO (bright shiny object) to go for a trail run, what impressed me most about this whole experience was the level of service I experienced in the Apple store. I reflected back on the questions the sales person asked me to determine what iPad was best for my life. She was patient, present and a great listener. In looking back on the conversation I realized that what she did was a “consultative sale.” She helped me identify what my needs were through a thoughtful interview process and then gently gave me options on what products would best fit my needs.

It didn’t end there. I was then transferred to my “set up” specialist. This gentleman was also patient, carefully walking me through how to use my new technology, answering my multitude of “novice” questions and giving me tips around all of the things “I didn’t know, I didn’t know”.

Honestly, Apple had me when they allowed my dog to accompany me into the store.  But I soon realized that, behind their hip products, lays a strategic, disciplined process for success.

Here are the components:

• Hiring people passionate about selling their products and services
• Training them to first seek to understand the needs of the customer before suggesting solutions
• Providing a smooth hand off between sales and operations, both teams aligned with the needs of the customer
• Demonstrating extreme patience and grace with the customer, making them feel comfortable and educated about their purchase

I am sure that these things are nothing new to the business owners reading my post, although sometimes it is the recognition of the “simple” things that help us run our agencies more effectively. What simple practices that improve relationships have you observed recently?

I recently had the opportunity to work with ten small business owners and the topic was a review of one of my favorite books, StrengthsFinder 2.0.  This group of business professionals is savvy, educated and self aware, so I was really looking forward to an insightful discussion.  The conversation was fascinating.  My first question to the group was this: “How are your individual strengths going to help your business achieve its goals?”

The room went silent. Only crickets could be heard. I had to move the discussion in another direction, so I asked: “OK, the book identified your strengths, but what do those words mean to you? Are they correct?”

The business owners began to fidget in their chairs and returned blank stares in my direction. This is when I knew, as a facilitator, I needed to strike a different chord!

I asked for a volunteer. I asked a man, an owner of a small general contracting firm, if we could discuss his specific strengths. He mentioned a few of his strengths outlined by the book and then the group chimed in and validated what they also viewed as his strong suits.  We matched those strengths against what he set out as his corporate objectives for 2011. What was interesting was that only a few of his strengths were aligned to the goals he needed to achieve for his company. This realization led to interesting conversation among the group. And all of us were surprised at how many of our business goals did not align to what we were best at as business owners.

So now what? I would encourage all business owners and executives to do this exercise and do it with someone you trust, so you get an accurate view of what you are truly good at.  Refer to the Marcus Buckingham book Now Discover Your Strengths. In it Marcus clearly outlines how you can find what your strengths are.  And then map those strengths to your business objectives. If they aren’t aligned, do this exercise with your team and see where roles and responsibilities may be redistributed.

The Gallup organization also has tremendous resources and data on how a company will experience greater profitability when employees are in positions in which they can play to their strengths.

Now go forward, be strong business leaders and be examples of what strength-based leadership can look like!

In this economy, everyone wants and needs to grow their sales.  There are pressures from stakeholders to “stay alive” and beat out the competition driving down sales teams across the country.  Sales professionals seem to be tired, stressed out and worried about making their goals. Are sales professionals try to sell out of fear instead of quality? It seems they sell to “stay alive” because they want to keep their jobs. This is when we need to be sure everyone is on the boat! Sales team members can be expected to sell alone. If we expect sales professionals to land bigger deals, then we need to send them with the tools to be successful, and the most powerful one, is a full boat!

To whale hunt, we are scouting a more sophisticated client, a more demanding client and a client who in the end, expects more from us. The only way to deliver is to send the whole team together on the same boat!!  Why?  Our subject matter experts are the key to a complicated sale. The whale wants to know more about who will be delivering the product or service. Our experts can speak specifically to the questions the whale is asking.

This sounds easy, but it isn’t. There will be obstacles. Your subject matter experts became experts not sales people for a reason. Your executive team will be instrumental in inspiring them to go on the boat.

Here are some key pieces to getting your SBE on to the boat:

• Explain the big picture to them
• Make sure they know the benefits to the company and to themselves from landing a whale (perhaps, consider compensating them differently)
• Dissect their role in the sale; they are there to talk about what they are best at. That information by itself is what the whale is needing, the sales professional will do the rest

The executive team is the best group to get everyone on the boat! With their support the sales team the SBE’s will be more comfortable taking this approach.  One ingredient to getting the SBE’s “comfortable” is to practice.  Practice is imperative! Make sure the team has ample time to know their roles in the meeting. They must rehearse their parts and know which questions will be directed at what part of the boat.

Believe it or not, this exercise is the best team-building experience a company can ask for. It gets all people on the same page moving towards a common goal and working together to grow the company. Eventually, your employees will not want to be left off the boat!

As we start to emerge from the haze that has covered the business landscape over the past 24 months, we reference things on the surface — politics, economics and their effects on businesses. And sometimes we hear the other stories of the people affected. I have now started to ask if there is a deeper emotional wake to these events that business owners have yet to discover.

An old friend recently called to let me know he was leaving his position. Not for a new job, but for an old job inside his current company. From an org chart point of view, and for anyone looking at the surface of the situation, this would appear to be a demotion or a step back.  As I listened to my friend explain the circumstances which had led to his difficult decision, it was far more than a demotion; it was a step to save him.

Our conversation was authentic, pure and honest. He told me that since the downturn in the economy he had seen many friends lose their jobs and struggle greatly to find new ones. Many, to this day, have not. He talked about the growing pressure to take on more responsibility, to work faster and better with fewer resources. He found himself working longer hours and, for the first time, bringing work home, which in turn caused stress in his home life. Like many, he had taken a sizable pay cut further adding to the load he carried on his shoulders. Then, his ability to be effective in his job started to slip; he was forgetful, tired and overwhelmed and there was a fundamental shift inside him. All of the things we had come to love about his personality seemed to slip away. Less laughter, less light; these characteristics dimmed by the weight he carried.

After reflection, prayer and discussions with his wife, he decided to approach his supervisor and ask to be demoted and moved into a different position. One he had held many years ago and at which he truly excelled. This was a huge risk to take. What if the other position was not available? What if his boss saw him as a failure?

Fortunately, he works for a great company, with a supervisor who is aware of his value. The supervisor had also noticed the changes in his employee and was going to approach him on the topic of changing roles in the near future.  I am proud to report that this story has a very happy ending. I wanted to share it because it really made me stop and ask a few questions:

• As a leader, how aware are you of how your staff is doing? On all levels.
• Is your staff full of “yes” people, afraid to voice an opinion in case they might lose their jobs because of the external events of the past 24 months?
• How do we bring trust and honesty back into our workforces?
• How do we continue to make room and save great employees by moving them into roles they may be better at than the one they currently hold?

We all know that turnover is expensive, so it is worth our time to save a performer who can continue to be a great contributor to our company.  I don’t know all the answers to these questions, but as we kick off 2011, I invite you to ponder them with me, check in with your teams, and bring truth back into business so we can all do our best work.

By Anita Kalin-Grantham, Business Development at Diversified Human Resources (DHR).

For an employee, starting a new position can evoke many emotions: excitement, relief, anxiety, anticipation. For the employer, hiring a new employee brings up a different set of issues: training, introductions, expectations. So how can you, as an agency owner, bring new employees on board smoothly and effectively?

Do not stop reading here just because you are not currently hiring! This would be the perfect time to review your hiring process, so that when you need it, the process is already in place.

It is sometimes difficult for people inside an organization to view it with fresh eyes and be able to outline the systems and processes that are important for a new employee to understand. I would encourage you to start from the beginning of your day. For instance, as you arrive in your car to the building where you work, where do you park? How do you enter the building? Is there a key card or alarm code?

Where will this person work physically — in an office or cube? Does he/she need specific IT equipment — desk phone, cell phone?  What items should be on the desk — paper, pens, office supplies? Who cleans up the area after the last soul that occupied the space?

First impressions are extremely important. Think about the time you spend making a presentation to a new client. Why would you not spend at least half that time prepping to ‘on board’ a new employee who will be servicing those clients? What type of culture do you have and how does that translate into how people are hired?  Over the years I have heard many first-day horror stories solely because the experience has not been well planned. The new employee is an afterthought, left in a cube, feeling isolated.

How will you introduce the new person to the staff? Will it be via email, face-to-face around the office, or over lunch? What is the process when the computer crashes?  How is an expense report submitted?  Sure, I could make you a checklist, but a generic list will not be particularly helpful. Create your own checklist, customized to your organization.  Get your team excited about bringing new people into the fold. This could be an interesting exercise for your existing team to work through. Think about how different aspects of the business appear from an outside perspective.

I suggest making a practical handbook for the new employee that includes various “house” specific items. You might also consider creating a buddy system, whereby each new employee is paired with an existing employee so there is a “go to” person in addition to the supervisor. For instance, how do I get into the bathroom if the door has a code driven lock?!

I hope you will take a fresh look at the first-day experience you are providing for your new employees. At your company, you spend so much time devising brilliant campaigns and promotions for your clients. This is an opportunity to apply that same creativity to your culture and hiring process.

Anita recently started a new position with Diversified Human Resources in Business Development. She is very excited to utilize her experience in human resources in this new role at DHR. Previously Anita divided her time between two roles at Jokake Construction, Chief People Officer and Business Development for Healthcare.  She has worked in the field of organizational and leadership development, business development, strategic planning, training and human resources for ten years. Anita has expertise in the construction, manufacturing, and hospitality industries and is passionate about creating great places to work.

Whenever I hear this word, I have a vision of Arnold: dark glasses, weapons, and muscles rippling. For business owners it is never as sexy, usually an uncomfortable situation stemming from a breach in policy or, conversely, an employee you do not want to see leave your company.

The steps leading up to termination are discussed frequently: he/she was unhappy or he/she did something to the company that cannot be forgiven. It is the steps after the termination notice has been given or received that are of interest here.

Earlier this month, I was talking to a colleague who said, “When people leave this company, everyone seems to be OK with it. There aren’t harsh words and there’s no discomfort lingering in the office.”  Wouldn’t all owners love to have that outcome? So what creates a good termination?

First, whether voluntary or not, termination is someone leaving, so please don’t think I am using this word to define only non-voluntary termination. Regardless of the sort, think about how you wish for people to exit your organization. What do you want them to say about your company when they talk to others? How important is their final impression of the company?

I hear some of you saying already: “Why does this matter?” Well, as my mother says, “image is everything.”  Even if you don’t want terminated employees representing your company, they do, even when they are gone. How they are treated when they exit is a key indicator to what will be said about your company. So what are some simple ways to ensure a “good” termination?  Quick answer: Have a process.

• Know who needs to know about the termination and know what you need (company property, 401k, company and client badges, keys). Know who gets what and when.
• What will you do with their email, voice mail?
• How will the exit be communicated internally and externally?
• Who will pick up their job duties if a replacement cannot be hired right away?
• Do they get their end of year bonus?
• Do you pay out vacation?

Determine all of these things before you have a termination, not during. I encourage all people who have something to do with the termination to be involved or have a say in the process: the CFO, office manager, benefits person, HR. I know most business owners don’t have all of these positions making it even more imperative to have a process in place, to make sure all bases get covered and that there are checks and balances in the system.

Respect is something that can always be given. Consider the consequences of your actions when handling employee turnover.

For great forms and white papers on these issues, consider a membership in the Society for Human Resource Management, a nominal fee for a wealth of helpful information.

Anita recently started a new position with Diversified Human Resources in Business Development. She is very excited to utilize her experience in human resources in this new role at DHR. Previously Anita divided her time between two roles at Jokake Construction, Chief People Officer and Business Development for Healthcare.  She has worked in the field of organizational and leadership development, business development, strategic planning, training and human resources for ten years. Anita has expertise in the construction, manufacturing, and hospitality industries and is passionate about creating great places to work.