Beth n Rod

I believe everyone has the right to work if they are able to perform up to standard. However, performance must be measure in a fair and measurable way for all. I also feel that there need to be job descriptions and levels of expectation set in writing so that anyone in a job understands what is expected. It's also a good idea to have policies in place for zero tolerance where any type of descrimination is concerned, to protect both company and individual alike. Beth p.s. you are welcome :)

Exactly. One may well be born with personal traits that will make him or her a leader, but leadership may always be strengthened by education. There is far more to leadership than simply managing people. Also I do feel there is a connection between entrepreneurs and leaders, although they are not identical. The leadership style one uses may be based upon one's character or personality, or upon the group that is being led. I will also say that just as we are all motivated by different things (and there is more than one motivator, but that's another thread altogether) we also respond to different leadership styles. A good leader will adapt his or her style effectively for the benefit of the individuals being led. I love topics like this. Good exercise for the brain. Beth :groovy3:

OSHA requires that 2 man be present on any ladder use over 32'. The second person is actually to be available for the purpose of emergency response. Will post more soon... Rod~

You have got to be kidding. Education makes little difference? Try telling that to all the fine business leaders that graduate from such fine institutions as Harvard. I suppose their academic achievements will only help them a little as they lead multi billion dollar companies. Bill Gates never graduated, but he did attend. In fact, let's take it a step further, the very leaders of our COUNTRY have attended fine ivy league institutions and have spent numerous years in government before running for president. This in and of itself says they were learning, as well as learning how to lead. This is where mentoring comes in. Additionally, there are different leadership styles, and different LEVELS of leadership. For example an organization's hierarchy may be such that you have functional leaders (entry level managers), mid-management, and upper management. The roles of each of these leaders is quite different. The lower the level managers spend the majority of their time managing people, and the farther up the ladder you go, managers should be spending more time planning for the future than managing people. The tasks associated with leadership are contingent upon the situation, and station, of the leader and the role they play. Also, if we are all entrepreneurs and leaders as we are business owners here, and you are saying that education makes little difference, are those your true feelings? I ask because as of late you have been an advocate of education and certification. However, the stand you just took is in direct contradiction to it. Education is critically important. It's not a matter of being important in one circumstance or another, it doesn't apply sometimes and not other times, it is always important, and it always helps. Having said that, I will say one more thing, you get out of an education only as much as you put into it. Continuing education and a commitment to excellence makes a difference. Ok...well...next :) :soapbox: Beth

Jon, not a snow bird ... yet! :) but the thought has crossed our minds about spending a month further south doing restoration work but still havent made that move. Too much going on here locally. I sure dont envy you other ladies and gentlemen with the drastically low temps you are enduring. I get brain freeze just thinking about my time in Missouri, Too Dang Cold!~ I'm a warm weather kinda guy. Rod~

I am a desert southwest nature born and the idea of snow was what I could see on the mountains from the city they over shadow. Temps in the valley ranged from 40's-60's while on the mountain, it was obviously colder. No snow in Maryland so far but maybe I am speaking to soon (hope I dont jinx it :rolleyes: ). For those who are having a white christmas, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Rod~

I would interpret this as an Autocratic type leadership which I have found in my experience was the most undesirable type in business today. Leaders must demonstrate the ability bring people together voluntarily in a concerted effort to attain a goal. Overall, the leader I feel must be an effective communicator and show respect and recognition for the efforts of those this person would lead. This develops respect, commitment, loyalty and longevity within the business. Although this may be applicable in some cases, it must be understood that no one starts out as a leader but as someone who wants to be one. Leadership is a learned characteristic like anything else. Even natural born leaders must hone their skills in order to be effective. The last sentence to me, doesnt seem to be a supportive one. I dont think it allows for the person to grow into leadership. Books on the subject are a good start for those who may be at this stage. There are different types of leadership styles such as Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-faire to name a few and it is important to develop the style that works for the individual and allows them to achieve the results they are looking for.Just my .02 Rod~

WOW. Beautiful Mike. But I will say I'm glad it is there and not here. I don't mind a few inches, but a few feet is another story altogether. Enjoy that white christmas! Around here they are rare. Beth

en·tre·pre·neur n. A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. French, from Old French, from entreprendre, to undertake. See enterprise. entre·pre·neuri·al adj. entre·pre·neuri·al·ism or entre·pre·neurism n. entre·pre·neurship n.================================================== entrepreneur A risk-taker who has the skills and initiative to establish a business.=========================================================entrepreneur n : someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it syn: enterpriser ========================================================== lead·er n. One that leads or guides. One who is in charge or in command of others. One who heads a political party or organization. One who has influence or power, especially of a political nature. [*]Music. A conductor, especially of orchestra, band, or choral group. The principal performer in an orchestral section or a group. [*]The foremost animal, such as a horse or dog, in a harnessed team. [*]A loss leader. [*]Chiefly British. The main editorial in a newspaper. [*]leaders Printing. Dots or dashes in a row leading the eye across a page, as in an index entry. [*]A pipe for conducting liquid. [*]A short length of gut, wire, or similar material by which a hook is attached to a fishing line. [*]A blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding. [*]Botany. The growing apex or main shoot of a shrub or tree. [*]An economic indicator. ====================================================== leader n 1: a person who rules or guides or inspires others ant: follower 2: a featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers syn: drawing card, loss leader ========================================================= The two seem to not be the same at all, however both are critically important for a business owner it seems. Initially (during planning and implementation) I would say one emerges as an entrepreneur when they first start out. Then as they grow they developenad learn to lead, or begin to lead naturally if it is a talent. To grow it seems to me they need to step into the leadership roll in order to manage anything. Beth

This is excellent material. Helpful in nurturing employees. http://www.businessmentorcenter.com/AskMOM.html#anchor124395918 ========================================================= What's the Difference Between a Quality Program and an Effective Program? You may be surprised to know that there are some critical distinctions. They are critical because they are fundamental to the way you improve your program and practices. 1. QUALITY is a condition that must exist relative to something else: I am a better quality mentor that you. (Not a very professional statement however) I am a quality mentor as measured against the standards for mentoring practice Our program is a quality program, as measured against mentoring program standards. Given this definition, the effort to become a higher QUALITY mentoring program will require some mentoring program standards. The effort to promote QUALITY mentoring requires standards of mentoring as a professional practice. I have recently been giving this considerable attention, but it is an evolving picture. Never-the-less, a quality program is one that "has arrived", not one that is "in process". 2. EFFECTIVENESS is a condition that also must exist relative to something else. In this case, the something else is a set of goals. In other words, a program is deemed "effective" if: It is getting closer to it's goals, or... It is successful in accomplishing it's goals (that is, it does what it was designed to do). This is helpful from the perspective of continually improving a program, sustaining the resources that support it, and accomplishing important and valued things. However, these distinctions are not as simple as it might seem. FOR EXAMPLE: A program that has as its sole purpose to "orient new employees to their job", may assign a mentor to help accomplish that purpose. If, later on, all new employees feel "well oriented", then it could then be said that this is an effective mentoring program . In other words, the program has accomplished what it intended to do, regardless of whether it meets some standard for quality or not. However, placed against a set of program standards, or compared to another program with additional purposes (such as the improvement of productivity and result), the orientation program seems of less quality and to be less effective than those which accomplish more. This suggests that there is a consensus that such peer support programs as mentoring and coaching should at least address improving productivity and results. You may not agree. However, that is my position and that is what I am specifically known for helping others to accomplish. What is "Mentoring"? THE RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES -Mentoring is an age old method of supporting development which we find in business, education, and all areas of life, with adults and with youth. For our purposes mentoring is for adults in professional settings. With that understanding, mentoring can occur any time during a career, but especially when someone seeks to learn from someone else who has experience in the topic for learning. This conception of career-long learning means that people in pre-employment education and training, new employees in orientation and training (what I call induction), experienced employees, middle managers, and executives should all have mentors. That list suggests that the goal is for everyone to be learning and working with a mentor. That is exactly what we are trying to define when we use the term "learning organization". The fast-paced, competitive, and global nature of information flow, changes in business and other professional transactions, and new models for decision making all require that we all be actively and continually learning. Such continual learning is not the norm and so, it requires a high level of support to attain and sustain. That is why we all need a mentor. WHO WOULD BE THE MENTORS FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE? - Just as we all need to be mentored so we are continually learning, we all also need to BE a mentor. That is necessary because of the high level of support needed to sustain continual, organization-wide learning and growth. It is also needed because the very best way for you to be a learner is for you to be a teacher too! That's right. Any one who has ever had to teach someone else knows THAT is when you really have to know and be able to do that very thing well yourself. We learn a ton by having to teach it to others. That is the second reason why everyone should also be a mentor. A DEFINITION - Mentoring is three things all at the same time: It is a series of tasks which effective mentors must do to promote the professional development of others. It is the intense, trusting, supportive, positive, confidential, low risk relationship within which the partners can try new ways of working and relating, make mistakes, gain feed back, accept challenges, and learn in front of each other. It is the complex, developmental process which mentors use to support and guide their protege through the necessary career transitions which are a part of learning how to be an effective, reflective professional , and a career-long learner. How is coaching different from mentoring? Do we need both? Coaching is the support for learning job-related skills which is provided by a colleague who uses observation, data collection and descriptive, non-judgmental reporting on specific requested behaviors and technical skills. The coach also must use open-ended questions to help the other employee more objectively see their own patterns of behavior and to prompt reflection, goal-setting, planning and action to increase the desired results. Mentoring is the all-inclusive description of everything done to support protege orientation and professional development. Coaching is one of the sets of strategies which mentors must learn and effectively use to increase their proteges' job skills. Therefore, we need both to maximize employee learning. Read the next item below for more on this. How is coaching & mentoring different from supervision? Supervision is the process of employee development, management, and evaluation which is used by a boss. People can grow as a result of supervision, at least to the point that the possibility of losing one's job is a motivation for growth. Learning in a supervisory situation is often a very high risk circumstance. If an employee shares his weaknesses, or her needs with a supervisor, they risk poor evaluations and dismissal. That is why supervision is often not very effective. The risk taking needed for learning and growth are not likely to occur. Very progressive managers who are also effective leaders can be somewhat more successful in prompting professional growth in their employees, but leadership requires "followership". Leadership implies an "attracting" or "pulling" influence, and followership suggests that employees are drawn toward something, but have some degree of choice as to whether they follow the leader and whether they grow or not. Anyone who has tried to lead others knows just how true that is. Marilyn Ferguson states it so well. "The gate to change is locked on the inside." The "High Impact Mentoring and Coaching" for which I advocate, are designed to be very separate from supervision. My approach to mentoring and coaching frames the mentor/coach as a highly effective leader WORTH following. In other words, "High Impact" mentors and coaches are MODELS and MAGNETS of best practices, increased performance, and greater results. People are attracted to them. Also, this conception includes explicitly understanding that the employee who works with a mentor or a coach must choose: 1. To defer to the greater experience of a mentor 2. To learn through others' experiences and mistakes and avoid learning by trial and error 3. To take the risks of discussing their own weaknesses and needs and of learning in front of someone more senior. Choosing to act that way takes a very special circumstance and relationship, and that is why mentoring and coaching must NOT overlap evaluation and supervision. Certainly supervisors MUST be trained and expected to also act as mentors and coaches. Those skills will improve their ability as supervisors and the results of their supervision. However, we ALSO need non-supervisory relationships between mentors/coaches and the employees who are their proteges, if we expect to dramatically accelerate the learning and performance within our organizations. To what extent can mentoring and coaching really improve employee performance? Supervision is often a fairly negative approach and it is often not the most effective way of promoting employee development and performance improvement. There is significant research* that suggests that when a supervisor states an expectation for a change in behavior: As many as 18% of employees do the opposite behavior, and As many as 37% of employees will do nothing different at all! That indicates that in YOUR organization, there could be as little as 45% impact as a result of supervision. Not a very effective result. Certainly, these data may be better in some types of organizations and under different, more progressive styles of management and leadership. Never-the-less, contrast the previous data with a study done by the ASTD** which found that training alone increased manager productivity by 24%. However, when combined with coaching and mentoring support strategies, the study found that productivity was increased by 88%!! That is a significant triple difference! Clearly a combination of coaching and mentoring as a follow up support system to training is the most powerful strategy for employee performance improvement! That just makes good sense because training provides the knowledge and initial skills development, and mentoring and coaching provide the on-going support & structures for development of skill mastery and implementation of better practices in the employee's daily work. Do YOU want to increase training implementation and productivity by 88% @!!? Contact Barry Sweeny for help in starting a "High Impact" Mentoring Program" today. * Carl Glickman ** American Society for Training and Development What is "Induction" and why is it needed in business and other non-educational settings? Basically, induction is the process of joining a profession, learning the specialized knowledge and skills expected of members of that profession, and being accepted as a professional by one's peers. In some settings, that often means nothing more than signing a contract and then "poof", you are a "professional" employee. However, many feel that this narrow conception lacks some of the richness and complexity that we assign to our professions. If a professional is more than someone whose living is earned by doing a paying job, then induction to a profession must be more than signing up for the career. Induction can be a longer process requiring up to several years, which is needed to reach some level of competence, worthy of being called a "professional". In other words, when that level of competence is achieved and you are a "professional", your induction process is completed. The trick here is determining what level of competence is enough to be called a "professional". When employee skill certification is involved in the profession, the most reasonable way to determine when a novice employee becomes a professional is when (s)he attains professional certification. That level of certification is earned because they have demonstrated a level of competence based on some set of standards. Often our standards for professional conduct are not that well defined. That's where an effective induction program can really help. Not only does induction define the transitions and provide the help and guidance to ensure a smooth transition, but effective induction actually accelerates the rate of learning during the transition and affirms and supports the effort needed to make the transition. Mentors, coaches, managers and supervisors can all help the induction process along. However, as defined earlier, the roles of superviso and mentor must be played out differently to maximize the employees growth and performance. (Click here to see this in a chart.) What should be the most basic goals of a quality induction program? Quality induction programs might address many kinds of goals (see below), but there are three fundamental goals I recommend: 1. Orientation to the work setting, job expectations and responsibilities, the organization, key people, organizational culture and philosophies, and the specific tasks, and expectations of the job assignment. 2. Induction to the profession, including making a commitment to the organization and the job, and the development of skills necessary to function at least at the performance level of the current typical employees. (Is that good enough?) 3. Induction into the shared vision for the profession and organization. - Every profession and organization has a vision of what it is trying to become that exceeds what it currently is capable of doing. New employees need to enlist in the journey of continual improvement, the development of the skills which are needed to become the desired employee and team member of the future, and the development of the work environment, culture, and organization which are sought for the future. In other words, an excellent mentoring program must answer the question, "how shall we induct a new person into this organization and profession when we are just in the middle of redefining ourselves and what constitutes excellence?" It is only when induction and mentoring address all three of these purposes that a mentoring program can be expected to increase an organization and employees' performance. Now, those three essential goals are often implemented through a set of more focused and specific objectives such as the following list. Such specifics are critical to success because they clearly spell out what's expected, what success will look like. That clarity is needed to plan short and long-term actions, monitor progress, and celebrate success in the end. Caution however, is in order. The following list does not suggest that all of these things should be undertaken by every mentoring program. Pick those which are appropriate to the organizational and individual needs your program is designed to address. Common options for mentoring & induction program goals are: To speed up the learning of a new job or skill and reduce the stress of transition To improve employee performance through modeling and coaching by a top performer To attract new staff in a very competitive recruiting environment To retain excellent veteran staff in a setting where their contributions are valued To respond to competitive or contractual forces To promote the socialization of new staff into the organizational "family", it's values & traditions To begin to alter the culture and the norms of the organization by creating a collaborative, team-based, results-oriented subculture that promotes daily, job-embedded learning and improvement. What are the essential components of a quality induction program? Since induction programs can have a range of goals, the components needed to attain those different goals will vary considerably. However, for a program intent on BOTH helping new employees into the profession AND promoting improved work, productivity and results, I have found that: Mentoring is the most critical central strategy, but is only one induction strategy The other induction strategies which are also needed are: Initial beginning employee orientation sessions and on-going orientation for each new experience before it occurs Facilitated peer support groups Training designed specifically for the beginning employee, and then training for all levels of experience Observation by the protege of expert employees, best done with a mentor who can help the protege debrief and learn to use the quality practices just observed Professional development, career and project goals, and action plans A professional development /career portfolio Information about this list and each component is available from Barry Sweeny. Why don't all excellent employees also make excellent mentors? This is a very real and pervasive phenomena in mentoring today. The answer to this question is probably your biggest opportunity to make your mentoring program a highly valued component of your organization's success. When I was originally trained as a new staff developer (1985) One of the training components was a review of the "Principles of Adult Learning". In fact, this topic is still an essential aspect of staff development and mentoring today. It is very interesting to me, however, that a comparison of "adult learning" principles and "leadership" principles (another hot topic today) shows that they are really one and the same principles. Let's consider an example. Adult learning theory states that we need to respect the experience and prior knowledge of adult learners and build on that strength in designing staff development for them. Seems logical, right? We need to do that for adult learners, because that how adults learn best. Amazing! The principles of effective leadership suggest that effective leaders do the same thing! They understand that strong leadership requires followership and that such a following is earned, in part by respecting the prior experience of employees. That is why I assert that if a mentor is effective in working with another adult learner, they are so because they have applied the principles of effective leadership to that process, whether they label it or think of it that way or not. What's happening here ?! This issue is surfacing everywhere because we are in the midst of redefining what excellence in work and in leadership are. Just as we are redefining roles from just "management" to also include leadership, we need to redefine the kinds of role models our mentors are expected to be. That is why not all "good" employees (by an older definition) make good mentors (by a newer definition). That is also why the opposite IS true. Great mentors are also automatically great employees and leaders. In fact, when I examine truly effective mentoring, I find that it is the same thing as effective leadership as we are coming to know it. This is quite important, as it clearly indicates that learning to be an effective mentor is exactly the practice we need for learning how to become better employees and leaders. My experience shows this concept to be the hidden potential of effective mentoring and one which very few mentors or mentor leaders understand. Resolving this issue has been a big focus of mine since 1992 and it is what I mean when I use the term "high impact" mentoring. It is teaching mentors HOW to mentor so it promotes performance growth in others. Why do mentors in some programs seem incapable of providing effective mentoring? It is true that many mentors do not provide the quality of relationship or guidance we might wish to see provided. It is also true, in a small fraction of mentoring cases, that the mentor should probably not have been selected as a mentor. Program leaders often must work to improve mentoring but they sometimes have the cause of the problem and the problem mixed up. In other words, you must be sure to get the "cart and the horse" in the right order so you are focused on something that will improve mentoring practices. The "horse" that must come FIRST is an effective mentoring program. Once the program is functioning as it should, THEN it's time to start looking for the "cart" of effective mentoring to come along. I place the success of mentoring squarely at the "feet" of the mentoring programs in which the mentors work. Being an employee does not sufficiently prepare one to be a mentor. Nor can we assume that life prepares one to be an effective mentor. Even though there are some of us who might agree that we were mentored, (by some definition of that word), how would we know how to be an effective mentor if we never had a model of such effectiveness to observe ourselves? This is why I strongly urge mentoring programs to provide a Mentor of Mentors. The mentoring program needs to improve if it does not clearly define mentor roles and tasks, the mentoring relationship, the mentoring process, and if it does not adequately prepare, support, AND provide excellent models for the mentors to help them accomplish what we ask of them. What evaluation questions should an existing mentor program be asking itself? Here are some questions that I frequently find I must ask when people wonder about what they are accomplishing in mentoring. Perhaps these questions will help you to "turn over" the issues involved in induction and mentoring program improvement so you can see them and your own program from a new perspective. The critical questions to ask are: Are there clear program purposes and expectations or goals against which to measure current mentor and/or protege performance? Can mentor and protege performance be measured and supported so that the assessment experience is positive, growth-producing, and yet, ALSO holds participants accountable for effectiveness and results, monitors stewardship for time and other resources, and leads to actual improvement? Are there program purposes which are not evaluated? Are there program purposes which are evaluated and not attained? How do mentors actually use their mentoring time? Is it enough time? What can they and can't they find the time to do? Are there mentor roles and tasks defined against which to compare mentors' actual use of time? Is there program evaluation that gives you feed back about the extent to which the desired purposes are really happening? To what extent are mentors specifically and explicitly trained in how to use mentoring to transform their work and that of the proteges? To what extent are mentors explicitly trained in how to increase productivity and results? To what extent do mentors and proteges create norms in their own relationship which are different from and better than those in the rest of the organization? To what extent are mentors specifically trained in how to respond positively when nonparticipants in mentoring make comments that are negative or that reflect a misunderstanding of mentoring? To what extent do mentors know how to help novice employees learn and join into the organization's other improvement initiatives? To what extent do mentors know how to enlist novice employees in the career-long commitment to be a continual learner? To what extent is and should mentoring be used as a tool for organizational improvement? To what extent have mentors discussed and had guidance in how to induct novice employees into a profession that is in the midst of redefining itself? Have mentors been specifically trained in what it is that mentors are supposed to model, when they themselves feel that they are only beginning to become the kind of employees that we now know we need to be? Almost always, mentoring programs do not have sufficient data to answer these questions with any certainty. Often we respond that we are too busy working and trying to do mentoring to evaluate what we are doing. Yet, these do seem to be very critical questions that mentoring programs would want to be able to answer, and even to address! Take the time at some point to ask and answer these questions yourself. Better yet, ask Barry Sweeny to help you design a program evaluation process and instruments to give you the data you need to answer these questions. "Our Mentoring Program is Just Fine. What Else We Should Be Doing?" When I hear this question, I wonder, What is the basis for the belief that mentors and the program are doing a fine job? Doing a fine job at what? When I ask others questions such as, "How do you know if your program is OK?" the response is usually, "We get very few complaints", or "Everyone seems to think things are fine". My response to these statements may seem to be a bit out of "left field", but I often find it to be very appropriate. I respond, "Shouldn't there be some complaints?" If there are few concerns and few issues surfacing, then there is good reason to believe that mentoring is only accomplishing a tiny part of its potential. In addition to reducing the stress for novice employees, orientation to a job, etc. mentoring is also one of the best tools there is to promote the creation of better norms of collegiality and collaboration, to press for finding more time for job-embedded staff development, increasing openness to professional feed back, learning the power of seeing oneself through another person's eyes, and creating a relentless focus on improving productivity and results. If there are no complaints, there are probably few of these things occurring, little challenge to the status quo, little growth, and little professional stretching of roles, relationships, the work culture, etc. If there are few complaints, almost always that is good reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of the mentor program. If there are reasons to be concerned about the program's effectiveness, then there are also good reasons to be concerned about your ability to sustain the program in the future. Mentoring is invisible to everyone outside the mentoring relationship. That suggests that there are many decision makers in an organization who may have little or no reason to value mentoring, and THAT suggests that these decision makers will someday call into question the value of the program. Think about it. What complaints SHOULD you expect to hear given your program's goals? What strategic initiatives should your program be supporting? Need help thinking about this? Contact Barry Sweeny for help with a program audit. What are the Financial Benefits of Mentoring? - The Cost of Employee Attrition: The benefits of mentoring can be shown as financial and non-financial costs. This answer is focused on the former. See below for information on the latter. There are a number of ways to illustrate that there are many hidden costs already in the budget which are the current costs of NOT providing effective mentoring support to new or middle level employees. In fact, I always find that the cost of employee attrition is MORE than the cost of an effective induction and mentoring program because it can save the organization money which was an existing and hidden cost. When you show this "Return on Investment" (ROI) the program will be perceived as more "cost effective" and "worth it" than the approach of not supporting employees. Here are three clear examples of how mentoring for employee retention PAYS, and pays BIG TIME. 1. Sandia National Laboratories has concluded that they lose about $200,000 every time a new engineer leaves their lab. Obviously, they have established a mentoring program to ensure they have done all they can to minimize losses like that! 2. The "Emerging Work Force Study" reported in Business Week (3/1/99) stated that 35% of employees who did not receive regular mentoring plan to look for other jobs within the next 12 months. Compare that to those who did have regular mentoring. In that case 1/2 of that number, or only 16% expected to change jobs. Are YOU interested in cutting your cost of employee attrition by half? 3. The American Society for Training and Development conducted a study which found that training alone increased manager productivity by 24%. However, when combined with coaching and mentoring strategies, implementation of training and productivity were increased by 88%!! Do YOU get those kinds of results from your training program? Some other things to consider that demonstrate clear financial costs are: What is the cost to the organization when an employee leaves the organization or is not rehired? What you need to identify are your organization's costs for: New employee recruitment, especially for recruiting the kind of diverse staff a great organization wants Administrative time for trips to job fairs & colleges, time for screening applications, interviewing, and meetings to make decisions Newspaper, journal, internet and other ads Head hunter fees Technology specialist time for placing recruitment and job info on the organization web site Brochure and flyer printing, folding, addressing, and mailing Personnel staff time processing applications, answering phones, dealing with certifications, and other inquiries, etc. Cost of background and other certification and credentials checks [*]New employee initial orientation [*]New employee training during the first year or two? (both training just for new employees and all other organization training) [*]Reduced productivity and results during the year or two that a new employee is learning? [*]Reduced productivity and results when a trained employee leaves, and a different new employee is hired without that hard won experience and starts over at the beginning again. [*]Loss of continuity when employees leave or are not rehired because they are not as successful as required? [*]Supervisor time spent orienting, evaluating, coaching, developing, and supporting new employees who are not retained? Collect this data and figure it out as a cost for each individual employee. Then compare that to the cost of induction per employee. In many organizations, you will be thousands of dollars ahead by doing the right thing. Also, keep in mind that the money you will save is money you already spend. It is not new money you need to find to support mentoring. The Non-Financial Benefits in Attracting Quality New Employees - A very common interview question now days is "Will I be assigned a mentor?" Your organization's ability to answer that question affirmatively, AND to describe the quality of support you provide, is a critical lever for attracting and hiring the best employees available. Even when you may not have the best salary to offer, you can compete for the best when you treat professionals like a professional. The power of mentoring and induction programs to improve the ability of an organization to attract the best new employees and to dramatically increase retention of existing employees is very well documented. Increased attraction is critical because: It increases the quality of the pool of job applicants. It increases the number of applicants from which the organization can select. It reduces the number of new employees dismissed and the cost of that dismissal in lost time and investment. It creates the high expectation that those who are selected for a position in this organization are exceptional employees. That helps you to establish the norm for expecting exceptional work. It establishes the norm (even before hiring) that your organization expects and supports collaborative action to improve work and the quality of desired results. Isolated, completely autonomous work is not what you want, so clarify what you do want. What are the Non-Financial Costs of Employee Attrition? Decision makers seem most interested in the financial costs related to providing mentoring and induction. However, there are also some very significant "costs" of NOT using mentoring. Mentoring delivers a big impact on the quality of employees and the results they achieve but these "cost savings" are more difficult to demonstrate directly. Never-the-less, these indirect costs need to be clearly presented. Here are some ideas about calculating and demonstrating those often more hidden costs. What is the cost of lost business when a key employee who had the main relationship with a customer leaves your organization? When struggling novice employees receive no quality support or guidance they remain focused more on their own needs and day-to-day survival, than on the success of the organization and its mission.What is the cost of this, even when such employees are retained? What is the cost in productivity, results and loyalty when struggling, unsupported employees adopt coping strategies that are less effective practices? This tragic effect is well documented and the cost in lost productivity and results is immeasurable but significant. What is the number of veteran employees who leave the organization or who lose their enthusiasm and who could benefit from a new challenge, but who perceive that they have no options for career growth in your organization? What is the cost to the organization when excellent, gifted employees want to make a greater impact but do not seek it because they have little experience as managers and leaders? Give such employees the opportunity to serve as leaders through service as mentors. When such options do not exist the resources these people can offer and the potential for leadership that is lost is immeasurable. What is the value of a professional work environment? If mentoring is defined to do so, and mentors are prepared so they can do so, increasing the collaboration and professionalism of employees will positively impact the climate, staff morale, and the working environment. What is the value gained when junior employees see that more senior staff must keep learning? Mentoring and coaching model the importance of being life-long learners. What is the value gained when employees work every day at getting better at their work and at achieving better results? Mentoring establishes the norm and expectation in the minds of junior employees that career-long professional growth is an expected part of work. What is the value gained when organizational leaders can demonstrate their support for individual employee growth and empowerment in positive directions that contribute to organization agendas. Mentoring increases the opportunities for positive leadership by employees. What is the value of ensuring that new staff are brought into, adopt, and contribute to the initiatives of the organization (strategic plan, goals, etc.) Mentoring is a perfect means of incorporating new staff into the culture and traditions of the organization. Don't be fooled. if you have no formal mentoring program, employees are still being "taught" a work culture and norms. Are those the norms you want employees to adopt? How can your organization help staff define and attain their career goals? This question comes from Sreejon Deb, an HRD Manager in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This has been a tricky issue because many organizations worry that if they build up the capacity of employees, the employees may leave and take that investment with them. When that occurs, organizations wait until an employee demonstrates a commitment to the organization, and THEN begin to invest in the person. That is a critical financial and strategic error. What we have been learning about the factors that cause employee attrition and retention refutes that old argument. Refer to the answers to the question about employee retention (above) for more on this. Helping employees to set career goals is not simple, but it is WELL worth it. Here's where to start. 1. Helping others set and attain career goals is essentially a process of skill building and attitude adjustment. Your purpose is primarily to give folks a sense of self-efficacy, that they can influence, to an increasing extent, what happens to them during their lives. 2. Define what your organization is willing to do to help folks attain their career goals. Frame it within an understanding of what retains quality employees. 3.Define what the organization cannot do. 4. Establish a mentoring program so that all the following "help" occurs within a long-term, collaborative program. For most people collaboration is practically a requirement for reflection and self-assessment. Without collaboration, the will and time for reflection is overwhelmed by the daily work. 5. Help the employees to define what their ideal career looks like (set a standard for comparison) 6. Help them to create, show them where to find, or provide them with self-assessment tools which compare where they perceive themselves to be relative to where they WANT to be. 7. Help them learn how to set reasonable goals and intermediate objectives to move their skills and knowledge from where they are toward where they want to be. 8. Help them learn how to define action plans that will be reasonable, yet challenging, and that will give them gradual progress toward their goals. 9. Help them identify the resources, knowledge, time, and skills they will need to attain their objectives and ultimate goals. 10. Help them learn how to measure and monitor implementation of their intentions and plans, and then, to celebrate progress when they achieve an intermediate objective. This is the major reason I advocate for career/professional development portfolios. 11. Finally, help them learn how to help others through this same process by becoming a mentor. Do this all along throughout the entire process by periodically having the mentor ask them to answer three questions: What have you just learned? (Of course, ask this after a mentoring discussion unless it was answered during the discussion.) What did I do as your mentor that helped you to learn that? (You'd like feed back about the effectiveness of your mentoring, right?) Is there any way you can use that knowledge to improve your effectiveness? For example, if a protege sees that their own performance is increased as a result of mentoring, perhaps THEY need to become more of a mentor to those with whom they work? (Sometimes the answer to #3 is not clear. It depends on what was learned.) Why should YOU hire Barry as a consultant & trainer to help you? Mentors are also employees so don't they already know what 's needed. I agree this seems so logical. It is true that, to some extent, you can trust your intuition as an employee about what new employees need today. However, I caution you that developing a high impact mentoring or induction program is not always as obvious as it seems. This is largely because the definition of what's expected in work and of leadership have changed so dramatically. As a result, our goals for mentoring and the actual practice of mentoring have changed as well. That is why providing high impact mentoring is not just common sense and is not well known. If it were, our employees and organizations would already be as productive as we want! Are YOU? HOW IS BARRY UNIQUE? I have worked with hundreds of induction and mentoring programs and trained thousands of mentors. I have found that most peoples' intuition and common sense are NOT SUFFICIENT to guide them in developing mentoring programs, especially those programs which are expected to have a high impact on work quality, productivity, and results. If those are YOUR purposes, I am not just the best person with whom you can work, I may be the ONLY person who can help you attain that kind of program and those kinds of results. I have specialized in mentoring and induction of new employees since 1985 and have tried to become an expert in all aspects of it, from program development and improvement, evaluation, training, to problem solving. I have especially worked to understand what makes a mentoring and induction program achieve major results in improved quality of work, productivity, and results. That knowledge base is the focus of all my current training and consultation. Since this work is my only means of support, I pay very close attention to my competitors, I study their web sites, attend their presentations, and I read their books and articles. I make sure that what I provide is unique in the field. I do this to ensure that what I do makes a difference. To make a difference, I believe you must BE different. Believe me, what I have to offer you IS UNIQUE. CAN'T OTHERS HELP YOU? I know that many people can provide you with some level of help, often because they have a mentor program in their own organization. Sometimes just seeing how others do something may be all the help you need. However, the problem with this approach is that almost all of these people know a small segment of the knowledge base about employee mentoring and induction because they have to focus all their time on work or managing programs and people. They do not have the time to gain expertise based on a broad experience base, across many kinds of settings, yet this is exactly what I have done. They can help you, but that help is often narrowly focused, and sometimes, even misleading. Whether their help is what YOU need depends entirely on what your program's purposes are. If your purposes include transforming work and improving performance and results, you need to start accessing my expertise. For the customized help you need, you need me to consult with you. That's why I KNOW that at some point you and I will probably need to work together in some depth. I do not mean to sound haughty or arrogant. In fact, I am not that way. I just have worked so much in mentoring that I know what else is available out there in terms of resources, web sites, books, consultants, trainers, program models, etc. etc. Lots of it is good, but I have created and I have provided the kind of resources and services I do EXACTLY BECAUSE it is NOT already available anywhere else! It is UNIQUE! Blessings on you and your vital work on behalf of employees, teams, and organizations. Remember, I am the "Mentor of Mentors". Let me know when I can help any further. You have my permission to duplicate this information as long as you: 1. Keep the author and copyright info, graphic header, and source info below on the page 2. Do not sell it or provide it as a part of any paid professional services. © 2002, by Barry Sweeny, Best Practice Resources, 26 W 413 Grand Ave. Wheaton, IL 60187 630-669-2605, email mailto:barrys@BusinessMentorCenter.com and web site at <http://www.BusinessMentorCenter.com>.

I'm not talking about industry leaders. I'm talking about all of us as business owners. Does this help? I think the two are very different...but must work in concert with one another. I believe the characteristics of each is unique. For example, an entrepreneur has vision and works to create the business and finance it. A leader is most often associated with leading people at various levels of an organization, and can be taught in many cases (but not always, there is some aptitude required) the skills it takes to lead. Entrepreneurs have a more natural talent I think. Keep it going. This is fun stuff that makes you think and helps you grow. :) Beth

As any company grows it is important to keep in mind what might happen as a result of the personality dynamics of those you hire. ======================================================== The Ethical Vacuum and Workplace Abuse by Cedric Johnson, PhD Workplace abuse does not occur in a vacuum. Nor does it develop suddenly. There is a slow erosion of life-affirming values to the point where abuse in the workplace is viewed as normal. On one of my recent corporate consultations, I was impressed with a plaque in the reception area the company. It set forth a high and noble mission statement of valuing the employee and the customer. On the other side of the security doors the people in the trenches gave me a completely different position. Abuse was frequent and demoralizing. It was an organization that did not practice what it preached. Do corporations in this country not preach ethics? Not so. Eighty percent of US Companies claim to have a code of ethics. Where then is the breakdown in values to the point that people are abused? The answer is on many fronts. Sometimes it's the corporate-wide gap between belief and practice. In other cases it's one rotten apple that spoils the whole barrel. It takes just one mean manager to demoralize a whole division. A healthy workplace is much like a good eating plan. A recommended daily allowance of each nutritional component is necessary for health. What is the RDA for a healthy corporation? What values when absent set the stage for abuse? In 1992, the Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility set forth values necessary for an ethical corporate environment. I have adapted these, which appear in many forms in other corporate mission statements. The absence of just one sets in motion abuse in the workplace. 1. Respect for Personal Value I heard a professor from a prominent business school say, "Capitalism is not about caring for people. It's about making money." I thought, "Why does it have to be an either/or dilemma. Can't it be both/and?" An employee at one of my recent consultations told me, "They (the management) treat the physical plant better than they treat us. We are expendable things." The valuing of profits over people fosters abuse. Not that profit in itself is wrong. The words of Henry Ford ring true. He wrote, "Business must be run for a profit... else it will die. But when anyone tries to run a business solely for profit, then also must the business die." Business dies when it loses its humanistic touch. The philosopher Martin Buber divided human relationships into two categories, I/Thou, and I/It. Any time abuse occurs, someone is depersonalized. They are reduced to the status a thing, an object, a possession or an It. Sexual harassment is an example of an I/It relationship. The person is viewed as a *** object, subject to the whims of another's power, and as part of the abusers entitled domain. It is an entirely selfish act with no consideration for the person being abused. In contrast, an I/Thou relationship respects human dignity, values dialogue, and recognizes the soulishness of life. It factors in a moral and ethical dimension to its business practice. A desire to be competitive should not lead to an uncivilized workplace that treats people like things. Finding ways to pay employees less, demanding longer hours, increasing the workload, and fostering insecurity with constant layoff threats is abusive. It works against the company and the employee in the long run because it destroys creativity, discourages risk-taking, and lowers the morale of the workforce. Few workers arrive on the job with a song in their hearts. A recent edition of the Wall Street Journal found that downsizing companies outperform the S&P 500 only slightly during the six months after the news of downsizing. A corporate lean and mean approach becomes a climate of abuse when it results in any devaluing of the person. 2. Truth Telling The discounting of truth is epidemic in abusive situations. Here truth tellers are not welcome. They are discriminated against and sometimes fired. They are like the protagonist in Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. He was the medical officer for the town's mineral baths. It was to be a major tourist attraction pumping revenue into the sagging economy of the region. He then discovered that the waters were dangerously polluted. Blowing the whistle cost him ostracism and an income. It threatened the welfare of his family. The poignant words at the end of the play sums up the plight of all who stand for truth in the face of injustice and feel the loneliness. He says: "You see, the fact is that the strongest man upon the earth is he who stands most alone." Truth tellers speak from a deeply principled place against life's injustice. They are viewed by the sick system as a nuisance, a threat to profitability, or discredited as overzealous do-gooders. The system continues unchecked and unchallenged by truth. Cover-ups for strategic errors, a conspiracy of silence about unethical business practices, and in the end, the most devastating lie of all, believing they follow the path of truth when they are just plain lying, continue as the rule rather than the exception. Common examples of lies include: "Tell the customer what he wants to hear. All that matters is the sale." "Your job is secure (followed by the person being downsized). "You will get positive results in this research project. We need the grant to be renewed." "That was not sexual harassment. It was just a guy being a guy. Ignore him." When truth is compromised trust and confidence begins to break down. I know of an investor that makes million dollar deals on the strength of a handshake. He is one of those principled people who take to heart the ancient teacher who said, "Let your yes be yes and your no, no." 3. Fairness We all want to compete on a level playing field. We all ascribe to equal opportunity regardless of race, ***, religion, or disability. But does this happen often in the real world? The answer is obviously no. And that is despite laws that regulate our behavior. Ask people how they get promoted in a system. They will give the party line of advancement on the basis of competence and tenure. Then speak to those who have been discriminated against by the informal systems of the old boys network or the unseen glass ceiling, and you will get a different story. Why is it that women often have to work twice as hard as men to get the same promotion? Why is it that the ranks of upper management often exclude minorities like non-whites and gays? Abuse in the form of discrimination is hidden but very real. It flies in the face of the myth that all of us are created with equal opportunity. It contradicts the very spirit of our US Constitution. Yet, there are laws that ensure fairness. But they are sometimes difficult to enforce. Fairness may be a myth but it does not have to be an ideal that we cease to pursue. And imagine how loyal and productive people will be to a system that treats them fairly? 4. Respect for the Environment The Minnesota Corporate Ethics code says of respect for the environment,"We understand this to mean that business activities should promote sustainable development and prevent environmental degradation and waste of resources." Unfortunately this seems to be a minority position. If the choice is between profitable development and environmental protection, it's the dollar that wins out eventually. The sad thing about such shortsightedness is that the very environment that sustains profitability becomes unlivable or at the least very unhealthy. For years, industry rejected pollution controls. It was claimed that it cost too much. How do they factor out the destruction of eco-systems and health hazards? The abuse of the environment is the abuse of humankind. The Reversal of the Abuse Historically we have needed laws to regulate human greed and exploitation. That is because we often lack the ability to self-regulate. The Dalai Lama was once reported to have said, "Love one another, and if you can't, at least don't hurt others." Abuse is the ultimate expression of a lack of self-love and respect. It is the denial of our interdependence. The poet John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." A lack of stewardship to each other and the environment in the corporate world, ironically, does not make good business sense. Lopping hundreds off the workforce through downsizing may boost the short-term share value of the company stock. It also may seem to make good sense for a healthy corporate merger. But in the long run it destroys morale, loyalty, and innovation. And that is devastating to the profit margin. Doing good and doing well is a proven way to ensure ongoing growth and profitability in a competitive market. A business cannot hold to immoral practices and expect to keep the confidence of its customers. For employees, fear and insecurity will not drive people to work harder. It will just make the good people look elsewhere for a corporate climate that reflects their values and meets their deepest spiritual needs. The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said it well when he wrote, "Love is the final or highest possibility in man's relationship to man." Living love is not easy. It fights the undercurrent of the ego with all its self- centered greed. And since most of us struggle to be middling good anyway, love is always a journey rather than a destination. But without it we all die. To some it may seem like a very soft idea that smacks of moral idealism. It seems to have little to do with the real world of corporate development. But it does. To live ethically is to live lovingly. And to conduct one's personal and corporate life with love is to know the experience of ultimate success, living significantly. And the statistics are starting to demonstrate that ethical and loving companies are in the black and not the red. Dr. Cedric Johnson is a professor at the University of Phoenix, author of four books on spirituality and emotional health, and has been a psychologist in private and hospital practice for two decades. Leader of the popular Doing What You Love and Success Without Ulcers Seminar series, he has served as a success coach for corporate executives and leaders in the entertainment industry, and has been a radio talk-show host for 12 years. For information call Dr. Johnson at 707-642-8043 or email: cofocus@concentric.net http://www.work911.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=4599

We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a safe and joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Be safe in your travels and remember the true spirit of the Holiday season. Our very best from our home to yours, Beth & Rod

Thank you for this great information. Would any other business people who have anything to share not related to power washing along the lines of new business start up costs? Rod~

Mike, Make sure to build a snowman, make some snow angels, have at least one snowball fight, and of course, drink plenty of cocoa. If you have a big hill, sled, sled, sled. If you want to make your house smell wonderful over the holidays, do the following: Take a saucepan of water and turn on the heat on the stove to medium high add to the water one orange cut up in quarters or eights add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of cloves add several cinnamon sticks add a few nutmegs Once it starts to smell good, tun it to low and just let it simmer all day. Add more water as needed if the level gets to low. Beth:lgcold::lghohoho:

What traits does a entrepreneur posses and what traits does a leader posses?

What does it take to be successful? How does a person or company become successful? How do you measure success? Are there specific ingredients to becoming successful? We thought this might be fun to discuss. The dictionary defines it as: suc·cess ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sk-ss) n. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted: attributed their success in business to hard work. <LI type=a>The gaining of fame or prosperity: an artist spoiled by success. The extent of such gain. [*]One that is successful: The plan was a success. [*]Obsolete. A result or an outcome. [Latin successus, from past participle of succdere, to succeed. See succeed.] Beth

To me, a successful person enjoys their work, but has time for their life. Beth

It can be said that there are basic reasons people buy goods or services. People are motivated by different things. What makes people buy services and what economic indicators impact purchase decisions? Have fun!:cool: Beth

:cup: :martini: :cheers: eggnog..... your choice of cups. Beth :groovy3:

I agree. Failure to respond to the current econmic conditions we are facing will create potentially unrecoverable problems for the small business owner. How many of you have notices that just about anything you consume (food or clothes) has risen in price over the last year? How about your electric bill? How about your insurance? Your gasoline or other fuel? The costs of godds sold will only continue to increase as gas prices do. I have heard the buzz about various costs for materials we all use in our work going up this year. Raw materials effect chemicals and sealers. At basic personal necessities increase, so too must labor wages, an in turn the taxes we pay as matching employers will rise. Fuel effects everything. Amazing isn't it? But I'm off topic..... why do people buy...ah yes...lots of reasons for that. :) Beth

One of the reasons people fail in business when they first start out, is that they lack vision, or fail to plan. If you fail to plan, then plan to fail. Our daily lives are busy and jammed with tasks. It can be a challenge for anyone to be active rather than reactive. Setting aside time to think and plan is in my opinion, critical to the success of any business. Do you know where you want to be in a year? In 5 years? In ten years? Have you thought about the tasks involved in getting there? What do you have to accomplish in order to meet the goals tied to these annual markers? How do the plans you are making affect your daily operations? What changes will you need to make in order to grow at a manageable pace? Food for thought.... Beth

Motivators are personal things. What motivates one person is not necessarily a motivator for another. The question is, what motivates people, and do motivators change for the individual over time? How does this affect your business internally, and externally (your employees and consumers)? Have a great day! Beth

That would be a physiological need...yes? ;)

These are interesting phlosophy's. Todays consumer has been taught otherwise and expects you to look sharp, wear clothes with a logo. It has to do with their feelings of security while you are on their property. Its an acknowledgement of legitimacy to them. Due to the number of contractors who practice less than desireable work, dress and hygiene without the thought of first impressions they will make, we are forced to raise the bar in this area to set ourselves apart from them. The consumers expectations being the determining factor in what "looks" professional. It is understandable that when arriving to do the work, one will be dressed down and probably not as presentable due to the type of work to be performed. But the first contact is what is concidered the most important by the consumer. I myself am guilty of showing up for an estimate in my grubbies and looking dissheveled. Our office will inform the customer of this fact that I am coming to see them straight out of the field and the please excuse the appearance as they have requested an estimate during "work hours". Many are greatful for the effort, very few have commented otherwise. The age of the noble contractor...where has it gone? The venture in itself has been taken advantage of by those who would exploit it for quick cash despite the impact to others they may have. Gadgetki, Thank you for the insight. Rod~