Five Steps to Increase the People Power in Your Business

Take some bold steps and help your employees and business partners open up to real change and help them start thinking again to the longer term. Send a message that you are ready to commit to new ways of thinking and that that includes a commitment to the success of your employees in the changing workplace.

1. Reconsider your company vision.

A vision statement uses the future to help analyze the present. It must have a message that everyone from the CEO to the receptionist to your freelance workers can understand and put into practice daily. Vision is the match that lights the fire of potential in people. To do its job, a vision must be long-term, meaningful in a human context and appeal to a higher purpose. Make several drafts of your vision and circulate them to people who's opinion you value inside your company and out.

Ask yourself and others these questions:

Does our vision lead to action?

What will your customers be looking for from your company?

Can you live with this vision? Are you willing to act in accordance with it even if times get rough?

2. Devote more time to the management of people power.

People issues only seem to capture our full attention during times of crisis. Give them the time they deserve by setting up regular monthly staff meetings to discuss HR issues only.

Try this exercise: Managers rate the effectiveness of each employee on a simple scale from one to ten. Employees you rate 4 or below are clearly not making it in your workplace. Take action to move them within the company or help them move out of the company within the next 30 days. Employees you rate 8 or higher should have ongoing leadership development plans - they are your superstars. Spend more time with these people than any others. Make sure they know how you think about them and put them in coaching programs to be sure they continue to develop.

3. Start a 360 degree performance review process.

Have employees reviewed not only by their supervisor, but by their peer group as well. Make these reviews optional for the first year, but mandatory for employees who want to be considered for promotions.

A Caveat: It takes at least 6 months of preparation to introduce a 360 degree review process effectively. Show employees the evaluation materials you intend to use up front. Train employees how to accept negative feedback by giving them a system to take it in and process it before reacting. Also train employees to give feedback that is work-related and objective with factual examples not feelings.

4. Have the employees review the company.

Ask employees to hold the company up against its own standards. Do this survey annually and check the trend over time.

Ask yourself and others these questions:

Does the company walk the talk of its vision and values? Are management employees role models for ethical behavior? Do you take short-cuts with safety? Do you encourage honesty in reporting or do you shoot the messenger?

5. Create action plans for each individual tied to your vision.

Make a direct connection between employee actions and the company vision.

Consider this process:

1. Develop a more specific mission statement from your overall vision, by defining your focus to what markets you are serving and balancing your commitments to quality, value, and service.

2. Determine the factors key to your company's success and focus on specific, but long-term, goals in these areas.

3. Create annual corporate objectives related to your goals.

4. Have each department manager develop department objectives derived from the corporate objectives.

5. Post the results of 1-4 and ask each employee to develop individual objectives related to his or her department's objectives.

About The Author

Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing, a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook, and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook. See www.janbking.com for more information.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the byline is included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

janbking0191@sbcglobal.net

---

Can You Sleep While The Wind Blows?

Let me repeat a story I heard many years ago... Read More

Weaknesses of Wishing

When you're starting a business, you might wish for a... Read More

Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term

It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen... Read More

Lack of Operations Manuals Stunting Your Growth?

Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth?CONTENTS:1. Do you lack... Read More

10 Resolutions For The New Year!!

Each year many people create a list of resolutions designed... Read More

Great Employees = Passionate Consumers

Companies spend millions of dollars each year identifying their brand,... Read More

A Rare Leadership Skill: Dealing With People Who Want Out By Offering Crowns For Convoy

As a leader, you'll inevitably be faced with people wanting... Read More

Interviewing: How to Stay Out of legal Hot Water

Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and,... Read More

Does Your Management Style Remind People Of Something They Read In Dilbert?

With thanks to Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian who does the... Read More

Time Management Tips for Managers

Late last year I was presenting a workshop for the... Read More

DIVERSITY is a BIG word -- With A HUGE Business IMPACT

Second thought! Just in case. YOU or someone you personally... Read More

Are You Prepared for a Disaster?

Yesterday I look at my calendar and saw that my... Read More

Close the Performance Gap

One of the most difficult and emotionally draining situations you... Read More

Communication in Business

Effective communication in business is not about creating the perfect... Read More

Across The Interview Table!

Job interviews are easier for the interviewer or the interviewee... Read More

Business Fit

I have been an entrepreneur for over twenty years and... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Finding The Perfect Balance

This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More

Test Your Hiring IQ

The purpose of any selection process is to discriminate (albeit... Read More

Feedback - Make it Descriptive

Have you ever heard yourself say to a team member... Read More

Communicate To The Four Main Personality Types

You probably know this already, but there are generally held... Read More

Managing Meetings

Plan/prepare - lack of purpose causes aimless meetings. Know why... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Coworkers Collaborate to Complete Successful Initiative

This short story, Coworkers Collaborate to Complete Successful Initiative, was... Read More

Having Your Phil

February 2nd, at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time on Gobbler's... Read More

Structure Your Payment Offers to Sell More Products

The way you structure your payment offers can increase your... Read More

First Things First -- Process BEFORE Technology

Here's a brief story I encountered while leaving Newark International... Read More

Technology & Communication

A study a couple of years ago found that 63%... Read More

Change Management: Avoid Havoc In Very Uncertain Times

Escalating gas prices...tensions and turmoil in the Middle East...a struggling... Read More

Increase Productivity: Five Powerful Actions

How can you make the best use of your energy... Read More

Blame Culture Blues - How the Language of Blame Manifests Organisational Underperformance

If you have ever worked within a large organisation then... Read More

Top 10 Things NOT To Tell Angel and VC Investors

I am not writing this to create a list of... Read More

Best Practices Plan: Dissemination of a Great Idea

Good news spreads quickly News of the invention of the... Read More

Write Winning Proposals For Venture Capitalists

You need to secure money for your project. You visit... Read More

Training and ROI (Return On Investment)

Statistics consistently reinforce that the biggest challenge in today's contact... Read More