If you haven’t yet heard the term employee engagement, it’s a pretty sure bet you will soon.  The term refers to how closely aligned your employees feel to your company – how emotionally attached they are to the company, the brand and their fellow employees. The closer they feel, the happier their work experience – which in turn reduces employee absenteeism, increases loyalty, promotes your brand and improves overall productivity.  The science to back the concept up is impressive and the bottom line impact to companies is even more so.  To see how your engaged your employees are, consider the following engagement factors:

• Employee perception of job importance:  An employee’s feelings of worth and how their role ties to the overall success of company
• Clarity of job expectation:   Having clarity of purpose as relates to the employee’s role, and having the tools & skills to accomplish what is asked of him/her supports an employees' ability to succeed
• Ongoing, relevant feedback:  It is not enough to have annual performance appraisals; engaged employees receive ongoing, specific feedback as to how they are doing
• Opportunity for advancement:  In Dan Pink's book, Drive, the author talks about how important working toward mastery is in motivating people.  Employees want to stretch and grow, and having opportunities in your company for advancement will provide them the opportunity to grow and develop themselves
• Relationships matter:  Employees are human beings first.  As such, positive, productive relations that are built on mutual trust and support enable them to perform optimally and towards common goals
• Values & leadership:  When their work value system is in line with their personal value system, and that system is supported, encouraged and nurtured by company leadership, employees are motivated from within.
• Communications:   Just as family members care about what is going on within the family, engaged employees are more connected when they are aware of company direction, successes and wins – both large and small. 
• Recognition & reward:   A good rewards & incentive program is not only self-funded, but is aligned to company goals, is attainable (with stretch goals), is within the power of the employees to influence outcome and is built on the company’s value system.  If any of these elements are missing there is the potential for more damage than if no reward system were put in place. 

Implement any of the above and you’re well on your way to furthering your employee engagement.  You’ll soon be on your way to having employees who are in flow state – but that’s for another posting.

In the meantime, please share your thoughts & comments – what are you doing to keep your employees engaged?  Where have you felt most engaged as an employee & why?

 

I'm a fan of Servant Leadership.  If you are not aware of the concept, check out this video of Colleen Barrett, CEO of Southwest Airlines or The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership to learn more.  The basic premise is that when company leadership serves their employees as their number 1 priority, the employees will be more engaged and motivated and better able to serve their customers and markets.  I love the concept because it assumes we are part of something greater than ourselves, that the whole is greater than the sum of its part when this care taking is the fabric of an organization.  This also feeds my (and others') spirtual and emotional self, in that by giving we become better beings. And there is an added bonus.  Companies that embrace a long term strategy of servant leadership are more profitable than their peers.  In turn "profits are the applause for the employees doing well."  It's a win-win for all.   

My analytical side loves to analyze the tangible implications of Servant Leadership. And that's where the term Triple Bottom Line (People Profits & Planet - or Triple P) comes in.  Triple Bottom Line management can be used to find the balance between People, Profits and Planet to create sustainable businesses that serve.  All companies have components of each element but without the right balance, one or more of the other factors may become skewed. 

Consider the 3 components as sides of a triangle, where sustainability is a board that balances at the tip of the triangle foundation  - too much emphasis on one or two will cause an imbalance - eventually resulting in a breakdown of the foundation.  Too much emphasis on profit, and employees and/or planet will suffer.  Too much emphasis on employees, and profits and/or planet will suffer.  You get the point.  Triple P allows for a measureable way to manage and grow a company based on the company and owner's unique value system with our real world business, social and environmental ecosystem.  

Want to learn more about People Profit & Planet, Triple Bottom Line?  I encourage you to join a group on linked in, or check out CNBC's series on the subject

 
When I was a student in college learning music theory & composition, one of the techniques our professors used was to teach us all the rules of composition & music theory before we could break them.  We would then better understand the full palette of musical techniques to combine.   One of the courses that was especially interesting to me was "Counterpoint & Fugue."  During this course we would be given part of a music line, around which we would build a short 4 -piece harmony.  We were specifically told to not play the tune we were writing, and would instead listen to it for the first time when we submitted it to our professor.  Following the basic rules gave great results,  and ignoring all the rules was a fast track to failure.  By following this technique we had another building block under our belts which formed the foundation for developing our own unique styles.

This technique applies to business - know the rules of business, the lessons learned through the efforts of others is tremendously beneficial.  But learning from the mistakes of others is also valuable - sometimes failures prove to be even greater lessons.  So for this post, I'd like to share two references around the topic of failure in business - How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins (author of the more famously referred to Good to Great), and The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives (by Forbes.com contributor Eric Jackson)

Both articles provide wonderful examples of how not to run your company, and just like my old professor, Leonard Klein taught me - learn from the good & the bad, and along the way, you'll develop your own unique and winning style!

New Jersey Business owners - want to learn more about creating great companies?  Join us, along with other business owners January 16th at our annual Business Summit "Turbo Charge Your 2012." 

Small business has historically been one of the greatest enablers of community & societal growth.   When a company is small there is often a direct link between the personality of the CEO & the culture of the company.  Communicating the values of a company are told through a variety of mechanisms – from how an employee answers the phone, to how your salespeople represent you, to how you advertise and market your goods and services.

Things to think about:

• Through communication, leaders influence and transform.  Want to see how transformational your leadership style is?  Take the test.
• Marketing at its simplest is communication representing a message about your company.   Marrying the science of wants and needs to traditional marketing gives Neuromarketing.  To what extent do your dialogs make use of neuromarketing techniques? 
• Given the degree of talk about the good works companies do, is there a place for credentialing oneself as being a responsible company, or  is this Neuromarketing at its worst? Read about B-Corp Companies.

What do your communications say about you?

As the Northeast continues its struggles in keeping our heads and hearts above water, inspiration comes from an unlikely place: the Horn of Africa, where countries are also faced with disastrous weather crises. In this case, the worst drought in 60 years has racked Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya – and others beyond – with severe famine.

In times when it seems we cannot see beyond the mud and the dust, there come gifts that lend rays of hope. Today we salute a young leader named Andrew Adansi Bonnah, an 11-year-old boy from Ghana, who has pledged to raise money for his fellow Africans affected by the famine.

Andrew began his campaign, Save Somali Children from Hunger, in the beginning of August. He has pledged to spend his summer school break raising funds to help alleviate the rising numbers of people hurt by hunger. After setting up a special bank account for donations at the headquarters of Ecobank Ghana in Accra, young Andrew has appeared as a guest on TV shows, radio programs, and even addressed representatives of the African Union, United Nations and other donor partners.

Andrew’s energetic determination is important, so important, in the specific: in generating money to buy food desperately needed by struggling victims, in African youth committed to a better future for everyone on the continent, in understanding the factors crucial to a healthy long-term development as well as those to a short-term solution.

For those of us so far removed (if not in heart, than by physical distance), Andrew Adansi Bonnah is an inspirational leader in the general. There are lessons to be learned in working within our community, no matter how small or large we consider our community to be. To be learned in implementing not only quick fixes for our causes, but developing strategic long-term plans by understanding the many layered facets. To be learned in that hope, not matter what our world may throw us – no matter how much rain, or how little – will rise and make the sun shine.

Welcome to the second installment of our Next Level Leadership series! Here, we interview small to mid-size business leaders about certain areas in which they have proven themselves to be exceptionally successful.

Next in our series is TAB member Mark Beck, founder of The Boulevard Group. Mark was kind enough to spend time to share some of his experiences in local relationship building. The Boulevard Group is a firm that provides Web site design, development and marketing services.

When was The Boulevard Group founded?

My wife and I founded the company in 2000. We’ve been in business for 11 years, with the vast majority of our clients from the New York City/Philadelphia geographic area.

We started pairing with local businesses back in 2003. I’m a programmer, not a designer. We brought in a graphic designer on an outsource basis. The graphic designer had the exact opposite problem I did: he did design work, not programming. From then on we would refer business to each other.

From that relationship, the graphic designer has referred The Boulevard Group to other companies over the years. Close to 30 percent of our business comes from partner referrals.

How do you approach other local businesses? Has building relationships with them been a natural part of doing business, or have you actively worked to build a strong local network?

When I go to networking events, I look for people, like local printers and PC repair companies, who have the same client base, but not those who provide competing services.

In Long Valley, I partner with Eric Frenchman, an online marketing guru. It’s a good example of how we both target the same types of companies, but our businesses are not competitive at all. We refer potential partners to each other.

What do you consider the most important aspect of developing relationships with other businesses?

Primarily, I look at a person’s experience and examples of work that they’ve done. Whenever possible I would like to be the person referring another to a potential partner first, instead of being the one to ask for business.

When we have work referred to us, we have to keep two important things in mind:

First, we have to make the referring partner look as good as possible. Second, we have to keep the partner in the loop. Always let them know what’s going on: whether it’s good or bad, whether it’s something we’re doing or something the client is doing, we want to make sure there are no surprises on their end.

I noticed you have a page on your Web site dedicated to “Business Resources”. Is this part of building relationships with other local businesses?

Companies listed on the page are a combination of partners with whom we do work and others who are part of my local BNI networking group.

How has working with other local businesses benefited The Boulevard Group, outside of the financial reward?

In addition to the financial reward, having good relationships with other local businesses makes the sales cycle a whole lot shorter. Partner clients have already been sold on a Web site, and are now looking to put the pieces together to get the project going.

In some cases, when we’re doing work with a partner, The Boulevard Group works in the background and the client doesn’t know we exist. Sometimes we work face to face with the end client. We can get out, meet new people, and see who they use as resources. We see if The Boulevard Group can help them work with other businesses.

What is your favorite aspect of being a member of The Alternative Board?

It’s tremendously beneficial to have a new set of eyes looking in on the business. We can be so engulfed in the day-to-day operations that we don’t take the time to look at the big picture.  It’s so helpful to have board members coming in with a different set of eyes – new perspectives have helped the business get along, keep it going.

Welcome to the first installment of our Next Level Leadership series, where we highlight small to mid-size business leaders and the areas in which they have proven themselves to be exceptionally successful.

 

We recently spoke with TAB member Barbara Alves, Senior Director at Emilcott, who graciously shared her experiences in building a great corporate culture at the company. Emilcott is a consulting and training firm that provides industrial hygiene, health, safety and environmental support to companies and institutions facing compliance issues.

When was Emilcott founded? Do you have any employees that have been with the company since the beginning?

Emilcott was founded in 1986; we’re now in our 25^th year.

 

Bruce Groves, of course, President of Emilcott still owns and runs the company. Dawn Quinn, our Office Manager, has been with the company for 17 years. Most of upper management has been with Emilcott for a long time, between 10 and 15 years.

 

For the first 10 years, we had the natural attrition you might expect with a start up. As a consulting firm, hiring was focused on the specific projects that were in the hopper at the time. Many of the staff was young and inexperienced. After the first decade, Bruce understood that the employees who helped start the business would not necessarily be the ones to help us take it to the next level.

 

I came in at the 10-year mark. Because I had a more corporate background and had been involved with hiring before, I understood that you actually need to focus on hiring people with the intent on keeping them to help the company grow. Our turnover rate for the past seven years or so has been very low.

 

How big is Emilcott: how many employees do you have, and how big of a geographic area do you span?

Emilcott has around 30 employees. While there is a core group of employees that work in our office, the majority of staff is out on job sites. Some assignments are short, lasting a day or even a half-day, while other assignments are long-term. Employees may be on-site for a year or more.  We generally service the NJ - NY area, but employees have traveled all over the world to service our clients.

We’ve had to learn how to manage remote employees and create opportunities for people to get together. For instance, every other week we hold senior staff meetings. We also have parties throughout the year where employees can bring in their families.

 

How would you describe Emilcott’s corporate culture?

At that 10-year mark, when Emilcott decided to actively build our corporate culture, we made a conscious decision to figure out what attracts good people. We’re a small company where everybody counts, where everybody makes a difference, and where our employees’ contributions are noticed.

 

We’re very family-oriented, and we stress the importance of our employees’ personal lives. We have an open door policy: people can come to their supervisor, or to Bruce, if they have an issue. I never feel like I can’t take time for my family because of work.

 

Our support for our employees and their family life is helped in part by our use of technology such as a web-based CRM and remote access to the company network.  Emilcott became technology-friendly almost 10 years ago; we made a decision to invest in the latest technologies so that employees could work remotely. This let us tap into a specific labor pool – women in our industry who were trying to raise a family and wanted to work part-time.

 

How did the culture develop – has it been a natural extension of Bruce’s personality, or did he have a distinct vision of how he wanted his workspace and interaction with customers to be like?

The culture was first based on Bruce’s personality and management style. Now, it still is a natural extension, but with more focus and organization.

 

Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Does Emilcott hire those who fit into the culture, or do people with different personalities and work styles adapt to fit the culture?

Emilcott does a lot of pre-qualification. We use a pre-hire company, with an online program that vets people out at a certain level.

 

Once someone has reached the first interview level, I speak with him or her directly. I ask only behavior-based questions over the phone. I figure that education and experience has gotten him or her this far, and now I want to know more about the person.

 

I ask people who their mentors are, and why. I have a question I love to ask: “If you woke up tomorrow and had carte blanche to do whatever you wanted, go wherever you wanted, what would you do?” I want to know if a person is working to live, not living to work. Emilcott looks for those people who will be contributors beyond giving technical expertise. I find that behavioral questions can tell you a lot about a person.

 

Would you share any special stories that exemplify Emilcott’s culture?

We bring our employees together throughout the year with various celebrations. We have annual fishing trips, summer picnics and holiday parties.

 

Recently, we’ve had a cash crunch and have needed to scale back spending. Last July we combined business with pleasure by hosting a company barbecue. It was an opportunity for the different business units to do a mini-trade show, complete with booths where everyone shared what was going on in their units. Bruce shared his vision of the company. And everyone got to enjoy some great food and a little reconnection.

 

We also had a Mardi Gras party not too long ago. One employee spent a lot of time at a job site down in Baton Rouge, and she had the idea of throwing a Mardi Gras celebration. She brought different foods she enjoyed while working in Louisiana and shared it with everyone.

 

Emilcott has a corporate blog where staff describes their on-the-job experiences. Can you elaborate a bit more on the blog, and why Emilcott has encouraged its employees to participate in the company’s social media efforts?

Well, the blog is mandatory. Emilcott gives people a choice of either posting on the blog or posting a YouTube video. People can be given a subject, or can choose a subject of their own, related to our business, of course.

 

Facebook participation, though, is voluntary. Employees share pictures, or post about experiences with charity work, or send updates about job progress.

[For a great illustration of the corporate culture at Emilcott, check out this YouTube video. Peter Borbas is a client of Emilcott, whose daughter suffered from Lyme disease. Peter is on a mission to educate people about the disease. During training classes, Emilcott shows his video or Peter speaks directly to students. This YouTube clip shows Bruce, the company President, presenting Peter with "The Borbie" award for his contribution toward education about Lyme disease. Barbara says, "It took a handful of our employees to put this together, but everyone was happy to do it."]

 

Any last thoughts on what good corporate culture means?

 

Companies need to have a vision of their culture. Companies need to believe in it, otherwise employees will be confused about who they work for. Small business owners, in particular, need to decide what kind of people they want working for them, what kind of company they would work for. Otherwise it’s a bunch of people in the office working next to each other, and not with each other.

What is your favorite aspect about being a member of The Alternative Board?

 

It’s a twofold answer: first, you have accountability for goals that you might not otherwise keep. Second, over the years, being on a board is kind of like mini-therapy. What happens in TAB stays in TAB. I get lots of good advice from other people. Sometimes the answer is in yourself, but it takes someone else to say something that brings the answer to light.

Click here to read more Member Testimonials

Last Tuesday marked the first day of Spring 2011; in Northern New Jersey, we celebrated the season’s arrival with an onslaught of snow and ice. Instead of welcoming Spring with short sleeves and a bouncy step, we spent the day in scarves and boots, shoveling snow from our driveways.

The business world, like the natural world, can too throw us inclement curveballs. While we may be expecting sunny skies and gentle breezes, stormy weather often comes rushing in. We can stay bundled up, huddled at home, wishing the storm would pass quickly, or we can take cues from Mother Nature and turn adversity into opportunity.

There is much we can learn from the diversity of nature, and apply that understanding to business leadership. The term “survival of the fittest” implies only the meanest of survivors – the strongest, the fastest, those with the sharpest teeth. In fact, there are many ways to be fit in both nature and in business. Much of that fitness has less to the innate physical design of the organism (or company), but rather how well adapted you are to your environment (or your market).

For example, great companies can be founded to take advantage of niche markets. Clever entrepreneurs see a small piece of the business world that has yet to have a company that services one specific sector. For a while, these companies may have no competitors – but true to nature, others will see an opportunity in the niche and bring about a new set of skilled competition.

Business leaders can also learn from cooperation. Many organisms exist in symbiotic mutualism: that is, they help each other survive by contributing to a mutually beneficial relationship. (This works when the organisms are not competing for the same things.) In the Great Barrier Reef, clownfish feed on tiny invertebrates that are potentially harmful to sea anemone; in turn, the clownfish provide nutrition to the sea anemone. It’s not always competition, but rather clever cooperation, that defines us as the fittest to survive.

So here’s to the challenges that our environment will present us, and to our continual evolution in the exciting business world. (And here’s to Spring finally showing its face soon!)

Check out some interesting first-hand stories from small business owners who have ventured into symbiotic relationships.

The more fulfilled and happy people are, the healthier, and more productive they are.  And it's not about money.  A new study by Forbes shows employees value their coworkers & personal control over compensation most when asked about job satisfaction.  In addition, working for a purpose (your company's mission) is much more important to employees than the what (the company (the what).

 

Are you doing what you can so your staff can do what they love, with whom they enjoy doing it, while also working for a purpose they believe in?  Take the Purpose Profiler (based on the best selling book by Nikos Mourkogiannis) and see what your company's driving force says about your company's purpose.   

I have the pleasure of working with some incredibly talented business leaders.  One of the areas that fascinates and inspires me is their desire to help others achieve all they can.  I recently came across some great  clips on the subject of motivation.  And, in its simplest form - our human drivers are not so self-centered as one might think.  Yes, there are needs that have to be met before we can think of others.  But once our physiological, physical, and safety needs are met – self actualization, greater good and desire to fulfill purpose drive us. 

Consider the following

• Tony Robbins’ Why We Do What We Do
• Daniel Pink’s The Surprising Truth About What Motivate Us
• Motivation versus Inspiration

So - think about it - How might you, as a leader, best enable & support those you work with, manage, care for & partner with?