Have You Fallen Prey to the Seven Signs of a Bad Boss?

It's tough for employees to be engaged and focused on attaining key organizational and professional goals when they are under the influence of an ineffective manager or supervisor. 

And, the quickest way to ensure high labor turnover within your department as soon as the job market improves is to demonstrate the characteristics of a BAD BOSS.

1. Bad Bosses Have No Clear Goals. If your team has no clue of the goals or expectations they should be working towards, this may be a weak area for you. In such cases, that there are either no goals at all; the goals are unrealistic; or they are unclear to the team. This leads your team to believe that either their boss doesn’t know what they are doing, doesn’t care, or doesn’t want them to be in the loop.
2. Bad Bosses Deliver Poor or No Communication. These are the silent types, who revel in their team not knowing what they are thinking. Bad Bosses don’t feel it necessary to communicate how the company is doing, nor how employees are performing in their jobs. They just don’t communicate, and rarely show any emotion – good or bad.
3. Bad Bosses Hold No One Accountable. When there is no communication of team standards or goals, Bad Bosses really can’t hold anyone accountable for excellence or even mediocre job performance. Bad Bosses are apt turn a blind eye, allowing rampant compromise throughout the workplace – and in spite of their lack of accountability, they are not approachable and some employees even fear them.
4. Bad Bosses Often Blames Others. When things don’t go as they planned or expected, Bad Bosses are quick to point fingers at everyone except themselves – especially when their team doesn’t perform up to par. While self-accountability is out of the question, Bad Bosses find it easy to blame inefficient work systems, processes, and staff members (all within their sphere of control) for their inability to meet company-wide goals and performance standards.
5. Bad Bosses Have No Strategy for Improvement or Team Success. Stubbornly believing that strategizing is a waste of time, they just don’t bother with it. Bad Bosses have a false belief that they are doing fine as is; and because often the powers that be (senior leaders and board members) don’t hold them accountable for positive change, things remain in a constant state of confusion for both customers and employees.
6. Bad Bosses Never Delegate. To mask their fear of employee empowerment, Bad Bosses fail to properly train and delegate challenging tasks to their team members. They are cynical when it comes to their team, and don’t feel that anyone has the intellect or capacity to perform their job satisfactorily. Therefore, the team remains stagnant and virtually paralyzed in the absence of leadership.
7. Bad Bosses Don’t Mentor Others. To them training, development of staff, and mentoring is also a waste of time. They often say, “No one ever mentored or developed me and I turned out alright.” Bad Bosses have no concept of how to synergistically collaborate with their team to help them grow and excel in their jobs. Unfortunately, Bad Bosses practice “tough love” when it comes to on-the-job training.

Now take a minute and assess your current workplace. How many of these poor leadership behaviors do you or your leaders regularly exhibit? When you are treated like this, how does it make you feel?

If this information has helped you surfaced some of your blind spots, now is a good time to make a change in order to increase your effectiveness as a leader. And for more information on how to enhance your effectiveness as a leader, check out our popular book "The Leadership Book of Numbers, Volume 1"

http://tinyurl.com/3z46vsv.
 

Looking for Fresh, Creative Ways to Drive Service Excellence?

Performance Solutions by Design is one of the few premier consulting firms that not only offer keynote presentations, webinars, online workshops, and training for leaders and line staff -- we also offer a host of comprehensive Service Excellence Tools and Resources.

Click the link http://tinyurl.com/6la6g7fto check out our latest library of Service Excellence Tools and Resources, and learn how you can take advantage of deep discounts when purchasing the package we are featuring this month.  You are guaranteed to find something that you can use...

Do You Possess the Six C's of Leadership?

There are Six C's of Leadership that anyone who has influence and power over a team of people should possess.

Having the ability to master these six characteristics is the embodiment of a highly effective and successful leader.

1. COMPETENCE - more than knowing "how to do" something, but also displayed in the level of confidence, finesse and effectiveness with which it is done.
2. COMPASSION - the balance of kindness and empathy.
3. COURAGE - doing what is right, even when it is unpopular.
4. CHARISMA - a positive energy and an enthusiasm that inspires others to change.
5. COMMITMENT - best demonstrated in the level of dedication and allegiance you have toward your team.
6. COMMUNICATION - the ability to share information in a clear and concise manner so that everyone understands.

Which of these Six C's of Leadership are your strengths? Which are oportunities for improvement? What will be your plan for personal change?

In the final analysis, becoming a person of influence that others want to follow begins with YOU.  Remember, exceptional leaders are competent, committed to the cause, courageous, great communicators, charismatic, and possess a great deal of compassion for others.

To read more on the Six C's of Leadership and other short tips for leaders on the go, check out our latest book, The Leadership Book of Numbers, Volume 1.  We guarantee it will help you grow your business, enhance your professional life, and lead others more effectively. 

Service Excellence is Process Driven

Many leaders falsely assume that to create and sustain a culture of service excellence all you have to do is put employees through customer service training every couple of years.  But this is a common leadership and business fallacy.

Often, customer service training is not enough because: it is brief (typically 2-3 hours in duration); not tailored to the culture of the organization; does not include link the organization’s service philosophy (its vision, mission, and values); and often does not have not documented processes or standards to back it up.

More specifically, when there are no processes to reinforce a culture of service excellence, IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. Therefore, here are the ten key processes you must have in place to drive excellence. If they are not interwoven into your organization, your customer service training will be an expense that is something that is “nice to do,” but there will be no sustainable return on investment or guarantee of enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty after employees have attended.

Outlined below are the 10 Key Processes for Driving Excellence. If you answer “no” to any of these questions, consider them building blocks to strengthening and sustaining your organization’s service culture.

1. New Hire Selection – does your organization have a structured interview and hiring process that guarantees that every employee selected to work within the organization is aligned with the vision, mission, core values, and key business priorities?

2. New Hire Orientation / On-Boarding – is your new employee orientation program immediate (starting on the first day of a employees’ career with your company) and is it used as an opportunity to educate them on the organization’s key priorities, where it is going, what is expected of new employees in their job, and what they can expect from the organization?

3. Department and Job Specific Training – do new employees receive thorough training for their job, as well as information on how the department operates; also, do veteran employees receive recurrent training to ensure their job skills stay sharp and they do not become complacent in their work?

4. Internal Communication – does your organization encourage regular Department Meetings and schedule semi-annual All Employee General Sessions, to ensure everyone stays up-to-date on what’s going on in the company, what is expected of them, and how we're doing at meeting customer needs and expectations?

5. Reward and Recognition – are there multiple ways for employees to receive recognition for a job well done by senior leaders, their immediate managers, peers, and customers?

6. Customer Problem Resolution – are employees regularly taught the basic problem resolution process (LEAP - Listen, Empathize, Ask, and Produce), so that they are comfortable and competent in handling customer issues as they arise?

7. Employee Empowerment – are your employees regularly made aware of the alternative that they are empowered to offer customers when a problem arises, before they need to get a manager involved?

8. Verbiage – is there a standard language, do’s and don’ts that are used when interacting with customers to create a warm, friendly and inviting experience?

9. Communication Etiquette – are there written telephone, voicemail, and email standards that everyone throughout the organization uses to ensure consistency in communicating with external customers and each other?

10. Employee Accountability – are employees and leaders aware of the consequences of non-compliance with established company standards (i.e., retraining, coaching and counseling, job reassignment, progressive discipline), and is accountability for driving excellence reinforced at every level from the boardroom to the storeroom?

Bottom-line, while our 10 key processes are not all inclusive, hopefully it will fill in some of the gaps in your roadmap to achieving and sustaining a culture of service excellence.

If you are interested in obtaining specific details for refining some of the processes we have cited in this article, feel free to check out our website at http://www.psbydesign.com/.

The Power of a Service Excellence Sustainability Plan

After attending our one-day session “The Leadership Toolkit for Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Service Excellence” most participants leave with a renewed sense of self-motivation and accountability for driving excellence.

However, without the proper tools and resources to elevate customer service to the next level many leaders allow their work environments to slowly revert back into the same old ineffective, non-customer centric mode.

Creating a Service Excellence Sustainability Plan not only helps leaders identify gaps that may be standing in the way of their team performing at optimal levels and providing exceptional customer service, but it also helps them put in proper perspective how they will overcome barriers to achieving and sustaining a high level of excellence.

A sound Service Excellence Sustainability Plan will assess whether or not the leader needs to refine the team’s: (1) Telephone Etiquette Standards to ensure the customer’s first impression when calling in is a positive one; (2) Grooming and Appearance Standards so that the first visual impression that a customer perceives is always a positive representation of the company; (3) Communication Processes so there is total alignment within the team and across departments; (4) Problem Resolution and Empowerment Processes so that if a customer experiences a problem it is dealt with effectively, with a sense of urgency that retains customer loyalty; and (5) Recognition Systems that reward team members who consistently go above and beyond to provide an exceptional experience for every customer.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Is that it?” Of course not, but it’s a great start. These are the building block of proper customer service and when consistently done can lead (over time) to a 20-30% increase in customer satisfaction and profit.  Remember, creating a culture of service excellence is a journey, not a destination – and soon after closing these simple customer service gaps the highly effective leader will quickly move on to overcoming more significant barriers.

If you have established that simple service basics like telephone etiquette, problem resolution and empowerment, grooming and appearance, and internal communications need to be addressed within your team – our Service Excellence Sustainability Toolkit is a comprehensive resource guide that will help you close these gaps in a matter of days, not months or years.

Click the link   http://tinyurl.com/49fqwxm  to learn more about the Service Excellence Sustainability Toolkit and how you can obtain a copy. We wish you the best in your endeavor to drive excellence!

It's the Little Things

Yesterday, I was headed into downtown Atlanta for a client meeting when realized that I immediately needed gasoline – my fuel indicator light was blinking incessantly.

When I stopped at the closest Shell Gas Station to fill up, I noticed that the gas I needed was running at almost $3.50 per gallon. Wow, I thought to myself – that’s pretty high!

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a kind female employee warmly greeted me and said “Good morning!  Its customer appreciation day, do you mind if I clean your car windshield?” Yes, I pleasantly replied as she approached my car.


I found myself quickly engaged in a friendly conversation with her about the beautiful weather we were experiencing in the middle of the winter, and before I knew it I was finished pumping my gas, she was extending to me a fond farewell, and on her way to attend the next customer.

To you this story may seem lackluster. However, what makes this brief encounter so memorable for me is the small act of kindness on behalf of the employee that caught me off guard and made me completely forget about the extra money I was spending for gasoline at her station.

Now, I’m sure this customer appreciation day activity was a probably a planned company initiative, but the genuine attitude that the employee extended made a tremendous difference. She had the right attitude, and unknowingly started me off to a great day.

The lesson learned is that too often frontline employees and leaders tend to forget (whether working in a bank, grocery store, dry cleaner, gas station or any other customer oriented business) that its the little things -- like the way you greet, approach or service a customer that makes or breaks their perception of the organization.

So take some time today to extend a small act of kindness to make someone’s day, whether they are an internal or external customer – because in the final analysis, it’s the little things that make a big difference!

8 Reasons to Focus on Service Excellence in the New Year

Creating a culture of Service Excellence is a journey, not a destination; and as we approach the New Year it’s a great time to reflect on what you actually accomplished and wish you could have accomplished in the past year.

If one of your organizational goals is to maintain a competitive edge by enhancing the customer experience, then focusing on Service Excellence could provide  a comprehensive approach that could result in service, product, and profit dominance.

Focusing on Service Excellence will positively impact:

1. Organizational Alignment, by forcing you to refine your organization’s definition of exceptional service. Defining service excellence starts with clarifying what exceptional customer service should look, sound, and feel like every time a customer interacts with your staff or uses your products and services.
2. Employee Engagement, by forcing you to involve employees in the planning of work that affects them. Creating a culture of service excellence is something that you do with employees, not to them. Their buy-in, commitment, and active involvement all contribute to sustaining the culture for the long-term.
3. Leadership Effectiveness, by forcing you to hold leaders accountable for driving excellence. No longer will leaders be allowed compromise in the quality and level of service that their staff provides. Their performance will be directly linked to sustained employee engagement, customer loyalty, quality management, and profitability.
4. Overall Communication, by forcing you to increase interaction with employees through regular updates on company issues that impact their work and in soliciting their feedback on ways to improve products and services.
5. Operational Excellence, by forcing you to assess service and product quality gaps, then searching for and implementing simplistic, cost-effective ways to improve without compromising the customer experience.
6. Service Recovery, by forcing you to identify ways to effectively resolve the most common customer issues through process improvement and teaching employees how to handle customer issues with a high level of professionalism and finesse.
7. Customer Loyalty, by forcing you to create a customer-centered work environment that enhances all key touch points that make up the customer experience. This includes improving the way we greet and interact with customers; the way we answer the telephone; the manner in which we improve processes that directly impact the customer; and our process for resolving any issues that may arise and diminish the customer experience.
8. Revenue & Profitability, by forcing you to focus on a more comprehensive approach to customer service by identifying ways to create an environment that fosters service, performance, and operational excellence. Ultimately, you create a delightful customer experience that makes them more apt to recommend your products and services, continue to return, and be willing to spend more.

While these eight reasons to focus on Service Excellence may not be all inclusive, my hope is that it has ignited creative juices as you think about how you will approach creating and sustaining a culture of Service Excellence in the New Year.