Recognition Article ASTD Newsletter 2009

recommend attending so that you can become better informed about how the chapter works and under-stand how important member input and feedback is to that process. Two other quick notes: 1) Don’t forget to register for one or both programs that Don Kirkpatrick, author of the Four Levels of Evaluation Model, on September 22nd. Each program is different and both will offer insights from Don’s 50+ years of experience. As always, you can register on-line at www.cfc-astd.org. 2) Past President Bill Saw-yer has been working on obtaining HRCI credits for this and other CFC-ASTD programs. This will be a welcomed benefit for members who need credits for CPLP, PHR, SPHR, etc. certifications. We hope to have the details worked out soon, so look for the announcement. One last piece of advice that Jack Welch provided that day was do “a job that turns your crank” (do some-thing you love). I believe we are in this profession because we love it. We truly get to make a difference in people, teams, organizations, and communities. And we do so be-cause we inform, inspire, and in-volve others. Please continue your efforts to inform, inspire, and involve myself and the officers of the CFC-ASTD so that we may continue to provide those aspects to help you continue to be the best that you can be. Todd Whisenant President

o inform, inspire, and involve. Words that

you’ve heard me state for the past several months at

the monthly Central Florida Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development meetings. These are not just the CFC-ASTD purpose; they are words that every Workplace Learning Professional should live by. Recently, I had the opportunity to not only hear Jack Welch, past CEO of General Electric, but to meet him as well. One thing he discussed about leaders was the need to gain the trust of those they serve/lead. As we all are leaders, this is good advice to follow. He further commented that to accomplish this, one has to communicate like crazy every day. Your team needs to know every-thing, everyday, and you should use every means possible to com-municate. One of Jack’s favorites is Twitter. This time with Jack Welch in-formed me, giving a little more knowledge and things to consider in my own leadership style. I was also inspired to implement some of the aspects he spoke about and personally challenged me with when I met him. Because of this, I will be involved in implementing changes within my team at work and with our own CFC-ASTD Board. For the past six months, the officers of the CFC-ASTD Board have listened to the feedback and input of membership and in turn, have provided outstanding programming, professional development, and services. All of this was conducted keeping in mind our purpose to inform, inspire, and involve membership.

From mentoring to networking, C-Level insights to unspeakable management truths, understand-ing blogging and facebook to measuring human performance improvement; the purpose has been to inform our members. These presentations, the newsletters, our e-mail blasts, and website have all been designed and geared to provide you, our valued member, information to aid you in continuing being the best Workplace Learning Professional possible. These activities and events have been inspiring to many members. Chapter officers have received numerous positive comments about many chapter deliverables that had real useable return on investment to them. These ROIs have inspired members to become engaged in the chapter’s mentor-ing program, to better understand and use networking skills, and take on more leadership responsibilities within their own community/workplace to men-tion a few. But the real payoff is that informed and inspired CFC-ASTD members have become more involved. While that has not exactly translated into greater attendance at events, which is still due to the tough economy, it has meant greater involvement with people volunteering to aid the chapter, and more importantly – making a difference in their own workplace. Later this month on July 28th, you’ll have a wonderful opportunity to be better informed about the CFC-ASTD chapter and what it does and how you can be part of it. The “I’s Have It” is a no-cost event to members that will hopefully inspire you to become involved. Regardless if you have a desire to become a leader within CFC-ASTD, I highly

Inform, Inspire, and InvolveInform, Inspire, and Involve SUMMER 2009

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Spring Program Review 2-3

2009 Mentoring Program 4

New Leadership Books 5

Leading From the Heart 6-7

Helping Employees Though Economic Downturn

8-9

CHIP Program 9

Recognition– A Development Tool 10-11

Back to the Basics of Communi-cation

12-13

Crisis a Critical Time for Lead-ership

14-15

http://www.cfc-astd.org




SPRING PROGRAM REVIEW! PAGE 2 THE CHAPTER CONNECTION

APRIL Kill What’s Ugly While It’s Young™ and other unspeakable management truths

With the title Kill What’s Ugly While It’s Young™ and other unspeakable management truths, James T. Brown had us from go with his creativity, quick wit and straightforward communication style. His lead in telling us that ‘Ugly sprouts everywhere’ and that it needs to be identified and dealt with was a great intro to get the group engaged in his discussion.

His session was very tongue-in-cheek and he did a great job looking at the art and science of critical management truths, such as:

* Kill what’s ugly while it’s young

* Fear and pain, the ultimate project team motivators.

* Plagiarism equals profits.

* Brownnosing, the key to project management success.

With topics covering plagiarism and brownnosing and how they affect your business, Dr. Brown did a great job making participants think, challenging the status quo and bringing a fresh view into the world of management. The group followed up with

many questions and left with a sense of learning something new from a subject that has been covered many different ways.

MAY

Carole Borne

VP of Professional Development

On May 16, the Central Florida chapter held a successful Professional Development half-day event at the DeVry Uni-versity campus. The morning was kicked off by Paul Cave, Ed.D, who led a discussion on Leadership Develop-ment. Paul shared ideas on connecting leader development to the organization’s strategy and presented an overview of a “boot camp” approach being used by some of his clients. Dr. Michael Zia Mian then facilitated discussion on the topic of measuring the effectiveness of T&D initiatives. In addition to discussing the four levels of evaluation, he dis-cussed the concept of using pre- and post-training assessments to measure the impact of training. Our third topic was an interactive session with Jennifer Lee and Leah Turner who helped us become more comfortable with all the options for using social networking websites in support of our business. We explored LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc and looked at ideas for using these tools as well as podcasts and other electronic tools to reinforce learning. The event was lively, engaging, and provided new ways of looking at these topics that are so much a part of our profession. We had a strong mix of experience among the participants that provided for some great discussions.

Continued on next page...

PAGE 3 THE CHAPTER CONNECTION

JUNE

“The Changing World of Leadership: The 3rd Generation Focus on Results”

Many of us have attended leadership classes and/or programs in the past. This perspective on leadership offered a new look at old ideas. The idea that we all have a leadership “style” or that we fit and mold ourselves into our companies leadership “competencies” is a thing of the past. Moving into the 3rd generation of leadership includes the idea of a “bottom line” approach. To quote Dr. Lippitt:

The third generation of leadership follows Peter Drucker’s admonition that “effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”

As promised, Dr. Mary Lippitt achieved the following goals in her program through group activities, models and real world examples.

!" Learn an easy-to-use leadership model that complements the traditional models.

!" Experience six leadership mindsets and how they improve the “bottom-line.”

!" Determine which leadership development generation best achieves your organi-zation’s goals.

!" Improve your “business savvy.”

In addition to the program, she offered to send a Leadership Spectrum Profile inven-tory to those in attendance. This inventory is a multiple component inventory de-signed to help you understand the priorities you are using and position yourself for greater effectiveness. In other words, you need to understand how you are currently approaching projects and goals in order for you to be an effective leader. The sec-ond part is understanding your team or co-workers and being able to work together to achieve your company’s goals.

For our local chapter members, Dr. Mary Lippitt also provided a tool for us to use based on the Leadership Spectrum Profile. It is a series of questions related to each profile description: Catalyst, Developer, Performer, Protector, Chal-lenger, and Inventor. This information can be found in the “Members Only” portion of our web site by logging in using your member id and password.

Finally, Dr. Mary Lippitt left me with some words of wisdom and advice as a future chapter President. She has led both the local DC Metro and Miami chapters of ASTD and is currently acting as an advisor to our neighboring Tampa chap-ter. “Get INVOLVED.” That is part of our chapter’s mission statement, we are here to ‘Inform, Inspire and Involve” the Workplace Learning and Performance professionals of Central Florida.

To learn how you can get more involved with our chapter, contact Crystal Melton at [email protected].

Milana Thielen, CPLP

“I need your help” is one of the most powerful phrases in the English language. It’s from these four simple words that relationships are built and people grow not just through the receiving, but also through the giving. Yet so often as professionals we avoid saying those words. Maybe we’re protecting our image or doubt that others will respond. Sometimes we don’t volunteer to help because we haven’t stopped to consider how much we really do have to give.

The CFC-ASTD Mentor Program creates opportunities for members of our chapter to speak up and say “I need your help” and that’s exactly what happened at our second annual Mentor Matching Event in May. One of our new Mentors, Vicki Lavendol commented, “What an impressive group of Protégés! Certainly any one of the Protégés could have served as a Mentor.” All of our Protégés are accomplished professionals who are seeking to grow either in a new competency or just to take their current skill and knowledge to a whole new level.

As for the Mentors, once we had met all of them we were pretty proud just to be in the same chapter. Our Mentors are Training Managers, Directors, Facilitators, Consultants and Business Owners. They hail from organizations in our community like Walt Disney Co., Wilson Learning Worldwide, Gaylord Palms, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, WyoTech, Key2 Solutions, Impact 21 and Daytona State College. Each one seemed genuinely hon-ored to have been invited to serve as a Mentor and looking forward to giving back. Most Mentors commented about their passion for learning and remembered someone who mentored them during their career.

The Matching Event could not have gone smoother. Mentors and Protégés had opportunities to connect and get to know each other in a comfortable casual setting. After-ward, they completed a match request form indicating their preferences. As a committee member, I must admit I was a little nervous about the matching.


2009 M2009 M2009 MENTORINGENTORINGENTORING P P PROGRAMROGRAMROGRAM O O OFFFFFF TOTOTO A G A G A GOODOODOOD S S STARTTARTTART But, it was amazing that all of the pairs seemed to just fall into place. Most every match was a first choice for both the Mentor and the Protégé.

Once the pairings were announced, they had time then to get together to set their goals, plan how they were going to communicate and select a date for their next meeting. Thank you to all of our Mentors and Protégés who are off to a great start!

The Mentor Program Committee will be sponsoring “Check-in Events in July and September. The program for this year concludes with a Graduation at our Chapter’s December meeting.

If you are interested in becoming a Mentor or a Protégé for the 2010 session, please visit our chapter website at CFC-ASTD.org and click on ‘Program Development’. There you will find contact information and forms to enroll in the program. And remember, just saying, “I need your help” or “Yes, I’ll help you” could be the beginning of a great professional relationship.

Mentors Protégés

George Alvarez Daniel Pendleton

Tammy Ascolese Brenda Kovacs

Lonny Butcher Celena Daniels

Kristina Grant Veronica Drake

Vicki Lavendol Penny Bernal

Luis Martinez Irene Boland

Ben Reed Joe Crimi

Matt Pytosh David Holness

Diane Caruso Aurora Adams


FFIVEIVE N NEWEW L LEADERSHIPEADERSHIP B BOOKSOOKS

Do you want to read five new leadership business books that will supercharge your ideas about business?

There are plenty of classic business books out there that have withstood the test of time, such as Kouzes and Posner’s “Leadership Challenge”, Senge’s “Fifth Discipline”, Drucker’s “The Effective Executive”, even Jim Collin’s “Good to Great”.

People sometimes dismiss new Leadership and business books as being too “flavor of the month”, trendy, or unproven to be truly valuable.

I believe that all types of books are essential as raw material or “fuel for the fire” when developing my own ideas. If that is something that is true of you, then here is a list of a few current greats that should lead you to some nearly instantaneous innovative ideas for your business:

1. “Yes, 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive” Robert Cialdini. This is short, easy to read, and filled with proven marketing and persuasion ideas. Be careful to use your newfound powers for good, not evil!

2. “A Whole New Mind” Dan Pink. If you’re a “creative type”, you will be cheering as you read this- if you’re not, this will help you to understand them, and maybe to develop some of your own creativity in ways that work for you.

3. “The Answer to How is Yes” Peter Block. This book challenges the convention that figuring out how to do something too soon limits creativity, and diverts us from the deeper questions such as; “Why do we want to do this? “Is what we are trying to do consistent with our values and vision for the world?” Be prepared to get introspective (and energized).

4. “Brain Rules” John Medina. Want to have a better memory? Want other people to enjoy, pay attention to, even remember the presentations you give? This book is a very readable and enjoyable way to understand a little more about how people’s brains are wired.

5. “The Back of The Napkin” Dan Roam. There are a whole bunch of reasons why so many ideas have been born on cocktail napkins- this book explains some of them, and shows you ways to be REALLY GOOD at scribbling ideas to help you sell, persuade and ideate!

Kenny Sturgeon is a consultant specializing in Leadership Development, Team Training, and Coaching and can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.rollins.edu/execed

“No doubt emotional intelligence is more rare than book smarts, but my experience says it is actually more important in the making of a leader.” Jack Welch, Former CEO of GE Electric

What does Jack Welch mean when he says emotional intelligence (EQ) is more important in making a leader? What do emotions have to do with leadership anyway? Weren’t we taught to leave our emotions at home…don’t bring them to the workplace? Many of us may recall this belief and have integrated it at some level. Have you been able to stay focused and productive while keeping your emotions shelved? It may work some of the time, but certainly not all the time. Leaders are human beings expressing themselves physically, mentally, and yes…emotionally too.

This level of self-awareness provides the opening for leaders to recognize the emotions of others, understand them, and manage relationships effectively. Research studies show that emotional intelligence it is a set of skills that can be improved, learned, and practiced. The Six Seconds Model of Emotional Intelligence is based on three pursuits and eight competencies as depicted below:

LLLEADINGEADINGEADING F F FROMROMROM T T THEHEHE H H HEARTEARTEART PAGE 6 THE CHAPTER CONNECTION

Pursuit Competency Know Yourself (being more aware) 1. Enhance Emotional Literacy

2. Recognize Patterns Choose Yourself (being more inten-tional—doing what you mean)

3. Apply Consequential Thinking

4. Navigate Emotions

5. Engage Intrinsic Motivation

6. Exercise Optimism Give Yourself (being more purpose-ful—doing it for a reason)

7. Increase Empathy

8. Pursue Noble Goals

Leading from the heart versus the head requires the following:

!" a willingness to look within

!" to know ourselves

!" to be aware of our emotions

!" to be able to name and identify the emotion

!" to understand how they impact our behavior and decision making



Of the 8 EQ competencies, what skill do we work on first to directly impact our ability to relate well to the people we lead? While all competencies are vital to driving performance, may I suggest starting with ‘increasing empathy’? Empathy is one of the most critical and powerful leadership skills and we all have the ability to use it. Empathy is the ability to recognize and respond to the emotions of others with an open-mind, open-heart and with no judgment or preconcep-tion. It starts with noticing and genuinely caring about what the other person is going through. Take these the steps to communicate authentically using empathy:

1. Listen and I mean really listen for the thought and the feeling. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk. Stop the chatter in your own head and be present to the person. Shut the door, turn away from your email, and physically sit side-by-side with the person if possible.

2. Restate in your own words what you heard. For example, you can say, “What I am hearing you say is …,” or “Let me make sure I got this right.”

3. Express empathy by “putting yourself in his/her shoes” to imagine the feeling of the experience. For example, you can say, “It sounds like you’re frustrated because …”

Review what was said and any next steps that were discussed to ensure you are both on the same page.

The people we lead want us to recognize the signs, to notice what they are feeling, and to validate their experience even if we don’t agree. Empathy is invaluable to encourage your team, to manage a change initiative or project, and to inspire others to perform and produce results. How much teamwork and productivity would we gain if we leave one-half of ourselves at home and bring the other to work? To get the best from yourself and the people you lead, bring ALL of you – your mind, body, and spirit -- to the workplace and to life. Then watch your team follow suit. Given these turbu-lent times, leading with EQ is even more critical. As Joshua Freedman, COO of Six Seconds, puts it, “emotions drive people; people drive performance.” So take the time to engage in authentic conversations and respond genuinely from the heart with a simple action—a gentle smile, an authentic handshake, and or just sitting still a bit longer when someone comes to you. Practice empathy and notice how your interactions get deeper and richer when you are leading from the heart.

Anita Torres, owner of Alternative Learning Designs, is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance and a Certified Emotional Intelligence Trainer and Coach specializing in leadership development for individuals, organizations, and families. To schedule a training or coaching session,

contact Anita at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Bob Lucas

For as long as most people can remember, interpersonal communication breakdowns have been the number one factor causing loss of employee efficiency and effectiveness in organizations.

Statements such as, “I never know what’s going on,” “No one ever listens to me or my ideas,” or “THEY don’t tell me anything,” prevail in the typical workplace. As in many other situations, there is probably a bit of truth in all of those comments, along with some degree of individual responsibility. After all, adults are just kids with big bodies! That sounds like a blanket statement, does it not? However, if you consider how most people learned to communicate, starting at a very young age, it makes a little more sense. Consider the following examples of statements related to communication, which many parents and caregivers use with children:

The statements above are not exactly the kinds of communication that encourages open dialog or buy in to what you say, are they? Yet, how many times have you

heard similar language used when an adult is speaking to a child, or possibly even another adult? The result of such communication is that, while the intent may be to get or give information, gain undivided attention, or facilitate feedback, the effect is often quite the opposite. For most people reared in the United States, the intent of the sample statements mentioned could be valid because:

Unfortunately, unless these concepts are communicated effectively to children in a non-threatening manner, the desired effect is lost. As a result, learning of positive communication techniques often fails and adults repeat negative habits.

So, what are the ways we communicate with others? According to studies done by Albert Mehrabian in the 1960s, and substantiated by others since then, message meaning and emotion between two people can be impacted significantly and comes from the following sources:

BBACKACK TOTO THETHE B BASICSASICS OFOF CCOMMUNICATIONOMMUNICATION


!" Look at me when I am talking to you! (Often said in a loud, irritated voice)

!" Shut up and listen to me! !" No!

!" Do not talk to me in that tone of voice... !" When I ask you a question, you had better

answer me... !" Do not speak unless you are spoken to. !" Children should be seen and not heard.

!" That is a silly/stupid thing to say.

!" Direct eye contact often does indicate interest.

!" A communication receiver must listen actively to what is being said in order to

understand a message sender’s meaning. !" Tone of voice carries many messages.

!" When asked a question, the polite action is to respond.

!" If someone does not know a lot about a topic, the best way to learn is to patiently

listen and then, if appropriate, ask questions.


Non-Verbal cues, which account for fifty-five (55) percent of message meaning. These include facial expressions, gestures with hands, arms, head, and legs, personal appearance and hygiene, manner of self-presentation ( e.g. dress, clothing worn, car driven, arrangement of home/office) and actions or inactions.

Vocal cues account for thirty-eight (38) percent of meaning and include tone of voice, volume (loudness or softness), pitch, rate of speech, and articulation or enunciation of words.

Words used by a speaker and targeted appropriately to a listener’s knowledge or level of understanding, account for only seven (7) percent of message meaning. This includes grammar, syntax, use of jargon and various other aspects related to what you say. Do not think that because of a low percentage that words are not important --- they are.

When communicating, remember that in any two-way dialog there are four potential messages involved:

With this in mind, always think of the message that you desire to share before you speak and then ensure that you use the right means of communicating it.

1. The message you want to send. 2. The message you thought you sent.

3. The message you actually sent. 4. The message the receiver understood.

Bob Lucas was the 1995 CFC-ASTD chapter president. He is President of Creative Presentation Resources and a Managing Partner at Global Performance Strategies. He has over three decades of experience in the customer service, human resources, training, and management fields. He has written hundreds of articles and contributed to twenty-nine books, including: Training Workshop Essentials, Customer Service: Skills for Success, How to Be a Great Call Center Representative, Effective Interpersonal Relationships and Coaching Skills: A Guide for Supervisors. You can reach Bob through any his website www.globalperformancestrategies.com or email him at [email protected].


http://www.globalperformancestrategies.com/

http://www.clarityconsultants.com/


As we all know by know by now,

our country is in crisis. Our economy is at its worst since the 1980’s. Job losses have hit a record high and unemployment rates are soaring. The national average is 9.4%; here in Florida, we are at 10.2% and it seems as if it is not getting better. People who are out of work are fearful, anxious and demoralized, often not knowing which way to turn to seek new employment opportunities. People who still have a job are equally fearful and anxious over whether they will see a pink slip in their box. This level of emotionality can be a barrier for employee engagement, performance, and productivity. There may also be higher levels of absenteeism as workers suffer the side-effects from stress, anxiety and depression. So, how can organizations help their employees through this period of uncertainty, while keeping morale and productivity healthy? There are several ways that organizational leaders can help their employees keep focused and productive.

Communicate This is probably one the most important steps leaders can take. Let your employees know what is happening within the organization. Talk to them about their feelings and what is going on, as to how the business is doing within its industry. If employees don’t know what’s happening in the workplace, they will start to deduce and expect the worst. Schedule both formal and informal team meetings. Have an “open door” policy – this is not the time to dismiss employees. They need reassurance now. Make them feel valued Show them you are glad they are your employees. Value their skills and contributions. Create a valued environment – create a caring culture. Say “thanks” or let them know how their skills are making an impact on the bottom line. Encourage teamwork and sharing of ideas. Research has shown that employees highly value acknowledgement from their supervisors often times more than traditional rewards. In lean times, you don’t have to spend money to show employees you care.

Keep focused on organizational goals and outcomes

Keeping employees focused on their job tasks and outcomes will leave them little time to worry about the state of

the organization or a potential job loss. Work will get done, which will lead to a level of job security and elevated emotional levels. When the work gets done, management is happy, customers are happy, which can trickle down to create happy employees. Promote your EAP If you find employees feeling overly anxious, which is adversely affecting job performance or that your team is impacted, then it time to tap into those benefits you offer. Be sure to promote EAP services to employees so they will feel comfortable seeking services. Accessing EAP services can often be seen as a stigma for those in need (“you’re crazy”), which prevents them from seeking services. It is the strong that recognize they cannot carry the burden alone. If management supports EAP services, then employees will also.

HHHELPINGELPINGELPING EMPLOYEESEMPLOYEESEMPLOYEES THROUGHTHROUGHTHROUGH ECONOMICECONOMICECONOMIC

DOWNTURNDOWNTURNDOWNTURN


Chapter Incentive Program

(CHIP)

The Chapter Incentive Program (CHIP) is a revenue sharing pro-gram sponsored by ASTD Na-tional that offers chapters an opportunity to earn additional revenue. The CHIP program works with our chapter’s unique ability to reach thousands of chapter members, local educa-tion and business leaders and prospective members in Central Florida.

CH9133 is the CHIP code for ASTD Central Florida.

When you use ASTD-Central Florida’s chapter code CH9133 to purchase ASTD products and services our chapter will get a portion of the revenue. Every person that uses the source code will be contributing to our finan-cial health allowing us to accom-plish our chapter mission: to inform, inspire and involve.

When purchasing ASTD prod-ucts or services please reference our chapter source code CH9133; it is no cost to you and our chapter gets a portion of the revenue!

If you have any questions on this program, please contact: [email protected]


CH9133 is the CHIP code for ASTD Central Florida.

Bring in outside resources, as necessary

It may be a good idea to bring in outside resources, such as a coach or therapist who specializes in careers and in working with stress and anxiety.

They could meet with employees, both individually and as a group, or teach them ways to recognize their stress riggers and how to cope with them. Often, this helps employees learn from each other and gives them the chance to be the “expert.” This could facilitate improved communication, teamwork, and a supportive environment. A coach could help employees understand how to manage their careers, which will empower them to always be prepared in case there are layoffs. A coach could help

managers feel secure in their leadership skills and to assist in the creation of a healthy work environment.

We are all riding out this economic wave. Businesses that are proactive and take care of their employees will be the ones that survive and come out stronger. Following the steps outlined can create a positive and healthy culture, create trust between employees and leaders, and keep employees engaged and focused on achieving organizational goals.

Dr. Barbara Seifert, CPC, is the President/Owner of Committed to Your Success Coaching & Consulting, which offers individual and organizational performance solutions. Services are aimed at increasing personal and professional development and enhancing organizational wellness through coaching, training and EAP services. Focus areas include career planning, generational diversity, and workplace wellness. Barbara is a certified coach and a licensed psychotherapist. She has been a long-time member of ASTD and currently serves as a lead mentor on the Mentoring Committee. She is an adjunct professor at Webster University.


Gloria Grehl, DTM

Why Recognize? In today’s economically stressful times, while many companies are shrinking their recognition budgets, others find that recognition goes a long way towards reducing employee stress and creating a positive work atmosphere. They have discovered the importance of paying atten-tion to the company’s most important asset – its employees. A company is successful because of their employees’ hard work and dedication each and every day. Perhaps nowadays it’s even more important for companies to focus on their recognition culture.

A recognition program is a means of en-couraging, supporting and honoring individuals and teams who contribute to the success of the organization through their positive behavior. It’s important to make employee recognition a priority be-cause effective recognition:

!" Increases productivity

!" Reinforces initiative and creativity

!" Reinforces organizational values

!" Builds relationships and enhances self-confidence

!" Improves retention of employees

!" Acknowledges achievements

!" improves customer service

Recognition programs are designed to reward employees who exhibit perform-ance over and above the day-to-day work responsibilities. These programs are unique in that they reward employees for their contribution after-the-fact and send the message of "thank you" rather than "do this and you will earn that". Employees are then free to be creative in the ways that they contribute to the company, whether through customer service or on-the-job innovation. It’s one thing to motivate people towards behavior through promised rewards, but better yet to instill a constant sense of “doing the right thing” just “because” it is better for the

company, customer and employee. What is important to realize is that while specific programs can be set up to support informal and formal recognition, in the end it is the corporate culture that needs to be shifted so that the underlying philosophy will become firmly established within that culture. Types of Recognition There are three categories of recognition: casual/informal (non-monetary and mone-tary) and structured/formal recognition.

Informal Recognition

To be effective, informal recognition needs to be sincere, timely, and specific, and may consist of nothing more than a few well-chosen words of appreciation and/or praise.

Non-Monetary Casual recognition is a spontaneous gesture of appreciation with little or no cost, designed to increase morale and encourage loyalty. Praise costs nothing! It can be given by anyone, to anyone at any time.

Sometimes the best recognition is simple and free. But just because it doesn't cost, doesn't mean it can't have a great impact on an employee.

!" A thank you or a personal hand-written note from a manager to the em-ployee

!" An e-Card sent via Intranet recogniz-ing any outstanding occasion

!" A "Praise Board" or "Celebrating Our Successes" Board to post thank you mes-sages

!" Employee of the Month Award

!" A thank you in front of peers or praise in a meeting

!" Posting guest comment cards for employees to view

!" An afternoon off with pay

Make Recognition Personal

Non-monetary recognition is usually most effective when delivered in public; however you should fit the method of recognizing an employee with that employee's likes and dislikes. Some employees love large public recognition ceremonies, while others may like to be recognized one-on-one, in a small group of co-workers, or through a property newsletter. Recognizing an employee in a manner not preferred by that person could actually be counter-productive!

When managers get to know their employ-ees on a one-to-one basis, then they will know how their employees want to be rec-ognized. One suggestion on how to achieve this is to incorporate a small ques-tionnaire into the employee’s corporate orientation, or create a survey for current employees.

RECOGNITION– A DEVELOPMENT TOOL

When was the last time that someone said “thank you” to you on your job?

When was the last time that you thanked a co-worker?

The act of expressing gratitude and acknowledgement for a performance

above and beyond is called recognition.



The survey would ask questions such as:

!" How do you prefer to be recognized? Publicly or privately?

!" If you were to be given a gift certificate what type of certificate would you most appreciate? Movie, restaurant, bookstore, grocery store, gas card?

!" Would you like a birthday cake on your birthday, and if so what flavor?

!" What is your favorite sport or sports team?

!" What is your favorite book or movie?

!" What is your favorite food? Favorite snack?

!" What are your hobbies?

This survey will help reveal employees’ recognition preferences and provide ideas for any recognition gifts that might be purchased for the employee.

Monetary Monetary informal recognition can take a variety of forms and often includes a low-cost, tangible gesture of appreciation or congratulations. The reward can be for individual or team performance. Examples include:

!" Travel, spa, or restaurant certificates

!" Tickets to sporting or cultural events

!" Certificates, plaques, trophies or rib-bons

!" Gift basket filled with goodies, candy, flowers

!" Breakfast/lunch/coffee/donuts/bagels with manager

!" Personal milestones such as birthday or anniversary celebration

!" Team events: picnic, off-site outing, potluck, pizza party

Formal Recognition Formal recognition can include not only awards for achievements, service, etc., but also celebration events at which all em-ployees can participate.

These programs have a structured, defined process with policies and legal require-ments by which they are executed and always should support the employer’s mission and values. Awards are given to employees who have had exemplary performance “over and above” and have made a significant impact to the organization. Examples include:

!" Career Achievement Program - Employees recognized based on achievement of career years of service milestones

!" “Coach” Program – A select number of employees are acknowledged as great coaches in the workplace based upon nominations by their peers and managers

!" Leadership Award – Awarded to one individual annually who epitomizes cour-age, leadership, and passion to inspire others

President’s Award – Company President chooses an employee who demonstrates dedication and a willingness to serve their customers, co-workers and community

Whether a company has the resources to implement monetary informal recognition programs or formal recognition programs will be entirely up to them. Less formal recognition programs may be easier to implement and be coordinated by mem-bers of the Human Resources department.

Establishing a recognition culture as part of a company’s mission and values is the key to success. Contemporary studies have shown that effective recognition in the workplace contributes to employee satisfaction and retention. Recent surveys reveal that the majority of companies are still continuing to support employee recognition even in these tough economic times.

So the next time that someone does some-thing for you on the job, whether it is ex-pected or unexpected – take a moment to say those two words that our mothers taught us were magical: “Thank you”. It will only take a moment of your time, but it could be the bright spot that makes that person’s day. While it may take several thousands of dollars to build a corporate headquarters, stock warehouse inventory, or finance development, the investment made in the company employees is always – priceless.

Currently in career transition, Gloria has man-aged corporate recognition programs for more than three years for Marriott Vacation Club Interna-tional, headquartered in Orlando, Florida. She has twenty years experience in leadership, train-ing, event coordination, speech competitions, mar-keting, publishing, and public relations with Toastmasters International, having presented more than 100 speeches and achieved Distin-guished Toastmaster Designation.


By David Parks In times of crisis leadership skills are shaped, honed and built in a way that no leadership development program can replicate. Brutal as it is, character is carved and leaders emerge in times of adversity. Step back for a moment and reflect on where we are and how we got there through a leadership lens. Leadership, or rather the lack of it during the good times, is in large part what created these bad times. Conversely, it is what we as leaders do during the course of these bad times that will create the good times again.

What does the current crisis mean for leadership development? Conventional wisdom dictates that when times are tough, training and leadership development are the first to go. Here are seven points to consider and potentially reframe how you see leadership development during this challenging time:

1. Some Programs Deserve To Be Axed Before the tech bubble burst in the downturn of 2001 there were a lot of soft leadership development initiatives that should never have seen the light of day. The burning platform of a recession raised the performance bar; only programs that drove the business goals and delivered real leverage and results survived. This may be a great time to clean up on programs that deserve to be dropped.

2. Opportunity Is Now Here “There is a general rule in business life: market share is won or lost during transitions. The analyst community will surely be lauding major cutbacks in spending and headcounts. CEO’s must shore up their courage to buck the conventional wisdom of Wall Street and invest through the downturn. After all, by now we should recognize that Wall Street is hardly a fountain of wisdom!”

This Newsweek (Survival 2009) quote from Craig Barrett, recently retired CEO of Intel, captures some enlightened thinking on how these times of transition present an opportunity in the midst of fear. The advice offered here to CEO’s is equally as relevant to CLO’s.

Another tech titan that capitalized on this same opportunity during the last downturn was Cisco Systems. Cisco focused their leadership development on sales teams because that is where the leverage was. They strategically stole market share whilst their competitors pulled back.

3. Innovation In The Face Of Adversity Leadership research reveals that leaders love a challenge. Innovation research tells us that some of the best innovations occur when resources are scarce. This is almost a perfect storm for leadership development. To say “we are not doing anything” is really a cop out. With creative thinking, a host of low or no-cost options emerge. For example, if there is a travel freeze, then tap into YouTube or the multitude of free webinars on leadership. If the lion’s share of your budget is venue expenses then revert back to on-site training; if your four-day development session can be done in three then shorten it; if you can partner with other companies and share workshops and costs, then do it!

.

CRISIS – A CRUCIAL TIME FOR LEADERSHIP


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XGdT5DUyPI

http://www.newsweek.com/id/182518


4. Connect And Communicate The stresses and pressures of a recession pull people apart at a time when they need to come together. Starbucks, in spite of closing stores and layoffs held their leadership retreat in New Orleans last October. Ten thousand

managers came together to focus on re-igniting their engagement and connection to customers, as well as supporting the New Orleans community in post Katrina relief efforts. Employees need more connection and communication, not less in times like these. Every meeting should incorporate some development component and look at ways of increasing contact versus decreasing.

5. Focus On Real And Current Business Challenges All the most respected best practice reviews on leadership development (think Bersin, CLC, Hewitt ) advocate that leadership development initiatives should incorporate real and current business challenges. What we are facing today may be the biggest leadership challenge ever created – it is real, it is brutal and for many, the survival of jobs and organizations are at risk. Aside from the typical tools of leadership development such as models, methodologies and 360’s, the most important thing must be to focus on real and current business challenges.

6. More Output From Less Resource. Following layoffs, those that continue on the job need to deliver more with less. Empty desks of laid off co-workers have a depressing influence on those who remain. They’re also a reminder that you could be next.

Lynda Gratton, Management Professor at London Business School, says “survivor syndrome is one of the main problems during recessions. Organizations focus on the

ones that are losing their jobs, and they tend to forget about the ones that have survived the job-cuts.”

Layoffs often result in leaders becoming remote, distant and avoiding the pain of interaction. Leadership development activity forces interaction and reminds leaders that the quality and frequency of how they interact with their direct reports is vital. More than ever, employees need inspiration, encouragement and support from their leaders.

7. Corporate Glue And Continued Learning

Leadership development can provide the ‘corporate glue’ that bonds the organization together during the tough times. Knowledge walks out the door when there is down-sizing. Continued learning and development for those still there is central to the retention of corporate memory. Where the natural forces of recession pull things apart, leaders are the bonding agents that hold things together.

A parting metaphor reflecting the challenge of leading through the current economic crisis is to envision yourself as the driver of a high performance rally car. Car and driver endure the toughest conditions and terrain while handling the uncertainty of twisting, turning, bumpy roads. Sound navigation / strategic direction ensure that they are headed in the right direction. Good shock absorbers allow them to ride the ravages of the road, and a robust gearbox enables them to shift up and down in order to steal advantage wherever they can.

There is one tactic in rally driving where mastery means the difference between winning and losing. This tactic is left foot braking. With a gnarly corner approaching the driver keeps their right foot on the accelerator while simultaneously braking with their left as they enter the turn. This enables just the right decrease in speed while at the same time keeping the engine revs high enough allowing them to power out of the curve.

Putting full brakes on leadership development is not a winning strategy for the downturn. Left foot braking, may be the formula to keep things moving at optimal speed and allow you to power out of this recession.

David Parks is VP of Business Development at Bluepoint Leadership Development. (formerly The Tom Peters Company) He can be reached at [email protected] or (415) 383-7500


http://www.bersin.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-foot_braking




American Society of Training and Development Central Florida Chapter

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Founded in 1979, chartered in 1982, and currently celebrating its 27th year, the Central Florida Chapter of the American Society of Training and Development (CFC-ASTD) has grown to be the largest and most influential organization serving learning professionals in Central Florida. CFC-ASTD is sup-ported and is highly recognized by ASTD Headquarters. Since the inception of ASTD’s Chapter Operating Guidelines (CORE) for measuring a chapter’s success and alignment, CFCASTD is proud to have achieved 100% CORE each year. Service on national, regional and local committees reflects the professional commitment of the members of CFC-ASTD. Members are frequent presenters at regional and national con-ferences. CFC-ASTD is the leader in providing workplace learning and performance programming to the Central Florida community!

Current Officers 2009

Documents

Recognition Article ASTD Newsletter 2009