How to – Get Your Message Heard If you want to sell, persuade, inform, or motivate people, you will have to speak and they need to listen. Many professionals prefer to shoot from the hip and hope for the best. Why not give yourself a better chance to be heard? If you want to stand apart from the crowd and experience a higher rate of success, take some time to really be professional, and plan your message.

• Determine what is important to your audience? What do they want? What are they thinking? What is important to them and their situation? Through active listening and some good research you can answer those questions before you open your mouth and deliver a message that fits their framework.

• Communicate caring. You want to convey your concern for their welfare.

• Talk with energy and enthusiasm. If it doesn’t excite you, why would it excite them?

• Be concise. Choose phrases that are like sound bites – they are memorable and repeatable.

• Get their attention. Ask a question, tell a story, or relate and interesting, alarming or surprising statistic that immediately creates a bridge between what you want to say and what thy want to know.

• Practice phrasing, opening comments and strong concluding statements. You want to be able to focus on your energy and their attention, rather than searching for words.

If you want people to really get your message, make sure that it is heard. To compete with the data overload that everyone experiences, hone your communication skills for maximum impact.

Labels: Communication, message

  1:55 PM •  0 Comments •

How to – Leverage the Career Process and Manage Talent There is a lot of discussion about attracting and hiring talent in today’s marketplace. With shifting demographics, an increased emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and a new focus on the lack of career on- and off-ramps, there simply is a shortage of people to fill the openings that companies currently have. This does not bode well for filling the openings that organizations WILL have.

The cost associated with acquiring and training employees is significant. Once you have employed people, you want to develop and retain those who can move your firm forward. Significantly, there are strategies that will allow you to leverage and nurture talent.

Career Tracking

• Monitor high potential employee at all company levels
• Systems should be in place at headquarters, plants, and all business units and site locations
• Educate employees and managers about these systems

Mentors

• Coaching method training should be provided, used, and monitored
• Mentors need to be engaged in the pipeline process
• Managers and mentors should be educated about the value of this proves to the business

Incentives

• Incentives and bonuses should reward or penalize employees fro meeting or missing goals
• Use recognition and reward strategies

Data Tracking

• Develop profiles to help the company fill gaps
• Profiles of key job opportunities must be shared with managers and employees
• Review data periodically to make sure it is being communicated and leveraged

High Potential Employee Monitoring and Support

• Identify high potential employees to insure success
• Provide ongoing support for high potential employees
• Initiative leadership development programs for high potential employees

Accountability

• Regularly review data, gaps, systems and successes
• Make company leaders accountable for becoming an organization that attracts candidates
• Tie bonuses and income for executives to recruiting and retention initiatives and diversity goals

Labels: accountability, Career development, management

  10:25 AM •  0 Comments •