Don't forget those loyal employees

A study done by Sirota Consulting showed that employee engagement declines after only 6 months of being employed. Although after 10 years service it recovers it never returns to the level it was....

Lesson for me is that we all rush to "engage" people when they join, but remember it is as important if not more important to "re-engage" your existing employees. Once you start taking them for granted you risk their loss, the loss of talent and also the loss of that invaluable experience.

So what are you doing to re-engage people on a regular basis? If you need help then visit our site

Quick Tip to help focus and goals

Why not use screen savers and mobile phone wall papers to publicise your vision. Get someone in your team to design one and make it relevant to your team. Or you could use general motivational statements like

"How will I make a difference today?"

or list the 3 key objectives. You could run a competition for the family member to come up with the best screen saver each month and give an iTunes voucher or Amazon voucher to the winning entry....

The only word of advice - forget corporate jargon or speak! Make it sound real and something people can engage with....

Be a distinct personal brand

"Differentiate or die" - Jack Trout

"Be distinct or be extinct" - Tom Peters

Two great quotes from highly respected people. You are a very special human brand, one that you need to look after and grow. If you stand still, stop learning, stop stretching yourself then you will just fall back into the crowd. So ask yourself

1. What do you want your legacy to be, what do you want to be remembered for ? Then build an action plan to achieve it.
2. What are your strengths - are you playing to them?
3. How can you add value to your family, your work, your community? What value do you want to create?

You are in charge of you! Understand your brand, and live your brand values....

Fail, fail and then succeed

Have you ever had an idea, gave it a go and it didn't work? Have you ever felt that you were the reason or that your idea was not good enough?

Success comes through persistence....

1. Chuck Yeager threw up on his first flight and swore he was not made for air travel - he later became the first man to break the sound barrier!
2. Charles Carlson developed photocopying in 1938 - 21 years before Xerox produced the first copier.
3. George Burns was 80 when he won his first Oscar.

If success was easy, everyone would be successful. Success comes through perseverance...Tom Peters says Fail, Forward, Fast....

Don't ignore inexperience

One of the easiest things to do, is to dismiss new recruits or young people because they have not "been there and done it"

St Benedict once said "Always listen to the young monks: they know all the things that you have forgotten"

So true.....experience is fantastic but it can often blind you...have you ever said "Oh we have tried that, no that doesn't work...." both these sentences are dangerous - you are assuming that it won't work now, or that the idea is not good.....maybe this time it will work, maybe this time you have the right people to execute it well.....so remember teams are great when experience and lack of experience are both respected and both listen to each other.

How to Lose Friends and Not Influence People

Dale Carnegie wrote a great book and yet people still struggle to influence people, here are my thoughts on why...

1) Say one thing do another

2) Say of course I won't tell anyone......

3) Manage up not manage down

4) Desire to be nice not constructively honest

5) Treat people how they want to be treated instead of how the individual wants to be treated

6) Stay in their office, rather than be visible

7) Respect their own views more than other views

8) Believe that once you have left college you have stopped learning

9) Settle for what they have rather than living their dream

10) Seek approval rather than the right answer

Dare to Dream

There was a post on The Engaging Brand about daring to dream....it reminded me of a story.

Over 15 years ago Guy de Laliberte was working the streets of Montreal as a fire eater and by night slept on the park benches. Today he is a multi-billionaire - his brainchild, Cirque Du Soleil

He dared to dream, he dared to take action to make his dream come true..... life is precious and short. Dream, and then work at turning that dream into reality.

Service that makes you smile

I love this story of an air steward on a flight from Denver to San Francisco, they said

"If you are having a hard time getting your ears to pop, I suggest you yawn widely. If you are having trouble yawning ask me about my love life"

Now tell me that wouldn't have made you smile.....connecting with customers is an important aspect of success. Giving a little of yourself and doing something out of the ordinary - a wow factor - can differentiate you from competitors. Normally, air stewards read from scripts and it is boring...I bet they don't get talked about on blogs!!!

Make someone smile today.....

Success comes with hard work

A story...

In the early 1950's Colin needed to earn some money and so volunteered for day jobs. He landed a spot on the soda delivery team, then cleaning up the soda syrup at the Pepsi plant. No one else volunteered for these kind of jobs...he did great work, had a grat attitude and was asked back the next summer. A story told in his autobiography....who, Colin Powell.

Sometimes when we see successful people we think - Oh, it alright for them...but we forget the work they put in, in their early careers. Success does not happen, you make it happen. Working hard, and practice are a huge part of most successful people's early life.

Remember the old golfing quote...The harder I practice, the luckier I get....

Ask a bland question, get a stupid answer.....

Great quote from Groucho Marx who hated the cliches of business. He received a letter from a bank manager who used the standard phrase "If I can be of any service to you, do not hesitate to contact me"

Groucho replied "Dear Sir, The best thing you can do to be of service to me is to steal some money from the account of one of your richest clients and credit to me"

Ask bland questions, don't be surprised by a ridiculous request...

For me, I would have phoned Groucho and say unfortunately that is not possible but you are obviously wanting to grow your savings here are some suggestions of how we can help with that........