Outstanding Consultants Honored at 20th Annual Meeting this week

SAN DIEGO, CA — The Society for the Advancement of Consulting® (SAC), the leading global association of independent consulting professionals, today announced the winners of the Corrie Shanahan Memorial Award for Advancing Consulting. The awards were presented at the 20^th annual meeting of the organization, held in San Diego this year with a virtual option to allow global participation. other solutions will be required. Four-day workweeks are more attractive, so that employees can achieve work-life balance. Leaders will have to step up to figure out how to position their companies for the future instead of dictating the past.”

The Consultant of the Year was awarded to Christian Milaster of Annapolis, Maryland. There are two recipients of this year’s award for Creativity & Innovation, Mark Cioni of New Hartford, NY and Heather Lenz of Cleveland, Ohio.

“Consultants continue to play a critical role in helping clients navigate the everchanging economic environment,” said Linda Popky, co-executive director of SAC. “We’re excited to be able to again honor the best-of-the-best with these awards.

“This year, in addition to honoring the outstanding consultant of the year, we are also recognizing two SAC members who each displayed outstanding creativity and innovation—both in their own practice, as well as in how they work with their clients,” she added.

About Christian Milaster

Christian Milaster is passionate about enabling the sustainable delivery of extraordinary care. He is driven to increase the personal satisfaction medical professionals by applying systems thinking principles and implementing systems solutions..

Rooted in German engineering and systems thinking, Christian and his team optimize care delivery by designing and implementing pragmatic improvement and optimization solutions, drawing from a wide range of disciplines, including agile, lean, Baldrige, design thinking, requirements engineering, servant project management, change management, and many more.

He is the founder and CEO of Ingenium Digital Health Advisors, a boutique consulting firm focused on accelerating the adoption of digital health innovation, and of Ingenium Healthcare Advisors, focused on guiding healthcare leaders to get the results they want. Ingenium Advisors now comprises a 16-person team and a consortium of over a dozen expert advisors.

Born, raised, and educated as an Engineer in Germany, Christian started his career at IBM Global Services in Germany before joining the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where he worked in various roles for 12 years before launching Ingenium in 2012. His team is spread across seven countries as well as throughout the United States.

About Mark Cioni

Mark Cioni has consulted globally for over 35 years to a wide variety of clients in private industry and government. His deep expertise in domains, including information technology, cyber security, enterprise architecture & organizational change management, helps to maximize client value derived from decisions, operations & performance.

Mark has worked recently to improve the security, resiliency, and reliability of critical infrastructure and helped clients to exploit customer experience & improvement opportunities at the convergence of artificial intelligence, analytics & machine learning & enterprise automation.

About Heather Lenz

Heather Lenz is pioneering the field of social impact consulting with innovative, data-driven strategies that provide real-time insights about social change for clients. Her approach combines the fields of organizational development, design thinking, and data and evaluation with the field of social work. This has led to measurable reductions in some of the most pressing issues of our time, like structural racism, workplace psychological safety, and more—redefining the way organizations approach their missions and drive change for the betterment of people and communities.

With a vision to revolutionize the trillion-dollar social impact industry in the U.S., Heather emphasizes accountability and effectiveness by helping organizations build outcomes-oriented intelligence systems. She is at the forefront of integrating AI and open-source tools into consulting practices, working toward a future where technology seamlessly enhances the nonprofit and government consulting fields, ultimately creating a more impactful and dynamic approach to social change. Her firm, Sangfroid Strategy, has invented new ways to conduct market research on the nonprofit sector, spearheaded innovative solutions for the field of philanthropy to put the commitment to racial and gender equity into practice, and created organizational operating systems to improve the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector.

The Advancing Consulting Awards

The awards are given to independent consultants who have done the most to advance the profession in the previous year. They’re named in memory of Corrie Shanahan, a SAC member who passed away in 2019. Corrie Shanahan was an expert in rapidly strengthening organizational performance, productivity, and corporate culture, and the author of Do it, Mean it, Be it: The Keys to Achieve Success, Happiness and Everything You Deserve at Work and in Life.

“We are excited to recognize consultants that symbolize the “best of the best” in the consulting profession,” said Lisa Anderson co-executive director of SAC. “Just as Corrie exemplified a zest for continuous improvement and achieving outstanding client outcomes, our nominees stood out above the crowd.

“This year’s pool of nominees again was highly qualified,” she added. “In a year of volatility and business change, we were pleased to see so many consultants innovate and thrive. We greatly appreciate the award committee, led by chair Vanessa Khan, for all their hard work to review submissions and evaluate applicants based on a set of pre-defined criteria.”

“Our commitment to create superb value for our clients is a core value for SAC’s consultants. In a world where technological advances, societal evolution, and political shifts result in uncertainty and rapid change, we cannot stand still—we must advance, we must evolve, we must innovate,” stated Christian Milaster.

“To be recognized this year by my peers for having contributed to the advancement of the consulting profession is a true honor—and equally a strong encouragement to continue to do so,” he added. “I’m grateful for the continuous inspiration and support by my fellow SAC members and past award winners that motivated me to reach new heights. I’m thankful for the volunteers who created and coordinated this recognition in honor of an outstanding consultant, Corrie, and I’m humbled by the testimonials of my clients and references that confirm my approach to consulting demonstrates my deep commitment to creating superb value for clients.”

Mark Cioni noted, “I’ve been able to engage more actively with SAC since 2019 and want to thank the entire membership for welcoming me into their community. I’m grateful to receive their guidance and for the opportunity to contribute. This journey was entirely unexpected and I’m humbled to know that the community recognizes my Creativity & Innovation.

“Although I never got to meet or know Corrie Shanahan, I am well aware of her legacy. I can only hope to face my own adversity with a fraction of the courage, tenacity, and joy that Corrie embodied and, if I do, I will count myself a success!” he added.

Heather Lenz adds, “Innovative thinking is at the cornerstone of reimagining the social impact sector. As consultants in this sector, we must help our clients leverage new technology and ways of thinking to transcend conventional boundaries. As a society, we have waited long enough for the ecosystem of organizations set up to improve the lives of people to work well.

“At this moment in time, we have the resources and the technology to transform our social services landscape into one that creates lasting, meaningful, and measurable impact on the lives they serve—and it is our duty to do just that,” she noted.

About SAC

The Society for the Advancement of Consulting (SAC) is the premier association for independent consulting professionals who subscribe to an industry code of ethics and provide significant consulting results among their clients. Founded by Million Dollar Consulting guru Alan Weiss in 2003, SAC offers a series of in-person and online programs to help consultants share best practices and learn from industry experts and thought leaders in the business world. SAC today has members in 14 countries around the world.

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According to Interos, almost 90% of companies experienced a negative impact to revenue due to supply chain disruption. That is a BIG number! From our point-of-view, every client is complaining about the lack of critical resources required to support the business and has experienced negative impacts to revenue (even if only in terms of a delay to revenue recognition).

For example, we have been working with a large manufacturer in the building product industry, and within a year, they have asked us to help them through four unexpected departures of key supply chain and planning resources. Without these key resources, they wouldn’t be able to plan to have the “right” products in the “right” place at the “right” time. In a life science manufacturing client, the reason they asked us to help them design and roll out a S&OP (also known as SIOP) process even though they had a key leader that had successfully implemented SIOP previously is because they were fully occupied in ramping up production to support business growth. They could NOT wait because they had to know which resources to hire, what equipment to procure, and what long-lead time materials to purchase to meet customer demand.

Which clients are attracting people (employees, supply chain partners, trusted advisors) and/or keeping people? What are they doing differently?

What Attracts People to Your Company?

The good news is that what attracts people to your company is clear. The bad news is that it isn’t a “no brainer” to make it happen. The bottom line is that people follow people; not companies.

Start by thinking about whether your people are engaged. In observing clients on a daily basis, it is clear what matters to employees:

• Listen: Does leadership listen to them? NOT just when they are saying something management wants to hear but also when they bring up potential issues….
• Request input: Does anyone ask for opinions, concerns, and feedback? Some employees will speak up regardless, but others will only respond only if asked AND if they think the requestor really wants to know and cares about the answer.
• Communicate the vision: Employees want to understand where they are going and to be excited about where they are going.
• Show how they fit in: Knowing where the company is going isn’t enough. It is important for each person to see how he/she will add value to that vision.
• Show you care: Who doesn’t prefer to spend time to help people who care?
• Have fun: Who wouldn’t prefer to work with someone who adds humor into the conversation or can make boring topics more interesting?
• Treat others as you’d like to be treated: Sounds apparent but doesn’t always occur even with solid leaders.
• Appreciate people: A simple thank you goes a long way. At times, it is also appropriate to recognize people with a bit more pomp and circumstance.
• Don’t overreact: People want to follow people who are confident and calmly resolve issues and overcome obstacles. If you overreact, people remember and will not bring up ideas or issues the next time around.
• Share credit; take the blame: It is surprising how many leaders get this backwards. People pick up on someone interested in his/her career as a #1 priority. They will not be fully engaged.

Even as a consultant, these points matter. Of course, we deliberately focus on results and “stay above the fray”; thus, we will do what’s required no matter the leadership styles. We will typically work with several leaders in a single client especially with cross-functional and cross-organizational projects such as S&OP (also known as SIOP), and so we work with people on both ends of the spectrum as well as in the middle. However, it is FAR more pleasant and engaging to work with clients who follow these guidelines than the ones who don’t. As the Great Resignation and Reshuffle has occurred, it certainly highlighted the difference.

Please keep us in the loop of your situation and how we can help your organization thrive during these times of volatility and disruption. There will be more winners created than at any other time than since emerging from the Great Depression. To gain additional ideas and insights on how to best navigate these volatile times and thrive, read our new eBook Thriving in 2022. Learning from Supply Chain Chaos. Download your complimentary copy.

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Outstanding Consultants Honored at 18th Annual Meeting this week

CLAREMONT, CA—The Society for the Advancement of Consulting® (SAC), the leading global association of independent consulting professionals, today announced the winners of the Corrie Shanahan Memorial Award for Advancing Consulting. The awards were presented at the 18^th annual meeting of the organization, held virtually this year with an extended agenda and global participation.

The Consultant of the Year was awarded to Dr. Constance Dierickx of Smyrna, Georgia. The first recipient of a new award for Creativity & Innovation is Amy Showalter of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“The past 18 months have been an unprecedented time for all of us,” said Linda Popky, co-executive director of SAC. “Consultants have had to pivot and adjust to the dramatically changing conditions faced by their clients, while continuing to manage and grow their own consulting practices.

“In addition to honoring the outstanding consultant of the year, we thought it was important to recognize a SAC member who displayed outstanding creativity and innovation throughout this challenging time—both in their own practice, as well as in how they work with their clients.”

About Constance Dierickx

Constance Dierickx, the recipient of this year’s Consultant of the Year award, is a sought-after advisor to boards and senior executives in high-stakes situations such as mergers and acquisitions, CEO transitions, and crises. Her merger and acquisition clients succeed 400% more often than the average. Constance has consulted with dozens of boards and over 500 executives on five continents.

She has been a speaker for The National Association of Corporate Directors on CEO transitions and board dynamics, and taught a Master Class on mergers and acquisitions. Named a management expert by Fast Company, Constance teaches strategic decision-making at Skolkovo University in Moscow. She is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive, and Forbes, as well as the author of High Stakes Leadership, and The Merger Mindset (with Dr. Linda Henman). Her next book, Both/And – The Power of Conscious Decisions, will be published in 2023.

About Amy Showalter

Amy Showalter, recipient of the SAC Creativity and Innovation award, is the founder of The Showalter Group, Inc., who helps organizations achieve their goals in the legislative process through the improved performance of their Political Action Committee and advocacy programs. Over 85% of her long term consulting clients have experienced an increase in budget, staff, PAC contributions ,and senior management recognition after collaborating with Amy.

She has delivered over 300 workshops and keynotes to over 25,000 grassroots advocates, PAC contributors, and PAC boards of directors, government relations staff, and non-profit volunteer leaders about how to maximize their political and civic influence. She has been cited in over 1,000 media outlets, and is the author of The Underdog Edge: How Everyday People Change the Minds of the Powerful . . . and Live to Tell About It and The Art and Science of the BFF: 105 Ways to Build Relationships on the Hill, at the State House, and in City Hall.

Amy has served as a guest lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ Graduate School of Public Affairs, where her Underdog Edge book is part of the Graduate School curriculum.

The Advancing Consulting Awards

The awards are given to independent consultants who have done the most to advance the profession in the previous year. They’re named in memory of Corrie Shanahan, a SAC member who passed away in 2019. Corrie Shanahan was an expert in rapidly strengthening organizational performance, productivity, and corporate culture, and the author of Do it, Mean it, Be it: The Keys to Achieve Success, Happiness and Everything You Deserve at Work and in Life.

“We are happy to use this opportunity to honor Corrie Shanahan—an active, generous member of this community who exemplified the qualities we were looking to recognize in outstanding consultants,” said Lisa Anderson co-executive director of SAC. “Corrie showed creativity and innovation in both her consulting practice and her approach to life in general. We think she would be pleased to see these qualities recognized in consulting colleagues.

“This year’s pool of nominees was larger than previously and all highly qualified,” she added. “We are grateful to the award committee, led by chair Pamela Harper, for all their hard work to review submissions and evaluate applicants based on a set of pre-defined criteria.”

“SAC focuses on three things that I hold dear: exceptionally high quality and ethical standards for consultants, continuous learning, and peer advice and mentoring,” said Constance Dierickx. “This award is very meaningful for those reasons, and also because this was created in memory of a superb consultant and human being, Corrie Shanahan. I’m inspired to continue to learn and share with my colleagues.”

Amy Showalter noted, “I am very honored to be receiving this accolade from my SAC compatriots. SAC members, despite being very accomplished, strive to be even better in serving their clients and communities, so receiving recognition from them is quite humbling.

“I am also grateful to my clients who are willing to go on the innovation journey with me—we can’t success without clients who take risks to improve their results.”

Virtual Meeting Expands on Last Year’s Successful Format

Due to the pandemic, the SAC annual meeting is being held virtually for the second year. Sessions are offered on three consecutive days, with different start times each day for attendees in Europe, North America, and the Pacific Rim.

The theme for this year’s meeting is Ready for the Rebound. All sessions are being recorded, so participants will be able to view any session they’d like at their convenience. Recordings will be available for a fee to both members and non-members.

Originally posted on SAC website: October 6, 2021

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While my nephew was in town for an internship, we went to Bass Lake and Yosemite. It was strange to be ‘back to normal’ in terms of going on a tour of the park, eating in a restaurant overlooking Bass Lake and more. It was beautiful as you’ll see below, and it was great to spend time with family and friends. One thing we heard over and over again was the lack of people to run restaurants, tours, etc. Yosemite is still operating at a reduced capacity. As life resumes, not only is there a widespread shortage of materials and ingredients, but there is also a shortage of talent!

One Tip to Implement This Week:

If there is ONE thing in common among all clients, it is the desire for talent. Whether they cannot find people for production or supply chain management or they are having trouble finding IT or ERP partners that can dedicate enough resources to support ERP upgrades, there is a common theme of the lack of talent. There will be more companies and people leaping forward during this post-pandemic timeframe than any time since the Great Depression. Will you be limited by talent?

• Start by appreciating your stars: If you don’t appreciate them, your competition will. It is as simple as that.
• Develop & mentor your people: It is clear that the most successful clients put a clear emphasis on developing and mentoring talent. As more and more baby boomers retire and others change careers as they rethought life during the pandemic, we must build talent.
• Are you attractive to talent? Will people want to work at your company? Remember, employees don’t leave companies; they leave people. What are you doing to develop your leaders?
• Bring in supplemental talent: Have you thought about bringing in temporary talent to make progress during these times of critical shortages?

Please keep us in the loop of your situation and how we can help your organization’s scale with to emerge above and beyond. Several of these types of topics are included in our new eBook Emerging Above and Beyond: 21 Insights for 2021 from Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Technology Executives. Download your complimentary copy.

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CLAREMONT, CA—The Society for the Advancement of Consulting® (SAC), a leading association of global consulting professionals, announced today that nominations are now open for its an annual award honoring two consultants who have advanced the profession in the previous year.

The Corrie Shanahan Memorial Consulting Awards are named in memory of longtime SAC member Corrie Shanahan, who passed away in 2019. Corrie Shanahan was an expert in rapidly strengthening organizational performance, productivity, and corporate culture.

Change in Focus for Awards

This year, in addition to honoring the consultant of the year, a second award will be given to the individual who has displayed outstanding creativity and innovation.

“Consultants have faced many challenges during the business upheaval of the past year,” said Executive Director Lisa Anderson. “We wanted to identify and reward an individual who has used creativity and innovation to stand out during this time period—either in their own business model or in how they are able to positively impact their clients.”

To be eligible, individuals must be independent business consultants who generate most of their income by working directly with clients, and they must be members in good standing of SAC.

Factors that will be considered in evaluating applicants for the Consultant of the Year will include degree of client success, innovation, advocacy and growth through association, and resilience. Applicants for Creativity & Innovation Award will be evaluated on a consulting innovation or the development of new intellectual property they’ve applied to their own business or to client support. This innovation could benefit clients, the consultant’s business, or both, and it may be completely new, or a bold new take on an existing best practice.

The call for nominations is open from today, April 2 through June 3, 2021 Nomination forms and applications can be found on the SAC website.

A committee of SAC members, led by chair Pam Harper and representing a variety of consulting specialties from four different countries, will review applications and determine the winners who best meet the established criteria.

Previous honorees include Andrew Hollo, Melbourne, Australia, Amy Segami, Chicago, Illinois, and Gene Moran, Bradenton, Florida.

“It’s exciting to see the accomplishments of our membership,” said SAC Executive Director Linda Popky. “We hope this new award category will allow us to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have used the challenge of the pandemic to find new ways to offer outstanding value to their clients.”

The awards will be presented at SAC’s Fall Annual Meeting, to be held virtually on October 5-7, 2021.

Independent consultants may join SAC between now and May 3, 2021 to be considered for the award.

Originally posted on SAC website: April 2, 2021

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November 7, 2019: My business partner and co-Executive Director of the Society for the Advancement of Consulting, Linda Popky and I just held our Annual Meeting in New York City. Our association provides growth by association for consultants, coaches and speakers across the globe. Although this is our tagline, it is much more than the typical marketing tagline; it is how we operate. Every decision goes through this filter. Thus, we are especially thrilled to have launched our first annual Advancing Consulting Awards to recognize the best of the best in an emerging category and an established category. 

We are thrilled to recognize Amy Segami from Chicago, IL (Emerging) and Andrew Hollo from Melbourne, Australia (Established) with the awards (pictured with the Awards Committee and co-Executive Directors). The core criteria included client success, growth by association, innovation and resilience. What I thought was particularly noteworthy is what Andrew said in his brief comments in accepting the award: In essence, he said what was most meaningful is that he was selected by a group of top-notch peers. Isn’t that what we all want?

One Tip to Implement This Week:
When I think back to the awards and recognition, I’ve received that are most meaningful to me, I realize Andrew was completely correct. A short compliment in passing by a respected peer is more meaningful than an elaborate ceremony most of the time. Of course, I wouldn’t turn away both! With that said, when I was nominated for the Community Builder Award by NAWBO earlier this year, this fact was absolutely true. They do the awards ceremony in a BIG way in my neck of the woods; however, what was even more meaningful was being recommended by a top-notch executive, being supported by a friend and APICS Board member colleague and being cheered on by a client. What else can you ask for?

Are you taking the time to think about recognizing your peers? Who has been particularly helpful lately? Most likely it is someone you take for granted but couldn’t survive without! Why not tell them something specific about what you appreciate? Stop running for a minute to think about who you should recognize.

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Published in “Project Times” website, March 13, 2017
Click here for original article.

In leading and participating in hundreds if not thousands of projects during my 25-year career as an executive, consultant, and non-profit leader… it is apparent that the most important aspect of projecting success is keeping your project team motivated and engaged. It seems as though success (especially on technical projects) would stem from some highly technical concept but that doesn’t hold true. Instead, those teams that are motivated and engaged far surpass all else.

The good news is that motivating and engaging a project team is almost exactly the same as motivating and engaging employees. People want to be treated well, informed and appreciated. Here are a few of the top strategies to motivate and engage project teams:

1. Vision and goals – One of the most common mistakes project managers and executives make is ineffectively or simply not communicating a clear vision. When employees do not know where they are going or why they are not motivated to “get there.”Don’t be confused. Companies with vision statements on the walls are no better off than those without a vision statement. What matters is when the project managers and executives live and communicate the vision on a consistent basis. How does the vision relate to the project? How is the project team involved and a part of this vision? Think about the following questions: Is it part of daily conversations? Does it matter? How do departments, project teams, and employees contribute to the vision? Have you translated the vision into goals? Clarity, simplicity and passion matter.
2. Leadership that combines passion and focus – Day-to-day leadership and communications engage employees. It’s as simple as that: project managers do not have to be charismatic; they must be passionate and focused. If the project manager is energized about the project, the project team will follow.For example, an organization I worked with that had the most engaged employees was led by a less-than-charismatic CEO; however, he had passion, drive, focus, and integrity. Everyone knew where we were headed and which of their tasks were most critical to the current focus and direction of the company. There was no doubt what was critical. Priorities were clear. And everyone knew that it was likely that the CEO and/or other executives would stop by to discuss ideas and brainstorm about the company’s area of focus. Their input seemed to matter. Suddenly employees were engaged. We managed multiple projects at this company and had engaged project teams because they knew they were a part of something important and felt needed.
3. Appreciation – A simple thank you can go a long way! It is amazing how much of an impact being appreciated has on a project team member’s level of engagement. Unfortunately, I’ve seen countless examples of exceptional employees who don’t receive any appreciation, but instead get negative attention at times for bringing up potential problems or roadblocks that must be tackled in order to achieve the project goals successfully. There is nothing more disheartening to an exceptional employee than a complete lack of appreciation for the results achieved.On the other hand, the best leaders who drive bottom line business results speak with their employees and project teams. They review goals on a frequent basis and discuss roadblocks. They show interest in the employee’s ideas and provide immediate positive and corrective feedback. The best leaders appreciate progress and congratulate success. And the best leaders with the most engaged employees give credit to their employees for successes and take responsibility for the issues.
4. Empowerment – Empowering project teams within reasonable guidelines will go a long way. People want to feel as though they have some level of control over the project’s success – and that they have an impact. Knowing they are empowered to make decisions within specific guidelines enables motivation and engagement.

The only unique circumstance related to project teams ties to the cross-functional nature of projects. Project team members need to feel “safe” and “free” to participate in projects without repercussions from their manager (which could be as simple as working long hours to get both done without discussion). Thus, the project manager must be alert to these occurrences, talk with the managers associated with his/her team members and proactively address this topic.

Since projects will have a substantial effect on your customer loyalty and bottom line – the two most critical aspects of any business – it is worthwhile taking a few steps back to think about how to ensure success by looking at one of the most critical ingredients – team member motivation and engagement. Set aside time to think about engagement and how you can improve upon your situation (no matter how good or bad) – one small step at a time will be noticed by your project team and success will follow.

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There is a lot of talk about rewarding employees; however, I see little action. How do you reward employees? Do you consider it a priority? If you are willing to focus attention on this topic instead of completing an analysis for the CEO, meeting with a customer or the like, then it is an obvious priority. How obvious is it to your organization?

Rewards don’t have to be costly. The best require time. Some ideas to reward employees include:

• Catch people doing right: Provide immediate positive feedback. Look for opportunities to find people who are doing a good job. It is easier to find those who aren’t. Have you spent time specifically looking for those who are “doing right”?
• Say thank you: As easy as this is to do, it is rarely done. Take the time to say thank you. Be specific with your thank you. And, of course, be genuine. It goes without saying but I’ve seen it more than once. People will know if you truly appreciate what they’ve done or not.
• Publicize wins: I worked with a Director of Supply Chain who was excellent at publicizing wins. She sought out wins and made sure they were written up in the company newsletter. She found pictures, wrote paragraphs and made sure wins were publicized. They were noticed!
• Hand out small rewards at a company lunch: Movie tickets or dinner gift certificates can go a long way. Small tokens of recognition can convey the importance of employee’s actions. Many take them home with them and their family can enjoy in the reward.
• Recognize employees with meaningful work: One of the best rewards is to be included in meaningful work. Include your best performers in interesting projects. Don’t bury them in problems because you know they’ll get them done. Give their work meaning, and they’ll thrive.

There are countless ways to reward employees. Start with these ideas, add a few of your own and get started. You don’t have to have a complete list to start. The most important item to success is to tailor your rewards to what will be meaningful to each employee.

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People are your #1 asset. It makes imminent sense to kick off the New Year with this tenet in mind. How can you start with gusto?

Frequently, employees take off time near the end of the year, and so it can take time to get back into the swing of things. To shorten that cycle – and, most importantly, to empower and engage your people, think about leveraging some of the following strategies:

1. Check in: Start the New Year by checking in with your employees. How are they doing? What are they working on? It’s interesting how often we find out that we didn’t know where our employees spend their time. Find out. Are they concerned about potential roadblocks? What would they most like to accomplish this year? Make it your priority to find out.
2. Remind employees of the vision: You cannot emphasize the whys behind what your company does enough. Remind your employees of the vision. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for your customers? End users? In essence, remind everyone why what they are doing is worthwhile.
3. Align on goals: I believe in quarterly goals with frequent check-in’s. What lasts for a year unchanged anyway? Not much! Your employees will ditch their cobweb goals with or without you. It is always better to align, discuss priorities, strategize on resources etc. The bottom line is to make sure everyone has clarity and is involved in creating that clarity.
4. Recognize successes: There’s no better time to recognize small wins than after the holidays. It jump starts success. Success builds on success.
5. Communicate, communicate, and communicate: In essence, the title says it all. Don’t expect people to fully absorb with one communication. Be repetitive. Vary the medium so that you don’t sound like a broken record or your mother. Collaborate on ways to communicate effectively. Involve the team in communication.

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November 30, 2015

During the holiday season, it is extra important to remember to say thank you. There is added stress and loneliness in our personal lives it seems yet there is also added stress in our business lives. Year-end is approaching for many. Vacations need to be covered. Tax planning should be occurring. Preparations for 2014 should be occurring. And the list goes on. A simple thank you can go a long way!

I’ve worked with many clients, and I’ve yet to work with a client where I didn’t meet someone who felt unappreciated. Do you think unappreciated employees provide excellent customer service? No!

One tip to implement this week:
Look around you. Be observant. Find someone doing something well, and thank them. Or, think about who has helped you, probably without you even asking. Thank them. Catch your employees “doing right”. Actually, remember, this works just as well with peers, your manager and your Board members. Often, they rarely hear the positive. Change that during this holiday season. Perhaps it will be so successful that you’ll keep doing it in January….

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