Is This Your #1 Business Challenge Too?

I had a great family get together in Indiana this weekend after speaking at the Energetic Women's Leadership Conference in Indianapolis. (The conference was a gathering of women from all over the US who are in the Energy industry - primarily gas & electric).

One of the many highlights was getting the latest updates from my stepson Chris regarding the state of their business in 2019 (we have 4 business owners in our immediate family!). They are exceeding goals! I was so happy to hear!

"So, what are your current challenges, what do you want to be different?", I asked. His answer, "Building middle management." Their business is family owned and operated with very aggressive growth goals. They need an effective, competent second tier leadership/management team if they want that to happen -- without which he and his wife would experience adverse personal consequences.

So we talked through some of his efforts and in several aspects he has some great things in place. For example, they have scorecards to keep everyone focused on the metrics that matter. They are very sensitive about company culture. They certainly do a lot of fun things together.

The one thing he really was stalled on was building a management team that could replace him so he could be free to develop the best, most market responsive strategies to grow the business overall.

So I shared with him my newly formed Executive Advantage Blueprint for Smart Management. I walked through each "smart management" building block - some of which, to varying degrees, he had in place.

What was missing is what most leaders miss...see if any of this applies to you:

1). He didn't recognized that when he said. "I want my managers to do this____________", he was really wanting a specific behavior. 

2). "Getting" managers to do a certain thing or have a "skill" is about developing behavior. Skills don't magically appear. Skill development takes intention with a proven plan over time.

3). That telling someone to do or be a certain way without specifically showing them or telling them how leaves lots of room for frustration on both party's part and wasted time. The quicker and most effective development efforts have a what, how and a why.

So as we went through the blueprint. I asked, "What if your managers had a weekly management blueprint to follow that set in motion the development of the skills/ capabilities you wanted and consistently achieved your needed results and from which you could see rapid improvement in 90 days?  Would that be helpful? Does that makes sense?

Then the light bulb went off! He replied, "That's cool! Where does the 90 days fit in?" So we  discussed the unique feature of the blueprint which is the integration of human behavior science in each building block. Because it's built upon principles of human behavior, you can design how and when you can get results. The blueprint is designed to get results in measured cycles - the first full cycle within 90 days.

I asked, "How would it be if you did not have to rely on a particular skill level of a manager or "style" because you're relying on the science not the competency per sae of the manager. With this approach, the science makes the manager competent. => this really is the cool part! :-) 

And, what would it be like if you promoted someone or hired a new manager and they were shown exactly how - where given a blueprint to manage from on day one - without you wondering how they'd "really do" post hire. That's what the blueprint offers - a road map for success- expected performance from day 1and from which you had a place to coach up or coach out.

I said, "That takes a lot of pressure off of you as the leader trying to "figure out" how to get and help people manage successfully. Or get your entire leadership team on all levels to have a cohesive leadership culture, that actually is your operational framework - in fact is the "human behavior-performance framework" of your business.

Chris, "Well that's really cool" Me, "I'll send you a copy." Here's what I showed him:

Using a tested, proven process that get results because it's based on human behavior science - if used as directed - will consistently get the intended results. Trust the science of natural wiring.

If...
there is not consistent performance with your managers and their teams,
you're not sure how to develop your next tier managers
your collective leadership and management team is not cohesive and consistent
you're struggling with difficult employees
you have a dysfunctional managers and/or teams
you've kept underperforming employees way too long
you find it difficult to fire
you're overwhelmed and exhausted because you're not developing so you can delegate.
....you'll want to explore the possibility of getting help.

Schedule a 30 min. chat - let's start a conversation. We're here to listen.

Exciting News! // We're excited to launch our new digital arm - Manage Global. To compliment our global reach with our LinkedIn Learning courses, we're offering a compelling resource - The Smart Management Blueprint that can be accessed and implemented in any business environment, world-wide. It provides a step-by-step roadmap to simultaneously improve business and people management while developing competent managers. If you feel a need for improvement in any of these areas you'll want to learn more. Check it out here!

// JCS Business Advisors is a strategic business management consultancy. Through our expertise in human behavior, we develop high-performance leadership teams and organizations as we partner with forward-thinking senior leaders, entrepreneurs and their HR counterparts, bridging the knowledge & execution gap of connecting people, performance, and profits.

// Email: joann@jcsbusinessadvisors.com // Ph: 888.388.0565 // Schedule a complimentary advisory call and receive a copy of our latest executive briefing.

//Learn more about our "all-in-one" blueprint that develops competent leaders and managers, effectively manages operations, people, talent and time.

Special Note: I want to make a bold statement. Every business owner and/or senior leadership team needs an advisor who has expertise in human behavior. It is the #1 driving element of their business they do not recognize (as well as many business coaches), yet directly impacts every area.  Take advantage of our complimentary 30 min. Q&A (ask us anything) and see how that translates to your business. Contact

It's Time To Stop Perpetual Bad Practices With Employee Training

You're sitting at your desk contemplating a call you just received from the Director of Dept. "A". "We have a problem," you heard from the other end of the phone, "One of our managers is really struggling to get the production out of his team we need. It seems as if no one really wants to work with him. What can we do? We need this fixed now.  Isn't there a training or something we can send him to?"

As you think through the conversation, you let out an audible sigh, "Here we go again."  This seems to be a continual challenge and not just with this department, but a few others. You think to yourself,  "We've sent a few managers to off site management seminars, but for sure we've not seen the substantial, meaningful skill development we really wanted. Clearly something needs to change."

Yes, in fact something really does need to change -- it's time for a reboot! Many of us have experienced being at our computer when it becomes clogged and stalled from all the activity we've done -- to the point it's barely functioning. In some cases, the only way to clear the activity so that it can function properly again is to reboot. That's the way I feel about talent management -- particularly in the area of training and development. We need to clear out the way we've been doing things and come at it fresh.

We all know the scenario shared above is very common for many in our industry (human resources) and for the leadership of our companies. And when I say we really need to reboot, I say that with deep conviction and a bit of frustration. I've been in this industry for many years and have observed the same approach and type of thinking to those kinds of phone calls.  It must stop!

I could go into the reasons why, but for this post I'd like to focus on what needs to change. Please read carefully...

In short, there needs to be a fundamental shift in...

=>  what decision-makers need to know in understanding behavior 

=>  how it aligns with business processes and strategies

=>  and how to achieve that alignment to get the desired outcomes

This is a desperately needed leadership / decision-maker competency.  (When I reference decision-maker, I am including anyone who is responsible for making decisions in managing talent and approving the funds to do so.) This competency I consider the ability to adequately diagnose and prescribe the appropriate procedures/tools/resources to effectively and profitably address the concern.

What's unfortunate is most don't know how to and/or have been trained to see learning or "miscellaneous training resources" as the only solution or prescription because that's what they've been exposed to -- that's all they know. It's a huge perpetual bad practice in our industry!  

The challenge is compounded when leaders outside the human resource department rely on the department to "have the answers".  They see them as the human management experts. In many cases it truly is the blind leading the blind.

"In so many cases a training or "bandaid" is prescribed when surgery is what is truly needed."

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Abraham Maslow, "If you only have a hammer, you'll see everything as a nail." Many human resource departments and desision-makers are only functioning with a hammer, "Let's send them to a training or create a e-learning course."

So much money is wasted because of the inability to adequately diagnose what's happening in our organizations and prescribe appropriate solutions, exacerbated by not embracing effective options. Money is thrown at problems without properly understanding them. This practice is extensively described in Chapter 11 of the book Working With Emotional Intelligence, by Dr. Daniel Goleman.

Tweet: Money is thrown at problems without properly understanding them.

With all this in mind, here are a few key tips to address this and a video recommendation that further explains them.

1. Determine if there needs to be knowledge gained or behavior changed.

Sometimes learning something new, gaining knowledge about a certain topic is absolutely necessary and a learning seminar, workshop or e-learning module is a good way to achieve that -- or it's a good start.

If on the other hand behavior change is desired, a capability that needs to be gained or skill developed  please know that this will require more time, commitment and both personal and peer attention. 

This is best achieved via individual and/or group coaching in conjunction with acquiring relevant knowledge. In our practice, we call this approach coaching roundtables (integrated, experiential training -- learn more here)  Achieving desired behavior change must include constructive accountability over a period of time.

2. Check your learning to application ratio in terms of attention and spending.

Do a review or audit of how you/your company have approached learning and development this year. Has there been more time, attention, planning and money applied to the learning piece vs. the application side?

For most companies this truly is an out of balance ratio. I'd say 90/10.  At minimum it should be 50/50. With my clients we look at 40/60 or 30/70 (attention to application should be equal to or more than the learning side). This may vary depending on timing, need, subject or skill.

In diagnosing and prescribing you want to see a progression of progress in your results: 

Knowledge => turned into = >Know-how (becoming capable) => turned into a => Skill (something done really well)

Important point: Being capable precedes being skilled. A skill is not necessarily something one knows how to do, it's something one knows how to do well... and that takes time! One can be capable of something without necessarily being skilled at it.

As our industry continues to evolve to meet the new challenges in our 21st economy, we must take a step back, approach our work from a fresh perspective and absolutely stop the perpetual bad practices that have been going on for years in this area. How we work with training and developing our talent must change!

If you just implement the 2 tips above -- that could make a significant difference. Here are some additional resources:

Video - Training & Decision-making - Talent Talk Youtube Channel

You can always email me for a no cost / quick consult as well: joann@jcsbusinessadvisors.com

Are You Complicating Your Employee Training Decisions?

I gotta say I've been around the block a few times when it comes to employee training. For those reading who are not familiar with my background, the short story is I've conducted several thousand professional development seminars though-out North America over the past 15 years. If you want the long story, here's my bio.

Through that experience here's a key conclusion I've drawn -- we over complicate employee training and development and therefore waste a tremendous amount of money. 


I believe there are several reasons why, which I'll address in upcoming posts. For now, I'd like to present a simple perspective on how to view and make decisions regarding basic employee training.


Before I do, I want to quickly make the distinction between training and development (a distinction our industry desperately needs to make).  I've experienced that in most cases when people use the word "training" what they really mean is the act of learning -- that is taking in new information. What they might be hoping for is development -- skill acquisition and/or behavior change.  We all know learning "about" a skill, does not a skill make.  That's why making this distinction as we plan our talent training and development strategy and spend our precious dollars is so important! So as you continue reading, I'll be making that distinction by referencing employee training as learning seminars.

Tweet: We all know learning "about" a skill, does not a skill make.

The Simple Perspective

I had the great fortune of working with a national public seminar company for which I delivered many topics. During the course of my time with them, I came to realize that related to key soft skills in the context of work performance, no matter what the topic was it all came down to just a few key themes. Additionally, a lot of the essential content could be repeated no matter the topic.

So, in working with private clients both in delivering learning seminars and one/one performance coaching, I've come to the conclusion that there are in fact basic individual employee competencies that should be a fundamental part of any company's employee training/learning plan. 


I'd like to present them via 4 questions and then the recommended behavior theme and corresponding learning seminar (in some cases the theme and the learning seminar topic are the same):

1). Can and in what way (style, attitudes, behavior) will they do their job...will they get the results desired? - execute key deliverables in the time allotted? - driven by how they think and behave

Behavior theme & learning seminar topics : self management, personal motivation = emotional intelligence (EQ)  | getting results/desired outcomes =  time & productivity management | ownership of work product, personal commitment to engagement = personal/professional branding | ability to learn, think, problem solve = creative, innovative, critical thinking

Part B of this is - can and/or are they using technology competently and efficiently to do that work

2). Can they work effectively with others?  understanding, respecting and learning to work with different work styles, personalities = emotional intelligence, team collaboration | rapport & relating style = communication

3). Can they be lead? (an element of #2) e.g. work well with authority / leadership - relationship to authority = EQ


4). Can they and are they willing to add value in ways beyond their job description? personal values = personal/professional branding | situational leadership = holistic leadership | EQ

5) Can they effectively communicate in writing. (Employees spend 70% of their time writing -- that is communicating in written form.)

In summary, beyond the question is someone capable of doing a job based on executing the functions of the job, you can see that success in any role (even at a management level) can be broken down to (assuming they are the right fit for the job)... "can I and am I willing to manage myself to get results and can I and am I willing to work constructively with others?"...and do I know how to...?


In my experience I am completely convinced that setting performance expectations through key, required learning seminars can help to minimize a lot of employee management challenges and provide support and a baseline for coaching and managing that performance for supervisors/managers.

In summary, if you had to choose what learning seminars to spend your precious budget on here's what the topics should be: 

1. Personal - Professional Branding => ownership, engagement, personal empowerment, individual leadership

2a. Time & Productivity Management => get it done, get results
2b. Using software/technology efficiently

3. Emotional Intelligence => work effectively with others, can be managed, lead

4. Team Collaboration (aka team building) => work effectively with different work styles/personalities

5. Creative & Innovative Thinking => learning to think in general and critically, assess, problem solve

6. Business writing


Now, no matter what the creative title is of a seminar (and there are many out there -- seminar companies are good at that for marketing purposes), these core learning seminars need to inform participants how to:

>  self manage, self motivate, take ownership

>  management time to get results and learn to be the most productive they can

>  work collaboratively and constructively with others, which includes working appropriately with authority and as well as peers

> learn to think and problem solve (this is an ownership element as well)

Your Next Steps

I encourage you to use this article as a baseline for reviewing your employee training philosophy, expectations and planning from a fresh perspective and in that consider the following action items: 


1). Consider the concept of individual employee core competencies.  What behaviors and attitudes do you want as a performance base line for every employee?


2). Review your decisions regarding any employee training you've done over the past year, particularly what topics were chosen. Compare those to the suggested core employee competency themes.


3). Look at where your training dollars are going -- how have they been spent?...(particularly as it relates to performance needs of your employees).

4). If this article resonates with you, you'll want to explore bringing our Employee Competency Seminar Series to your organization. Click here to learn more


5). View this additional information video on how to make the best decisions for employee training




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// The Human Sphere™ is a holistic business growth consultancy that partners with forward-thinking senior leaders to bridge the knowledge gap in connecting people, performance, and profits. We focus on better business building by helping leaders understand and leverage human behavior. This knowledge gap is the most significant reason for operational problems.

// email: joann@thehumansphere.com // Ph: 888.388.0565 //

 Schedule a complimentary advisory call and receive a copy of our latest executive briefing.