Sunday, September 21, 2008

Google in Singapore


IMG_0080
Originally uploaded by eastleaf
Google the search engine made its presence felt in Ad Tech Exhibition in Singapore

Friday, September 19, 2008

Presentation Skills

This is the one of the best presentation skills I have ever seen lately. As a Toastmaster member, the presenter, Guan Eng, has delivered his speech with inclusive statement, sincerity and passionate.

2008 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards Judges

Excellence in Learning Awards

Thank you to our 2008 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards Judges

Julian Acosta
Dawn Adams Miller
Purva Agarwal
Rajat Agrawal
A. Andaz Ahmad
Azizah Ahmad
Chris Ainsworth
Linda Al Ansari
Samir Alamari
Ergin Murat Altuner
Les Amidon
Syed Amjad
Gabe Anderson
Ingrid Andersson
Dominik Anthamatten
Sally Armstrong
G Asha
Jean Avison
PJ Babcock
Donald Bair
Evan Baltz
Subrata Banerjee
Raj Bangaru
Robin Bartoletti
Dianna Beardslee
Brian Beatty
Prakash Bebington
Elizabeth Becker
Steven Beggs
Ellen Behrens
Berel Bell
Geera Bellare
Gwen Bennett
Richard Berg
Vikram Bhatia
Yatin Bhatia
Shantanu Bhattacharya
Jason Bickle
Nicholas Bird
Scott Bissell
Ruby Bohannon
Celia Bohle
Shauna Bona
Carol Bond
Geeta Bose
Bethany Bovard
Jay Bowden
Susan Boyd
Carlos Bravo
Elizabeth Brock
Mark Budke
Ravi Budruk
Julia Bulkowski
Diana Burger
Clint Burghart
Richard Butler
Luca Caira
Grisell Camacho
Amy Campbell
Pallie Campbell
David Campos
Rafael Campos
Diana Carl
Tracie Carter
Etsuko Cave
Hon Siang Chai
Shu-ping Chang
Yaowen Chang
Shombit Chatterjee
Pradyumna Chaudhuri
Sheetal Chavan
Michelle Cheak
Arthur Cheung
Eric Cheung
Sherly Chiech
Linda Chipparoni
Swiandy Chondro
William Chua
Selena Chung
Yin-Wah Chung
Ursula Clark
Iain Clements
Caroline Clerk
Jacqueline Renee Cohen
Aletha Cole
Paula Colwell
Bill Byron Concevitch
Mathew Constantine
Diane Cooley
Monica COPPI
Mark Cornwell
Sharon Cota
John Courtney
Rohan Craddock
Janette Cullinan
Sabrina Curry
Vince Cyboran
Amy Jean Dalmas
MVNL DAMAYANTHI
Paul Day
Rajesh Devadasan
Brandon Dickens
Kevin Diehl
Dave DiVesta
Lisa Dobias
Michael Donahue
Paula Dosch-Haworth
Gordon Doubleday
Amy Dreher
Jo-Ann Driscoll
Ignatius Nayan D'Rozario DRozario
Gary Duffield
Craig Duker
Sasa Dumic
Caroline Dungan
Don Duquette
Cary Duval
Deborah Ebbett
Jennifer Edwards
Steli Efti
Cyndi Eisel
Paul Eisenberg
Michael Elkins
Olavur Ellefsen
Stephanie Eskins Gleason
Yael Even-Levy
Leena Farook
Susan Farren
Melloney Fernandes
Lisa Ferris
Patricia Fischer
Jan Fiske
Silke Fleischer
Ryan Foo
Lauren Ford
Amy Frankfurt
Chris Franz
Robert Fratini
Harriett Fredson-Cole
Craig Friedman
Ephraim Fuks
David Luigi FUSCHI
Nancy Gallas
Gaylene Galliford
Thomas Garrod
Robert Gascho
Kirk Gibson
Charles Girdwood
Sebastien Gladu
Elsa Glassman
Taruna Goel
James Goldsmith
Adam Goldthorp
Joan Goloboy
Tai Goodwin
Sandra Grau
Caroline Gray
Jeff Gray
Ana Greenspan
Catlyn Gregory
K.V.N. Gupta
David Guralnick
Deborah Guydish
Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D
Feroz Habib
Nina Hahn
Michelle Hair
Veronica Halloway
Gary Hamilton
Tammy Hamilton
Lynette Hammond
Frank Hanfland
Christopher Hardy
Garry Hargreaves
Robin Harmony
Sara Hassan
Bill Heacock
Linda Hemenway
Mark Hermsen
David Hernandez
Graham Higgins
Daniel Hill
George Hill
Joel Hobbs
Jared Holmberg
Christine Horn
Yen-Ping Huang
Ronnie Huffman
Paul Hunter
Razzak Hussain
Marek Hyla
Rozhan Idrus
Lisa Iles
Parimala Inamdar
Malinka Ivanova
Venkatasubramanian Iyer
Philip Jackson
Charles Jennings
Pavan Jha
Jeevan Joshi
Shanmugam K
Jerry Kaminski
Marc Kaplanes
Amit Kapur
SUMEDH KASARE
Mary White Kennedy
Ross Kettle
Emma King
Sara King
Leslie Kirshaw
Brian Knudson
Dana Alan Koch
Heinrich Koenen
Keith Koh
Uday Kranti
Murali Krishna
Ole Kristensen
Simon Ku
Anuj Kulkarni
Ravi Kumar
T. Vijay Kumar
Volker Kunze
Matt Kurtin
Andreas Utomo Kuswara
Vince Kwisnek
Jane LaBranche
Nancy Lacroix-Shutter
Bala Lajos
Jay Lambert
Rob Lauber
Cathy Lavelle
Michelle Lavoie
Kendrick Lee
Kajita Leesemann
Michal Lesiowski
David Lewis
Lauren Lewis
Doo Lim
Wee Teck Lim
HuiLan Lin
Kim Lincoln
Christi Lindensmith
Janice Loan
Jerald Loo
Dr. Elizabeth Love
Aurea Janine Loveless
Romeo Mabasa
Phillip MacEachern
Lee MacLean
Monica Malavasi
Shveta Malhan
Gertrude Mandeville
Ashwin Manthena
Jean Marrapodi
Hugo Martínez
Javier Martinez
Mary Ella Martinez
Tammy Mast
Ken Masters
Queene Mavor
William McAfee
Sean McClean
David McClelland
Shana McEachren
Kathryn McGregor
Ross McKerlich
Tawanda McLaurin
Gordon McLeod
Sherrill Meaney
Dominika Merzenich
Tanja Miller
Manish Mohan
Michael Moore
sapna moudgil
Brendan Nagle
Richard Naish
Vrinda Narayanan
Meir Navon
Matthew Nehrling
Shana Nelson
Eugene Ng
Anders Northeved
Barry Novak
Scott Null
Margarida Nunes
Eugene O'Loughlin
Lucas Ober
Jinnie Ong
Melvin Ovinis
Sheila Owens
Suresh Padmanabhan
VIVEK PADUBIDRI
Silvia Pallàs
Peggy Pang
Sujith Parakkunnath
Godfrey Parkin
Gareth Parry
Robert Parry
Balaji Parthasarathy
Manish Patel
Pavel Pavlasek
Elizabeth Penaranda
Nancy Pentak
Aaron Perkins
Lisa Peterson
Andy Petroski
Susan Phares
Les Pickett
Karen Pickles
Tamar Poleg
Leslie Positeri
Margarita PouMarfany
Jean Powers
RK Prasad
Susan Prentice
Denis Rajagopalan
Janaki Ram
Indumati Ramanathan
Reza Ranjbary
Vijaya Rao
Vinay Rao
Polly Rastogi-Clark
Biraj Rath
Francie Rawlings
Stephen Rayfield
Christine Reynolds
Sara Rice
Mario Rios
jovica riznic
Ruby Rodgers
Martin Rodriguez
Brian Roemer
Gayle Rooke
Erma Roquemore
Anne Roy
Jennifer Rozario
Chaitali Saha
Bhavya Sahni
Cindy Salis
Karen Santiso
daniela sarigu
Srilakshmi Sathanoori
Gaurav Satija
Belle Scharf
Brooke Schepker
David Schultz
darwin sewell
Neel Shankarnarayanan
Dr. Pratul Sharma
Monika Sharma
Russ Sharp
Ishrat Shums
Ravi Singh
Mélanie Sisley
Rebecca Slingo
Linda Smithgall
Sarah Sniderman
Mark Snow
Cammie Soderquist
Vidyut A. Sonde
Benson Soong
lynn spachuk
Uwe Spangler
Ryan Sparks
Donna Speckhard
Wolfram Spoenlein
Radhika Sriram
Ellen St. Pierre
Chris Stadler
Laura Starego
John Stathakos
Richard Stein
Tracey Stokely
David Stokes
Heidi Strangberg
Dhanni Sukhai PhD., PE
Patricia Sullivan
Muralidharan T
Mandar Talvekar
Aruna Telang
Huey Chin Teo
Sarah Teo
Simone Testa
Jon Tincher
Shandy Ting
Zachary Tippetts
Daniel Tobin
Ai Ching Toh
Cahit Topsever
colin torrance
Nicole Torres
Tal Tsfany
Angela van Barneveld
Mathy Vanbuel
Rashmi Varma
Angela Vasquez
Chris Veilleux
Debra Vicoli
Victoria Victor
jonathan vinoskey
Sharon Vipond
Terri Vlasak
Sonia Wadhwa
Tomasz Walasek
Elke Watson
Michele Watson
Gary Weinstein
Susie Wells
Melissa Wertz
Barbara (Ginger) Wessel
William West
Paul Westeneng
Tony Wiggins
Greg Willmarth
Anne Winter
xiaowei xiang
Jenny Xu
laurence yap tung siong
Kit San Yong
Seung Won Yoon
Dan Young
Lisa Young
Ron Yu
Robert M. Zwischenberger
Gene Zylkuski

Speaker Note of HRD PSMB 2007 Conference

Speaker Notes

No. Speaker
Notes
1. Y. Bhg Dato' Azman Shah Dato' Seri Haron
President Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF)
2. Dato' Lawrence Chan Kum Peng
Founder & Executive Chairman Of Personal Development Leadership Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd
3. Dato’ Md Sharif bin Shamsuddin
Managing Director for Amalgamated Metal Builders (M) Sdn. Bhd
4. Dato’ Nik Zainiah Nik Abd Rahman
Director General of National Productivity Corporation (NPC), Malaysia
5. Dr.Wilson Tay
CEO MIM
6. Dr. Azizah Johor
Senior Human Resources Manager, ACM
7. Mr. Christopher Chan
CEO, The Media Shoppe Berhad(TMS)
8. Mr. Cornelius Koh Beng Yan
Training Supervisor, Motorola Penang
9. Mr.Heera Singh
10. Mr. James A. Crown
Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Group Consulting Sdn Bhd
11.

Mr. K. C. See
CEO, Quest Group

12. Mr. S. Kumar
General Manager of ON Semiconductor
13. Mr. Thomas Lim
Executive Director of Proreka (M) Sdn Bhd
14. Y. Bhg. Professor Dato’ Dr Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman
President of Malaysian Association of Professional Speakers (MAPS)
15. Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Datuk G. Gnanalingam
Executive Chairman Of Westport Malaysia
Download

Source: http://www.hrdnet.com.my/conference07/notes.html

PSMB 2008 Conference Program


Conference Programme

PRE-REGISTRATION DAY
20 October 2008 (Monday)

4.00 p.m – 7.00 p.m

Day 1 : 21 October 2008
8.00 - 9.00 am
Registration of Participants
9.00 – 10.00 am
General Session
Re-engineering of Human Capital : Expectations & Success
Speaker : Y. Bhg. Dato' Sharifah Mohd Ismail
10.00 – 11.00 am
Morning Refreshments/Tour of Exhibition Booths
11.00 - 12.00 pm
Opening Ceremony by The Honourable Minister of Human Resources and
The presentation of Human Resources Development Awards
12.00 - 1.00 pm
General Session
Human Capital Development Policy
Speaker : Y. Bhg. Datuk Thomas George
1.00 - 2.30 pm
Lunch/Tour of Exhibition Booths
2.30 - 3.30 pm
Concurrent Session

1) Managing HR Performance In A Globalised World : Getting The Right Culture
Speaker : Mrs. Nora Manaf
2) Understanding Your Company's Culture : Tools For Strategic HR Practices
Speaker : Associate Professor Dr. Rusinah Siron
3.30 - 4.30 pm
Afternoon Refreshments / Tour of Exhibition Booths
4.30 - 5.30 pm
Concurrent Session

1) Organization Strength & Opportunities For Continuous Business Success
Speaker : Mr. Alan Teo
2) Creativity And Innovation : Achieving Organization Excellence
Speaker : Mr. Mark Chang
5.30 pm
End of Day 1

Day 2: 22 October 2008
8.00 - 9.00 am
Tour of Exhibition Booths
9.00 – 10.00 am
Concurrent Session

1) Developing Human Performance In Workplace
Speaker : Mr. Abdul Jalil Bin Md Taib
2) Service Edge : Achieving World-Class Service Mindset / Standard
Speaker : Mr. Abdul Malik Abdul Rahman
10.00 – 11.00 am
Morning Refreshments/Tour of Exhibition Booths
11.00 - 12.00 pm
General Session
Striving For Organization Excellence Through Productivity Enhancement
Speaker : Y. Bhg. Dato' Nik Zaniah Nik Abd. Rahman
12.00 - 1.00 pm
General Session
Impact of Globalisation On Human Capital Development
Speaker : Dr. R. Palan
1.00 - 2.30 pm
Lunch/Tour of Exhibition Booths
2.30 - 3.30 pm
General Session
Critical Perspective On Human Resource Development
Speaker :
3.30 - 4.30 pm
General Session
Developing Human Capital In You
Speaker : Y. Bhg. Datin Paduka Dr. Hajjah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir
4.30 pm
Closing Ceremony by The Chairman of The Board of Directors Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad
5.30 pm
Afternoon Refreshments / Tour of Exhibition Booths / End

up

Malaysia HRD (PSMB) 2008 Conference

Welcome To PSMB 2008 Conference
21st - 22nd October 2008

Genting International Convention Centre
Genting Highlands



Join us for our PSMB 2008 Conference & Exhibition which will be held on the 21st until 22nd October 2008 in Genting International Convention Centre (GICC), Genting Highlands, Pahang. The industry’s most esteemed speakers and experts will be sharing their latest ideas, theories, and experiences on strategic issues and key challenge relating to human resources development. This conference is a platform for the exchange of views and opinions among HR professionals that would assist employer to achieve competitive advantage.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Presentation of the Human Resources Minister Awards and the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad Awards by the Honourable Minister Of Human Resources.
  • There will be 6 General Sessions and 6 Concurrent Sessions, which will increase your understanding on the human resources issues and communicate the value of HR from a business perspective.
  • More than 40 exhibitors will be participating in this conference.
  • More than 1,200 participants nationwide.
  • Networking lunch of distinguished Corporate Leaders, HR Practitioners and Visionaries.


BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

  • To identify emerging challenges and opportunities in managing human resource in the context of dynamic and complex organizational environment.
  • To provide an avenue for Corporate Leaders, HR Practitioners and Visionaries to exchange insight, ideas, experiences and strategies for the future practices of human resources management in order to achieve competitive advantage.
  • To experience networking opportunities with HR Professionals nationwide and develop business contacts with fellow participants.
  • To create dynamic workforce by understanding the current issues and the on going changes of human capital development in Malaysia.


Genting International Convention Centre
Genting Highlands


OUR SPONSORSHIP










Source: http://www.1hrdmalaysia.com/index.htm


Certification of Recognition


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

Review from Amazon.com

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite using the word mojo in the subtitle and citing inspiration he received from 1960s counterculture icon Timothy Leary, this guide to better management isn't for hippies. Yes, Conley started the California boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre Hospitality with the Phoenix Hotel, once a haven for faded rock stars. And yes, he quotes liberally from rebel CEOs who surf. But Conley's book is packed with thoughtful, instructional stories and advice for entrepreneurs as well as Fortune 500 managers, gleaned from his own experience as well as other business books. At the center of this confessional how-to is psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a pyramid that ranks human needs from base to self-actualizing. Used as the basis for employee, customer and stakeholder satisfaction, Conley contends, it can transform a business and its people. Though Stephen Covey and Peter Drucker have looked to Maslow before, Conley describes how using the pyramid saved his company from bankruptcy when the dot-com bubble burst. Conley is most successful when he expresses his ideas in numbered lists rather than the wordy passages that slow down the beginning. On the whole, though, his advice is inspiring and accessible. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When Hotelier Conley was profiled by USA Today as one of its People to watch in 2001, he seemingly could do no wrong. His company, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which operates a chain of boutique hotels in the San Francisco Bay area, was riding high on the dot-com boom. But then the bubble burst, followed by 9/11 and an industry-wide crisis that hit his upscale business hard. As his world crumbled around him, Conley turned to the writings of psychologist Abraham Moslow for inspiration. In contrast to the darker premises behind Freud's psychoanalysis and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism, Maslow took a more positive approach, seeking to study the best and brightest that human nature has to offer, encouraging an environment of self-actualization that encourages peak experiences. Conley understood that personal transformation and corporate transformation are not all that different, and this story shows not only how Maslow's ideas brought about a resurrection in Conley's business but also how similar mind-sets continue to create growth and a positive work environment at companies such as Google, Netflix, Harley-Davidson, and Apple. Siegfried, David

Reference from other review from Amazon:

4.0 out of 5 stars Add Human Sigma to Your Diagnostic Toolkit, February 24, 2008
By Mark C. Howell (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter is a great addition to the growing collection of books about improving employee or customer engagement. While much of the writing on this topic is based on the edgy experiences or best practices of an innovative company, this is a book based on extensive survey work. These findings provide some of the missing foundational understandings that will help you explain why this is the path to take.

While it is packed with "ah ha" insights, it is best read carefully and with full attention. This is not a quick read. While some of the concepts leap off the page and find easy application, others will take a little bit more digging to really understand. Because each chapter builds on the foundation, there's no skimming.

With that, I found it a great companion to last year's Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow. The two taken together will provide the science and the practical application needed to build an organization that encourages employees to engage and customers to become passionate advocates.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1595620168/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter

2007 Releases

Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter
Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter
By John H. Fleming, Ph.D., and Jim Asplund
(Hardcover, October 2007)
In the past, companies have not applied rigor and precision to measuring and managing the "softer," human side of business. That is about to change. Human Sigma reveals that there are right and wrong ways to assess and manage the health of a company's employee and customer relationships. This rigorous new approach -- HumanSigma -- offers a new perspective on organizational performance that hinges on five core principles all great companies must embrace.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/press/17473/Gallup-Press.aspx

Gallup: Strengths-Based Development

I have deployed the same strategy at work to manage the department of 100 staff. The results are astonishing. Not only that, I have also looked into their competency development so that we can develop the effectiveness of the department and individuals.

My previous managers in Pfizer and Komag have also demonstrated such management style. They have also inflenced my current way of managing employee - strength based, no fear, appreciation and competency development.

Strengths-Based Development

Gallup research has proven that the best way to develop people -- and net the greatest return on investment -- is to identify the ways in which they most naturally think, feel, and behave as unique individuals, then build upon those talents to create strength, the ability to provide consistent, near-perfect performance in a specific task. Gallup strengths consultants are leading-edge specialists dedicated to closely partnering with organizations to align vital human resource functions with crucial business and organization needs.

What impact do Gallup's strengths development programs have on our clients' organizational performance? Our research shows that our strengths development interventions can produce increases in employee engagement that in turn lead to improved business outcomes in areas including retention, productivity, profitability, customer engagement, and safety.

Over the past decade, Gallup has surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide on the topic of employee engagement, and only one-third "strongly agree" with the statement: "At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day." In a recent Gallup Poll, among those who "strongly disagreed" or "disagreed" with this "what I do best" statement, not one single person was emotionally engaged on the job.

Analyses of our clients' employee engagement scores show that workgroups that receive strengths development interventions achieve stronger growth in employee engagement scores than groups that received no strengths intervention or a standard employee engagement intervention. Our studies also indicate that employees who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general. A strengths development strategy not only can dramatically boost employee engagement, it can also dramatically decrease disengagement.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder: a Revolutionary Tool for Developing Human Potential

The foundation of Gallup Consulting's strengths management practice is the Clifton StrengthsFinder, the product of a 25-year, multimillion dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human talents -- the building blocks of a strong and productive life.

Over the past several years, millions of people have used StrengthsFinder to discover their greatest talents. The assessment has been translated into more than 20 languages and is used by businesses, schools, community groups, and individuals in more than 50 nations around the world.

Maximizing Organizational Performance

Gallup Consulting's strengths development and management programs are a powerful first step for organizations seeking to maximize individual performance. Organizations can achieve even greater results when they address all points on The Gallup Path. We have developed integrated and comprehensive performance management solutions that support organizations in achieving crucial business goals.

In addition to consulting on strengths-based development approaches that boost employee productivity and engagement and increase organizational performance, Gallup Consulting offers tools for:

Workplace and Leadership Practices

Marketing and Customer Practices

Gallup Consulting has the resources and experience to support organizations that seek to improve their business performance by developing better leaders, more profitable customers, and more productive employees. Our successes demonstrate our effective consulting and performance improvement solutions.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you or your organization achieve higher levels of performance.

Related Items
GALLUP MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
The Gallup Management Journal is a groundbreaking online journal written for global business leaders.
Learn More...

StrengthsFinder 2.0

StrengthsFinder 2.0 This book unveils the new and improved version of the popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more.
Learn More

World-Class Employee Engagement

Various dates in the U.S. and Canada, October 2008 Engaged organizations enjoy higher EPS growth rates. Learn how the world's top-performing organizations boost employee engagement.
Learn more or download the brochure (PDF)
LEARNING EVENTS
Gallup Learning Events introduce business executives, managers, and sales professionals to Gallup's research discoveries and best practices.
World-Class Employee Engagement
2008 Gallup Well-Being Forum
Gallup Government Summit 2008
Call Center Forum
Principal Leadership Development
Leading the Way to School Improvement
For a complete list, visit the Learning Events area on this site.
Home | Gallup Poll | Consulting | Univer

Source: http://www.gallup.com/consulting/61/Strengths-Development.aspx

Strengths, Talent and the One Thing

Strengths, Talent and the One Thing


On strengths

A strength is a naturally occurring talent multiplied by knowledge and skill.

Knowledge is that which is learned.

Skill is knowledge put to practice.

Knowledge and skill increase with experience, education, and use.

Talent is inborn. It is a natural propensity. It cannot be learned.

Talent alone is not enough. A person may have a natural propensity towards music (or art, or sports) but without practice and education, the talent goes to waste.

You may have a talent towards communication but without practical use, experience, knowledge and skill, your talent does little for you.
Strengths, weaknesses and the 80/20 rule.

Spend 80 percent of your time working on strengths (talent), 20 percent on weaknesses.

In the time you spend on your own development, concentrate most of your time (80%) on your natural talents. This will bring you the greatest success, satisfaction and fulfillment. Spend 20% of that time becoming aware of and overcoming your weaknesses.

Not everyone can be successful at anything. The old (American) adage that “if you work hard enough you can be whatever you want” is false. You can do anything you have talent for. You can achieve high levels of success in areas in which you can apply your talents. Wanting isn’t enough - unless what you want coincides with your talent or you can use your talents in achieving what you want.
Strengths, life and the path of least resistance.

As in nature, all things follow the path of least resistance; your path of least resistance is in your talents. It is what comes natural to you. It is the calm waters with the wind filling your sail taking you to your best possible self.

Discover and do what you are meant to do. It is the easiest and most rewarding path you can take.

Step outside of this path and you struggle. It’s the stormy waters, it’s sailing against the wind. It’s working, struggling, fighting for little gain or satisfaction.

We all have to do things that we are not talented at, in which we have a weakness, or which we just don’t like. If these things are taking too much of our time, we are off course, we are off of our path, and we are being dragged down. These things take our energy and give little reward.
The one thing you need to know

For Sustained Individual Success
(from Markus Buckingham’s book “the one thing you need to know”)
Discover what you don’t like doing and stop doing it

What is Sustained Individual Success?

1. Sustained Success is making the greatest possible impact over the longest period of time.
1. Requires that you take your natural talents and your enthusiasm and apply yourself to learning role-specific skills and knowledge. [Strength = Talent (Knowledge + Skills)]
2. “Something special must leave the room when you leave the room.” – P. Drucker

Contenders for the “one thing”

1. Find the right tactics and employ them.
1. Doesn’t tell you how to avoid becoming a commodity.
2. You have different strengths, weaknesses, interests, background, and experience.
3. Your individuality, not the process, must be the focus.
2. Find your flaws and fix them
1. The most commonly held view in the US.
2. Falsely assumes your greatest room for growth is in your areas of weakness.
3. You will not, in fact, learn the most in the areas of your weakness.
4. You will not feel most energized and challenged when fixing your flaws.
3. Discover your strengths and cultivate them.
1. Strengths are a consistent part of your personality.
2. You are most successful when your strengths mesh with the challenge facing you.
3. Focusing on strengths will lead to success. Finding roles that play to, or building your roles around your strengths will bring about success.
4. Success will bring about changes – new challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities. Many tempting, but few that continue to use your strengths.
5. Those changes that don’t play to your strengths, innocuous as they may seem, will actually start to drag you off your best path.
6. To sustain your success, you must keep yourself alert to subtle changes and take action to correct your course.

Falsehoods

1. It doesn’t matter if you like your work; you just have to be good at it.
1. You may well be good at activities you don’t enjoy, but your enjoyment is the fuel to keep practicing, to keep stretching, investing, and pushing yourself to greater levels.
2. You need a little difficulty in your life, a little grit. No grit, no pearl.
1. Grit will only grind you down. Time spent in an activity that grates on you is poorly invested time. You will learn little and it will leave you weaker.
3. Only those already successful have the luxury of cutting their dislikes out of their job.
1. This is backwards. People who are successful became so because they were unwilling to tolerate aspects of their jobs they didn’t like. Their intolerance caused their success.

What percentage of your day do you spend doing those things you really like?

1. To sustain your success, assess where and how you are spending your time.
2. When the answer to this question is below 70 percent, identify the activities getting in the way and take action to remove them.
3. The more effective you are at this, the more creative, resilient, valuable, and thus the more successful you are.


Quit the role, tweak the role, seek out the right partners, or find an aspect of the role that brings you strength. The longer you put up with aspects of your work you don’t like, the less successful you will be. So, as far as you are able, and as quickly as you can, stop doing them and then see what the best of you, now focused and unfettered, can achieve.

About The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle

The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle is a business networking, support, and educational association started in January 2006 by six friends and family members who wanted a way to develop their own and other's leadership abilities.

We strive to understand and develop leadership skills and talent in a way that transcends trends and looks beyond short-term goals. We see our mutual role as supporting individuals and organizations in achieving effective and transformational leadership through life affirming and supporting practices.

Find out more at www.EarthAsylum.org...

Also, discover the EarthAsylum Fusion network -- an on-line, interactive forum for news, articles and discussions.

Find out more at www.EarthAsylum.net...

The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle has a lot to offer to its members, and each new member adds to that offering. Please consider joining us. We value your knowledge, insight, and participation.

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URL: http://www.strengthsmanagement.com/newsletters/2007_07_01.php

Leadership

If we spend so much time on action plan, and spend littile time on telling the team members of our vision, measurable milestones, and the meaning of the work,  they will only do what is needed to be done.

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the sea."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sometimes managers complain that the people working with them, or those of other departments, are not involved enough in the business and do not show enthusiasm about their work. These managers often say that some employees "just don't care."

Successful leadership is one that enables people to exercise and enjoy greater freedom at work. The more freedom to decide how to do one's work to achieve the defined objectives the more involved and energetic the employee is.

About The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle

The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle is a business networking, support, and educational association started in January 2006 by six friends and family members who wanted a way to develop their own and other's leadership abilities.
We strive to understand and develop leadership skills and talent in a way that transcends trends and looks beyond short-term goals. We see our mutual role as supporting individuals and organizations in achieving effective and transformational leadership through life affirming and supporting practices.
Find out more at www.EarthAsylum.org...

Also, discover the EarthAsylum Fusion network -- an on-line, interactive forum for news, articles and discussions.
Find out more at www.EarthAsylum.net...

The Power of Employee Engagement - Article from Earthashylum Newsletter

Employee engagement is an effort not to be ignored in order for the organization to go to next level.  Many managers pay only lip service for such effort.

 The Power of Employee Engagement

From The EarthAsylum Leadership Circle Newsletter

August 1, 2006
Volume 1 - Issue 3

 

By now, many of us have heard the buzz on employee engagement – so much so that the buzzword is loosing its value. Talent management and employee engagement, just like other buzzwords and business fads, really do have value – if we understand their true meaning and don’t let them get diluted with misconceptions.

Engagement goes beyond the good employee or the good company citizen. Employee engagement is the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, energy and brainpower.
Think about it… When companies are often trying to improve performance with fewer people and decreasing resources due to cutbacks and financial pressures, discretionary effort is the grail managers are seeking. Employees who freely give that extra effort are of tremendous value.
General studies show that a 5% increase in employee engagement results in a 2.5% increase in growth. Growth measured by company value, which in the public sector is measured by stock value.
The relationship between employee engagement, high performance, and company growth is compelling to say the least. Unfortunately, national surveys of company managers show an overall dissatisfaction with employee engagement levels and measures of employee engagement show a very distressing picture...
The Three Levels of Employee Engagement
Highly Engaged employees are builders. They want to know the desired expectations for their role so they can meet and exceed them. They're naturally curious about their company and their place in it. They perform at consistently high levels. They want to use their talents and strengths at work every day. They work with passion, and they have a visceral connection to their company. And they drive innovation and move their organization forward.
Moderately Engaged to Not Engaged employees are the largest group. Those that put their time in and take a wait-and-see attitude towards their job, co-workers, and employer. They aren’t a negative force at work but neither are they a positive force.
Actively Disengaged employees are those fundamentally disconnected from their jobs. The actively disengaged counter the productivity of engaged and highly engaged employees. They miss an average of 3.5 days more than other employees and cost the U.S. economy between $292 billion and $355 billion per year.
For most businesses, only 14% of their employees are highly engaged and upwards of 24% are actively disengaged.
(I’ve seen these numbers vary – from a low “highly engaged” number of 5% to a high of 17%, and a low “actively disengaged” number of 19%.)
The Cost of Low Employee Engagement
So what is the cost? Let’s assume...
  • A business has a payroll of ten million dollars.
  • Highly engaged employees are 90% productive (probably higher).
  • Moderately engaged and not engaged employees average out at 70% productivity.
  • Actively disengaged employees are 50% productive (probably lower).
And we’ll adjust the breakdown to more favorable numbers (and easier math)…
  • 15% are highly engaged employees and are 90% productive.
                                                                  .15 * .90 * 100 = 13.5% productivity.
  • 65% are moderately engaged employees and are 70% productive.
                                                                  .65 * .70 * 100 = 45.5% productivity.
  • 20% are actively disengaged employees and are 50% productive.
                                                                  .20 * .50 * 100 = 10.0% productivity.
Overall productivity level = 13.5% + 45.5% + 10.0% = 69%.
$10,000,000 annual payroll * 69% productivity = $6,900,000 ROI.
                  or
$3,100,000 lost on unrealized productivity.
However, it gets worse. The 19% to 24% of actively disengaged employees not only give a comparatively low level of effort, they undermine the efforts of others thus decreasing the effective productivity of the entire staff. Furthermore, if these employees are in customer-facing roles, they can cost the company current and new business.
The really scary part is that national averages show the number of actively disengaged employees going up - from a low of 16% in the mid 90’s to a high of up to 24% today.
What Can We Do To Increase Engagement?
The most critical element to employee engagement is the front-line manager.
Managers need to discover and develop employees' talents if they want to keep them engaged.
Employees must have a strong relationship with, and clear communication from, their manager.
Managers have to challenge employees within their areas of talent, and then help them gain the skills and knowledge they need to build their talents into strengths.
Managers should help employees develop ownership of their goals, targets, and milestones, so employees can enhance their contributions to the company and increase their impact.

In this article I discussed what employee engagement is, the cost and consequences of low levels of engagement, and touched on what managers need to do. Next time, we’ll delve into more detail about what managers and leaders must do to measure and increase engagement levels and thus productivity and company growth.

In the last article on employee engagement, we talked about what engagement is, the relationship between employee engagement, high performance, and company growth, and the cost of low employee engagement levels.
In this article, I want to focus on what a manager can and needs to do to raise levels of engagement. But first, let's build a little on the definition of Employee Engagement ...
We stated in the last article that employee engagement is "the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, energy and brainpower". A good definition to be sure but there's more to it than that.
Employee engagement can be broken down into two areas - the first being emotional and the second, rational. Within these we can define 9 core statements that characterize engagement.

The 9 Core Statements of Engaged Employees

Emotional
  1. I would recommend my company to a friend as a good place to work.
  2. My company inspires me to do my best work.
  3. I am proud to tell others I work for my company.
  4. My job provides me with a sense of personal accomplishment.
  5. I really care about the future of my company.
Rational
  1. I understand how my unit contributes to the success of my company.
  2. I understand how my role is related to my company's overall goals, objectives, and direction.
  3. I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond what is normally expected to help my company succeed.
  4. I am personally motivated to help my company be successful.
Obviously, an employee who would make these statements is highly engaged, but our topic today is how to increase the level of engagement in those employees who would not make these statements.

Managers Make The Difference

As was concluded in part 1, the most critical element to employee engagement is the front-line manager.
  1. Managers need to discover and develop employees' talents if they want to keep them engaged.
  2. Employees must have a strong relationship with, and clear communication from, their manager.
  3. Managers have to challenge employees within their areas of talent, and then help them gain the skills and knowledge they need to build their talents into strengths.
  4. Managers should help employees develop ownership of their goals, targets, and milestones, so employees can enhance their contributions to the company and increase their impact.
But saying it doesn't get it done. Managers need to know how to do these things and, sad to say, most MBA programs don't teach it.
Additionally, managers cannot do it alone. The organization must adopt a "talent management" culture in order to make engagement initiatives successful.
That being said, let's look at a few critical fundamentals that will lead to positive results.

Four Fundamental Actions Leading to Positive Results

1. Clarify Expectations
Create Goal Statements that formalize the following:
  • What is to be accomplished
  • Who will be involved
  • When the activity will be completed
  • How much it costs and which resources will be used
Evaluate work against measurable standards
-Positive Results will most likely include:
For the employee -
  • Less frustration and stress - clear direction
  • Higher level of motivation and satisfaction
  • A common or shared language
  • More effective communication with manager
For the manager -
  • More effective communication with team member
  • More focused and productive team member
  • Higher productivity and accomplishment of business goals
  • A common or shared language

2. Don't Leave Employees Out Of The Plan
Even the best plan can fail if the employees are not committed to it
Get Commitment
Get Accountability
-Positive Results will most likely include:
For the employee -
  • Higher level of motivation and engagement
  • Ownership to the process and to their own development
  • Commitment and accountability to the plan
For the manager -
  • A better performance plan overall - dual input
  • Higher level of commitment and accountability from team members
  • Streamlines work processes, saves time and money

3. Meet On An On-Going Basis To Share Feedback
Increase effectiveness of communication
Increase competence and confidence
Increase productivity and accuracy
Encourage a higher standard
-Positive Results will most likely include:
For the employee -
  • Recognized for what they are doing well
  • Learn if "off course", receive guidance, and improve performance
  • Clearer sense of what's expected if goals change
  • Less frustration and stress due to more timely feedback and input
For the manager -
  • Time and opportunity to provide critical feedback
  • Learn valuable information and gain insights
  • Increased commitment, quality standards and productivity levels
  • More insight into potential talent and development opportunities
  • Increased quality of communication
  • Increased levels of credibility and trust w/ team members

4. Providing Factual / Behavior-Specific Feedback
Give specifics and facts of performance
Be clear about what changes are needed
Provide objective guidance and direction
Focus on behavior vs. attitudes or personal characteristics
Solve problems and move forward
-Positive Results will most likely include:
For the employee -
  • Commitment and accountability to changing their behavior
  • Feels treatment is fair, professional
  • Information provided is tangible, practical and actionable
For the manager -
  • Clarifies performance outcomes
  • Cultivates a more healthy environment
  • Increases levels of credibility and trust w/ team members
  • Focused team members, leading to:
    • More timely results
    • More accurate results
    • More productive teams

Conclusion

The four fundamentals outlined above are only a starting point, albeit a good starting point. They are generic to the desires and talents of individual employees but are essential to all employees. As you know, management cannot be covered in an article or even a series of articles. It is far too complex an issue. But by successfully implementing a handful of procedures, managers can achieve dramatic results leading to higher levels of engagement.
In the future, we'll go beyond the fundamentals and talk about Strengths Based Performance, intrinsic motivation, the power of empowerment - and how these topics relate directly to employee engagement and the bottom line.

URL: http://www.strengthsmanagement.com/newsletters/2006_09_01.php#Article1

Saturday, September 13, 2008

“Now, Discover your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton


We wrote this book to start a revolution - a Strengths Revolution
These were the opening words of the book “Now, Discover your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton.
The premise is that businesses (and people) are built on two faulty assumptions:
1. Each person can learn to be competent in almost anything.
2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness.

The authors offer alternative assumptions that sure make sense to me:
1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique.
2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of the person's greatest strengths.
Not only does it make sense, they back it up with years of research, hundreds of thousands of surveys (they are from the Gallup Organization, after all) and neuroscience to prove their assumptions.
People progress more rapidly in their areas of greatest talent than in their areas of weakness. Yet too many training and development approaches focus on making improvements in areas of weakness. How many performance reviews have you been through where the main topic of conversation was the areas in which you performed poorly and how you can get better in those areas?
Now imagine if your focus was on the areas in which you excelled - and on excelling even further in those areas.
This is the basis of a Strengths Based Performance program.
Rather than spending time and energy on boosting sub-par performance areas to an acceptable level (and ignoring areas of excellence). We do better by spending a majority of time enhancing the areas in which we are already strong.
This is not to say that weaknesses are ignored, but rather that we try to find ways to work around them. For example, we may be able to overcome our weaknesses by using our strengths (a common theme in a business SWOT analysis). Or we may be able to overcome weaknesses by partnering with someone who is strong in those areas. Or, we may be able to just stop doing those things we're not good at.
A very valid example offered in the book is that of Tiger Woods. Unknown to me, it seems that, although Tiger may be one of the best golfers to ever play, he's one of the worst at hitting a ball out of a sand trap. A true weakness for a golfer. But do you think that Tiger spent all of his time with his coach learning to better hit the ball out of a sand trap? No, he spent most of his time bettering his drive so as not to hit the ball into the sand trap in the first place. Using his strength to overcome his weakness.
Picture what would have happened if Tiger spent most of his time working on that sand trap. He'd probably get better at it. Maybe even good at it. But never great at it. And while he's spending so much time and energy on something he's not great at, he's not spending time on something that he can be great at. Thus, he becomes a mediocre golfer. Good at many things but great at nothing.
This is what we constantly do in our businesses and in our lives. We spend too much of our energy trying to fix what's wrong rather than building on what's right - and we become mediocre.
Not only do we not excel, we loose interest, we loose passion - because we're spending so much of our energy on things we're not good at and, most likely, don't like doing.
Now, imagine working every day at that which you are best; at that which matches your personal style and your inborn talents; at that which energizes you and utilizes your best strengths.
Organizational and personal development must center on talent, values, and personality. By discovering each person’s strengths, incorporating them into their daily activities, and working around their weaknesses, each individual can achieve undiscovered performance and satisfaction, become fully engaged in their work, and add to the accomplishments of their organization at levels far beyond current expectations.
Employee enthusiasm, commitment, personal responsibility, and accountability are crucial elements to the success of any business. Engaged employees are builders. They perform at consistently high levels. They want to use their talents and strengths at work every day. They work with passion, they have an instinctive bond with their company, and they drive innovation and move their organization forward.
A successful performance management plan is directed towards the individual and is centered on individual strengths. By developing plans and actions geared to drive up intrinsic motivation, and thus engagement, you will obtain your goals and reach new levels of success.
It's time to change. It's time to join the Strengths Revolution. It's time to start imagining what we can achieve when we focus on what we're good at, on our strengths and talents.
It's time to be great!

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