Challenges: Rarely a day goes by that I don’t hear some mention of “occupancy”.  As a whole, we’ve stepped up our marketing efforts and we’re looking for any stone yet unturned.  The networking meetings are bursting at the seams - everyone feels a sense of urgency.  And for good reason.  The economy has presented us with a variety of challenges.

Statistics are staggering…  Adult children have lost jobs and many are currently “underemployed”.  Adult children and seniors have lost value in their retirement assets and their homes.  Mortgages are “upside down” - that is if you still have a mortgage and haven’t lost your home.  We all know that adult children are shouldering the burden of care and stress levels are high.

Expectations:  With this have come some shifts in perspective.  Expectations are high and consumers are evaluating every purchase decision very carefully.  I’m sure you’ve noticed this.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s taking longer to get a commitment, that people are comparison shopping more now than before, and that the competition is formidable!  Add to that technology.  We now live in an age where the first step in the process is likely to be the internet.  Today’s consumers are savvy, they’ve done their homework and they are now  looking for the relationship.  They most likely have a good idea of your features and benefits…but can they trust you?

New Paradigm: Research is showing that one of the strongest differentiators comes from the “soft side”.  This is not necessarily congruent with traditional wisdom.  And this is not necessarily in your budget - at least not anymore!  How prepared are you to meet the challenge of “soft” skills?  First, let’s talk about what I mean by that.

What would you look for if you needed to place your spouse or your parent?  Once you made the placement decision, what would be important to you?  Here is a list of things you might look for:

• Staff knows how to do their job
• You feel your loved one is safe
• The community is clean
• The food is good
• The staff is courteous and polite
• The staff greets you with a smile
• The care team knows the preferences of your loved one and honors them
• The care team and management team knows your preferences for your loved one and honors them
• Your loved one gets personal attention from the care team
• The staff responds positively in even challenges circumstances
• You’ve come to know, like and trust the team members who care for your loved one
• You feel confident that if something went wrong, it would be handled immediately, appropriately and with personalized attention to the matter.
• You are amazing at the level of compassion and empathy of the team members
• You feel at peace.

You probably want all these things, don’t you?

The 3 C’s of Customer Loyalty/Devotion: Research shows that there are three components necessary to build customer loyalty… or what I like to call “customer devotion”.  Those three components are, Competence, Courtesy and Compassion.

Compassion vs. Efficiency:  In healthcare and senior living, compassion is more important to building loyalty of residents and families than efficiency.  This creates a major challenge for us!  We must carefully balance our demands, as it’s easy to put efficiency ahead of compassion.  And, many times we choose efficiency.  Let’s look at why we need to balance that with compassion.

Resident/Family Loyalty Survey Scores: If we look at resident/family loyalty survey scores, we can see quite clearly, what is truly important.  We’re going to match up the three competencies (Competence, Courtesy, Compassion) against the scores we see on the Resident/Family Loyalty survey.

Competence: We hire and fire based on competence.  We train our staff so we can maintain and improve the level of competence.  So, we can agree it is essential to have a competent staff.  And if we do, but we stop there, our residents will give us a score of 3 (Neutral) on the 5-point scale.  If they perceive us as lacking competency, they will rank us a 1 or a 2.  The conclusion we can draw from this is that competence does not create satisfaction or loyalty.  It is expected.  Therefore, we must do more.

Courtesy: Let’s add Courtesy.  We don’t necessarily hire or fire based on courtesy- but we can try.  If you are an organization focused on resident and family loyalty, you will probably start to stress it in orientation and train the skills and competencies necessary to demonstrate courtesy consistently.  You may include it in hiring criteria and performance coaching.  It is very possible to create a culture where courtesy is a standard.  If you master competence and courtesy, your residents and families will give you a 4 “Satisfied” on the 5-point scale.

Now isn’t this fantastic!  No.  It’s good, but not fantastic.

Why isn’t this fantastic?  Because research shows that it’s only a score of 5 “Very Satisfied/Loyal” that reflects residents and families that are truly devoted to us.  What does it mean if they are truly devoted to us?  It means we’ve created an emotional connection with that resident /family to us.

“The emotionally loyal resident/family feels an attachment to the organization that transcends functional attributes.  This is a loyalty that is likely to last even in the face of competition that offers a more “functionally-attractive” alternative”.  In other words, there will always be some new, bright shiny object (your competitor)!  You will exhaust yourself and spiral down if your differentiator is based solely on how “functionally-attractive” you are.  Eventually, you will not be!

Compassion: To reach this level of loyalty - or devotion - you must have Compassion.  Compassion, as defined by Wikipedia, is a human emotion prompted by the pain of others.  More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to help.

How do we achieve Compassion?

First, we must create a culture that is supportive and nurturing of compassionate people.  If you do this, you will also see your employee engagement levels increase.  As we all know, this is critically important because high levels of employee engagement increases customer loyalty by 38%, increases productivity by 22%, increases employee retention by 39 % and increases profits by 27%. 

Next, we must provide the resources and training for people to improve the skills and competencies needed to deliver compassionate care.  Research also shows that high self-awareness, high empathy and excellent communication skills (among other competencies) are essential in mastering compassion.

Just as with Courtesy, we can hire for naturally compassionate people, we can make it part of our culture, we can emphasize it in orientation, and we can include it in our performance coaching.  Because it is so essential, we will want to provide the opportunity for our team members to improve in the areas that are foundational to compassion - and we can do that through Emotional Intelligence training.

Research estimates that 80% of career success is attributed to high emotional intelligence.  Providing this for your team will help them achieve their goals both professionally and personally.

Improve your Employee Engagement and improve your Resident/Family Loyalty.  Get started by building the “soft skills” of each member of your team so they may contribute at the very highest level and offer compassion to each resident and family member.

Contact me today to find out how to get started! Sonya@SonyaSullins.com or 877 HUMAN10 or 608-279-0691

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“Emotional Intelligence may be the best predictor of success in life.” ~ Time Magazine

You might care about Emotional Intelligence if you would like to be more effective and have more confidence handling…anyone who is pushing your buttons!

• it might be your kids or your spouse,
• or maybe it’s your boss,
• or it could be someone who reports to you who drives you crazy
• or maybe it’s a difficult resident, or that family member who is never happy
• or maybe it’s your referral source or a hot prospect

There are more buttons to push than we’re even aware of, so today I’m going to talk about techniques to identify our triggers and manage our reactions.

I got interested in Emotional Intelligence about twelve years ago.  With all the emphasis on IQ and academic achievements, I found it fascinating that a very different type of intelligence might be just as important.  And what about achieving high levels of both?  Now, that sounded to me like winning combination!  I love to read, to learn, and to study.  What has come to my attention is that what is really important is what one does with all that information.  I’ve been studying Emotional Intelligence with my end goal of making it teachable and usable.  With that goal in mind, I have developed a series of workshops to help people grow there own emotional intelligence and reach new peaks in both their personal and professional lives.  Welcome to the introductory installment of Emotional Intelligence:  Personal and Professional Transformation!

You might be wondering:   What can improving my Emotional Intelligence do for me?

Among other things, it will help you to :

• be more effective in your professional and in your personal life
• be able to better understand what you are feeling and why
• be able to have more control over what you feel and how you respond, rather than just reacting in the same old patterns
• have more friends or be able to develop better relationships with the friends you have now
• be able to do a better job at setting and achieving your short-and long-term goals
• be able to manage your STRESS

Sound good?  Then keep reading to learn more!

Now, I know that we all have dreams, we have goals, we have things that we want to do or want to have.  So I ask you, why do we care about things like diet and exercise, about our career and about making money, about traveling, about having the house, the car, clothes or jewelry? …and the list goes on and on…

I’m going to suggest that we all want to be “successful”, yet there are many definitions of “success”.  So, perhaps our true underlying driver is simply our desire to be HAPPY.

As I’m going to talk more about later, our brains are programmed to avoid those things that are painful and seek those things that are pleasurable.  Therefore, we seek success - regardless of how you measure it - in order to be HAPPY.

In this first section, we’ll learn what Emotional Intelligence is.  Next, we’ll learn what Emotions are.  We’ll overview the 15 Competencies of Emotional Intelligence and then we will look at the different competencies in more detail.  Through this process, you will learn the power and the value behind developing emotional intelligence and gain a little insight into your own paradigms as well!

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Definition:  One of the clearest definitions I have found is from the guru of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman…

“Emotional Intelligence is the ability to Identify, Use, Understand and Manage Emotions.”

“Emotional Intelligence is Emotional Management” by Sonya Sullins

Emotional Intelligence can also be described as People Skills PLUS Self-Knowledge.  Researchers in the field say that 80% of Career Success is because of Emotional Intelligence.

Exploring and developing our emotional intelligence not only makes us happier, it makes us able to motivate ourselves, and help us to better manage stress in our lives, and helps us to effectively resolve conflict with others.

It gives us the skills to be able to encourage, comfort, discipline, and appropriately confront different kinds of people in the right way and at the right time in different situations.

And, it determines how well people listen to us and how well we are heard.

How does it do all of these things?  As we talk further, I think you will start to see the depth and breadth of EI.  Stay tuned to learn about our emotions - what they are and where they come from!

“We specialize in selecting, motivating and retaining top talent.  You will be able to enjoy the benefits of highly engaged, productive employees and fiercely loyal, devoted customers.  We take the guesswork out and you will know exactly what to do to gain a leading edge.”

“Our methods are scientifically researched and our solutions are proven to save you money - no more leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more, on the table!”

SonyaSullins@hcmi.info or 877-HUMAN10

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Personal and Professional Transformation in Response to Economy and Job Market Woes

Madison, WI - October 5, 2009 - Sonya Sullins, Principal Consultant and owner of Human Capital Management Institute, today announced the launch of what is poised to be the most unique response to the struggling economy and job market for men and women in Wisconsin.  It is called “Expand Your Success” and Sullins will join forces with nine niche experts who will share their tips and secrets on Friday, November 6^th and Saturday, November 7^th, 2009, at the Monona Terrace in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin.

Expand Your Success is a unique personal and professional transformation event designed exclusively for those willing to break through current barriers and realize their true potential.  Expand Your Success’s two-day intensive will enable each participant to learn from leading experts in areas such as; financial success, optimal nutrition and weight, peak physical fitness, achieving business or career success, setting and achieving goals, developing and maintaining relationships, making a great first impression and overall life success.  This high energy, high impact event will not only be fun, but highly effective and includes “use it right now” information.  Expand Your Success events allow participants to network with and learn from one another as well as have access to successful leaders in various areas.  As a seasoned speaker, Sullins is honored to be able to come together with like-minded individuals for two days of learning and growing.

“It is my passion is to truly change the lives of employees - at all levels in an organization - all over the nation.  There’s no reason anyone should have to live life hating his or her work.  It’s my job to help you love what you do, be outrageously successful at it and derive value from the contributions you make every day!” says Sullins.  Perhaps the most unique aspect of Human Capital Management Institute is the extended support offered to each manager and the teams they lead.  Says Sullins, “I seek to help people connect better with people.  Particularly in tough economic times, we need to network with and support one another - at work and at home - we need a sense of community.”

“My goal in participating in Expand Your Success is not only to provide transformative information in a fresh and fun way, but also to be a part of an event that provides the extended support from various experts that one just doesn’t get access to every day.  Expand Your Success is truly a one-stop resource for men and women looking for an effective way to expand their career, take control back of their physical health and nurture important relationships - really, to achieve success and balance in their life” says Sullins.

Admission for the November 6^th and 7^th, 2009, event is $99 per person for both full days of learning.  Those registering with a friend, relative or colleague receive $49 discount per person.  Interested in learning more about Expand Your Success?  Visit www.ExpandYourSuccess.net, or contact Sonya Sullins at SonyaSullins@hcmi.linfo or call 608-279-0691.

Sonya Sullins is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Human Capital Management Institute.  In addition, she is an author and leads workshops, seminars and web-based trainings on various topics relating to the management and development of people.  For more information visit www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com or call toll free 877-HUMAN10.

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To view video, please click here:  Sonya Sullins Introduces Human Capital Management Insitute: Select and Retain Top Talent

Or, you can read it here:

Welcome!  And, thank you for checking in today to find out a little bit more about me and Human Capital Management Institute.

 

I am Sonya Sullins - lover of people, animals and the beach.  I am a lifelong lover of learning and of teaching.  This has led me to my role now as a Consultant, Coach and Public Speaker.  

 

Also, I’d like to introduce you to my company, Human Capital Management Institute - where we show leaders how to select and keep talented employees and create devoted customers.

 

The problem is, Human Beings – you, me, and everyone who has a job – have needs that must be met to feel engaged and stay productive at work. 

 

Everyone KNOWS you have to find and keep top employees to be successful, they just don’t know whether or not they are effective at doing this.  Our solutions are based on scientific research - we not only quantify how good of job you are currently doing, we also can tell you what you need to know - or what you need to do - to do a great job of finding and keeping the best. 

 

Just to put it into perspective, 60%-90% of revenue is spend on labor – so if you’re not doing a good job of finding and keeping top talent, you’re losing hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars of revenue, needlessly.

 

For example, let’s say you hired 100 employees last year, and now factor in that it costs $8-12 thousand dollars to replace an entry-level position…How many dollars did you leave on the table? 

 

It’s amazing, really.  We’re talking $800,000 to $1.2 million GONE on just this one type of revenue waster.

 

 

And, there’s more.  According to Gallup, only 29% of employees are actively “engaged” – or are actually passionate and connected to their work. 

 

54% are disengaged – they’re just flying under the radar and going through the motions.  Not necessarily causing any trouble, but not making any positive contributions either. 

 

And, for the really scary part…fully 17% are actively disengaged – basically a toxic cancer bringing down the morale of others, making customers unhappy and undermining every effort toward success. 

 

If I may, I’d love to share with you a personal story…

 

One of my clients came to me because they knew they had some “personality issues”,

high turnover, and customer complaints. 

 

What they didn’t know was what to do about it. 

 

With my expertise and proven methods, we were able to assess the situation and bring their extremely low levels of engagement up from 3.03 to 3.85 (on a 5-point scale).  Eventually, they hit 4.13. 

 

Along with this change came a 27% increase in revenue, a 37% increase in targeted retention, reduced workers comp and almost zero customer complaints. 

 

Truly a night and day comparison. 

 

The energy of the team did not even feel like it was the same place to work.  Of course, all this didn’t happen overnight, but without intervention, they might not still be around to tell the story.

 

Personally, I’m passionate about making organizations successful and for getting employees loving what they do – and that’s why I make it my mission to do both.

 

It’s very rewarding to see an organization improve their net margin by 27%, and to see an organization achieve median retention of 88.89%, and to see the positive effects on the people, both the ones that work there as well as the customers. 

 

If this sounds at all interesting to you, I’d love to offer you a complimentary strategy session.  Call me personally at 877-HUMAN10…I’d love to hear your story!   

 

Again, this is Sonya Sullins at www.HumanCapitalManagement Institute.com wishing you a fabulous day! 

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To see the video, click here:  Tip #2: Smile! You\’ll Be Happy and You\’ll Make Others Happy

Or read it here: 

Welcome!  And thank you for joining me for Today’s Tip:       

Smile!  You’ll Be Happy AND You’ll Make Others Happy

This is Sonya Sullins with Human Capital Management Institute – we’re known for inspiring professionals and organizations to achieve peak performance through people, passion and potential.

Did you know that there’s actually a physiology to the smile?  Studies have proven that smiling creates a release of endorphins!  Fun, huh!?

Interestingly, the experience of a compliment or receiving a gift is a trigger – for a smile and for endorphins.  The trigger sets off changes in the body, which signal the brain to feel happy. 

In other words, happiness arises as much from our body as it does from our thoughts.  Remember Tip #1?  Recognition is FREE!  And, now you can see it has a physiological component to it as well!

What does that mean to you and me?  If you want to be happy, SMILE!  Smile even if you’re not feeling happy – smile before you feel happy.  Come on try it!  I want you to smile through the rest of this video!  Try it throughout the rest of the day.  Come on…are you smiling?!

And it only REALLY works if you get all the smile muscles in your face involved…if you can’t, it’s still better to “fake it till ya make it” – Come on…try upturning your lips and get the smile all the way up to your eyes – making your cheeks perk up a bit.  Okay, even if you weren’t smiling before, at least you probably are now – laughing at me! 

Have you ever been smiling about something…or maybe purposely smiled at someone else?  I’m sure you have, and I bet what you experienced is that people automatically changed their state of mind when they saw you smile. They probably even smiled back at you!

And it’s universal.  This positive reaction crosses gender, race, religious affiliate, language – humans recognize a smile.  We love it a smile!

Because of its power and ridiculously low cost, I’m happy to report that we can all do something so incredibly positive that has a direct benefit to ourselves and others.  So, come on and smile!

Again, this is Sonya Sullins at www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com wishing you a fabulous day!  Smile on!