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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This post is adapted from the transcript of the DVD from a talk developed for VCPI’s Client Connection Technology Symposium.  The audience included c-level, executives and technology specialists serving the senior living industry.

“S.T.E.P. into Success…Customer Devotion in 4 Steps!”

“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” ~Don Marquis

And, from Colin Powell:  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared.  It’s an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms.”

So in talking about procrastination and complacency, I think of one’s personal health as well as one’s organizational health…What do I mean by that?  Just like with our health, our organizations can have symptoms of illness.  However, we might not take immediate action…

Maybe we decide we’ll get the colonoscopy or the mammogram next month, next quarter, or maybe even next year.  Maybe we have a condition that we’ve grown used to having over time - high cholesterol, arthritis, asthma…

If I may, I’d like to share a personal example…

I have asthma - I’ve had it since I was a small child.  Asthma treatment was not as sophisticated or effective back then.  But since I didn’t have a frame of reference, I didn’t feel overly distressed to find out that I was only in the 30th percentile for lung volume…because I didn’t know what it felt like to be at 100%!

Years later, when I was prescribed a steroid inhaler, I was amazed at how well I could breathe, how much more energy I had, and how I could sleep through the night.  It was like a miracle!

Over those years before the effective treatment, I wasn’t lamenting, researching, and taking action to solve my problem.  Why?  Because I had become complacent.  I had no basis of comparison and no reason to think the situation would change.

Status Quo is not where we want to be - with our health or with our organizations.  As summed up by Marshall Goldsmith, “What got you here won’t get you there.”

I know how hard it is to attract and select top people.  I also know how hard it is to motivate and retain the best, all while struggling to keep ahead of customers’ high expectations.

But there are solutions - strategies to help you do just that.  Now, if you are like my clients, and I am sure you are, then you are likely experiencing what is affecting the entire industry - and some of these “symptoms” might sound familiar:

As we go through these, think about how you, or how your management team, might rate each of these “symptoms” on a scale of 1 to 5.  With 1 being “We don’t have this problem at all” to 5 being “We have a serious problem with this.”  Here we go!

1.         Unnecessary turnover

2.         Low morale

3.         Increased resident or family complaints

4.         Bad attitudes and coworker personality conflicts

5.         Gossip, nitpicking or backstabbing

6.         Staff feels more suspicious than trusting of senior management

7.         Call-ins and no-shows

8.         Difficulty attracting top quality candidates into your applicant pool

9.         Challenges in making hiring decisions of only top performers

10.        Costly orientation and training

11.        Low retention of top performers

12.        Quality issues

13.        Stress:  work/life balance issues

14.        Occupancy challenges

15.        Productivity challenges

Well, how did you do?  Any 4’s or 5’s?  My clients find it is helpful to discover exactly what areas you feel need most to be addressed.

I know if you took the time to read this lengthy post, you get it and you care.  You know that you provide a great and absolutely essential service to our seniors…and you know that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

In fact, according to Gallup only 26% of employees are “engaged” in their work at any given time.

Sadly, that leaves 74% who are either indifferent or “actively disengaged”.

Why do we care?

In the words of Lee Colan, Ph.D. as reported in the Assisted Living Executive by ALFA:  “Actively disengaged employees are a “silent killer and a cancer growing under the skin of your team.”

These individuals react as a source of unfulfilled need and feverishly sabotage every possible accomplishment.

How much does this cost an organization:  According to Gallup, disengaged employee’s costs 1/3 of their salary in lost productivity.  That means you’re losing at least $6000 for every disengaged front line employee.

And just a little more bad news, research conducted by Corporate Executive Board as reported by CNBC reveals that 25% of your TOP performing employees are looking for other opportunities - this up from 10% last year.  And 100% are in danger of being swept away by the competition - especially as the economy starts to perk up and people feel safer to make a move.

At this point, you might be wondering if there’s any good news.  And there is!

Research from Gallup, the Coffman Organization and others confirm that highly engaged employees produce great outcomes:

• 38% higher customer loyalty scores
• 22% higher productivity
• 27% higher profits
• 39% higher retention

From my own professional experience, I can tell you that these outcomes are achievable - and you can even do better.

For example, one of my clients was really frustrated because trying to staff in a very small town can feel like you’ve simply run out of candidates.  Nobody wants to just hire a “warm body” - but you also have to fill the shifts.  After this facility got a handle on what there issues were, they were not complacent and they did not procrastinate!  They took immediate action and were able to achieve targeted* retention of 85%, up from a meager 20%.  *Retention of top performers, not just retention of any level performer.

This had a drastic effect on the level of happiness of the residents and level of confidence of the family members.  Not to mention the bottom line…

Sustaining this level has taken effort, but they now enjoy a stellar reputation and are able to attract quality candidates.

Let me ask you, have you, or your managers, ever wondered:

• How do I get the most out of my staff?
• How do I make sure my residents and families are happy and devoted to me?
• How do I get to be the industry leader - or maintain my edge?
• How do I hold on to more of my revenue in a tight margin business?
• How do I make sure I don’t run into occupancy challenges?
• How do I attract private pay residents?

I imagine you have asked these questions, because the environment is getting more competitive and customer demands are higher than ever.  I’m sure you’ve noticed the bar continuously rising when it comes getting the family to make their final placement decision as well as keeping them gloriously satisfied after the placement.  The answer to your questions is to do it one step at time.

And in this article I will share with you a “skim the surface” view about the STEP System for creating Customer Devotion.  Keep checking back for follow up articles or get in touch with me to learn more than we can cover in this one article.

Remember this equation= Devoted Customers = Profitability, Less Stress, Happy Staff

Devoted Customers are so important because 96% of dissatisfied customers will never tell you the real reason they left.

And in the “good ol’ days” they might tell 10 or 12 people why they are unhappy.  Today, that can be thousands, thanks to the internet.

And the most compelling reason….it costs 10 times MORE to replace a customer than it does to keep them.

The “STEP” system of Customer Devotion is an acronym for the steps.

1.         S is for Service

2.         T is for Trust

3.         E is for Education

4.         P is for People

Customer Devotion is more than policy and procedure - it takes creating a positive emotion in connection with you - with your product/service.  How do you create a positive emotional connection?

It comes from people.  People create the emotion.  In order to make your customers “fall in love” with you, you have to create an experience that they want to replicate, that they want others to experience, that they feel sure nobody else can provide.

Let’s look a little more closely at the STEP System:

Service :  What is it and Why you need to know what to do when things go wrong

Trust:  Creating a Culture of Trust means having both “Character” and “Competence”

Education:   People need to know the “Why” behind the “How”

People:  The Key to it All:  Understanding the driving force behind Customer Devotion

To stay within the scope of this one article, we’re going to have to skip past the first three steps, Service, Trust and Education because I want to make sure you get the information you need on the critically important step, People.  Only highly engaged and committed employees will have the ability to create or evoke positive emotions in your customers.  Of course, they need training - but you can’t train engagement, you can’t train caring, and you can’t train the desire to WOW the resident and family.

It has to come from within.  So, how do we do that?

There are six essential KEYS to the PEOPLE part of the STEP System:

1.  Select

2.  Engage

3.  Communicate

4.  Act

5.  Recognize

6.  Focus on Outcomes

1.  Let’s start with Selection (hiring) of the best:  Building the Foundation

Once you can start to attract top performers, it gets a whole lot easier to hire the best.  Highly engaged teams create your internal marketing system.  You will soon find that your reputation in the community sets you apart from the others.  Lesser-qualified candidates will assume they will not be hired by you.  Highly qualified candidates will seek you out.  Here’s your “sweet spot”!

Evaluate the ease of entry for the applicant.

• Do you have on online application?
• Do you have an email responder so they know they’re not lost in cyberspace? (Remember, we’re also marketing ourselves to those top candidates!)

Evaluate how you select.  Do you use any type of skills assessment?

• How about a personality or character-based assessment?
• Are you evaluating based on role and core competencies?
• Are you struggling with incomplete or useless reference checks?

Here’s a tip:  Implement the TORC system:  Threat of Reference Check!  or TORC!

How is it different?

Set the stage at the time of the phone interview.  Let the candidate know that THEY will need to set up phone calls for you with the references you wish to speak with - should you be ready of offer the job.

This should include coworkers, supervisors, direct reports and past residents or family members if at all possible.  This process will eliminate the frustrating non-answers that one usually gets - simply verifying dates of employment is not that useful!

The biggest challenge to being successful with TORC is the follow through…it’s easy to think, “It takes to much time”.  Let me ask you, how much time and money is currently wasted on mis-hires?

How many times do you hear “They aren’t at all on the job like they seemed like they were in the interview”?  It’s a proven Top Grading method and you just might want to try TORC!

Here’s another tip:

Best hiring practices include measuring the percentage of hires whose performance would be described as an “A” player once on board.  I don’t have to tell you that if you are hiring poor performers, it is costing you hugely.  Make a note to yourself now if you are not currently measuring and managing your outcomes in this area.  It’s a huge area of opportunity that only about 2% my clients were leveraging.

2.  Create an Engaged Workforce:  Retain the best.

Now that you’ve built the foundation and hired the best - you’ve got to have your “house in order” so that top talent will stay and thrive in the environment.  Toxic environments will quickly distract or destroy the shining star.  Maybe they’ll leave - or worse, they’ll stay and be unproductive and disengaged.

How do we get there?  First, we measure those things that are truly important in achieving results through a Survey.

Why survey?

We need a survey because it is an instrument or a way to measure employee engagement.  This is essential because it is a leading indicator about the value of our organization going forward.

The survey is like a blood pressure cuff.  One cannot manage their high blood pressure simply by taking their reading multiple times a day.  Nor will one know if their diet, exercise and medication management is effective if they don’t check back in and measure the results.

So, the survey is like the blood pressure cuff and everything after that is the physician and the patient creating a plan to achieve the intended positive results.

I can tell you with complete certainty and honesty that most professionals at the c-level or executive level of the organization OVERestimate the overall level of morale, productivity and commitment of the workforce.  Human nature dictates that things that don’t impact us personally on a day-to-day basis often are overlooked or not made a priority.

Now, when I talk to the managers, they are feeling the pain and they would love a solution.  They’ve often times become complacent - even apathetic - feeling they must just accept this as status quo.

Others have an idea where they’d like to see the team go, but they procrastinate in getting there.  They need an accountability partner, a mentor a coach to help them achieve their outcomes.

The survey is a great first step - it’s the blood pressure cuff.  Now we need the doctor and the patient to work together to develop a management plan!

3.  Communication:  Communicate the results clearly, simply and in a positive manner.

Don’t just give the information or the scorecard - give the tools.  Communication builds trust and credibility and reduces turnover.

A study by Mercer Consulting revealed that employees who felt that their organization “does a good job of communicating with employees about matters that affect them” were three times LESS likely to leave.

This is an area I see organizations skipping or doing poorly.  To get real results, you must provide the support each manager requires to become successful.  Involve everyone!

For example, during an all staff in-service where I discussed the results of the survey with the team and solicited their input for changes they’d like to see, a CNA spoke out and said that the fact that the company would give a survey, communicate the results, and ask for input from the actual workers all ready made her feel better about her job and about the company.  She said, “Give me another survey to fill out because now I want to say that I strongly agree that my opinions count!”

4.  Take Action!  Knowing isn’t worth much if there’s no doing.

Action is essential to achieving results

Lack of action is the biggest downfall in employee engagement surveys and initiatives.  Again, the survey isn’t the management plan; it’s only the blood pressure cuff!

Of course, the survey will define areas of strength and weakness organizationally.  And, it’s crucially important that you define areas of strength and weakness for each individual manager!  This is where the real variance occurs.  Sure, it takes more time and more effort and more follow through - but it’s the key to achieving real results.

For example, one of my CCRC clients used to survey their employees through a different organization.  And, quite frankly, they weren’t too impressed.  Nothing ever changed as a result of the survey and it seemed like a corporate mandate or a marketing initiative - and a waste of time.

Fortunately, we went ahead and surveyed the employees, and we did all these other steps that often are not part of the strategy.  Suddenly, the process wasn’t about checking something off your to-do list, or submitting something to HR.  Instead, real positive outcomes came about.

The survey results revealed that the Assisted Living manager was not doing performance reviews, did not have staff adequately trained and had restructured assignments unfairly.  These things red flagged us for further discovery.  As it turned out, there were even more issues.  The administrator admitted she’d been on the fence with this employee for four months, but really wanted to give her a fair chance.  The results helped validate for her that her concerns with this under-performing employee were valid.

She replaced that manager and, as a result, the staff morale improved such that turnover was reduced from 100% to 75% within 3 months.  And that’s not all:  We found staffing inefficiencies and the restructure had immediate impact on employee engagement, saving them from losing a valued dining manager. This one client estimates saving over ½ a million dollars - and we’re not done yet

5.  Recognize and Follow Up.

• Celebrate what is great!

If your organization is doing a great job of something, sing it from the rooftop!  If a manager has demonstrated excellence with their team - have a party!  Make sure to make a HUGE deal of everything that is right.  It makes it a lot easier to hear the not-so-good news when you feel recognized and valued for what’s working.

• Reward improvements.  Not everything and everybody will be perfect.

Improvements are valuable, exciting and measurable.  So be sure to recognize the outcomes and efforts of those who have heard where they can improve - and they chose to improve…and not get defensive, stay complacent or procrastinate.

• Have accountabilities for inaction and lack of positive results.

Not everyone will be able to meet your expectations.  Some might be miscast in their roles.  Some might be continue to sit on the fence and wait for this new thing to blow over or die down.  Others will play the blame game.  And, a few will think nothing is wrong in the first place.

True sustainable success, and the ability to build a culture of care, a culture of service, of trust, of engagement, starts at the top.

Don’t procrastinate and don’t become complacent!  If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing yet expect a different result - you’re going to end up very disappointed!

6.  Focus on outcomes not process: Keep your sights set on the goal and not on the process.

Our destination is where we start.  Our destination is to create a dynamic workplace that people will be attracted to, where we will be able to retain the most talented and productive people and have a positive impact upon the residents and families we serve.  The number one predictor of customer engagement is employee retention…and the number one predictor of employee retention is employee engagement…So we can say that…Employee Engagement = Customer Engagement

In summary, we’ve talked in depth about the last step of the STEP system, People, and the six KEYS of People are:

1.  Select

2.  Engage

3.  Communicate

4.  Act

5.  Recognize

6.  Focus on Outcomes

To wrap it up, I think Charlie Bell, the former CEO of McDonald’s makes his point when he said:

“The biggest threat to McDonald’s lies within - and that is us as a company becoming complacent.  There are a lot of companies that get fat, dumb and happy and take their eyes off the ball and forget about providing service to customers.”

The first time I gave this presentation, a member of the audience - a CEO for a national chain of nursing homes, said, “Isn’t it ironic that McDonalds makes its customers fat, dumb and happy, too!”

Priceless!

As stated previously…Just like with our health, our organizations can have symptoms of illness.  Those who achieve sustainable success WILL take immediate action.

Stay tuned for future articles, or contact me, to find out more information on the preceding three steps of the S.T.E.P. System (Service, Trust and Education).

Also, if you’d like more information on this or any other program, or for a complimentary strategy session, please call me at 608-279-0691 or 877-HUMAN10 to address your particular challenges.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 

Sonya Sullins

Human Capital Management Institute LLC

Phone:  (608) 279-0691

sonyasullins@hcmi.info

www.SonyaSullins.com

 

Cure found for the “silent Killer”:  Employee Engagement is cure for tough economy

 

Madison, WI – August 12, 2009 – Sonya Sullins, Principal Consultant and owner of Human Capital Management Institute, today announced her engagement to speak at VCPI’s (Virtual Care Provider Inc) 2009 Client Connection & Technology Symposium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  This innovative Symposium will incorporate technology solutions and human capital solutions to build an engaged workforce, create fiercely loyal customers and maximize the efficiencies of technology in” Redefining the Culture of Care”.  Sullins will unveil her “S.T.E.P into Success…Status Quo is for Losers” program to top senior living executives, clients of VCPI, from throughout the nation on August 25, 2009. 

 

Jennifer Dossett, VCPI Account Manager says, “Human Capital Management Institute’s solutions should be mandatory in every organization.  We know our clients will love what Sullins has to offer!”  Although this event is closed to VCPI clients only, Sullins is offering her talk, pro-bono, to organizations or groups that feel they will benefit.  Those interested in learning if their organization or group can benefit from the talk should contact Sonya Sullins at SonyaSullins@HMCI.info or 877-HUMAN10.

 

Senior Living executives face many challenges – only made more difficult in these challenging economic times.  According to Gallup, 74% of employees report they are either indifferent or “actively disengaged” in their work at any given time.  Senior Living executives struggle with high turnover, which correlates strongly with disengagement.  Sullins will share strategies on how to attract, select and retain top employees.  Senior Living organizations that can do this will see their bottom line improve along with customer loyalty.  Human Capital Management Institute knows how to define what is not working in an organization and devise a plan to fix it.  Sullins knows that there’s no reason to believe tremendous outcomes cannot be achieved, because she sees her clients improve retention, productivity, safely, profitability and customer loyalty every day. 

“Actively disengaged employees suck the success out of the organization and the kill the morale of rest of the team.  You could say disengagement is a “silent” killer, like a cancer growing under the skin of your team.  Disengaged employees are more than unfulfilled; they are angry and feverishly sabotage every possible accomplishment.” 

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, “My goal is to provide effective, creative, revenue saving solutions for your business.  And, it is also my goal to truly change the lives of employees all over the nation.  There’s no reason anyone should have to live life hating his or her job.  It’s my job to help you love your job and value the contributions you make every day!”

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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“With the economy, now more than ever, business can’t handle the costs this bill would bring.”  Jordan Bernstein, senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates, a government relations firm. As reported by the Assisted Living Executive by ALFA.

EFCA or the “Employee Freedom of Choice Act” (otherwise known as “Card Check”), if enacted into law, would make it easier for unions to sidestep secret ballots.  Secret ballots are the most common way to gauge employee support for unionizing a work place.  Unions are effective about 56% of the time using secret ballots. 

EFCA legislation, as proposed, would sanction the use of informal and public signature gathering methods, or “card checks”.  The use of “Card Checks” has shown to increase the likelihood of unionization (from 56%) to 80%.  It makes it easier for union organizers to use coercive or deceptive organizing tactics in their eagerness to recruit more dues-paying members. 

Another point of consideration, EFCA would significantly shorten the window of notice employers would receive, making it more difficult for employers to promote their own cause with employees.

How has this happened?  Our new administration has received hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from the interests of organized labor.  Unions need an injection.  After decades of declining membership, recent estimates are that only 7.6% of private-sector employees are unionized.  Unions need broader political support, and all indicators are that they will get it.

Why the decline?  Gallup polling suggests people not only know very little about unions, but also that two out of three people don’t want unions to have more influence.  Other research shows that a majority of Americans do not want their workplace to be unionized.  When provided with all relevant information and given a real “free choice” most employees reject unionization.

Although EFCA has not yet passed, labor relations experts agree that EFCA is but one manifestation of major changes all ready under way.  For example, recent “copycat” legislation has occurred in 20 states, and Wisconsin is one of them. 

According to Micheal Lotito, an attorney for Jackson Lewis, senior living providers currently have a narrow window of opportunity to make their case known to lawmakers and get their own houses in order before any new version of EFCA is introduced.  He states, “Now is the time to make certain of your underlying employer philosophy of an issue-free environment that leads to a union-free environment.”

Now, I’d like you to think about how Card Check might affect your community, your residents and your employees.  Are you currently prepared to ward off the threat of unionization?  Are you ready to take action?

According to Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg Labor & Employment Practice Group, the most successful organizing drives happen when they can simply exploit employee frustrations or discontent.  By convincing the employees that the employer failed to live up to its obligations and that the union can do a better job - it’s easy to get a signature. Quote:  “An employer’s best weapon is to recognize its areas of vulnerability, and then reduce or eliminate them to prevent the union from exploiting any existing discontent.” 

Now, I’d like you to think about this:  If a union organizer visited your community today, would they find you vulnerable?  Would they be able to pick at the scab and get your employees to seek to stop the pain by signing?  How confident are you that you would be able to meet and exceed the needs of your workforce?  Have you assessed your strengths and vulnerabilities?  Have you put in place a plan to achieve your goals? 

If you have concerns or questions on what to do, that’s understandable - so read on.  I’m going to describe to you the 5 E’s to Evading EFCA - whatever version ends up enacted…

Engaged and Informed Employers = Engaged Employees = No EFCA

It starts with the culture of the organization - the core philosophy of supporting employees and building engagement. It continues with the ability of the supervisor to engage his or her team and the reduction or elimination of vulnerabilities.  Status Quo = Procrastination:  EFCA shortens the time frame in which an employer can do “damage control” or try to communicate effectively with employees.  That is why this time it’s different.  Proactive is key

Problem:  Most organizations are blind as to where they are vulnerable - and objective assessment identifies challenges or vulnerabilities the union organizers will capitalize on. 

Solution:  Assess, Action-Plan, Act, Achieve, Assess (again) 

The 5 E’s of Evading EFCA

1. Empower

2.  Educate

3. Equity and Economics

4. Evaluate

5. Engage

Call me now at 608-279-0691 or toll free at 877-HUMAN10 to schedule a complimentary talk on The 5 E’s of Evading EFCA where I will explain how you can put the 5 E’s to work for your organization today.  

The information I will present is from the following research:

Michael J. Lotito, attorney for Jackson Lewis LLP  LotitoM@jacksonlewis.com

Jordan Bernstein, senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates, a government relations firm    JBernstein@cassidy.com

Assisted Living Executive by ALFA   www.alfa.org

Robert Mulcahy, management labor attorney and vetern labor negotiator with Michael Best & Friedrich LLC                RMulcahy@michaelbest.com

Daniel T. Dennehy, labor and employment attorney for von Briesen & Roper  DDennehy@vonbriesen.com

Neal, Gerber, Eisenberg Labor & Employment Practice Group     www.ngelaw.com

Don’t bury your head in the sand on this one.  All indicator point to us - to our industry - as a focus industry for organized labor.  And, the “card check” approach has demonstrated negative consequences for employers, employees and even the residents.  Some say if passed, EFCA will have a negative impact on our economy at large.

Call now:  608.279.0691 or toll free 877-HUMAN10

About Me: 

I’m Sonya Sullins, my “family” business, Harbor Senior Concepts, has provided Long Term Care services for nearly 20 years.  Also, I’m the owner of Human Capital Management Institute – where my mission is to be the inspirer of professionals and organizations who seek to achieve peak performance.

 

What makes me different as a consultant is that I bring to the table the provider side perspective…and when I work as a consultant for our side, I bring a deep understanding of your challenges.

 

My educational background includes undergraduate degrees in Finance, Marketing and my MBA in Business Strategy.  With a passion for developing people and organizations, I am a qualified practitioner multiple employee and organizational development assessments.  I’ve had the privilege to study with Gallup University to hone my leadership and human capital development skills. 

I’m a published author with articles published in CEO Refresher, Ezine Articles , HR.com  and various other.  I have 20 years of experience as a trainer and workshop facilitator, and I have over a dozen years experience as a consultant, public speaker and coach. 

 

My passion is maximizing potential and making people who make the organization tick hugely happy while the organization reaps profits!

http://www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com

sonyasullins@HCMI.info

877-HUMAN10 or 608.279.0691

 

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:  Help! How do I select and keep top talent?

Contact us now at 877-HUMAN10 (877-486-2610) or 608.279.0691

Email: SonyaSullins@hcmi.info

http://www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com

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To see the video, click here:   Tip #1: Recognition is FREE! 

Or read:

Thank you for joining me for Today’s Tip:  Recognition is FREE!

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

Did you know that according to Gallup only 1 in 3 employees can say they “strongly agree” to the question:  “I’ve received praise or recognition for doing good work within the last 7 days.”

At the same time, 1 in 3 will disagree with this statement.

The first thing that happens is that they’ll start keeping their eyes open for a new opportunity.  While still employed - and feeling largely ignored - by YOU.  They will be 10-20 percent LESS productive…costing you revenue, bringing down the morale of others and putting a wedge between you and your customers. 

Because of its power and ridiculously low cost, it’s sad to see that doling out praise and recognition could be qualified as a rarity.

So, go out and look for what’s right today and give some praise and recognition to those responsible!

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

Contact us now at 877-HUMAN10 (877-486-2610) or 608.279.0691

Email: SonyaSullins@hcmi.info

http://www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com

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Customer Devotion is NOT Customer Satisfaction.  It’s not even close. 

Think about the last time you went for pizza or a burger.  Were you satisfied?  Did it meet your expectations?  The chances are it did.  You got what you ordered and there wasn’t anything wrong or missing, and so you were satisfied.  Does this mean you could not imagine a world without this pizza or burger joint?  Does this mean that you would go out of your way to make sure that you let everyone know what they would be missing if they did not get eat there?  Probably not. 

What happened here is that your expectations were met.  Quite simply, you got what you thought you were going to get.  That, my friends, is customer satisfaction.  Who, in this competitive market, would ever think this is enough?  I hope you don’t, because you better believe your customers don’t.  And, just what if your competition doesn’t either?

What we are talking about here is true passion - a Devotion to your Customers.  When you align customer devotion with your business strategy, you will be able to differentiate yourself, energize your workplace and WOW your customers. 

Here are just five things to keep in mind as you contemplate your journey into Customer Devotion:

 1.      Discover and positively impact your customers emotional trigger points:

Take, for example, buying a car.  What are the emotional trigger points?  Browsing the showroom/lot.  Taking the car for a test drive.  Negotiating the deal.  Waiting…does buyers remorse set in?  Did you make the right decision?  Picking up your new vehicle.  Now it’s yours.  Are you thrilled?

Now do this for your customer.  Each transition represents an emotional trigger point.  Each is an opportunity to WOW your customer.  What will you do to make every step of the experience exquisite for your customer?  How devoted are you willing to be?  Maximize your opportunity to differentiate yourself from day one. 

 2.     Create 10 positive customer Touchpoints:

Get out a pencil and paper right now and jot down 10 points of contact you have, or can create, with your customers - 10 opportunities to interact.  Your goal is to make sure you have a positive communication for each of these 10 touch points.

Never let the only time they hear from you be when they get their monthly bill and when there is a problem.  It takes, at the very least, 7 positives to negate one negative in the human mind.  So to really WOW your customers, provide 10 positive touchpoints.

3.     Employee Devotion:  The other most important relationship you should build.

Verified by numerous research entities, the single most predictive indicator of customer loyalty is employee engagement.  The better you are able to manage your team and provide what is necessary to create truly loyal and engaged employees, the easier they will make your job in creating customers that are passionate about you.  Read:  Internal Marketing!

Make it your goal to create an engaged team.  Take the guesswork out of it.  Measure your results regularly and make course corrections as necessary to ensure your success.  Develop an Action Plan, hold managers accountable for results and never compromise on excellence.  Consider Employee Engagement an important strategic initiative in your Customer Devotion success.

 4.     What messages are you giving your customers through their experience?  Evaluate all communications to your customers:

Be an actor for a day.  Walk in the shoes of your customer.  Start at the beginning and follow through to the end - seeing and experiencing it from your customers’ point of view: through their eyes, ears, nose, and emotions.  This might sound silly or easy, but it is hard to be objective, observant, and non-defensive.  Don’t overlook a single thing…upturn every stone!  What does your billing statement say?  How about your website?  How the phones are answered, doors opened, guests greeted?  What does your newsletter say about who you are?  Is your message congruent? 

Get specific:  do You, your staff, your blog, marketing “slick”, business card, email signature, sales letter, flyer, Ezine, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, voicemail greeting - all of it - does it all give the same congruent message?  Do you, and your organization, ooze integrity? 

If you find it difficult to be objective, consider enlisting someone to “secret-shop” your operations for you.  Provide a checklist and a rating system.  Be willing and open to making some changes in order to be sure every communication you make sends a consistent and appealing message to your customers.

 5.     Create Loyal, um let’s take it a step further…DEVOTED Customers:

The basis of loyalty is TRUST:  Consistency.  Reliability.  Promises KEPT.  Integrity.  Customers readjust their evaluation of us, of their level of trust, with each service experience they have.  True loyalty grows within people based on a series of notable interactions they have, over time, with a company’s products and services.

Our goal must be to exceed our customers’ expectations.  Keep in mind that customers’ expectations are not static, they change rapidly.  Customer Devotion means that it is our mission to stay ahead of the changes - and never let your customer down. 

Customer Devotion is ‘wowing’ your customers - and creating the Exquisite Customer Experience.  It requires creating an ongoing, lasting, emotional connection and relationship.  It means developing a deep engagement and creating the ‘wow’ experience repeatedly.  It’s beyond being consistent.  Way beyond.  Customer Obsession is about having a mindset that serves to create a continuing set of ‘wow’ moments for your customers over time.

If you would like devoted customers and an engaged workforce, I invite you to take advantage of our expertise in developing Customer Devotion and Employee Engagement. 

You will reap the rewards that are inherent in a highly engaged team, and your increased profit margin will put your mind at ease.   

About the author, Sonya Sullins:

Harness the power of your organizations biggest resource, and unleash lost profits through attracting and retaining the best. Sonya Sullins is the founder of Human Capital Management Institute, LLC. HCMI programs and principles enable organizations to make the most of the superstars they have, gain the attention of the superstars they don’t employ (but would like to), and effectively manage poor performers.  The key is Employee Engagement - without that, you will struggle to sustain maximum profitability, especially in this challenging economic environment.

Our focus is on leveraging and maximizing human capital (the talent, education, strengths, skills, etc. of your workforce). We specialize in increasing Employee Engagement. Engaged employees result in increased Retention, Productivity and Customer Devotion. Organizations with highly engaged employees increase their profits, on average, by 27% (based on Gallup University research and as evidenced by outcomes),

HCMI is adept at identifying and implementing the crucial elements of Cultural Transformation and aligning human capital initiatives with organizational strategy. As a speaker, consultant and writer, Sonya inspires senior executives and their teams to shatter the illusion that success, measured by aligning people with profit, is not possible. Let Sonya be your trusted advisor, using visionary leadership and her corporate experience to help you exceed your goals, and transform your organizational culture.

Contact us now at 877-HUMAN10 (877-486-2610) or 608.279.0691

Email: SonyaSullins@hcmi.info

http://www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com

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As reported in the Assisted Living Executive by ALFA

(Assisted Living Federation of America):

 How to navigate the most difficult economic times since the great depression.

  “…The time to build your retention is not some other time.  It is now.” 

 Experts suggest that now is the time for providers to focus on building their reputation as a “good place to work” – to attract qualified new hires, but even more so to cement the mutual commitment with existing employees. 

Glenn Maul, senior VP of HR for Brookdale Senior Living states, “The time to build your retention is not some other time.  It’s now.”

Our economy has created a situation that at first blush looks like a boon to employers.  The ALFA Career Center and Senior Living providers report receiving almost double the number of applications for each position than one year ago.  Conversely, ALFA and senior living providers also report that many applicants have little or no direct experience, and are just looking for any job they can get.  Obviously, this creates a bigger challenge for HR to sift through the masses and select the best from the rest. 

Maul says, “Even though there are more applicants, I won’t say there is a significant increase in people we’d hire.”

How Important is Employee Engagement?

“…Employee engagement is the cornerstone of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.”  Lee Colan, Ph.D. author of Engaging the Hearts and Minds of all your Employees

·          The Gallup Organization, and Colin, describes employees as Engaged, Disengaged, or Actively Disengaged. 

·          An Engaged Employee looks forward to work and sometimes cannot believe he or she is being paid for the job that is so enjoyed.

·          A Disengaged Employee is “punching the clock”, but leaves their energy and passion elsewhere.

·          An employee who is Actively Disengaged is described by Colin as someone who is a “silent killer and a cancer growing under the skin of your team.”  These individuals react as a source of unfulfilled needs and feverishly sabotage every possible accomplishment.    

 Symptoms (and Outcomes) of Disengagement:

·         Increased turnover

·         Missed deadlines

·         Low morale

·         Increased W/C claims

·         Higher absenteeism

·         Call-in’s and No-show’s

·         Lack of accountability

·         Lack of responsibility

·         Disregard for compliance and regulations

·         Gossip and conflict

·         Low retention of high performers

 

 

 

  ·        Sadly, 74% are either indifferent to their work or Actively Disengaged

Moreover, employees who have high levels of engagement will generate the following:

·         38% higher customer satisfaction scores

·         22% higher productivity

·         27% higher profits

 The High Cost of Turnover

·          It costs 30%-50% of the annual wage to replace an entry-level employee.   

·         Cost to replace a professional (“exempt”) employee = 150% of the annual salary.   

·         Executive level employees cost 300%-500% of their annual salary.   

*Research from Columbia University and SHRM.  

Did You Know?

·          “One in four top employees intends to leave”.  This is up from one in ten last year.  

·          “Most companies are suffering about a 5% loss in productivity.  This translates into about 100 million dollars in operating cash flow for an average company.  This loss of productivity is due to Employee Disengagement.  Morale is down and people aren’t doing their job well”. 

*CNBC Interview with Tom Monahan, Chairman and CEO of Corporate Executive Board, a publically traded company that has 80% of the Fortune 500 top executives as their clients

The New Golden Rule:  If your employees are successful, you are successful.

What is the Solution?

It is clear that disengaged and actively disengaged employees pose a risk to any employer, negatively affecting nearly every facet of your organization, including occupancy, resident care, customer devotion and, of course the bottom line. 

The solution is to commit to a Culture of Engagement.  Engaged, and engaging, leaders will coach good employees to become superstar employees and more fulfilled people.  The challenge is often how to carve out the resources necessary to achieve this.  Employ the help of experts to spearhead your cultural transformation, and take the ball and run with it from there. 

Last quote from Colan:  “This is a high-tech world, but leadership is a high-touch job.  When people go to work, they don’t leave their hearts at home.”

Support and Appreciation

Invest in developing your managers.  Each needs to value and appreciate employees. 

“Money rarely compensates for a manager or management team that does not know how to carry this out,” says Julie McClactchey of Employee and Family Resources. 

• -Offer regular positive statements to employees about their performance
• -Provide opportunites for employees to obtain ongoing professional development
• -Make performance expectations realistic and clear
• -Take time to listen to concerns and ideas
• -Explain why decisions are made, versus handing out directives
• -Allow employees to take part in decision-making

 About the author, Sonya Sullins:

Harness the power of your organizations biggest resource, and unleash lost profits through attracting and retaining the best.  Sonya Sullins is the founder of Human Capital Management Institute, LLC.   Our expertise will help your organization grow and excel by aligning your human capital strategy with your business strategy. 

Contact us now at sonya@humancapitalmanagementinstitute.com or sonyasullins@hcmi.info

Call Toll Free:  877-HUMAN10 (877-486-2610) Visit us at:   www.HumanCapitalManagementInstitute.com

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