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    Recognize THEM!: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees In Ways They Value
    Recognize THEM!: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees In Ways They Value
    Recognize THEM!: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees In Ways They Value
    Ebook204 pages1 hour

    Recognize THEM!: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees In Ways They Value

    By Zane Safrit

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    About this ebook

    These are 52 proven ways to recognize your employees in ways they value and so will your bosses. Nearly all of these steps are you can take when you close this book. They are paced so you can learn as you go, learning your steps not mine, rediscovering your solutions that sit around you and meet with you and whose achievements drive your company’s success. And, who want to do more and would do more if given the right chances.

    A few are steps I wished I had discovered and taken myself. You’ll recognize them.

    Here’s why I’m sharing these tips and steps. (Reminder: nearly all of them cost nothing more than a few moments of your time and your willingness to try.) The results we generated by taking these steps, rebuilding our brand from the inside out, from our most important stakeholders - employees - to our customers included:

    Revenues Grew 80%

    Cash Flows Returned to Previous Levels

    Sales Conversions Rose. With advertising and marketing we generated a healthy 50%. With brand evangelists, employee evangelists, engaged employees, we generated over 80%.

    A Steady Stream of Referrals and Testimonials. They served as a daily source of inspiration, motivation and celebration. Imagine that! Customer Service is too often seen as a painful, must-have, expense. Our Customer Service became a source of inspiration from customer testimonials, up-sells and cross-sells and real-time market research.

    A vibrant, exciting, culture where laughter was heard far more than groans and our days were spent pointing out our recent victories far more often than minor and temporary setbacks. Oh, and I encouraged everyone to work no more than 7 hours a day, preferably six.

    All these and more were achieved in the conference calling industry, by a small company, whose headquarters in rural Iowa. There is nothing sexy about conference calls. No one goes home and talks about the features of a conference call unless it’s to complain. And yet, with the power unleashed with these simple s
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateFeb 4, 2014
    ISBN9781483518480
    Recognize THEM!: 52 Ways to Recognize Your Employees In Ways They Value

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      Book preview

      Recognize THEM! - Zane Safrit

      ISBN: 9781483518480

      RECOGNITIONS

      Suzie Poirier, founder of Ace Concierge. Awesome organizer, cheerleader, whose keen eye, willingness to offer suggestions and savvy skills with online collaboration tools pushed and prodded me to get organized. Thank you.

      Patti Blackstaffe, founder of Strategic Sense. Thank you for your organizing vision with this book and for sharing your inspiring vision of leadership over the years.

      Yvonne Parks, founder of Pear Creative. Thank you for the cover design and inside graphics that still make me stop and go 'wow!' when I see them.

      Stephen Lynch, COO of RESULTSdotcom and author of Business Execution for RESULTS: A practical guide for leaders of small to mid-sized companies. Your organizing powers, discipline, writing skills and friendship over the years have focused and inspired my efforts.

      Jeffrey Summers, founder of Summers Hospitality Group. Thank you for your support, all the RTs and expert advice you share every day on Twitter and your blog: How We See It.

      Dave Rendall Watching his success as an author and speaker continually inspired and goaded me to take one more step.

      Michele Miller, founder of many things but most recently Free The Weeble. Thank you for your encouragement, friendship and sage advice on dogs, life and advertising.

      Sybil Stershic, founder of Quality Service Marketing and author of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. Thank you for your encouragement and your excellent book.

      Fred Gratzon, President of Telegroup, Inc. where I experienced the power of putting your employees first, making our day fun, helping us learn and grow.

      Eric Anderson and Ron Stakland, of Telegroup, Inc. Thanks for the support, the recognition and the willingness to back me when I failed.

      Joe Seehusen, President of Seehusen and Associates, Inc. who topgraded my skills in interviewing, presentations, selling and remained a friend over these years.

      Conference Calls Unlimited. Stephen Heaton and everyone there. Thank you for joining me on this journey, suffering with me as I sometimes stumbled and scabbed our knees, discovering in a daily lab how to communicate, collaborate and engage towards a profitable company and exciting place to work.

      Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. Your book, Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Salesforce, and support arrived at the right time. Thank you many times over.

      All the guests on my radio show. I learned so much from you as you shared your book and your time and your passions. Thank you.

      Telegroup Germany, GmbH. Vielen dank.

      A lifetime of coworkers, co-creators of workplaces that were fun, exciting, crazy, growing, and profitable. As executives/directors/team leaders/employees we shared our passions and sorrows, our frustrations and successes, openly and daily. And, oh, by the way, these workplaces grew, generating more jobs which brought more friends to share the excitement and challenges and growth. These workplaces generated profits in industries that defined 'commodity hell.'

      I have thanked you many times finishing this book and many times over the years, too. Thank you, again.

      Table of Contents

      The Wake-Up Call

      Introduction

      Category: Show You Care

      Introduction

      Quote from Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of XEROX and now its Chairman.

      1.   Call Them Before Their First Day

      2.   Address Them By Their Names

      3.   Stop By and Say 'Hi'

      4.   Close Those Devices and Open Our Ears

      Exercise: Create a Plan

      5.   Hold Them Accountable; Hold Yourself Accountable

      6.   Show Them the Door

      7.   Celebrate THEIR Birthdays

      8.   Share YOUR Failures

      Quote from Bill Marriott, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Marriott International

      9.   Forgive and Learn

      10. Invest in Their Health

      11. Give Them Family Time

      Exercise: Regular One-on-Ones

      12. Make Disability Insurance an Employee Benefit

      13. Topgrade Their Talents and Strengths

      Category: Be Their Champion

      Introduction

      Quote from Fred Reichheld, Customer Loyalty Guru and High Priest of the Loyalty Cult.

      1.   Welcome the New Member with a Grand Reception

      2.   Explain Why Their Accomplishments Matter to Everyone

      3.   Champion the Gate Keepers, the Routine-Makers

      Exercise: Keep a Notebook

      4.   Champion the Night Shift

      5.   Champion Your Disruptors

      6.   Repurpose Customer Testimonials for Multiple Audiences

      7.   Champion Your Employees on Social Media

      Quote from Tom Peters, uber-guru and management consultant.

      8.   Grow Your Net Promoters

      9.   Respect Their Time

      10. Simplify Their Day

      Exercise: Celebrate More of What You Want to See

      11. Make Meetings Meaningful for Them

      12. Be Their Ronald Reagan: Help Them Tear Down Those Walls

      13. Be Their Champion First, Their Friend Second

      Stephen's Story

      Category: Empower Your Employees

      Introduction

      Quote from Ann Rhoades, founder of Peopleink and former VP of People at Southwest Airlines

      1.   Start with the Right Metric

      2.   Greet Them Everyday

      3.   Be Their Teacher

      Exercise: Empower Yourself with Knowledge

      4.   Ask Them: What Tools Do You Need to Do the Right Things…Right?

      5.   Provide Better Tools Than Your Competitors

      6.   Install a Dual Monitor

      Quote from Tom Rath, co-author of Wellbeing: The 5 Essential Elements and Senior Scientist and Advisor at Gallup.

      7.   Let Them Buy Their Own Aeron Chair

      8.   Let Them Organize Their Company's Party

      9.   Engage Your Employees in the Hiring Process

      Exercise: Schedule a 30-Minute Self-Tutorial

      10. Hire the Right People

      11. Choose the Right Manager

      12. Understand Their Future and Why It Matters to Them

      13. Empower CEO Thinking

      Category: Let Them Shine

      Introduction

      Quote from Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and author of Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose.

      1.   Uncover and Share a Diamond Every Day

      2.   Recognize Your Employees as Your Best Customers; They Are

      3.   Recognize Your Employees as Your Biggest Investors; They Are

      4.   Give Them The Best Parking Spots

      Exercise: Prepare a Balance Sheet for Each Employee

      5.   Be Their Student

      6.   Two Minutes and Two Questions

      7.   Tell Their Boss How Awesome They Are, Right in Front of Them

      8.   Let Them Use Social Media…They Already Do

      Quote from Marcus Buckingham, author of Now, Discover Your Strengths.

      9.   Recognize Their Dreams

      10. Recognize Specifics

      11. Make It Hard Fun

      12. Create a Company Snitch Program

      13. Now, Discover Their Strengths

      Conclusion: Some Times You Just Have to Try

      The Wake-Up Call

      The quarterly and monthly reports told a dismal story, one marked by new records and all of them bad. The monthly advertising and marketing report showed fewest clicks to our website for the month and the quarter and the highest number of bounces. Calls to our sales line were the lowest…ever. Topline revenues continued to grow but at the slowest pace since I began tracking it three years prior when I became CEO. Cash flows slipped while expenses rose mainly from failed advertising and marketing campaigns. In summary, these reports were the exclamation point for the growing reality that This is not a sustainable business model. I might have used more colorful terms that day in my office.

      Early in the week I had listened as the sales agents grumbled about leads. No news there; sales agents always complain about leads. Only their complaints were real now. The newest sales agent had reminded me of my promise that he would see so many leads a day. I was honest, even understated, in that promise. But, now, that reality was long gone and all he cared about were his leads. Collectively, the sales agents told me our prices were no longer competitive. They were right. Three years before we competed in the lap of luxury with a price advantage of as much as 75%. Prospects then asked Are you for real when they saw our prices. Now, almost three years later and after our competitors, some whose advertising budgets dwarfed our company, drove our prices down by 70% to new and existing customers we heard the same question asked. Are you for real? Only now, they were asking why charged so much. We were no longer the lowest.

      Customer Service wasn't happy seeing so many customers either cancel or demand lower prices. Their days were demoralizing.

      I had no ideas. That's not sustainable if I wanted to remain as CEO of this small company located in SE Iowa where we had competed successfully against global telecommunications companies until now.

      I would love to an epiphany, a zigzag streak of lightning, as Winston Churchill called it, struck me between the eyes some time, any time, that day. However, this is a nonfiction book.

      No. I kept my lunch date that day, hiding this reality from her as best I could - which was not at all she told me that night. And for another two quarters, I tinkered here, tweaked it there until finally I decided we could no longer afford traditional advertising and marketing. The return on those amounts was no better than if I donated it to a 501C whose passionate members fought for the rights of lemmings, all lemmings everywhere, and their right to throw themselves off a cliff en masse. That's what I was doing with our company by spending money on Google adwords, direct mail, email, display ads, sponsorships, banner ads…

      So, that was the first step of not doing the same thing and expecting different results. That was the first step in my journey towards uncovering the power of employee recognition.

      Within two days, I stepped forward again when I discovered Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba and their book: Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force. Over the next few weeks, maybe a month, I realized that before you create customer evangelists you need to create employee evangelists.

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