| 
|
Spreading Contagious
EnthusiasmTM
|
|
|
In This
Issue:
|
March/April 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
Where in the World Is
Barbara?
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
News at Barbara Glanz
Communications, Inc.
|
|
|
|
•
|
Idea of the Month
--"Hire some Moms!"
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
Article of the
Month-"Happy Employees Create Happy
Customers"
|
|
|
|
|
|
"If you want to
be creative in your company, your career, your
life, all it takes is one easy step - the extra
one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just
ask one question: What ELSE could we do?"
-Dale
Dauten
"If we ever forget we are one
nation under God, then we will be a nation gone
under."
-Ronald
Reagan
What do people fear most about
death? I asked the Reb (Rabbi Albert Lewis).
"Being forgotten," he whispered.
-Mitch
Albom, "Have a Little Faith"
"If you
never change your mind, why have one?"
-Edward De Bono
"When you were
born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live
your life in such a manner that when you die, the
world cries and you rejoice."
-Old Indian Saying
"Change your thoughts
and you change your world."
-Norman
Vincent Peale
"If you surrender
completely to the moments as they pass, you live
more richly in those moments."
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh
"When your heart
speaks, take good notes."
-Anonymous
"If a man is called to be a
street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as
Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed
music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should
sweep streets so well that all the hosts of
heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a
great street sweeper who did his job well.' "
- Martin Luther King
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTH AMERICA
TRIP
To see photos and read about
Barbara's recent trip to South America, go to her
blog, http://www.barbaraglanz.com/blog/,
and scan down. She traveled to Brazil, Uruguay
and Argentina in February.
BARBARA'S
MOST RECENT WEBINAR A HUGE SUCCESS!
On
Monday, March8, Barbara presented a webinar for
Recognition Professionals International entitled
"CARE Packages for the Workplace - Dozens of
Little Things You Can Do to Regenerate Spirit at
Work."
Barbara spoke to a nationwide
audience on 'the neglected "human" element in
organizations that can often get lost in the
midst of deadlines, timelines, and bottom
lines.'
To listen to the webinar, go to
http://www.recognition.org/cde.cfm?event=300385
REAL
RECOGNITION RADIO INTERVIEW
"Simple
Truths of Appreciation"
Montreal and
New York City, April 7th, 2010 - How does
enthusiasm build morale at work? Why do leaders
forget the power of appreciation? Real
Recognition Radio welcomes Barbara Glanz,
leadership expert and author of eleven books,
including The Simple Truths of Service As
Inspired by Johnny the Bagger® to share her
secrets on how to spread "Contagious Enthusiasm"
in the office.
Barbara has worked with
organizations around the globe, and her client
list includes Honda, Nordstrom, and Southwest
Airlines, to name a few. Her work focus is on how
to improve morale, retention, and service. Most
importantly, she works with people who want to
rediscover the joy in their work and in their
lives while acknowledging that we will all face
challenges.
During this uplifting Real
Recognition Radio episode, you too will learn how
to inspire others to achieve great things and
transform the workplace as well as live a better,
fuller, more engaged life.
Tune in next
Tuesday, April 13th, at 1 PM ET, on Real
Recognition Radio, http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vshow.aspx?sid=1688.
|
|
|
|
|
"Happy Employees
Create Happy Customers"
Have
you ever seen a company with unhappy employees
who had happy customers? I haven't!
Employees need managers who can
empathize with their stress and pain and who
honestly try to create an environment in which
they feel valued and respected despite all the
changes going on around them. Then they can be
their best for their customers.
According to an article by Kenneth
Kovach in "Employment Relations Today," when
employees were asked what they valued most about
their jobs, the top three things employees they
reported were:
(1) Interesting
work
(2) Full appreciation for the
work they've done and
(3) A feeling of
being "in" on things
Each of these
motivators relates to an element of the type of
caring, spirited workplace managers can create
for their employees.
1. COMMUNICATE
with employees in regular and creative ways.
* Hold informal "grapevine
sessions" to control the flow of the rumor mill.
These open discussions can be held either on a
regular basis or can be called by any employee.
Managers must be prepared to listen and to be
completely truthful and open. Even when they
can't share specific information, they can
honestly explain why and when it will be
available.
* Spend time out in the
field with employees. Ask them how you can help
make their jobs easier. Work alongside them.
Even let them teach you what they do. For
example, Southwest Airlines has a mandate that
every manager must spend 1/3 of his or her time
in direct touch with employees and customers to
create a stronger feeling of teamwork.
* Take at least one employee to
breakfast and another to lunch each week. Ask
them for their ideas to improve the organization
and thank them for being on your team.
* Hold a voluntary "Good News
Hour" once a week for 30 minutes before the
workday starts. Everyone can share good things
that have happened in their lives and work during
the last week.
2. Create an ATMOSPHERE
that makes employees enjoy being at
work.
* Celebrate everything you
can--meeting of short term goals, the end of the
budget process, winning grants or new customers,
extradinorary work, safety successes. We know
that happy employees are more productive
employees!
* Create some special
places for employees. A group of employees at
one organization stayed late one night and
decorated an empty space all in black. When the
rest of the staff returned the next day, a large
banner over the entrance read "THE WHINE CELLAR!"
They brought in stress toys, cartoon books,
treats, and stuffed animals, and this became
everyone's favorite place to go. You might also
consider creating a "TIME OUT" place for
employees who are over stressed. Because of a
lack of space for this, one organization
purchased a Porta-Potty!
*
Encourage daily affirmations throughout the
organization. Land's End and IBM have created
small cards to thank one another internally.
Other organizations use "Pass It On" cards with
sayings such as "The difference between ordinary
and extraordinary is that little EXTRA!" to give
to both employees and customers. A pat on the
back, a short note of thanks, or a voice mail
message from a manager can refill employees'
emotional bank accounts for weeks! A spirit of
gratitude throughout an organization will raise
the level of all interactions. Create a "Just
Because" committee or an Attitude Support Team
with volunteers who have a passion for the
positive.
3. Treat employees with
RESPECT.
* Sponsor a Family Day
at work. The American Hospital Association holds
an annual "Day for Play at Work" celebration at
which families of employees can enjoy games,
display, prizes, and a tour of Mom's/Dad's
workspace. It is designed to teach family
members what it is like to go to work and how
important they are in supporting the
employee.
* Establish a Code of
Conduct listing the specific behaviors you will
use in interacting with one another. Gain
employee input and ask them to personally sign
the Code if they agree to uphold it. Include in
it such behaviors as "If I have a concern with
someone in the organization, I will go directly
to that person." Then, when one employee begins
to gripe about someone to another, all the person
has to say is, "REMEMBER THE CODE!" This will do
wonders to uplift your workplace.
*
Pass out their paychecks personally so you get to
know all their names.
* Create a Human
Level database. Collect information such as
employees' hobbies; do they play an instrument,
sing, draw, or speak a foreign language; special
interests such as golf, bridge, tennis; favorite
sports; books and movies they like; places they
have travelled; organizations and support groups
to which they belong. This becomes a terrific
way to network internally. Informal classes,
support groups, travel groups, and perhaps even a
company choir or band will spring up. People can
find others to help them with problems both at
work and at home, and the company will discover
resources it never knew it had. Best of all,
employees are seen as whole persons, not just
workers!
4. Be ENTHUSIASTIC about your
work.
* Francis Likert said, "If a
high level of performance is to be achieved, it
appears to be necessary for a supervisor or
manager to have high performance goals and a
contagious enthusiasm as to the importance of
these goals." Are you a contagiously
enthusiastic manager? Are you helping your
employees focus not on only a job description but
also on their very important work? How is what
they do each day making someone's life better?
That new sense of purpose will boost self-esteem
and add a depth of meaning for which they are
desperate.
* Enjoy your employees.
Help them to "lighten up" and not take themselves
too seriously. Find ways to poke a little fun at
yourself. Research shows that the most productive
workplaces have at least ten minutes of laughter
every hour. At Artex International the three
owners of the company surprised employees at an
all-company function by creating a skit. Since
they were in the middle of a quality initiative,
the owners demonstrated various quality tools to
illustrate their varying degrees of hairlessness!
It is something the employees will never forget.
Have you ever worn a Halloween costume to work
when it WASN'T Halloween? How about a dart board
with your picture on it in the breakout room?
* Work on a community project.
Care about the world outside your lobby. Martin
Buber said that the fastest way to overcome
depression is to do something for someone else.
In organizations we often become so in-focused
that we forget there is a needy world outside our
doors. Workgroups have helped rehab community
playgrounds, built houses for Habitat for
Humanity, cleaned up highway areas, and even
cooked meals for the homeless. Not only is this a
teambuilding activity, but it also helps change
perceptions about one's own
situation.
Former Secretary of Labor
Robert B. Reich said, "For six months now, I've
been visiting the workplaces of America,
administering a simple test. I call it the
'pronoun test.' I ask frontline workers a few
general questions about the company. If the
answers I get back describe the company in terms
like 'they' and 'them,' then I know it's one kind
of company. If the answers are put in terms like
'we' or 'us,' then I know it's a different kind
of company."
As managers, you can have
a direct impact on the kind of company yours is.
Listening to employees, caring about them and
their families, creating an atmosphere that
promotes joy, and presenting yourself as a human
being will result in a workplace that can survive
the changes, stress, and fear of the unknown .
It will also result in delighted
customers!
BARBARA GLANZ
BIOGRAPHY
Barbara Glanz, CSP, works
with organizations that want to improve morale,
retention, and service and with people who want
to rediscover the joy in their work and in their
lives. As an internationally known speaker,
trainer, and business consultant who has a
Master's degree in Adult Education, Barbara lives
and breathes her personal motto: "Spreading
Contagious Enthusiasm." She has presented on all
seven continents and in all 50 states since 1995.
For more information, she can be reached directly
at 941-312-9169; Fax 941-349-8209; email: bglanz@barbaraglanz.com;
website: www.barbaraglanz.com.
|
|
|
|
|
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS
BARBARA?
FEBRUARY
9-11 Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
12 Buzios, Brazil
13
Ilha, Brazil
14 Parati, Brazil
15 Sao
Paulo, Brazil
16 Itajai, Brazil
18 Punta
del Este, Uruguay
19 Montevideo,
Uruguay
20 - 22 Buenos Aires,
Argentina
MARCH
8 Webinar,
Recognition Professionals International
18
Spectrum Healthcare, Grand Rapids,
MI
APRIL
12 - 13 Hearst
Corporation Leadership Conference, Arrowood,
NY
13 Real Recognition Radio
Interview
21 Hold, Catholic Charities,
Dallas, TX
29 Veterans Health Administration
Healthcare Retention and Recruitment Office, San
Antonio, TX
MAY
5-6
Huntsville, AL
13 Kansas City Association of
Financial Professionals,. Kansas City, MO
21
Hold, Tri-County HR Conterence, Naples,
FL
24- 28 Hold, Mini College, University of
Kansas, Lawrence, KS
JUNE
6
Hold, Eagles Talent, Austin, TX
16 Hold,
Southwest Airlines, Dallas, TX
23 Hold,
Joint Commission, Chicago, IL
26 - 30
Society for Human Resource Management National
Convention, San Diego, CA (Super Session and
Book Signing 6/27)
|
|
|
|
|
This idea is excerpted from
Barbara's book, "CARE Packages for the Workplace
--Dozens of Little Things You Can Do to
Regenerate Spirit at Work," McGraw-Hill,
$15.95.
HIRE SOME "MOMS!"
THE
IDEA:
Who knows better how to nurture
than Moms? And who do most of us think of when
we're really down and need some tender loving
care? Organizations who truly care about their
employees can make "nurturing" a part of
someone's real job!
THE IDEA IN
ACTION:
* At Evolving Systems, Inc., a
computer software company in Englewood, Colorado,
they have five and a half full-time "Moms" and
one full-time "Dad," one for every 80-90
employees. Their whole job consists in giving
personal attention to the employees, and they
report directly to the president of the company,
Harry Fair, the founder of the Moms. Nita
Cronin, whose title is "Lead Mom," shared with me
a little about their job which is to create a
unique, happy, friendly environment and to add
the comforts of home to the
workplace.
One of their primary jobs,
besides knowing each employee by name and a
little bit about them and their families, is to
keep all 18 kitchens (every wing in each building
has 2 kitchens) stocked just as they would be at
home--with dishes, silver, napkins, paper towels,
fruit baskets, daily fresh fruit juices, coffee,
tea, and condiments. There are also free soda
and beverage dispensing machines available.
The Moms provide daily snacks, both
morning and afternoon, of such things as cheese
and crackers, fruit plates, carrot and celery
sticks, and breakfast bars which they put out in
the kitchens. They have a budget to stock the
kitchens, so there is no charge to the employees
for any of this. Nita said, "If employees are
working and they are hungry, they break their
mindset and lose productivity if they have to go
out to a convenience store, so we make it
possible for them to go to the kitchen and get a
small snack at any time of the day or
night."
The Moms also select two
restaurants a day, and they order in meals for
the employees if they wish. Each employee has an
account with them, so the lunch can be charged
which makes it extremely convenient. Nita says
that if an employee isn't feeling well or has an
injury, they deliver the lunches right to their
desks! They provide birthday cakes at company
meetings and even give employees little birthday
gifts such as stress toys and balloons. They
plan parties, open houses, and anniversaries and
provide all sorts of valuable information and
advice to their fellow employees.
The
Moms want their office to be a fun place to be so
that employees will "come to see Mom!" They
stock candy, medications, pantyhose, eye drops,
eye glass repair kits, dental floss, toothbrushes
and paste, and even shoelaces--all provided by
the company. "The Mom's job is to come in with a
smile and to be morale boosters," says Nita. "We
spend a good part of our day 'out and about',
watering plants, saying 'hi' to employees,
inquiring about their families and hobbies, and
finding out what is going on with them. When
someone has a deadline, we try to drop off
special treats to encourage them and thank them
for their hard work, or if they aren't feeling
well, we check to see how they're doing and what
they might need. We even mail things for
employees when they are too busy."
The
company looks for warm, caring, upbeat people to
be their Moms, and they are interviewed by the
president himself. The philosophy of the company
is, "If you can provide a good working
environment, you can create better products."
And that is exactly what the Moms are there to
do!
TIPS FOR
IMPLEMENTATION:
Isn't this a wonderful
idea to help regenerate spirit in any workplace?
Obviously, the benefits must far outweigh the
costs at Evolving Systems, Inc. Happy employees
ARE more productive employees without a doubt,
and all of us could use a little more nurturing!
Couldn't your organization use a "Mom"? I
suspect there are many seniors out there, not yet
ready to retire completely, who would love to be
needed again.
For an archive of "Ideas
of the Month," go to
www.barbaraglanz.com/ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
"EXHAUSTED,
CONFUSED and TICKED OFF - HOPE FOR A NEW
BEGINNING WHEN CHANGE HAS DONE YOU
IN"!
Barbara Glanz,
CSP
"If they make one more change
around here, I'm going to lose my
mind."
"I can't BELIEVE they're changing
everything AGAIN!"
"When is it all going
to stop? Why can't we just go back to the way it
used to be?"
Have you ever heard one of
these statements? Have you ever said (or felt)
any of these things? Then this program is for
you!
Change is rampant in our world
today, both in our personal and our professional
lives. We are all bombarded with change, and it
is clear that what happens at work impacts our
personal lives, and what happens in our personal
lives affects the way we perform at work. In
order for people to move forward both in their
professional and personal lives, they must learn
to let go of the old ways and adjust to new ways
of work and life.
Instead of being
overwhelmed by unwanted changes, we can learn to
be more open and deal more effectively with those
difficult periods of transition between the
ending of one thing in our lives and the
beginning of something new.
This
inspiring, interactive presentation will help you
find greater job satisfaction and more personal
happiness by enabling you to better understand
the change process as well as your feelings in
the midst of change. The workshop will include a
CONTROL INVENTORY and a customized Action Plan as
tools to use in managing any change in your life.
It will also provide new coping
techniques to help you gain more control and
perform at a higher level in a dynamic work
environment that is fast-paced and
ever-challenging.
Outcomes
*
Reduced stress
* Greater job
satisfaction, resulting in increased productivity
* Higher levels of personal
happiness
"He who rejects change is the
architect of decay. The only human institution
which rejects progress is the cemetery." - Harold
Wilson
"I've developed a new
philosophy... I only dread one day at a time." -
Charlie Brown
"Change is inevitable -
except from a vending machine." - Robert C.
Gallagher
|
|
|
|
 |
|
© Barbara Glanz Communications,
Inc. 2010. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to reproduce or
forward this newsletter with copyright and
contact information intact. If you are receiving
this as a forward and would like your own
no-cost, no-obligation subscription, enroll at www.BarbaraGlanz.com
or write SUBSCRIBE in the subject of an email to:
bglanz@barbaraglanz.com.
To stop receiving it, write UNSUBSCRIBE in the
subject
line.
Back to www.barbaraglanz.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|