Go Wild! Go GREAT! The Journey from Now to WOWTM

Get Rid of the Office Bully: Institute a Positive Workplace Campaign

"BULLY FREE ZONE""

I was stunned to read in this month's ASTD Journal ,according to a recent study by the Workplace Bullying Institute,that almost 40 percent of workers report that they have been bullied at worK .

According to the report, Bullying ranges from verbal actions, such as cursing, to physical violence with  the leading sources of bullying include less management training, high stress, and long hours caused by added responsibility.  There was equally bad news about open door  HR policies on the issue , when  around 40 percent of workplace victims never report bullying to their employers, and those who do often find that their superiors ignore the issue or make the problem worse.  Yikes!

There's a  Big Price to pay for the  Bully problem above and beyond psychological assault to employees, when a reported 64 percent of affected employees eventually leave  their jobs due to bullying.  Think turnover/replacement costs ,not counting  the costs of litigation because managers do not handle complaints appropriately.

So What's an  HRD Manager to do?  Well, first of all In order to reduce the frequency of bullying, they must enforce strict policies and educate employees to create a positive and productive workplace.

Rules of Team Behavior and institution of a Company Wide Team Communications Training Program can be delivered in a fun and motivating format that also  improves both team and customer communications.

Finally, Bring a Positive Workplace Campaign to your organization that will reinforce your company's commitment to creating and maintaining a positive and safe environment for all employees.  No Bullies Allowed.

Rosemary Rein, Ph.D is the Author of "Blueprint for Success" and "Go Wild! Survival Skills for Business and Life".  She conducts 1 and 2 day Now to WOW!TM Communications Seminars designed to improve both team and client communications.  www.gowildgogreat.com

 

Nature's Lessons in Andean Teachings

During this past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with an internationally known Peruvian Mystic, poet and healer, Americo Yabar who was visiting Costa Rica. 

I must admit as a Corporate Business Consultant, I was a bit out of my element,  as  many in attendance (active members of  Costa Rica's healing Community)  seemed not surprised  that on the first evening, a woman swooned at the very touch of Yabar.  (My husband, Barry said he would pay to know the the secret to that).   

One has to cross cultural boundaries and belief systems to find what I consider to be fundamental truths.  I will admit I struggled with some of the approaches of the energy work introduced in these Shamanic sessions along with the structure.  For example, as a  corporate trainer and keynote speaker, I couldn't imagine showing up an hour late and disrespecting the time of my clients, nor scheduling a 2.5 hour lunch in the middle of the day) but that is my personal chatter, belief system, and internal dialog talking and perhaps preventing my total engagement in the session.  It also represents a cornerstone of Americo's Fundamental Truth:  That to heal the planet, heal ourselves, heal our relationships, We Need to Move More From Head to HEART. 

I asked Don Americo, how does one exactly do that in a busy world, particularly if you have one of those evil twins who lives with you in your head creating all that racket? Well it seems the key is linked directly to a connection with Mother Earth .We each need time each day in silence, time to commune with nature and time to "open the windows of our internal house" through mediation.   

There was another fundamental truth that crosses cultural belief sstems which I heard this weekend from the energy sessions "When there is fear, there is no love"  and "Where there is Love, there is No Fear".    Call Don Americo, a Shaman, A Poet, A Mystic, or simply a Wise Man.   He speaks a  fundamental truth of the ages.   

Translated Teachings of Peruvian Shaman Yabar:

The person who is always doing and who is on the track of doing things has very strong defense mechanisms. He is afraid to flower, to open....a fear of  jumping into the abyss .... There are so many defense mechanisms that we become afraid of life. The fear which you live with all day, everyday, in a sado-masochistic relationship, is the greatest defense mechanism to avoid understanding. Fear is not a virus that comes from the outside and gets inside. It is a lack of harmony of the body with the beauty of the world.

We are part of the world and of everything that happens in it. If you are in total harmony with yourself, with the people that surround you, with the stones, with the mountains, with the cosmos, with everything that is alive, why should you fear? Then, the fear is just a lack of love. Why be afraid? It is just a lack of love.

Rosemary Rein, Ph.D is the Author of "Go Wild, Survival Skills for Business and Life" and the upcoming "Blueprint for Success" with Dr. Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard.  Dr. Rein's hosts Leadership and Team Building Retreat in the United States, Canada and Latin America.  Her motto is "Life is a Learning Adventure" and yes, she's working on moving from head to heart"

visit www.gowildgogreat.com or www.retreatscostarica.com

Be My Corporate Valentine! Are your employees engaged? If not it could be Costing You!

HUA! It's not Touchy Feely Stuff:  New Study Documents the Financial Return of Employee Engagement.  Romance is just not for the movies!

 

Proof Positive

The 2007-2008 Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study examined engagement levels for nearly 90,000 employees around the world. Only 21% of respondents reported that they were engaged, while 8% considered themselves to be disengaged and an additional 30% were disenchanted. The study linked employee engagement with retention and better financial results.

So numbers crunchers, take note of this study that demonstrates the financial return of taking care of your employees.  Let me tell you if you have negativity in the workplace, the buck stops at the front-line manager's desk and/or the small business owner.   At our 1-day Now to WOW Coaching Seminars for Managers and Supervisors, we teach managers the soup to nuts behind  employee engagement and  motivation.  It's a Manager's Boot Camp and Managers leave with a Survival Kit and Testing  on how well they have mastered the skills required to maintain a positive and productive workplace. 

  An employee engagement study, followed by tactical initiatives over a 12 month period of time to improve employee performance and morale can in fact have a dramatic impact on your balance sheet.  Are you focused on capital improvements including software upgrades? Maybe it's time to focus on your human components and realize a greater return on your investment. 

1-Day Leadership Safaris for New and Experienced Front-Line Managers.  www.gowildgogreat.com

WOW Customer Service? Try a Hug & Tango at No Charge!

   

Okay A New Concept in Customer Service: 

Stand Outside of your business with a Sign that says "Hugs for Free" and watch the magic that happens.  Today we were totally enchanted by San Telmo, Buenos Aires.  Blocks and blocks of Street Performers, Antique Sellers and Cafes.  Were we in Florence? New Orleans? Paris?  You blink your eyes, trying to capture the sights and sounds as your senses explode. Frankly, comparison would not be fair to this unique barrio of Buenos Aires  which has it's own unique heart beat of Tango, Art and Sophisticated Elegance.   This man photographed above held a sign and beckoned me for a hug for free.....He made me an offer I could not refuse  and my enchantment is hard to hide.  Our friends, who work at the U.S. Embassy here, teased me that I had secretly lost my wallet and Jewel in that warm embrace, but my belief and delight in the power of human connection prevailed.  It was a hug pure and simple and lovely.

There are also  the Caught in the Rain Performers, seen above,  Charlie Chaplin look alikes and of course Tango Performers.  There's also Hat Sellers, Sign Makers and Jewelry Artisans and of course  history everywhere in the antiques,  that tell the stories.  Stories  of what it must have been like to be amidst the affluent "Portenos"-- Citizens of Buenos Aires.  In the high times, they collected beautiful antiques and displayed their European Style in high fashion.  In the hard times, they were forced to sell their signs of wealth and prestige. 

Barry sees a bronze pig with his back side to the display area and asks the merchant for the price. "Not for Sale" he exclaims.  "He is my Lucky Pig--You cannot sell your Luck".  Barry banters with the vendor that he "really, really  would like buy some luck ....where can he get some?" The vendor knowing the power of female consumerism, looks at me and says "you already have it".    I'm bringing this vendor with me for my next Sales Training Program.

FYI:  San Telmo, was once an elite residential area of Buenos Aires, that faded in the 1870's after a devastating yellow fever epidemic drove moneyed families to higher ground.  A must see on your visit to Buenos Aires, particularly for the famed Sunday Market.

Today's Business Lesson pertains to Customer Service:  Do the Unexpected.....Hug your customer and see what happens; Surprise them with unexpected delights and conversation  like the San Telmo Vendors.  Imagine how much attention your retail location would receive with a bit of Tango displayed for the enjoyment of passersby?  I am thinking of one of my retail clients in Washington....  It's a rainy day, everyone is complaining about traffic and on this  Friday Afternoon, customers are treated to a taste of tango as the visit the store.  What do you think would be the most remembered and discussed wow of that day?

"You're not going to believe what happened when I went to XYZ Store today......they treated us to a hug and the Romance of Tango."

Rosemary Rein, Ph.D. is an Author and International Customer Service and Leadership Trainer.  Visit Rosemary at www.gowildgogreat.com and transform your organization from Now to WOW!

Working with a Coach & Dancing With the Stars

Like a whole bunch of Americans, I find myself pulled by the latest edition of Dancing with the Stars.  I'm not sure if it's watching stars usually graceful at their game, struggle with a new skill in which they are not stars or enjoying the beauty and grace of ballroom dancing.

Maybe it's remembering how I convinced my husband to take Tango Lessons when we moved to Costa Rica.  I remember how we disobeyed our instructor's directive to practice before the next lesson and how the results were less than graceful on week two.

Yup to succeed in anything you need a little bit of talent, but I have found it's the Coaching and the Practice that makes all the difference.

It's also the adventurer and explorer in your soul who is willing to fall down and look foolish in order to learn something new.  Just love those outtakes on Dancing with the Stars...it shows how in order to dance with elegance on the big night, there's lots of rehearsals . 

So remember if you're not falling, you're not learning and don't be afraid to Dance.

   

Training & Employee Retention

News from ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) links training to Employee Motivation/Retention

Training Seen as the Key to Retaining Top Talent in the Workplace
Online Recruitment (02/07/07)

The most recent International Workplace Survey by specialist financial recruitment company Robert Half International reports that firms are more often using training and development as a means to motivate and keep leading talent. The survey was performed among more than 2,300 human resource and finance managers throughout 12 nations and offers an insight into global workplace patterns. Internationally, 73 percent of human resource and finance managers think training is the top way to increase workplace retention, followed by career development initiatives (37 percent), and monetary compensation (31 percent). Training classes are most widely supported in Switzerland, at 93 percent, and Luxembourg, at 91 percent, while in the Netherlands and New Zealand, training seems to be less popular, at 58 percent and 63 percent, respectively. Throughout Europe, managers are employing a broad range of strategies to help lessen employee turnover. Twenty-eight percent of managers in Germany and 26 percent of managers in Luxembourg are trying to get workers more involved in team-building activities, while 44 percent of Spanish managers and 26 percent of Italian managers suggest a willingness to involve employees in corporate decisions. Robert Half International managing director Continental Europe Ian Graves says while training and compensation are still popular tactics to lessen employee turnover, what he finds interesting is the growing tendency by accounting and finance companies to get workers more involved in the wider operations of the company.