Living and Learning

“I just need to focus.” How many times have we heard that, or said that ourselves as we tackle a project, a document, a presentation? When something occurs as difficult or time consuming our response is often, “FOCUS!” As this methodology is time-tested and popular I cannot disagree that the ability to focus is a handy competency to embrace. What causes me concern, is the lack of attention as to WHAT we focus on! Why is it that whenever we need to accomplish something, all of our mental energy seems to move to very thing we want to avoid? The fat vs. the fit; the tactics vs. the strategy; the mistake vs. the learning; the actions vs. the result the very thing we want to avoid vs. the thing we so desperately want to accomplish!

Every newspaper I read these days is a perfect example of this phenomenon. There isn’t a Canadian alive that seems to  want a recession, and yet every headline warns of impending doom, falling stock prices, job layoffs, and credit crunches thereby creating the exact opposite of the outcome we are looking for. Are there no good news stories out there? Companies outpacing the market, having year end results of actual growth, hiring vs. layoffs (By the way, I am in the market for a fantastic sales person…yup, that’s right, we are hiring!) And never mind that media, where is our own dialogue focused? Oh you know what I mean….When you ask “How are sales?” , with that wise or don’t bother to tell me I already know look in your eyes. As you talked about Christmas – did you talk about how much you did spend and what you spent it on or did you talk about how you were reining it in and toning it down. Do you train your people when its easy and effortless to achieve target or in lean times when they absolutely need the support and motivation?

Now, let me be clear, I am not asking for us to be obtuse or ignorant to facts. I am asking us to look at what facts we are focused on …are we focused on possibility or inevitability?  As we go about our business, lead our teams and lead our customers, are we focused on fear and scarcity or on possibility and abundance. Where your mind is focused your behaviours will follow…

Michele Ferrari

Executive Vice President, Learning

Mysteries Revealed in L(earn)² Reveal the Secrets

We have all been there. The meeting with the salesperson who wants to tell you all about his product or offering and doesn’t have a clue, or seemingly doesn’t care about what you need. They drone on and on, never noticing your blank expression and then are surprised when they don’t get your order.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to never be “sold” to?  Can you imagine a sales process where people weren’t selling but in fact solving problems!

That is the secret to effective selling…speak into your client’s needs, speak into your client’s listening. Solve someone’s problem!

A value proposition is a wonderful thing but only if you are sure, really sure, that it meets your customer’s requirements. The truth is, we are currently in an opportunity market, at least if you understand how to take advantage of the opportunity. In order drive revenue, we need to sell more and in order to sell more; we need to sell more effectively. In order to sell more effectively, we need to truly understand what our customer needs. It sounds simple and yet how many sales people do you know that actually understand their clients? Maybe it is time to do a pulse check!

To book this find out more about L(earn)² Reveal the Secrets contact  L(earn)² at 416.410.6434.

Lessons in L(earn)ing

How connected are you?

We all have seen them before; colleagues that come in each day and continue to be skeptical and indulge in negativity that contributes little to the success of the organization. They “hide out” while affecting others as they continue becoming disconnected from your organization’s priorities. You can politely call these people “The Disengaged”. Surprisingly there are more disengaged employees than engaged and engagement matters! Whether the economy is good or bad  it affects performance. Simply put, without engaged employees productivity and, more importantly, results will suffer.

The latest statistics indicate that “fewer than I in 3 employees (29%) are fully engaged”. Imagine the impact that has on your company’s productivity. If you could just change a fraction of a percent what would that mean to the bottom line? The truth is that everyone wants to have a connection to their work. They want to feel that they matter and the work they are doing is actually meaningful. Simply put, engaged employees are more satisfied and committed to not only their own success but the success  of their organization.

Here are some of the most common scenarios that result in disengaged employees:

• Not enough development opportunities to learn and grow
• Disconnection to the mission, purpose and goals of the company
• No recognition and praise for doing good work
• Individual opinions don’t seem to matter
• Underutilized workforce
• Unclear tools and support for achieving career goals
• Overworked and unclear expectations

Over the years L(earn)² has noticed that broad organizational tactics to combat disengagement are limited. To be successful a macro and a micro plan must be utilized. Firstly, on a macro level the work environment must support engagement. It must have the necessary resources and tools readily available to breed engagement. On a micro level employees, with the help of their managers, “need to establish a thriving personal connection with their work and carve out a satisfying future in the organization”. It is in our experience that the most successful companies make engagement a priority. It’s an ongoing commitment not a once a year event.

Many successful organizations hail engagement as their secret competitive advantage ingredient.  Here are a few positive correlations to the impact that an engaged workforce can have on a company’s success.

• Best Buy reports that stores which increase employee engagement by a 10^th of a point (on a 5-point scale) will see a $100, 000 increase in sale for the year
• MolsonCoors estimates that by “strengthening” employee engagement, the company saved $1,721,760 in one year. For example, the average cost of a safety incident for engage employees was $63 compared to the average of $392 for disengaged employees.

The organizations above shifted from a once a year Management Event mentality to a consistent, systematic approach to engagement. The results speak for themselves. Are your employees engaged?

To learn more about how you can increase your employee engagement contact L(earn)² at 416.410.6434 to hear how we can help.

Telling it Like it Is…

“Simply put, engaged employees chose to freely give the effort required to improve our department’s sales performance.  Employee engagement drives client engagement.  And learning and development drives employee engagement.”

“L(earn)2 is our primary partner for learning and development.   Their programs always hit the mark, and deliver a high return on investment.  We have no doubt that L(earn)2’s contribution has helped us build employee engagement, and has consequently improved our service to clients and our business performance.”

Cheryl Fry

Sr. Manager, People & Development

Media Sales & Marketing

CBC Television