PAM's Talent Management Blog

First Impressions Are Everything! Create a Dazzling Orientation Experience

When bringing a new hire into your company, it’s important to introduce them to your organization’s culture, values, processes, and goals. There are many tools to help you to do this which makes finding the right balance between technology and in-personal interactions all the more important. We like to think that because we have the technology available that means we should use it. It makes our life easier and allows us to save time. But what we tend to ignore is that it eliminates the in-person interactions and they are some of the most important things when it comes to running a successful business. This is especially true when working with a new hire. The first couple of weeks at a new job can make or break the experience. As a manager, it is your job to make sure each new hire is integrated smoothly into the company. That means making sure they feel like a part of the team and are making connections with their co-workers.

Orientation processes can last anywhere from an hour to a couple of months. Finding the right balance is key when it comes to your company’s orientation success. It all depends on how much your new hires need to learn and your company’s preference on how to present it. Spreading your orientation out over a longer period of time can help the employees become integrated easily. It doesn’t have to be a matter of months, but when you spread your orientation out it allows your new hires to gain a better understanding of the company, gives them time to ask questions, and lets them become comfortable in their new environment.

Planning out your company’s orientation program allows you to figure out what information you wish to include and the best way to present that information in a sufficient amount of time. Figuring out the details can be a process but once you have it figured out, it will make your job so much easier and ensure well trained and integrated employees. A well planned orientation can have an enormous positive affect on how your new hires view the company and their new job.

There are so many ways you can set up your company’s orientation, but the best kinds are those that take advantage of all the tools available to them. Figure out how to combine technology with inter-personal relationships. Giving new hires the opportunity to meet with members of the executive team as well as members of teams they will be working with. Videos, PowerPoint presentations and games are great ways to keep orientations fun and interactive.

The way your company conducts their orientation process has a significant effect on the success and happiness your new hires have in your organization. Make sure every new hire feels comfortable. Like everything else in life, first impressions have a way of making or breaking a relationship.

What do you consider essential to a company’s orientation process? What is the best part about your company’s orientation?

Discover the Potential Leaders within Your Company

Are you always stressing? Trying to get work done, but it seems like there’s too much to do and very little time to do it in?

Don’t get swallowed up by all the stress that comes with running a successful company. Instead allow others to help you with your burden. It can be hard to rely on someone else, but it’s actually better for you and your company. When you are stressed to the point of exhaustion you are not an asset to the company anymore.

But how do you find these outstanding employees?

It can be difficult sometimes to recognize the leadership potential in your employees, especially when you run a large company. Start by asking other executives. Who excels at work? Who has shown results? Once you’ve got their list, start to make your own. When you are looking to promote someone into a leadership position within your company, think about these things:

1. Do they understand your business, the industry and your customers?
2. Do others trust this person to lead them? Are they respected by other employees?
3. Does this person have a proven track record for accomplishing set goals and/or going above expectations? Are they persistent when faced with a challenge or do obstacles stop them from reaching a set goal?
4. Can this person multi-task?
5. Do they work well with others? (teamwork)
6. Do they have the knowledge or skills to take on the position? (Analytical skills, sales skills, etc.)
7. What are their strengths? Which areas could they use development?
8. Does this person work best under pressure (or stress)?
9. Does this person hold values that align with your company?
10. Does this person take charge? Do they hold influence? Can they lead a group through complex issues? (persuasive skills)

After you have narrowed down your perspective leaders, give them real business problems and challenges to solve. Allow them to show you how capable they are and that they are able to take on more responsibility. This will also give you a chance to see how they would respond in certain situations. Discovering that hidden leader  can help keep your company ahead of it’s competitors.

Recognize Your Star Performers

Does your company recognize its top performers?

Employees are motivated by many different things and they vary from person to person. But one thing that everyone appreciates is being noticed for a job well done. It doesn’t have to be extravagant because even a simple pat on the back can go a long way with one of your employees. It’s a great feeling when your supervisor makes a comment on your hard work and recognizes you. That’s why, as an employer, you should be looking for any and every opportunity to boost your employee’s job confidence. But how do you keep track of everyone’s accomplishments? And whens the best time to recognize them?

First, keeping track of your employee’s accomplishments is easy as long as you stay on top of it. Whenever you notice someone staying late, raising their sales or so on take a note of it. Whether you have HR software or you keep a notebook it’s important that you WRITE IT DOWN. You may think that you’ll remember it later but memory is tricky and things are easily forgotten, especially when dealing with everything else that comes with running a company or a department. So take a note and make it specific. When you are relaying your compliment on a job well done it’s nice to hear that you really saw what they did and how it helped the company or you personally.

Second, anytime you decide to recognize your employee is fine. But it is better to do it soon after the accomplishment occurs. If you sit on it for too long it may not have the same affect. There are so many ways to bring an accomplishment to your employee’s attention…

1. Shine a Spotlight. Each week have a little bulletin on a great job that one of your employees did. This could be through a companywide email or on a bulletin board in the office.
2. Company Meeting. If you have weekly or bi-weekly meetings, you could have an announcement during one of them. Draw the attention to one or two employees.
3. Make it Personal. You could also keep it in between you and the employee. Write a card or send a simple email saying how you appreciate what they’ve done.

You can do one, two or all three of these things; it really depends on your personal preference. Better recognition within a company sets your employees up for higher engagement and can increase business productivity.

Keeping Track of Employee Performance

Its review time and you need to give your employees meaningful feedback on what they’ve done this year, but for the life of you, you can’t think of what to say. You know they’ve made some great accomplishments and you know you’ve been thinking to yourself that there are areas where you wish your department were stronger, but when the time comes to write it all down your mind goes blank.

Keeping notes on your employees throughout the review cycle can result in more constructive feedback and can lighten the burden for you as the manager to remember everything about how each of your employees performs throughout the year.

When keeping notes on your employees, there are many options that will help personalize it just the way you need.

• Keeping It Private. As a supervisor, some of your notes might be for your eyes only. It’s important that all performance notes are kept confidential.
• Keep Track of Every Aspect. When you work within a large company keeping track of everything can be difficult. But there are ways to make it simple. Separating each journal entry can help you save time when looking for old entries. For example, categorizing your journals under attendance, attitude, coworker comment, general, or performance related.
• Add Notes or Special Attachments. Different situations arise each day and it can be difficult to deal with everything or remember every little detail. That’s why adding performance related notes can help, especially when completing an appraisal. For example, if documenting a disciplinary action, you may want to attach a signed document or your personal thoughts on the situation.
• View All Journals. Sometimes it’s nice to see everything laid out in front of you. Or sometimes you are looking for journals created during a specific time frame. Being able to filter journals can help find that journal that’s been eluding you. Whether you show all journals, those that were created since Last Appraisal, or by a specific date range.

With PerformancePAM, you can keep notes throughout the review cycle for both your employees and yourself. Want to remember when Michael nailed that presentation, when Carolyn closed that sale in record time, or when your department was finished before all other teams on a project? Need to document performance improvement discussions and keep track of signed employee documents? Employee Journals in PerformancePAM allow you to do all those things and more. Click her to learn how!

10 Qualities of a Great Mentor

As a manager, you hold a very important position within your company. You are a leader within the company and as a leader you may serve as a mentor. We all know people learn what you do, not what you say, so in this role, leading by example is critical. Your mentee will be watching how you handle situations and model their behavior accordingly.

Mentors understand that they will have to assume different roles depending on the situation and the people they are dealing with. Being a mentor means you are multi-dimensional. You have the necessary skills, experiences and general knowledge needed to help lead your mentee in the correct direction. But there are a few basic qualities that separate the good mentor from the great ones. So what makes a GREAT mentor?

1. Respect. As a mentor you must respect and be respected by your mentee. A mentee can learn a great deal by watching their mentor’s behavior in everyday situations. Respect is earned, so as a mentor you must be a positive role model that is respectful of everyone.
2. Listener. As a mentor you have to know your mentee. Be able to see what they need and notice changes in them even if they’re small ones. You have to know their values, interests and goals. So, being an active listener will help you learn more about your mentee and build a relationship with them.
3. Empathy. Showing that you care about your mentee will allow them to trust you in all matters. Let them know you sincerely care about them and what is happening in their lives.
4. Flexible. Being able to see/spot solutions & opportunities are a huge part of being a great mentor.  Mentors know how to take advantage of an opportunity and adapt to sudden changes. Having a mentor/mentee relationship can have its ups and downs. Being flexible will help you to deal with those ups & downs.
5. Open. Sharing experiences are some of the most important things to do as a mentor. As a mentor you will have to pick and choose the stories that can be helpful or appropriate for the specific situation.  Be open to sharing both your successes and your failures/mistakes. It is often during times of failure that we learn our greatest lessons. It can also help your mentee become aware of the challenges that may arise as well as ways to deal with them.
6. Teacher. As a mentor you will be responsible for teaching your mentee the “tricks of the trade.” This means you have to be patient. When your mentee is learning a new skill they will not be perfect at first and sometimes they might mess up. So, instead of getting frustrated take it as a chance to sharpen your own skill. When you are teaching something new you are not only helping them but yourself. You are strengthening your own skills. You are re-learning something which helps you understand it better and in turn explain it better. If your mentee sees how confident you are when doing something they will try to aspire to be like you and will work harder to strengthen their own skill.
7. Student. Be open to learning new things. Just because you are the mentor doesn’t mean you know everything. Sometimes your mentee might be able to teach you something new or give you a new perspective on a situation. You learn just as much about yourself as you do about the person you’re mentoring. It is a shared opportunity for both the mentor & mentee to learn and grow.
8. Guide. As a mentor your job is to help build your mentee up, so that one day they can play your role. Your job is to help them realize their own gifts. You are helping them find out where they belong and which path they should take in life. You are helping them build their self-esteem and maybe even yours in the process.
9. Credible. A mentor must be credible.  A great mentor is someone who has been there and done that. They have achieved some sort of professional success. People are looking for a mentor who has experience and specific skills or qualities that will help them grow as a professional.
10. Productive. A mentor is someone who for the most part knows themselves and what their goals are. But not everyone has a detailed map of what they need to do or what they should do to get somewhere. Mentoring is your chance to help your employees become more productive. Help them figure out their next step.

 

As you can see being a mentor doesn’t only help the mentee but it can help you, the mentor, too. You will gain a better understanding of those around you, allowing you to appreciate others’ differences and enhance your already existing relationships.

Align Company and Employee Goals

As an employer, you are looking for employees who understand the mission of your company and who want to be a part of that vision. That’s why you need to set a clear and shared line of sight for your employees. This can be done by creating and aligning each employee’s individual goals with the company goals.

Not sure how to get started?

PerformancePAM makes encouraging strong employee engagement and building a successful organization simple with the use of cascading goals. Cascading goals allow you to create a team based environment that focuses on the achievement of success. Making it possible to…

• Identify strengths and areas for improvement in your workforce
• Align employees and groups with goals to optimize your company for success
• Establish goals at the organizational level and cascade them down to departments as well as individuals for companywide accountability
• Connect departmental and individual goals with organizational level goals
• Define individual employee goals of a professional or personal nature for a holistic personal development plan
• Set future goals and objectives to appear on the next appraisal for easy assessment and follow up

Get a clear picture of the activities going on in the organization by viewing the goal in question and seeing all of the goals that cascade down to other areas of the organization. For example:

 

The task of managing employees and a company can be overwhelming at times but PerformancePAM can help transform that task into an indispensable business strategy. Allow PerformancePAM to help you strengthen your company’s goals. Remember when employees are contributing to an organizational goal and they understand the impact of their work, that goal is much more likely to be accomplished.

Benefits of Helping Improve Employee Self-Esteem

When your employees have high self-esteem they hold a high opinion of their own value or self-worth. Someone who thinks highly of themselves is more confident in their ability to succeed. If you have employees that struggle with their self-esteem, you may notice that they are more reserved or slower to share their ideas in team based environments. Greater confidence often translates into greater teamwork and better results as your employees strive to do well in their position and as part of a team.

What are some ways that higher self-esteem benefits your employees in their job roles?

• Awareness of Strengths. Employees with high self-esteem usually know what they’re good at and what they need to work on.
• Acceptance of Responsibility and Recognition of Mistakes. If your employees are confident in themselves they will be able to accept and work through failure. They take responsibility for the problem instead of pushing it onto someone else.
• Facing Fears. If someone has high self-esteem they will be able to put themselves in situations that scare them and prosper from it, instead of falling apart.
• Profit from Negative Feedback. Instead of being upset by the negative feedback, people with high self-esteem can take what is said and use it to develop skills and improve themselves.
• Avoiding Negativity, being positive. People put each other down all the time, sometimes intentional and sometimes accidental. It can be hard to ignore all the negativity, but confident employees will brush off the negativity and think positively.
• Good Mental Health. Employees with high self-esteem feel good about themselves and trust in their own abilities, which helps prevent situations from becoming more stressful than they need to be.
• Attain Legitimate Accomplishments. If your employees reach a goal they will feel confident in themselves which will help them as they work toward their next task. Celebrate every success with them, even the small ones. It busts their self-esteem when others recognize what they have done.
• Can Work Independently. People with high self-esteem have the ability to work well without help from co-workers. They take the initiative to solve problems but also know how to collaborate with others.

Five Tips for Stronger Teams

Do your employees work well in teams? Can they collaborate well with others?

Having employees who can work together to solve problems is essential to your company’s ability to function and prosper. When your employees are working in a team it allows for their collective knowledge, skills and resources to come together. Employees don’t always come to you ready to work together in groups, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn. Sometimes it just takes a dedicated leader to encourage their employees to work well together and achieve a common goal.

So, what makes a good team member?

• Listen Without Interrupting. This is one of the most important traits of a good team member. If you can express yourself easily, that’s a great trait, but if you don’t know when to listen, you aren’t going to be a very good team member. The beauty of a team is that everyone has the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and ideas, resulting in a sum that is better than its parts.
• Speak Clearly. When it’s your turn to speak, speak up! Just like there is a time to listen, there is a time to contribute. Your ideas are important.
• Positive Attitude. Don’t allow the negative attitudes of other people in your group affect your mood. Keeping your spirits up will help you and your team members stay focused, enjoy the project, and likely produce better results.
• Ability to Compromise. It’s good to stand up for what you think is right and put your ideas out there, but sometimes you need to find the middle ground. Everyone’s ideas can’t all be used, so it’s up to a good team leader to help identify how all the pieces come together.
• Committed to the Team. If your team members aren’t committed to the job they won’t accomplish anything. Some teambuilding activities and understanding the impact of the project can help increase your team’s investment.

Building these skills among your employees will result in more effective teams.  

Create a Buyer-Friendly Experience

In order to get the clients you want, you need employees who are dedicated to your prospective clients. The reason for this is simple…

If you want your company to be successful you need satisfied customers.  It is these customers who keep coming back.

Getting satisfied customers is not an easy task. Creating a comfortable and informative atmosphere is extremely important. You don’t want your customers feeling out of place. The best way to create that atmosphere is to have great team of professionals working for you who are adept at not only the facts but putting people at ease.

As an employer it’s essential to ensure your employees have these basic skills.

• Knowledge. Do your employees know what they’re selling? Your employees need to have all the information needed to explain the product their selling. If your clients ask a question, your employees need to have knowledge beyond the basics of what it would take to answer that question.
• Communication. Being able to communicate with clients is extremely important. You can know everything about the products you’re selling, but if you can’t explain it to the client in a way that they can understand and use that knowledge, that information is useless.
• Personable. Being a likable person can help you make sales. An employee’s ability to get a customer’s attention is a huge factor when it comes to successful sales.
• Analytical Skills. Your employees need the ability to asses a situation and find a viable solution. If there is a problem with a client, having the ability to work through it is crucial to a successful sale.
• Flexibility. Can your employees handle multiple tasks without getting jumbled? Employees need to be able to adapt to any changes that might occur while at work.
• Reliability. Are your employees capable of working without constant supervision? Having employees whom you trust to work without you having to look over their shoulder 24/7 is HUGE. You can’t be everywhere at once and you should be doing the job of your employees because then your job won’t get done.
• Positivity. Having a good attitude no matter what problems might arrive is very important. Employees who smile while speaking will automatically put your clients at ease. Even when the customer is being rude it is the employees job to brush it off and be as helpful as possible. Dealing with aggravating people is part of the job description.
• Confidence. Employees who believe in themselves will get clients to believe in them too. Customers will be more likely to buy a product if your employees can make them believe, without a doubt, that it’s right for them.

Having employees who go above and beyond will help your company make a lasting relationship with the customer.

Marketability: Are you in demand?

Becoming a success overnight only happens in the movies. In the real world it takes a lot of hard work, time, and energy.  But when it finally happens, you will have accomplished something great. The best way to become successful is to be marketable.

Making yourself marketable starts with knowing yourself…

AND

understanding yourself means knowing what you love and working towards it.

 

Tips to help you become marketable:

• Be Prepared.

  • What are your strengths?
  • What skills do you have? Are they marketable? Can you improve those skills?
  • Have you completed the proper schooling?
  • Practice interview skills:
    • Dress Up
    • Pay Attention
    • Have questions of your own to ask as well as answers for their questions
• Be Flexible.
  • When starting out you have to be able to make changes to your schedule
  • It’s also important to ask for help when needed. Taking on too much at one time can hurt you if you’re not careful.
• Be Proactive.
  • Make it happen for yourself by building relationships.
  • If you feel under qualified take a class to help.
  • Volunteer to take on a new project at work. Let them know you mean business.
  • Maintain a smart online profile. Update it with your current achievements and skills.
• Be Dedicated.
  • What is your aptitude for work? Is your heart in the job?
  • Work to meet your employer’s needs as well as your own.

Finally use your name as your brand. This will help people recognize and remember you. Always end your emails with your name. Remember that the hard work it takes to get yourself into a marketing position is all worth it when it opens doors to achieving your goals.