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Fall 2009
Dear
Colleague,
It is hard to believe we are approaching Q4 of
2009 but I'm happy to see the outlook is one of optimism and energy! Our
economy and business community have had an interesting year full of challenges
and change. I have observed much determination, discipline and dedication
to planning and pro-active strategies towards realizing our goals - personally,
professionally and organizationally. As someone who has always been a
strong believer of viewing the cup half full rather than half empty, this has
been truly an inspiring process to watch! The media focus has finally changed
as well, thank goodness, to an upbeat tone!
Many organizations used this time to
creatively invest in the development of their staff and did not become
complacent during these difficult times. One basic business principle every
organization can never lose sight of is the fact that the most valuable asset
any organization has is their human capital. The number one threat that can
lead to an organization's decline is complacency because it breeds
overconfidence and inattentiveness. Today, more than ever, these basic business
principles are the foundation for success and growth in all organizations. As
the market has begun to turn and the pendulum is on the upward swing, the
organizations that will thrive are those that have maintained a strong focus on
employee engagement. In my travels and conversations, I have found this is the
topic keeping most line and human resource executives up at night. I'd
like to offer some information, resources and thoughts:
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During the last nine months, highly talented
professionals with critical skill-sets and leadership abilities have
consistently been recruited. Although the supply has been higher than demand,
these talents have been sought after and recruited elsewhere if they were not
actively engaged in their current roles. Without a highly engaged
workforce, organizations can not drive results and achieve high levels of
financial success.
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According to a 2007-2008 Towers Perrin Global
Workforce Study, only one out of every five workers (21%) today is "engaged"
(giving full discretionary effort on the job) and close to four out of
ten (38%) are "disenchanted or disengaged" (partly disengaged or disconnected
rationally, emotionally and motivationally) with the balance (41%) being
"enrolled" (partly engaged and less connected emotionally).
They continue to report that this "engagement gap"
poses a serious risk for employers because of the strong connection
between employee engagement and company financial performance. Organizations
that fail to engage their employees may be lagging in the market for talent as
well as in the broader market for customers, revenues, investors and capital.
These are compelling facts and statistics! That is why implementing proven
strategies to keep employees engaged is a critical business imperative all
organizations want to embrace. Utilizing tools and techniques for assessing
levels of employee engagement is an on-going component of this process.
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Realizing that education and skills are only
prerequisites for getting a job and that the intangibles are what allow people
to develop is a concept initiated by Bob Kelleher, a thought leader in
the area of employee engagement and CEO of The Employee Engagement
Group. In fact, Bob states in his article, "The B.E.S.T.
(Behavior, Education, Skills and Traits) approach to both Job Security and Job
Advancement", there are common high performing behaviors and traits
that highly engaged individuals possess which include enthusiasm,
solution-orientation, putting team first, being selfless, optimism, a quest for
learning, asking "why not" rather than "that won't work", passing along
credit-accepting blame, and an above and beyond persona.
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Building and developing leaders is only achieved through
deliberate and pro-active employee engagement efforts. I'm excited to share a
new tool that allows organizations to measure the intrinsic rewards
(psychological rewards that fuel engagement by providing a positive emotional
charge) that influence engagement - the Work Engagement Profile by
CPP, a self-scoring 24 question assessment that measures four intrinsic
rewards - meaningfulness, choice, competence, and progress - and then provides
interpretative information, actionable steps to increase levels of rewards and
developmental worksheet.
If you would like any further information on any of the
resources I've discussed above, please contact me and I'm happy to share more
details. I hope this starts the dialogue and would love to hear your thoughts,
challenges and/or success stories regarding employee engagement. During the
year, I facilitate quarterly roundtable discussions around best practices with
senior Human Resource practitioners and welcome your contributions.
Last but not least, I have some exciting news I'd like to
share with you about my business. As you already know, I am a big advocate of
creating a strong network and continuously building strategic alliances and
partnerships. In that spirit, I am very pleased to say that I have formed
a strategic partnership with Dale Carnegie® Training allowing me to offer
an additional portfolio of talent management solutions!
Dale
Carnegie® Training is a global leader in the business of developing people
and improving performance for companies and individuals. With offices in over
80 countries and delivery in over 25 languages, our trainers/coaches are ISO
certified business professionals and have attained the highest level of quality
in the industry. The focus is on delivering results that directly impact the
success and performance of your business.
I look forward to talking to you further about this
exciting partnership and how it could help your business address its needs and
achieve its goals. In the meantime, I would like to share a few additional
resources I have found valuable:
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Beyond Rules of Engagement: How Can Organizational
Leaders Build a Culture that Supports High Engagement?, A Dale
Carnegie® White Paper
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Tools of Engagement, iMap: Creating Employee
Engagement - The Road That Gets You Where You Want To Go, Dale
Carnegie® Training
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"Employee Reengagement" - Topic of the month at Dale
Carnegie® Training www.boston.dalecarnegie.com
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How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale
Carnegie
I am especially grateful for the opportunities that have
come my way this year and feel fortunate to say my business continues to grow
within the areas of career management/talent management. My specialty areas
with continued demand have included leadership development, executive coaching,
management training, career development and organizational development. In
addition, my practice has grown at a steady rate with corporate clients as well
as individual clients. Please take a moment to visit my website at
www.ritaballenassociates.com
for details. Here are a few other highlights and upcoming items I'd like to
share with you:
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Rita Allen named one of Boston's Top Ten Executive
Coaches by Boston Women's
Business Journal, September 2009
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Upcoming Annual Executive Forum, Best Companies - Best
Practices: Keeping the Competitive Edge, Bentley University, 10/16/09 -
Featured organizations this year are Bright Horizons Family Solutions and
Vistaprint
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ICON Success Story - Rita B. Allen recognized on CPP
ICON
Success Page
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Watch for upcoming article by Rita to be published in
Boston Women's Business Journal on the topic of "Mentoring".
In closing, as always thank you
for your continued support, business opportunities and referrals. I welcome the
opportunity to be of assistance and continuing to provide a variety of career
management/talent management and coaching services. I will contact you shortly
to set up a time for a quick visit and to hear about your recent updates. I
look forward to speaking!
Best Regards,
Rita B. Allen
Rita B. Allen Associates
| 460 Totten Pond Road, Suite 190
| Waltham, MA 02451 781-890-6803
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rita@ritaballenassociates.com
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www.ritaballenassociates.com
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