Go Big or Go Home with a Powerful Vision

The Big Picture – Begin with the End in Mind! When it's time to build a company's growth plan, goals are often created in a vacuum by its leader(s) and based on his or her financial goals. Or, plans are built primarily based on historical facts and performance using a simple percentage increase. Both of these approaches have merit as…

The Recruitment Balancing Act

There has been a shift in today’s tight labor market that's forced us to think about how we view our employees and our working relationships. In fact, RiseSmart recently reported the employee relationship economy is on the rise. RiseSmart states, “it's emerging in response to the evolving concepts of work: how it's done, where, by whom, for how long and…

Why It’s Important to Laugh at Work

When I was just starting out in my career, it was frowned upon to laugh at work. Work was serious business! And it still is but sometimes, work can get a little too serious. According to a 2007 study performed by University of Missouri-Columbia researcher Chris Robert, humor “has meaningful impact on cohesiveness in the workplace and communication quality among workers.…

Can You Get and Keep Joe?

In his article originally published on page 36 of the October issue of the BATC-MN Housing First Digest, Jerry Olson talks about an issue most of us can currently relate to, employee retention. In today's full employment economy, good employees have lots of options. So, what can you do to ensure they'll choose to work for you?

Right People, Right Seats Starts with These Questions

Right People, Right Seats. You’ve heard it over and over but do you know what this short phrase really means? Understanding how this concept affects your business is pivotal in accelerating your organization forward, reaching your long-term vision and building value. Right People, Right Seats is not simple. Finding a great candidate for a currently open position is a short-term…

Developing and Maintaining a Talent Pipeline

Step Two in Creating a High Performing Sales Organization The old sports metaphor, “the best defense is a good offense,” refers to the conditions created by a proficient offense who controls the ball, game clock, and pace of the game. They are successfully executing their game plan, which quite often leads to a win. When creating and leading a high…

Recruiting Great Salespeople

“Great salespeople are born, not made.”               This is an assertion made by the good people of the Gallup Organization, leaders in the areas of strengths based management and employee engagement. Gallup's research found that great salespeople (about 25% of the sales population) possess certain innate strengths that when matched with the right role…