Recruit, Inspire & Retain |
November 2002 |
|
Ideas for "Marketing" and Providing "Customer Service" to Current and Potential Employees |
| TRAINING
SYSTEMS,
INC.
Great Training for Great Employees |
http://www.trainingsys.com
|
 |
|
SPREAD IT AROUND! Pass this issue along to fellow employees or customers so they too can benefit from the ideas on recruiting, inspiring, training, & retaining. You can FORWARD this issue or print it out. |
| Remember, you can CHECK BACK ISSUES by keyword at our Web site, http://www.trainingsys.com/rir/index.htm. | If this was forwarded to you, get your own copy FREE! |
|
|
|
COOL RECRUITING TIPS |
Hire A Deviant
When authors Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker call someone a deviant, they intend it as high praise. In their new book, The Deviant=s Advantage: How Fringe Ideas Create Mass Markets, the duo explain how Apositive@ deviance Ais the backbeat of commerce, the rhythm of innovation that drives wealth creation and defines attitudes and values.@ It=s often the Aoddball@ ideasCfrom sticky Post-It notes to the Blair Witch Project (a film which cost $60,000 to make, and grossed $240 million)Cthat make fortunes for enterprising companies. The resulting product or service must of course be polished and marketed. But the path that most successful new products take is predictable:
*Fringe
*Edge
*Realm of the Cool
*Next Big Thing
*Social Convention
If you have deviants on staff, nurture them. If not, seek them out and hire them. ANever forget, your deviants ought to be your first, best line of competitive commercial defense.@
How to Hire Deviants
- Think about the behavior of a Adeviant@ (people who come up with unusual ideas) you know and make a list of all the things you see them do (example: use objects intended for one purpose for something else B a round container becomes a rolling pin; has many projects going at one time, etc.)
- Write interview questions designed to find out if the person has done any of the behaviors (in past jobs, at home, etc.) and ask them.
- Ask the person to bring to the interview examples of the most creative thing they=ve done.
Book review from Time Magazine, 10/28/02,
A5
Back to the top
**TOOL BOX**
Both available at http://store.fastcommerce.com/trainingsys (10% off by typing “RIR” in Special Instructions) |
|
|
||
From Fun Meter owner Debbie Daw: "My 16 year old daughter, Heather, takes great pride in her book bag, which she carries instead of a purse to classes at Joliet Junior College. It displays emblems and buttons of here favorite bands and causes she supports. In a prominent place of distinction is a TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. Fun Meter, which she considered cool enough to swipe from me."
| **TOOL
BOX** Fun Meter Buttons, available at TRAINING SYSTEMS Books/Tapes |
|
YOU LOVE OUR POSTERS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE... |
Did you know?
*The sentence AThe quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.@ uses every letter in the alphabet. (developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications)
*A duck=s quack doesn=t echo, and no one knows why.
*In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television=s Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not renumber the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.
*The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is Auncopyrightable@.
*Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king.
**TOOL
BOX**
|
*Mary Hoskin, from R. Berti, says: AI=m reading your new book, Interviewing Techniques for Managers together with a friend. We discuss a different chapter each week. It=s very motivating to have a partner and I=m learning more.@
*Susan Ramsay says: APlanning networking meetings has brought me back in touch with the elements of training I learned from you. I=m so fortunate to have had the best training for adult learning that exists, thanks to you.@
*Steve Sligar says: AThanks for helping me plan my training. I=d never had 100+ people in group training. Your ideas helped me make the training go really well! They loved it and it was a big timesaver for large groups. As usual, you were great!@
*Diane Rummel, Crisp Publications, says: AWOW! I love your website...sorry that I never took the time to even look at it before this. Since I am a Republican and supporter of AW@ (I met him and Jeb in 1988 when they were stumping for their father), I am looking forward to buying your new book, The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush, for Christmas FOR ME! Can=t wait! Never knew all this stuff about you guys. Glad to be part of your venture in some small way.@
|
IDEAS TO INSPIRE |
Recession-Proof Perks
Raises are rare in a recession, but supervisors are more willing to keep top performers happy with benefits that might otherwise be tough to negotiate, says Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of Motivating Today=s Employees.
Perks worth asking for, and tactics to get them: *A snazzier title. AWhen raises aren=t an option, I often give title increases,@ says S. Gary Snodgrass, a senior VP of the energy corporation Exelon. Recently, one employee pointed out that a better title would give him more clout with clients. AI gladly agreed,@ says Snodgrass. AIf someone says, >Me, me, me,= I=ll say >No, no, no.= but explain what=s in it for the company, and I=m all ears.@
*Working from home. AWe=re especially willing to keep good people happy with flexible schedules during tough times,@ says Rosalind Cox, a diversity manager at Ford Motor Co. ABut don=t just walk in and ask to telecommute.@ One woman typed up a memo explaining what tasks she=d do at home. AThis showed me she took the privilege seriously and would not waste time.@
*A cushy office. An associate asked Hamilton Holloway, public relations manager of Capital One Financial, to hire a feng shui expert to reorganize her department=s cubicles. AIt showed she cared about her environment and her peers,@ he says. APlus it was fun. Any low-cost idea to boost morale these days will get a supervisor=s attention.@
adapted from Reader=s Digest RDYOU, October 2002
| TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. is designing specific disaster preparedness training for several clients. E-mail us at TSI@trainingsys.com if you want to discuss your needs. |
**TOOL BOX**
|
|
|
||
| Get more tips on inspiring your employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. | ||
|
|
|
TRAIN SO THEY’LL LEARN |
You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar
David Sandler, a talented sales coach, was fond of saying, AYou can=t teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar.@ In other words, when you were a kid you didn=t learn how to ride a bike simply by listening to someone tell you how to ride the bike.
Learning to ride a bike requires practice. Someone, maybe your mom or dad, helped you on the bike and told you how to ride it. Then they held the back of the bicycle seat to help you balance yourself, and they ran alongside the bike while you pedaled. All during this time your Acoach@ was directing you about how to steer the bike, how to make a turn, etc. And after a while the Acoach@ let go of the bike and . . . you fell down! But the Acoach@ was right there to say, AThat=s okay,@ and then help you up and get you back on the bike so you could try it again.
This process was repeated many times. You got on the bike and as soon as your Acoach@ let go you fell off the bike (or you hit a tree, or the house, or a parked car) . After hours or days (for some it may have been weeks) of practice it finally happened. The Acoach@ let go of the bike and you stayed on it and continued riding, just like you=d been riding all your life.
To Sandler, learning to ride a bike was a metaphor for many of life=s skills, including selling. Just like the kid who practiced riding the bike, Sandler said adults needed to practice selling skills. Practice provides
reinforcement, especially if a Acoach@ is involved in the process.
And it=s not just the skill of selling that requires practice. Want to learn constructive feedback, customer service, training, marketing, interviewing? All training needs to include practice B repetition & reinforcement using real or Acould really happen@ situations relating to the skill/knowledge. Email rir@trainingsys.com for a list of ideas.
adapted from an article by John P. Hayes, Ph.D.
**TOOL BOX**
|
|
|
||
| Get more tips on training from TRAINING SYSTEMS. | ||
|
|
|
RETAIN THE BEST |
Small Businesses Being Consolidated
You=re a small business and in your industry the big guys are busy buying the small guys or putting them out of business. It=s tough to retain staff if you=re out of business or bought.
If you want to retain your business, follow these tried and true ideas:
*Compete by providing superior service. Make sure your sales staff know your products and customers well and stock what the locals want. Emphasize convenience and make things easy to find.
*A hardware store=s sales force helps people find the right socket wrench fast, holds their hands through a plumbing project and pays a home visit if necessary. Says longtime customers: AIf I need a couple of nuts and bolts, I don=t want to wait behind people buying drywall.@ This store is doing so well that they opened another store just six months ago.
company ideas excerpted from Time 10/21/02, 60 & 61
**TOOL BOX**
- Good to Great, by Jim Collins
- The Best Organization in the U.S., by Robert A. Watson.
Both available by calling 800-469-3560, or email to TSI@trainingsys.com
|
|
||
| Get more tips on retaining great employees from TRAINING SYSTEMS. | ||
|
|
Put the TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. site on your Windows taskbar! Right click blank area of taskbar, select Toolbars/New Toolbar, in new Toolbar box, enter http://www.trainingsys.com.
WWW.TRAININGSYS.COM Get FREE access to great recruiting, inspiring, training & retaining tips, ideas & resources where you can:
-
Download articles for your newsletter!
-
Use free online assessments!
-
Purchase books, tapes & fun incentives to help you & your employees be the best!
-
Get new tips each month on Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining great employees!
-
Click on links to great managing and training websites!
-
Purchase our famous inspirational quote posters!
-
Get answers to your employee recruiting, inspiring, retaining, & training questions from our experts!
|
|
November 18-20, 2002
SHRM HR Generalist Certificate Program, facilitated by TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. Associate, Catherine D. Fyock, CSP, SHPR, New York, NY, http://www.shrm.org.seminars
November 18-20, 2002
Corporate University Week 2002, Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club, Lake Buena Visa, FL, http://www.iqpc.com
November 24-30, 2002
NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK
November 30, 2002
Computer Security Day, sponsored by ACM Computer Security Day Committee. Email rir@trainingsys.com for a list of ways to participate.
December 9-11, 2002
M&T: ASAE Winter Conference 2002, Washington D.C. Visit the Web site for full program, exposition and registration information: http://mt.asaenet.org.Join the NASAGA (North American Simulation and Gaming Association) free listserve for more ideas on how to make learning interactive, http://www.nasaga.org
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM ASSOCIATION
An alliance of nearly 50 non-profit international volunteer and internship exchange organizations based in North America. Their website, http://www.volunteerinternational.org, has a search engine that allows you to search by many different criteria.
VOLUNTEER AMERICA
http://www.volunteeramerica.org connects individuals, families, and groups with volunteer vacations on public lands across America. Database searchable by state; emphasis on eco-volunteering and wilderness preservation.
GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS
http://www.globalvolunteers.org has one-to-three week volunteer trips to 19 nations, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Pacific.
Copyright 2002 TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. All rights reserved.
WWW.TRAININGSYS.COM
Get FREE access to great recruiting, inspiring, training & retaining tips, ideas & resources where you can:
* Download articles for your newsletter!
* Use free online assessments!
* Purchase books, tapes & fun incentives to help you & your employees be the best! http://store.fastcommerce.com/trainingsys/
* Get new tips each month on Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining great employees!
*Have a recruitment, inspiration, training, or retention idea or question? Send e-mail to rir@trainingsys.com and we’ll post your idea or question (and the answer) in Answers & Ideas on Recruiting, Inspiring, Training, & Retaining Great Employees at http://www.trainingsys.com
* Click on links to great managing and training websites!
* Purchase our famous inspirational quote posters!
* Get answers to your employee recruiting, inspiring, retaining, & training questions from our experts!
**FORWARD Recruit, Inspire & Retain TO OTHERS
**GET ISSUES YOU MISSED AT OUR WEB SITE
**ARTICLE REPRINTS FOR Recruit, Inspire & Retain
An ideal way to introduce new ideas or stimulate learning with the employees in your organization. Article reprints can also serve as a powerful promotional or sales tool - include them with your brochures, newsletters & media kits. For complete information on article reprints or copyright permission, call 1-800-469-3560 or e-mail rir@trainingsys.com
**YOU HAVE UNIQUE, VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE FOR OTHERS
We’d love to print your articles on recruiting, inspiring, training and
retaining employees.
E-mail your article to
rir@trainingsys.com.
|
We’ll be back next month with more great tips, ideas, success stories, and information to help you recruit, inspire, train, & retain great employees! |
Recruit, Inspire & Retain contains links to web sites operated by organizations other than TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC. These links are for your convenience and we assume no responsibility for the content or operations of those sites.
Recruit, Inspire &
Retain is a free e-zine of
TRAINING SYSTEMS, INC.
Visit us at http://www.trainingsys.com
soon!
| SUBSCRIBE (it's FREE) -
send blank mail to:
join-rir@trainingsys.com UNSUBSCRIBE - send blank mail to: leave-rir@trainingsys.com Change your email
address (we want to keep you!) - unsubscribe under your old address (send
blank mail
|