Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

1. Employee Evaluations: A Change of Tune Has Executives
    Dancing To the Bank
2. Rise and Shine! Hear the newest interview with Ira Wolfe.
3. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #196 to #200
4. Warning! Severe Worker Shortages Ahead
5. CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer: August 18-20
6. Best Practice Tips and Resources
7. New! Hire Competence with Confidence Workshop:
    Taking the Guesswork out of hiring hourly employees.
8. Summer/Fall Workshop and Speaking Schedule
9. Are You Wasting Too Much Time Sorting Through Unqualified
Resumes?
10. Reduce team conflicts fast with DISC Behavioral Style
Indicator

1. Employee Evaluations: A Change of Tune Has Executives Dancing To the Bank

It goes without saying. If you have ever terminated an employee for poor performance, the experience is disturbing and costly – both stress-wise and economically.

Two keys to avoid involuntary terminations, the politically correct term for giving an employee the old heave-ho, is first to hire the right person right off the bat. After they’re on board, managers need to monitor their performance and provide feedback. Monitoring employee performance means having accurate measuring systems of individual performance.

Individuals need feedback about their strength and weaknesses. For organizations to grow, these employees need performance information to correct performance problems and assess the effectiveness of their improvement efforts.

Sloppy performance management was not an issue for employers even as late as the 1980s. As recently as 1982, sixty-two percent of the value of an organization was measured by its tangible assets. By 2002, nearly eighty percent of its value shifted to intangible assets, Yes that’s right, the human capital of any organization now accounts for eighty percent of its value but until recently balance sheets still gave priority to equipment and buildings over its people.

But the tide is turning. Smart organizations finally seem interested in optimizing the way these precious human assets are managed. Establishing an effective employee evaluation system is an organization's way of doing just that.

Employee evaluation is more than having a form completed once a year and stuffing it in the employee's file just in case you ever choose to discipline or terminate him or her. Effective performance management is about linking individual performance to corporate strategy and providing continuous feedback, positive and constructive.

Another hurdle for managers to jump is that most employees aren't being evaluated consistently. For those who are, they aren't receiving a fair appraisal. Traditionally this lack of frequency, consistency and fairness has been a concern only for the HR department. Employee performance reviews have been avoided like the plaque and managers scattered when they saw HR walking down the corridors with those dreaded employee evaluation forms.

That is all about to change. Dollar signs are singing a new tune and the ears of executives and other business owners have perked up. CEOs, COOs and now even CFOs have caught the beat and are forcing managers to get a little rhythm. The traditional dance that managers chased managers to their cubicles has all of a sudden forced them center stage in many organizations.

Why all the fuss? In an 11-year study that included more than 200 companies from 22 industries, the financial and operational performance measure of companies who “lived” performance management and those organizations who did not was compared. The economic impact of this study was enough to give any executive chills up and down their spine - or just want to throw up his/her hands and cry.

The revenue growth for organizations with performance enhancing culture was 682%; for those without, these organizations grew by 166%. While many organizations might be happy with 166% growth, you'll probably want to keep reading. The net income growth (the bottom line) of the performance enhancing organizations grew by 756% while their counterparts grew by a measly 1%!

In a second study representing 2,800 firms, the top 10% verses the bottom 10% were compared. At the conclusion of the study, the top 10% sales per employee were $617,575 compared to $158,101 for the bottom ten. The turnover rate was 20.87% to 34.09% respectively. The combined results of these and other factors resulted in a 391% Return on Investment for the performance enhancing organization.

What can managers do to turn compliance-focused annual employee
reviews into performance enhancing systems? The first place to start is by establishing three major goals for the system:

1) Help individuals to achieve specific performance objectives in order to be successful in their organizational role and to develop their skills and abilities at a personal and/or professional level;

2) Ensure that these objectives and individual skills development is linked to company strategic initiatives and the bottom line; and

3) Meet not only short-term but long-term development goals over a whole career for an individual.

That sounds easier said than done. But Success Performance Solutions offers a solution to managers and an alterative to the ineffective and time-consuming employee annual review. The Janus Performance Management System provides a comprehensive, step-by-step planning design to help manage this process effectively. Janus not only provides a suite of goal setting and appraisal forms and templates to help this action planning process, but also helps to ensure that all written documents are in plain language, complete, comprehensive,and easy-to-use.

To read more about Janus Performance Management System, click here.

Our consultants, who can help you avoid hiring mishaps, are an email or phone call away.

2. Rise and shine!

Set your alarm for 6:30 AM on July 11, 2004 to WJJZ 106.1 or WUSL 98.9 and wake up to Empower Half-Hour, a Philadelphia public affairs program hosted by Lehronda Upshur. Lehondra interviews Ira Wolfe on The Perfect Labor Storm and how to motivate employees.

For those sleepy-heads or readers outside the listening area, we'll have CD-ROMs available following the show and excerpts on the web.

To order a copy of this 30 minute interview, click here.

Other recent interviews:
The "Resu-mess" on WHP-TV (Harrisburg, PA). View the interview with Sherry Christian and Ira Wolfe.

Worker Shortages Loom Ahead. Jim Plummer, PA Radio (a Public Radio affiliate) interviews Ira on The Perfect Labor Storm.

4. Warning! More severe worker shortages ahead.

"The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - $7.95 includes no shipping costs for limited time only.

Get the forecast LIVE at your next meeting or conference. Now scheduling 2004-2005 keynotes - Ira Wolfe, What's Ahead In Hiring Trends or Generations in the Workplace - You can't work with them, You can't work without them.

5. CriteriaOne® Train-the-Trainer: Competency Identification and Performance Management

Special Fee for The Total View readers - register before July 10, 2004 and save an additional $200 off the early registration fee of $1095. After July 10, registration fee is $1595.

Become a certified CriteriaOne consultant. Learn to identify competencies, complete a job analysis and interpret behavioral, values and personality assessments. The next Train-the-Trainer will be held from August 18-20, 2004 in Lancaster PA. Register early and save $500 and bring a 2nd person at no additional cost.

Register online or call 717.656.4632.

6. Best Practice Tips and Resources

New! Depression is costing employers $2,000 to $3,000 more per employee in medical costs than other employees. How much are depressed employees adding to your health care costs?

To learn more about hiring best practices, download the U.S. Department of Labor publication, TESTING AND ASSESSMENT: AN EMPLOYER'S GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES.

Interviews Questions - What You Can and Can't Ask

Test  your Manager Interviewing IQ

7. Hire Competence with Confidence!

By Popular Demand! The first in a series of online training programs for small business owners and hiring managers about how to avoid costly hiring mistakes by using the newest assessment technology. Learn when and how to choose the best pre-employment test for both hourly employees during this 45 minute presentation followed by a question and answer session.

Participation is limited to the first 10 registrants. Registration is only $29.

To register, click here.

Future workshops: The ABCs of DISC, Understanding Business Values and Motivators, Get the TotalView before You Hire, Evaluate Employees Online and more. Watch for dates.

8. Summer 2004 Workshop and Speaking Schedule

Just announced! Ira will be a presenter at the 2005 International Builders Show in Orlando, FL at the end of January. Watch for more details.

July 26, 2004. Recruiting, Training, and Retaining a Diverse Nursing Workforce, Sponsored by Healthcare IQ, Radisson Hotel, Chicago, IL. Ira will join leaders at this event from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Baylor Health Care System, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Duke University and Health Systems. To vie the conference schedule,

August 18-20, 2004 - CriteriaOne Train-the-Trainer: How to Identify Competencies and Use Assessments for Hiring, Promoting, and Managing Performance. The Hampton Inn, Lancaster, PA. Call 717.656.4632 for more information and to reserve your seat. Limit - 10.

September 1, 2004 - Ethical Shenanigans: How Susceptible Is Your Business? Small Business Group Breakfast. To reserve your place, call The Lancaster Chamber at 717.394.3531. Speaker: Ira S. Wolfe

September 13, 2004 - What is This Thing Called Emotional Intelligence .And Why We Need It In The Workplace?" Sponsored by Clemson University; Location - Harrisburg, PA. Speaker: Marilyn Walker

September 27, 2004 - Best Practices in Performance Consulting, Atlanta, GA. Sponsored by International Quality and Productivity Center. Speaker: Ira S. Wolfe. Ira will join leaders from Dell, Microsoft, HomeBanc, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Putnam Investments, EDS, Synovus and Internal Revenue Service.

9. Are You Wasting Too Much Time Sorting Through Unqualified Resumes?

Eliminate The Hassles and Headaches Associated With Screening Candidate with Total APS.

The Total Applicant Processing System enables the small and medium sized employer to do online recruiting and screen applicants with customizable and scorable filtering questions with a click of the mouse.

Use Total APS to recruit and screen applicants for your next job opening.

How do your employees fit on your team. MAP your entire team on our Style Insights Wheel. Identify strengths and minimize conflicts easily.

Get the DISC wheel online. It's included FREE with each DISC Behavioral Style Indicator and DISC Sales Style Indicator Report.

To learn more about Success Performance Solutions or read back issues of The Total View, stop by our website at www.super-solutions.com.

Order your personal copy of Understanding Business Values and Motivators.


Order your personal copy of The Perfect Labor Storm. at


Ira S. Wolfe. 2004 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.