Dear David, We’re tasked with continuing to build our hospital system into a national brand, but our CEO doesn’t see our nurses as a part of the brand equation. Our senior leaders see them as entirely replaceable, and accept high turnover as part of our culture. I’ve heard that the answer is better training, but training alone does not create retained, engaged employees. We train them and they leave. I don’t believe training is a magic bullet; the culture has to value its skilled staff. How do you convince the president of a company that employees matter? Sincerely, Searching for the Solution Dear Searching, Thank you for asking a challenging question that is relevant to every employee and senior leader—not just those in healthcare. How do improvements in employee engagement, commitment, and retention fit into an organization’s brand equation? And how do you convince a harried and skeptical team of senior leaders? Your challenge will be to show that a) these improvements are possible, given your current situation and the turnover in the profession, and b) these improvements are worth the investment, given the strategic goals that keep senior leaders up at night. Begin with Their Existing Goals and Strategies. You suggest that your senior leaders have a clear objective: to build your hospital system into a national brand. Make it very clear that you support this goal. Your desire to improve engagement, commitment, and retention needs to be positioned as an essential strategy for achieving this strategic objective. But how do you convince skeptics that it really is essential? How do you change their hearts and minds? Create Personal Experiences. The mistake we make is to try to change hearts and minds with our mouths. We think that if we find the right words, the right data, and the right tone of voice, we can somehow bring the skeptics over to our side. The sad result is a mix of lectures, sermons, data dumps, and rants. Verbal persuasion is the least effective way to convince others. Personal experience is the gold standard for changing hearts and minds. Find ways to put senior leaders into situations where they will experience for themselves the importance of engagement, commitment, and retention. But how can you do that? Partner with them on their current strategies for building your brand. We’ve worked with several hospital systems that were engaged in similar initiatives, so I can share some common strategies. Your team will need to build at least one world-class heart center, cancer center, and children’s hospital. You will need to either purchase or partner with at least twenty community hospitals in your area to expand your reach to where patients live. And you will need to build research facilities and partner with a medical school in order to raise your profile to a national level. You and I know that these building projects will remain hollow monuments unless they are filled with passionate, committed nurses. The best way to convince senior leaders of this truth is to have them visit other hospital systems that have succeeded or failed at these same strategies. I recall one CEO who returned from visiting a new children’s hospital and said, "They thought they could move their people into a new building without moving their old culture. It was a colossal failure. We won’t be making that mistake here!" Educate Their Eyes. As Yogi Berra once quipped, "You can observe a lot by just watching." But sometimes we fail to recognize what we’re seeing. You can help senior leaders recognize what they’re seeing by providing them with questions and cue sheets. There is a wonderful and popular HBR piece titled, How to Read a Plant, Fast. The author, R. Eugene Goodson, describes how to make the most of a plant tour. He and his team can tell the cost of sales, sales per employee, overhead, and time to assembly after a half-hour plant tour. I have a neighbor, a retired COO of a major restaurant company, who can answer similar questions within twenty minutes of having been seated at a restaurant. You have similar talents within your senior team. Work with them to create a checklist and list of questions to ask as they visit other hospitals. This preparation will ensure they see the cultural and interpersonal dimensions—as well as the spiffy new buildings. Begin with a Specific Project. Remember that structure drives behavior. This is one of the reasons that new buildings get more attention than engagement, commitment, and retention. Building a building is a clearly defined project, while improving engagement is not. The solution is to begin with a specific project that will improve engagement. Achieving Magnet Status is an example of this kind of project. In the case of Magnet Status, it’s a large, demanding project that would have a huge payoff in terms of branding. If Magnet Status is too difficult a place to start, then select a smaller, more feasible project that will build engagement. For example, work with a member of the senior team to select one or more of the Institute for Healthcare bundles—small, straightforward set of evidence-based practices for improving patient outcomes—and build mastery across your hospital system. This kind of project demonstrates that engagement is possible, and that it pays off. Make Respect Visible. I was once at a meeting when a hospital VP made a joke that compared nursing turnover to prostitution. The CEO of the hospital laughed, and added to it. The division manager was also at the meeting, and he didn’t laugh. In fact, within the week he had removed both the CEO and the person who had told the joke. There needs to be a commitment to respect your own workforce. Of course most senior leaders have an enormous respect for their people. But how do the people see this respect? Senior leaders need to make it visible. For a wonderful example, take a look at this brief video. It seeks to honor the men and women like yourself, who seek to save lives every day. I hope this helps. Sincerely, David

Here at Fierce, we honor a person once a month with the coveted title of Fierceling of the Month. The qualification for a Fierceling is someone who has been nominated by peers for exceptionally exhibiting the fierce values and the 7 principles of our work. There are some great internal perks including choosing your favorite restaurant to catering a company-wide lunch. Each month, I look forward to interviewing these amazing people.This month, I had the honor to connect with Matt Dunn.Why did you come to work here? I came to Fierce for the opportunity to be a part of a mission that makes a difference in the world and to develop professionally/personally.What are some responsibilities of your role? Some responsibilities in my role include:Being a Brand AmbassadorMaking sure clients’ feedback is being relayed to our marketing and Senior Leadership teamHelping clients make the best training choices depending on their budget, time restrictions, and competencies they would like to developHelping to create reinforcement/sustainability plans to ensure Fierce is being used after workshopsHelping our clients achieve the results they want to seeWhat’s the coolest thing you are currently working on? I’m fortunate to work with amazing people and organizations. One of the things I love about my position is how each client has their own unique goals and roadmaps for how they would like to build training. I’m grateful to work with such passionate people that strive to develop their team members, so that they can work more effectively together and solve so meaningful opportunities/problems. I feel honored to help clients reach their desired results and being their trusted advisor.What is your favorite thing about working at Fierce? This is such a fun working environment. We have a close "Fierce Family" where we do a ton of fun things together. We have monthly happy hours, company outings, and sporting events. It’s often we are also spending time with each other outside of the office. It’s special when you can wake up and look forward to the people you are going to see at work and also rally together to support a common mission.When you’re not at Fierce, what are you most likely doing? When I’m not at Fierce I’m most likely spending time playing or watching sports. I like to stay active, and I like competing. Sports are a great medium for me to do that.What Fierce Principle are you focusing on this month? The Fierce Principle I am working on this month is "Be Here, Prepared to Be Nowhere Else". This is essential in working with clients and giving your team members the proper respect.What inspires you? What inspires me is knowing the work I am doing is making a difference in the world. In my position as Director of Business Development, I get the privilege of interacting with our clients on a regular basis. I thrive off of their success stories, whether they are gaining confidence to confront an issue, building a stronger relationship with a team member, or even on a deeply personal level, saving a marriage. At Fierce, we develop professional and personal skills that are essential in building strong relationships, and when I hear these success stories it fuels me to spread this mission with others.What else do you want to ask Matt? Tweet @fierce_inc #fiercelingofthemonth to ask any other questions.The post Meet Our September Fierceling of the Month: Matt Dunn appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published on Gallup and identifies the five drivers that encourage employees to make their organization’s desired mission, brand, and culture a reality.Culture is defined as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization. It is also so much more than that. It forms the basis of an organization’s identity, and it can either inspire customers and employees or have them running for the door.A recent Gallup article, An Organization’s Identity Has to Inspire Customers, found that when customers are aligned with a brand’s promise, they give that brand twice as much share of their wallet (47%). To create a culture that delivers on a company’s promise, leaders must first focus on engaging employees in a way that reinforces the organization’s values.Are your actions creating a gap between reality and your brand’s aspirational identity?"Too many companies establish and deliver their selection, engagement and development programs in silos. This approach doesn’t deliver business results, and it doesn’t support an organization’s desired identity. A new employee might be attracted to a company because of its promised focus on strengths, but in his performance review, all his manager talks about are his weaknesses and how he’s missing goals."Read the article.The post Fierce Resource: An Organization’s Identity Has to Inspire Customers appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Imagine if every person acted like a lady or gentleman….. Etiquette Tip: Ladies and gentlemen are diplomatic when communicating by email. Without the context of tone and body language, your emails may not be interpreted how they were intended. Your word choice will determine how your email is received. For example, if you’re sharing an innovative idea with your organization, but you begin by pointing out the shortcomings of your colleagues or criticizing your organization for being behind-the-times, your fresh idea will be spoiled by its negative context. You can act as a lady or gentleman by pointing out challenges and sharing solutions without blame and condemnation. It’s especially important to express tact when replying to emails because a written response can be saved for future reference or forwarded to others. Everyone receives emails that are frustrating or upsetting, but if you respond while you are upset, you may regret it. It’s best not to send an email when you are upset, stressed or exhausted. Anytime you’re at risk for sending an emotionally charged note, do not hit send — there may be unwanted consequences to your action. Wait until you can respond in a less reactionary and more professional manner. Sometimes, the correct email response is to ask for a situation to be resolved in person—rather than through email. One of the Service Values at The Ritz-Carlton states "I am proud of my professional appearance, language and behavior." Our employees—known as our Ladies and Gentlemen—choose their language carefully when crafting an email and recognize that the written word is another opportunity to express refinement. ∞ The motto of The Ritz-Carlton is "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen." This motto sets a tone of goodwill and grace for all. The Blog Post Etiquette & Engagement: Diplomatic appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Having built a fantastic course is only a few paces away from a successful course. What is a successful eLearning course anyway? A course that engages its learners in a meaningful way. A course that becomes an organic, growing body of active participants, each ready with their two cents to share on a topic. We are not talking about evaluating the course or having the learners’ comments on how effective (or not) it was. We are talking about action plans derived from the learning resources presented in the course. When your learners talk about 101 ways to apply a learning resource, that’s when the course is successful. It makes the course "live longer" as in, you will have many learners enrolled at different times of the year. Engaging learners in this way is not only a sure-fire way to market your course through the conventional "word of mouth", but it is also a great way to share knowledge and manage it using experts in the field. The question for this article is: How do we create such successful courses? First things first, let’s identify the various forms of eLearning. Then we will determine how to create active collaborative environments in each. When a learner registers for your eLearning course, he or she would engage in any one of the following methods: · Passive and alone learning. · Passive and collaborative learning. · Active and alone learning. · Active and collaborative learning. Most of the time, instructional designers create courses that are designed for "Passive and alone learning" or "Active and alone learning". For example, we create courses with built-in videos, interactive diagrams and branched scenarios that are absorbed by the learner. They are then required to test their progress through a periodic quiz. This is it. Most courses are designed this way. What if you added a layer of collaborative tools? For example, when the learner views a video, or they visit an external resource, require them to write about their perceptions. Write directly under the activity page of the course. This is similar to commenting under blogs. The main difference is that, with this type of reflective commenting, you provide a checklist for commenting. Learners would need to write in an academic pattern. Peers would need to respond in the same pattern as well. This will help introduce your learner to others. You would become a mentor, moderating and directing discussions. Of particular importance here is the exercise of reflecting and recollecting experiences related to the activity. This gives your learning activities a powerful, multi-dimensional perspective. Need some similar ideas? How about these: Recommend that learners use a search engine during a scavenger hunt task. Make sure they do so in teams. And keep this activity within the scope of the assignment by providing a list of curated websites. Ask teams to create a newsletter together, complete with designing, graphics, layout and information. Request that they share and have other teams evaluate the newsletters using the provided criteria. Think of other possibilities where you can combine learners under one activity and have them engage with each other. Passive and alone learning is boring. Move your eLearning courses towards the collaborative learning style. Here’s a good checklist to ground you during your course design and development period. How can I use this method for passive learning (learner as a receiver of the message / training routine)? How can I use this method for active learning (learner as a creator of the message / training routine)? How can I use this method for individual learning (message / training routine consumed or created by a single person)? How can I use this method for collaborative learning (message / training routine consumed or created by a team of people)? A successful course will have all of the above elements. It will emphasize the last one. Create activities that require learners to engage passionately. Good luck! The post Create an Active and Collaborative Learning Environment for your Course appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Stepping up from one level of leadership to the next turns out not to be so easy. Learn what organizations can do to help.

"The idea of lightbulbs in the course "Make things Easy to Understand", the idea of "it is not about you,it is about them in the course "Handle Negativity",  the importance of hooking audiences to keep the audience engaged and the activity of "circle of knowledge" and many other takeaways I have got from Jason Teteak's courses were the things I had gained through scattered workshops all through my teaching career. However, Jason put all these takeaways with many new ones in a sequence with practical tools that can be applied immediately.And that really gave me great pleasure.Having found many answers to "What is In It For Me" in these courses, I wait for new courses to be released though. Those who are willing to be a lecturer,  trainer or a teacher MUST take these courses.If only I had had these practical lessons at university." The post Banu Hizel - ASFA Schools - Head of Language Dept. appeared first on Rule The Room.

The incessant gathering, analyzing, and processing of personal information the digital era has enabled is both creating new and lucrative business opportunities and posing some serious privacy concerns. In What Stays in Vegas, Adam Tanner shines a light on big data, showcases some of the most avid data gatherers and brokers, and explains why they do what they do. Tanner offers a vivid look into the world of personal data collection and its implications. Drawing heavily on the experience of Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas, What Stays in Vegas is steeped in personal, behind-the-scenes stories from entrepreneurs, casino owners, private detectives, data brokers, and others. According to Tanner: Customer lifetime value is directly tied to customer satisfaction and can drive astronomical growth. Satisfied, repeat customers are much less costly than one-time customers, and exponentially much more profitable. Big data gives customers what they want. Collecting a wealth of personal data on individuals enables the kind of personalized, customized marketing that is most useful and appealing to them. A little bit of data can reveal a lot. A birth date and a zip code are enough information to piece together a very complete picture of an individual. In the Internet era, privacy and anonymity are an illusion. Because of digital technology, data about individuals is being captured and used whether those individual realize it or not, and that is not likely to change. Consumer awareness is the most important ingredient in consumer privacy. The more people understand about how their personal data is being captured and used, the better able they will be to control the process. To learn more, please visit http://www.bizsum.com

It’s no secret that collaboration creates high performing teams and organizations, yet leaders in some companies still struggle to get people to work together instead of protecting their silos. In our new book Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster, my coauthors Jane Ripley, Eunice Parisi-Carew, and I describe how you can break down silos and bring people together to achieve fabulous results at every level in your organization. As the title suggests, we believe that collaboration is the responsibility of every single person. Although it’s up to the leader to declare and introduce a culture of collaboration, it is up to each individual to promote and preserve it. Silos exist when people who are more interested in organizational hierarchy want to protect resources and information as sources of power. But in today’s diverse, global environment, collaboration is the key to communication, innovation, and success. We must all be silo busters. Establishing a culture of collaboration isn’t an overnight fix—it requires a completely new mindset. We call it the inside-out mindset of Heart, Head, and Hands. The Heart aspect refers to who you really are as a collaborator—your intentions and character. The Head aspect is about your beliefs and attitudes about collaboration. The Hands aspect relates to what you do—your actions and behaviors. People with this mindset understand and live by the statement None of us is as smart as all of us. From this inside-out mindset, five factors are generated that help build a strong culture of collaboration. We created the UNITE acronym to make these factors easier to remember. Everyone must be vigilant about Utilizing differences; Nurturing safety and trust; Involving others in crafting a clear purpose, values, and goals; Talking openly; and Empowering themselves and others. I’ll explain these concepts in detail in future posts. In the meantime, remember that collaboration begins with you—and it can begin today! Editor’s Note: Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster will be released October 12. Place your pre-order at www.Amazon.com.  

Here at Fierce, we honor a person once a month with the coveted title of Fierceling of the Month. The qualification for a Fierceling is someone who has been nominated by peers for exceptionally exhibiting the fierce values and the 7 principles of our work. There are some great internal perks including choosing your favorite restaurant to catering a company-wide lunch. Each month, I look forward to interviewing these amazing people.This month, I had the honor to connect with Matt Dunn.Why did you come to work here? I came to Fierce for the opportunity to be a part of a mission that makes a difference in the world and to develop professionally/personally.What are some responsibilities of your role? Some responsibilities in my role include:Being a Brand AmbassadorMaking sure clients’ feedback is being relayed to our marketing and Senior Leadership teamHelping clients make the best training choices depending on their budget, time restrictions, and competencies they would like to developHelping to create reinforcement/sustainability plans to ensure Fierce is being used after workshopsHelping our clients achieve the results they want to seeWhat’s the coolest thing you are currently working on? I’m fortunate to work with amazing people and organizations. One of the things I love about my position is how each client has their own unique goals and roadmaps for how they would like to build training. I’m grateful to work with such passionate people that strive to develop their team members, so that they can work more effectively together and solve so meaningful opportunities/problems. I feel honored to help clients reach their desired results and being their trusted advisor.What is your favorite thing about working at Fierce? This is such a fun working environment. We have a close "Fierce Family" where we do a ton of fun things together. We have monthly happy hours, company outings, and sporting events. It’s often we are also spending time with each other outside of the office. It’s special when you can wake up and look forward to the people you are going to see at work and also rally together to support a common mission.When you’re not at Fierce, what are you most likely doing? When I’m not at Fierce I’m most likely spending time playing or watching sports. I like to stay active, and I like competing. Sports are a great medium for me to do that.What Fierce Principle are you focusing on this month? The Fierce Principle I am working on this month is "Be Here, Prepared to Be Nowhere Else". This is essential in working with clients and giving your team members the proper respect.What inspires you? What inspires me is knowing the work I am doing is making a difference in the world. In my position as Director of Business Development, I get the privilege of interacting with our clients on a regular basis. I thrive off of their success stories, whether they are gaining confidence to confront an issue, building a stronger relationship with a team member, or even on a deeply personal level, saving a marriage. At Fierce, we develop professional and personal skills that are essential in building strong relationships, and when I hear these success stories it fuels me to spread this mission with others.What else do you want to ask Matt? Tweet @fierce_inc #fiercelingofthemonth to ask any other questions.The post Meet Our August Fierceling of the Month: Matt Dunn appeared first on Fierce, Inc..