LSA Global Insights Newsletter: January 2016

January 30, 2016

6 Management Practices that Make the Difference Between Effective and Extraordinary

A rock star is on stage in front of an enthusiastic audience

Superstars in the management arena are rare. But when they emerge, they have an enormous impact not only on their own teams but also on the departments and organizations that their protégés go on to lead.

They are able to build high performing organizations at the same time as they are able to develop the next generation of top talent. What is it they do to get high performance that the rest of us miss?

That is what we set out to discover.

After two decades in the field of management consulting and leadership development, here is what we have come to understand and appreciate. Great managers are self-confident and authentic; they are creative and willing to take risks; they are competitive but always act with integrity. These are their personal traits. What makes them truly remarkable, however, is that they are extremely successful at nurturing top talent along the way.

The truly great managers follow these practices when it comes to attracting, selecting and grooming talent for high performance:

Great managers hire only the best and the brightest, not necessarily the most qualified. High performers are noted for their ability to learn, adjust and create innovative new solutions to problems. They consistently show flexibility when things go awry and have the intelligence and discipline to prioritize and focus on what really matters most. Great managers are able to consistently identify employees with unusual gifts and are willing to take a chance on putting them in positions of merit even if they lack the more "typical" experience and credentials.
Great managers modify the job to suit the special gifts of high performers. Great managers feel free to change job descriptions and roles to squarely fit the specific talents and desires of their high performers. This goes counter to the conventional wisdom of never changing a company "for the people." But smart leaders and coaches know that their "A" players will contribute far more if given an assignment that takes advantage of their strengths than if forced to work within the constraints of what the job is "supposed" to be. By playing to strengths, great leaders accelerate performance and create loyal employee advocates willing to give more discretionary effort.
Great managers value the quality of talent rather than the stability of talent. Great managers understand that high performers thrive best when working at a fast pace with other high performers in a way that provides new challenges in the areas that they love. They also understand that top talent often moves on to take advantage of outside promotions and opportunities. Great leaders don't try to impede the progress of their protégés. Instead, similar to college sport's coaches who must recruit new talent each year as their players graduate, great managers focus on what is best for their people (internally or externally) while constantly looking for fresh new talent.

Read the Final 3 Management Practices that Make the Difference Between Effective and Extraordinary

About LSA Global
Founded in 1995, LSA Global is a leading performance consulting and training firm that helps high growth technology, services, and life-science companies create a competitive advantage by powerfully aligning their culture and talent with their strategy. Learn more about getting aligned

20 Science-Backed Things Managers Do to Improve Employee Engagement

A red heart with a heartbeat graph superimposed upon it

One of the best ways to measure management effectiveness is a manager's ability to engage their employees.

Based upon surveying over 500,000 employees across over 5,000 companies each year, we know that engaged employees are 18% more productive, are 51% less likely to quit and create 12% higher customer satisfaction levels.

Yet, many leaders underappreciate the importance of creating a clear business strategy, an aligned organizational culture and smart talent strategy that drives higher employee engagement. This becomes even more important as managers and their employees are being asked to do more with less.

According to McKinsey & Co, nearly 70% of senior executives are only "somewhat" or "not at all satisfied" with the performance of their companies' frontline managers. And a stunning 81% of frontline managers are not satisfied with their own performance.

To ensure that your frontline managers are creating highly engaged employees, make sure that they consistently:

Make it easy for employees to share opinions openly without fear of reprisal.
Acknowledge when employees do a good job on a task or project.
Discuss career opportunities within the company.
Communicate what is expected and establish open and honest communication between employees and managers.
Address performance issues effectively and fairly.
Share important information clearly and quickly.
Explain the reasons behind decisions they make.
Provide the support required for people to do their job well.
Have the expertise and ability to help their team succeed.
Are accessible and responsive to ideas, requests, and suggestions.
Coach and mentor effectively.
Concern themselves about the well-being of their team.
Lead by example.
Explain how future organizational plans affect them and their team.
Manage disagreements professionally.
Measure performance fairly.
Recognize the importance of personal and family life.
Treat everyone fairly.
Care about people's development.

Give constructive feedback about job performance.

Read the Top10 Most Powerful Ways to Boost Employee Engagement

About LSA Global
Founded in 1995, LSA Global is a leading performance consulting and training firm that helps high growth technology, services, and life-science companies create a competitive advantage by powerfully aligning their culture and talent with their strategy. Learn more about getting aligned

January 1, 2016

Happy New Year wishes amidst colorful balloons

Wishing you good times, good cheer,

and a wonderful new year.

All of us at LSA Global want to thank you for your business, loyalty,

and support in 2015. Get Aligned in 2016!

Top 10 Blog Posts for 2015

Be Smart...Some Revenue Is 10x Better than Others.
Revenue is revenue is revenue, right? Not really. Solution selling training programs find that some revenue is better than others because it holds more promise and security for the future. Here is the revenue you should aim for.
The Optimum Frequency for Employee Engagement Surveys to Get 5x Greater Results.
Employee engagement training organizations like ours that measure employee engagement annually see stronger improvements to engagement than those that survey less frequently. Read about why.
Do Not Set Your New Managers Up to Fail - Give Them Time to Learn Before They Lead.
When you promote a star individual contributor to management, recognize that many of the traits that fostered high performance in one role do not necessarily carry over to the next role. It is not uncommon to under-estimate and under-appreciate what it takes to successfully lead others.
Research Report on the Relationship Between Employee Engagement and Manager Effectiveness.
For decades, organizational effectiveness experts have believed that managers have an enormous influence on employee engagement and retention. While most of us would intuitively come to these conclusions, this research report offers compelling data and insights based upon surveying over half a million employees across more than 5,000 organizations every year.
Organizational Alignment: The Missing Performance Ingredient.
Leaders are being asked to do more with less, faster - and they cannot afford to miss the mark. Getting aligned means configuring the critical elements of your company to optimize short- and long-term performance. Based upon our proprietary alignment research, we know that misaligned strategy, culture and talent cause poor performance in the short-term and, in the long-term unsustainable organizational health in terms of revenue, profits, customer satisfaction and retention, employee engagement, leadership effectiveness and business performance.
When It Is Smart to Measure Training Impact.
Overall, we believe that corporate training should be undertaken only when it is relevant to the participants, their boss and the company as a whole. We also believe that training measurement should be a critical ingredient of any training initiative undertaken to change behavior and improve performance.
How to Significantly Reduce the Cost of Training.
If you want a quick way to decrease the cost of training, consider this... the majority of training does not quantifiably impact the strategic priorities of the company. Lessen the bottom line "cost" of training by eliminating any training that does not provide measurable business value and impact.
Sales Presentation Tools to Convert Your Audience from Negative to Positive.
Have you ever faced an audience that was predisposed to just the opposite of your proposal or viewpoint? It can be very uncomfortable. Convincing people to do what they don't want to do can feel like an impossible challenge. But sales presentation training offers a few tools to disarm a negative audience and thoughtfully convert them to your way of thinking or at least to consider a more broad perspective.
Four Training Assessment Warning Signs to Avoid at All Costs.
Too many well-intentioned companies undertake surveys without a solid and implementable plan to take action in a way that makes sense compared to all of the other priorities on their plate. Too many employee engagement survey results and skill assessments languish on the shelf before meaningful action is taken. No wonder so many groan at the mere thought of taking another survey. This phenomenon even has a name at many companies - "Survey Fatigue." It does not mean that people are tired of taking surveys. It means that they are weary of taking surveys that do not matter.
The Value of Scenario-Based Training.
Getting a pilot's license used to involve simply showing your flight instructor that you could follow the steps to get from A to B. If you mastered the individual tasks required to take off, maneuver through the flight pattern and land safely, you were OK'd for your solo and the ultimate test of competency. Now, however, flight schools have realized that better training involves understanding not just what to do but why you do it. This is the value of scenario-based training. And corporate universities should pay attention.