Monthly Archives: June 2013

Wellness Programs in the Workplace by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC

In the past month I interviewed my Alliance Partner who spoke about the importance of having wellness programs in the workplace.  I am highlighting the most important points we covered during our interviews in this week’s blog.

Here are a few statistics:

60% of Canadian adults spend their entire workday seated, and 56% are classified as “Physically inactive.”

The majority of Canadian adults (over 15 million) spend half their waking hours at work – this does not include the time they spend commuting.

It is no wonder employees suffer increased depression, osteoporosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and heart disease.

There is also the impact on the organization:

• Increased disability payments & higher workers compensation claims
• Decreased productivity
• Increased absenteeism
• Poor employee satisfaction

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada – Healthy Living Unit:

• Physical activity can reduce the risk of colon cancer by as much as 50 percent.
• Regular physical activity reduces the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and coronary heart disease – the latter by as much as 50 percent.
• Physical activity can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 50 percent. Diabetes is a complicating factor in heart disease and stroke.
• The risk of osteoporosis is reduced through regular physical activity during childhood and adolescence and there is also evidence for maintenance of bone mass through physical activity and calcium supplementation in adulthood.
• Regular physical activity improves function and relieves symptoms among people with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In many cases, fewer medications are then necessary.
• There is evidence that persons who are overweight can reduce their risk of disease by being active and fit

There are many benefits of offering a work wellness program including a positive return-on-investment, some of these include:

• Reduced costs of healthcare
• Improved morale, stamina and overall well being
• Improved self image
• Reduces stress levels and more employee engagement
• Improved productivity
• Reduced absenteeism
• Improved teamwork and employee relations
• Reduced costs of recruiting
• Reduced illness and workplace injuries

eMail Communication-Short, Sweet and to the Point by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC

 I am always interested in learning new and effective ways to do things.  I recently listened to a webinar that one of my alliance partners participated in and learned that our emails for the most part are too long.  He recommended that writing our email messages between three to five sentences only. 

I took a few minutes to review the emails that I sent in the past week.  Only a very small percentage of them are fives sentences or less.  What about you?  How long are your emails?

I am going to review all my emails in the future and keep to fives sentences or less, whenever possible. He also suggested we include hyperlinks and postscripts if we have more information to share.

From my own experience I have also learned to only make one request in an email.  In the past I have sent an email requesting two or three pieces of information and I usually only get the first request. Then there is a lot of back and forth emails following up, creating a lot of unnecessary activity.  I can see now if I had kept to the five sentences or less rule I would have only included one request per email.  It will also make any follow up and communication trail easier to follow.

Here are nine tips to remember when writing emails:

 1.    What is the purpose of the email?

Do you want to share information, ask a question or do you want the recipient to take a specific action?  The clearer your message and intent is the better the chances are of getting the result

2.    Get to the point quickly.

Follow the above recommendation and keep the email under fives sentences.  Use simple language the most people understand.  Write like you talk, use a conversational tone.

3.    If you want the recipient to take action, be clear on expectations

Be sure to clearly outline the benefits to the recipient for taking the action you are requesting.  Structure your email from their perspective.

4.    Just the facts, Just the facts

Often people include unnecessary details in their emails.  Only include the information that is pertinent.  Think about what you would only include if you were texting someone.

5.    Only give genuine compliments

If you are giving someone a compliment or an acknowledgement, By rambling on and on too much it can be read as inauthentic.

6.    Be Personable and Friendly

Your email should include the person’s name and depending on your relationship with the recipient you can include a friendly comment.

7.    All Links are working

If you are including any links, make sure they are functioning.

8.    Signatures

Include a signature, with name of company, contact information and website addresses for professional emails.  This is particularly important for first time contact. Once you have started communication with someone your full signature is not necessary as long as it can be found in the email trail.

9.    Easy to read

The font and formatting make a big difference in how you will be perceived. Use bolding and italics sparingly to only emphasis important points. Be sure to use standard colours as different monitors could display odd colours differently.

 Making the Shift from Manager to Coach by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC (Part Two)

Profile and Characteristics of an Effective Sales Coach

1.    Walk your talk – model the behaviour you want to see in others

2.    Follow your heart, not your head in a coaching session (ie: not just asking from a list of questions)

3.    Know when to give them the answer (sometimes they do need you to tell them)

4.    Develop our own coaching style and be consistent

5.    Be willing to give up your own agenda

 Masterful Coaching Principles

1.    Embrace fear

2.    Be present – get out of your own head

3.    Coach from an agenda-free space and detach from the outcome

4.    Be accountable for the message and what the other person is hearing (own your communication and adjust if needed)

5.    Be driven by the process rather than the results (execute the process which produces the results)

6.    Coach for new possibilities versus expectations – subtle but powerful difference

a.    Possibility – something that may exist or what could happen – creating opportunities that didn’t exist or were not visible before

b.    Expectation – rigid agenda with a specific outcome leaving no room for creativity

Erickson Fundamentals

1.    Okayness principle – people are OKAY – there is nothing wrong

2.    People already have all the resources to be successful

3.    Behind every behaviour there is a positive intention

4.    People always make the best choice available to them

5.    Change is not only possible, but inevitable

Don’t Believe Everything They Say

Often Client Representatives have a number of ways to justify their behaviour, performance and circumstances.

·         Stories

·         Beliefs

·         Mindset

·         Assumptions

·         Past experiences

·         Blind spots

·         Values

Everything will come back to “Reasons or Results” – the choices made in the moment.  Effective coaching coaches the person on the relationship to their stories, beliefs to uncover what is really going on.

The 80/20 Rule on Coaching Questions

During any true coaching session, the salesperson should be doing 80% of the talking, and the sales coach should be doing 20%.  A well crafted question can cause a tremendous breakthrough when coaching someone.  Asking questions is an art form.  When you give people the space to digest the right questions, you will open up to new possibilities that neither you nor your Client Representatives have ever experienced before.

What Exactly Can You Coach?

1.    The Who – values, passion, standards, boundaries, integrity

2.    The Attitude – beliefs, mindset, philosophy, outlook and assumptions

3.    The Lesson – What have they learned? Why are the same lessons repeating themselves?  Are they getting it?

4.    The Ideal Characteristics – the ideal qualities you have defined that encompass a sales leader or manager. (Extroverted, actionable, curious, organized, strong integrity and presence, knowledgeable, comfortable disposition, smart, responsiveness etc).

5.    The Skill– Is there any missing discipline or one that needs further development?

6.    The Activity– Are they engaging activities that support their goals?

7.    The Strategy – How do they plan to achieve the intended result?  What resources are needed?

8.    The Commitment– Observe their energy level, consistency, enthusiasm and motivation.

9.    The Communication – The language, dialogue or communication regarding style, deliver, presence and disposition.

10.  The Relationships– The relationships they have with intangible concepts and feelings as well as their stories, beliefs, mindset etc.

According to the Gallop Organization, “Only 20% of employees working in large organizations feel their strengths are in play every day – that means most organizations operate at 20% of their potential and capacity.”

Making the Shift from Manager to Coach by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC (Part One)

For the most part managers today spend a great deal of their time managing projects, data, processes, troubleshooting, problems and information.  Although the usual job description would state that managers manage people, this is often not the case. When managers move to a coaching model it gives Sales Representatives the opportunity to generate their own insights, solutions and possibilities that will have them drive their results.  It is an advise free conversation and process of discovery.  Coaching is based on the belief that the question is the answer.

What is Sales Coaching?

Coaching is a process of inquiry that is interactive and collaborative.  Coaching builds accountability when it is performed in a safe environment for people to honour their commitments.

Coaching helps tap into a person’s unused strengths and talents that advances their personal growth and learning.  Coaching helps people discover their personal best.

Effective sales coaching is a co-creation without attachment and wanting more for your sales people than they want for themselves.  Coaching is about the sales person not the coach. If you find yourself thinking about or using the word “I” a lot while you are coaching – it has become about you.  Sometimes new coaches make it about themselves and wanting to “do it right.”

Often new coaches are so committed to providing results they give the person the answers prematurely.  Give the sales person the space they need to arrive at their own conclusion.  Sometimes just listening is a powerful coaching process and may be all that is needed. Providing a safe place during a coaching session where the sales person can talk freely and openly without feeling vulnerable is one of the most powerful coaching strategies.

Coaching Sales Representatives is about what they want for themselves more that what you want for them.  People unintentionally lie to themselves and believe the lies to be true. 

Sometimes people are afraid to admit they don’t have the skills. Good coaches need to constantly gauge the resistance level, if pushed too hard Sales Representatives will either shutdown or push back.

Finding out what the salesperson’s expectations are from the coaching, the value they expect and how they would like to be coached will greatly impact the results.

Once the sales manager takes full accountability for themselves as well as their team members, they will then be able to empower others to be fully accountable for themselves.

Making your people right, even when they are wrong makes a huge impact on their productivity and attitudes.  To see the rightness in Sales Representatives, you must believe that people are doing the best they can at any given moment.  If their best doesn’t meet your standards, you always have the choice to make changes.

Managers may think they don’t always have time to coach their Sales Representatives, but think about the things that are taking you away from coaching and meeting with your Sales  Representatives in the first place. Coaching is about having the Sales Representatives grow on their own.  Questions broaden their peripheral vision so they can best respond to the events or things that are coming at the.  Ask your Sales Representatives how they want to be coached. Three fundamental rules of sales coaching:

1.    Let your Sales Representatives do all the work.

2.    Let your Sales Representatives do all the work.

3.      See rules one and two and let your Sales Representatives do all the work.