Author: Jay Zaltzman

Motivating Employees

employee flowersI’ve been speaking to a lot of small business owners recently and many of them are grappling with the same problem: they want their employees to “step up” and take more responsibility so the owner won’t have to constantly be involved in the day-to-day running of the business and will be able look at bigger-picture issues like growing the company (as well as take some time off every once in a while!).

The problem is, most business owners are experts in their business but not experts when it comes to managing employees.  There’s a lot of trial and error that goes on in figuring out what works.  Here are some approaches that have worked for other small businesses:

Set clear goals
It might be obvious to you, but have you ever stopped to actually write down what you want to achieve and how you want to get there?  (By the way, that’s a big part of what coaching is all about.)  Whether or not you work with a coach, take some time to think about goals and articulate them to your employees.  Remember, they’re not mind-readers and what’s obvious to you, might not be to them!  Having a clear goal gets employees more motivated and more likely to be “on-board” with you.

Offer incentives for desired behaviors
If employees can help achieve your big goals, or reach an important milestone, it may be worthwhile (and motivating) to offer a monetary bonus.  But you may want to encourage other, more everyday behaviors, like taking responsibility for solving a customer’s problem or doing certain things proactively.  In those cases, non-cash incentives could make sense, such as recognition or extra time off or a small gift.  There are great ideas for incentives here: https://blog.bonus.ly/15-creative-employee-reward-ideas/

Take a look at your own management style
While many business owners want employees to “act like an owner,” some find it hard to let go and can’t resist jumping in and doing something because they feel they can do it better or faster.  Of course, you don’t want to stand by while an employee does a bad job, but make sure you utilize their strengths, show them you appreciate them, and help them develop into a person you can trust to do a great job even when you’re on vacation!

If you are dealing with these kinds of questions, you may want to join my Business Growth Mastermind Group.  The group will meet via web conference on Sundays for 8 weeks, starting February 10.  It will help members grow their businesses and especially focus on marketing effectively as well as hiring and developing great employees.

If you or anyone you know might be interested, please click here for more information and the curriculum.  I’m looking forward to it!

 

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

Shortcut to Success

https://pixnio.com/people/children-kids/happy-child-finds-joy#What if I told you there was a way to be happier and more successful… and it’s something everyone can do?  And what if I told you there’s science to back up my claim?

Well, after reading the book Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson (http://a.co/d/0HyX6rL), I can tell you that’s indeed the case.  Fredrickson cites a meta-analysis of nearly 300 different scientific studies of positivity, which collectively tested more than 275,000 people, and concluded that increasing positive attitudes actually causes success.

Fredrickson also provides some dramatic examples of people who turned their lives around from being depressed and “in a rut” to being happy and successful.  Positivity was even shown to bring about improvements in blood pressure, headaches and insomnia!

I recommend reading the book, but if you want to increase your positivity right now, here are some things you can do:

  • Find your positivity ratio: Go to Fredrickson’s site http://www.positivityratio.com/index.php and do the online quiz to find your ratio of positive to negative feelings.
  • Dispute negative thoughts: Pay attention to your negative thoughts and dispute them, like a lawyer would. Examine the facts.  Do they support your negative feelings?  In most cases, you’ll find your negative feelings do not have a factual basis.
  • Meditate: Fredrickson cites the Open Heart study, where positivity brought about really impressive results. The group of co-workers in the study increased their positive feelings by doing “loving-kindness meditation” on a regular basis.  See a description of loving-kindness meditation here: https://www.mindful.org/a-loving-kindness-meditation-to-boost-compassion/
  • Make gratitude a regular part of your life: It sounds corny, but study after study have shown that focusing on what you’re grateful for produces real improvements in your life.  I’ve started doing the following to fall asleep at night: I review my day and think about the things that happened that day that I’m grateful for.  Not only will you fall asleep with a smile on your face, you’ll realize that Murphy’s Law isn’t true – it just seems to be true because people focus on negative events!

I hope these steps work as well for you as they did for me.  Let me know!

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

The power of cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance describes situations where people do things that contradict their beliefs.  For example, let’s say I believe I am very careful when it comes to spending money, yet I buy an expensive car.  Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort that comes with that type of discrepancy.  Human beings look to reduce those feelings of discomfort; in this example, I would need to add a belief that resolves the contradiction.  For example, I might tell myself that the car is well-built and therefore worth the investment.  Or that it’s important that others consider me to be a successful person.

Clearly, cognitive dissonance is extremely important in marketing.  Successful marketers look to understand the different beliefs that may encourage or discourage the purchase of their products and then try to figure out how to overcome the beliefs that are getting in the way and accentuate the beliefs that will support making the purchase.

Cognitive dissonance isn’t just about getting people to overspend on luxury items.  Take charitable giving as an example: most people believe themselves to be kind and generous people, but few give to charity.  They have other beliefs that get in the way, for example, “there are so many people in need, if I gave to all of them, I’d have no money left.”  One way successful charities get people to donate is to focus on the needs of a specific person in order to counter that belief.

How can you uncover the conflicting beliefs among your customers and prospects?  If behavioral economics has taught us anything, it’s that people consider themselves rational; they don’t like to admit to any behaviors that conflict with their beliefs.  But there’s a loophole: people are happy to point out other people’s irrational behaviors!  Here’s a great exercise to reveal those conflicting beliefs and behaviors.  Ask research participants what people say about your product or service.  That will get you all the rational things participants think about it.  Then ask them what people really think about the product.  That one question does wonders at getting at the irrational beliefs people don’t want to admit to.  Note that the question is asked about “people,” so participants can feel that they’re still rational, and they’re just telling us about the thoughts of all those other irrational people.

Here’s another example: say the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) wanted to get you to attend their annual conference, which will take place in Savannah, GA from January 30 to February 1, 2019 and is open to anyone involved in the design, conduct or analysis or qualitative research.  They might find that people are worried about spending the money on the conference or that there are too many conferences out there to choose from.  The QRCA might emphasize the great line-up of speakers and how important it is to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in qualitative research to ensure you remain valuable to your clients and your internal clients.  And they might emphasize the early-bird rate of $945.  (See what I did there?  I slipped in a commercial for the QRCA conference.  You’re welcome!  And even fuller disclosure: I’m one of the speakers.  I hope to see you there!  Go to qrca.org/2019 for more information.)

Find out what causes cognitive dissonance for your customers.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Sources: Bureau West research; “The Cognitive Dissonance Hiding Behind Strong Brands,” Medium, 4/3/17

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

You’re not lazy

In the past few weeks, two different coaching clients told me they think they’re “lazy.”  And they both clearly felt that was a negative thing, almost a character flaw.  The thing is, neither of them seemed lazy to me.  And based on their past histories, they didn’t sound like lazy people.  As we talked further, I realized they weren’t lazy at all – they were just trying to force themselves to do something they really didn’t want to do.  Once they realized that was the case, they both decided to refocus their efforts on goals that fit their strengths and their values, and the “laziness” went away.  In fact, they both experienced an energy boost!

Feeling “lazy” or blocked or lethargic can be a sign to take a step back and examine what you’re doing.  Is it something you want to be doing?  Is it in pursuit of a goal you really want to achieve?

Of course, we don’t always get to do things we love to do.  Almost every job or pursuit includes some activities that are less appealing than others.  But we tend to do them since they’re in pursuit of a larger goal.   (Though it’s worth looking at ways to decrease those activities, too.  Is there another way to get the same result?  Is there someone else who could do the activity?)

I’m talking about when you feel blocked about bigger things.  Something you feel you need to be doing, but you’re not.  Ask yourself if the activity is in pursuit of a goal you really want to achieve.  If you’re not sure, you may want to take some time to consider what values are important to you and if the goal fits with your values.  (And if you need help defining your values, take a look at this article: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm).

Next, ask yourself if you have the right strengths to get the activity accomplished.  I recommend taking the VIA Character Strengths Survey (https://www.viacharacter.org/Survey/Account/Register (you’ll have to create an account, but it’s free) and take a look at your top five strengths.  If those aren’t the right strengths for the task at hand, is there a way to partner with someone who has the required strengths?  Or is there a way you can develop those strengths in yourself?

Are you feeling blocked?  Stepping back and seeing how the activity fits with your strengths and values may be the first step to getting unblocked.

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman