business coaching and training

• Would you like a more successful business?
• Would you like to decrease employee turnover?
• Would you like great communication between all departments?

The Coach Shoppe will coach companies that are facing changes in leadership and or staff. We also work with companies that want to improve there over all communication and listening skills. If you are facing any challenges in your company and want to improve overall employee satisfaction then business coaching with The Coach Shoppe is for you. Seasoned CEO’s and even new entrepreneurs need to guarantee that their employee’s feel listened to and respected. Below is an article from Kim in the Bull Dog Reporter.

5 Fundamental Principles Can Help Stem the Tide of Lost Talent

I have heard for some time now through clients and others that PR suffers from extreme “churn and burn” when it comes to retaining talent. And, I assume, little was done to stem the exodus in the past because there was always someone waiting in the wings—that next class of graduating communications majors, for example—to fill the gaps.

Well, those times are past. “The days of relying on an endless revolving door of talent are over,” confirms Karen Bloom, principal of Bloom, Gross and Associates. “Large quantities of quality talent are just not showing up to replace those that are jumping.” One reason, she explains, is that the close-knit peer groups left behind are now often tapped with an invitation to leave with their departing associate with the promise that “the grass is greener over there.”

So how can you make sure your staff finds your pastures greenest? It all starts with commitment from management to look deeper into what keeps staff motivated, engaged and on board beyond a mere mix of perks, benefits or what have you. “Companies need to offer more than barista coffee every morning and special outdoor activities to keep their folks from jumping ship,” Bloom affirms.

Here are some meaningful places to start, based on what we’ve learned works best through our leaderships and corporate coaching practice:

Focus on staff strengths.
According to Gallup, only 20 percent of employees in large organizations feel that their strengths are utilized each day. Christine Kiesling, a senior executive of a global experiential marketing agency, says strength-focused coaching helped her become more clear and articulate about her core strengths.

“It helped me focus on how to build on those strengths instead of wasting time in ad hoc areas I was not suited for,” she explains. “As a result, my leadership improved and my staff benefited.” The lesson for managers: Don’t make it a mission to focus on your or your staff’s “weaknesses” with the goal of “improving” them. Instead, communicate and manage around your and your staff’s strengths. Nobody wants to stay at a company that focuses on the negatives.

Endorse flexibility.
As Tim Ferriss explains in his increasingly popular The Four-Hour Workweek, being busy isn’t the same as productivity. He advocates that companies focus on the results employees produce and let the employees decide the logistics like where (e.g., working from home) and how much (e.g., four hours instead of eight). If results from a four-hour intensive workday accomplish the same, if not more, than a dragged out eight hour day—well, why argue?

When headhunters try to woo Andre Archimbaud, a communications executive for a leading media company, he says, “No thanks.” Why? Because he works for a company that trusts him to deliver powerful results in whatever way works for him. Having the flexibility to work from wherever he needs to create gratitude and loyalty toward his employer.

Create leaders.
To create change, you must be change. The way you listen, the way you respond to people, the way you make requests—these are all leadership opportunities (or shortfalls). Utilize the daily opportunities that come your way to be the leader you want to see in others. Instead of asking first what others aren’t or should be doing, ask what you could be doing to inspire, motivate and encourage them along the right path.

Operate with honesty.
Similarly, be open, honest and transparent. For example, why not open your next senior staff meeting up to the entire company? If the thought of that causes you to cringe, then you’ve got a problem. How do you expect things to function “out there” if it isn’t functioning “in here”?

Identify values.
Do you know the values your organization has been built upon? What exactly are values that your senior exec and team live by everyday—and how do they impact the office? Values such as integrity, openness, challenge and honesty are not just words. They are attitudes that shape how people do their jobs every day. If they are not adhered to at the senior level, then you can bet they are not adhered to company wide.

Using tools and techniques like these with our clients, we have found that powerful shifts can occur in employee satisfaction—thereby reducing staff turnover, particularly when organizations decide that it’s finally time to step up and identify their values, focus on staff strengths, operate with honesty, endorse flexibility and create leaders.

As you know, high turnover is challenging, expensive and results in poor productivity and low morale for those left behind. “The beatings will continue until morale improves,” is a funny T-shirt because it’s so darned ironic. And yet, the ultimate irony is that so many companies are continuing the beatings. Be the executive who stops them and you’ll see sure dividends in retention, despite the industry’s reputation for high turnover.