Managers' Corner....

People Power From Hedley Lawson’s Human Resources for the Optical Lab Owner

Your company is only as good as your people. Here are some tips on hiring, inspiring and developing your most valuable resource. Great talent acquisition involves: rigorous and continuous recruitment; selecting and hiring people who possess the requisite skills abilities and competencies; conduct consistent and professional testing; engage in broad and deep reference and background tests; and conduct pre-placement drug screening.

Once hired, fully engage and inspire your employees by conducting uniform “on-boarding” and orientation; ensure team and colleague engagement like a Buddy System; and define and communicate clear and definitive expectations.

Grow the talent of your team by developing their skills and talents. Define and refine training necessary to achieve business objectives; relentlessly upgrade your team; invest in training to achieve the next level of performance; and coach with confidence.

Book Smarts....

Whale Done!

The Power of Positive Relationships

By Ken Blanchard

Reviewed by Christie Walker

You probably can’t throw raw fish at your employees and expect them to jump through hoops, but there is a lot to be said for how the animal trainers at SeaWorld get killer whales to perform. You see, if a killer whale doesn’t want to jump up in the air and touch his nose to a red ball, there isn’t any way to force him to do so. Yelling, screaming and throwing a fit could get you eaten. So trainers had to come up with a way to get the animals to want to do the tricks.

In Whale Done! Ken Blanchard and his coauthors from SeaWorld explain how both whales and people perform better when you accentuate the positive. He shows how using the techniques of animal trainers—specifically those responsible for the killer whale training at SeaWorld—can supercharge effectiveness at work. Explaining how the process starts, Blanchard talks about how all good performance starts with clear goals, but surprisingly the boss’s goals and the employees’ understanding of those goals are two separate things.

“I sometimes ask managers to tell me their people’s goals. Then I go to the people and ask them what their goals are. When we put the two sets of goals together, they don’t even look similar. As a result, people are criticized by their bosses for not doing what they didn’t know they were supposed to do in the first place. That’s not a very effective way to manage or to be managed.”

A entertaining read by the author of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans and Gung Ho!, Whale Done! can be read in a couple hours but the benefits could have a lasting impact on how you manage your employees.

Be the first person to send a Letter to the Editor about this month’s issue of LabTalk and receive a free copy of Whale Done! Go to www.LabTalkOnline.com to send your letter.

Quotable Quote....

“I try to hear things through the ears of others, and see things through their eyes.”

Leonard Riggio, Chairman and CEO, Barnes & Noble, Inc.