Yesterday Jennifer spoke at the Relevancy Revolution Tour Stop #1 in Jacksonville Florida. Other Speakers at the Relevancy Revolution Tour included Bob Burg, Ridgely Goldsborough, Jon Gordon, Willie Jolley, Marissa Levin, Ron Zook, and Governor Rick Scott. Jennifer spoke about “The Key to Superior Performance” and if you missed it, you missed something good. You can download her presentation by clicking here.

Dear Friends of CHS,

We would like to thank you again for your past duck purchases at the Mid-Florida Duck Derby. It is that time again…your chance to win $1,000! All our Rubber Ducks are training for the big day! Please visit www.chsDuckDerby.org to purchase your ducks. Also, pass on the below message to all your friends and family.

You’re Invited!
Children’s Home Society of Florida presents:

Mid-Florida Duck Derby
Saturday May 12, 2012
11a.m. to 3p.m.
Tuscawilla Park in Ocala, Florida

Many children in our community are victims of abuse and neglect, and many more are at risk of the same fate. The Children’s Home Society of Florida focus on saving these children and their families.

Be part of the solution, by helping to further promote awareness and raise funding for children in your community. For a $5 donation, you can ‘adopt a duck’ for the day, and have a chance to win great prizes including $1000 cash! You don’t even have to be present to win! Visit www.CHSDuckDerby.org today.

Also, you can help by attending the event to show your support of Children’s Home Society of Florida. The Duck Derby is a fun, family-friendly event guaranteed to be a quackin’ good time. Featuring vendors, food, activities, and of course a rubber ducky race, there is sure to be entertainment for all.

We sincerely hope you will help us continue our battle to eliminate abuse and neglect for more and more children. If you have questions or want to buy ducks, please visit www.chsduckderby.org or call Julie Riegler at (352) 386-7204.

This past Thursday night in New York City, The Edison Awards were bestowed upon the best and brightest innovators and innovations in the country. Recognized among them were Bill and Ron Bonnstetter and TTI, whose research and Performance DNA assessment enabled The Kern Family Foundation to spearhead a nationwide effort to improve the graduation rates of college engineering students.

Click here to read more.

Jennifer’s article “Attributes of a Top Administrative Assistant” has been featured in the April 2012 edition of Better Business Focus magazine.

Visit Jen’s Blog to read more.

Attributes of a Top Administrative Assistant was recently published in the April 2012 edition of Better Business Focus magazine.

It always has been a little ambiguous to figure out what exactly makes a top-notch Administrative Assistant – especially when you are looking to hire help for the first time. Well-Run Concepts has been conducting research to quantify what is needed in the position of Administrative Assistant today – using a comprehensive, validated, step-by- step process to determine what is needed for top performance.

This article summarizes our findings to date and here is what we found. Whether you are self- employed and just looking for a little outside help, or working for a big corporation and searching for your next assistant, these tips will help with your hire.

Results Orientation

A good administrative assistant has the ability to identify actions necessary to complete tasks and obtain results. They:

• maintain FOCUS on goals.
• identify and acts on removing potential OBSTACLES to successful goal attainment.
• implement thorough and effective PLANS and apply appropriate resources to produce desired results.

Self-Management

An outstanding administrative assistant has the ability to prioritize and complete tasks in order to deliver desired outcomes within allotted time frames. They:

• independently pursue business objectives in an organized and EFFICIENT manner.
• prioritize activities as necessary to meet job responsibilities.
• maintain required level of activity toward achieving goals without direct SUPERVISION
• minimize work flow DISRUPTIONS and time wasters to complete high quality work within a specified time frame.

Goal Achievement

Your best choice for an Administrative Assistant has the overall ability to set, pursue and attain achievable goals. They:

• establish goals that are relevant, realistic, and ATTAINABLE.
• identify and IMPLEMENT required plans and milestones to achieve specific business goals.
• INITIATE activity toward goals without unnecessary delay.
• stay on TARGET to complete goals regardless of obstacles or adverse circumstances.

Personal Accountability

A high-quality administrative assistant will have the capacity to be answerable for personal actions. They:

• accept personal RESPONSIBILITY for the consequences of personal actions.
• avoid placing unnecessary BLAME on others.
• maintain personal COMMITMENT to objectives regardless of the success or failure of personal decisions.
• apply personal lessons learned from past failures to move FORWARD in achieving future successes.

Flexibility

A good administrative assistant has the ability to readily modify, respond to and integrate change
with minimal personal resistance. They:

• ADAPT effectively to changing plans and priorities.
• demonstrate the capacity to handle MULTIPLE tasks at one time.
• deal comfortably with AMBIGUITY.
• adjust preset plans as necessary with minimal RESISTANCE.

Resiliency

An exceptional administrative assistant has the ability to quickly recover from adversity. They:

• continue toward goals in the face of difficulty and ADVERSITY.
• handle CRITICISM and rejection from others with objectivity.
• recover quickly from personal SETBACKS.
• move past unforeseen OBSTACLES without unnecessary delay.

Self-Starting

A quality administrative assistant has the ability to initiate and sustain momentum without external stimulation. They:

• INITIATE relevant activities toward achieving business goals.
• independently complete projects and produces desired RESULTS
• require little or no SUPERVISION to stay focused on necessary activities
• readily identify and pursue business OPPORTUNITIES without outside direction.

© Copyright, C. Zamecki

Click here to view the full magazine

Certified Professional TriMetrix HD Analyst (CPHDA)

This two-year certification required the successful completion of a Two Day In Person TTI TriMetrix HD Training to test her knowledge of TriMetrix HD and the application of TriMetrix HD knowledge based on TTI’s TriMetrix® HD instrument. What she learned is further knowledge of The six dimensions of Robert S. Hartman’s theory of Axiology and how they relate to the TTI Dimensional Balance page.
How to interpret TTI Acumen Capacity Index (ACI) results, including the reliability, bias and clarity scores, as well as the 25 Hartman Dimensions.
How to analyze the combination of DISC, Values and Acumen and Competencies in a TTI TriMetrix HD report

What would a job say to us about superior performance if it could talk? Would it tell us both what hard and soft skills we would need for top performance? Would it describe the necessary behaviors? How about what attitudes or values are required to excel in the position? Even IQ and EQ (Emotional Intelligence) should be discussed.

We all know “jobs” can’t talk… but we can talk to superior performers in the job. The key is to know what questions to ask. The latest issue gaining attention is the difficulty of finding technical talent with “people skills”. The leading experts are strongly suggesting that organizations review all existing job descriptions and conduct a thorough job analysis on which defensible hiring decisions can be made. They are also suggesting that organizations take a good look at their needs for management skills versus leadership skills for all management positions. Today, “behavioral interviewing” is being used in the hiring process by more and more organizations.

Top management is now talking about the value of “soft skills”. Peter Drucker’s latest book is pushing “managing one’s self”. Coaching continues to grow worldwide and corporations are talking about managing human assets. Can you imagine how to manage your human assets without understanding first what truly makes a human an asset? A good start begins with benchmarking the job, not the people. Human asset management needs to be job-related, not yours or someone else’s opinion of what they think the assets are.

To benchmark a job, we must look at the job from three views: behavior, attitude and skill required. Then you can look at people currently performing these jobs to clarify the performance correlations. Only by comparing factors of the job to the same factors on people will we be able to identify the real performance issues.

The most progressive organizations have human resource strategies that call for competency-based (skill) selection and performance management systems. These organizations understand the importance of hiring the right people, placing them in the right position and managing them effectively in order to gain a competitive advantage.

One difficulty organizations have in implementing effective HR strategies is defining the selection criteria most important for performance in positions. Before an organization can design selection systems aimed at hiring top performers, they must first identify what it takes to achieve superior performance in a position. In many of today’s flatter, leaner organizations, soft skills have become at least as important, if not more important than technical skills. Look for competency-based position analysis that will help your organization define the soft skills or core competencies required for top performance.

For information on our upcoming seminars and competency assessments, please feel free to contact us.

Today’s competitive business climate calls for lots of cool tools – “assessment tools” that is! If your business has even a hope of surviving today’s labor shortage, a good place to start is enrolling the assistance of validated assessment tools. Why use them? If the high cost of turnover isn’t enough, then how about hard to fill positions. Here are a few interesting workforce 2000 statistics that illustrate the need for assessment tool applications in today’s business world:

• In 1973, 60% of jobs were blue collar. This year – only 10% are.
• In 1950, 60% of manufacturing jobs were unskilled. In 2005, 30% are unskilled. In 2012, less than 15% will be.
• New jobs being created are: 50% in service and 50% in wholesale/retail. All require interpersonal and computer skills.
• In 2012, 60% of all jobs required skills held by only 20% of the population.

What’s Your Plan? This is a strategic business problem – not a human resources hiring issue!

If every able-bodied adult started tonight on the people shortage, it would be 18 years until we saw the result. This is a trend, experts predict will continue for the next 25 years.

The #1 business question asked today is… “How do we keep talent from jumping to our competitor?” Source: Wall Street Journal. Never before has it been so imperative to focus on strategies for retaining top talent.

In a recent National SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) survey on retention, of 3,400 employees, the following was cited for the top three reasons given in seeking a better offer:

1. Open Communication = 65%
2. Opportunity to Balance Work/Life = 60%
3. Meaningful Work = 59%

Applications of assessment tools and recruiting staff training and development add to performance appraisals, team building and conflict resolution to name a few. The key to the selection process is to hire for a “best match” to the position and/or organization, not whom you like, the warm body syndrome, or who interviews best. Assessment tools keep you on track for the best possible hires.

Are you throwing away your training dollars? You might be if you are not doing a needs assessment before and after training to measure the results (such as increased efficiencies, productivity, sales, morale, etc.)

Multi-rater feedback or commonly known as 360° feedback, is a very popular addition to the performance management process. This is feedback that uses the traditional top-down approach (originating at the level of your boss) combined with feedback from your peers, subordinates, and even clients or customers.

Conflict resolution is a valuable skill needed in today’s corporate environment. Studies show that an understanding of people’s differences in communication style, behavior, attitude and values dramatically decreases conflict and stress.

There are a variety of assessment tools available on the market today to assist organizations and businesses in improving communication, retaining skilled and competent personnel, and resolving conflicts in the workplace.

• Behavioral assessments, such as the DISC model, are very popular. DISC, for example, measures behavioral style, which is the how of your communication style.
• Attitudes and Values measure the why behind the how. Attitudes and values are both driving forces behind an individual’s behaviors.
• Team assessments measure the performance of a team as opposed to the performance of the individual.
• Competency based assessments that measure the actual skills needed to perform a certain position. This type of assessment is critical in the selection process today, to guarantee that you are hiring the talent that best demonstrates the skills needed to perform the functions of the position.

There are also assessments available for industry-specific positions such as sales, retail and hospitality.

A final thought on the use of assessment tools in your organization: Please use only validated instruments with applications to your business. They should always be job and skill related. There are a variety of choices available today, from the old paper and pencil to the very high-tech web delivery systems. Choose tools that are easy to use and to interpret results… then sit back and relax… because you have made a critical step in addressing the #1 business challenge today.

* If you would like more information on proven, validated assessment tools, please feel free to contact us.

Newspaper Display Ad Sales People

• Research validated sales display sales people had a special behavioral profile and values configuration.
• This was true for different states as well as for different newspaper chains

Sales Culture for Three Different Sales Teams at the Same Company

• Research proved three different sales cultures existed within the same organization
• Helped management establish one sales culture for the entire company

Comparing Superior Sales Performance in the US and Germany

• Research concluded that values and behavioral styles are similar but not identical
• German sales people have a much higher drive for product knowledge than American sales people
• Both have strong utilitarian attitudes

Financial Sales People

• Over the years, research indicated the people with certain buying styles are better at selling intangibles.
• Values were critical to their success, and values could override the importance of behaviors

Copy Machine Sales People

• In this highly competitive industry, research confirmed that a utilitarian attitude was a must

Big Ticket Equipment Sales People

• A long sales cycle required a sales person who was persistent, analytical and detail oriented.

Nominated Superior Performers – Sales

• Their behavior and values coincided with previous research on sales people; however, they also had from 17 to 23 personal skills above average

Route Sales People

• Research validated that route sales people are the best when persistent and good at following up

Jewelry Sales People

• Top 40 sales people for one sales organization were all very strong in aesthetics followed by utilitarian

Strong Brand

• A strong brand can carry a weak sales person. In some cases, the brand can carry the entire sales force.

Words that Don’t Work

• Research indicated that sales people can turn off buyers by using words that don’t match the buyer’s decision making style.

Bill and Ron have been working diligently on various research projects and it’s paying off in the news!

Harvard Business Review recognizes TTI’s research as cutting edge. We are featured today on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network. This is the second time HBR has featured TTI and has focused on our research findings.

Check out their blog post.

Thank you for your continued support! Together, we make organizations better!

Sincerely,

Ashley Bowers
President
TTI Performance Systems, Ltd.