Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business

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Keeping the People Who Keep You in BusinessKeeping the People Who Keep You in Business: 24 Ways to Hang on to Your Most Valuable Talent
by Leigh Branham

When you see a number of business authors addressing the same issue, you can be certain that the subject matter is more than likely timely and relevant to a wide audience. So it is with talent wars. In this book, employee-retention expert Leigh Branham explains what talented employees want more than money. He then goes a step further by shedding a great deal of light on what we can do to create an environment and a reward system that make key employees want to stay with us.

The author offers battle-fatigued managers a plan for victory in the rapidly growing war for talent. Critical to his plan are 24 compelling strategies for keeping good employees. He breaks the strategies into four key areas. Most retention books focus on the first two keys as they are certainly critical as well as challenging. The first key is: (1) Be a company that people want to work for. Many authors use the term “Employer of Choice” to say the same thing. The second key is also the focus of many authors: (2) Select the right people in the first place. This sounds like a simple and obvious step in any process. However, many companies fall short in their efforts at this point.

Branham’s last two keys are seldom mentioned in other books even though they are indeed critical to the process of keeping your best people. It’s refreshing to see an author address both areas in great detail. They include: (3) Get them off to a great start and (4) Coach and reward to sustain commitment. In addition, Branham identifies dozens of companies with outstanding retention programs and provides hundreds of examples of what these companies are doing to hang on to their most productive people.

Filled with guidelines, models, and planning aids, this book is a must for managers searching for ways to retain the people who are priceless to their organization’s success. It’s an easy, interesting read that belongs on your book shelf. You’ll find yourself going back to it time and time again.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Longaberger

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LongabergerLongaberger: An American Success Story
by Dave Longaberger

“They” say you should never judge a book by its cover. “They” are not always right. In this case, it’s just the opposite. At first glance, you see a picture of what looks like a picnic basket covering 2/3 of the cover. Upon close examination, you see what appears to be miniature people and trees around the base of the basket, and you realize that this is actually a picture of Longaberger’s seven-story office building created in the precise form of its trademark classic Market Basket! Scores of readers have seen pictures of this one-of-a-kind structure in leading magazines, newspapers, and television stories, while others have taken advantage of the daily tours which attract 25 to 30 busloads of curious visitors a day during busy season. This unique cover is just a sample of the remarkable story you’ll find in the pages of this American success story.

Dave Longaberger is no longer with us. He passed away in 1999. However, after reading this book, I can easily visualize him joyously weaving away in that Great Basket in the Sky as he keeps a loving eye on his 8,700 employees and 70,000+ independent sales associates across the U.S.

Dave reminds me a lot of Walt Disney—a remarkable entrepreneur with a unique vision, unorthodox business methods, and a rare belief in people, resulting in the creation of one of the largest and most successful private companies in America. He never went to college or took a business-training course. From a bare-bones beginning with a handful of part-time employees in 1972, Dave created a sprawling campus of office facilities, production plants where basket makers create more than 40,000 high-quality baskets every day, and tourist attractions in and around central Ohio.

Dave’s dedication, tenacity, and rare people skills combined to produce the privately-owned company which currently thrives to the tune of $1 billion in sales under the leadership of President and CEO Tami Longaberger. This organization screams of “Employer of Choice,” and you’ll certainly understand why when you learn the 18 management principles on which Dave built this empire.

This inspiring story of family tradition and pride will keep you riveted from cover to cover. This story is a must-read for anyone seeking inspiration, education, and a great story!

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Customer Once, Client Forever

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Customer Once, Client ForeverCustomer Once, Client Forever: 12 Tools for Building Lifetime Business Relationships
by Richard Buckingham

This author, best known for co-authoring Customers for Life, makes several observations that should make you seriously consider your current state of customer service. For instance, he points out that: “In a rapidly changing business world, what was once excellent service is now commonplace. The customer service bar is constantly being raised, and if you are not improving daily, you’re falling behind.” As customers, we immediately agree with his statement remembering a recent episode of poor service we may have received. However, review his statement as a representative (owner, CEO, manager, or employee) of an organization providing service and you may feel differently. Are you improving daily or are you falling behind? It’s one or the other! If you hesitate or cringe at this point, you need to read this book!

Buckingham puts you to work from cover to cover with this book. He tells you what steps you need to take to convert a one-time customer into a lifetime client. He presents the necessary steps businesses should take in order to ensure that their clients keep coming back. He offers his strategies as 12 tools, each one building on the one before it. It’s a guide to being the best at customer service, with an emphasis on fostering repeat business and customer referrals.

He puts you to work in several ways.

  1. He offers margin notes focusing on the dominant thoughts of each page.
  2. He provides chapter-ending checklists of “Things to Do on Monday Morning.”
  3. He offers thought-provoking “Questions for You.”
  4. He provides true stories that illustrate the principles of excellent customer service.
  5. He’s created useful worksheets to help you plan your strategy for achieving lifetime clients.

Tired yet? No? Then read on and learn more about bringing clients and companies together.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Customer Winback

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Customer WinbackCustomer Winback: How to Recapture Lost Customers—And Keep Them Loyal
by Jill Griffin and Michael W. Lowenstein

Here we find 300+ pages dedicated to an unusual approach to the subject of customers and their contribution to your success as an organization. It’s interesting how many companies will spend an enormous amount of money, time, and energy to attract new customers while investing little or, more often, nothing in retention or win-back. That’s baffling when you consider the fact that vigilante customers are leaving in droves every day and they are very expensive to replace. Too many companies consider these customers as a lost cause and therefore make no attempts to discover why they left or to win them back.

With the average company losing 20% to 40% of its customers every year (for Web-based companies defection rates are substantially higher), it’s imperative that firms create focused strategies for retention and win-back in addition to their acquisition efforts. The authors provide you with step-by-step solutions for winning back lost customers, saving customers on the brink of defection, and making your firm defection proof. This pragmatic guide is brimming with savvy methods and detailed case studies that show you in real-world detail how to turn lost customers into gold!

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Ultimate Business Library

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The Ultimate Business LibraryThe Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books That Shaped Management Thinking (Ultimate Business Series)
by Stuart Crainer

Here is a Business Library for your business library. In 323 pages, you’ll find a one-stop guide that provides succinct, insightful summaries of 50 books that have changed the business world—broken new ground, set new standards, or revolutionized old, entrenched concepts.

Of the thousands of business books which have been published over the past century, do you know which ones represent truly breakthrough thinking? Do you know who created these landmark concepts: reengineering, discontinuous change, scientific management, satisfying the customer? This unique collection provides a complete overview of the art of management.

The summaries are written in a crisp, lively style that helps clarify the concepts of the original works, no matter what time period they are from. In addition, Gary Hamel, another noted author, has written a brief commentary on each book. His illuminating insights provide context to help us understand the place of each book in business history.

In addition to the “top 50,” the book also includes mini-descriptions of 50 “runners-up”—other management books that have had significant impact. This is a book full of ideas—and an idea can cause a revolution. The Ultimate Business Library is the best way to get up to speed on important business ideas. It might even inspire you to create some breakthrough ideas of your own!

You’ll wear the book cover off this gem!

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Change Monster

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The Change MonsterThe Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change
by Jeanie Daniel Duck

Can you remember a time in the workplace when we haven’t been discussing the subject of change and how we must adapt to it if we are to survive? You’d think by now we’d not only accept the fact that change is constant, but we’d be experts in adapting to it. That, however, has yet to happen. So, let’s add another change metaphor to the ever-growing list. We’ve recently been informed that change is cheese, five frogs on a log, and even a rampaging river. This author, a senior vice-president at Boston Consulting Group, once likened managing change to balancing a mobile. In this book, she identifies change as a monster. She uses this term to describe the unpredictable “human issues that swirl around change.”

It is Duck’s contention that corporate transformations fail not because of operational tasks or systems but because of emotional factors and social issues. To understand and control the monster, Duck devised the “change curve” to represent the five phases of change: stagnation, preparation, implementation, determination, and fruition. As she goes in depth about each stage, the author illustrates her explanation with personal examples from her experiences as an organizational consultant. Duck explains that each company’s experience along the curve will vary; the phases, though, will always remain the same. She then uses examples to illustrate successes and difficulties in negotiating the curve.

The Change Monster is a tough-minded but compassionate book about leadership when major changes are demanded: after a merger, when profits are falling, or markets are being lost. It is also about the discipline and kindness it takes to get the people who report to and depend on you to confront their fears and move on to a new agenda, strategy, or company.

Though targeted at the change-management drivers of the business world, The Change Monster is infused with a sense of the effects of change in all areas of life. This book is a reminder, through stories and anecdotes, of the essentials of the heart and mind that provide the basis for leadership. It also offers warnings that probably will be heeded only after they have been ignored.

Duck is very clear about this and the steps it takes to be successful. She pares away the jargon, excuses and finger pointing this subject engenders and leaves us with an understandable and inspiring map of the territory. Refreshing and to the point, Duck offers corporate leaders uncommon business advice in this evolving age of bricks-and-clicks.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork

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The 17 Indisputable Laws of TeamworkThe 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team
by John C. Maxwell

Known as America’s expert on leadership, John C. Maxwell has authored more than 25 books including bestsellers The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, Failing Forward, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Those of you who are familiar with this author can look forward to another inspirational masterpiece that will leave you eager to dive into and enjoy the process of team-building.

It had to happen sooner or later. The author offers a companion website, designed to go hand-in-hand with his book in order to enhance and complete our learning experience. You simply read a chapter, apply what you learn by following the suggestions at the end of that chapter, and then log on to the free interactive assessment. It will help you gauge your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to teamwork. There you will also find recommendations for ways to further your personal and professional development.

The format of the book will be familiar to those who have read Dr. Maxwell’s excellent leadership books. In this case, there are 17 laws, with each one being comprised of additional elements. Each law has one or two overriding examples, and then many small examples … usually one for each subpoint. At the end of each law’s section, you have questions to answer and assignments to do. This aspect of the book is like having a workbook to help you begin to apply the lessons to your own situation.

In his trademark, easy-to-get-it approach, Dr. Maxwell demystifies the process of building a winning team, making it simple to grasp, retain, and put into practice. He’s invested a great deal of time and effort to identify these 17 Laws of Teamwork. He says: “The wonderful thing about a law is that you can depend on it. No matter who you are, what your background is, or what circumstances you face, you can take these laws to the bank.” You’ll enjoy this one, it’s going to become a classic. Be sure to share it with others on your team.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Terms of Engagement

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Terms of EngagementTerms of Engagement: Changing the Way We Change Organizations
by Richard H. Axelrod

For decades, organizations have been preaching the need for change. Fast Company chose this subject as a recent cover story for its rapidly growing readership. Everything in our lives seems to be changing on a regular basis—including the way we manage change. The change management paradigm first appeared 20 years ago and was hailed as revolutionary at that time. Today, the entire field of organizational change is undergoing a massive revolution.

Author Richard Axelrod, a pioneer in the field of change management, points out that leader-driven change may have worked well in times past but obviously falls short in today’s technology-driven workplace. He doesn’t stop at critiquing conventional change management programs. He recommends a four-aspect change model, the Engagement Paradigm, designed to overcome communication stalls and mis-communications.

This new approach provides a basis for change that truly involves the entire organization. Four essential new principles make the difference:

  1. Widen the circle of involvement,
  2. Connect people to each other and ideas,
  3. Create communities for action, and
  4. Practice democratic principles.

Axelrod provides excellent examples from such companies as Hewlett-Packard, First Union Bank, Mercy Healthcare, and others. He explains how these four principles enable leaders to create energy and commitment rather than apathy and resistance. Recognizing the potential for misapplication, he also shows how engagement can disengage, and identifies potential pitfalls to avoid.

This practical guide offers innovative, practical guidance for bringing the entire organization to the level of engagement vital to successful change outcomes.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Influence Edge

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The Influence EdgeThe Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals
by Alan A. Vengel

If you’re looking for a good read that allows you to sit back, relax, read, absorb content and assume that the author’s advice will work when the time comes—look elsewhere! While this is definitely a good read, the author made certain you were going to accompany him on this learning journey!

Old-school, top-down chain-of-command hierarchies are obsolete, fast giving way to networked, team-oriented organizations. To be successful in this new environment, the ability to influence others is essential. This book is a direct, step-by-step, clear and concise guide to this artful skill.

Organized as a workbook—with two dozen forms, tools and exercises and illustrated throughout with all-too-familiar real-life scenarios—The Influence Edge explains what really goes on under the surface in everyday relationships.

The interactive format of the book allows you to learn the concepts and, more importantly, actually practice the crucial techniques before you return to the workplace and put your ideas on the line.

Today’s workplace demands much of those who pursue success. You must build alliances, interact with a variety of personalities from a position of little or no direct authority, create and maintain long-term rapport with difficult people, and develop special influence tactics that are essential to getting your job done.

The author, Alan A. Vengel, draws on his consulting work with executives and managers in hundreds of major corporations in a wide variety of industries to provide you with the essential elements of influence to survive in today’s competitive workplace.

Vengel shares the interesting concept of “push-pull energy,” the idea that that there are two very different ways of influencing people and that you need to know when and how to use each one, or when it’s best to combine the two. It’s a subtle concept but the exercises throughout the book show you how to use it to design a very sophisticated and effective influence strategy.

If you want to accomplish your workplace goals, you’re going to have to build long-lasting rapport with a variety of personalities. This book should be your first step in that critical journey.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Get Weird!

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Get Weird!Get Weird! 101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work
by John Putzier

Here we go again! Cute title, large number of suggestions, but same bottom line message … you’d better start concentrating on how to make your company a great place to work. If you don’t, your employees will find such a place elsewhere. Workplace performance expert, John Putzier, offers a goldmine of ideas for attracting and retaining the best talent available.

He has managed to compile an incredible array of unusual yet theoretically sounds tips, tools, and techniques for today’s managers. The majority of his ideas are fast, easy to implement, inexpensive, and very unique.

By changing the very tone and culture of your company, you can enhance employee morale, creative thinking and productivity—thus creating that magnetic environment that will attract and retain today’s most productive talent.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 7.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.