December Newsletter
It's the first weeks of December. That means it's time for FirstThingsFirst, the free monthly newsletter from Global Leadership & Management Resources that specifically addresses the questions leaders have about improving the performance of their companies and those they lead.
It's simple: On the first of every month, we deliver one very innovative tip, tool, or idea. You read it, learn it, and improve management and your bottom line. And don't miss our roundup of Must Read leadership articles and By-the-Numbers.
We hope you choose to continue to receive FirstThingsFirst. But if you don't want to receive another issue, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. Thanks for reading.
If you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how this publication can best fit your needs, please contact us at info@glamr.com.
How Global Helped One Week Bath Renovate 100 Bathrooms in 6 Months
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For eight years, Matt Plaskoff, founder and CEO of Plaskoff Construction, has been using DiSC as a management tool. When he began planning a new company, One Week Bath, which specializes in high-quality bathroom remodeling in you guessed it -only one week, he decided to really put DiSC to the test by turning to Global Leadership and Management Resources to help inject it into the company culture and sales process.
The results blew expectations out of the water. Employee turn over has been virtually a money saver for a startup with 30 positions and the busy company renovated over 100 bathrooms by the halfway point of 2005.
DiSC is a behavior assessment tool that provides insight into employee leadership strengths and styles. The assessment is based on the two sides of behavioral "nature” (inherent) and “nurture” (learned). DiSC examines these two behaviors in relation to four employee characteristics: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance.
Plaskoff has given DiSC to “hundreds” of employees. Here are four lessons he’s learned along the way:
Lesson #1. Create a wish list
Typically, companies create job requirements for each opening. But One Week Bath decided to use DiSC to create ideal profiles for every position within the company.
“Using Disc’s behavioral charts, we pinpoint the behavioral style we want for every employee in every position,” Plaskoff says. ”We’ve shortened the application process by targeting candidates more effectively."
Lesson #2. Trust the results
One Week Bath tests candidates and compares the results with the DiSC profile created for that particular position and can see if they’re the right fit. “We’ve learned that we need to trust the science behind DiSC,” Plaskoff says. When there’s a problem with an employee, Plaskoff usually discovers that not enough attention was paid to the DiSC results at the time of hire.
“If you consider the hiring process, training, and stabilizing new employees, a bad hire can cost $50,000 to $100,000,” Plaskoff says. “With DiSC, our turnover is virtually nil.”
Lesson #3. Build a unique culture and language
One Week Bath has each employee’s DiSC assessment taped on their office door. The benefits are amazing. Everyone knows each others behavioral and communication style and, if needed, can adapt their behavior to create a productive work environment.
“I work quickly,” Plaskoff says, “but if I’m speaking to an employee whose DiSC shows them as being more methodical, I know I need to slow down. Since that employee’s position profile asked for a methodical person, the payoff in adapting my style is usually huge.”
Lesson #4. Find the right customers
Early in the creation of One Week Baths, Plaskoff realized that he could use DiSC not only to increase efficiency within the company, but also as a stellar sales tool.
One Week Bath can recognize the behavioral styles of potential customers and its sales team can modify its behaviors and communication styles to better suit the client. “We’ve shortened our sales process and the time savings has increased revenue because we can recognize which customers are ours and which are not and know how to better communicate with all of them,” Plaskoff says.
BY-THE-NUMBERS
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It's simple: On the first of every month, we deliver one very innovative tip, tool, or idea. You read it, learn it, and improve management and your bottom line. And don't miss our roundup of Must Read leadership articles and By-the-Numbers.
We hope you choose to continue to receive FirstThingsFirst. But if you don't want to receive another issue, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. Thanks for reading.
If you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how this publication can best fit your needs, please contact us at info@glamr.com.
How Global Helped One Week Bath Renovate 100 Bathrooms in 6 Months
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For eight years, Matt Plaskoff, founder and CEO of Plaskoff Construction, has been using DiSC as a management tool. When he began planning a new company, One Week Bath, which specializes in high-quality bathroom remodeling in you guessed it -only one week, he decided to really put DiSC to the test by turning to Global Leadership and Management Resources to help inject it into the company culture and sales process.
The results blew expectations out of the water. Employee turn over has been virtually a money saver for a startup with 30 positions and the busy company renovated over 100 bathrooms by the halfway point of 2005.
DiSC is a behavior assessment tool that provides insight into employee leadership strengths and styles. The assessment is based on the two sides of behavioral "nature” (inherent) and “nurture” (learned). DiSC examines these two behaviors in relation to four employee characteristics: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance.
Plaskoff has given DiSC to “hundreds” of employees. Here are four lessons he’s learned along the way:
Lesson #1. Create a wish list
Typically, companies create job requirements for each opening. But One Week Bath decided to use DiSC to create ideal profiles for every position within the company.
“Using Disc’s behavioral charts, we pinpoint the behavioral style we want for every employee in every position,” Plaskoff says. ”We’ve shortened the application process by targeting candidates more effectively."
Lesson #2. Trust the results
One Week Bath tests candidates and compares the results with the DiSC profile created for that particular position and can see if they’re the right fit. “We’ve learned that we need to trust the science behind DiSC,” Plaskoff says. When there’s a problem with an employee, Plaskoff usually discovers that not enough attention was paid to the DiSC results at the time of hire.
“If you consider the hiring process, training, and stabilizing new employees, a bad hire can cost $50,000 to $100,000,” Plaskoff says. “With DiSC, our turnover is virtually nil.”
Lesson #3. Build a unique culture and language
One Week Bath has each employee’s DiSC assessment taped on their office door. The benefits are amazing. Everyone knows each others behavioral and communication style and, if needed, can adapt their behavior to create a productive work environment.
“I work quickly,” Plaskoff says, “but if I’m speaking to an employee whose DiSC shows them as being more methodical, I know I need to slow down. Since that employee’s position profile asked for a methodical person, the payoff in adapting my style is usually huge.”
Lesson #4. Find the right customers
Early in the creation of One Week Baths, Plaskoff realized that he could use DiSC not only to increase efficiency within the company, but also as a stellar sales tool.
One Week Bath can recognize the behavioral styles of potential customers and its sales team can modify its behaviors and communication styles to better suit the client. “We’ve shortened our sales process and the time savings has increased revenue because we can recognize which customers are ours and which are not and know how to better communicate with all of them,” Plaskoff says.
BY-THE-NUMBERS
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- Only 22% of employees in small firms (2-9 employees) are satisfied with the benefits that they receive through their employer, compared to 44% of employees in the largest companies (25,000+ employees).
- Employees who work for companies with fewer than 10,000 employees prefer to speak with someone - either HR or customer service representatives over the phone - when obtaining service on their employee benefits. Employees who work for larger companies prefer the Internet.
- Nearly half of all employers believe their benefits plan is comparable to that of their competitors, while 39% feel their plan is better.
- Nearly half (46%) of public administration employees are satisfied with their benefits, versus 20% of retail trade employees.
The Global Leadership team has been assisting leading CEO’s, Presidents and Executives in achieving goals and taking their great organizations to higher levels for more than twenty years. Hundreds of organizations have had the benefit of using Global’s tools, systems and processes to rewrite their expectations of profitability and control. Visit us online at www.glamr.com.
Thanks for reading FirstThingsFirst! If you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how this publication can best fit your needs, please contact us at info@glamr.com.
Thanks for reading FirstThingsFirst! If you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how this publication can best fit your needs, please contact us at info@glamr.com.