October 10, 2007

May not be reprinted without the consent of Sue Miller

Contact: Sue@suemillerpresentations.com

WORKPLACE WISDOM NEWSLETTER

TREMORS IN THE WORKPLACE

Workplace DISENGAGEMENT costs $300 billion annually.

Low employee ENGAGEMENT scores lead to poor business results.

Engagement is a new buzzword for being fully committed to and interested in what is going

on around you. It comes from the word that we traditionally know as “engaged” – that we are

“committed to something or someone”.

When employees are not engaged, they are not truly interested in their work or the company

results. They are just "bodies in chairs" – with little care, and certainly NO PASSION,

for whether the company reaches its goals or not.

WHAT do disengaged employees do?

Employees who are not fully engaged in their work find it quite appropriate to chase down other

jobs, surf the internet for pleasure, or abuse company time in other non-productive ways. It's

okay. It's no big deal.

Is it a "big deal"?

The costs are staggering in loss of production - like, $300 billion! In my workshops, I remind

participants of an agreement we all made with an employer: “When you signed an agreement

to work for the company (or client), you BOTH agreed to the following terms: YOU would

bring 100% of your talent to the job and THE COMPANY (or Client) would pay you 100% of

your money in exchange.”

WHEN would an employee be disengaged?

Here’s something to think about: In the agreement, the company HAS TO KEEP its side of

the bargain (if they didn’t pay you, you would freak out!). However, ONLY YOU know if

you are KEEPING YOUR SIDE of the bargain. You might be bringing only 50%, 75% or 90%

of your talent - maybe you're not even close to delivering 100% of your talent. The

company doesn’t know. Only YOU know.

I encourage you to make every effort to be 100% engaged.

It’s the ethical thing to do.

WHY are the statistics of DISENGAGEMENT in the workplace so

staggering?

• Talented employees are misplaced: We put the right talent in the wrong job.

• Managers are given no interviewing skills training.

• Managers are mismanaging individuals; only 32% of managers receive management

skills training.

October 10, 2007

May not be reprinted without the consent of Sue Miller

Contact: Sue@suemillerpresentations.com

• Managers are lacking in communication skills and interpersonal skills. They need

training!

• Talented employees aren’t being allowed meaningful time to balance family life.

• Talented employees don’t feel significant to the organization.

• Talented employees see no way to grow their careers.

• The are poor conditions and quality of life at the company.

WHAT IS MORE COSTLY than disengagement?

TURNOVER

What does it cost to lose one good employee? More than you think!

We know that replacement costs for one employee will run between

30%-150% of the annual salary for BOTH hourly and salaried workers.

It is difficult to explain these lost dollars to shareholders.

So, quite often, companies simply don’t make the attempt to explain!

Who is proud of it? No one! We just call it “production costs” or “labor costs”.

Somewhere, hidden in facts and figures....

we see OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT.

• We fail to retain quality workers. Nationwide we have a turnover rate of 12%.

• We fail to train managers how to interview. 72% of managers say they're

never trained to interview.

• We fail to hire the right people for the right job. 86% of managers say they hire

people they like rather than what the job requires.

• We fail to train supervisors and managers. Managers MUST have people skills,

communication and leadership skills.

More than $56 billion is spent by U.S. companies on training programs and services – and

36% of that will be on leadership development in 2007. (executive, managerial, and

supervisory).

WHERE is the problem originating?

The workplace will lose 77 million people in the next few years.

The replacement troops? They only number 44 million.

A shortage of workplace talent is a critical issue creeping into our economy. As 77 million babyboomers

retire in the next few years, the shortage of mid-level and senior managers, along with

executive leadership, will rock the core of the entire American workplace.

Baby-boomers, currently holding senior workplace positions, will take with them: key contacts,

savvy ways of doing business, experience and client history, and product knowledge. There is no

way the next generation of leadership can fill ALL OF THE 77 MILLION empty chairs.

The biggest problem that companies face today is an acute leadership

shortage.

I’m not talking about titles.

October 10, 2007

May not be reprinted without the consent of Sue Miller

Contact: Sue@suemillerpresentations.com

I’m talking about people-oriented, considerate, influential leaders who are

able to get people to follow them because the workers have a DESIRE to do

so!

We’re short of these folks. We need them to create an engaged workforce.

So, in essence, the summary of this message is:

1. Let's put the right people in the right jobs so they'll be productive.

2. Let's develop managers who can keep employees engaged. (Train

them!)

3. Let's develop leaders who are ethical and can lead people. (Find and

train them!)