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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Ann Ruschy
August - September 2010

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How to rev up your exhausted top performers

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are the primary engine of job creation. And it’s these same companies that are the leading developers of innovative ideas and products. As we emerge from these tough times, America’s small businesses must lead the way and figure out how to effectively reengage their employees and reengineer their culture.

As executives take a close look at their companies, what they may find is far from the culture they created that fueled their impressive growth. Instead, they see a group of exhausted, disenchanted and most ominously disengaged employees. These are often the people who once generated the most innovative ideas – the ideas that kept the growth engine churning.

What’s an owner to do when employees are burned out and the company’s growth engine stops running?

Engagement is key

As with any successful turnaround, it all starts with the people.  We’ve all heard the phrase, “your people are your greatest asset.”

Enabling your best performers to reengage may take time, effort and a real commitment to the process. Why? Because these are the same people who plodded through the recession to keep the company going. They are the ones who logged long hours to cover for their colleagues who lost their jobs. It’s no mystery why they are tired and disenchanted.

Unfortunately, disengaged employees can also be your highest liability. According to a May 2010 article by the Harvard Business Review, “discretionary effort (that crucial willingness to go above and beyond) can be as much as 50 percent lower among highly disengaged employees than among their colleagues with average engagement.”  Simply stated, it will be impossible for organizations to grow without everyone performing at their best.

At this very moment the people you depend on most are likely looking for new career opportunities.  The Harvard Business Review states that one in four of the highest-potential people in any given company actually intend to jump ship within the year.

It is therefore the highest priority of the executive to focus on engaging employees by creating an environment where top talent wants to stay and is motivated to perform at their best.

In order to improve engagement levels within an organization, executives need to take action immediately and embrace the changes to support their growth. While it may be scary to think about making changes, what should scare you more is the cost to the business of not changing your organization now.

Take action now

So, how do you unleash your organization’s growth potential?  As you might imagine, it all starts at the top:

• Assess the entire executive team-including yourself.

Start by looking in the mirror. Ask yourself what are you doing differently today? What did you do that helped build your organization that you are no longer doing now? Determine what it will take to reengage yourself.

Ask for help and seek out people who will provide candid input – friends, family, colleagues, coaches and advisory boards.

Set a new tone for the entire organization by taking visible actions (not just words) that enable and encourage creativity within the company.

Have fun – it’s contagious!

• Create a structure for innovation.

Take a hard look at how the current structure is-or is not-advancing the growth of the company. Most organizations made changes during the recession that put them squarely in survival mode. To help the company return to its innovation roots, how must the organizational framework shift?

Bring in experts to design and execute initiatives that will allow the organization to move forward. This investment now will pay dividends. Waiting will likely hinder growth and may cost your company its future success.

• Reconnect with your top performers.

Show them you care. One of the simplest ways to show your top performers you care about them is to have a conversation about their aspirations. It sounds simple, but when we have more work than time, conversations tend to be task focused. By shifting the focus to what the employee wants from his/her career, you have the opportunity to align his/her passion with the goals of the organization.

• Always be on the lookout for top talent.

Never, ever stop recruiting talent. Do whatever it takes to make room for those who can help propel your organization forward. Invest now or feel the pain later.

Now is the time to hire. Many experienced and motivated performers are open to new opportunities with organizations that value their skills and ability.

Remember that others are recruiting your top talent, so make sure you stay connected with them.

All of these steps take time, focus and courage. But, in the end, sustainable growth will only happen when executives make engagement their highest priority.