The Change Agent Blog:

Change Agent Briefing: V8 Issue 2

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“An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth, Can Leave You Blind and Toothless”. Has the lack of forgiveness for past decisions or perceived wrongs in your organization impeded your ability to move forward in change? If so, this article is for you. Discover why forgiveness has everything to do with you and very little to do with the person who has hurt you.

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Audio Excerpt:
 
“Radio Interview on Forgiveness” (part 1) (0.39 minutes)

 
“Radio Interview on Forgiveness” (part 2) (7.18 minutes)

 
“Radio Interview on Forgiveness” (part 3) (9.12 minutes)

Change Agent Briefing: V8 Issue 1

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Part 2 Resistance Cycle in Change. Discover what happens during the final two phases in the Cycle of Resistance. Learn the keys to healing the pain of resistance and how to make a commitment to new growth.

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Change Agent Briefing: V7 Issue 1

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The Resistance Cycle in Change. Discover the four phases of resistance that people go through when enduring change. Learn the typical ways people react to change and how it impacts them personally.

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Audio Excerpts:

 

Mourning the Past” (2.58 minutes)

 

Our Natural Reactions to Change” (13.35 minutes)

One Size Fits All Doesn’t

Spring arrived very early in Ohio and the great weather occurred the week that both boys were home from college during their Spring Break which was really nice. If you can’t afford to go to Florida, it’s terrific to have 80 degree weather in Ohio! It was great to have them home but admittedly my work tripled for that week. However, I would not trade my clean house for them not being here anytime soon. I know that just around the corner they will be moving out permanently.

Speaking of moving out, we are slowly readying our house so we can put it on the market and downsize to a smaller home with less taxes. As I’ve been doing my homework by going to open houses, I realize how stuck I’ve been with a certain look in our home. Seeing other homes is getting me excited about becoming more of a minimalist. Our home stager was brutal in making suggestions so that everything looks generic for a one-size-fits-all-home which is much easier to sell.

Unfortunately, that’s how many organizations tend to make their customer service “rules” and award systems – one-size fits all. It rarely works – not with customers or staff. Your employees who serve your customers want individual recognition and they want to provide input as to how to serve your customers more effectively. See below for three of my tips for organizations from my 107 Tips for Developing Customer Loyalty booklet:

Tips for Developing Your Customer Loyalty:

  • Develop a customer service reward and incentive system, which may include a point system for gift certificates or funding for external continuing education. Encourage competition for better customer service only if it rewards internal teamwork.
  • Ask employees for ideas on how to provide better customer service. They know how to improve service because they are the people on the front lines delivering service and hearing customer feedback. Really listen to employees. Compensate for good ideas where there is a return on investment.
  • Have the CEO send a thank-you letter to employees who are delivering exceptional service.

One final note of interest: By request, I’m developing a brand-new program for one of my clients on Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace. Let me know if you are interested in more details as I’m very excited with my initial research because rebuilding trust in organizations is very similar to what I teach in prison ministry. Here’s the brief description so far:

Plant closings, mergers, acquisitions, bullying bosses, fear of job loss unfortunately are prevalent in today’s workplace. Leaders, peers, colleagues, suppliers, and even customers have been or feel betrayed – their trust is gone or being severely strained. Most organizations totally underestimate the considerable costs of compromised trust in the workplace.

The good news is that while betrayal in the workplace and resulting loss of trust may be inevitable, the consequences can be reversed. And in some cases, the work necessary to reverse the loss of trust is so powerful that the team or the company is actually stronger for the effort. This workshop will guide participants through the transformational work required to make their organization healthy and provide them with tools to help them become the most powerful expressions of their best selves.

Based on Dennis and Michelle Reina’s book, Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace: Seven Steps to Renew Confidence, Commitment, and Energy; and Stephen Covey’s best-selling books on Trust as well as four years of transformational inner healing ministry with prison inmates and human trafficking victims, Patti delivers a cutting-edge program that helps people who have been betrayed in a trusting situation by providing a holistic method for releasing emotional “baggage” and assimilating th e lessons learned from the experience. It will also help people who have accidentally or deliberately betrayed others. Both will discover constructive new ways of carrying on.

Make it a great Spring!

12 Choices for Happy People

Charlie-Brown ChristmasI always loved the classic Charlie Brown Christmas because Charlie was bothered by all the commercialization of Christmas and the desire to compete and compare. I know that the holidays can be difficult for many as it tends to be a time when we compare ourselves to others more than other times of the year. While I really enjoy reconnecting with old friends on FaceBook, I find that there are times when I find myself comparing my life to someone else’s life. Mary’s kids are more accomplished than mine. John is taking an amazing vacation, I wish I could. . . and so forth and so on.

My own sons and their friends tend to spend more time on electronic postings than they do in engaging in meaningful conversations or shared social experiences. And now, just as many adults are doing the same, and it doesn’t make any of us any happier.

To that end, I decided to change things up for my December blog. A colleague of mine mentioned Sonja Lyubomirsky’s list of 12 Things Happy People Do Differently in her post and I was inspired to write my own list of 12 Choices for Happy People. I came up with my list based on many of the things I talk about in my change workshop (and other training). I also teach some of this in my ministry to prison inmates and human trafficking victims and have seen radical transformation and healing take place. Obviously my list can coincide with the 12 Days of Christmas. Here’s my list –

12 Choices for Happy People:

  1. Choose not to be offended.
  2. Believe the best about others.
  3. Avoid social networking comparison.
  4. Be happy for others.
  5. Forgive and release the pain others cause you.
  6. Look for ways to be kind to others.
  7. Savor the little things that bring you joy.
  8. Nurture relationships.
  9. Cultivate a positive attitude.
  10. Take care of yourself.
  11. Express gratitude daily.
  12. Develop your spirituality.

My hope for you over the holiday season and into the New Year is that you would live each day intentionally. Choose to do one thing each day that will contribute to the good habits I suggested above. Come up with your own list of choices/habits and post them for others to read. I truly believe that building good habits will lead to greater happiness in your life.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

 

 

Is Change a Beginning or an Ending?

Change can be viewed as a beginning or an ending . . . or both. For example, we are experiencing major change in our home this month. Our oldest son Bryan moved to Dayton 3 weeks ago where he transferred to Wright State University and will be finishing his Elementary Education degree. This weekend, we will be moving our youngest son Drew to Ohio State University where he will be studying to become a Food Chemist. While I’m delighted to have a cleaner home, I’m also feeling the pain of not having daily interactions with my boys. Is this a beginning or an ending?

It depends. My hope over these last few years has been that by the time my kids left home that we would all be genuinely sad (rather than counting the days until they were gone) and their departures have been both sad and joyous. I want them to thrive in this new beginning for them because I want them to become the men they were created to be. Yet, the ending of this season of our relationship is also a very real loss to me.

Often change can be both a beginning and an ending. It’s how you choose to view it. I admit that sometimes it’s challenging to practice what I teach – to focus on what I can control and to let go of what I cannot control. Like you, I’m learning how to enjoy this journey of nonstop change day-by-day both personally and professionally. On to my tips for your workplace…

In the midst of nonstop work change, it can be easy to forget our customers when our organization is going through change. Change is rarely transparent to those we serve. So, today’s tips are from my 93 Tips for Managing Change booklet and these specific tips come from my section on Tips for Managing Your Customers through Change:

  • Be proactive in your communication but recognize that many customers don’t read your marketing literature. Therefore, increase the various types of external communications you develop. Use newsletters, advertisements, and your Website to inform your customers of changes that impact them.
  • Broaden your customers’ understanding and perspective about your change(s). Are you changing for the sake of change or is there a clear reason to do so? Customers don’t want to switch to another service/product provider unless they must.
  • Make it easy for your customer to do business with your organization regardless of change. Be the best in providing a system of procedures and policies and way of doing business that was designed with the customer in mind AND be the very best at delivering service that your competitors cannot match.

Garage-sale

Book Garage Sale: As we’ve been contemplating our boys moving out, I’m beginning to think about downsizing. So, I’m going to have a “garage sale” on my Banking Secrets books. One of my former niche markets was in banking (that was before the banking crisis) and I wrote two of my books for that market. Although the examples are specifically from banks, the content itself applies to all different kinds of organizations and they are great learning tools. So, I’ve decided to have a huge sale on these books. They are far more beneficial in your hands than on my storage shelves.

I hope you will take advantage of this great offer – 2 books that normally retail for $21.90 will be sold for $5 total. This will cover my shipping and handling costs. You will automatically receive one of each book unless you indicate in the Note section of your paypal order that you want 2 of a specified book. If you are buying these for work, you can also mail me a check. You can order as many books as you would like at this special price. Be sure to use this special link to place your order: Click here to order the Banking Secrets Book Bundle

Here are the specific details about each book:

Handling Customer Problems

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Gallup recently surveyed retail banking customer and found that only 26% of bank customers who had not recently had a problem considered themselves extremely satisfied with their bank versus 51% who had experienced a problem but were extremely satisfied with the way it was handled. For most banks, the bottom-line is impacted by how well your employees handle customer problems and whether or not they keep your current customers loyal to your bank.

  • Discover the two dimensions that determine exceptional service and the main ingredients that will build your bank’s customer loyalty
  • Understand why a customer’s complaint is a gift to your bank
  • Learn five steps to owning and fixing your difficult customers’ problems
  • Apply three techniques for handling complaints and criticism

Here’s What People are Saying:

“If you want to improve customer service in your bank then Patti Hathaway’s new book is a must read! It contains a wealth of information that can be easily incorporated into your business and it will have a positive impact on the bottom-line results. Ms. Hathaway’s approach is convincing, practical and lasting.”

President and CEO
Western Ohio Fifth Third Bank

“Patti Hathaway hits the mark with sensible, practical and most importantly actionable ideas. In her light hearted style she ties this together with actual real life examples. Her book will be a great inspiration for our team and will provide a true payback for our customers and our employees.”
Executive Vice President

National City Bank

“A unique and memorable approach to providing exceptional customer service to banking customers. Patti Hathaway provides fundamental skills that are essential for building customer loyalty in banks today.”
President

Oaks Bank

Unleashing Employee Greatness

Unleashing Employee Greatness.gif Do you know how to unleash greatness in your employees? It largely depends on whether you are a manager or a leader. Do you understand the difference between the two? Gallup surveyed one million employees and 80,000 managers and found that an employee’s relationship with his/her direct supervisor will determine (1) how long they will stay, and (2) how productive they will be while there. Becoming less of a manager and more of a leader can be an extremely powerful and profitable change – both in terms of meeting your organization’s goals and in the greater personal satisfaction both you and your employees will enjoy. This book will enlighten, motivate and inspire you to take on the challenge of unleashing every employee’s greatness!

Learn and recognize the phases each manager goes through in order to become a leader.
Understand how to encourage your employees to take on more responsibility and accountability so that you can have more time to lead rather than manage.

Discover why investing and spending time with your best employees is the fairest thing to do.
Apply the crucial skills of giving praise and constructive feedback to your employees.

Here’s What People are Saying:

“A masterful job of researching and presenting leadership strategies that will reap bottom-line results in the organizations that implement them Managers will benefit professionally and personally from reading your book.”

Vice President of Human Resources
University of Dayton

“This is a must-read book for companies that are serious about improving employee performance. Patti Hathaway provides a real-world approach to improving employee productivity that provides companies with a road map for success.”
President High Point University

Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company

“Patti Hathaway has a gift for synthesizing practical insights from the real world of the marketplace. In the classroom and in her books she provides ideas that leaders can use.”
Executive Director

Ohio Bankers League

Change Agent Briefing: V6 Issue 2

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Winning Thru Whining! Your organization’s greatest enemy is NOT in the marketplace. Just because you’re not hearing employee whining doesn’t mean resistance to change isn’t paralyzing your organization.

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Audio Excerpt:
Job Security Fears” (4.30 minutes)

Change Agent Briefing: V6 Issue 1

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Focus To The Future. Profit from firsthand information about the changing workplace which will give you an ideas of what’s to come. Discover the latest researched-based trends so you can focus to the future.

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Change Agent Briefing V4 Issue 4

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What? More Change?? Strengthen your ability to deal with change by learning how to avoid the basic mistakes that employees make when trying to survive organizational change.

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Change Agent Briefing V4 Issue 3

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Balancing Act. Reduce your guilt and stress by gaining the skills you need to become the kind of person you want to be in both your professional and personal life.

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You have the unique ability to be hard-hitting with the truth in a way that participants listen and respond. You have an amazing ability to deliver results and your dedication to delivering highly-customized training always pays off with our groups..

Bob Evans Farms




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