Zero Moment of Truth at SCN, The Speaking Consulting Network
I want to congratulate Lois Banta, CEO of the Speaking Consulting Network (SCN) and her team for a power-packed conference in Charleston last week. Hall of Fame Speakers Lou Heckler & Dr. Alan Zimmerman spoke on powerful, personal vision. Mark LeBlanc inspired us with his vision for success. My favorite quote from Mark “Never underestimate the power of a simple step repeated.” Gary Zelesky promised “explosive energy”and boy, did he deliver! His passion and his compassion were unforgettable. Social media authority, Rita Zamora‘s powerful presentation on day 1 was referenced by virtually every speaker who followed her. “As Rita said..” became a ‘need-to-know’ reference. Dentistry’s elegant Lioness, Katherine Eitel, SCN Founder, Linda Miles, along with two speaker challenge programs and member presentations rounded out an impressive two-day event.
Top 10 List of Employee Engagement Factors
I’m heading out to The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies to present programs on Employee Engagement, Breakthrough Communication and Emotional Intelligence. As a dental consultant, I advise my doctors that their team is their best competitive advantage, and investing in training that improves communication and focuses on personal development is a wise investment in the future success of the business. Systems alone do not create success – People do! Bent Ericksen & Associates recently shared Manpower’s Top 10 List of Employee Engagement Factors gathered by asking this question: What’s the absolute #1 most important employee engagement factor?
The Top Ten Engagement Factors from the Survey are:
2. Immediate Manager (14%)
3. Valuing Employees (12%)
4. Trust (10%)
5. Culture (9%)
6. Satisfaction (8%)
7. Empowerment (5%)
8. Recognition (2%)
9. Development (2%)
10. Pay (1%)
How to Hire Right … The First Time
Studies show that most managers make a hiring decision within 10 minutes of meeting a candidate and spend the rest of their time gathering information to support that decision. As a result, managers often hire people that interview well, look good on paper and can talk the talk. Those positive initial impressions don’t always prove reliable once it’s time to actually walk the walk and you can end up wondering “Who are you and what have you done with the person I interviewed just a few short weeks ago.”
“My team rocks! We’re not wasting valuable time in the search, we now quickly identify those candidates who both qualify and have the right motivation to be a member of my outstanding team. Ginny Hegarty’s process and assessments shine a light on so many of the details that I have missed when hiring in the past. Since using Ginny’s system we have been picking winners!” Dr. Keith Ogawa, Oregon
Did you know that 30% of new hires start looking for their next job after just 30 days? Or that 46% of new hires will fail within the first eighteen months? Turnover is expensive and will set you and your team back while chipping away at team morale too.
Your people are your practice’s best competitive advantage and that reality is truer today in the current economic environment than ever before. Realizing just how critical talent acquisition is to your practice success, it’s time to raise the bar on the recruitment process and implement a system and process that supports both the practice and team success.
If you’re ready to hire right…and on purpose... the first time, we should talk. I can offer hiring support that ranges from a hiring eBook to full on support of the hiring process. My hiring eBook The Hiring Process Simplified gives you a step by step process to follow along with interview guides that will have you feeling totally confident and able to conduct excellent interviews right out of the gate. Hiring assessments are also available that provide insight into your candidate’s behavioral style, emotional intelligence and core competencies such as reliability, dependability, and work ethic.
“Love it! Ginny Hegarty’s system really makes sense, gives us great direction and saves us so much time. I believe it helps us attract the best applicants and gives us much deeper insight, so we choose candidates that truly fit with our practice culture and philosophy.“ Dr. Clint Esler, Texas
Team Bonus Systems Will Not Drive Your Practice Success
If I had a dollar for every dentist and dental team member who has rationalized disappointing performance as a byproduct of the state of the economy over the past few years, I would be writing this column from my favorite beach in Maui! Now as much as spending time on a beach in Maui would be wonderful, I would truly much rather put an end to the myth that we are victims of circumstances and success is beyond our control. So much time, energy, opportunity and joy are wasted in this mindset. There is a better way, read about it in my latest article in The Progressive Dentist Magazine
An iconic example of using sales incentives and punishments to ignite results can be seen in the 1992 film Glen Gary Glen Ross. Rolling Stone described the film as “a brilliant dark comedy that doesn’t just dazzle, it stings.” The incredible cast included Al Pacino, Jack Lemon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris and Alec Baldwin. I can attest that the story and the acting were compelling enough to reel me in; but I still vividly remember being exhausted and feeling like I had been beaten up after watching this movie. You may recall Alec Baldwin, the film’s “alpha dog motivational sales person” announcing “We are adding a little something to this month’s sales contest: First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado, Second Prize is a set of steak knives and Third Prize is “you’re fired!” Those are some sharp sticks that eventually had the sales force resort to criminal behavior as they marched to the beat of “A-B-C – Always-Be-Closing”.
The average workplace has evolved since 1992 and most businesses have adopted a kinder, gentler approach to motivating the team. Unfortunately, most still focus on the extrinsic reward such as team bonus systems rather than tapping into intrinsic and most teams still underachieve. If you’re frustrated by the results your team bonus systems have achieved, take a deeper dive into this subject in my article from The Progressive Dentist Magazine and consider brining me into your practice to engage your team in a strategic planning process that will ignite a unstoppable passion and bottom line success.



