How Unconnected Employees Hurt Your Business

How The Unconnected Employee
Hurts Your Business

© Contacts Count, 2012

In This Executive Summary…
• Unconnected employees: who are they?
• 9 ways they hurt your business
• How training to create, cultivate, and capitalize
on internal and external connections benefits
your organization
• 10 things you can do NOW to build
networking competence in your workforce
• What’s next?

www.ContactsCount.com (c) 2012

9 Ways Unconnected Employees
Hurt Your Business


1. No Big Picture
Unconnected employees
don’t understand the
strategic direction of
the organization.
In high-growth organizations, 84% of employees know where the
organization is headed; in low-growth organizations only 52% do.
In Momentum

“Strategic networking to help uncover and capitalize on new
opportunities for the company puts the tools of networking in the
service of business goals.”
Harvard Business Review

2. No Bottom-Line Focus
• Don’t see themselves as part
of a business development team
• Don’t look for opportunities for
the organization
• Don’t know how to listen and ask
questions that will extend business or elicit referrals.

30% of the consulting engineers’ bonuses depended on uncovering
new business at client sites where they worked every day. Only 3 of
the 35 engineers earned their full bonus. An Ohio High-tech Firm

“Companies with highly engaged employees demonstrate significantly
stronger bottom-line results.”
ISR (International Survey Research)

3. Miss Out on New Information
spend your money going to
conferences and meetings but
• Fail to bring back business intelligence about best practices and
business trends that would help the organization, and
• Fail to build relationships that make a difference .

“Determining the benefit and ROI to the conference provider is easy,
and it isn’t new. What is missing, however, is the ROI for those who
make the conference successful, particularly the participants and
the organizations that fund their trip.”
Dr. Patti Phillips, CEO of the ROI Institute,
co-author of Show Me The Money

4. Below Par
Unconnected employees’
performance and
productivity suffer.

High-commitment organizations out-perform low-commitment
organizations by 47%.
Watson Wyatt

“Engaged employees are 43% more productive.”
The Hay Group


5. Out of the Loop
don’t know whom to go to
or where to find resources
to get the job done.

Employees who lack access to information also lack access to
resources.
Academy of Management Journal

“Leaders who are skilled networkers have access to people, information,
and resources to help solve problems and create opportunities.”
Center for Creative Leadership

6. Don’t Help Hire

Unconnected employees don’t
make it their business to recruit.

Employee recruitment may easily cost 30% of the new hire’s salary
(AMA), but people hired through employee referrals cost, on
average, only $900.
Referral Networks Study, SHRM

“HR professionals have long tried to generate good candidate leads by
tapping their own employees as referral sources. But the programs
typically wane due to lack of employee participation, no matter how
much bonus money is offered.”
HR Magazine


7. Constrained by Culture
Unconnected employees may
be internationals who find the
American style of relationship
building uncomfortable and
who don’t easily connect with
teammates and customers.
40% of Ph.D. workers in computer, mathematical, architectural,
engineering, and science occupations were born outside the U.S.
The Economic Report of the President 2007

“They arrive with needed technical skills, but not the social
competencies needed at work.”
Roger Waldinger et al, Lewis Center, UCLA

8. Invisible
don’t know how to make
their expertise known so it can be used.

Managers who make themselves visible get higher raises and more
promotions.
Behavioral Sciences Research Press, Inc.

“Many of today’s typical coaching candidates lack organizational savvy.
They are underestimated and pigeonholed.”
Drs. Marty Seldman and Rick Brandon


9. Turn Off
Co-workers
make unsuccessful managers.

Successful managers spend 70% more time networking than their less
successful counterparts.
Academy of Management Journal

“One of the 4 key essential leadership roles is relationship/network
builder.”
Developing Business Leaders for 2010
The Conference Board


Training Employees To Network

Benefits Your Organization


6 Benefits of
External Networking
• Richer vendor and customer relationships
• Highly vetted referrals for job openings
• Cross-pollination with former employees
• Shared responsibility for business
development
• An enhanced image in the marketplace
• Access to best practices and new ideas


6 Benefits of
Internal Networking
• Fewer bureaucratic bottlenecks
• Visible and valued expertise and talent
• Increased information flow
• Access to diverse skill sets of others
• A learning community
• Horizontal integration, silo smashing


The Story So Far…

• The unconnected employee hurts the
organization in critical ways that impact the
bottom line.

• Concrete benefits come from teaching
employees to network externally and internally.


10 Things You Can Do NOW
To Build Networking Competency
in Your Workforce


1. Bring People Together
Encourage collaboration among all stakeholders
whose outcomes would benefit from improved
employee networking skills:
• HR & Talent Management
• Learning & Development
• Business Development
• Sales & Marketing
• Career Management
• Corporate Communications
• Diversity Initiatives
• Affinity Groups
• Mentoring & Leadership Development


2. Make Networking a
Corporate Competency
Teach your employees
state-of-the-art networking
skills and tools in all your
training programs and
encourage the growth of
social acumen and capital.
“What really distinguishes high performers from the rest of the pack is
their ability to maintain and leverage personal networks. The most
effective create and tap large, diversified networks that are rich in
experience and span all organizational boundaries.”
“The Social Side of Performance”
MIT/Sloan Management Review

3. Sync the Systems
Eliminate dis-incentives
to networking in your
organizational culture:

• Silo-building, which inhibits interaction
• Unrealistic workloads that diminish building social bonds
• Emphasis on billable hours at the expense of relationship
building
• Unclear ground rules about hierarchical interactions
• Interdepartmental rivalries and turf wars


4. Cut Ramp-Up Time

Re-focus orientation to help
new hires build relationships
with subordinates, peers, and
others throughout the organization.

“A comprehensive on-boarding process that identifies cultural values
and introduces key internal stakeholders . . . will significantly
decrease ramp-up time and can turn potential hiring mistakes into
key contributors to the leadership team.”
Salveson Stetson Group


5. Get Managers Up to Speed
Teach managers how to build relationships with
their supervisees and with peers in other parts
of the organization.

“Top trend: Networking. Work will be increasingly relationship-based
and therefore managing the weaving of relationships even more
essential to outcomes.”
Association of Career Management Professionals International


6. Highlight Role Models
Shine the spotlight on
your networking stars.

Encourage them to tell their stories of collaborations forged, resources
found, customers gained, and new hires recruited in

• Internal company publications
• All-hands meetings
• Learning and development events
• Retreats and conferences

“Knowing who the go-to people are in your organization is a key
imperative for leaders.”
Ralph Shrader, CEO, Booz Allen Hamilton


7. Spark Meaningful Conversation
Encourage richer conversations and trusting relationships
that help get the job done by providing structured,
leader-led networking activities at

• Conferences
• Retreats
• Affinity Group meetings
• Communities of Practice
• Learning and Development events

“70% of what people know about their jobs they learn through everyday
interactions with colleagues.”
Center for Workforce Development


8. Do More Than Join

Support employees to join
their professional associations
and teach them what to do
and say to bring back solid
business intelligence.

“Our leaders believe active membership in an association is so
important that we’ve made it a requirement for employees.”
A Northern Virginia High-Tech Company


9. Include Gen Ys
Help Millenniums build
the connections they crave

• In a friendly working atmosphere
• To the organization's mission and values
• To the bottom line

“Dependence on remote forms of communication has left many
younger workers bereft of interpersonal skills.”
Fast Company


10. Recognize The Social Side

Sponsor social events
where employees can
get to know one another.

Getting together outside of work can benefit on-the-job performance
say 63% of those surveyed.
Accountemps. In SmartBusiness, “Friends at Work,” Duffy,
August 2007.

“Camaraderie between co-workers fuels much more than new business
leads – relationship are also key drivers for recruiting,
engagement, and retention.” Talent Management Magazine


The Story So Far …

• Un-connected employees hurt your
business in bottom-line ways.

• You can create a connected and engaged
workforce by focusing attention on internal
and external relationship-building skills.


So what’s the next step?
Tap into the expertise you need
with Contacts Count,
the worldwide consulting and training
firm specializing in networking
as a professional competency.


“Throw out your old definition of networking!
Contacts Count has created a strategic,
comprehensive, foolproof methodology for
connecting with other people.”
Chief Learning Officer

Contacts Count will help you
establish networking competency
throughout your organization...


…through your programs such as:

• Orientation
• Leadership and High-Potential
• Business Development
• Management Development
• Diversity
• Career Development
• Mentorship


Our Licensure Program builds
in-house capability and includes:
• Use of all Contacts Count training materials
and self-assessments
• Train-the-Trainer workshops
• Consultations with your leaders and managers
• Kick-off keynotes and workshops
• Webinars, podcasts, and telephone conferences


Next step?

Set up a consultation with us. We’d like to
learn more about your needs and plans.

Call Lynne Waymon
301-589-8633
LWaymon@ContactsCount.com

Additional Information
about the
Expertise and Track Record
Contacts Count Brings to You


Contacts Count’s
Expertise
• The premier consulting and training firm for
business and professional networking since 1990
• A worldwide cadre of Certified Presenters who are experts in the Contacts
Count System
• CD: Networking Know-How: The Contacts Count System for Savvy
Professionals and Smart Companies
• 5 books on business networking authored by founders Anne Baber and
Lynne Waymon. Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-How for
Business and Career Success (AMACOM, 2007, 2nd edition)
• Featured magazine articles by Baber and Waymon in the ASTD’s T & D
(June 2007), the ASAE’s Associations Now (July 2007), and North Carolina
SHRM’s NCHR Review (Fall/Winter 2007)


Contacts Count’s Track Record
• Corporations
Corning, DuPont, Lockheed Martin,
Raytheon, Microsoft, First Horizon Bank,
Bank of America, HSBC Bank, Kraft,
U.S. Cellular, Decorating Den, Sir Speedy
• Professional Services
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services; PricewaterhouseCoopers;
Ernst & Young; Booz-Allen Hamilton; ExecuNet; Lee Hecht
Harrison; Right Management Associates; Hazel Thomas; Grant
Thornton; Bates White; Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan, Suelthaus;
Snyder, Cohn, Collyer, and Hamilton
• Non-Profits
Smithsonian, National Geographic Society, United Way,
Brookings Institution


• Associations
National Business Incubation Association, Consumer Electronics
Association, Women in Technology, American Institute of
Architects, National Association of Home Builders, American
Council of Engineering Companies, Employee Relocation
Association, Edison Electric Institute, Property Management
Association, Pan Asian Women’s Association, Society of Black
Professionals, National Fisheries Institute, American Society of
Association Executives, Public Relations Society of American,
Medical Librarians Association, Outdoor Writers Association,
National Association of Colleges and Employers, American Society
of Plastic Surgeons, California Society of CPAs
• Government Agencies
Treasury Executive Institute; U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture,
Commerce, & Defense; National Institutes of Health; Presidential
Management Fellows Program; National Technology Transfer
Center; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Canadian Embassy
• Universities
Georgetown, Marquette, Arizona State, George Mason, Catholic,
Friends, Carnegie-Mellon, George Washington, Missouri, Nebraska

Contacts Count’s Customization
• “You tailored your train-the-trainer course for us more than any
other vendor we’ve ever worked with.” Major Defense Contractor
• “99% of the 200 participants recommend for future engagements.”
Leading Professional Services Firm
• Tailored training for their annual “University” and were invited back 4
years in a row. Large Engineering and Project Management Firm
• Customized presentations for relationship managers who work with
private banking customers. Large National Bank
• Designed training to help employees network internally to get the
job done. Respected Non-profit Scientific & Educational Institution
• Designed networking skills training for MBA students that prepared
them to attend career fairs, meet with potential employers, and
cultivate their networks throughout their careers. State & Private
Universities
• Wrote a 64-page booklet outlining 10 structured networking
activities to involve corporate employees, association members, and
alumni.

Contact Information
Anne Baber
301-589-8633
ABaber@ContactsCount.com
13433 W. 80th Terrace
Lenexa, KS 66215

Lynne Waymon
301-589-8633
LWaymon@ContactsCount.com
1400 East-West Hwy, #1228
Silver Spring, MD 20910


How Unconnected Employees Hurt Your Business

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (19)

Similar a How Unconnected Employees Hurt Your Business

Similar a How Unconnected Employees Hurt Your Business (20)

Último

Último (20)

How Unconnected Employees Hurt Your Business