ROI Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

05
Jul 21
-

Time Value, Are You Getting The Benefit?

Time value might be a measurement you’re familiar with even if you don’t recognize it at first. It seems most people believe that good things take time, but how is that value measured?

When you first learned how to tie your shoes it may have taken some time, and some additional practice. Now you can tie your shoe in one or two seconds.

You might paint a picture with some water colors. It might have taken you an hour or more. The picture can be scanned or duplicated with a copier in less than one minute. It’s not an original, but it still has great value.

The same is true for nearly anything you do. At first, things take more time. After you get some practice it all seems easier and faster. The quality doesn’t have to be sacrificed and the time for delivery improves.

What is the real value of time?

Time Value

In the workplace, teams often seek solutions for problems. The easy problems, or the ones that have occurred before are more easily solved. The time to fix is minimal. That means more value for your investment of time.

Complex problems are a little different. They are often complex because there is a bigger learning curve. There is some time required to discover the root cause, strategize on ways to approach it, and ultimately some trial and error until the solution is fully realized.

It is a constant battle against the undiscovered or the unresolved. The value of your time and the associated performance improves when you put in the effort.

Cheap and easy takes less time. The value of cheap and easy is less.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

02
Jul 19
-

Spend More, Get More, or Less

Tags : advertising marketing money ROI spend

Most would likely quickly agree that it requires spending some money to make some money. Advertising, marketing, and research and development, they all cost. Are you going to spend more?

One way to beat the competition is to outspend them. We see it in political campaigns, the pizza chain, and entertainment venues.

Should You Measure ROI?

The risk becomes about the return on investment. Unless of course, the metric of measurement is to dominant and annihilate. Still the question often comes back to, “At what cost?”

Spending your way out of problems or the consideration of spending your way to success has perceived value, but what is the cost?

Small and large businesses want to make the most of the Google search algorithm. We call it organic search results. It means we are not spending, at least not directly.

Sure, plenty of businesses spend money on social media and Google advertising. Do they get their return on investment or is it about beating the competition in that space?

There is a saying, “The best ideas sell themselves.”

Should you spend more?

Spend More

Spending more is always an option. If you have the cash, or the investors cash, you can certainly spend your way to some higher numbers. Will it be a positive return?

Gas station style convenience stores are well known for building across the street from each other. Who will win? Can they outspend?

Certainly, merchandising and service will play a role, and so will low price.

The hope may be that eventually one will destroy the other. Bring them to their knees, knock them down, and run them out of town.

What are your metrics?

If you are not measuring for quality, interest, or engagement, you may have to be prepared to buy your way to success.

-DEG

23
Mar 17
-

20 Items to Squeeze into Your Leadership Budget

Tags : budget C-Suite costs leadership ROI

Everything on the budget might not have a direct connection with money. Budgets are important and so are trust, talent, and teamwork. What is in your leadership budget?

Leadership is important for the C-Suite and it is important at all levels throughout the organization. It doesn’t really matter if you have formal direct reports, if you are a team leader, or a committee chair.

Sure organizations budget for salary and wages, marketing, and office supplies, but what about the things which are harder to measure? What about the intangibles connected with culture?

Leadership Budget

Some of the most important things often don’t have a direct cost associated with them. They still require effort, heart, and a commitment.

Here is a list of some of my favorites:

Ask more questions
Listen to understand
Recognize facts versus opinions
Be accountable
Acknowledge extra efforts
Be trustworthy
Do what you say
Stop judging
Give more credit, take less
Be consistent
Make decisions
Show passion
Take responsibility
Care about people
Live up to standards
Show appreciation
Be ethical
Have courage
Keep your promises
Be respectful

Money may not buy love or happiness, and when it comes to leadership it doesn’t guarantee success. Organizations need leadership and it’s hard to put a price tag on culture.

Budget for What?

If you want to budget for employee of the month, the pizza party, and a night of bowling that is great. Those things sometimes help and they matter.

Budgeting for the video about your culture matters too, but it’s much less important than what you illustrate off camera.

The next time you’re struggling to balance the budget give extra consideration to the things that cost less but give more.

You might find that doing the right thing doesn’t really cost that much.

It pays.

– DEG

Originally posted on March 23, 2017, last updated on December 17, 2019.

21
Feb 17
-

Leadership Development: How Do You Know If It Worked?

Tags : leadership measurement metrics ROI training

People always have questions, but they often aren’t asked. When it comes to leadership development, how do we know if it worked?

Leadership Development

Leadership development might be a catch all phrase for supervisory, managerial, or leadership training. There are many competences that may be involved in leadership development and it always depends on the target audience or participants.

Some slight variances might exist from industry to industry, and variances definitely exist with level of responsibility or organization size. While the basic leadership skills for front line supervisors might have similarities to the concepts of leadership in the C-Suite the total package of competencies likely has at least a few differences.

Organizations often invest in leadership development training. Many believe it is a very wise investment, but how do we measure the success? What is the ROI (return on investment)?

Metrics and Measurements

Here are seven possible metrics or measurement criteria:

Employee Turnover. Turnover ratio for any business or organization might change for many reasons. Leadership has a direct impact on the culture of the organization and turnover could be a valuable metric.
Satisfaction Survey. Satisfaction surveys can help point to the success of leadership. This can be an employee satisfaction survey or it could even be a customer satisfaction survey.
360 Assessments. The 360 assessment is a valuable tool for understanding leadership competencies from the perspective of others within (or sometimes outside) of an organization. It can also be administered to entire teams for group results.
Sales Revenue or Profit. Depending on the areas of focus for the leader an increase in sales revenue or gross profit might provide evidence of success in training. It also can be an easy number to measure ROI.
Relationship Portfolio. How big or what is the depth of relationships? How many contracts, entities, or service agreements are active under management?
Business Growth. Is the business or organization growing or if it was in decline has it stabilized, right-sized, or otherwise improved? This might be measured in numerous ways.
Unique Metrics. Last on this list but certainly not the least there are many other ways to determine ROI. You might consider something as simple as a pre-test followed by a post-test. You might have metrics for quality, productivity, waste, and many others.

Knowing It Worked

Perhaps one of the most important things to consider is that you should always determine the method of evaluation in advance and understand your baseline or starting point. Evaluation can, and likely should be, measured through both metrics connected to monetary values and those that are intangible.

Also important but sometimes forgotten is that training success is contingent upon changed habits or behaviors across time. It is easy for any individual or team to show short time signs of improvement only to default back to old ways when under duress or as measured across longer periods of time.

Can the success of leadership development programs be measured and improvements maintained?

I say yes, what are your thoughts?

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

01
Nov 16
4

Becoming A Smart Investment

Tags : employee turnover investment job performance motivation ROI

Many employees hope for an annual raise, or dream of obtaining a job promotion, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, “Am I a smart investment?”

Recently I wrote about the concept of deserving a raise and one of the ideas I offered was related to being a smart investment for the organization. Later a reader asked me about how to become a smart investment and so from my experiences I’m offering a few additional thoughts on exactly how to do this.

Become the go to person. In many organizations your job often becomes what you make it. Of course in unionized environments this sometimes becomes more challenging but in many other scenarios you might have some flexibility within your job role. Extend your hand, offer to help, be the person to fill in for someone else. All of these actions will help you to learn more about the organization and become more valuable. Often after some period of time of effective execution, you become the go to person for nearly everything, which makes you, a smart investment.
Learn more first. There are at least two schools of thought. The first is that you don’t do anything until you’re paid for it, and while that might sound like a respected position to take it may be the beginning of the end for those who act on it. The other school of thought is to learn more and do more first, then once you’ve already demonstrated a higher value the only step that is needed to complete the process is to obtain the appropriate compensation for your knowledge, skills, and abilities. In today’s workplace the earlier mentioned pay first (don’t do anything until you’re paid for it) mentality often becomes a pay never reality and your opportunities for growth will significantly diminish. This will often leave you feeling angry and resentful. Learn more, do more, be more, and then you’ll be paid more, because you’re a smart investment.
Show commitment. Employers have easily figured out that employee turnover is expensive. Once they’ve made a commitment to having you on the payroll you can return the favor by demonstrating your commitment to the team. Employees, who volunteer for extra assignments, are willing to give an extra effort during a tight deadline, and perhaps most importantly demonstrate continued support to the organization will be the most valued. Socially people sometimes have to take a position, it may be a position in life or it may be a position about the organization you work for. Stick up for the organization by developing the attitude of, “I care about this organization and I know they care about me.” This makes you a smart investment.

One important point to make, you may have noticed there is not any reference to playing organization politics, nor is there any reference to being well liked. While both of these concepts may have some validity I would never suggest either as a strategy. My belief is that you must stay true to who you are and while being liked is not a bad thing, in order to have a solid organizational culture we sometimes have to trade being well-liked for being well-respected.

Considering that multiple schools of thought exist on this issue it will always be up to you to decide your best choice of action. Everyone will quickly recognize that being a smart investment becomes a two-way street that requires reciprocity from the organization. I always urge people to give the benefit of the doubt to the organization and to consider that organizations would be foolish to turn their back on you, after all, you are a smart investment.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and coach that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is the author of the newly released book, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: ROI

Jul 21

-

Time Value, Are You Getting The Benefit?

Time Value

Jul 19

-

Spend More, Get More, or Less

Should You Measure ROI?

Spend More

Mar 17

-

20 Items to Squeeze into Your Leadership Budget

Leadership Budget

Budget for What?

Feb 17

-

Leadership Development: How Do You Know If It Worked?

Leadership Development

Metrics and Measurements

Knowing It Worked

Nov 16

4

Becoming A Smart Investment

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