Rising Sun Consultants, LLC

Greetings:
With Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath now part of our nation's collective conscious, we at Rising Sun are even more convinced of the need to focus on and care for the people we serve. There were stories in the media of business owners who continued to pay their employees in Louisiana and Mississippi - even though the businesses themselves no longer exist - in order to give their workers a fighting chance to start their lives over. What a great example of business leaders putting their people above their product. Now, we realize not all companies could possibly do the same financially for their employees as a few of the businesses did. What we all can do, however, is adopt the attitude that people are our highest priority.

What's New at Rising Sun Consultants:
We are happy to report that we have begun officially offering our services to residential programs as well as corporations. Because of our extensive experience and expertise in the residential field, we are excited to serve residential schools, boarding schools, colleges, and the child welfare system (including foster care programs, group homes and youth shelters). Through specialized training, coaching and program development designed for residential staff, we look forward to helping this unique group of child care professionals solve turnover, employee engagement, and performance improvement challenges so that they may better serve the youth entrusted to their care.

Client Share:
We recently received a letter from one of our clients, Frank Phair, General Manager at the Embassy Suite Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia that we wanted to share...

Rising Sun Consultants:
Thank you for the support you have provided to me and the Management Team of the Embassy Suites Hotel, Atlanta. Since your involvement in our organization we have seen very positive outcomes and impacts on our productivity.

I have seen a clear increase in my managers' morale and motivation. The managers have become more effective and focused as leaders. This has led to:

• 3.2% increase in annual revenue
• 4.0% increase in repeat customers

Thank you, Rising Sun, for your commitment to supporting and helping our organization become more productive and successful.

We appreciate knowing that our work with you, Frank, brought about such positive results. The key to these results is the willingness of you and your staff to make changes, which can be difficult for all of us. We look forward to hearing about continued growth and improved culture at Embassy Suites in the months to come.

Monthly Tips: Employee Turnover

According to The Gallup Organization, the number one reason behind voluntary employee turnover in an organization is a poor relationship between employees and their supervisors. Think of it this way…how many of us have asked for a transfer, have resigned from a job, or have considered one of those actions because of a supervisor who simply did not have sufficient management and/or people skills? When this happens, organizations end up dealing with the high costs of turnover and employee disengagement.

The average cost of replacing an employee is estimated to be the same as one year's salary for the position being filled. Imagine an employee resigns due mainly to the poor relationship with his/her supervisor. Say you do not bother to find out the reason why the employee left or, even worse, ignored that fact. Imagine then spending $50,000 (for sake of argument) on recruitment, hiring, training and retaining an employee who is stepping into that very same unhealthy relationship. What's that old saying? "The definition of insanity is when we keep doing the same thing and expect different results?" Case in point! Don't be surprised if that new employee eventually leaves for the very same reason.

It is a fact that supervisors need to have or acquire the knowledge and skills expected of their positions. It is just as important for the productivity of the organization, however, for supervisors to be trained in relationship skills such as building trust, self-awareness, active listening, and focusing on employee strengths rather than on weaknesses. This means that organization leaders need to put serious thought into creating a solid supervisory training program and accountability process that balances both the job-specific knowledge and skills, and the relationship-oriented knowledge and skills.

Monthly Book Review and/or White Paper:

Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships
This month's book review summarizes another practical resource for leaders by Ken Blanchard. This quick read is a terrific reminder of how relationships influence motivation in the workplace. Its uncomplicated language and clear-cut message about the importance of focusing on what people do well rather than on what they do incorrectly or poorly will be easily understood by everyone in the organization - not only the leaders. (For complete book review of "Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships", click here.)

Story/Parable of the Month:

The Bears
Once upon a time there was a bear who lived peacefully in the woods near a rushing stream. He liked where he lived. He liked the fresh, clean air, the abundance of fish in the nearby stream, the dappled sunlight beneath the tall pine trees, the open meadows, and the cool damp forest. Every day was filled with quiet time snoozing in the sun on his favorite granite rock; the challenges of searching for food; and romping with his mate.

One day as he was ambling down to the stream for a drink of water, something happened. WHACK! A searing pain pulsed through his foot. He lunged forward to escape. THUD! He was trapped by a pair of steel jaws and a thick metal chain pounded into the earth. "No!" shouted the brown bear. "It's a bear trap." His paws weren't built to spread the jaws of a bear trap, and his brain wasn't really built to figure all this out. He was in a really bad situation.

After several hours of painful struggle, the brown bear had mangled his foot. There was blood everywhere. He called for his mate, but there was nothing she could do either. So she sat patiently next to him to give comfort, crying quietly and hoping for a miracle.

Finally, after several more hours of struggle, the bear's mangled foot jerked out of the trap, and he crawled painfully away from that place and back into the woods. His mate stayed around for awhile to try and understand how this happened, but nothing came to her. Her brain wasn't really designed to figure these things out either.

At last, she returned to their den where her mate was nursing his foot as best as he could. They stayed up most of the night discussing what had happened to them that day, but neither of them could make sense of it. So with what brain capacity they did have, they simply decided never to return to that place in the woods again. And so, they didn't.

Thank You:
We want to thank you all for reviewing our Monthly Newsletter and want to once again invite you to visit our website (www.risingsunconsultants.com) for more information about Rising Sun Consultants, for the links to our latest book review and white paper, and for information on how to contact us. On behalf of ourselves and all our associates, we wish you good health, happiness and great success in all your ventures.
Until next month: Always Keep Your Eyes on the New Horizon!

Rick Pierce
Co-Founder &
Senior Consultant

Jim Rowell
Co-Founder &
Senior Consultant

Lynn Lehman
Director of Marketing & Program Development