Welcome to the May 4, 2005 issue of The Total View

Your resource for cutting-edge news, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage, and motivate top-performing employees.

If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and want your own subscription, visit
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=11&c=9

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In This Issue
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1. Secrets of Motivation, Work Ethics and Counter-Productive Behaviors.
2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #395 to #397.
3. Announcing our Hiring Top Performers BLOG!
4. How Can You Change The Way You Deal With the Flood of Resumes in Just 7 Minutes?
5. Have You Read About the Problems With Performance Reviews?

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The Total View is written and published each Wednesday by Ira S. Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions. (Yes, Ira writes every article, every week!) and is distributed with permission by The Chrysalis Corporation.

Ira S. Wolfe 2005 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

To learn more about The Chrysalis Corporation or to read back issues of The Total View, visit our web site at
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=12&c=9

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1. Secrets of Motivation, Work Ethics and Counter-Productive Behaviors.
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Are bad attitudes, lack of commitment or low morale cutting into your bottom line? Are you frustrated with hiring star employees who only give you attitude and poor performance? Well, believe it or not, these employees are motivated. Unfortunately they invest their energy in the wrong places - in fighting change, complaining, and disrupting the workplace.

Studies have suggested that 70 percent of employees today are less motivated than they used to be, 80 percent could perform better if they wanted to, and 50 percent put forth enough effort each day to keep their jobs.

I'll go one step further. All employees are motivated. But based on extensive research, the Quality of Motivation (QM) Theory identifies sources of motivation as having both positive and negative influences. How can motivated employees produce negative results?

Motivation can be derived from both pleasure and pain. You might ask why anyone would be motivated by pain.

Have you ever heard the phrase "no pain, no gain" or "nothing comes easy'? These beliefs drive people toward pain, believing a little pain now will reap pleasure down the road. Think about the marathon runner or the professional athlete. Despite the risk of chronic pain due to the constant pounding of their joints and extreme stress to body systems, these athletes are relentless in their drive to reach the finish line at any cost, even long-term crippling and incapacitating injury.

Self-punishment is also rewarded in the today's workplace. It's what we call workaholism. While doing more with less is driving American productivity and admired as good old work ethic by managers, it is also driving the rates of chronic disease sky-high. "A little pain never hurt anyone" isn't necessarily true. Getting workers to "tough it out" may have the short-term benefit of increased productivity but long-term negative consequence of burnout, injury and even premature death.

What can employers do to avoid motivating these counter-productive behaviors and ensuring they create a positively motivated workplace? Managers must first recognize that enthusiasm, drive and high-paced activity alone are ineffective measures of motivation. People employed in your business bring their own unique motivational sources and skills to the workplace. That explains why some people seem to run and run….and run - just like the Energizer Bunny. Think about it. Watching Robin Williams perform can make you tired. So can hyperactive, pencil-tapping, knee shaking employees. Their activity and busy-ness uses lots of energy but their results aren't always productive; their work habits are not necessarily efficient.

Rewarding hard work and a strong work ethic is one thing but when it inadvertently rewards self-punishment, the cost to the bottom line is devastating.

Self-punishment is just one of four maladaptive behaviors that motivate employees and shape a company's culture. Motivation is more complex than just pumping up spirits and getting people to work harder. By understanding that motivation has both positive and counter-productive effects, employers can create work environments and employee incentives that get the business results they want and avoid the long-term debilitating consequences of encouraging the wrong behaviors.

How do you measure motivation? How do you know if an employee is motivated enough or too much? Which motivational sources positively affect performance, safety, and stress? For more information on assessing motivation in your workplace, check at the Personal Interests, Attitudes, and Values(tm) assessment here:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=1&c=9

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2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #395 to #397.
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Fact #395: In 2003 the United States experienced its lowest recorded birthrate in history.

Fact #396: The population of undocumented residents in the United States increased by about 23 percent from 8.4 million in 2000 to 10.3 million in 2004. (Source: Pew Hispanic Center)

Fact #397: The U.S. foreign-born population, regardless of legal status, was 35.7 million in 2004. Those of Mexican descent comprised the largest group - more than 11 million. (Source: Pew Hispanic Center)

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Get a copy today - $7.95 includes shipping. Follow this link to learn more:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=7&c=9

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3. Announcing our Hiring Top Performers BLOG!
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We would like to invite you visit our new blog, Hiring Top Performers. It can be found here:
http://hiring-top-performers.blogspot.com

This blog has be launched for a couple of reasons. First off, some of our readers have indicated that their company spam blocking software has made it difficult, if not completely impossible, for them to receive our weekly issue of The Total View. Since a blog is available right on the web, it cannot get blocked by an over-zealous spam filter. Of course we will continue to e-mail The Total View each week to our subscribers. If for some reason you discover that you have missed an issue, you can always visit our blog at: http://hiring-top-performers.blogspot.com

The second reason we created a blog was to provide our readers and subscribers with a place to comment on our articles, situations that are happening within your company, or anything else related to selection and retaining top-performing employees.

Check our blog today at http://hiring-top-performers.blogspot.com and please forward this information to your colleagues, clients, boss, or anyone else who might find it helpful.

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4. How Can You Change The Way You Deal With the Flood of Resumes in Just 7 Minutes?
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The Resu-mess is back! If piles of resumes and crowded e-mail in-boxes have got you frustrated, you NEED to preview Total APS in action.

What is Total APS? It is an applicant tracking and assessment system that puts your recruiting and selection efforts on auto pilot. Total APS even provides you assess to the TotalView assessment (see the first article in this newsletter).

Total APS frees up your time to communicate with only QUALIFIED candidates and helps you ensure a good job fit between a person and the job. Total APS can save your company is to experience the system in action. View our online7-minute, no-obligation video demonstration of the Total APS system here:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=26&c=9

Can't view it online? Contact us today for a Free CD-ROM on How to Screen and Interview Candidates Online. Follow this link and type APS in the comment box:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=18&c=9

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5. Have You Read About the Problems With Performance Reviews?
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Did you miss the article titled "21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail"? If your company conducts performance reviews and they are not producing the results you desire, you need to read this article.

Follow this link to read 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/cgi-bin/arp3/arp3-t.pl?l=22&c=9

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Contact Information:

The Chrysalis Corporation
2001 Hammock Drive
Valdosta, GA 31602
229-257-0665