Shaun Hopkins Seminars UPDATE

Management Fundamentals Program at AmeriCold Logistics

AmeriCold Logistics is the largest provider of temperature-controlled food distribution services in the USA. It operates 100 warehouses across the country and employs 6500 people. Over 3000 companies, such as food manufacturers and consumer packaged goods companies, rely on AmeriCold for their transportation and warehousing services. As part of AmeriCold's commitment to investing in its employees, the company set a goal to train each of its 300 warehouse management staff across the country on fundamental supervisory skills in 2007.

AmeriCold Logistics selected Shaun Hopkins Seminars as its training partner for this national program. After conducting a comprehensive training needs analysis with its warehouse management staff, AmeriCold identified the top 10 skills that each supervisor needed to be successful on the job. The top 10 skills were:

Communicate effectively
Give feedback
Delegate work
Solve performance problems
Make decisions
Manage time and stress
Manage meetings
Serve customers
Manage conflict
Build teams

Based on this information, and AmeriCold's training criteria, Shaun Hopkins Seminars designed the AmeriCold Management Fundamentals Program. The program consisted of 10 four-hour modules, focusing on the supervisory skills identified in the needs analysis. Each module was customized with AmeriCold terminology, examples and situations so that the warehouse supervisors could learn from real-life, everyday situations that they face doing their jobs. The modules were also designed so that they could be delivered by AmeriCold's own regional Human Resource Representatives. Shaun Hopkins Seminars conducted a 3-day train-the-trainer workshop with the Representatives to train them how to teach the modules.

This one-year initiative will see the HR Representatives deliver one module per month to the warehouse supervisors. At the end of each module, supervisors will receive a laminated pocket card, called "The Answer Key", summarizing the key skills learned in the module. The supervisors are expected to apply their new skills in the warehouse before attending the next module in the series. The warehouse managers will also attend the workshops so that they can support their supervisors in applying their skills.

The concept and strategy of the Management Fundamentals Program was conceived by AmeriCold's new Director of Training and Organizational Development, Mr. Herminio Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez is committed to helping AmeriCold become a leader in workplace learning so that its employees can live the company's values of teamwork, integrity, accountability and excellence.

For more information about AmeriCold's Management Fundamentals Program, contact information@ShaunHopkinsSeminars.com

What's On

Shaun Hopkins, "The Motivational Manager"

Listen to Business @ Night on CFRA News Radio 580 AM every Tuesday between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm to hear Shaun, "The Motivational Manager" provide a weekly management tip for business leaders. Listen live at http://www.cfra.com/listen/index.asp#

Training Solutions 2007 Conference & Expo
Orlando, Florida

Training Needs Analysis: Quick, Accurate and Complete
Monday, February 26, 2007 2:45 pm

Training needs analysis is the first step to designing and delivering learning that will meet the needs of your target audience. Learn techniques to gather the most accurate information about your audience and to determine if training is the right solution. In this clinic, you will plan and conduct a training needs analysis. Learn to:

Identify the target audience for the analysis.
Identify the gaps in actual performance and determine the reasons for them.
Determine whether training is necessary.
Identify the best training strategy.

Marketing Skills for Trainers: How to Promote Your Training Service
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:15 am

Having difficulty filling your classes? Need to improve the marketing of your training? In this session, you will learn dozens of practical tips on how to promote your training, the four keys to marketing success, and how to create a marketing plan. Learn how to align your training with the priorities of your company, to differentiate your courses from the competition, and how to build lasting relationships with your internal customers.

Participants will be able to:

Create alignment between training and the company's mission and goals.
Select the promotional techniques for their marketing campaigns.
Write persuasive hooks in their marketing materials
Build positive working relationships with their customers.
Write a marketing plan for their training services.

Shaun's delivery of this session at the ISPI's 44 th Annual International Conference in Dallas, Texas received an evaluation score ranking it among the top 16 sessions offered at the 2006 Conference. The ISPI has invited Shaun to present this session again in San Francisco, California, April 30 - May 03 as an Encore Presentation at the 2007 ISPI/IFTDO Conference!

Book Review

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By: Malcolm Gladwell (ISBN 0-316-34662-4 )

Have you ever wondered how a product could be on the market for years with little notoriety, and then all of a sudden, its sales take off into the millions? Malcolm Gladwell, explains the phenomenon of creating word-of-mouth epidemics in his book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference . This is one of those eye opening books that explain why events at work and in society happen the way they do. It explains how an idea or trend crosses the threshold and spreads like wildfire. Gladwell attributes this tipping point to three criteria: The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and The Power of Context.

The Law of the Few describes how certain types of people in society have a great influence in determining the acceptability of ideas and trends. Gladwell describes these people as Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. Connectors are individuals who know everyone; Mavens want to solve other people's problems by helping and educating; and Salesmen are persuaders. In order for an idea or trend to cross the threshold and capture the imagination of large numbers of people, you have to concentrate your resources solely on these three groups; no one else matters.

The Stickiness Factor is the way we describe our idea so that it is remembered. Stickiness is the primary purpose of advertising firms and marketing campaigns. Gladwell give us numerous, everyday examples describing how there is a simple way to package information. Also, by tinkering with the message, you can make it irresistible to your audience. It is the little things that make our ideas memorable and move us to action.

The Power of Context is the third ingredient in creating a word-of-mouth epidemic. People's behavior and actions are extremely sensitive to their surroundings and situation. Specific and relatively small elements in our environment can serve as Tipping Points in turning an idea into an epidemic. For example, "Anyone who has ever been to the movies knows that the size of the crowd in the theater has a big effect on how good the movie seems." Tightly focused, targeted interventions often make the difference between whether an idea takes off or not.

No matter where we work, we are all in the business of influencing others. We want our ideas to have a positive impact on our companies and organizations. The Tipping Point , by giving us three simple rules of influence, provides us with the tools to turn our good ideas into word-of-mouth epidemics. This entertaining and informative book will open your eyes on how a series of little things can make the difference between a good idea and a great idea and influence others to take action.

Best Practice

That Was a Great Meeting!

We all spend hours of our time attending meetings. Sometimes the meetings are productive, but very often, the meetings are a waste of time. Everyone has a responsibility in making sure that we only attend those meetings that will result in a tangible benefit to every participant. We would like everyone to say, at the end of the session, "That was a great meeting!" In order to reach that goal, we must make sure that the meeting was necessary to begin with. In deciding whether to call another meeting, and to make sure it's a good use of everyone's time, ask yourself these 10 questions:

Is the meeting justified for the money it will cost?
Do I really need to speak with only one person?
Would a conference call or email be just as effective?
Is there a clear objective or accomplishment I want to achieve?
Do I need to meet face to face with others to meet this objective?
Who should attend the meeting?
Would each person make a contribution towards meeting the objective?
When should the meeting be held in order to minimize disruptions to other peoples' schedules?
What materials do participants need ahead of time to make the meeting effective?
Where is the best place to hold the meeting so that everyone will focus on the objective?

Local Wisdom

Who was the best manager you ever had? I ask this question to the participants of our Masterful Leadership and Motivation workshop in order to get them thinking about the qualities of leadership. Of the hundreds of people to whom I've asked this question, almost every individual has given the same three answers. These three answers have led me to believe that great leaders have very similar characteristics; qualities that represent both their personalities and skills.

The most common answer that I receive from workshop participants is that their best managers cared about them as individuals. They knew this was the case because their managers took the time to get to know them, to learn about them and to find out what was important to them. By showing a sincere interest in their employees, the mangers were able to assign work and projects that suited their employees' strengths and skills. Their managers were also able to provide the employees with honest and constructive feedback when things were not going well. The managers cared enough to take the time to teach them how to do the task correctly instead of reprimanding or criticizing the employees. In other words, the best managers were able to build honesty and trust with his/her staff, which created a supportive work environment.

The second most common answer that I receive describing the participants' best managers is that their bosses got the job done. Their best managers were focused, driven and goal oriented. They had a mission for their team and they set goals with their employees to achieve that vision. The best managers trained their team as a group; everyone was clear about their role and how they contributed to accomplishing the mission. The managers created a real team atmosphere so that everyone worked together towards a common goal, without individual competition and personal agendas getting in the way. It was this single-minded drive and determination to get the job done on-time, within budget and to specification that stood out as a leadership characteristic for the participants.

The third most common characteristic that made the participants' best manager stand out above all the rest was that their best manager turned them into leaders as well. Unlike many managers, the best manager wanted their employees to grow, succeed and advance. They did not hold them back from new opportunities for selfish reasons. Instead, they made sure that their employees were highly trained, challenged and coached in management and leadership skills. The best managers knew that creating leaders out of their staff would result in a more productive and committed group of individuals who would work for the success of the team and the organization.

Great leaders in any organization have very similar characteristics. They get the job done, they care for their staff and they turn their employees into leaders. Hundreds of participants in our classes have had the same experiences working for their best managers, each with the same result. Their best managers are role models who should be emulated in our own personal quest to become great leaders.