In a recent study from Switzerland-based Pictet & Cie it is determined that job creation is a form of socially responsible investment. The study examines 1,677 companies in the MSCI World Index from 1997 to 2005, and compares employment statistics with financial performance. In a third-party article on the study, the research company is quoted as making the statement: "A sustainability analysis that focuses only on indicators that have a 'material' impact on the financial success of companies is incomplete and ultimately even obsolete, since it does nothing more than a standard financial analysis, namely to identify the most profitable companies...sustainable investment should allow for inclusion of criteria that are desirable from a purely sustainable point of view." At High Performance Employees, we agree, and believe it's not just 'socially responsible investing' to create the jobs themselves, but it is equally important to keep employees happy in those positions. Regardless of the number of jobs created by any given company - the social return of investing in employee satisfaction (and the relative management satisfaction!) is invaluable to both the company's own financial returns and the social return. Employees who are content on the job and happy in their workplace take that energy and enthusiasm with them out into their non-working daily lives. It would be interesting to see a study analyzing the relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance. Because, no matter how many jobs a company creates - if the employees are unhappy and unmotivated at work, what are those jobs really worth?

We are pleased to announce that Jeff Campbell, director of High Performance Employees, has been invited to participate in a conference for Service Providers of the An Even Better Place to Work program. The conference is being held August 8, 2006 in Southampton, England and promises to be a high-energy event with a packed agenda including working toward a better understanding of the service itself and the philosophy behind the program. Jeff has agreed to participate as a presenter at the conference and will discuss his own integration of An Even Better Place to Work into the High Performance Employees roster of available services. We look forward to Jeff sharing his experiences with us upon his return, in the meantime, you can learn more about the conference here - and more about the An Even Better Place to Work program, as offered by High Performance Employees, here.

Discovered by our very own director, Jeff Campbell: Now, of course this isn't our philosophy on how to handle office conflict...but it's a fun little piece. A little bit about what's behind conflict and what you can really do to address it, from one of our workshops:
"We don't have conflict because we're different. Don't blame 'because we're different' for conflict. That's not why. We have conflict when I don't feel you're trying to understand me, when I don't sense you're willing to meet my needs. Those are two of the real key factors in terms of conflict... If you're looking to add value, grow your business, get your customers locked in to you, feeling good about you - that's it! Getting people smiling when they hear your voice they got a sense from you, 'Hey, you understand me and you're willing to meet my needs!' They're the two key factors, no matter how different we might be. So, in terms of significant relationships in your life, these are magic questions: 'How much do you feel I understand you?' Ask that of the people around you. And of course the second would be, 'How much do you feel I'm willing to meet your needs?' And if those scores are low, ask the next magic question, 'What do I need to be doing so that you felt I understood you even more, or that I was more willing to meet your needs?'" *We're always on the lookout for images of office conflict expressed in a funny or otherwise interesting way, so if you've run across something you'd like to submit, please let us know! (Refresh the page to play the clip again.)

Just about every CEO/company realizes the importance of honest feedback from employees at all levels, but very few are actually receiving it as the filtering which naturally happens when lower level management pass on comments from staff is nearly impossible to get around. With recent statistical averages pointing to at least 20% workforce-dissatisfaction (and even higher turnover rates), it is invaluable to find out what exactly is going on in the thoughts and feelings of employees. If your employees smile when you walk into the room, then you're definitely doing something right. But what if they don't? Jeff Campbell, director of High Performance Employees, knows what it takes to achieve success in business, be it a large corporation or a fledging enterprise: it is the people who make up that business - plain and simple. But he also knows it's not just any people who drive success; it is the people who are recognized for their individual contributions to the group, who are encouraged to apply their strengths to the big picture. High Performance Employees introduces two of the most valuable tools for getting the absolute best from your people and for managing working relationships, The Corporate Ombudsman and the new Even Better Place to Work diagnostic tool. The Corporate Ombudsman is a free service devised to help higher level management find out exactly what is happening in their organization. With the Corporate Ombudsman, any CEO/Manager can receive anonymous (or the writer can include their name if they wish), unfiltered emails DIRECTLY from any staff member, thus giving them a formerly unseen view of the company at grass roots level. Not only does this give the CEO/Management of the company some extremely valuable and formerly unheard information but it also gives the staff a way to express their feelings and ideas more directly. You listen people into existence - showing staff that they actually matter, and that their ideas and concerns are being taken seriously, is a crucial aspect of turning workplace morale around. Adding to the "feel good" factor in the organization helps staff concentrate on the job rather than griping about what the company is doing wrong, or worse, seeking employment elsewhere. Losing good employees to frustration with workplace complaints increases overhead costs - giving them a voice within the company keeps them loyal, happy, and smiling when you walk into the room. High Performance Employees can to "help you to grow your people" with a brand new website offering this free feature - which may be the first of it's kind in the world! The Even Better Place to Work diagnostic tool is a new system of evaluating your team online and will prove to be one of the most beneficial resources any company dedicated to building a strong, dynamic team will ever come across. Using the new system will provide leaders and individuals alike with an amazing, and formerly unknown, insight into how the people in their organization feel. It will also show what they feel is working and what isn't and give you that vital information fast so that you stop little problems from becoming bigger ones. This system brings proven professional (organizational psychologist designed) team development to companies large and small. It provides scheduled, on-line, DIY, self service, rolling, interactive program of practical activities. When used by an organization it produces automatic, integrated individual, team and company reports. Use of this system will bring dramatic results, which are sustained and embedded in the culture. A proven 5-20% improved performance, with no administrative burden and without asking people to work longer or harder. About High Performance Employees - High Performance Employees is the North American-based portal to achieving success; offering real-life, viable resources that any business can utilize to create "Winning Relationships in the Workplace." The program, while multi-leveled and comprehensive, operates from the idea that it is human differences that create uniqueness - and that uniqueness is an asset to be cultivated,, rather than cancelled out. "Winning Relationships in the Workplace" has been available for the last 10 years and has been used by clients in the United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East including Siemens PLC, PepsiCo, Sony, Glaxo Smith Kline, Exxon Mobil, World Wildlife Fund and Barclays Bank. About Jeff Campbell - Jeff Campbell served as a police officer in what was once one of the world's most dangerous places to police: Northern Ireland. After immigrating to Vancouver, Canada in 2001 Mr. Campbell joined the Vancouver Police Department; focusing his beat on the tough downtown eastside area. With many years of up-close-and-personal social-studies in his career as a police officer Jeff began contemplating the reasons behind an individual's success or failure in life - wondering why some people seemed to 'make it' while others floundered. These questions led him to become an avid scholar of the science of success; trying to decipher a design behind achievement. During those studies, Jeff encountered the "Winning Relationships in the Workplace" program and it became his vision to introduce this and several other personally-developed training workshops to North America.

If this is the kind of paperwork your employees are processing - and according to recent statistics upwards of 20 percent of them are actively looking for someplace other than their current workplace to build a career - what can you do about it? How do you keep that 20+ percent from turning over and looking for workplace satisfaction elsewhere? High Performance Employees has created various programs to help you address just this issue. By following the tenets laid out and taught in our workshops you and your employees can learn to have not just 'good' working relationships, but GREAT ones - and in doing so, you will be ensuring the future positions of those very employees you've already spent time, energy, and money on to train. From one of our recent workshops: "Seventy percent of the people leave jobs because of 'relationship issues.' And most of those are relationships with their immediate supervisor. That's a real critical relationship. Twenty-five percent of a manager's time is lost on unnecessary conflict. In my experience, when I run the Winning Relationships program at organizations that's a conservative figure. In my experience, working with people like yourselves, it's much much higher. All I'm trying to suggest is - you want differences, you don't want conflict. Conflict doesn't make good business sense. You're losing time. You're generating stress. The stuff that was being talked about this morning in terms of improving efficiency and all of that - look at the time that's lost. And it was really interesting this afternoon - about communication issues coming up. And that's all about relationships. You know, to grow your business, grow relationships...It's not just a soft issue, or, rather it is a soft issue - but the soft issues are often harder than the hard issues..." Listen to live samples from our workshop events here and when you're ready to take a first step toward reversing that 20+ percent loss, toward maintaining a happy atmosphere in the workplace, toward listening your employees into harmony and satisfaction in your place of business (and affecting your financial bottom line in a positive way in the process!) you can sign up for the free Corporate Ombudsman service, learn more about High Performance Employees' A Great Place to Work system, or check out our extensive list of workshops and workshopping options. High Performance Employees is poised to help you grow your people, so why not take advantage of what we have to offer - and ensure that those you value most in the office aren't actually on their way out the door. Image courtesy: PostSecret.

Now you can stay connected to the High Performance Employees website via your email inbox! Just use the 'Get Connected!' signup form on any of the main website pages to enter your email and receive a copy of our monthly newsletter. The newsletter will be targeted to business owners with working relationships as the main focus; including tips and highlights from the High Performance Employees workshops, event information, new site feature announcements, targeted news articles, and personal messages from the Director of HPE, Jeff Campbell. Also included will be helpful business tips ranging from maintaining high morale in the workplace to how to decrease turnover rates at your company. Get connected! Sign up now! Our first issue is expected to make it's debut in early August. Archived newsletters will also be available on the website, in our News Room.