8th Annual  Stevie ® Awards For  Women in Business

Stevie Award Winners to Be Announced in New York on November 11

PHOENIX – October 21, 2011 – Aspire was named a Finalist in the Most Innovative Company of the Year – Up to 100 Employees category in the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, and the companies they run – worldwide.  The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the world’s premier business awards.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word “crowned,” winners will be announced during a gala event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Friday, November 11.  Nominated women executives and entrepreneurs from the U.S.A and several other countries are expected to attend.   The presentations will be broadcast live on radio in the U.S.A. by the Business TalkRadio Network.

More than 1,300 entries – a record for the competition – were submitted this year for consideration in 75 categories, including Best Executive, Best Entrepreneur, Women Helping Women, and Communications Campaign of the Year.  Aspire is a Finalist in the Most Innovative Company of the Year – Up to 100 Employees category.

“Nothing happens without action!” says Renie Cavallari, CEO and Chief Inspiration Officer of Aspire, offering congratulations to her team.  “This nomination represents all of our hard work and efforts and we are honored to be in the company of so many great leaders.”   Aspire has focused their energies to strengthen leaders and organizations through hands-on learning programs, customized to meet their clients’ unique needs during this tough economic era.

Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging.

Members of the six final judging committees will select Stevie Award winners from among the Finalists during final judging.

“Women entrepreneurs and executives continue to innovate, excel, and impress,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards.  “Regardless of general economic conditions, the achievements of women-owned and –run organizations around the world remain high, and are reflected in this year’s impressive body of Finalists.”

“Today, more than ever before, it is leadership that is core to revenue generation strategies,” says Cavallari.  Combining research with her own experience, she defines new requirements for effective leadership capable of increasing revenues and retention during any economy.  Aspire’s 21^st Century Leadership Revolution is a combination of systems, strategies and tools global leaders are using to transform their organizations.

At http://www.aspireleadership.com leaders can receive complimentary support. They can take the 21st Century Leadership Quiz to see if they are “able to identify the competencies needed to effectively lead in today’s business environment.” They are also able to receive a free weekly dose of Cavallari’s Leadership Tips.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/women.

About Renie Cavallari and Aspire

Aspire is an award-winning international consulting company that has trained some of the world’s top corporate leaders. Renie Cavallari is a much sought after keynote leadership speaker held in such high esteem that she has retained over 90% of her business clients during her 20-years-plus career.

More information about her new book, CD, keynote speaking and leadership training is available at: http://www.aspireleadership.com

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors and supporters of the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business (as of October 12) include the Business TalkRadio Network, Coloredge, Infogroup, KeyBank | Key4Women, Melilea International Group of Companies, SDL, and Smart Reader Worldwide,

Contact:

Sherrie Nattrass, Aspire Public Relations
Phone: (480) 380-3053
E-mail: sherrienattrass@msn.com

SOURCE Aspire

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employee retention

With the current economic realities and the endless need to attract and retain top performing people, how do we live in the same space?  How do we realistically balance the benefits for employees against the rising costs of doing business and simultaneously attract and retain the best our marketplace has to offer?

My response is to think about what supports your Community culture and you will find creative ways to give to your people, cost effectively and competitively. Remember that the cost of losing an employee can be 100-200% of their salary, according to the Harvard Business Journal. So keeping your people is the most cost effective solution. How does building a Community and aligning your culture play a part?

When your people feel a part of something that represents a higher purpose than themselves, they work and think differently, including not rushing off to the grass that is never really much greener. This is especially true if you offer a great place to work!

Benefits are a compliment to the culture where people work. Have you ever worked in an environment that felt negative and unappreciative? It doesn’t matter what wages and benefits you are offered in this environment, at some point people will jump ship… the water is just too “turbulent.”

So how do you integrate Community and Employee benefits?

1. Constantly reinforce and acknowledge your people and what their work is truly doing. Housekeepers aren’t cleaning dirty rooms; they are creating a sanctuary for each guest who enters a room to feel comfortable and at peace. Your housekeeping checklists help you with the process and your powerful culture gets your people aligned and fired up. This costs nothing and gets you everything!
2. Benefits are an expensive reality and without them your talent may go down the street. You can surely bet that your talent will leave if they don’t feel a part of your Community and a competitor steps in offering them a better benefits package. So how do you offer benefits that don’t position you to go broke and support your culture? Get creative!

Here are a few ideas worth considering:

1. Make sure that you offer benefits that support your vision, mission and values. If you are going to reward people for performance and good behavior, have it be directly related to one of these key components. Reinforcement of what you are truly delivering not only gets it delivered, it makes you money.
2. Find ways to recognize people every day and tie the recognition and your comments back to your culture. Be specific. Don’t make it hard to be successful.
3. Think about benefits in four areas:
   1. The Basics:
      • Health insurance
      • Vacation
      • 401K
      • Holiday pay and the like
   2. Training & Development:
      • Share what your training costs are per person and how this training will shape their lives as well as improve their work for you and themselves into their future. Training is a gift an employee takes with them along the work journey. Helping them understand its importance and cost shows you care enough to invest in them.
      • Executive coaching
      • Detail their training benefits as part of their compensation package.
   3. Beyond the Basics: (you can trade many of these out with local vendors)
      • Offer free group health club trainer sessions.
      • Have a nutritionist come in and talk about how to stay healthy through the foods you eat.
      • Offer free hair cuts so your staff has time for grooming and doesn’t have deal with it on their days off.
      • Have a personal shopper come in for your managers and share how to look like a pro on a budget.
      • Offer on-property or discounted child care services.
      • Pay for bus passes or other transit services.
      • Free massages
      • Free tickets to nearby family attractions or movie tickets.
   4. Quality of Life Support:
      • Extra vacation days
      • Retirement planning
      • Savings and Banking
      • College Savings Plans
      • Life Insurance Planning
      • Adoption Assistance
      • Non-profit Gift Matching

You must start your employee recruitment and retention strategy with Community alignment and then select benefits that support your culture. Change it up especially in the “Beyond the Basics” area and you will keep them working harder for the purpose you have established, they will be happy to do the work and stay around. We all know people hate change, so if they keep leaving it’s because it isn’t worth staying.

If you think employee benefits are expensive, take a look at your employee recruiting and retraining costs.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to achieve optimum performance. Aspire provides innovative learning, strategic marketing, leadership training and cultural alignment for increasing revenues, growth in market share, a re-energized sales force and lasting changes in attitudes and outcome. Founded in 1995, Aspire has headquarters in Phoenix with a network of inspiring professionals across the country.

For more information on employee retention programs, visit www.aspiremarketing.com or e-mail Renie directly at renie@aspiremarketing.com or call Aspire at 602-392-0700

The more time I spend on this earth, the more I realize that it is the small strides that make the most difference. Many times we look for the big hits; those home runs that make the game “nail-biting exciting”. And yet for many people the need for home runs can set them back because the homers only come occasionally even for the best of home run hitters.

If you are waiting for the big hits, you will spend a lot of time wondering why you aren’t getting them which will set you up for more waiting, wondering and worrying. Negativity hurts small strides.

Think about it…

The best sales people understand that it is the daily target list planning; followed by their daily disciplined and varied contact approaches that builds their pipeline. I find it interesting that even those who are considered experts think that getting customers to buy happens in placing a few calls or leaving a few messages. The “no one calls me back” theme song seems to have made the top 10 list. It is a salesperson’s choice to work their never-ending target list along with ongoing and compelling approaches to staying in touch that builds customer rapport and gets customers to buy. Small strides add up.

Think about it…

The best leaders understand that it is through daily communication with their people that keeps the conversations flowing and real. It is not a monthly employee appreciation meeting or a fun, all-you-can-eat annual holiday party that synergizes people or gets performance to its best levels; it is the never ending efforts made each day by managers to engage, train and inspire employees which ultimately optimizes productivity and delivers results. Small strides add up.

Think about it…

The best customer service teams understand that truly caring about and listening to customers is the way to keep customers coming back and raving about you. It just isn’t that tricky and yet customer service levels are at an all time low. Managers who focus on coaching and training employees in a caring way understand that there are big dividends with this approach. Employees know that times are tough and working from the heart gets their heart’s beating. Small strides, just like heart beats, add up.

Think about it…

We all have more to do with less and top performers know that getting the right things done is what will allow them sustained success. They focus on what matters, make the right decisions effectively and look for what is working and what is not to establish what matters the most, next. Top performers have a process around getting the most important things done and they stick to the formula. They think strategically and move tactically never taking their eye off the ball (strategies). They understand that the right small strides add up.

Renie Cavallari is CEO and Chief Inspirational Officer for Aspire, an international training and consulting company positioning organizations to success even in difficult times. For more information on how to improve your management’s effectiveness contact Renie and Aspire Marketing at 602-392-0700.