Development Programs

Human Resource Development Capabilities

In recent years, business has taken on many new and complex dimensions. Instant global communications, innovation and increasingly available technology have created profound changes. Customer demands and worker values are constantly evolving and changing. There is an increasing effort to increase productivity, lower operating costs, improve quality and provide outstanding service.

Success in today's competitive environment requires that today's leaders must be prepared to maximize the human potential inherent in their organization. The development of human resources is the key to greater growth and profits for both the individual and the organization. People make the difference... from the leadership ability at the top, to the quest for quality and excellence throughout the entire organization.

At Firm Foundations, we believe that people are your most valuable resource. Our focus is getting people to do more (improving productivity) and helping them develop an insatiable desire for continued growth and improvement. Firm Foundations’ specialty is helping clients develop cultures where continuous improvement, higher levels of achievement, standards of excellence and exceeding customer expectations prevail. We provide the vehicle and the implementation process to help you and your people expand and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve a higher degree of success.

Firm Foundations’ universal development process is applicable to international corporations, as well as small, privately owned companies. Satisfied clients include manufacturing, service, healthcare, government, education, pharmaceutical and non-profit organizations.

Our standard developmental program offerings are listed below, followed by client comments. Firm Foundations, LLC emphasizes the importance of customizing these programs to meet each client's specific needs and situation.

Executive Leadership

Success in today's complex global arena is challenging and the rules are changing. For an organization to compete globally, executive leaders will have to create an organizational culture in which everyone is challenged to seek innovative and improved methods of doing business. Leading today's organization into tomorrow's competitive arena will require teamwork, collaboration and speed.

To create and lead an organization that will maintain a competitive advantage during such turbulent times, executives must transform organizational cultures that were founded on yesterday's paradigms. Priorities must shift in order for thinking to change.

Key Areas:
Valueship
Creating a Compelling Vision
Communicating the Vision
Leading During Times of Change
Alignment
Creating Balance
The Principals of Successful Planning
Strategies for Positive Growth
Leadership Responsibility
The Leadership Roles
Collaborating for Results
Obstacles to Successful Collaboration
Creating Winning Teams
Team Competency
Understanding What Motivates People
Developing Peak Performers
Developing Trust & Accountability

Strategic Planning

The best way to predict the future is to create it! Strategic Planning is a process that determines the future of the organization and what organizational resources will be needed to ensure success. The process involves determining what business opportunities exist, and what resources are available to capitalize on those opportunities.

Business leaders today have found that developing a strategy and a plan is far more effective than leaving the future to chance. Furthermore, the key factors that create higher levels of motivation and commitment continuously fuel higher levels of achievement. Finally, the effective implementation of the plan is as important as planning. This is the true determining factor as to whether or not a company is successful.

The Strategic Planning Processes provide a format for developing a Strategic Plan, taking that strategy through the business planning process and establishing measurable goals. It is a process that involves not only determining where a company is going, but also how it is going to get there.

Key Areas:
Strategic Planning
A Passion for Succeeding
Developing a Competitive Edge
Effective Planning Techniques
Execution is Everything
Marketing and Sales
Generating and Retaining Profits
Becoming a Customer-driven, Enduring Company

Leadership Development

A leader combines the vision and curiosity of a dreamer with the practical skills of a builder. A leader is goal directed, looking forward with anticipation toward the attainment of goals. Goals give meaning and purpose to life and serve as a continuous source of motivation in the pursuit of all activities. The capacity for leadership exists in everyone, but most people never take the time to develop this talent. Leadership is determination, courage, confidence and the ability to view a situation, formulate a measured response and encourage other to execute the plan.

Positive Leadership assumes that goals can be accomplished, the job can be done, the problem can be solved and obstacles can be overcome. Leaders create their own future because Leaders interpret their vision of the future to help team members make connection to their individual contributions.

Key Areas:
You Possess the Ability to Lead
Preparation for Leadership
A Product of the Past
Formal Leadership
Goal Setting for Success
Building Success Attitudes and Habits
Developing Your Personal Goals Program
Turning Solutions into Action
Understanding and Affirming Yourself
Managing Your Time
Communications and Human Relations
Decision Making and Problem Solving
Motivation
Continuing Your Leadership Growth
Decision Making and Problem Solving

Sales Development

Business in recent years has taken on many new and complex dimensions, and this trend will continue. The field of sales has also seen some dramatic and far-reaching changes. Today's salesperson, as well as today's buyer, is better educated, more informed and has more options than ever before. These changes have created new, exciting and challenging possibilities in every organization. Sales Development is significantly different from sales training. In training, knowledge is transferred from one person to another. Development occurs only when knowledge is internalized, creating a behavioral change that leads to the expression of positive, results-oriented skills.

Today's business is sales-driven and today's salesperson is a key link to success in business. One element that distinguishes profitable companies from non-profitable companies is their ability to better develop their salespeople. The result is salespeople who sell because they want to excel, succeed because they understand why and how to utilize their knowledge, and their contribution to the overall business plan. The Sales Development process not only makes sales development possible, but eminently profitable.

Key Areas:
Success in Sales
The Buying/Selling Process
Your Personal and Professional Growth
Prospecting Fundamentals
Planning Your Success Part I
Prospecting: Advanced Techniques (Can we use on suspects?)
Communication Skills
Getting Appointments
Planning Your Success Part II
The Introduction
Gaining Favorable Attention
Discovering Wants and Needs
Building the Case for Action
Presenting Benefits and Consequences
Getting Commitment and Follow Up
Overcoming Obstacles for Continued
Success in Sales

Customer Service

During this new decade of service-oriented industry, a mastery of Customer Service can mean the difference between success and failure. The corporate trend of raising Customer Service is an art form, treating service as a product that needs to be learned inside and out, and marketing service to customers as vigorously as if it were a direct revenue producer. Unfortunately in many companies, the customer has become a low priority. When people are not treated according to their expectations, they take their business elsewhere. What's more, they usually relate their bad experiences to as many as ten other people. On the other hand, the rewards for exceeding customer expectations are plentiful. That's good news for businesses that strive to offer the ultimate in Customer Service.

The question then becomes not whether to improve your company's service standard, but how. Excellence in Customer Service pays off on the bottom line by dramatically influencing customer behavior through a dynamic, results-oriented process.

Key Areas:
What Does the Customer Really Want?
What Does Customer Service Really Mean
Your Role in the Company's Success
Understanding Human Behavior
The Power of Goal Setting
The Art of Satisfying Customers
Being a Team Player
Cultivating Customer Loyalty
Effective Communications
The Art of Listening
Handling Complaints and Mastering
Difficult Situations
Developing a Positive Company Image
Estimating Your Quality of Service
Becoming an Excellent Service Provider

Contact Info:

Firm Foundations @ T: 908-766-7736 Email: info@firmfound.com. Firm Foundations, LLC is a certified Affiliate of Resource Associates Corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Firm Foundations, LLC.