The Vocational Shrink

Vocational Shrink

The Workshop

What started out as a silly exercise in cataloging the unique, reactionary survival mannerism of co-workers during my first two jobs out of college, turned in the The Ten Levels of Workplace Disillusionment, and ultimately The Vocational Shrink.

In the past 20 years, I founded Schaefer Recognition Group and have worked with hundreds of companies to help them optimize their employee recognition, motivation and incentive programs. Recently with the growth of new internet technology, increased outsourcing, and a confusion regarding employee's wants versus needs, I have seen deterioration in the effectiveness of many recognition award programs.

Some vendors have even gone back to suggesting the old behaviorist tactics of Carrots and Sticks! Sadly, this leads to an entitlement "buyin em’ off" perception among employees that is leading to the low engagement and high turnover statistics that companies are struggling with today. Ironically, it’s a self-fulfilling prophesy that leads even more toward cash or cash-equivalent solutions – the least effective use of your recognition budget.

My team can help you, you employees and your supervisors understand these challenges, communicate better and get to the emotional motivators that directly lead to the high engagement, productivity and profitability that the best companies enjoy.

There are three secrets to optimizing employee performance and moving you company to a position of higher productivity and increased profits:

1. Understanding the difference between how Employees think and how Executives and Managers think – The Employer/Employee Communications Disconnect.

2. Becoming aware of the subconscious habit patterns that dictate over 90% of the interaction that takes place between Employees and Supervisors in your workplace.

3. Addressing these differences by shedding light on these habit patterns; then working from a position of cooperation, security and trust to modify and improve them.

The Purpose of The Vocational Shrink - The Workshop is to address Secret 1, above, by providing facts and statistics that show the many ways that the Employer/Employee Disconnect is alive and well in many of today's workplaces.

Secret 2 is covered by The Vocational Shrink - The Book using The Ten Levels of Workplace Disillusionment and Some Common Trends associated with the Levels.

Secret 3 is where The Vocational Shrink - The Game is invaluable. We all know that the trick to opening people up is a feeling of safety, fairness, and equality. You can't afford to bring in Dr. Phil for a month, but you can bring in The Vocational Shrink - The Game, and create a fun, open, and rewarding environment to help you, your employees and you organization become a more enthusiastic, productive, and rewarding place to work.

I have developed a number of simple and compelling tools that I share in The Vocational Shrink - The Workshop to show you how making your company a better place to work will help you reduce turnover, increase productivity, improve customer service, optimize profitability. And as we all know, it only takes a small increase in these areas to more than pay for a program like this.