Reinforcing The InfoTool Brand And Our Vision For
The Future
by Stan Labovitz
So much has happened in the last year to propel InfoTool
forward that it's been difficult to convey in a timely way
how our progress has impacted who we are and where we are
going and more importantly, to see where our customers and
markets need us to go.
The rapid growth of our representation in South America
(see the reseller profile in this newsletter), and the addition
of the new Platinum Leadership Team of experts this Fall,
along with a new Speakers Bureau has kept us quite busy.
And with completion of InfoTool 3.0, expanded use of predictive
modeling, plus the new CAT Scan and DNA applications, one
thing is certain: we are much closer to our goal of making
InfoTool the global leader in business diagnostic services.
We can make this claim because it appears that no other
similar company has, or even contemplates the scope of service
product offerings InfoTool will unleash within the next
year.
As we enhance our technological capabilities we will add
new features to complement our core survey tools such as
Instant Advice gives InfoTool users instant access to videos
that offer positive solutions to negative performance factors
identified by InfoTool.
We will continue to expand our global network of resellers
and independent consultants to enable everyone in the network
to expand their business by giving clients the ability to
deploy InfoTool throughout their global organizations.
We are also introducing new educational and certification
programs that will improve the quality and content of the
post-survey advice we give clients. Our "Train-the-Trainer"
program will qualify clients to optimize their ability to
execute survey findings within their organizations and communicate
more effectively with their management, resulting in more
repeat business and long-term relationships.
2008 will truly be a year to remember.
Plug into the Power of InfoTool: Become A Certified Trainer
InfoTool will introduce a new program to train consultants,
resellers and clients to be Certified InfoTool Trainers
beginning in early 2008. The new "Train-the-Trainer"
program will be taught in an 8-module program over 2.5 days.
Certified Trainers will then be able to train their clients
and/or the client's internal employees in the four techniques
that enable InfoTool users to fully leverage InfoTool's
uniquely powerful analytic and diagnostic capabilities.
The techniques include Navigation, Analysis, Communication
and Action Planning, and Coaching Managers and Leaders.
An advanced Training for InfoTool Coaches will be available
to Certified Trainers later in the year.
By working directly with a client's employees, InfoTool
representatives and coaches can greatly enhance the value
of InfoTool and convert short-term projects into long-term
relationships. It is also estimated that InfoTool end-users
use only 25% of the InfoTool's expansive capabilities.
The first "Train-the-Trainer" will be held at
the Marriot Ocean Pointe resort in Palm Beach Shores, Florida
February 27-29, 2008.
Tim
Maroney joined InfoTool in October as its first-ever Chief
Marketing Officer. An advertising and marketing executive
with over 25 years experience, Tim has been a member of
InfoTool's Advisory Board since 2002 as well as an InfoTool
customer, reseller and developer.
Working with Stan Labovitz and Steve Radoff, Tim developed
the InfoTool customer satisfaction survey application and
sold it to his clients including Dannon, U.S.A., Principal
Financial Group, AstraZeneca, Neutrogena, and Cotton Incorporated.
Working in this new position for InfoTool, Tim will be
responsible for the development and deployment of new InfoTool
services, education and certification programs, newsletters
and email communications, promotions and branding messages
and the creation of sales and support materials.
He will also work directly with resellers to assist them
in speeding the sell-in process to new accounts. Tim can
be reached at tim.maroney@infotool-online.com.
InfoTool Sets A Platinum Standard
InfoTool
formally announces its Platinum Leadership Team (PLT), formed
in tandem with the InfoTool Speakers Bureau. This exceptional
group of individuals is comprised of noted business authors,
PHds and former CEOs.
The PLT is perfect for corporate executives
who wish to have short or long-term private guidance for
accurate and unbiased insights into their organization and
support for their corrective action plans. InfoTool clients
can choose the PLT member whose area of expertise and subject
matter best fits their organizational needs as defined by
an InfoTool survey. Call 866-616-5552 to discuss a customized
proposal for your PLT engagement.
More importantly, InfoTool clients now have access to this
exceptional group as part of InfoTool's comprehensive approach-advanced
business diagnostic tools, backed by live experience from
some of the most recognized leaders in business, including:
Dr. George Labovitz
Author, The Power of Alignment, & Making
Quality Work
An expert in organizational dynamics
Judith Glaser
Author, The DNA of Leadership, & The Power
of We
An expert in leadership and coaching
Mike Jay
Author, COACH2, The Bottom Line & CPR
For the Soul
Executive & Master Business Coach-expert in
performance change and transformation
Richard Kimball
Founder, Bigelow & Company
Expert in execution of turnaround business strategies
Barbara Annis
Author, Same Words, Different Language
Gender and diversity expert
Overlake Medical Center:
New HR VP Orders A Complete Medical Center Check-Up.
InfoTool
diagnoses hidden problems in a seemingly healthy patient.
When Lisa Brock joined the Overlake
Hospital Medical Center as Vice President of Human Resources,
she found herself a bit in the dark.
Overlake hadn't conducted an employee survey for over five
years and she needed up-to-date information to gauge how
employees and managers felt about their workplace-data that's
crucially important in retaining talented healthcare workers
in a fiercely competitive environment.
Overlake CEO Ken Graham offered a suggestion: InfoTool.
InfoTool has all the attributes Brock was looking for.
It is scalable and customizable to any organization's size
and dynamic; it presents clear and precise views of each
department and neatly complements management's own "scorecard"
performance assessment system.
"One of its strengths over other tools is its technology,
which is extremely user-friendly with wonderful, easy-to-use
graphics," says Brock. "And once you have the
data, you can cut it any way you want without additional
charges. Comparable tools add a charge every time you re-cut
the data," she noted after the initial survey, which
she now conducts annually.
Employees and management were asked to complete a seventy-question
survey, which generally took about twenty minutes. Brock
offered incentives, e.g., free gym bag or umbrella to achieve
an impressive response. What she soon discovered was quite
dramatic.
Intensive Care Unit needed care and attention
While some departments like Senior Care and the executive
group rated their work climate as highly satisfactory, something
was clearly wrong in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). For
example, when asked if "My manager responds positively
to new ideas we come up with," ICU workers gave it
a score of only 34 on a scale of 100. Yet, by utilizing
Infotool's advanced diagnostic and analytic features, it
was quickly determined that this was a fixable problem that
could be addressed at the managerial level, as well as aligned
with the hospital's rewards program.
By accurately taking the organization's temperature and
shedding light on key issues, InfoTool helped Brock take
direct action to dramatically raise the levels of workplace
satisfaction among ICU workers in a few short months. READ
MORE
'People
of Talent' Puts InfoTool on the Map in Latin America
Literally translated as "people of talent" the
Costa Rica-based Gente de Talento is breaking new ground
with InfoTool in Central and South America.
Formerly Manager of the Human Capital Division of Deloitte
& Touche, Nancy Sirker, Founder and President of Gente
de Talento, defines her company simply: People and Process.
An early adopter of executive assessment tools, Ms. Sirker
has become a go-to person in Latin America for advanced
executive training and succession planning for a variety
of clients.
Earlier
this year she added InfoTool to the Gente de Talento
arsenal of resources and scored major new business wins
for InfoTool by selling engagements to clients GE and
Wal-Mart.
"InfoTool is extremely
useful when it comes to identifying weaknesses and gaps
in my clients' talent pool and does so in an extremely
precise manner," she says, adding, "the unique
insights provided by InfoTool have always been very
well received."
What's more, InfoTool
has enabled Ms. Sirker to compare and contrast
"the people aspect" with her clients'
overall business processes and procedures. "InfoTool
gives me an excellent way to assess human potential,"
which of course is key to her successful business
which serves over a dozen Latin American countries.
She adds that the InfoTool suite of products "increasingly
opens doors" for her.
As to the future, Ms. Sirker will continue to invest in
further training for her people as well as grow and expand
her company as an InfoTool reseller to new and existing
clients.
"I see a huge potential because wherever I travel,
everyone responds positively to it and wants to learn and
see how it works," she says.
So, from Miami to Panama and beyond, Nancy Sirker is helping
put InfoTool on the map. For more information about Nancy
and her firm, go to www.gentedetalento.com
Creating
We
Change I-Thinking to WE-Thinking & Build a
Healthy, Thriving Organization
by Judith Glazer
If only they would...!
They screwed up—it's their fault! I have
my own goals and numbers to meet!
Me. Us. Them. These seemingly innocent pronouns
have the power to stymie growth and erode unity
within companies of all sizes. In Creating WE,
visionary executive coach Judith E. Glaser goes
right to the root of the problem, revealing how
an "I-centric" work environment can
doom your company to failure. Whether your company
has recently been acquired, merged, restructured,
downsized, or simply demoralized, this revolutionary
book shows you how to help your team create a
healthy "WE-centric" environment, one
that can achieve extraordinary breakthrough success.
Misaligned companies, like cars out of alignment,
can develop serious problems if not corrected
quickly. They are hard to steer and don't respond
well to changes in direction. This groundbreaking
book shows you how to get - and keep - all the
vital elements of your organization aligned and
headed in the same direction at the same time.
As pioneers of the alignment concept, the authors
have developed this unique approach based on their
work with leading companies throughout the world.
The Power of Alignment is packed with war stories
and the firsthand perspectives of industry leaders.
In essence, alignment links the five key elements
of an organization - people, process, customers,
business strategies, and, of course, leadership
- to obtain breakthrough results, chief among
them, sustained growth and profit, loyal customers,
and a high-performing work force.
Do men and women really speak different languages?
Barbara Annis, the world's leading gender specialist,
offers a fascinating and practical guide to
how gender differences at work lead to misunderstandings
- and what you can do about it.
Barbara Annis has discovered that men and women
often misinterpret each other or speak in ways
that mislead the other. She reveals the top
five 'challenges' men and women experiences
with the opposite sex at work, the blind spots
and different communication styles men and women
have, and gives strategies for improving communication
between the sexes. Barbara Annis also covers
topics such as conflict resolution, harassment
in the workplace, and uses real-life scenarios
and practical techniques to turn communication
into win-win relationships.
Gregory
Goose's Leadership Secret
While
it's no secret that first-time C-Suite executives
often ask themselves with some urgency, "New
job, now what?" there exists a fresh way
to see how sharing power can release the leadership
potential in others and enhance your own executive
leadership abilities.
Which brings us to the Leadership Secret of
Gregory Goose. It's an in-depth workshop featuring
animated video (of Gregory the Goose, of course),
a comprehensive Leader's Guide and PowerPoint
presentation.
Created by Judith E. Glaser, author of Creating
We and The DNA of Leadership,
the workshop will help newly minted executives
identify the difference between old leadership
and new leadership, define key terms, create
inclusive and vital conversations in the workplace
to strengthen relationships, develop an action
plan and achieve business results.
The Leadership Secret of Gary Goose is available
on DVD or VHS or via streaming online. For more
information, visit www.creatingwe.com
or call 212.307.4386.
? 2002 - 2008 InfoTool, Inc.
InfoTool. The Global Leader in Business Diagnostic Services.
West Barnstable, MA. Toll free: 866.616.5552
Plug into the Power of InfoTool: Become A Certified Trainer
To enroll in the inaugural program 
Tim
Maroney joined InfoTool in October as its first-ever Chief
Marketing Officer. An advertising and marketing executive
with over 25 years experience, Tim has been a member of
InfoTool's Advisory Board since 2002 as well as an InfoTool
customer, reseller and developer. 
