Lisa Ryan, Connectors Choice Awards 2015 Corporate Event Speaker of the Year, wants to help business owners keep their most talented employees and best customers. Ryan, founder of Grategy, teaches gratitude strategies that can help engage employees to feel enthusiastic about their jobs. Ryan explains in a recent interview, “Nineteen percent of employees are actively disengaged at work and they bring down the rest of the workplace. On the other hand, 30% of employees are actively engaged, so they are the people who are a pleasure to work with. The rest of employees are moderately engaged – doing enough work so they don’t get fired, and the company is paying them just enough so they don’t quit. If we can get just a small percentage of the actively disengaged group to at least get to neutral, and a small percentage of the neutral group and get them to actively engaged, we’ll see an increasingly positive workplace culture.”
Grategy is the fulfillment of Ryan’s dream for motivating people, “Becoming a professional motivational speaker was on my goal list since 1989. I discovered speaking by taking a Dale Carnegie class and then being invited to come back as a graduate assistant. From there I joined Toastmasters and as I got better, started to do more speaking as part of what I did for a living in my sales career. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Also, every time I’d go to a “Get Motivated” seminar, Tony Robbins seminar or something similar, I wanted to be the person up on the stage. That feeling has never left me.
Early on, I dipped my foot in the water with network marketing and fell in love with freedom. I also spent a lot of my career in sales and worked out of my home, so I got used to having the freedom that you cannot get in a cubicle.When my medical sales position was eliminated in 2010, I decided to dive in and do what I’ve always wanted to do – become a professional speaker and author.”
Ryan suggests business owners sincerely engage employees because they can tell the difference between checking something off a list and actually believing in what’s being done. She’s developed what she calls The 5 Thank- you’s a Day Challenge which encourages business owners to develop a gratitude mindset by using the following:
1. Write a thank you note
2. Write a letter of appreciation
3. Verbally express gratitude
4. Write down what you’re grateful for in a journal
5. Meditate on gratitude for 5 minutes
Grategy offers programs that range from 30 minutes to full day and these sessions focus on employee engagement, retention and recognition by creating a culture of appreciation in the workplace. The programs will not only affect a company’s bottom line by making employees more productive and profitable, they will also connect with the organization on an emotional level. Employees will learn strategies that will help them in their personal lives as well. The programs help reduce stress, improve workplace relations, and help build a more cohesive, cooperative workplace – and keep the best employees from taking their skills elsewhere.
To learn more go to the Grategy website at grategy.com or connect with Ryan at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaRyan14
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/asklisaryan/
YouTube: http://youtube.com//user/mygrategy