As a professional speaker for 25 years (the first 12 as a speaker for youth and for educators and administrators in more than 1500 schools across the US), Eric has spent the last 12 years working with employers of young people as the authority on Generation Y coming into the workplace.

He has authored 11 books for and about teens, and has presented for hundreds of major national brands including: McDonald’s, Wells Fargo, Toys-R-Us, and Harley-Davidson.

Additionally, he’s presented hundreds of staff development programs and worked with numerous associations, organizations, and groups in both the public and private sectors at the state and national level. Eric’s programs can be adapted to fit any audience.

PROGRAMS

On Fire at Work – How Great Leaders Ignite Passion in Their People without Burning Them Out

Targeted Audience: Employers, Business Leaders/Owners/Operators, Franchisees, CEOs, C-Level Execs, HR & Operations, Sr/Mid-Level Managers

Targeted Industries: Retail, Food Service, Fitness Centers and Gyms, Technology, Financial, Insurance, Healthcare/Senior Care, Hospitality, Maintenance/Cleaning/Sanitation, Construction, Manufacturing, Skilled and Professional Trade Associations

Presentation Style: Humorous, fast-paced, dynamic, motivational, content-rich. Highly customized actionable relevant ideas and strategies presented.

Type: 60- to 90-Minute keynote presentation

Description: After interviewing highly acclaimed C-level leaders across all industries, Eric Chester has uncovered the practices and principles that Best Places to Work award-winning companies and great leaders are using to go beyond merely engaging today’s rapidly changing workforce, but to ignite what he terms “On Fire performance.”  Through a highly entertaining multi-media presentation, audience members discover the best practice ideas, tactics, and strategies these esteemed employers use to consistently attract and retain top talent, encourage innovation and collaborative thinking, and inculcate the desire to out-perform yesterday’s best.  Based upon the groundbreaking research in his fifth leadership book, On Fire at Work: How Great Companies Ignite Passion in Their People without Burning Them Out (Sound Wisdom, Oct. 2015), leaders, managers, and supervisors walk away with actionable ideas for building an invincible army of entrepreneurs who take pride and ownership in their work.

Uplifting, inspiring, and content-rich, it’s impossible to experience “On Fire” without catching fire and igniting the passion for achieving excellence in those around you.

Take-Aways: Participants will discover the secrets and proven strategies that renowned companies and legendary leaders are using to:
•  consistently attract top talent with minimal recruiting.
•  on board new employees to make a lasting impression and cement their commitment from day one.
•  eliminate employee burn out, significantly reducing costly turnover.
•  remain relevant with the emerging workforce as they develop young talent into future leaders.
•  become the ‘employer-of-choice’ in their respective industry.
•  create a pipeline of talent by establishing 4 essential relationship connections in each community served.
•  inspire friendly, smiling, knowledgable service to every customer in every interaction.
•  stabilize application flow even when compensation is less than what is offered elsewhere.
•  determine ‘better fits’ to ensure those team members that are hired are safe bets for long-term employment.
•  create, develop, and reinforce the “7 pillars of an On Fire workplace culture”, i.e. Compensation, Alignment, Atmosphere, Growth, Acknowledgment,   Autonomy, and Communication to improve productivity, ignite performance, and reduce employee turnover, i.e. ‘churn’ .

Improving Your Business by Developing Your People from the Inside Out (for Business Leaders in most any industry)
Research proves that most business leaders are not satisfied with the performance, productivity, and the service they are getting from their emerging workforce. The problem is not so much a skills gap as it is a values gap, which is apparent when analyzing the core work ethic values a growing number of employees are bringing to the job. This is the cause–and the effect–of Eric Chester’s compelling presentation based on his new groundbreaking book, Reviving Work Ethic. With his hilarious and unconventional style of delivery, Chester will help you build the 7 essential work ethic values within your people to ensure their success, and the success and sustainability of your business.

Hey Dude, Who Stole My Work Ethic?  (for Food Service corporations and Franchises)
Today’s young workers are street-wise and techno-savvy, but they’ve not been taught how to succeed in the workplace. In a highly entertaining presentation, Eric Chester, an expert on the Gen X, Y & Z labor force, will show you how to inspire a work ethic in your restaurant. Among the nuggets you’ll take away from his presentation: a list of the seven core values that establish work ethic and how to apply them with your front line and future leaders; an introduction to the single most effective tool for improving work habits; and a clear understanding of attitudes workers today have about their jobs and how to get their heads in your game.

Reviving Work Ethic (Educators/Staff Development Programs)
How Educators Can End the Entitlement Mentality Among Students and Create an Environment of Achievement
Eric Chester is a former HS business teacher and football coach-turned motivational speaker. He spent 10 years speaking exclusively to students and was an invited presenter at more than 1000 schools in North America. However, for the past 12 years, Eric has been speaking to–and working with–employers who are feeling the effects of an emerging workforce that is woefully prepared with the work ethic necessary to succeed. In a perfect world, business leaders would employ a workforce that’s engaged, enthused, and ethically unassailable. The reality, of course, is that the incoming breed of worker is streetwise and techno-savvy, but they’ve not been taught how to work and is having great difficulty in making the transition from school-to-career.

The purpose of schools is to prepare students for success in the real world. Developing a healthy work ethic prepares young people to be better students while they are in school, but also prepares them to be better employees, better leaders, and better citizens.

Developing work ethic in students is not optional; it is a responsibility—one that should be shared by every individual employed by a school district—whether in the classroom, the cafeteria, the administration office, or the school bus.

Eric Chester is the leading authority on developing work ethic in teens and young adults. His presentation will illustrate why the work ethic in America has declined, and he’ll provide solid, actionable ideas and tools for instilling the pride of a job well done.

• Discover the 7 Indisputable Core Values that every employer demands from every worker, and every successful school develops within their students.
• Find out how to promote a classroom culture rooted in reliability, professionalism, initiative, integrity, and respect.
• Learn how to be an ‘up and over’ leader, moving students from “Idle,” “Lucky,” and “Cheating” behaviors into the “Valued” Quadrant.
• Explore how to instill an attitude of gratitude among your student population and make them motivated learners.

 

Biography

There is a war for talent taking place on a global scale, and the future belongs to forward-­‐thinking organizations that are focused on creating and sustaining a dynamic and compelling workplace culture.

Since 1998, Eric Chester has been the leading voice in attracting, managing, motivating, and retaining the emerging workforce. As an in-­‐the-­‐trenches workplace researcher and thought-­‐leader, Chester has now cracked the code on the tactics and strategies companies that are recognized as “best places to work” in their respective industries are using to win the talent wars.

On Fire at Work: How Great Companies Ignite Passion in Their People without Burning Them Out is Eric’s 4th leadership book. His previous release, Reviving Work Ethic – A Leader’s Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Workforce (2012) is the first business book on developing soft skills and core work ethic values since
1904. He is the Founder of The Center for Work Ethic Development and created a work ethic training curriculum that is being taught at hundreds of schools, colleges, workforce centers, and organizations all over the world.

Eric Chester has delivered more than 2000 paid keynote speeches on three continents and is a 2004 inductee into the National Speakers Association’s acclaimed Hall of Fame. Companies that have invited Eric back multiple times to keynote annual conventions, conferences and meetings include Harley Davidson, McDonald’s, Sprint, Great Clips, and Wells Fargo, to name a few.

BOOKS

ŸEmploying Generation Why:
Understanding, Managing, and Motivating Your New Workforce Ÿ•  Getting Them to Ÿ• Ÿ• Ÿ

Getting Them To Give A Damn:
Getting Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line

Reviving Work Ethic:
A Leader’s Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce

ŸOn Fire at Work:
How Great Companies Ignite Passion in Their People without Burning Them Out

ŸFully Staffed:
The Definitive Guide To Finding and Keeping Great Employees in the Worst Labor Market Ever

 

 

Expertise:  Authors | BUSINESS | Communication | Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Diversity | Generation X and beyond | HUMAN RESOURCES | Juvenile Issues | Leadership | Management | Motivation | Peak Performance | Recruitment / Retention | Teambuilding | Teamwork | Workforce Issues