Creating a good working environment is not an easy task but it should be the goal for any company that wants to remain competitive in the current market where finding good people is often more difficult than finding good customers. When we reached out to multiple leaders across various industries, we found one ingredient that is key to developing a team that operates in the positive margins of employee engagement is the simple art of listening. Danny Morgan, who is a store manager for a national retailer in Eugene, Oregon, shared, “I can tell you it’s not about the money no matter what they say, we all work for the money but it’s not about the money – ain’t about the fetti.” So it if isn’t about the money, what can leaders do to ensure they are communicating to their employees that they are invested in them as people? Mr. Morgan told us, “Every moment to listen, every second of praise and every time letting them know that they can come to you with anything knowing that you will provide a positive spin or reaction.” Listening to team members shows them that they are worth our time and that we care to hear what they have to say. Employees may not always come to you when it’s convenient, but it is important to remember to make time for them as what they share may not seem important but it could be critical to them. Fire fighters know a thing or two about building a team. Team work is important to all professions, but it is critical when a group must band together to respond to life and death scenarios. Coy Morris, who fights fires with his team near Seattle, Washington, notes that, “Finding the common goal(s) amongst you and your team. Which in and of itself demands open and safe conversation.” Who initiates the process of establishing common goals and building a culture of open communication? For Mr. Morris, “I think the organization sets the mission, the team balances objectives with reality, but I think it starts with management.” Even though fire-fighting is dangerous, this alone is not enough to forge individuals into a strong team as there are plenty of dysfunctional teams that work in high pressure situations. Many of these teams are able to pull it together when necessary but how much more positive would the environment be if they were able to function cohesively? Danny Morgan reminds us that building respect goes both ways, from leaders to and from employees, “One important thing [to remember] is it takes time, one day at a time.” Tom Los who leads a team for a local government entity in Moses Lake, Washington notes that listening can bring engagement as well as new opportunities for the organization, “I listen to my staff and then give them projects and tasks which mixes their job up. They really enjoy it. If someone has an idea, I try to embrace it as much as possible and let them do it.” When those in a position of leadership fail to listen they may be holding the team back from sharing ideas that could solve problems or push the organization forward. Service industries are built upon the strength of their team members to work together to carry the values of the organization through consistently on every project. Denis Beaulieu who operates in project management leading property restoration and abatement teams in Moorpark, California echoes the importance of listening, “Making sure that they are heard when asked. Have their ideas mean something and not just ask for an opinion or suggestion but try them and see if they work. Don’t discount anyone’s ideas or make yours more important.” As noted by many that we interviewed, the catchwords and principles we hear from business leadership books go only as far as we are willing to apply them in our teams. What we want to know from real people who are practicing team work, leadership and developing organizations that operate on their values, is how they flesh out these principles in their day to day lives. Denis builds upon his comments from before regarding listening, “Empower people. They feel more a part of the organization when they feel they are part of it and not just working for it. Most important people want to feel they belong.” To be successful in a position of leadership, individuals must remember where they came from, what they desired while they were in the trenches and serve as an intermediary between the makers of decisions (the suits) and the daily decision makers (those in the field). Rex Fox who serves in the leadership team for a credit union based out of Eugene, Oregon, outlines a few key touch points relevant to listening, “Be approachable. Learn about the staff and what is important to them. Be trustworthy and trust your staff (but inspect). Roll up your sleeves and help when needed, but don’t do their jobs for them.” Rex brings up a great point that when we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty being shoulder to shoulder with our team members there is an organic exchange between individuals that cannot be built any other way. Listening provides a means to blur the lines between management and employees that often holds a company back from reaching it’s potential. When a person in a position of leadership takes the time to listen, they remind themselves and the whole team that we are all in this together. Much can be learned about individuals, teams, issues and opportunities by simply taking a moment to hear and receive input from those who are investing in the team, the customers and the culture. Please note this is one segment in a series related to creating a good working environment based upon brief interviews that we conducted with multiple professionals across various industries, leadership roles and viewpoints on the topic. Stay tuned for more. Shoot us an email or comment if you have something to say on this as well.
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Do you ever ask yourself, “What do those we are employing (or seeking) want?” Option 1 – Your answer is no. You don’t ask this question and/or you think it is a stupid question. You’ve got it figured out, so you should probably skip this article. It’s poorly written anyways. Option 2 – Your answer is yes. You ask this question and/or you think it is a relevant one. We agree. So we want to know what you have come up with? Please share what you and your team have discovered. Those in group 1 and group 2 have this in common, they are both tired of business catch phrases such as “employee engagement” in so far as there is a lot of talk but not a lot of help. Investing in people comes at a cost. Everyone who has invested in some aspect of employee development has painful stories of those they invested in only to have them lose the fire, take their fire to a competitor or who literally set fire to the organization. For the later you can think of Milton’s character in the cinematic masterpiece Office Space. Yet, it would be important to note that the management team depicted in that film did not invest very intentionally in that unique individual. Thankfully, there are also those stories that are still unfolding of individuals whom we have invested in who are developing or even active as leaders who are themselves investing in others. Those are the stories we have to treasure as we continue to learn from our past, present and future experience - whether positive or negative. We can rephrase the opening question this way, how do we connect in such a way that we are able to facilitate collaboration within the organization? Connecting and collaborating are the key components to finding ways to conquer. What can we do to make employee engagement something tangible in our recruiting, our development and our retention of quality team members? In management there is an inescapable truth that we will receive the team that we deserve (a topic we addressed in our article Leading With Empathy that was published in About Leaders). Let that settle in for a minute. If we go back to Office Space, poor leadership stemming from a few of our key factors, such as no organizational clarity, low consistency and zero accountability, that iconic detached leader had the team he deserved. Why should it matter what our lowly employees want and why would we take the time to care? Cue the dangling carrot and our answer is profitability. Wait. Are we saying that investing in creating an environment that will increase employee happiness (fancy word = engagement) may also lead to better profitability? No. We aren’t saying that at all but this really smart and successful person is - Former CEO of Xerox, Anne Mucahy speaks to the importance of engagement, “Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” If we reverse this thread, we start with profitability, which all organizations know is key to survival. Profitability comes from satisfied customers which comes from satisfied employees which comes from where? Call it what you want, but it’s employee engagement. The first key to successful employee engagement is having a desire to connect in a meaningful way. If you have no perspective or desire to connect, you won’t. The next step is about as simple and challenging as the first, being consistent about being intentional to connect with the individuals as well as the whole of your team. These two points are simple enough to point out, but if you jump in those trenches they are complex. If you fail, you are in good company. If you learn from failure and success and share your experiences with others who are doing the same (we call that collaboration), you may have a fighting chance. It’s a start. There is a lot of noise surrounding the term millennial. Those reading this may well have their own strong opinions about what it means to be a part of Generation Y and the distinctives of that grouping of people as it relates to the workplace. Current postings in professional sites such as LinkedIn include respected publications with headlines the likes of “Millennials are Killing Countless Industries”, numerous guides on the “keys” to understanding millennials as well as articles with headlines that include apocalyptic predictions such as “A Business Without Millennials is a Business Without a Future.” The comment sections for postings from the authors of the book Insuring Tomorrow, which we will be reviewing in this article, further illuminates the divide of opinions on this subject, while also shedding a great deal of hope as many from generations past are adapting to the current market as well as many from the up-and-coming work force are eager to learn from those who have experience in the fields they want to enter. Business leaders that are trying to stay engaged in the business game are always racking their brains. Business leaders who understand the importance of winning the talent wars are racking their brains on a whole different level as it relates to how to best understand, engage and develop the new candidates of the current workforce. While no one has the secret sauce that unravels all of the recipe intricacies of modern generations, there are many fine efforts being made to create clear and practical mediums for bridging the connection gap between leaders and millennials. Insuring Tommorrow: Engaging Millennials in the Insurance Industry is one such tool that has been put forth by the dynamic duo of Tony Canas and Carly Burnham. Before the reader shuts themselves off to another word they should understand that while this book is aimed at the insurance industry, of which the authors are practitioners and therefore most familiar, there are many applications that are relevant to any profession including parenting, instructing or just plain socializing with Generation Y. For those in a position of leadership, interacting with millennials is not a question of IF but of HOW. To coincide with the publication that we are reviewing we will utilize the definition of millennials as those born between the years of 1977-1995. Millennials are in the workforce and by many counts they are, “Already the largest generation in the workforce, and the proportion that they may up will only keep growing…by 2020, they will be 50%; and by 2025, 75% of all employees in the workforce will be Millennials (p.9).” While generational influx in talent and workforce exodus due to retirement is no new conundrum, the transition from baby boomers to millennials appears to be a stark one given the quantities of the populations involved. It doesn’t take a deep scientific study into an organization to see plainly that the talent pools in many companies are growing older while engagement, development and retention of younger candidates is an ongoing challenge. To quote the headline referenced in the opening paragraph, “A business without millennials is a business without a future.” Insuring Tomorrow is well written with a blend of personal experience, professional examples and industry relevant research to support the author’s claims. The book serves first as an outline to engaging millennials, a practical manual for specific social experiments and finally as a reference for questions that may arise as a person in a position of leadership works to develop both their professional as well as their soft skills with generational employees. A key understanding from the book is to recognize that millennials are not just a different generation but in many respect they are a different culture with unique methods of communication. An example of this from the book (p.28) draws from cultural distinctives such as removing your shoes before entering the home of a family from another culture where this would be a normative value, if those engaging with Generation Y can view millennials as a unique culture they may be able to begin to bridge the communication divide. There is a great story (p.85) about an interview that could have been a missed opportunity but because the interviewer took a few extra minutes to understand the individual they were meeting with both parties benefited from the addition of new talent to the organization. Leaders are encouraged to remember that not all millennials have received good mentorship, by giving them the benefit of the doubt with regards to lack of experience and taking the time to be clear, organizations may find the diamonds in the rough that they might otherwise glance over. Tony and Carly have some practical tips for the first day and orientation throughout their book in addition to reversing several myths about millennials including this one regarding criticism, “They’re [millennials] absolutely comfortable with getting constructive feedback, but worry much more if they get no feedback, which is what is truly demotivating for a Millennial (p 58).” Millennials, as well as those generations around them, prefer constant feedback that will help them understand and progress in their career development rather than static (annual) reviews which do not illuminate the road map to success. The authors highlight another point of confusion, responding to the criticism that many millennials appear to be traveling through organizations with greater frequency than generations past. As many as 82% of millennials view themselves as loyal even though only 1% of HR professionals would agree, yet the authors argue this is a difference in how loyalty is measured. In the second chapter of Insuring Tomorrow, they note, “Millennials have a different definition of loyalty than previous generations did. For Millennials, loyalty means, ‘I worked very hard while I was there (p. 27).” Definitions such as these may be harder to comprehend across generational lines, but leaders and employees alike may be surprised to discover that they value many of the same core principles but there is a disconnect in the manner through which they describe or express those values. Some of the highlights of the book include insights on What Millennials Look for at Work (Chapter 3), Give Constant and Honest Feedback(Chapter 7), Assume Good Intentions and Lack of Experience (Chapter 12) and Recruiting Millennials (Chapter 22). There are several practical examples including some side-by-side evaluations of the on-boarding processes (first day experience as well as orientation) for various organizations with commentary on how to improve this critical phase. Key take-aways from Insuring Tomorrow that this author will work to implement include: 1) creating flexibility at work, as this is valued by 96% of employees according to Bentley University and if structured correctly could increase productivity as well as engagement; 2) being clearer with expectations early on, “During orientation, be explicit in your expectations. Don’t assume they know anything! The biggest mistake you can make is failing to explain what you expect them to do and what goals you are going to hold them accountable for (p.101,102).”; 3) continuing to be committed to personal as well as employee development, leaders lead by example and should create opportunities for those coming behind them to excel, quoting from the Insurance Journal, “Millennials believe that training is the best way employers can demonstrate an investment in them (p.136).” Perhaps one of the simplest and most practical tips comes from Chapter 9, which is titled Ask for Their Opinions. Leaders like to have their opinions heard, and not surprisingly so do millennials employees, “When they arrive in the corporate world, they’re sorely disappointed to find that no one asks for their opinions. The simple act of being asked makes Millennials feel listened to and make it easier to become engaged in the company. It’s a free way of increasing commitment and employee happiness (p.72).” Whether those in leadership positions currently understand or enjoy working with the nuances of the coming generations, there are lessons to be learned and benefits to be reaped from expanding abilities of working with the largest sector in the current workforce. One could think of it this way - if the bulk of leaders and organizations are struggling (if not resisting) to work with millennials, those who adapt their systems earlier in the game will be ahead of the pack that will eventually be forced to do so. Tony Canas and Carly Burnham act as millennial interpreters with a specificity in their book, Insuring Tomorrow, aimed at the insurance industry. Tony and Carly both work in this field and have practical insights from their research combined with their passion and experiences that will be of great use to those in positions of leadership who are working within the insurance umbrella. Even though this book is geared towards the insurance industry, there are plenty of practical insights and examples that will be of great benefit to leaders in any industry. Insuring Tomorrow is a minimal investment of money (it’s only $19.99) and a quick read for any leader looking to grow in the area of engaging millennials regardless of the industry (227 pages). In addition to the book, the activity of the authors on social media combined with the resources available through their website Insnerds.com will be of value to leaders and millennials workers alike. Is there any value in texting with regards to recruitment? Yes. If you doubt this then take a minute to think about what you can learn as well as what you can eliminate through a few key texts. If we use a rough analogy of fishing with relationship to acquiring talent, we want as many lines in the water as possible in our quest for individuals who can add value to our team. Texting provides us a tool that can expedite the communication process so that we can be clear, consistent and expedient in our initial screening. 1) Text enables us to reach out to a potential candidate to gauge their interest and responsiveness - "Saw your posting on Craigslist, are you still looking for employment?" If there is no response you have just reduced your follow up list. If there is a response then you have a fish nibbling at the bait. As a sidenote, understand that many candidates have not been mentored on how to professionally respond to texts, don't be surprised if you get responses which include some variation of, "How much do you pay?" If you remember that the text gives us a quick means of screening applicants, then I would encourage you to respond either with, "What salary range are you looking for?" or be specific, "Depending on experience the range is typically between $x - $X." If a respondent seems rude you can choose to discontinue the process but you may want to dig a bit deeper to ensure both parties have a complete picture of each other. Texting does not always provide the richest context for discerning a persons character. 2) Text enables us to provide a concise outline of what the duties of your open position(s) are to further determine if the responsive candidate would be interested in the opportunities your organization is offering. "We have an open position for X, the duties include [fill in the blank - BRIEFLY]." If there is no response, our work with this individual is likely complete. If there is a response then we want to draw them in closer to the boat. 3) Through text we have determined that we have a candidate who is indeed interested in work and is open to the opportunities that our organization can offer, now we get into specifics such as company requirements. "Our company requires the following [fill in the blank with a BRIEF list] to qualify for employment." If there is no response, there may be a good reason this candidate cannot find work. If there is a response then we want to get a look at what we have on the line. Our texting has revealed that we have a responsive and interested candidate, that this individual is open to the opportunities that we have available and they can meet the basic requirements for employment that our organization has set as a foundation. What do we do next? Time for a phone call. So, we text them, "When would be a good time to set up a phone interview?" If at all possible this should be conducted as soon as possible. You potentially have what you have been looking for so do not lose what you have on the line by waiting too long. If you have successfully made contact with a potential candidate you will need to be prepared to expediently move your process with that individual into determining the quality of that potential hire. Depending on how wide you have cast your net, you will need to be prepared to think outside of the box with regards to a candidates direct experience with your industry versus their potential to adapt their character and relevant work experience into the responsibilities you are assessing them for (You can read more on this topic in our prior article on Attracting Talent). Texting is a great tool to enable a recruiter to expediently get fish on the line as well as determine which ones are catch-and-release. Connecting with recruits requires a significant commitment of time, of those candidates we are able to make contact with many will be unable to be hired or they will not the best fit for the team needs. We want as many lines in the water as possible because we are always fishing for good talent to add to our team. In our recruitment process we need to be efficient so that we can communicate clearly and respond quickly when we have attracted someone who can add value to our mission. You can stand at the banks and curse the water for the lack of fish or you can start casting. |
AuthorThoughts on personal and professional development. Jon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, is a contractor, author, and host of The DYOJO Podcast. The goal of The DYOJO is to help growth-minded restoration professionals shorten their DANG learning curve for personal and professional development. You can watch The DYOJO Podcast on YouTube on Thursdays or listen on your favorite podcast platform.
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