Susan Scott's Blog, page 25

Don’t Tiptoe Around Toxic Employees — Face Issues with Confidence

Do you ever notice yourself or your team side-stepping “problem” employees, soft-pedaling critical feedback, or avoiding conversations all together?

Do you walk around with proverbial marks on your forehead from banging it against the wall over and over again, wishing those employees – the people in your work life that literally drive you crazy – would wake up tomorrow morning being new and improved?

Many leaders and companies today admit to suffering from a culture of “nice” where people are afraid to speak openly or confront others’ behavior. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just wishing these individuals away. (If only it were!) Each day we wake up to the same frustrations with a new dent in the wall and another painful bump on the head.

Toxic employees are a reality in many workplaces, and they come with a heavy price.

Fierce surveyed over a thousand employees and executives in multiple organizations that ranged from healthcare to education, from manufacturing to the financial sector. 

Here are a few highlights of our findings:

78% of employees say that negative attitudes are extremely debilitating to team morale. 

17% of those surveyed say negative attitudes increase stress. 

27% of employees say that negative attitudes decrease productivity.

While it is often easier to avoid or ignore toxicity in your organization, when it starts to impact corporate culture and well-being, it’s time to shift gears.

Let’s acknowledge what’s true: negative environments create workarounds. We tiptoe around the problem. We work hard to avoid the individual who is creating the toxicity. News flash, avoidance does not actually help the situation. In fact, if we were to be honest with ourselves, avoiding the issue only increases our own stress. It also increases our distraction level. And if we stop for a moment to do the math, we quickly realize just how much time is being taken away from getting the real work done. Stress, distraction, and lack of productivity – does this sound like the kind of company culture you want to be a part of? I didn’t think so.

So what can we do?

At Fierce, we have 7 Principles that serve as the cornerstone for how to engage in the most successful conversations to help tackle toxicity. One of them is this:

Take responsibility for your emotional wake

Check yourself – how are you showing up? It might not surprise you that any highly stressed or over-worked individual can begin to behave in ways that are viewed by others as negative. Modeling the same behavior you are looking to change is not contributing to your success. Consider your own impact. Ask yourself, “How do people feel about conversations with me after I leave the room?”

When we are not mindful of our wake, when we’re consumed by our own stress or overwork or disengagement, we can actually become the toxic employee we are trying to avoid. This principle helps us be more mindful of our own behavior – and then take responsibility for it.

So the first step is to check in with ourselves. What’s next? There are two Fierce conversations we need to invite in order to best deal with others who have not taken responsibility for their emotional wake.

Feedback

One of the best ways in which we deal with toxic, negative employees is by giving feedback and learning how to receive feedback in the moment to create awareness.

Feedback is when we name what we’re seeing and experiencing, in order to give the other person an opportunity to better understand themselves…and hopefully grow and change.

Too often, though, especially with toxic employees, we’ve let things go unchecked for a very long time. The negative environment has taken root. And now a different conversation is needed.

Confrontation

As Robert Redford once said, “Knowing something is easy, saying it out loud is the hard part.” Confrontation conversations are NOT easy. In fact, these are often the very conversations we put off, make excuses for, avoid, or tiptoe around. We are THAT uncomfortable with them. And there are legitimate reasons to be scared about having some conversations. Let’s be honest – some people do not react well when confronted, regardless of how eloquent and thoughtful you are. This is reality. However, what is also reality is that the cost of not having the conversation is much greater than the risk of it going badly. These needed conversations have a huge impact on performance. As the saying goes, we get what we tolerate. When we don’t confront behavior, we, our team, our culture continues to suffer.

So, if you feel a conversation is needed, then likely it is. And for those of you worried about the failed conversation, remember this – a careful conversation IS a failed conversation because it merely postpones the conversation that wants and needs to take place.

Some of the best practices that we’ve seen make the biggest impact are when individuals – and cultures – develop their feedback-giving and receiving skills at all levels and when they don’t avoid confrontation, but step into it with courage, skill, and grace. When that happens, a healthy culture is built – one that is conversation-rich.

It’s important to invite feedback or confrontation conversations with the people we view as toxic. You cannot ignore the problem and hope it goes away. I promise you it won’t, and it will continue to erode the culture and well-being of the organization and those who choose to show up every day.

When we have tough conversations, when we practice them to build our capacity and muscle, we can turn toxic employees into engaged team members. We can then create a culture we all want to be a part of.

 

Conversation Chaos in the Digital Age

Why feedback is the key to successful remote working in the digital age.

Download whitepaper >

Tags: #Feedback, #Job Stress, #Organizational Silos, #Productivity, #Turnover

The post Don’t Tiptoe Around Toxic Employees — Face Issues with Confidence appeared first on Fierce.

6 Ways to Keep Stress from Sabotaging Your Workplace

Work-related stress can have a number of causes, including fear-based cultures that leave employees anxious about their performance, ineffective or insufficiently trained leadership, unmanageable workloads, and unaddressed relational issues between colleagues.

Moreover, stress directly affects work quality and productivity: 53% of Americans say stress dampens their productivity in the workplace (MHS), and workers experiencing high levels of stress may be more liable to commit errors in their work (RoSPA).

So how can you improve your workplace culture, reduce stress, and boost productivity all at the same time? Start with these six steps:

1. Make room for white space.

Creating white space is about more than taking an occasional break — it’s about committing to taking intentional pauses before and after meetings or between tasks for thoughtful reflection. Make white space a part of your organization’s culture. Communicate its value and encourage employees to make it part of their work day.

White space is so important in our daily life that Juliet Funt — one of our past speakers at the Fierce Summit — created Whitespace at Work. Her firm provides solutions for organizations wanting to avoid burnout and maximize the amount of unscheduled time employees have to simply think and strategize. To quote Funt, “When a company adds WhiteSpace to its culture, every single employee benefits. You can almost hear an audible sigh of relief as a path is cleared for strategic thinking and focus.”

2. Deliver what employees really want.

Avoid making assumptions about what employees want. While happy hours and an office pool table may be great additions, these types of perks only scratch the surface of what are much less superficial needs. Surveys reveal that today’s workforce craves a sense of purpose and meaning, development opportunities, and work-life balance.

If you want your workplace culture to be successful, building emotional capital and trust across your organization is essential. Ask questions to gain understanding, have coaching conversations, and listen intently. Support the need for personal and professional growth by providing learning opportunities.

3. Assess workloads and employee capacity.

Approximately 46% of employee stress is caused by excessive workloads. This is a pervasive problem in many organizations, and one that needs to be addressed. Excessive workloads can cause issues at all levels of an organization, burdening leadership, teams, and individuals.

This step probably doesn’t sit well with organizations that are trying to accomplish a lot with very few resources . While maximizing employee capacity can be beneficial, especially in times of transition, overburdening employees with massive workloads isn’t worth saving a dollar when stress takes over your culture. If bringing on an extra hire or perhaps a freelancer can help alleviate some of the burdens, strongly consider making this investment.

4. Allow mental health days.

52% of workers say their company does not do enough to promote employee health, including mental health. Whether you call them “mental health days” or simply allow them to be a part of existing sick days, it’s essential to honor the need for recovery and downtime. If an employee feels exhausted after completing an extensive project, it will be better for productivity overall if they’re able to take some time to regenerate…and return to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

In a healthy culture, there is no shame in employees recognizing when they need a break and asking for one. The alternative is dire — stressed-out team members who don’t feel comfortable asking for what they need, resulting in subpar performance, and ultimately leaving your organization.

5. Make it about the journey, not the destination.

We’re all on a journey, both individually and collectively, and strong leaders will support their teams as needed. Offer avenues for growth as part of this journey rather than placing all of the focus on outcomes.

In a Deloitte survey, 82% of respondents said making a workplace error causes stress. This creates a vicious cycle — errors cause stress, and then stress leads to more error. If employees anticipate some form of punishment or feel they have no wiggle room to experiment or make mistakes, culture will suffer, innovation and creativity will suffer, and stress levels will rise. As a leader, you have to be willing to allow employees, and yourself, to fail. Failure is part of taking risks, and it’s an important part of how we learn and grow.

6. Make conversation training a priority.

Work-related stress is a major factor in whether people like their jobs or not. A survey from About.com found that among the top three reasons why people do not like their jobs, 62% of responses were communication-related. Communication frustration leads to an unsatisfied workforce.

When problems remain unaddressed, they show up in our lives as stress. If leaders don’t know how to have authentic and effective conversations to address issues, this weighs on individuals, teams, and cultures.

One way to ensure that leadership has the know-how to have the conversations that matter is to implement organization-wide conversations training. Conversation that’s competent, skillful, and effective is a powerful resource in business, and it’s critical for solving your toughest challenges.

For the sake of culture, health, and productivity, take the necessary steps to reduce stress in your organization and get rid of fear-based practices now — before larger issues arise that are harder or even impossible to repair. Doing so will lead to positive results in relationships, revenue, and overall employee satisfaction.

If your organization has yet to roll out a conversations training program, you can still get a head start on the conversations you need to start having today.

Learn more in our infographic: 7 Self-Care Ideas for the Workplace

 

 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life with this free eBook.

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

Tags: #Company Culture, #Job Stress

The post 6 Ways to Keep Stress from Sabotaging Your Workplace appeared first on Fierce.

6 Ways to Keep Stress from Sabotaging Workplace Culture and Productivity

Work-related stress can have a number of causes, including fear-based cultures that leave employees anxious about their performance, ineffective or insufficiently trained leadership, unmanageable workloads, and unaddressed relational issues between colleagues.

Moreover, stress directly affects work quality and productivity: 53% of Americans say stress dampens their productivity in the workplace (MHS), and workers experiencing high levels of stress may be more liable to commit errors in their work (RoSPA).

So how can you improve your workplace culture, reduce stress, and boost productivity all at the same time? Start with these six steps:

1. Make room for white space.

Creating white space is about more than taking an occasional break — it’s about committing to taking intentional pauses before and after meetings or between tasks for thoughtful reflection. Make white space a part of your organization’s culture. Communicate its value and encourage employees to make it part of their work day.

White space is so important in our daily life that Juliet Funt — one of our past speakers at the Fierce Summit — created Whitespace at Work. Her firm provides solutions for organizations wanting to avoid burnout and maximize the amount of unscheduled time employees have to simply think and strategize. To quote Funt, “When a company adds WhiteSpace to its culture, every single employee benefits. You can almost hear an audible sigh of relief as a path is cleared for strategic thinking and focus.”

2. Deliver what employees really want.

Avoid making assumptions about what employees want. While happy hours and an office pool table may be great additions, these types of perks only scratch the surface of what are much less superficial needs. Surveys reveal that today’s workforce craves a sense of purpose and meaning, development opportunities, and work-life balance.

If you want your workplace culture to be successful, building emotional capital and trust across your organization is essential. Ask questions to gain understanding, have coaching conversations, and listen intently. Support the need for personal and professional growth by providing learning opportunities.

3. Assess workloads and employee capacity.

Approximately 46% of employee stress is caused by excessive workloads. This is a pervasive problem in many organizations, and one that needs to be addressed. Excessive workloads can cause issues at all levels of an organization, burdening leadership, teams, and individuals.

This step probably doesn’t sit well with organizations that are trying to accomplish a lot with very few resources . While maximizing employee capacity can be beneficial, especially in times of transition, overburdening employees with massive workloads isn’t worth saving a dollar when stress takes over your culture. If bringing on an extra hire or perhaps a freelancer can help alleviate some of the burdens, strongly consider making this investment.

4. Allow mental health days.

52% of workers say their company does not do enough to promote employee health, including mental health. Whether you call them “mental health days” or simply allow them to be a part of existing sick days, it’s essential to honor the need for recovery and downtime. If an employee feels exhausted after completing an extensive project, it will be better for productivity overall if they’re able to take some time to regenerate…and return to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

In a healthy culture, there is no shame in employees recognizing when they need a break and asking for one. The alternative is dire — stressed-out team members who don’t feel comfortable asking for what they need, resulting in subpar performance, and ultimately leaving your organization.

5. Make it about the journey, not the destination.

We’re all on a journey, both individually and collectively, and strong leaders will support their teams as needed. Offer avenues for growth as part of this journey rather than placing all of the focus on outcomes.

In a Deloitte survey, 82% of respondents said making a workplace error causes stress. This creates a vicious cycle — errors cause stress, and then stress leads to more error. If employees anticipate some form of punishment or feel they have no wiggle room to experiment or make mistakes, culture will suffer, innovation and creativity will suffer, and stress levels will rise. As a leader, you have to be willing to allow employees, and yourself, to fail. Failure is part of taking risks, and it’s an important part of how we learn and grow.

6. Make conversation training a priority.

Work-related stress is a major factor in whether people like their jobs or not. A survey from About.com found that among the top three reasons why people do not like their jobs, 62% of responses were communication-related. Communication frustration leads to an unsatisfied workforce.

When problems remain unaddressed, they show up in our lives as stress. If leaders don’t know how to have authentic and effective conversations to address issues, this weighs on individuals, teams, and cultures.

One way to ensure that leadership has the know-how to have the conversations that matter is to implement organization-wide conversations training. Conversation that’s competent, skillful, and effective is a powerful resource in business, and it’s critical for solving your toughest challenges.

For the sake of culture, health, and productivity, take the necessary steps to reduce stress in your organization and get rid of fear-based practices now — before larger issues arise that are harder or even impossible to repair. Doing so will lead to positive results in relationships, revenue, and overall employee satisfaction.

If your organization has yet to roll out a conversations training program, you can still get a head start on the conversations you need to start having today.

Learn more in our infographic: 7 Self-Care Ideas for the Workplace

 

 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life.

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

Tags: #Company Culture, #Job Stress

The post 6 Ways to Keep Stress from Sabotaging Workplace Culture and Productivity appeared first on Fierce.

Why Executive Team Alignment is More Essential Now Than Ever

Leadership teams are no strangers to changes and challenges related to successfully executing strategic objectives. Add in a global pandemic, an almost entirely remote workforce, and challenges tend to multiply. So how can organizations keep engagement levels high while creating alignment with one another over leading priorities?

The key is alignment from within the very body that determines the organization’s direction, the executive team. Sure, many of you are reading that last line, rolling your eyes and sighing, “no kidding.” And sure, it sounds primary and elementary. So was legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s request that his UCLA basketball teams “practice” putting their socks on during the season’s first practice. His reasoning? If you don’t put your socks on correctly, you might develop blisters, which will negatively impact the team.

Back to the leadership teams, trust me. If it were that simple, literally every organization would be operating with high employee engagement levels, maximum efficiency, and profitability that would keep every shareholder and stakeholder ecstatic. A quick glance of the business landscape tells us this is most certainly not the case. So, how can you create this alignment? Through a series of powerful, authentic, robust, and transparent conversations.

The first step in this process is to take a long look at how you arrived at where you currently are. What were the key conversations that took place, and with whom? What were the key decisions you made and didn’t make that helped form your current reality?

Take a close look; where were we, the leadership team, in alignment? Where were we a little bit off and, what was the impact of us not all being on the same page? How did this misalignment affect our communication, our execution? How did this impact the people working with and for us? How did it impact our customers? How can we benefit from that great gift of hindsight to lay the foundation of how we will communicate and align with each other moving forward?

Speaking of moving forward, after aligning on the strategy that you want to execute, who are those key people who will be responsible for putting that strategy into action, and how will you communicate with them to ensure this alignment stays intact? Hearing a consistent message is one thing. Feeling that message is another thing altogether. Endless research shows the difference between “hearing” strategy – this is where we are going and how we will get there – and “feeling” strategy – here is why we are moving in this direction and how what you do is key to all of us succeeding. In other words, to ensure high levels of alignment, engagement, and productivity, the organization, the people who will be doing the work to get us to where we need to be, requires the same level of clarity that the executive team has.

Admittedly, this is nothing new. Countless executive teams struggle with this in the best of times, to say nothing of the complicated world that we’re currently operating in. To offset the economic impact of a global pandemic, much of the focus has been on speed and agility. Yet, the best-laid plans will almost always fall victim to misalignment and a poor understanding of why we are moving in this direction. So, to the executive teams who are reading this, take the time to put your socks on properly. You just might be surprised at how much more effective your organization can be as a result.

 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life. 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

Tags: #Leadership, #Leadership Training

The post Why Executive Team Alignment is More Essential Now Than Ever appeared first on Fierce.

The Significance Of Soft Skills Development

At Fierce, we know the value of soft skills training, particularly training in the art of communication. Effective communication is crucial for business success.

Equipping employees to meet these challenges requires planning, development and training in both hard and soft skills. Hard skills are tangible, such as the ability to use the needed equipment or perform a particular function. Soft skills, on the other hand, are more elusive and include teamwork, the ability to adapt and communication.

How do soft skills impact the bottom line at your company?

In this Forbes article, Fierce CEO Ed Beltran discusses one significant mistake remote managers are making and outlines key steps you can take to avoid it.

Read: One Mistake Managers Make When Leading Remote Teams

 

 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life. 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

Tags: #Leadership, #Leadership Training, #Productivity, #Soft Skills

The post The Significance Of Soft Skills Development appeared first on Fierce.

One Mistake Managers Make When Leading Remote Teams

At Fierce, we know that the relationships shared between everyone involved in the business, both coworkers and clients, determine its ability to succeed or fail.

As our Founder, Susan Scott, wrote in FIERCE CONVERSATIONS, “Our most valuable currency is not money. Nor is it intelligence, attractiveness, fluency in three-letter acronyms, or the ability to write code or analyze a P&O statement. Our most valuable currency is relationship.”

The virtual workplace only deepens our need to have authentic relationships with the people we work with, especially those we lead.

In this Forbes article, Fierce CEO Ed Beltran discusses one significant mistake remote managers are making and outlines key steps you can take to avoid it.

Read: One Mistake Managers Make When Leading Remote Teams

 

 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life. 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

The post One Mistake Managers Make When Leading Remote Teams appeared first on Fierce.

The Art and Science of Conversation

In order to turn sensitive conversations into productive workplace communication, a company must be prepared to pivot. With the recent shift in the workplace landscape, Fierce took a more digital approach and introduced interactive microlearning: driving better outcomes through real-life scenarios. With 3D simulation training, employees are equipped with the tools to navigate successful solutions in the workplace while saving company time and resources.

Check out this California Business Journal article where Fierce CEO Ed Beltran breaks down the importance of interactive 3D simulation training.

If you’re curious to learn even more about how you can improve employee development training through fast and engaging microlearning, check out Fierce Microlearning Simulations.

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home

Learn how to successfully navigate your work and home life. 

10 Steps to be Fierce at Work and at Home >

The post The Art and Science of Conversation appeared first on Fierce.

Interactive 3D Simulations KTNV Morning Blend Interview with Ed Beltran

Watch as CEO Ed Beltran breaks down how Interactive 3D Simulations training is changing the landscape of employee development while driving better outcomes. Within the simulations, employees control the narrative while interacting with bite-sized learning sessions through 3D technology. Through real-life scenarios, employees are equipped with the tools to navigate successful solutions in the workplace. 

If you’re curious to learn even more about how you can improve employee development training through fast and engaging microlearning, check out Fierce Microlearning Simulations. 

“We fundamentally believe that the conversation is the relationship and a missed conversation, or poorly executed conversation, can have dire consequences.” – Ed Beltran, CEO of Fierce Conversations.

5 Conversations You Need To Start Having Today

Learn how to successfully navigate the most common conversations.

Download

The post Interactive 3D Simulations KTNV Morning Blend Interview with Ed Beltran appeared first on Fierce.

Top 3 Blogs of 2020

2020 has brought many challenges to leaders around the globe. Over the past year, we’ve had to manage change and overcome resistance – the pandemic, political division, economic inequality, and social injustice.

As the year comes to an end, we’ve gathered the 3 most popular Fierce blogs to help you start the New Year off right:

#3. 3 POWERFUL WAYS TO BE MORE EFFICIENT WHEN WORKING FROM HOME

Aligning your work-from-home routine with your in-office standards is the key to success for virtual workplaces. As you continue to cultivate an efficient work-from-home routine, be sure to check out these tips for staying well-ordered. Read the blog

#2. HERE’S WHY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES LEAD TO THE BEST IDEAS

Creating space for varying viewpoints to thrive opens up a world of possibility. Take a look at these different ways to put this into action in your workplace. Read the blog

#1. 3 EASY STEPS AS A LEADER TO CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO

As a leader, you’re always adjusting to meet the needs of your stakeholders. For continued success, you must constantly think about how you can adapt and change. Check out these key steps for shaking things up in the best way. Read the blog

“Our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. While no single conversation is guaranteed to transform a company, a relationship, or a life, any single conversation can. Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person. It could be. Participate as if it matters. It does.”

― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

 

Orange paper Conversation Chaos in the Digital Age

Why feedback is the key to successful remote working in the digital age.

Orange paper Conversation Chaos in the Digital Age >

The post Top 3 Blogs of 2020 appeared first on Fierce.

Prioritizing Soft Skills In The Workplace

There’s no doubt that teachable, measurable abilities such as technical and analytical skills are essential for success in the workplace. Companies are largely investing resources to develop employees who are ahead of the curve in the rapidly expanding digital landscape.

Simultaneously, with the expansion of artificial intelligence, we are seeing a shift in focus beyond technical know-how (“hard skills”). In turn, there is a demand for employees to possess “soft skills,” or, qualities including social and emotional intelligence, teamwork, leadership abilities, adaptability, and more.

Keeping in mind the increase of remote work and the future of virtual workplaces, the importance of a team equipped with soft skills is paramount.

Yet, organizations continue to focus more on hard skills training. In order to obtain the benefits of a balanced team, here are ideas and tips for improving your organization’s ability to leverage hard and soft skills. 

1. Embrace the distinction between soft and hard skills.

Hard and soft skills are viewed as having different values and ROIs. Training entails different levels of difficulties, and teaching methods may vary as well. We believe soft skills should be viewed as different so that employers can effectively accommodate those distinctions. 

2. Consider working harder at measuring ROI.

Most companies do a poor job of measuring training ROI, but those that do it well seem to reap the benefits. Try making the effort to calculate L&D ROI to see if it makes a difference in quality over time. Consider starting with a few programs and then eventually expand such calculations to other programs. Try to be rigorous but don’t allow perfectionism to bog you down. Gather whatever evidence is available to make an informed estimate. 

3. Measure management skills.

Most employees rate their managers’ communication skills rather poorly. The first step in correcting this is to gather data in your own organization on communication skills. Once such data is available, address the most pressing shortcomings through whatever methodologies are most effective. Once such training is complete, look for ways to measure effectiveness. 

4. Invest in soft skills.

While a majority of organizations report that soft skills are crucial, too often that is not backed up with much of an investment in soft skills training. Start by determining where there are soft skills gaps in your organization. One place to start may be management’s communication skills. Once gaps are identified, formulate an L&D response to close those gaps, then measure the success of an intervention. 

5. Take advantage of various training modalities.

It is notable how many different training modalities are seen as useful, and different modalities are useful for different things. Considering both internal and external L&D providers, offer training in various modalities and match those to the learner’s needs. Over time, invest most heavily in the ones that are successful.

5 Conversations You Need To Start Having Today

There’s more than one kind of conversation. In the 15-plus years that we’ve been training people how to talk about what matters, we’ve pinpointed five critical types.

5 Conversations You Need To Start Having Today >

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