Susan Scott's Blog, page 44

Friday Resource: How Millennials Are Disrupting the Workforce — For The Better

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Forbes.com and discusses how millennials are disrupting the workforce in a positive way.  

Millennials often get a bad rap for being difficult to work with, and some of justified. Millennials in the workforce often carry with them a sense of entitlement that has been well documented. What hasn’t been discussed as much are the positive impacts that millennials are having on organizations.

One of the ways that millennials are changing the workplace for the better is in their ability to anticipate and embrace change. Most millennials entered the workforce just prior to or during the economic recession and learned that change is constant and part of today’s business landscape. This has made millennials adept at problem solving and allows them to work at high levels in chaotic ever-changing

While many are accused of being serial job hoppers, much of this hopping is attributed to a desire to feel deeply connected to the work they are doing. If the mission and values of a company do not align, millennials are not afraid to move on and look for something else. Although this can cause issues for a company’s recruitment and retention efforts, at the root, millennials are paving the way for a culture of connection and empowerment – where each employee truly believes in the work they and their company are producing.

Although there are always two sides to the story, it is important to take a step back and look at some of the positive impacts millennials are having on the workplace. As a millennial myself, I take great pride in knowing my values and beliefs align with the company I work for, no matter how many jobs I had to let go to find it.

What are your thoughts on millennials in the workplace? We want to know!

Read the full article.

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Change is the New Normal

Change is the new “normal” for organizations and leaders alike, from structural change to leadership change to industry disruption. And yet, data shows that 70% of organizational change initiatives fail.

Why? Because we order people to change rather than engage them through conversation. We engage their heads and not their hearts. So how can leaders today not simply “manage” change, but rather excel through it – and lead their teams to do the same?

Join Beth Wagner, Master Facilitator, as she unlocks 3 Fierce strategies that will help you, your team, and your organization thrive in times of change.

Register here.

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Embrace Change

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.— George Bernard Shaw

Change is hard. We all know. And we all have different tolerances for it, based on our experiences.

I am the daughter of a Naval Officer, and growing up I lived in 12 houses before I was 18 years old. My friends joke and say that I was a “change manager” before I ever went into the human capital space. The thing is – change was always hard – even when I had a lot of it. We are deeply wired to stay in our comfort zone. However, I know I grew a lot, because I was continually uncomfortable. I had to be okay with being vulnerable and open to learning new things and making new friends.

I remind myself of that.

Where can you embrace variation in your life? Is it at work? Is it at home? Is it with your routines? Or with people?

This week’s tip is to embrace change somewhere in your life.

We work hard at being comfortable with change at Fierce. One of our values is to innovate with intention. We explain it like this: Fierce has made a splash since the moment we took our name. Few organizations have presented such originality, creativity, and forward thinking. We aim to keep it that way.

In that vein, Fierce and the Human Capital Institute (HCI) are hosting a webcast on December 15th at 10:00AM PST on change management. Join Beth Wagner, Master Facilitator, as she unlocks 3 Fierce strategies that will help you, your team, and your organization thrive in times of change.

Register here. 

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Friday Resource: The Decline of the Office Holiday Party

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Bloomberg and discusses the decline of the holiday office party.

Approximately 65% of organizations are currently providing their employees with an annual holiday party. This is down from 83% in 1998, per a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study. While some of the decline is attributed to the lean years of the economic downturn, the economy continues to recover, yet more and more companies are opting out of the year end soiree.

“Unlike in 2009, companies aren’t opting out for financial reasons. This year, only 6 percent of respondents cited budget constraints as a reason for cutting the party, down from 20 percent in 2009, at the height of financial crisis austerity.”

So, what is the reason?

A theory per Evren Esen, director of survey programs at the SHRM is people are not longing for a holiday party. Many organizations are polling their employees and finding that they are not missing this year end festivity.

This is also an incredibly busy time of year for employees. Many people are out of the office already and have their own holiday celebrations with friends and family. For larger companies, finding a time and venue to hold a party can be extremely challenging. One way companies have adapted to this issue is by hosting smaller, departmental holiday bashes. The downside of this is it does not expose employees to colleagues outside of their normal day-to-day communication.

How is your company celebrating the holiday party? We want to know!

Read the full article.

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Office Holiday Party Do’s & Don’ts

One of the few times of the year everyone from the interns to the CEO can be in the same room is during the annual office holiday party. While some find this tradition a bit of a chore, if you give it a chance, these get-togethers can not only be fun, but can also be a great chance to have conversations practically impossible any other time of the year.

There are, however, some things to keep in mind as you head out with your colleagues to celebrate all you’ve accomplished in 2016.  Here are some tips to ensure you make the most of this year’s party:

What to do:

Get to know your executives/your employees. Office parties provide some of the greatest opportunities for the leadership team to interact casually with employees from all different levels of the company. For employees, take the time to approach executives, remind them of your role (if appropriate) and try to get to know them better. For executives, keep yourself open to conversations with all ranks within the organization. Everyone should try to keep the conversation casual, and brief. If someone monopolizes time, any goodwill created in the conversation could diminish, and then some, for both parties.Network. There are likely people from other areas within the company that you don’t yet know. Introduce yourself, and use the time to learn more about them and what they do (without dragging on about work). You never know when you may be looking for a change within the organization, and having a relationship established, even on some small level, can be beneficial if and when the time comes.Have fun! You go the office each and every day, and work hard. The office party is meant to celebrate that work. Take advantage of this, and try to enjoy yourself.

What NOT to do:

Don’t talk shop. No one wants to leave the office only to turn around and talk about work again. Sure, this can be hard, but try to focus on things outside of the decisions and tasks you address in meetings. Engage with your co-workers and learn more about what you may have in common outside of the office. It will make coming to work day in and day out that much sweeter.Don’t ask for a raise/promotion. It’s true the office party is a great chance to get in front of higher level employees (see #1 above). This does not mean, however, that it is appropriate to bring up work-related requests with them. If this is on your mind, schedule time with them either before or after the party, and do the leg work. An off the cuff request at the wrong time would in most cases do more harm than good.Remember where you are. It’s true that most holiday parties involve alcohol. This does not give you an excuse to act any less professional than you do at the office. You may think no one will notice you flirting with the married partner or complaining about your office mate more candidly than you have in the past. Trust us, they will notice. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want the entire company to be aware of, because whether you like it or not, they most likely will.

What advice do you have for holiday parties?

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Celebrate a Leader in Your Life

Woodrow Wilson said, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

Think of the leaders in your life. The ones that push you and stretch you in new ways. Who do you have in your life that enables you to live with greater vision?

Have you said thank you to any of them lately?

With our go-go culture, it can be difficult to take the time to celebrate. On top of that, it can be easy to think that the acknowledgment is not needed, or that the person already knows what you would say.

But trust me, it is always a good time to pause and share appreciation.

When I think of the leaders in my life, I think about one I grew up with. My dad was an Admiral in the Navy, and after his 28 years of service, he still has so many people in his life that would follow him to the ends of the earth – without incentive or acknowledgment. He has impacted their lives in such a substantial way, that they feel forever connected. And he continues to have the same impact now that he is in the private sector. I think most of us strive to enrich people’s lives in the way he has. I’m so grateful for the example.

This week’s tip is to celebrate a leader in your life, in a meaningful way. It could be in person, on the phone, or through a different form. It matters more that you do it, than how you do it.

I would love to learn about leaders in your life. Who are you going to celebrate this week?

This blog was originally published October 19, 2015 by Stacey Engle, EVP of Marketing.

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Friday Resource: Strengths-Based Employee Development: The Business Results

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Gallup and explains the business impact of a “strengths-based” employee development program.

It is a well-known fact that employees are craving more on-the-job career development, and for the most part, are not receiving it. Common excuses and bottlenecks include, gaining support from company managers and leaders, fear of losing top performers, and not enough time and resources. Top performers are more likely to leave if they are not getting the career development that they are seeking, and the cost of losing those employees is much higher than employee development programs.

“Gallup estimates that only about one in 10 people naturally possess high talent to manage, and organizations name the wrong person as manager about 80% of the time.”

Per Gallup, part of the disconnect is that the wrong people are put into management roles and thus are not creating the right environment in which employees feel engaged. A new trend in employee growth, termed strengths-based development, focuses on developing strengths versus improving weaknesses. The idea behind this is that people innately enjoy working on things they are good at and are more productive when they are doing those things. The results for companies that have implemented strength-based management practices are astounding.

“Almost seven in 10 employees (67%) who strongly agree that their manager focuses on their strengths or positive characteristics are engaged. When employees strongly disagree with this statement, the percentage of workers who are engaged in their work plummets to 2%.”

It is time for companies to shift the way they approach career development and understand that it is something they need to have to retain top talent.

Read the full article.

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5 Hacks for Growing Your Team’s Capacity

In times of constant change, we, as leaders, are often challenged with doing more with less. It can often be a reality – less resources, less people, and more ambitious goals. You can look at this from a negative lens. Or you can see the opportunity.

Below are five ways to generate learning opportunities, and in turn, build your team’s capacity.

1. Conduct quarterly growth conversations. It is interesting how so many companies focus on growth and development within the first sixty days of a person’s role, and then it quickly turns to quotas and KPIs. Where did the development go? Be intentional about growth and have conversations on a regular basis about it.

2. Create stretch assignments. Look at projects in new ways. While you may worry about someone getting “off task”, it is often the opposite when someone is doing something different that interests them. It often reinvigorates. It is common in our space to believe in an ideal mix of training experiences for people. The mix should be 10% formal training, 20% coaching, and 70% on-the-job training. Stretch assignments are the “on-the-job” part. Make sure you are taking advantage of these opportunities.

3. Lead team conversations. When there is a difficult decision to make or opportunity to vet for the team, do not always feel that you, as the leader, need to run the meeting. It is a wonderful opportunity for a high potential on your team to get the experience and perspective by conducting a meeting. Teach them how to run it. And if you don’t have a replicable model, we have a team model that creates common language.

4. Have shadow hours. How many people on your team do not know what the others do? When this has come up on our team, we encourage people to shadow other team members. Allow an hour of someone’s time to be devoted to shadow and help someone else. This is often eye-opening for some team members, when they realize what the other members really do. For people really interested, they can start to learn new skills and create necessary crossover when the team is in a bind.

5. Use more coaching, less advice giving. One of the issues with giving advice is that you are not helping to foster problem solving skills. You are creating a dependent relationship, and one that often results in more questions for you. Instead, when someone comes to you with a question, help facilitate their own insights. When you have a successful coaching conversation, it helps your team member generate ideas to both intellectually and emotionally connect to a resolution.

Which hack will you try? And please share: How do you grow your team’s abilities?  

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Fierce Tip of the Week: Develop People Around You

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” – Harvey S. Firestone, Founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

Here at Fierce, we’re in the business of helping others grow. And our clients are on all different paths in supporting their people’s development, from offering very sophisticated development programs to just starting on the path of giving options.

Regardless, the leaders we work with realize that developing their people is a critical piece for success.

This isn’t just a “check the box” – employees crave it. According to EdenRed, 68% of workers say training and development is the most important workplace policy, followed by working hours flexibility (74%), then promotion of health at work (72%). I’d argue it goes beyond the policy, because people truly want growth opportunities. So you must ask yourself: If this perk is highly desired, how do I help aid others’ development?

Some of the best leaders early in my career supported my growth and development more than any training program could. I would ask for opportunities to help them, and they would gladly accept and coach me along the way. These memories fueled my whole approach when I became a leader, and I know from observation that growing others requires intention to truly help them.

In the midst of crazy deadlines and moving quickly, I work hard to pause and make sure the people on my team have what they need and are being challenged in the right ways. I give stretch assignments and big projects. It can be uncomfortable for all involved, however, in the end, it pushes us all further. I am by no means perfect at this. However, I work hard to support a culture of development, because I know that the only way my team and results can grow is when we are all individually growing.

This week’s tip is to develop others around you by sharing your skills and opportunities. There are many ways to do this. Encourage someone to shadow a meeting or call to learn. Give someone a big project that you feel they can do at about 70% of your level, and help fill in the gaps. Ask someone who is less experienced how they would approach something.

Bonus: This is a great way to build capacity for someone to help you when you are away or on vacation in the future.

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Friday Resource: Inspire Your Black Friday Workforce: Lessons From Retailers Who’ve Done It Right

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by Forbes and shares lessons learned from retailers who have trained and inspired Black Friday workers the right way.

In the wake of a contrasting election many retailers are wondering if it will be business as usual, or if consumer spending will be impacted. For shoppers, Cyber Monday is becoming a more attractive option as opposed to long lines and consumer chaos in retail stores.

So how do retailers stay competitive and keep employees motivated to deliver a great consumer experience?

Meghan Biro, Forbes Contributor, provides four leadership tactics that can help to manage employee motivation on Black Friday. Two of them are:

1. Be transparent. The success of a retailer on Black Friday comes down to customer service. Are your employees engaged? If not, chances are your business will suffer. This starts from the top down. For employees to remain engaged amongst the chaos, the managers and organizational leaders need to be engaged themselves.

2. Be Generous. It is important to remember what your employees are sacrificing to be on the front lines during Black Friday. In many cases, they are leaving behind family, friends, and precious memories to work crazy hours in a maddening environment. Recognize this sacrifice and motivate your employees in some way. It does not have to be a financial incentive. Simply recognizing the hard work and giving shout outs to top performers can go a long way in sustaining motivation.

Motivation tactics for Black Friday should not end when doors close. Lessons learned during these trying times can be applied year-round. 

To find out Biro’s other two tactics, read the full article.

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