10 Steps to Getting More Done in Your Day

Barry Moltz www.openforum.com March 19, 2012

Every day, your to-do list seems to grow. And in this business climate of information overload and constant interruptions, it has become increasingly difficult for small business owners to get anything accomplished. Not to mention, instead of technology increasing your productivity, it often seems to weigh you down. How are you supposed be proud of what was accomplished today and not just be frustrated?
Here are 10 steps to getting more done in a single day. (After you get your cup of coffee, of course.)
1. Do not start the day by checking e-mail, voice messsages or social media feeds. This will suck you in a direction you do not want to go, and is the surest way to get your day off to a bad start.
2. Start by completing two things on your list that must get done today. Do the hard or unpleasant stuff first. Make sure whatever the tasks are, they will have a significant impact on your business and are part of the critical path to other business goals and objectives.
3. Make decisions and take action. Procrastination never pays off, so make the tough decisions first. Say "no" more often than you say "yes", and don’t even think about saying “maybe.”
4. Deal with every e-mail once. Read an e-mail and take action on it now. Don't save it for later or leave it in your inbox. File it in the appropriate subfolder if it is needed for later reference.
5. Focus on doing one thing at a time. Believe it or not, multitasking can cause brain damage. The brain actually doesn’t do multiple things at one time, but instead just switches very quickly. This does not improve your overall productivity.
6. Control distractions. Turn off the e-mail and social media notifications, beeps, ringtones and visits to your office. If you need to use a software tool that turns off your access to the Internet, install it. Limit or rotate the information you read.
7. Stay off the Internet, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter unless you have a plan. This is the fastest way to kill your productivity since you can drift on these sites forever. Know why you are using these tools and how it will help your business, and always set a time limit for this activity.
8. Do not enter a meeting without a written agenda and a stop time. And in some meetings, have everyone remain standing. Document action items and assignments, and end early if you can.
9. Delegate to others. Improving your productivity means utilizing the other people in your organization to take full responsibility for their own tasks. Unless you set up an assigned hierarchy, you will always be stuck with all the tasks.
10. Recharge. If technology would have its way, most small business owners would work 24/7. Set a time limit on work and ensure there are place in your life which are an oasis so you can recharge daily.

The Key To Managing Gen Y

Penelope Trunk www.openforum.com August 1, 2011

What's the real key to managing Gen Y?  Knowing more about them than they know about themselves.

After all, you know Gen Y loves the attention of being managed closely. You know Gen Y wants great mentoring. But the way to stand out in a crowd of employers is to understand Gen Y in a way they don’t yet understand themselves. Then you can add the kind of value that makes these young employees stay.
Here are things you need to know in order to do that:
1. They’re fundamentally conservative
Gen Y follows rules. You won't find Gen Y protesting in the streets because they make themselves heard within the confines of institutionalized permission.
Gen Y can’t stand conflict. When Gen Y doesn’t like something, you probably won’t hear about it. They just won’t show up.
Gen Y is inherently conservative. You might think Gen Y is asking for revolutionary stuff at work—like flextime, fair-wage salaries and good mentoring. But really, Gen Y is simply demanding what their parents told them they should expect from the world: Work that matters and that complements a life that matters. Those revolutionary expectations come from the parents—baby boomers. Gen Y is just doing what they are told.
2. They are slow moving
The helicopter parent has been a guidepost of Gen Y development. Gen Y is slow and methodical when it comes to making decisions. The idea of the helicopter parent emerged as Gen Y was receiving the most attentive self-esteem-focused parenting in history. Which means Gen Y is used to having their parents make their decisions, or at least steer them. So when they are left, on their own, to make a decision that no one can really help them with, Gen Y often gets stuck.
3. They are not entrepreneurs
Most Gen Y-ers say they want to own their own business. But what they really mean is they want to have a career that is not as tumultuous as their parents’ careers. Baby boomers relied on corporate America and they were let down. Gen Y is hoping to avoid that by relying on themselves. So to Gen Y, entrepreneurship is a safety net.
The problem, though, is that Gen Y loves being part of a team, and Gen Y loves having a manager paying close attention to them. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are lonely, crazy, anxious people. So Gen Y tries entrepreneurship, loses resolve, and goes back to the safety of working for someone else.
4. Appearences matter more to them than what’s real.
Dan Schawbel is a world-renowned personal branding expert and it is no coincidence that he’s also from Gen Y—Gen Y manages themselves like they’re celebrities. Which makes sense since online, everyone is searchable, knowable, trackable and vulnerable to faulty first-impressions. Dan Schawbel, and his army of personal branding experts have shown the world that what you look like online is actually what is real.
The result of this trend, though, is that Gen Y is more concerned with how they appear online than what’s actually going on in their lives. The best illustration of this trend is that they don’t make enough money for a huge, lavish wedding, but they still want their wedding pictures to be gorgeous, fun and exotic. So they elope, with a photographer, and post all the photos of a great wedding on Facebook.
5. They are followers
Gen Y is very team-oriented; they did book reports in teams, they went to prom in teams and they were the first generation to learn the playground rule: “you can’t say you can’t play.” The result of this way of seeing the world is that Gen Y is very, very non-competitive. Gen Y-ers are avid users of collaborative software that inadvertently flattens office hierarchy, and they have little interest in leading in the classic, hierarchical way. So beware: Gen Y’s leadership will look like non-leadership to everyone else.
6. They need to feel special
Most Gen Y-ers you know will say this does not apply to them. They don’t like to feel typical. Gen Y was raised to feel special. Treat them like they are special even if you know they are typical of their millions of peers.
Anyway, all generations have strengths and weaknesses. And just because Gen Y’s weakness is that they complain about being grouped as Gen Y, the bottom line is that they want personal attention from management so they can have more personal insight about themselves. This is a fair thing to want from work, and from life. In fact, if there is anything we can learn from Gen Y it is that everyone, no matter how old, should want this from their work life.

The Care and Feeding of Gen-Y Entrepreneurs

Rieva Lesonsky www.openforum.com January 29, 2012

Where is Generation Y working during these tough times? And what do their employment trends mean for small employers?
A study examining where people aged 18 to 29 are working analyzed 4 million Gen-Y Facebook profiles. Here’s what the report found.
Gen-Y workforce trends
Bye-bye, Fortune 500: Most "millennials" don’t choose Fortune 500 companies as employers. According to the study, only 10 percent of Gen-Y workers have ever worked at a Fortune 500 company, and just 7 percent currently do.
"Fortune 500 companies are having a tough time hiring and retaining Gen-Y workers right now," Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, tells CIO magazine. The new study was conducted by Millennial Branding, with Identified.com.
"Gen-Y looks for more flexibility, like [the possibility of] working from home, and they want to have access to social networks. Fortune 500 companies don't usually allow this flexibility.”
Hello, small firms: So where are Gen-Y employees working? Shwabel says they’re more likely to work at startups and small companies.
They work where they can play a bigger role and have more of an impact on the company. The hiring process is also faster and more informal at smaller firms, and there’s usually more flexibility—all factors that appeal to millennials.
On their own: Those who are not working at startups are going a step further and starting their own companies.
The study shows that “owner” is the fifth most-popular job title for Gen-Y on Facebook. Titles like "server,” “intern” and “sales associate” came first. This pattern possibly reflects the poor job market that is pushing young people to start their own businesses instead of getting stuck in low-level jobs.
Moving fast: I know many people think millennials feel entitled. They believe the young people should pay their dues in entry-level jobs before moving up in the corporate world or starting their own businesses.
But Gen-Y doesn’t agree with this view and, have no problem quitting their jobs if they don’t feel rewarded or sense that they’re contributing to the company. The report found that Gen-Y employees are very likely to job-hop, spending an average of just two years working at their first jobs.
Recruiting and retaining Gen-Y employees
How can your small business recruit Gen-Y workers? And how can you get them to stick around? As a small employer, you have a natural edge over big corporations, but don’t rely on that.
The report urges employers of all sizes to encourage Gen-Y’s entrepreneurial attitude.
What does that mean? I’ve worked with young employees for years and I've come to my own conclusions. This generation craves freedom and independence, kind of like teenagers preparing to leave the nest. But they also want your feedback and guidance.
The solution is to let them be “intrapreneurs” within your company. Put them in charge of their time by offering flextime and remote work schedules. Give them a challenge and let them figure out how to handle it. Then, give them both positive and negative feedback on how they did.
Gen-Y will likely account for 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. The report cautions that, to stay competitive, large corporations must aggressively recruit these workers. Big companies will catch on, so get a head start by making Gen-Y feel welcome and valued at your small business.

4 Ways to Better Manage Gen-Y

Dan Schawbel www.opemforum.com March 12, 2012

By now the lower ranks of the proverbial corporate ladder have been completely taken over by Generation-Y, a group of people roughly between the ages of 18 and 29 years. Much has been made about the unique characteristics that define this generation, from their constant need to be connected, to their rather conservative perspective on the market. Just like the generations before them, there is also well-documented tension between Gen-Y and their older counterparts. Gen-Y is often perceived by some as being lazy, having a sense of entitlement and lacking in social skills. Regardless of your position, the simple fact is that soon this generation will assume the responsibility of middle-upper management, and their performance will largely determine the success of our economy in the next few decades.
According to Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, Gen-Y will make up approximately 75% of the global workforce by 2025! So there is incentive to better understand and prepare young professionals for the next steps in their career (As well as incentive to maximize their productivity in the workplace today!). With that said, here are four ways that you can be a better manager to your Generation-Y employees.
1. Make them feel like they have an impact on your business
Gen-Y wants to be a part of something, and they don’t want to wait 10 years until they are able to do it. Now certainly, this doesn’t mean that every entry-level employee should be given control of the budget or allowed to make strategic decisions for the company. However, there are small things that you can do as a manager that will go a long way in both developing them as leaders and maximizing their productivity. Give them the autonomy to make basic decisions on non-critical components of a project. Create an environment where they are comfortable with and encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions. Even if those opinions aren’t acted on, the sense that their contribution is valued will make them more productive for your company.
2. Build loyalty in smaller doses
Let’s face it, corporate loyalty is almost something that can be taught in a high school history class. Gone are the days of pension programs and employees beginning and ending a career at the same company. Gen-Y workers simply aren’t motivated by traditional means such as higher salary (Of course they are motivated by money, but there are other factors that are considered by them, such as growth opportunity, freedom of social media access and job security). Many companies have unrealistic expectations about corporate loyalty, where the employee is expected to associate with the brand name first and their co-workers second. Gen-Y employees are far more loyal to their immediate co-workers and superiors than to the brand they serve. As a manager even of a small group, create a culture of teamwork, recognition and growth, and you will find your employees far more satisfied, and much less likely to jump ship.
3. Set a clear success path for employees to grow within the company
This one goes hand in hand with building loyalty. Gen-Y employees do not feel loyal to corporations, because they don’t believe that corporations are loyal to them. They came of age during one of the worst economic time periods in our nation’s history, and they have seen their parents and other adult role models let go from companies that they had been ‘loyal’ to for a number of years. In their minds, that loyalty isn’t reciprocated, and their experience in a down economy has taught them to look out for themselves. To this end, members of Gen-Y change their first jobs after just over 2 years! Still, despite Gen-Y’s pessimism, many would prefer to stay with their organizations and grow. They leave because they feel like they have no other choice. So when onboarding Gen-Y new-hires, work with them to determine their career goals, and develop a pathway for them to reach those goals. Designate specific milestones and metrics that will help them to move their way up the ladder and not feel as though they have to leave in order to advance their careers.
4. Embrace their way of doing things
Gen-Y is inherently different from Gen-X and the Baby Boomers. They are a results-driven group, and don’t enjoy the confines of a 9-5 work day. That may draw criticism, but they are ready and willing to work nights and weekends to get their work done. They may be connected to the Internet and social media almost too much, which may lead to distraction at the work place, but it also has given them an unmatched network of information, and they are able to conduct research at light speed when compared to prior generations. Clearly, there is a balance, but by harnessing the characteristics of Gen-Y, you will give them a sense of purpose and value while at the same time improving your business’ success.
Dan Schawbel is the Founder of Millennial Branding, a Gen-Y research and management consulting firm. He is the author of Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future.

Good Bosses Are The Same Today As They Were In 1992

BY Expert Blogger Robert I. Sutton, PhD | 03-16-2012 www.fastcompany.com

In a world of near-constant innovation and disruption, the definition of a great boss (or leader or manager) may be the one thing that doesn't require reinvention.  
   
A lot of people write business books: about eleven thousand are published each year. There are armies of consultants, gurus, and wannabe thought leaders, and thousands of management magazines, radio and TV shows, websites, and blogs.

These purveyors of management knowledge have incentives for claiming their ideas are “new and improved” rather than the same old thing. One twist, which I’ve seen a lot lately, is the claim that management or leadership needs to be reinvented. Many reasons given for this need seem sensible: Gen X and Gen Y require different management techniques; outsourcing, globalization, and information technology means working with people we rarely if ever meet in person; the pressure to think and move ever faster is unprecedented; so many employees are disengaged that they need to be managed so they feel appreciated.

Yet, no matter how hard I look at studies by academics and consulting firms, or at contrasts between successful and unsuccessful leaders, I can’t find persuasive evidence of substantial change in the kinds of bosses people want to become or work for, or that enable human groups and organizations to thrive. Changes such as the computer revolution, globalization, and distributed teams mean that if you are a boss, staying in tune with followers is more challenging than ever. And, certainly, bosses need to be more culturally aware because many workplaces are composed of more diverse people.
But every new generation of bosses faces hurdles that seem to make the job tougher than it ever was. The introduction of the telephone and air travel created many of the same challenges as the computer revolution--as did the introduction of the telegraph and trains. Just as every new generation of teenagers believes they have discovered sex and their parents can’t possibly understand what it feels like to be them, believing that that no prior generation of bosses ever faced anything like this and these crazy times require entirely new ways of thinking and acting are likely soothing to modern managers. These beliefs also help socalled experts like me sell our wares. Yet there is little evidence to support the claim that organizations—let alone the humans in them—have changed so drastically that we need to invent a whole new kind of boss.

This isn’t a new idea, either. In 1992, two Harvard Business School professors, Robert Eccles and Nitin Nohria (now the dean of HBS), wrote Beyond the Hype. This book showed that while management thinkers (notably the much worshipped Peter Drucker) have repeatedly claimed it is a whole new world out there for managers and employees--that everything needs to be reinvented because the old ways are obsolete--the fundamentals of what it takes to lead, organize, and inspire followers were pretty much “the same as it ever was.”

Eccles and Norhia’s argument applies as well in 2012 as in 1992--at least when it comes to bosses. Just like the leaders people wanted before the industrial revolution, we humans still yearn to follow others who are competent enough to bring in resources, teach us new skills, and generate attention and prestige from key outsiders--who drive performance. We also want fair leaders who protect us, and who make us feel cared for and respected--who inject humanity. Although the ways bosses accomplish these things is and has always been constrained by technologies, culture, different kinds of work, and on and on, the fundamentals remain unchanged. Yet the hype keeps flying about how we need to reinvent management. In particular, we often hear calls for the end of hierarchy, the virtues of empowerment, and how knowledge workers need to be treated in new and different ways.
The notion that people who do creative or complex work need more autonomy than others is quite old. Thomas Edison’s lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, was decentralized; workers there were encouraged to develop their own ideas, and there were fewer and less obvious status differences between people at different hierarchical levels compared to traditional organizations of the time.

Yet, at Edison’s lab--as at today’s Apple, Google, Facebook, and Pixar and every other creative organization I know—there was a clear pecking order. Indeed, a careful review of research by my Stanford colleagues Debra Gruenfeld and Larissa Tiedens shows that we humans prefer hierarchical relationships, are happier when we work in clear hierarchies than where power differences are absent or unclear, and we experience less distress and work more effectively.
Gruenfeld and Tiedens suggest that we prefer hierarchies because they are effective for sorting people based on different skills and reduce ambiguity. The upshot is that although good bosses--especially in creative places--do encourage input and delegate decisions, little evidence suggests that the need or desire for bosses--and bosses of bosses--will disappear anytime soon.
So the challenge is not to reinvent management. Rather it is to find ways to dampen the known drawbacks of pecking orders and amplify the positive elements. That is what great bosses do and have always done.

The Google experience is instructive. In 2009, Lazlo Block, vice president of People Operations, launched a study called Project Oxygen to figure out the differences between the best and the worst bosses at Google. Since Google was first founded about fifteen years ago, its leaders believed that technical expertise was the most crucial quality of a great boss and that since such smart people worked there, a boss’s job was pretty much to leave people alone unless they asked for technical help. Project Oxygen revealed insights that surprised Google’s leaders, but it fit with thousands of studies--including many that shaped Good Boss, Bad Boss.
Technical expertise ranked dead last among the predictors of a boss’s effectiveness. Instead, as The New York Times reported, “What employees valued most were even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.”
Google is an evidence-based place. So they boiled down their list of what good bosses do into just a few key factors, and they now work intensely with underperforming bosses to change their behavior. If you are a boss, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by considering Google’s journey.

Don’t believe the hype about reinventing management. As over fifty years of research shows, treating employees with respect, encouraging them to participate and to make suggestions, and listening to them are as important as ever. The same is true about setting a clear direction, making decisions, and taking charge.
T
his is the fourth in a series excerpted from a new chapter in the paperback version of Good Boss, Bad Boss, a New York Times best-seller by Robert Sutton. Read the three other installments here.

Why do employers value emotional intelligence over IQ?

    August 18, 2011 www.techjournalsouth.com

With smaller staffs, higher stress levels and uncertainties around the economy, are employers changing what they look for in prospective employees?                   
Thirty-four percent of hiring managers said they are placing greater emphasis on emotional intelligence when hiring and promoting employees post-recession, according to a new CareerBuilder survey.

Seventy-one percent said they value emotional intelligence in an employee more than IQ.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a general assessment of a person’s abilities to control emotions, to sense, understand and react to others’ emotions, and manage relationships. The national survey –conducted May 19 to June 8, 2011, with more than 2600 hiring managers and human resource professionals – reveals that EI is a critical characteristic for landing a job and advancing one’s career.

Fifty-nine percent of employers would not hire someone who has a high IQ but low EI. For workers being considered for a promotion, the high EI candidate will beat out the high IQ candidate in most cases – 75 percent said they’re more likely to promote the high EI worker.

“The competitive job market allows employers to look more closely at the intangible qualities that pay dividends down the road – like skilled communicators and perceptive team players,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Technical competency and intelligence are important assets for every worker, but when it’s down to you and another candidate for a promotion or new job, dynamic interpersonal skills will set you apart. In a recovering economy, employers want people who can effectively make decisions in stressful situations and can empathize with the needs of their colleagues and clients to deliver the best results.”

When asked why emotional intelligence is more important than high IQ, employers said (in order of importance):

• Employees [with high EI] are more likely to stay calm under pressure
• Employees know how to resolve conflict effectively
• Employees are empathetic to their team members and react accordingly
• Employees lead by example
• Employees tend to make more thoughtful business decisions

HR managers and hiring managers assess their candidates’ and employees’ EI by observing a variety of behaviors and qualities. The top responses from the survey were:

• They admit and learn from their mistakes
• They can keep emotions in check and have thoughtful discussions on tough issues
• They listen as much or more than they talk
• They take criticism well
• They show grace under pressure

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

by: Steve Tobak blogs.hbr.org March14, 2012

Why is it that between 25 and 50 per cent of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?
It's not just the number of hours we're working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.
What we've lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It's like an itch we can't resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.
Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? Do you bring your laptop to meetings and then pretend you're taking notes while you surf the net? Do you eat lunch at your desk? Do you make calls while you're driving, and even send the occasional text, even though you know you shouldn't?
The biggest cost — assuming you don't crash — is to your productivity. In part, that's a simple consequence of splitting your attention, so that you're partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely fully engaged in any one. In part, it's because when you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you're increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.
But most insidiously, it's because if you're always doing something, you're relentlessly burning down your available reservoir of energy over the course of every day, so you have less available with every passing hour.
I know this from my own experience. I get two to three times as much writing accomplished when I focus without interruption for a designated period of time and then take a real break, away from my desk. The best way for an organization to fuel higher productivity and more innovative thinking is to strongly encourage finite periods of absorbed focus, as well as shorter periods of real renewal.
If you're a manager, here are three policies worth promoting:
1. Maintain meeting discipline. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes, rather than an hour or longer, so participants can stay focused, take time afterward to reflect on what's been discussed, and recover before the next obligation. Start all meetings at a precise time, end at a precise time, and insist that all digital devices be turned off throughout the meeting.
2. Stop demanding or expecting instant responsiveness at every moment of the day. It forces your people into reactive mode, fractures their attention, and makes it difficult for them to sustain attention on their priorities. Let them turn off their email at certain times. If it's urgent, you can call them — but that won't happen very often.
3. Encourage renewal. Create at least one time during the day when you encourage your people to stop working and take a break. Offer a midafternoon class in yoga, or meditation, organize a group walk or workout, or consider creating a renewal room where people can relax, or take a nap.

It's also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. Consider these three behaviors for yourself:
1. Do the most important thing first in the morning, preferably without interruption, for 60 to 90 minutes, with a clear start and stop time. If possible, work in a private space during this period, or with sound-reducing earphones. Finally, resist every impulse to distraction, knowing that you have a designated stopping point. The more absorbed you can get, the more productive you'll be. When you're done, take at least a few minutes to renew.
2. Establish regular, scheduled times to think more long term, creatively, or strategically. If you don't, you'll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent. Also, find a different environment in which to do this activity — preferably one that's relaxed and conducive to open-ended thinking.
3. Take real and regular vacations. Real means that when you're off, you're truly disconnecting from work. Regular means several times a year if possible, even if some are only two or three days added to a weekend. The research strongly suggests that you'll be far healthier if you take all of your vacation time, and more productive overall.
A single principle lies at the heart of all these suggestions. When you're engaged at work, fully engage, for defined periods of time. When you're renewing, truly renew. Make waves. Stop living your life in the gray zone.

9 reasons why people fail

By Steve Tobak  (MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY www.cbsnews.com

 

Some people are smart, competent, even driven; they just don't get anywhere. Or they get somewhere, reach a certain point, and then just like that, hit a wall. I've seen it a thousand times with people at every management level, from CEO on down. The bigger problem is that, oftentimes, they take others down with them.

Is it all attributable to the Peter Principle -- reaching your level of incompetence and then crashing and burning -- or is that just one of many reasons why people, for whatever reason, become ineffective? Well, I've thought long and hard about this and I think it comes down to nine essential failure modes.
Breathing your own fumes. Probably the most common failure mode, especially for formerly successful people, is they lose their humility and their objectivity and begin to think they have all the answers. They don't just lose perspective -- they honestly don't believe they need it.
Following your own agenda. If you're an entrepreneur and it's your baby, that's one thing. Do whatever the heck you want. But when you work for a company, you're not there to carve your own crazy path. It doesn't matter what level you're at. You're there to do the company's business, not your own. You can't be effective that way.
You run out of steam to compete in a brutally competitive world. It hasn't always been that way, but now more than ever, companies, managers and employees need to continuously refresh and reinvent themselves. In any competitive market, yesterday's value proposition may not hold true today or tomorrow.
The Peter Principle. The vast majority of folks who climbed the corporate ladder and all of a sudden seem clueless have either reached a level where they're no longer competent or have moved laterally into a position they're not suited for. And all too often, they're left there to rot.
Why the Peter Principle works                               7 signs of a high-performance company
You're losing it. I thought of all sorts of PC ways to say this, and there just isn't any. It's huge and yet nobody talks about it. People lose it. Maybe they're dysfunctional or a little unbalanced to begin with and for whatever reason -- stress, personal, whatever -- they start to go off the deep end and self-destruct. I've seen lots of people recover, but first they have to get out and get help.
Cultural disease. I once worked with a publicly traded company that had absolutely the worst reputation you could imagine. The media, customers, everyone thought they were arrogant bullies. Instead of looking at themselves, it became popular to blame it on all sorts of conspiracy theories. Everyone was out to get them. This lunacy became a sort of cultural disease that infected the entire company. No kidding.
You've lost faith in the organization. Sometimes, it isn't you. At any given time, probably half the companies out there are heading in the wrong direction: down. Think RIM (RIMM), Sprint (S), Yahoo (YHOO), AOL (AOL), Kodak (EK), it's a long list. It's hard to get up in the morning and be effective when, deep down, you feel like the organization is going nowhere.
Your strategy didn't age well. It happens all the time and for reasons that, well, have too many variables to categorize. One day your ideas are awesome, they work and everything's hunky dory. The next day you wake up and everything's changed. After all, we live in a dynamic world. Suddenly, your strategy or ideas no longer resonate with customers, your boss, the market, whatever.
You don't understand or want to play by the rules. Want to paint the world with your own colored crayon? March to the beat of your own drum? Do your own thing? Be a rebel with or without a cause? That's great, go for it. But when it comes to work, products, markets, customers, that sort of thing, you really don't get to do whatever, wherever, whenever you want.

Low-Cost Ways To Show Employees They're Highly Valued

Expert Blogger Roberta Matuson | 03-07-2012 | 12:00 PM www.fastcompany.com

Small businesses can compete for talent without breaking the bank. Yes, you still need to pay competitive wages to get people in the door, but it’s the perks that will help you retain them. Here are 30 low-cost ideas for small businesses who want to show employees that they are highly valued.

1. Flex time. Some organizations require employees to be at work during core hours, and employee can set their schedule around this. Others allow employees to put in hours at their own discretion. Most require employees to have a set schedule so managers can plan for coverage. The schedule may be adjusted to accommodate personal matters like doctor's appointments.

2. Innovation days. Set aside several days a year to allow employees to step away from their usual responsibilities to tackle projects related to the way they work and the spaces they work in. Results are shared in a company meeting the following morning.

3. Monthly commuter benefits. Offer a monthly stipend ($100 or so) for those who commute by public transportation. In many cities where mass transit is used, companies offer tax-free transit fare programs; you can learn more about the options available from programs like TransitChek or Commuter Check. These programs also save companies money in payroll taxes.
4. Fully stocked kitchen. Provide free coffee, soft drinks, and snacks for employees during work hours. Want to bump this up a notch? Keep organic milk in stock and add fresh fruit and healthy options to the shopping list.

5. Wellness benefits. Employees can receive reimbursement for purchases related to fitness (up to $300/year). Typical items reimbursed include gym memberships, running shoes, yoga mats, bicycles, and so on.

6. Free lunch. Order in for all your employees once a week to foster community and give employees a break from packing their lunches.

7. Canine colleagues. Got an office full of dog lovers? Then invite house-trained visitors to join the team.

8. Parental leave. As this infographic shows, the U.S. has some of the weakest paid family-leave benefits anywhere--while some states guarantee paid leave, it's not a federal mandate. You can immediately differentiate your company by making sure all employees are eligible for paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
9. No dress code. Relax--ties are optional in this work environment.

10. Summer hours. Employees kick back early on Fridays during the summer months, allowing them to beat the heat as well as the traffic if they're heading out to the beach for a weekend.

11. Free chair massages. Fifteen minutes in the chair once a week, and employees will return to their desks refreshed and ready to tackle their to-do lists.

12. Optional telecommuting. In an increasingly mobile and digitally connected world, many employees can easily and successfully work from home part- or full-time. Here are some tips on working from home that will make the transition smooth.

13. Tech neutrality. Offer the choice of PCs or Macs so employees can work on the machine with which they're more comfortable.

14. Flexibility in paid time off. Employees can choose how to use their paid time off bank (vacation, sick, and personal time) to best meet the needs of their individual situations.

15. A culture of work/life balance. Create an atmosphere where it really is okay to leave the office before 8 p.m.

16. Perks for part-time employees. Many organizations treat part-time workers like they were temps. Provide part-time workers with perks and they’ll be acting like full-time workers in no time.

17. Cultural extras. Keep the workplace exciting by mixing in rewards like concert tickets, movie outings, or passes to sporting events. Don’t forget to throw some cash your employee’s way to cover the babysitter.

18. Sabbaticals. Offer month-long sabbaticals after five years of service, or two months after 10 years of service.

19. Laundry service. Employ a service to pick up employees' clothes and drop them back at work, clean and folded.

20. Car care. Who has time to take their car in for an oil change? Companies have arranged for a service to come to the office and take care of this messy task while employees are working.

21. Gift matching. The company matches employee's charitable donations, with the match based on what the company can afford.

22. Adoption assistance. This financial assistance can be used for legal expenses, adoption agencies, or other professional fees.

23. Take-out meals. To help make things easier, new moms and dads are able to expense up to $300 for take-out meals during the first three months that they are home with their new baby.

24. Employee referral programs. Good people know other good people, and the best employees are usually hired through referrals. Those who refer candidates who are hired receive a cash bonus award.

25. Green initiatives. Preferred parking and/or subsidies for those who purchase and drive hybrid vehicles.

26. Paid time off to volunteer. Employees are given a specific amount of time to volunteer in their communities.

27. Cleaning services. Sweep employees off their feet--hire professional cleaners to tidy up employees' homes every two weeks.

28. Tuition forgiveness. Offer to pay a percentage of tuition owed, per year of employment, for hard-to-fill positions that are appropriate for recent grads.

29. Easier dinnertimes. Take care of the people who matter by enlisting a vendor to deliver ready-to-eat healthy dinners that employees can elect to purchase and take home to their families.

30. Acknowledgment of significant others. When employees do have to work late hours, the people who really pick up the slack are their spouses who are forced to work double duty. Acknowledge their contributions by sending flowers or gift cards, along with a personal note to acknowledge their contribution.

Incorporating perks like these into your organization will help you attract top talent, increase employee satisfaction, and reduce costly employee turnover, which in the end is far more profitable than scaling back on your benefit expenses to save a few bucks.
Have you incorporated any of these benefits into your business, or found any other unique ideas that work?
Author Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (yourhrexperts.com) and author of Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around

Value Employees, Keep Your Talent

Jean Seawright March 14, 2011 www.lawnandlandscape.com

The tough economy has taken its toll on staff. Now, with a rebound on the horizon, stretched employees may get restless.
Here’s how to re-energize workers, build trust and keep turnover low as the turnaround hits.
As a result of the worst economic crisis in recent history, workers across the country have, undoubtedly, been shaken. When layoffs, pay and benefit reductions, salary freezes and restructuring first began to occur, employees everywhere seemed to understand the magnitude of the crisis and were happy to just have a job.
Indeed, the phrase “job security” took on an entirely new meaning for many – both the employed and the unemployed alike.
Unfortunately, these newfound feelings of job appreciation have now given way to feelings of burn-out, recession fatigue and self-preservation. This has led to declining levels of motivation, pride and trust in many workplaces.
For this reason, employees are beginning to take a close, hard look at their work life, and they’re asking themselves if they really want to stay with their current employer.
Although you may be blameless in the economic crisis and you may have made wise moves to maintain the health of your business, your employees may still want to jump ship. Why? Because it’s human nature for people to want to disassociate themselves with bad memories.
Unfortunately, if you found it necessary to deploy traditional belt-tightening labor practices to cope with your business challenges, your company may be that bad memory.

FLIGHT RISK.
Several recent surveys conducted by reputable firms suggest that anywhere between 40 to 60 percent of Americans plan to look for a job once the economy rebounds. The younger generations – the Gen Xers and Yers – are reportedly the most likely to abscond.
How do you know if your employees are among the percentage wanting to bolt? Well, the risk increases if one or more of these actions occurred at your company during the recession:

• Leaders failed to communicate what was going on strategically
• Employees have had to work double-time to make up for a slimmer workforce
• Wages were cut and cannot be or are not restored
• Permanent organizational changes were made, limiting employees’ future growth potential
• Employees perceive that they were treated poorly
• Employees lost trust in the organization as a result of how it handled cost cuts
• Employees are stressed out about money

So what can you do now to re-engage your employees and to minimize the temptation for talented employees to find a new job as conditions improve?
The answer lies in first understanding what factors make work gratifying today. A recent nationwide Society for Human Resource Management job satisfaction survey listed among top factors the following very important aspects of job satisfaction:

• Job security
• Benefits
• Compensation/pay
• Opportunities to use skills and abilities
• Relationship with immediate supervisor
• Management recognition of employee job performance
• Communication between employees and senior management
  

Two things stand out on this list:
First, job security rules. Of course, it’s not surprising that during an economic downturn employees selected job security as a very important aspect of job satisfaction. This is actually good news for small businesses since the perception among workers (and, frankly, the reality) is that mass layoffs occur more readily at large companies.
Secondly, three of the job satisfaction factors are directly related to management. This tells us that in the current climate, leaders play a vital role in the job satisfaction of employees.
Indeed, to your employees, the boss is the company, and the ability of your leadership team to encourage the development of your people through trusting relationships will impact retention. No doubt about it, as the market improves it will become even more important for managers and leaders to hone performance development skills and to enhance trust.

ASSESS YOUR MANAGERS.
As the economy rebounds, the most important ingredient in retention will be the strength of your leadership team. Now is the time to assess the interpersonal skills of your management team and to make necessary adjusments. Employees want and need leaders who can connect with them emotionally; leaders who are highly visible, who care about the well being of others, who encourage the development of talent in the organization and, most importantly, who are trustworthy.
According to a research study conducted by Linda Stroh, a professor at Loyola University Chicago Graduate School of Business, a trustworthy person:

• Is likely to respond in a healthy way when things don’t go right
• Admits and learns from his or her mistakes
• Is aware of how his or her behavior affects others
• Admits when he or she doesn’t know something
• Tells me when I do something wrong
• Helps me be a better person
• Sticks by others during tough times
• Speaks the same of everyone whether in their presence or not
  

I would add one more trait: Keeps commitments. This includes the small ones. For example, if you promise an employee that you will call him or her back before the end of the day, do it.
Failure to keep even the smallest of commitments can erode trust.
Bottom line: Retaining talent in the future is going to depend in large part on the skills and abilities of your leadership team today.
You must ensure that your management team can build relationships with your people on more than just money.
As the economy rebounds, regardless of your industry or the size of your company, the best formula for successfully retaining talent combines trustworthy leaders with a motivating work environment and a culture that recognizes and engages employees.

Jean Seawright is President of Seawright & Associates, a human resource management consulting firm in Winter Park, Fla. 3 or www.seawright.com.

7 things great employees do

If you are a boss, you might be tempted to post this on the lunchroom bulletin board... only kiddin!

Steve Tobak March 1, 2012 www.cbsnews.com 

COMMENTARY This definitely isn't the first time somebody's written about what makes employees special. But it may very well be the first time someone's telling you what will genuinely get your management excited about you and ultimately get you promoted. No kidding.
Look, you've got to understand the reality here. People will cite ridiculously esoteric research studies and pull all sorts of popular, feel-good stuff out of their utopian behinds -- whatever it takes to get you to click. That's great for feeding your ego and your addiction to distraction, but it doesn't do squat for your career.

This is different. It's not some kumbaya fluff that will get you a big pat on the back, a "Nice job, buddy" from the boss, or a gift certificate for a cheap dinner. This is what employees really do to distinguish themselves in the eyes of management. It's how up-and-comers become up-and-comers. It's how you get recognized and moving up the corporate ladder. It's what today's top executives did when they were in your shoes.

Take responsibility for hot projects with a fearless attitude. And get this. If it works out, you don't waste a lot of time basking in the glory, at least not at work. Maybe you go out and celebrate with the other team members. That aside, you're all about finding the next big challenge. You're hungry for more. And if it fails, you don't point fingers. You take full responsibility and learn from it. And you know what? That's when management will start to see you as one of them. That's big.

Demonstrate natural leadership. That means when you take charge of something, people naturally follow, even though you don't have the title or the authority. Never mind everything you read; that's what natural leadership is really all about. There are all sorts of different styles that work, but mostly it comes down to a fearless self-confidence and charisma that people find magnetic. That's like gold in the corporate world.

Say, "Sure, no problem, will do," and then do it. It's one thing to have a solid work ethic and get the job done. That certainly key in the real business world. But it's another thing entirely to always accept challenging assignments with open arms and a simple, "No problem, will do" acknowledgement. And the tougher it is, the more confident you sound and the harder you work to make it happen. That's the sign of an employee who needs a promotion or two.
Roll with the punches without taking things personally. Sure, it's hard to keep your balance when the rug's just been pulled out from under you. But let's face it. The nature of contemporary business is one of constant change, reorganizations and layoffs. Programs come and go. Companies too. One day you're rolling in resources, the next day you need three signatures for a chair. That's the way business is. And if you're flexible, you're adaptable, you've got fortitude and you don't take things personally, that's big.

Think of the company's goals as your goals. I know, the jaded among you will say that blind loyalty to a company will enslave you and get you nowhere. Well, there's truth to that. After all, any employee can be fired or quit, and that's as it should be. This is about understanding how companies operate and making the company's or the department's priorities your own. When you start to identify with the goals of management -- live, eat and breathe them -- then you start to become management. Yes, that's a good thing.

Do whatever it takes to get the job done, even when you're not getting paid for it. Look, success in the real world doesn't work like tit for tat. First, you put yourself out there, take risks, do the work, and accomplish things. Then, and only then, do you get to put your hand out and say, "Give me some." Then, if your company doesn't take care of you, you learn a lesson, put your accomplishments on your resume, and move on to a better place that values overachievers like you.

Grow the business or improve the bottom line. Yeah, I know it's not popular, but that doesn't make it any less critical or true. These days, it's all about doing more with less. Being more efficient, effective, scrappy, innovative, motivational, engaging, and not only that, happy about it. Think of it as a problem-solving challenge where the problem is how to grow the business or cut spending while improving productivity. Like it or not, that is what it's all about.

Steve Tobak is a consultant and former high-tech senior executive. He's managing partner of Invisor Consulting, a management consulting and business strategy firm

The Illusion Of Competence: Multitasking Our Way To Mediocrity

Date: March 1st, 2012  by William Stinnett Ph.D. L.E.T. Master Trainer GordonTraining International

“Excuse me, I have to take this call.

I will be back to this article on multitasking right after I check my e-mails, see what updates I have on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and Yelp, and order those materials for my upcoming team-building workshop, decide on which airfare is best for the trip, see what that “beeping” is, check to see if the laundry is done, and listen to my daughter explain how she just has to go to another all-night party with her friends.” No problem, right? “Now, where was I? Oh, yeah! The article on multitasking! Or was it team-building? And what about that new phone that lets me download my apps faster than ever? And that little, online TV news feed in the upper corner of my computer that is keeping me constantly up-to-date on world events.”
We don’t, technically, ever really “multitask.” We switch back and forth between multiple tasks. The faster we are able to do that, the more it seems like multitasking. Does the ability to do that, however, translate into more productivity or greater efficiency? The overwhelming conclusions from scientific research indicate “no.” In fact, most studies report a decline in effectiveness on most tasks when people try to multitask. As with most skills, some people are better at “multitasking” than others. But, overall, even those who are best at it perform worse than people who attempt the same tasks without the distractions encountered with multitasking. The danger of trying to do too many things at once is, of course, less when the tasks are relatively simple and have few consequences (walking and chewing gum). But, as the complexity of the task increases and the stakes become higher (making important business decisions, driving a car), the “multitasking deficit” becomes increasingly treacherous. Some of the consequences include:

• Poor recall. People simply do not remember as much or as accurately. Information “learned” while multitasking is often forgotten or recalled incorrectly. Much of this research was done on college students preparing for exams but also has considerable application to leaders in the workplace.

• Longer time to complete tasks. It may seem counter-intuitive but multitasking actually slows people down. It takes longer to get things done. A mundane example comes from an experiment in which people were asked to perform two tasks: the first, count to 10 as fast a possible, the second, recite the alphabet from “A” to “J” as quickly as possible. Each task typically requires about two seconds. So, a person can perform both tasks in about four seconds. Next, they were asked to switch between tasks (A1, B2, C3, D4, etc.). The time to complete the task increased tremendously (15 to 30 seconds or more). There is, apparently, a certain amount of time that the brain needs for “switching.” When you leave one task, then come back to it later, it takes the brain a little time to readjust. Those little bits of time add up and when you are constantly switching back and forth, it can add considerably to the amount of time devoted to each task as well as the total. Bottlenecks are created. This is, essentially, the same thing that happens to your computer when you have too many windows open at the same time. The time required for “switching” eventually accumulates to the point that the computer slooooooooowwwwwwws dooowwwwn and eventually you have to reboot.

• Less ability to understand concepts. In some experiments, participants performed relatively well on tasks while multitasking but failed to understand the task fully. They were less able to use the information that they had “learned.” “In 2006 a team of scholars led by Karin Foerde, reported on an experiment suggesting that distraction during learning can be harmful, even if the distraction doesn’t seem to injure students’ immediate performance on their tasks….Their “weather forecasts” [their performance] under distraction were roughly as accurate as they were during the other three trials. But when they were asked afterward to describe the general probabilistic rules for that trial…, they did much worse than they did after the undistracted trials. Foerde and her colleagues argue that when the subjects were distracted, they learned the weather rules through a half-conscious system of “habit memory,” and that when they were undistracted, they encoded the weather rules through what is known as the declarative-memory system—information that is encoded in declarative memory is more flexible—that is, people are more likely to be able to draw analogies and extrapolate from it.

• More easily distracted by new, incoming information. If you saw an animated movie called “Up,” there was a talking dog who could carry on a conversation with considerable skill until distracted. In the middle of the conversation, he would suddenly say, “Squirrel!” When he returned to the conversation, he would be on a completely different subject. The same thing happens at work. During a meeting, the cell phone beeps or a new e-mail comes in on the laptop or iPad (“Squirrel”) and suddenly everyone is off on a new tangent. The original thread of the conversation is lost. The team must start over.

• Younger people who multitask a lot are no better at it than those who don’t. (Carrier, L Mark, Cheever, Nancy A, Rosen, Larry D, Benitez, Sandra, & Chang, Jennifer (2009). “Multitasking across generations: Multitasking choices and difficulty ratings in three generations of Americans”, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 25, p483–489). Even though young, multitaskers believe that they are superior at doing many things at once, the evidence does not support that confidence. Clifford Nass, Eval Ophir, and Anthony Wagner in a classic study done at Stanford say, “We kept looking for what they’re [high multitaskers] better at, and we didn’t find it.” They say that heavy multitaskers not only are not as efficient as low multitaskers at almost everything, but they are possibly doing long term damage to their cognitive ability. They are actually becoming less capable of filtering out distracting, non-useful information than low multitaskers.

All of these ideas point to an organizational culture where there is less thinking, less understanding, less attention to detail, less mindfulness, and, ultimately, less productivity. Like many “new” things, multitasking seems desirable until it is better understood. Who wouldn’t want to get more things done in less time? But, like many gimmicks, multitasking doesn’t really deliver on its promise.
What, then, do we do with all of these devices that “help” us get more done. Like all technology, the utility of the tools depends on our ability to use them properly. Any parent who has watched his or her teenager do homework in front of the TV with the iPod attached and texting her friends at the same time understands that something has to change. Any facilitator who has tried to conduct a workshop while the participants are checking their e-mails and responding to “urgent” text messages understands that there must be a better way. There have been many articles written that give pretty good advice.

Some of the time-tested “truths” are summarized below. If you really want to get things done and produce good quality work, here are a few thoughts:

• Do one thing at a time. This doesn’t mean that if you have a project that requires twenty hours to complete that you need to work twenty hours straight. Break the task down into smaller chunks of a few minutes or a couple of hours and stay focused for that time. If it’s an article you are writing, finish gathering all of the reference material or complete the opening paragraph, etc. But, don’t stop and check your e-mail until that segment is done.

• Eliminate distractions. Don’t have the news going in the background. Don’t be carrying on a conversation with a new hire. Don’t write while you have the phone stuck to your ear. Close the door. Wear the sound reducing earphones.

• Rest occasionally. One of the reasons multitasking doesn’t work is that the brain has no time to recover. The brain is an organ that uses energy. It takes it at least a few seconds to refresh after intense usage. Sometimes even thirty seconds can go a long way toward preparing you for the next task.

• Eat right. Exercise. Etc. All of the things we have learned about fitness apply to the healthy functioning of the brain. The evidence suggests that too much multitasking not only lowers our productivity but actually reduces our IQ.

As the leader of your team, don’t encourage people to multitask. If they are going away to a training workshop, make sure that their work is covered by someone else. Don’t call them on the cell phone or send “emergency” e-mails. Don’t pull people out of meetings to ‘trouble-shoot” another project. Encourage them to plan ahead so that work doesn’t pile up. Don’t reward team members for doing a lot of things at once. When they come to you, listen to them and only to them. Don’t send the wrong signals by half listening and half checking your e-mails. Don’t make heroes of team members who work 70 hours a week. They are probably not getting any more work done than the team members who work 40 hours but set priorities and concentrate on the one or two most important things every day. It is also probable that the 70-hour-a-week team member may not be exercising the best judgment. Set the example. Learn to say “no” to new assignments once in a while. Don’t try to do everything and certainly don’t try to do it all at once.
You should also avoid the temptation to pack your leadership training with every topic you can possibly imagine. “Hey, let’s add a module on work-life balance. Great. Let’s add another one on benchmarking. Don’t forget networking and social media. We can work them all in and do it in a half-day.”
The workplace is becoming increasingly complex. In a way, the idea that we need to concentrate on fewer things at once seems counterintuitive. Shouldn’t we learn to think in more complex ways? It is seductive to believe that we will gain an “edge” by being able to do more things at once. But, so far, the evidence does not support that idea. No one knows if, in the future, we will learn to think about more than one thing at a time or at least reduce the “switching time” to near zero. But, there is nothing in the current research that indicates that as a real possibility. Human beings are just not designed that way.
© 2012 William Stinnett, Ph.D., L.E.T. Master Trainer for Gordon Training International

Do Your People Trust You?

Linda A. Hill & Kent Lineback March 2, 2012 www.blogs.hbr.org

When we talk to managers, we often ask, "Do your people trust you?"
Most are taken aback. It's not something they're often asked or a question they've even asked themselves.
After some thought, most eventually say something like, "Well, I think so. I hope so. No one's said he doesn't." In fact, as they ultimately admit, they don't really know for sure.
It's a question worth asking. Do your people trust you?
Chances are, you don't know for sure, either. If so, that's potentially a problem because your ability to elicit people's best efforts depends on their trust in you — their confidence that they can count on you to do the right thing. Your basic job as a boss is to influence others, to make a difference in what they do and in the thoughts and feelings that drive their actions. Yet, even as the person in charge, the one with authority, you can ultimately influence people only to the extent they are willing to be influenced by you. And that willingness will depend on whether they trust you. Without trust, why should people do what you ask, especially if you're asking something difficult? Why should they accept your judgment? Above all, why would they devote the care and extra effort that quality work requires? As the boss, you can demand compliance but you must earn commitment, and the coin of that realm is trust.
As we explore this topic with managers, we find it's a subject both familiar and unfamiliar.
Most people don't know how to think about it constructively. Why?
First, they often don't realize how context-sensitive trust is. Your people certainly wouldn't trust you, say, to do brain surgery on one of their children, and you would find that lack of trust completely understandable. You're not to be trusted in that context. So, when we ask, "Do your people trust you?" we're not asking about people's confidence in you as a person in general — whether, for example, they think you will repay them promptly if you borrow $10. Instead, we're really asking, "Do your people trust you as a boss?" For them to accept you as a boss, they must trust you in that context. When we delve later into the components of trust, you'll see why context is so important.
The second reason most managers feel a little lost when they think about trust is that most of us resist the idea that trust is something you can actively and consciously encourage. To say it can and should be fostered feels manipulative and self-serving. We instinctively distrust the person who exclaims, "Trust me!" We usually don't consider trust an outcome we can or should try to control directly. Sure, if we outright lie, cheat, steal, and fail to keep our word, others will consider us untrustworthy. But most of us don't consistently or purposely behave that way. We try to tell the truth, abide by the rules, honor others' rights and belongings, and if we cannot keep a promise, we explain why. For most of us, that's how we were brought up. It's who we are and so we think of trust as the outcome of simply being who we are. It's only when we occasionally — usually inadvertently — break someone's trust that we worry about it. Otherwise, trust just happens and we think that's how it should be.
But believing as a boss that trust will somehow take care of itself may not work out the way you want. You do need to think about it. And you may need to take conscious steps that make clear to others that you deserve their trust. None of those steps involves dishonesty or manipulation — on the contrary — but they do involve your being explicit about yourself, about what you know, and about the reasons behind your decisions and actions. In other words, it may require that you be more open as a boss than you might personally be inclined to be.
Indeed, the need for such openness may cut against the grain of many managers, especially new managers, who believe that as the boss they're able to take action without having to explain it to everyone involved.
What this means and how you do it will become more clear in the next two blogs, in which we will explore each of the two components of trust — competence and character. For people to trust you as a boss, they must believe you know what to do as a boss. At one time or another, we've all had bosses of whom people said, "He doesn't know the business" or "She doesn't understand what we do." No one would trust you to do brain surgery because you're incompetent in that context.
Character is equally important. It refers to your intentions — what you're trying to do, your goals and values as a boss. If, for example, people think you're only out for yourself, driven by blind ambition, and don't care about them, the group, or the work, they will distrust your character, no matter how much you know. You need competence and character both to earn your people's trust.
In the next blog, we'll explore competence, what it means to "know" as a boss and what you can legitimately do to demonstrate competence. (No, it doesn't mean you're supposed to be the expert.) And in the blog after that, we'll delve into character, a much more elusive concept that obviously can vary greatly with the context. But we'll try to say some constructive things about it, and how you can foster it, that apply broadly.

Don't take trust for granted, or believe it just happens, because virtually all you do as a boss begins with people's trust in you.

Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Kent Lineback spent many years as a manager and an executive in business and government. They are the coauthors of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader (HBR Press, 2011).

Selling Commodities

By Dave Kahle  Copyright MMXII

"How do you create a perceived value to differentiate yourself from the competition when you are both selling a commodity?"

That's a question I'm often asked in my seminars. It uncovers a problem that is spreading to almost every industry. The rapid pace of technological development and our ultra-competitive global economy means that no one can keep a competitive edge in their product for very long. Develop a hot new product or service and before you can take your first check to the bank, a competitor has a hotter or cheaper version. As a result, customers are more and more inclined to view your product or service as a commodity - no real difference between you and the next guy.

This complicates life for the sales person. In some cases, you are selling exactly the same thing as your competitor. In other cases, your product may not be exactly the same, but the customer views your product as a commodity with no real differences between what you sell and what your competitor offers. How much real difference is there between Coke and Pepsi after all?

Regardless of the situation in which you find yourself, the problem for the sales person is the same - getting the business in the face of the customer's perception of your "me too" product or service.

So, what do you do?

To put it simply, you must detail and communicate the important ways your offering differs from your competitor's offering.

That's easier said than done. To do so effectively, you need to spend some time thinking and preparing. And that means that you must carefully consider the two most important elements of the sale - your offering, and your customer. In this column, we're going to focus on one part of that equation - your offering.

Granted, your product may be exactly the same as the competition, but the totality of your offering may be dramatically different. I use the word "offering" to indicate every aspect of the purchasing decision - not just the product. For example, the customer buys the product from a company - yours or the other guys. The customer buys it from a sales person - you or the competitor. Your company and you are part of the "offering." In addition, there may be differences in your terms, delivery, your customer-service capabilities, your follow-up, your return policy, your value-added services, etc. All of these are part of your "offering."

The product may be identical, but everything else about your offering may be different. For example, let's say you are contemplating purchasing a new Taurus. You have identical price quotes from two dealers. The product is the same, and the price is the same. However, one dealer is close by, the other across town. One dealer has a reputation for great customer service; the other has no such reputation. The sales person for the first dealer is the brother of an old high school friend, while the sales person for the second dealer is a bit cocky and pushy. The first dealer has a clean, comfortable establishment, while the second one is cramped, cluttered and dirty.

From whom do you buy your Taurus? Of course you buy it from the first dealer. Not because of any differences in the product or the price, but because of differences in the offering. Got the idea? There is a whole lot more to a decision to buy than just the product or the price.

Your first job is to identify those differences. Here are some very specific steps you can take today.

1. Think about everything that is associated with the product when a customer purchases it. Create several categories, and label columns on a piece of paper with the names of those categories. For example, the first column could be headed with the word "company," the second with the word "sales person," the third with "terms." Continue in this way, identifying every aspect of the offering and placing each of those components at the top of a column.

2. Now, consider each column one at a time, and list all the ways that your offering differs from your competitor's in that column. For example, your company may be locally owned as opposed to your competitor's branch of a national company. Or you may be physically closer to the customer, or larger, smaller, newer, older, etc. After you've exhausted one column, move on to the others, filling in the details as you go.

3. This exercise will typically reveal dozens (and in some cases hundreds) of specific, detailed differences. Far too many than you can easily communicate to the customer. So, your next step is to pick out those differences that are most important to your customer. Keep in mind that often what you see as important may not be viewed that way by your customers.

At one point in my career, I worked for a company that celebrated its 100th year anniversary. That was unusual. No other competitors had been in business nearly that long. The company decided to make a big deal about it. A history of the company was written, brochures printed, even murals depicting significant moments in the company's history were painted on the walls of the corporate office. We all thought it was important.

Our customers, however, didn't care. After respectfully listening to our boasting, their response was some form of "So what?" In other words, our 100 years didn't mean anything to them. In no way did it make their jobs easier, simplify their lives, or make them more important to their companies. What we thought was important turned out to be irrelevant from our customers' perspective.

Don't make the mistake we made. Instead, take the time to critically analyze your list, and eliminate those items that are not important to your customer, that don't impact their jobs or make a difference to them. You should be left with a handful of items.

4. One more step to the preparation. Translate each of those items into statements of benefit to the customer. For example, your company may be local, while your competitor ships from 50 miles away. So what? What does that mean to your customer? You could translate that item of difference into a benefit by saying something like this: "As opposed to some other suppliers, we're just 15 minutes from your plant. This means that you can get quick delivery of emergency shipments, as well as rapid response to any problem that might develop. So, you'll have potentially less downtime in the plant, and of course, less stress and pressure on you."

Now that you've professionally prepared, you are ready to communicate those differences to your customer. You need to point them out in an organized and persuasive presentation.

Prepare a sell sheet with each of the differences noted as a bullet. Next to each bullet, have a few comments that capsulize the benefit statements you prepared. Then, meet with your customer, lay the sheet down in front of him/her, and talk down through it, explaining each point as you go.

Treat it like you would any other well-done presentation. Be sensitive to your customer's reaction, and ask for feedback as you work down through the list. Say, "How does that sound?" or "Does that make sense to you?" and emphasize those things that seem to be more important to your customer. Then, leave that sheet with your customer.

I'm always amazed at the number of sales people who are confounded over the customer's perception that their product is just like the other guys, when those sales people have done nothing to show the customer how it is different.

As always, if you have done a good job of analyzing, preparing, and communicating, your customer's perception should be altered, and you gain the business.

If you haven't done well at this, then your customer will continue to see no difference between buying it from you and buying from the next guy. And, if you haven't shown him/her sufficient reason to buy it from you, then he shouldn't.

From the customer's point of view, if your offering is just like the competitor's, then the customer is absolutely correct in buying from the cheaper source. However, if there is any difference between your offering and your competitors', then the responsibility is totally yours to show the customer that difference. Follow the process described here, and you'll have far fewer customers treating you like a commodity.

You can reach David at www.davikahle.com

11 Reasons You May Want to Raise Prices in 2012:

From my good friend Joe Ellers, March 5, 2012

Hi!  So, I've been getting some questions in from your fellow sales pros out in the field, about my recent emails concerning raising prices in a "down economy"

Here's some helpful ideas incase you're struggling with this: 

If You're on the fence about raising prices or don't think you need to, Consider these:

10 Reasons You May Want to Raise Prices:

1. You need a nice way to Fire lower tier or problem-customers you would rather not even sell to.

2. You're 'busting at the seems' but don't want to expand your company.

3. Your raw material prices are going up and you need to pass along the increase.

4. You're already selling at lower prices than your competitors are when you know that 'price' is not the deciding factor for your customer base.

5. Everyone else is raising prices so you want to jump on the bandwagon.

6. You know your customers will pay 'anything'and you want the opportunity to cash-in by raising prices a bit.

7. You want to add more value to your customers but need to bump up your prices a little to cover the costs.

8. You want to raise prices on NEW customers so you attract a more desirable type of customer base.

9. You want higher quantity orders, so you're raising prices on smaller orders to encourage orders of larger quantities.

10. You're an opportunist and just want more money! 

11. You've just now figured out that the reason your company is going under is because you're not charging enough, so you need to raise prices just to stay in business.

Ok, Having said all this, raising prices is NOT for everyone. Some companies simply can't justify raising prices.

Hope this helps...

Visit Joe at www.JoeEllers.com 

Don't Dismiss Your Gen X Talent

Sylvia Ann Hewlett Feb. 16, 2012 www.blogs.hbr.org

Is the tide finally turning?

The Labor Department recently reported that the number of Americans quitting their jobs has begun to rise. Although the number is still quite low, it is a tentative sign that labor market mobility, which had petrified during the recession, has started to recover. Employers trusting a stagnant economy to keep top talent from leaving would do well to pay attention.
One particular demographic poised to jump is Generation X. At just 46 million in the U.S., Gen X is small compared to the 78 million Boomers and 70 million Millennials, but they wield a disproportionate amount of influence. Born between 1965 and 1978, they are the bench strength for leadership, the skill bearers and knowledge experts corporations will rely on to gain competitive advantage in the coming decades. Approaching or already in their prime of their careers, they are ready and willing to lead.
Yet their career progress has been threatened by leapfrogging Millennials and blocked by Boomers, who are postponing retirement to bulk up recession-ravaged 401(k)s. They had been promised the keys to the kingdom but are now in danger of turning into the Prince Charles of the American workforce: perpetual heirs apparent.
Unlike Prince Charles, though, Gen X'ers don't plan to stick around and hope for the crown. A recent survey from the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) shows that 37% have "one foot out the door" and are looking to leave their current employers within the next three years.
With promotions only a scant possibility, what can employers do to keep their talent engaged and on board? Here are five options:

• Develop corporate chameleons. "Once I've learned my job, I like to move on," says one X'er interviewed for the CTI report. "I need something new to keep things fresh." To prevent X'ers from feeling stalled and browning out, companies are rotating promising employees through different functions on a regular schedule. A Sibson Consulting survey (PDF) shows that more than half of Fortune 500 companies say they've begun shuffling potential leaders around to give them broad experience.
• Let them learn. "I really like my company. It's a great fit," says another X'er. "But having said that, if it's the right thing, I'd jump. I won't stop learning or growing just to have a job." That's why even in the middle of a recession, smart companies are maintaining their tuition-reimbursement programs, as well as instituting mentoring and sponsorship programs that pair Boomer managers with Gen X'ers.
• Bring them out of the shadows. Mentoring and sponsorship programs serve another purpose: They match mid-level managers with senior-level executives who can provide opportunities to enrich their career experience. Placing Xers in charge of high-visibility projects is also a way to spotlight their abilities.
• Test their wings. Many X'ers would agree with one of their cohort who declares, "I have an entrepreneurial spirit that won't shut up." With many having been brought up as latchkey kids, Gen X is highly self-reliant; today, 70% of X'ers surveyed by CTI prefer to work independently, and 34% aspire to be an entrepreneur. Why not let them test their wings with a company-sponsored venture than risk having them fly the coop?
• Promote partnerships. It's easy for X'ers to demonize Boomer managers as intransigent dinosaurs and Gen Y subordinates as self-aggrandizing upstarts. Break down the barriers through intergenerational partnerships and teams. Each cohort has its own strengths and gifts; sharing them will enhance everyone's abilities.

Although Gen X has been overshadowed by the demographic behemoths bracketing them, no company can afford to ignore them. Until recently, economic constraints have kept them in their current jobs. But as the recession loosens its grip, well-qualified X'ers will soon have many suitors vying for their abilities and ambitions. Smart organizations will seek to understand what motivates them in order to sustain, retain, realize, and maximize their potential.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is president of the Center for Talent Innovation and Sylvia Ann Hewlett Associates. She is the author of 11 books, including Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets. Follow her on Twitter at @sahewlett.