Bridges "Connecting Generations in the Workplace"

 

 

 

 

 

I watched two buck white tail deer this morning beyond the pond in front of our house, playfully challenging each other with heads down and locking racks. The older one with more “points” seemed more serious, attempting to keep the contest going. The younger with small racks, was accommodating but not very interested in “face to face” engagement and kept walking off, distracted.

It came down to the edge of the pond to drink, something I’ve never observed in the 11 years living here. It’s a vulnerable position I think, head down, drinking. This young buck seemed willing to risk it. At the same time, the older buck stands back away from the pond, ears forward, looking for possible threats in the yard, like my dog Charlie a Golden Retriever.

Like the deer, we all need to eat and sleep, have community, and be safe from harm. Beyond our basic human needs, young and old behave differently, in some of the same ways I saw it in the pair of deer this morning.

Differences are especially evident in the four generation workplace today where tension builds over things we think our bosses and coworkers can and should change.

It would be great if everyone realized that differences in the workplace are not only in age but also in our individual world view. Our personal world views can last a lifetime and be very difficult to change.

Formative events in younger years like fast-changing technology, volatile economies, and how our parents believe they do what is best for us give groups of people different values, attitudes and beliefs. We become generations, set apart from others not by how we choose to be but, by how we are shaped by broad social change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his book “The Speed of Trust”, Stephen M.R. Covey argues that nothing is faster than the speed of trust, trust issues affect everyone, trust means confidence and its opposite is suspicion, and our country is having a crisis of trust.

Trust within companies has sharply declined. Covey reports that …

• Only 51% of employees have trust and confidence in senior management

• Only 36% of employees believe their leaders act with honesty and integrity

• The number one reason people leave their jobs is a bad relationship with their boss

Wouldn’t you like to be trusted more? Is it too late? “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.” – Chinese Proverb

Trust is cultivated with good care for employees. But, that’s not all. Covey says that people trust other people that make things happen. Employees need to see both character and competency in leaders in order to trust them.

Here are four events that happen in organizations where trust is valued.

1. Business owners and managers are competent. They “live the company values” and they “deliver results”, Jack Welch, former CEO of GE.  They “do the right thing” and they “get the right thing done”. They have “extreme personal humility” and “intense professional will”, Jim Collins, “Good to Great”.

2. Employees are told how much you appreciate their efforts. People who are working very hard need to feel confident that their efforts are making a difference.  Think about it – would this inspire you to give even more?  This doesn’t happen in low trust environments because competition and fear prevent it.

3. Issues are addressed early and before they arise. The news isn’t always good these days. With your experience, you can probably anticipate the concerns and objections of your employees. Clinical tests show that people would rather be subjected now to levels of pain they know than levels of pain that could be worse later on.  Strong self-trust allows you to be confident in the information you share and in deciding when to share it.

4. Trust is a core value. The problem of trust is not “out there” in another department or level of the company, it’s in the whole company and making it a priority begins with leaders themselves who are at the top of the organization.

Use these events to grow trust or as points of assessment for where you would like trust to be in yourself and in workplace relationships.

When trust is strong within your organization, generational difference is less of an obstacle for being creative and productive.

You can learn how to have high levels of trust with Gen Y new-hires by instantly downloading the Guide, “How to Mentor For Highly Productive Gen Y Employees”, regularly $7 but available to you today for only $3.

Tip #4 Use Core Values to Create Meaning and Deep Human Connection.

One basic human need is to find meaning and purpose. Another is to find deep human connection.

Employees will be more positive if it’s possible to have these met in some small way at work.

I recently interviewed a young man working for some time at an assisted living facility. He told me that he loved his job. When I asked why, he shared that many residents were like “the grandmother he didn’t have” and that they thanked him many times all day long. This young man knows for certain why he works there. He is making human connections that are an important part of his daily job.

Tony Hshei tells his story of Zappos, in “Delivering Happiness” and how he connects meaning and human connection within a monotonous, mail-order service by centering on the core value of customer service. Everything within daily operations and human connections centers on that purpose and employees know how their actions fortify and extend company core values.

 

Here’s what you can do to get something like this started in your workplace.

1. Establish company core values. If they are in place in your company, you can still come up with some that are more specific for your team.

2. Live and share your company core values and deep, human connections. What “goose-bumps”-generating stories from your work can you share?  They will sneak by you if you don’t take time to notice them happening. Bring to mind one meaningful story at the end of every workday.

3. Provide a safe place and time where employees are invited to share how it feels for them to help their customers. You may have to schedule time individually to hear how they are helping people.

4. Evaluate and refresh core values often and involve employees in the process as much as possible.

 

Bottom line, employees can be happier and more positive in difficult times when they experience human connections that fortify and extend company core values.

P.S. When you consciously select and share core values, confusion of purpose is dispelled and employees increase their power to effect results.

 

The next Tip will focus on the basic human need for joy and delight. Or, how to love what you do even though you’re not doing what you love.

Sound like a stretch for your workplace?

 

I hope that you did some “digging” last week and relived some great stories of when you helped people in a meaningful way.

This week we take a look at having fun at work – good thing or bad thing?

Tip #5. Have fun in work.

One of the greatest needs and challenges of businesses today is hiring and keeping good employees. Even though many people are grateful for work, they also are likely working 1.5 jobs and hopefully not headed for burn-out.

Knowledge of what every human being desires and attention to how it helps or hinders employees can do a lot to keep morale up, particularly in difficult times. That’s when employees long for it most. Isn’t that when you start looking for ways to feel good about yourself in some small way? It’s been said that our bodies equate “feeling good” with being good, and everyone wants to be good.

Joy and delight is another basic human need that all people look and long for. When I hear those words, my mind goes to my grandchildren, laughter with friends or family (my brothers always make me laugh) or, dancing up- a-storm. I also find it in my daily meditation, singing, and playing tennis. Play lets creative juices flow and validates the contribution of each unique individual.

Is it possible to get even a small exclamation of joy and delight into the daily activities of your employees?

You have to see the value in it and want it for your people. Old Mental Models like I described in my story in Tip #2 of how fun was delayed until work was done get in the way of communicating that impromptu fun is a good thing. As kids, we could have had a good time and got the work done, too but, it didn’t seem to be acceptable.

Generation Y is strongly in favor of “fun as you go” throughout the workday. They are often criticized for being indifferent or uncommitted to the company because family and fun are higher up on their list of priorities.

 

One company in particular shows us how it is possible to get the benefits of this basic human need into the workplace and create a place of work where people love what they do, even if they aren’t doing what they love.

The world famous Pike Place Fish Market is where customers go to have fun – and oh yeah, buy fish.  Click on this link to watch two short, inspiring videos. It’s an extreme example of fun-at-work but, you can’t miss the philosophy behind it. Hopefully it will get you thinking of simple, low cost ways to have more fun at work.

Once you see the advantage, put together a “Fun-at-Work” team and be sure to include the youngest generation.

 

You can click on this link to learn more about turning frustration with Generation Y into positive things where you work. http://generationaldividecoaching.com/?p=295

 

Tip #3. Calm your Mind Chatter

Have you noticed that your thinking goes-on non-stop when you are awake? Mind Chatter, like a useless Mental Model, does not serve you well.

Thinking is not always the route to finding the answers you are looking for. There are times when it’s necessary and times when it gets in the way of sustained enthusiasm.

The space between thoughts, deep rest, and time with nature let creativity and your best self come through. Giving your mind a break from thought during demanding days at work can be like a refreshing drink.

 

Here’s something I use that might help you shut down constant Mind Chatter.

Walk in silence. Bring walking shoes to work, put them on, let someone know you will be gone for 20 minutes and go out the door. Go alone and in silence, walk without thinking.

Set aside this time for you, not for exercise or for visiting with a friend. As you walk, notice everything around you. Listen to birds and traffic. Be aware of your feet on the terra firma, the stride in your legs and the sun on your face.

Most importantly, don’t think.

Notice how your mind wants to chatter. When it starts up, you can say “stop” or, “I am thinking”, then quickly, get back to only observing what you see and feel.

When you walk back into the office, your mind will be ready to go to work on the next task.

 

P.S. Defending your ego generates worrisome, fearful thoughts and is a big energy-waster, too.

 

These first three Tips have been for you personally, so that you can be the enthusiastic leader you want to be for your employees.

The next 4 Tips will be more about what you can introduce into your workplace that will help keep employee morale up and positive.

 

It’s easy to get mentally trapped in what is not going well at work these days. Workplace change can create workplace frustration.

In last week’s Tip #1, I shared that you as leader must have enthusiasm in the workplace if you expect your employees to be enthusiastic for their work. Today’s Tip shows how to do that based on a tried-and-true universal truth.

Tip #2. Become Aware of Your Mental Models

Mental Models are individual notions of how things are done or ought to be done in the world. We use them to guide our “shoulds’ and make us feel better about ourselves.
The problem is that we don’t know we have mental models and how they block enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm comes from within. You can’t find it outside of you. Mental Models that are deeply set in place in our childhood years often lose their value as time goes on.

As a child, my father would have his seven children work in the yard a full day in order to enjoy the beachside for a few hours. It was a theme in our childhood lives. So, in adulthood, I tasked myself excessively for every bit of rest and reward and worse, judged others not willing to do the same. When I examined my own lack of enthusiasm for work, I realized this thought process was not helping me.

Here is what to do about intrusive Mental Models:

Notice what Mental Models are driving your thinking at work. Take ten minutes, pen in hand, and write the first things that come to mind about work. See where these thoughts take you by asking “why” after each thought and again after each following thought until you reach a revelation about what drives you.

You can rewrite your Mental Models by applying a “what if”. For example, what if you work best by giving yourself a reward at the end of every work week when times are tough or even, at the end of every day. How would that change you at work?

Change your Mental Models and you will change your world.

When you change your world, you will change your employees’ world as well.

Find out how ready your workplace is for the future of business by taking the 10-question Business self-Assessment at the top of the page.

 

The current economic slow-down along with regulation and healthcare requirements has forced an overload of change on businesses today, much of it beyond our control.

 

Change this big generates loss of self, power, influence over circumstances and self-perception of value in people.  Can you feel it?

At some point it is necessary to come-to-grips with what you need to learn about the change and look for a fresh perspective with new ways of doing things.

 

Here is a tip along with the next two, that are for you, so that you can lead your team of employees in these challenging times in the workplace.

 

Tip #1 Have enthusiasm and don’t hesitate to share it.

“enthusiasm” – eagerness, fervor, gusto, zeal, passion.

 

When you can be enthusiastic on difficult days, your presence alone will inspire your employees and coworkers in their work.

It’s one of the most effective things you can do to support them right now.

 

I will be using a few thoughts of Srikumar Rao, ideas for enthusiasm that I think will counteract the “stuck” feelings we all experience in changing work environments.

His words reflect those of ancient masters but, with special application for the workplace.

 

Join me for 4 more tips that will help your employees stay positive in difficult times.

 

Tim Tebow has again shocked football fans across the globe. In many ways he is like every other 20something-Gen Y employee and sports enthusiasts are calling it “unbelievable”.

Tebow is 7-1 as a starting quarterback for the Broncos after a 1-4 start since taking over for Kyle Orton. The young, new-to-pro-football quarterback “is doing what decades of conventional NFL wisdom said couldn’t be done”, wrote Jim Litke in The Daily Sentinel. He is playing less like a traditional quarterback and more like “an irresistible force of nature”.

Tebow is surprising football fans and experts the same way Generation Y, young people age 18 to 32, flabbergasts the everyday workplace. They bring to work some out-of-the-ordinary aspects that many bosses believe point to failure. But, stay tuned. Business owners and managers can observe Tim Tebow on the job and see how those perplexing characteristics might in fact, benefit your workplace performance.

Here are 3 Generation Y traits that have gotten success for Tebow on the football field.

photo courtesy of Sportsgrid.com

Trait #1. Tebow is unorthodox on the job. Although his unconventional way of playing quarterback has drawn doubt from experts, he is putting his own touch on the NFL – just as Generation Y is doing in the workplace. They want to work away from the office, take time off to do things important to them, and use personal technology like tentacles to search-out “what’s up”. You know, the things that just don’t fit into your workplace blueprint.

Trait #2. Tebow is a team player. Last week he led his team to beat Pittsburgh 29-23. It was amazing and unexpected. Afterwards he said, “I am just thankful for the platform that God has given me, and the opportunity to be quarterback for the Denver Broncos – what a great organization”. Studies show that Generation Y likes to work in teams. With less ego and competition, they easily call on friends for help.

Trait #3. Tebow gets the job done. He has had five fourth-quarter comebacks and four overtime victories this season, late in the game when losing seemed certain. Generation Y professionals have told me that managers needn’t worry about seeing them at their desk and hard at work from 9 to 5, they “will get the job done”. It may take considerable interaction, coaching, and patience for Generation Y to show-up-and-deliver but when they do, it could be big time.

And, Tebow is having fun on the job – Here is what Tim said after last week’s surprising win against the Steelers; “The game doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’ll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it’s to invest in people’s lives, to make a difference.”

Bottom line, Tim Tebow is doing more than winning football games. He is showing the world how fantastic GenY will be in your changing workplace.

Take the Business Self-Assessment in the tab above to learn if your business is ready for Generation Y.

continued

“There is perhaps an increase in people’s frustration and inability to cope with rapid changes taking place in the world today in all dimensions, from social norms to business practices”. Srikumar Rao

 

Generational differences in the workplace is one of the biggest changes in business today and part of what is increasing costs of employee turnover. Technology is pushing change and making it possible to do many things faster and cheaper with better results. And yet, many organizations hesitate to dive in. Do you know what questions to ask for managing your changing workplace into sustainable success?

Mystery #4: Can your organizational leaders be enthusiastic, inspiring and supportive of employees?

You would probably love for your employees to describe your workplace this way but may not know how to make it happen.

Some of the people best at preparation for change management  are Bill George, Stephen M.R. Covey, Tony Hsieh, Srikumar Rao, and Simon Sinek. All make it clear that company leadership must dig-down to what they give that helps people, customers and employees and why they claim it as theirs to give.  These experienced leaders have clues to the mysteries of being successful today in the changing world of business.

I am working on this myself and tell you what, it is one of the most rewarding exercises I’ve ever done.  I did’nt know that starting a business would lead me to greater personal gratification the way it has. It is bringing happiness and reward to my daily routine and to the hard work of growing a business.

Once you discover this for yourself, sharing it with your employees will inspire them and generate enthusiasm for work.

And, if you discover the answer to this mystery, you will  find clarity and confidence for managing a changing workplace.

If you want to learn more about managing Generation Y in your workplace, get instant download of my free 5 page white paper, “Workplace Frustration: How to Reduce It and Manage Generation Y For An Increase in Company Profits”. Enter your email in the slide up below and you will receive more resources from Tinker that will help you save money and get you back in control of your workplace.

(continued)

Mystery #3: Can employees be trusted or is the temptation to cheat and steal stronger?

Members of all generations want to be trusted at work and want their leaders to believe they will perform their jobs as productively and efficiently as possible. We don’t think so much today about time wasted on the job as stealing because most employees don’t punch a time clock. Perhaps some owners and managers still think this way.

My brother believes that we are so human that left to self-starting and internal motivation, we all do less and want more, or at least the same, for it. If you give an inch, they’ll take a mile.

But, this mystery-question was intended to address a lack of trust of employees for personal use of technology and internet. A story I hear that repeats itself again and again is the young employee who will not limit cell phone use and gets fired after several warnings. Too bad, another underemployed Generation Y trying to find a job that suites personal needs, an obvious priority. This young person needs knowledge of the Boomer work environment and how to get the most out of  job for their careers.

On the other hand, managers and supervisors can do a whole lot more communicating and guiding new employees on the issue that will benefit the company in the long term. It starts with all-employee training about generational differences and understanding Generation Y’s unique characteristics and expectations, then, using that information to set clear expectations and follow through on them when attracting, interviewing and hiring.  And, every company today must look at how the internet and communications technology can improve its bottom  line. If they don’t they will be left behind. Hiring Generation Y can help with that.

I have to say that “spending as much time to complete a task as I am allowed”  is sometimes true for me. I have learned to set and sometimes I even meet, my deadlines.

However, when I am “pumped” about writing a new program or presentation and “lose myself” in the vision of helping people by giving them new information, I lose track of time, space and obstacles and it is a beautiful thing.  Generation Y is asking for this experience in their work.  It is the entrepreneurial inspiration they are so suited for.

The big problem is that many jobs don’t provide the opportunity like this, to run with a new creation. And, much of work is mundane and lacks excitement.

Which leads nicely to Mystery #4: Can your organizational leaders be enthusiastic, inspiring and supportive of employees?

Stay tuned.