Employee Validation

Employee Validation

Listen. Discover. Reflect

Last updated April 4, 2024 by Jonathan Mills

Validation is integral to fostering healthy relationships between employer and employees. People need it to affirm their personal worth, to motivate positivity, to manage feelings of isolation, and most importantly to create psychological safety. When an employee receives validation, they are more productive, cooperative, trustworthy, and loyal. In contrast, when they feel misunderstood it contributes to workplace aggression, a dynamic of conflict, poor performance, absenteeism, bullying, and unethical behavior.

Mastering something like validation takes time and commitment, but it also has a simple beginning. The “LDR Method”, inspired by Fisher and Shapiro’s Beyond Reason, is a cheat for remembering the fundamentals of active validation. It is the practice of receiving, understanding, and appreciating someone else’s viewpoint.

The LDR Method: Listen Actively, Discover Merit, then Reflect Validation.

Listen Actively

As the other person speaks, mentally restate or rephrase what they say. The act of thinking it back to yourself keeps you engaged and improves your understanding and retention. Also take note of the other person’s body language and inflection.

Discover Merit

Look for merit in their perspective, starting with the assumption that their feelings come from a valid place. Validating an alternative point-of-view helps you to think and feel rationally and helps enable a positive response.

Reflect Validation

Tell the other person about the merit you see in their point-of-view. They will feel safe, valued, and collaborative if they know that you appreciate their perspective and voice.

Strategic Approach

The LDR method is a good start, but creating a culture of validation would be even more powerful. Consider adopting these two strategic objectives to posture your organization for greater collaboration, reduced conflict, and effective alignment.

Objective 1: Adopt an appreciation for diverse perspectives.

Encourage managers and employees to listen to one others’ experiences. Ask them to identify the value in those experiences and the unique contributions that they bring.

Develop Personas (diagrammed audiences): Survey personal experiences from multiple divisions and levels of the organization and write a few high-level personas. These personas should describe the breadth of employee experiences and backgrounds anonimously. Use them to educate your teams and executives about the makeup of your firm.
Role Reversal: Setup team discussion groups and give them the challenge question, “What life-choices would you have made if you had someone else’s backstory?” Use some prepared examples or personas to get things going.

Objective 2: Create shared employee experiences.

Create opportunities for shared experience, promoting a shared, healthy, productive cultural dynamic.

Storytelling: Document or invent company language, stories, and idioms that have a common meaning. It will help employees use a shared language and help capture past experiences.
Quarterly Events: Schedule cross-division, multi-level experiences at least once a quarter. Create a calendar of events well in advance and remind employees of past and future events. Maintain a backlog of options based on cost, location, and participants so you are prepared to keep the ball rolling.

Fostering great culture is a journey and you and your team are fully capable of steering your organization toward a happy, healthy future. Corporate Culture Specialist offers insights and resources to help you get there. Get to know us by scheduling a call or sending an email.

January 14, 2019September 25, 2019

“Konmari: The Art of Tidying Up” Workspace Edition

“Konmari: The Art of Tidying Up” Workspace Edition

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Laura Mills

While most people are applying Marie Kondo’s method of Konmari to their homes, it is just as important to tidy up one’s workspace. Whether it’s a corner office, cubicle, or kitchen table, your workspace can see the benefit of Komari.

Konmari emphasizes “Joy” as the catalyst for decluttering. Although you may not necessarily find joy in keeping tax documents or office supplies, instead focus on what will bring the most peace and benefit for your worklife, therefore sparking joy in your overall satisfaction.

Marie Kondo and Emily Schuman, of Cupcakes and Cashmere

Paper

Your paper needs vary greatly depending on your occupation. Generally speaking, many documents and papers can be digitized and added to a cloud for easier access from multiple devices. The first step is to review the paper items around your desk and in your drawers. Next, categorize them into groups that make sense to your needs. For example, your desk drawer may have a pile of business cards, receipts, brochures, menus, conference agendas, etc. Now distinguish those items into three categories: Keep, Digitize, Discard. Items like business cards and receipts can be scanned and uploaded to your local network or to a cloud so you can access them from multiple devices. Items like menus and conference agendas are likely not worth storing long-term. Remaining items should have a specific destination like an accordion file folder or filing cabinet so they do not remain on your desk or loose in a drawer.

Sentimental

This category is the most difficult for me because I love photos and figurines that remind me of people or events in my life. Although it looks cluttered from those walking by, working in a colorful environment brings me joy. Through this process I have learned to strike a balance between colorful joy and clutter. Rather than having 12 figurines in a line by my monitor, I now have 3 of my most important and sentimental objects placed strategically throughout the room. Rather than a wall full of photos and thank you cards, I have placed most of them in a nice box and a few framed photos and a piece of art on my window sill. My desk looks more organized and I feel more at peace.

What ways have you been tidying up your world this year? Leave a comment with your tips and transformations!

October 28, 2018September 25, 2019

Competing in an Employee’s Market

Competing in an Employee’s Market

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Jonathan Mills

This is an Employee’s Market

As of September ‘18 the national unemployment rate is less than 4% (the lowest in almost twenty years). Job candidates are more likely than ever to have their pick of opportunities, which means that employers have less power over the negotiation process and it is harder than ever to recruit and retain employees. Newer generations are also less likely to accept traditional employment requirements or even stay with an employer for more than three years: the average employee moves after about 4½ years, and employees between 25 and 34 years old move after less than 3). This is an Employee’s Market, but you don’t need to be a Google or Zappos to compete. Instead, consider Michael Burry. He defied norms and chose to contradict conventional wisdom – something we need to be willing to do if we want to compete.

Between 2007 and 2010, the US economy was hit by a destructive financial crisis – something very few people were able to anticipate. One person in particular, a doctor turned money manager named Michael Burry, understood the market in a way that other investors and analysts couldn’t. He saw that our housing market was a bubble, a stark contradiction to the financial industry’s position, and chose to bet AGAINST the market. Burry’s keen eye paid off, and when the market crashed, he earned himself $100 million and his clients $700 million.

BLS Data on Unemployment | BLS Data on Tenure | Summary of the 2008 Financial Crisis | Bio on Michael Burry

What Burry shows us is that norms and conventional wisdom can be dead wrong, and if we pay attention then we can catch it. But what “norms and conventional wisdom” are pertinent to recruitment and retention; and how will course correcting pay off? Consider three misconceptions that we often take at face-value.

Misconception #1 Recruitment is our first impression.

Conventional wisdom describes first impressions as something unavoidable and irreplaceable. On those notes society is absolutely correct, which has helped recruiting teams prioritize first contact and HR organize the onboarding process. However, we have misunderstood when and how first impressions occur.

The employee market is more driven by open access to information than ever before. Networks like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Glassdoor are repositories for opinions about your company; and they facilitate conversations between candidates and current/past employees. By the time your recruitment team contacts these candidates, they have already researched your employment brand. In effect, your employees supersede the recruitment team.

“Employment Brand” is a way of describing how attractive you are as an employer. It also describes what type of employees you attract.

It would be tempting to artificially improve employee reviews or create policies to control social output; but candidates can sniff that out and you could do long-term damage to your employment brand. The key to managing first impressions is to take strategic action to influence the employee experience, because current employees generate the employment brand. Start thinking in terms of corporate culture and make work-life a priority. Happy employees say great things about their company.

Misconception #2 Employees are ok with compromise.

Conventional wisdom champions the idea that employees understand when compromises need to be made. If they are asked to work late hours or push an incomplete product to approval then they understand that it is necessary – they’re ok with it. On the surface employees will agree with this assumption, but it isn’t an exchange that aligns with reality. The truth behind these compromises is that employees are subject to a strong desire for processes to be quality. Regardless of the outcome (promotion, profit, or accolades), compromise leads to a negative outlook and low morale.

Employees are subject to categorically irrational needs, one of which is called procedural justice. They tend to give a disproportionate weight to the process regardless of the outcome. Their experience affects whether an outcome like pay, promotion, power, or recognition leads to greater performance and loyalty. In fact, even a drop in salary, if part of a quality and sincere process, can generate trust and loyalty. Creating a culture of quality processes can be so powerful that an employee would choose to stay rather than leave for a higher paying competitor.

Consider a survey that researchers conducted with hundreds of convicted felons in Baltimore, Detroit, and Phoenix. What they discovered was that despite the sentence issued (a fine, probation, or prison time), what affected their outlook on the process the most was how much time their lawyer spent with them. In other words, did they feel like the process was fair and that their voice was heard? Was it quality? Those who experienced a high quality process believed the outcome to be more fair (Procedural Justice in Felony Cases, Law and Society Review)

Misconception #3 Money is the best way to motivate.

The shortlist for creating loyalty includes a lot of externally motivating programs (e.g. pay-for-performance, spot bonuses, and public accolades). These methods tend to create a temporary motivation, but are ineffective for creating high levels of performance. In fact, pay and benefits only need to supply a healthy lifestyle. Anything beyond that basic need has a diminishing return. The key to reaching higher levels of performance is to foster intrinsic motivation. It is the type of motivation that drives self-efficacy, innovation, and sincerity. But how? By creating a genuine shift in culture toward three ideals: purpose, autonomy, and mastery.

Purpose: Draw a line from the employee’s task/role to a substantive purpose.
- Example) “I may be hamming data into a spreadsheet, but this info is going to help us serve the community.”
Autonomy: Allow employees to govern themselves as much as possible. Minimize management.
- Example) “My manager just asked how they could support me. I expected to be ‘monitored’, but I can tell they trust me now.”
Mastery: Create or facilitate opportunities for employees to learn and practice.
- Example) “HR just sent me a list of free workshops from around the city. They said I could use core hours to attend a few!”

Summary: Culture Attracts, Retains, and Creates Talent

Correcting for these misconceptions will help your organization thrive, but doing so needs to be part of a larger corporate culture strategy. As part of your strategic portfolio, culture becomes a competitive advantage. It sets you apart in the market as a serious, high-quality employer, boosting your employment brand above your competitors. You will attract, retain, and create top talent at accelerated rates. Let me help you unlock that potential.

Schedule a call!

October 2, 2018March 19, 2020

3 Antifragile Strategies

3 Antifragile Strategies

Last updated on March 19, 2020 by Jonathan Mills

Our corporate norm is to treasure stability. We call it “business as usual”, we fight for it, and most change management efforts aim to reach it as efficiently as possible. Moments of stability, however, are few and far between and it costs a great deal to maintain. Change is everyday. It is the disruption that alters our comfortable norms and it can cause performance to drop, reputation to suffer, or organizations to flounder. That is why change-agility is so critical. The ability to roll with the punches is the difference between a success and failure; but what does that look like at an organizational level?

Wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire. You want to be the fire and wish for the wind.
– Nassim Taleb, Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU

The concept of “antifragile” was first coined by Nassim Taleb as he used it to describe structures that prosper under stress. It is a good way to think about change-agility on a large scale or to define the ideal lag metric. Performance is divided into three distinct groups: fragile, robust, and antifragile. These categories are powerfully telling, given that most organizations fit into the first two, less desirable groups. Very few are members of the third, although obtaining even partial antifragility yields substantial benefits.

Fragile

For the fragile organization, change has the effect of disrupting “business as usual”. These organizations are brittle to change and have no adequate backup plan for failure. As a result, disruptive change drastically impacts workforce issues like retention and performance by elevating uncertainty and workplace aggression. This can cause the entire organization to flounder. These structures tend to be larger and more mature, having lost their ability to pivot and their desire for adventure.

Robust

If the fragile organization is a twig, then the robust organization is a bundle. They are just as inflexible as their fragile counterparts and change can break the strand. Disruption will likely aggravate attrition, reputation, client relationships, and overall productivity; but a diverse portfolio protects against utter failure. Large, multifaceted corporations tend to be robust (Johnson & Johnson, GE, 3M).

Antifragile

The antifragile organization has turned change into a productive force. Rather than be damaged by disruption they learn, adapt, and create momentum. They are flexible, but supported by structures that harness change to yield innovation. Their products and services are quality and their employees are healthier.

We are wandering where the wild wind blows
We are happy here ’cause the wild wind knows what we are
Orphans, kingdoms
Orphans, kingdoms
– “Orphans, Kingdoms” by Brooke Fraser

Startups, as an example, are often antifragile because they tend to have few members and few rules, with charismatic leadership. It is easier for them to pivot when disruption occurs. They should not take this for granted, however. The ease in being antifragile is organic for a startup. Holding onto this ability as they grow requires having a good strategy as they adopt layers of management, hire employees, comply with new laws, and compete against mid-sized firms.

Creating Antifragile Culture

Corporate culture remains a source of disruption for the average organization, affected daily by employee family life, politics, economy, religion, and workplace interactions. Despite this fact, many organizations hold rigid expectations for behavior and assumptions about work-life, a standard that leaves them fragile and vulnerable to change. But what if we could craft an organization that reacted positively to cultural change? Instead of being focused on maintaining consistency, it would thrive on continual learning, mindfulness, and adaptation. It would experience all of the benefits of a stable workforce plus the addition of continual improvement. Retention, reputation, and referrals would all maintain and then improve. Innovation, skills, and mastery would follow suit, as would service performance, product quality, and client relationships.

What follows are four strategies to start the process of creating an antifragile culture. This is only a starting point, but even a little progress toward antifragility will yield great benefits.

1 Adaptive Team Metrics

Goal setting is values-aligned, but decentralized.

Grant teams enough power and resources to define some of their own lead and lag metrics. This is limited in scope to team specific behaviors and results. By giving them more autonomy, teams can harness change more quickly and effectively.

Because of the inherent risk in decentralized control, require that team metrics are aligned with corporate strategy, vision, and values. The line-of-sight will help teams understand how to design metrics that feed the larger purpose and strategy of the organization.

2 Active Listening

Listening is considered more important than control, oversight, or behavior management.

Adopt the belief that shop-floor employees are experts and innovators. Build pathways for leadership to solicit input and guidance from them when making broad-sweeping decisions. Information from employees will flow up continually, both through and bypassing managers.

Filtering or altering this information should be frowned upon because the raw substance of the message is important. Intermediaries should, however, help collate feedback and identify patterns. Focus groups, surveys, “walkabouts”, and scrum groups are all good vehicles.

3 Clear Memory

In many cases, transparency is preferred over confidentiality.

Be as transparent as you can about difficult changes and events. Take a critical look at what you tend to keep confidential and determine if your motivation for doing so is fear. Take an honest measurement of the risk, and if you can share, do. Healthy transparency will make it easier for your employees to trust you during times of change.

Transparency: Typically confidential issues like financial crises, executive staff changes, and client fallout can be shared with employees. It is understandable to be cautious, but remember that employees will fill information gaps with rumors.
Memory: Record successes and failures for the future. Recall these stories frequently to boost morale and discourage negative behaviors, enabling the organization to benefit from a shared memory.

Creating an antifragile culture will help turn disruptive change into a positive, productive experience. This is the future of change management; but it is a long-term effort. Let Corporate Culture Specialist collaborate with you, because we want to see you succeed. Schedule a call, or visit our blog for additional insights.

Recommended Reading: Exit Interview Tips

September 11, 2018September 25, 2019

Workplace Aggression: The Common Thread Between Workplace Issues

Workplace Aggression

The Common Thread Between Workplace Issues

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Jonathan Mills

Workplace issues like turnover, miscommunication, or unethical behavior don’t occur in sequence. These issues overlap one another, often aggravating each other and forcing organizations to employ multiple responses in tandem. Increased attrition and bullying, for example, may occur at the same time but receive alternative treatments.

For attrition, the organization implements a spot bonus program. It also conducts stay interviews to better understand what motivates retention.
For bullying, the organization imposes disciplinary actions and institutes anti-harassment training.

These strategies compete for time, energy, and financing, which leaves the organization overtaxed and the solutions less effective; but dividing the effort may not be necessary. Even diverse problems can be related by a common thread; and if this interconnection was better understood, then solutions could be selected for their broad sweeping impact across multiple workforce issues. As an example, consider “workplace aggression”. It is a thread often tied to a large number of potential causes and symptoms, including attrition and bullying. Instead of focusing on what causes these examples, ask, “what causes our environment to be aggressive?” Workplace aggression is a dynamic that indirectly influences almost every aspect of the organization. At worst, reducing its power improves any number of significant problems. At best, issues can be reduced significantly or nearly eliminated. Let’s take a closer look at workplace aggression. What is it, what are its symptoms, and what are its causes?

What is Workplace Aggression?

“Aggression is the most common behavior used by many organizations…a nearly invisible medium that influences all decisions and actions.”
– Margaret Wheatley

Workplace aggression manifests as a wide range of attitudes, behaviors, and values that are aggressive in nature, combative, negative, and non-collaborative. Overt examples include bullying, teasing, gossip, overt discrimination, and intimidation. Passive examples include tardiness, poor performance, undermining, scapegoating, and missed deadlines. Employees, managers, and executives may not be aware that they are committing aggressive behavior. Workplace aggression is worsened by groupthink and poor communication; and its scope impacts the workplace, clients, and home life.

Causes of workplace aggression include:

Misinformation
Dissonance
Reorganization
Imbalanced work life
Unrealistic expectations
Groupthink
Micromanagement
Distrust
Fear
Legalism

Symptoms of workplace aggression include:

Bullying and teasing
Sub-par work
Gossip
Tardiness and absenteeism
Missed deadlines
Hypercritical management
Intimidation
Attrition and open vacancies
Unethical or illegal activities
Poor reputation and fewer referrals

The scope of these causes and symptoms are broad, which makes tackling workplace aggression seem daunting. However, taking a measured approach to change with a focus on employee feedback and follow-through is effective for reducing aggression and improving related symptoms. Below are two useful tools for guiding you through that process.

Tool #1: The “Five Steps to Reduce Workplace Aggression” tool is a step-by-step guide for executing change based on employee feedback.

Tool #2: The “Workplace Aggression Diagram” is a simple graphic to help visualize workplace aggression as it relates to a number of causes and symptoms. It will help frame the discussion around how broad and diverse workplace aggression is.

If you would like to know more about corporate culture and how to create a vital, inspired workplace, call or email Corporate Culture Specialist.

There is a free Workplace Health Check here. It only takes 5-10 minutes and CCS will send you a free report.

Tools

Five Steps to Reduce Workplace Aggression

Reducing workplace aggression will have a positive impact on any number of issues that it effects, but how do you make that change? The answer is a matter of focusing your attention on strategic actions that incorporate employee feedback and critical follow-through.

Step 1: Interview employees who are known for being sincere. Ask them for blunt feedback about workplace aggression symptoms and causes. You can use the above lists as a reference, or add other issues seen at your organization.

Step 2: Test Step 1 feedback against additional focus groups and surveys. Include employees from each level of the organization, but be careful to minimize the fear of retribution. The goal for this step is also to generate a draft list of acceptable action items. Solicit your focus groups for this list.

Step 3: Workshop the draft action items list with the executive team. Determine which actions are “SMART” and select a few for implementation. Determine who, what, when, and how. Put follow-up dates on the calendar and determine how your implementers will report on their progress.

Step 4: Implement your chosen action items and report the results to employees.

Step 5: FOLLOW-UP and FOLLOW-THROUGH. If you fail to follow-through on your action items or fail to report the results to employees, then your leadership will very quickly lose trust. These activities are going to reshape employee perspectives for better or worse. Remember, also, that this process begins with the first interview. You are committed as soon as you start Step 1.

Tips

Use your most qualified interviewers. They should be comfortable conducting focus groups, talented or skilled with people, and have a good relationship with their participant groups.
Action items need to be “SMART”: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The idea is to design actions that can be realistically achieved, where completion is proven by the implementers.
Design your actions in behavioral terms. For example, “The VP of Employee Development (or a proxy) will conduct five management trainings within the next eight months. She will provide training materials and a calendar of events by November 1st. She will report on each training after its completion. The attendance list will serve as proof of completion for each training.”

Workplace Aggression Diagram

August 3, 2018September 25, 2019

Exit Interview Tips

Exit Interview Tips

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Jonathan Mills

The exit interview process is easy to forego. It costs time, creates stress, and obligates a response by leadership, so shortchanging this process is appealing; but the exit interview is your final interaction with an employee. It can reveal things about coworkers, supervisors, clients, the work environment, or that hint at wide-reaching problems. It may also lead to the revelation that your employee will stay if an unresolved issue can be addressed. This is also an opportunity to foster a healthy reputation, encourage referrals, and improve relations with future business partners. This former employee is going to be your brand ambassadors for a long time, so don’t lose the opportunity to shape their outlook. It is far too valuable an exercise to ignore.

I used to work at a place where my employer didn’t see the value of exit interviews. That says a lot about an organization. Now in an organization that does see the value, it’s great. Exit interviews are viewed as more than a check-box. The company is able to learn and improve based on this valuable feedback. Further, our terminating employees are still brand ambassadors and the exit interview is our last opportunity to show that we are 100% listening.
– Korrin, HR professional at Appian, a software company with offices worldwide.

Below are guidelines and ideas to help foster positive exit interviews. Use them to frame your strategy around relationships and culture, priorities that better utilize exit interviews, and have long-term benefits for your overall corporate environment.

Why Prioritize the Exit Interview?

Reputation: Former employees shape your employment brand. Wrap the exit interview and the entire offboarding process into your strategy for a good employment reputation.
Referrals: A positive experience for terminating employees can lead to future referrals. It can also implant a positive impression on their future employers, whom you might one day partner with. If they have a negative experience, they are just as likely to discourage others from working with you.
Revelations: Terminating employees are more likely to have candor about concerns, managers, and working conditions. This can reveal patterns from broader problems or identify issues that, if resolved, would allow the employee to stay. There are also stories worth remembering (both victories and failures). Take the time to listen.

Millennials are some of the most avid users of online networks, and they will very quickly spread the word about how much they love or hate your organization. These employees are not monolithic, however. Millennials are actually a diverse group. Click here to learn more about the 6 different types of Millennial.

Relationship Building

The most productive exit interview starts with a positive corporate culture. Paying attention to your relationships with leaders and employees helps foster that culture and prepare terminating employees for a candid, “upward and onward” discussion. It also helps your leaders take advantage of employee feedback to make substantive changes that improve culture and employee confidence. Here are a few ways to improve your relationships.

Relationship with Leadership

Improving relationships through time-management and preparation.

Efficient and effective. When you conduct feedback review meetings, stay focused on the agenda. This seems like a given, but many organizations struggle to maintain focus. Make a plan and set ground rules for how the meeting will be conducted. Assign a capable facilitator to maintain order, interrupt side-bars, and run the meeting. Set an expectation that your facilitator is allowed to interrupt anyone (even the CEO).
Preparation. As an HR team, review the interview feedback in advance of the broader leadership meeting. Identify key trends, issues, and stories, especially where they relate to the organization’s larger strategies, values, and mission.
Share responsibility. Encourage your leadership to empower the HR team and other subordinates to effect change. These additional team members can share the responsibility of reviewing feedback as-well-as make important decisions. Remember that your CEO or President is still the cultural leader, so you will need their full buy-in.

Relationship with Employees

Improving relationships through service and communication.

Bring HR to the employee. Time, travel, and willpower are barriers to employee participation. You can help the average employee use your programs by traveling to where they are. Go on tour with a conflict resolution training, a wellness focus group, or career counseling. The visibility and interpersonal contact will strengthen your relationship with employees and improve your reputation.
Remove barriers. “Open door” thinking is inadequate because the average employee is fearful and unlikely to walk through that door. If you focus on using a more proactive approach to HR management it will help timid employees participate. Remove fear by traveling to them. Make training easy by providing a list of applicable programs. Reduce time costs by ensuring HR activities are part of project level planning.
Two-way communication. Great communication is dual faceted. It requires both useful information and a positive relationship. Try to strengthen the relational aspect of communication, because it helps employees will give you cues as to what information is useful. Follow-up by including what you have learned in future communications.

Exit Interview Guidelines

Below are a few notes on how to prepare for an exit interview. These ideas will help reframe the way you think about this process, in turn preparing you for a more productive interview.

Begin your preparation with the intent that this is meant to be a positive, relationship building experience. The offboarding process is an opportunity to give your employee a positive story to tell about your organization. Once they leave, they will continue to shape your employment brand, so never discount an exiting employee.
The power of authentic sincerity is underestimated. Take some time for self-reflection and decide that your exiting employee is worth the time and effort. Decide that their future can be bright and a relationship with them is worthwhile.
If employees are unwilling to attend an exit interview, there may be a confidence, trust, or grievance problem. This cannot be solved overnight, but take it as a cue to investigate.
It would be tempting to complete the exit interview via phone or email. That makes the least impact on your already busy schedule; but this would also be a missed opportunity. In most cases, face-to-face interaction goes a long way toward creating a positive experience.
In preparation, try to learn something about what your employee is doing next. Remember that you are each a part of the other’s story, so celebrate positive changes and perform the interview with sincere interest.
When selecting your interviewer, look for someone with these three characteristics: talent and skill for interpersonal relationships, comfort with the interview process, and a pre-existing relationship with the employee. If no one with those characteristics is available, consider how to find and position such a person for future exits.

Additional Interview Questions

I recommend including these questions in your exit interview.

During your time here, was your experience aligned with our corporate values and mission? If so, in what ways?
Where did we fall short in aligning your work-life with our mission and values?
What can you tell me about the mission and values of your future employer? Or, what mission and values would you like your future employer to have?
Where do you see your career trajectory taking you in the coming years? What would you like to accomplish?
Now that you are leaving [company name], can we stay in touch? Are there any specific ways that we can support you in the future?

The above guidelines will help you maximize the productivity of your exit interviews. The relationships you build are also a stepping stone toward fostering a healthy corporate culture. If you would like additional insights or assistance, reach out to Corporate Culture Specialist. We are a firm dedicated to helping organizations realize their full potential through inspired corporate culture. You can contact us here, or find additional insights on our blog page.

Recommended Reading: 6 Types of Millennials

July 25, 2018September 25, 2019

Creating a Culture of Communication

Creating a Culture of Communication

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Jonathan Mills

Every organization is susceptible to experiencing the unexpected; because communication, which we often take for granted, can turn temporary hardship into a costly crisis. As an example, consider Average Joe’s Company. They have experienced recent growing pains: acquisition of another firm, graduation from the 8A program, and the loss of several client contracts; but Joe’s has had historically ineffective communication practices. So, when the executive team starts hearing murmurs and some of their best employees quit, it isn’t clear why. Even though HR has undertaken a few efforts to understand these issues (stay interviews, team restructuring, and a leadership development program), the situation is getting worse. The executive team is worried and frustrated because none of their communication efforts have been fruitful, and these temporary problems are quickly becoming a serious crisis.

Crises are impossible to resolve without good communication, but effective communication is never turnkey. Average Joe’s needs to bridge the gap with their employees, but how? Communication is a complex cultural dynamic. It consists of more than just the logistics of disseminating information, including a powerful relational element. This relationship between leadership and their employees determines the quality of communication, affecting truthfulness, accuracy, and helpfulness. If a prior relationship was not established when a crisis arrives, then any knee-jerk efforts to improve communication are likely to fail.

The best time to foster good communication is before the crisis arrives, but if you are already struggling there is still short-term progress to be made. Focus on improving your relationships through policy and practice. Critically evaluate your new and existing activities against the below criteria. If your employees see that sincere changes are being made, it will restore some of their lost trust and confidence. For longer-term benefits, consider your overall communication strategy. If it doesn’t meet the following standards then you need make adjustments.

1 Quality

Foster the connection between messenger and recipient.

Quality communication improves the relational connection between the messenger and recipient. It is substantive, sincere, and interpersonal. Optimally, there is a “one-on-one” interaction between executive leaders and each level of the organization. This is an opportunity to humanize leadership in employee’s eyes by creating mutual understanding.

2 Planned

Establish a consistent and balanced schedule.

Most communication should be scheduled far in advance with a predetermined agenda. It should be frequent enough that employees don’t feel disconnected, but not so frequent that they feel overwhelmed. Planned communication is a framework that employees can rely on. It reduces hearsay and sets clear expectations. It also helps managers measure effectiveness and pivot the communication strategy over time.

3 Reliable

Follow-through or explain, but never ghost your audience.

Reliable communication follows-through consistently; but if a planned activity needs to be altered, postponed, or canceled, there is always an explanation followed by an immediate correction. Reliability builds trust and gives leaders more authority.

4 Transparent

Err on the side of trusting employees.

When you share information, be plain and up-front. You can include the take-aways that you want employees to receive, but don’t “spin” or omit important information. Transparency leads to accuracy, trust, and opportunities for sincere feedback.

These guidelines will help you design communication practices that foster trust and confidence from your employees, leading to more truthful, accurate, and helpful information. Effective communication is also a stepping stone toward having a healthy corporate culture. If you would like additional insights or assistance, reach out to Corporate Culture Specialist. We are a firm dedicated to helping organizations realize their full potential through inspired corporate culture. You can contact us here, or find additional insights on our blog page.

Recommended Reading: 6 Types of Millennials

July 20, 2018September 25, 2019

Comic Con Culture, an Illustration for the Workplace

Comic Con Culture, an Illustration for the Workplace

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Chad Alexander

This week, San Diego Comic Con (or SDCC) is being flooded with cosplayers, booths full of goodies, and anyone lucky enough to see the panels full of celebrities after standing in line for hours. Attendees dress in elegant costumes, and various halls are electric with energy as news sites live stream constantly.

The average workplace, on the other hand, lacks even a modicum of the enthusiasm and excitement of this convention. Sure, it’s work. Work is meant to be difficult. That’s why it’s called “work”. However, it doesn’t need to be a burden.

Let’s take another look at the SDCC. There are so many vendors, so many companies represented, and so many comics! Trailers of the biggest blockbusters are showcased. Marvel and DC. Star Wars and Star Trek. Transformers and Voltron. Yet all of the participants, sponsors, and guests have one thing in common—they are there for the culture.

So why can’t we have that in the workplace? What can we do to ensure that employees are excited to be a part of something bigger than themselves and are actually willing and ready to come to work? Can we make this happen? We can, but we need to ask some difficult questions of our business.

Are the right people on your team?

“Are the right people on our team?” is a simple, yet deep question. Are the right people in your organization? We can determine this in a number of ways, including the GWC method, which is an acronym for: Get it, Want it, and Capacity to do it:

Do they Get it? In other words, does the employee understand what they are doing?
Do they Want it? Passion can provide a huge edge in business. It’s what caused talents like Walt Disney, Elvis, and Led Zeppelin to never give up.
Do they have the Capacity to do it? Are they struggling to meet deadlines because they wear multiple hats? If they are, what can we do to give them the best and only hat for their needs (and ours)? We may also want to consider if family life is negatively impacting work and how it can be combated.

So, why are we focused on the team here? Culture can thrive when the right people are on the team. Just like Comic Con, you wouldn’t expect people who hate comic books to attend; and like any good comic book, you need to have a good writer, penciller, inker, colorist, and letterer.

Those steering the culture need to weed out those who negatively impact or willingly sabotage it. If someone is there only for the money, do they really want the job and are they an asset to your organization or a liability?

Employees are human beings.

Some of the best, larger than life comic book characters are very human. They struggle with the same things that we struggle with. They have families and work to balance while saving the world. Employees are your superheroes. From the janitor to the top executive, they all help drive your organization, and your culture needs to reflect their less than super-human needs. They need:

Empowerment to make work-life balance decisions
Autonomy to get the job done
Opportunities for continual learning
Chances for creative problem solving
Be able to argue or contradict superiors without fear of retribution or dismissal

To paraphrase Richard Branson, employees should feel like they are more than just a cog. Employees should be the spark that sets the tinder aflame.

Culture also needs to protect employees when a client is angry (this happens all too often in any sector). This culture should be our guiding light when employees are make mistakes. It’s that focus and values-driven decision making that will help grow and keep your business.

Get your values straight. Seriously.

Write your values down, commit to them, and express them as policy and practice. Your organization should breathe these values like air and then act on them. They don’t necessarily have to be in moralistic terms like, “Treat everyone with respect”, but they should be expressed in real terms. These are real life examples I have seen executed very well:

A willingness to lose a client to defend an employee
Making a no payment up front unless you are completely satisfied with the job commitment
Granting vacation time to those who have worked overtime for a client in the form of PTO

Values should dictate the customs of your organization (what you do and how well you do it). They inform the basis and evolution of your culture.

Define the Game.

We have our team, filled with human beings, who are focused on the values of their organization. Now what? There’s a wonderful book out there called The Game of Work. It postulates that businesses thrive when they are like a game, driven by rules or at least a framework. Like basketball, comic book conventions, or fishing, rules help define good outcomes and bad outcomes. These definitions are dependent on what industry we are in. At comic book conventions, people are looking to grab back-issues of their favorite comics, get to see the latest Marvel panel, or team up with their fellow cosplayers. They have created a framework of success and they execute it. Organizations that fail to define a framework of what success is are less likely to stay afloat.

Next Steps.

These new insights will help you design a work experience and environment that activates inspired employees, improving your employment brand, productivity, and ROI. For a partner in this effort, reach out to Corporate Culture Specialist. We are a firm dedicated to helping organizations realize their full potential through inspired corporate culture.

You can contact us here, or find additional insights on our blog page.

July 6, 2018March 26, 2020

6 Types of Millennials

6 Types of Millennials

Updated on March 26, 2020 by Jonathan Mills

It would be easy to classify Millennials into just one monolithic group, and sayings about “entitled” Millennials are common workplace vernacular; but these misguided idioms hide a complex and interesting generation of people. They are also now the largest working group in the United States, surpassing both Generation X and Baby Boomers. Organizations with foresight are learning to understand and work with Millennials, because they are quickly becoming our decision makers and innovators.

There are at least six subcategories of Millennial that will help you understand your employees better, and hopefully partner with them in new ways. Below I have listed each subgroup, along with a brief persona and guidance for building a positive relationship. If you capitalize on this diversity by fostering inspiration and trust in your employees, you can unlock the potential in each Millennial.

Thank you to Chris Folmsbee and Brad Hanna from Burlap for their research and insights about the Millennial generation.

6 Subcategories of Millennial

1 Up & Comers

Persona

Up & Comers are tech-savvy, ambitious, highly educated, and smart. They are fully committed to their career and would rather remain single to pursue it. They like to use the latest Mac or iPhone to stay fully connected on social media, managing multiple profiles at once. If given the choice, they would rather come to work in flip-flops, but they’ll wear designer shoes to party in the off-hours.

Connect

Up & Comers thrive when autonomous and don’t need much help being motivated. You can inspire them with a connection to a seasoned professional, encouragement to manage their social media, a relaxed dress-code, and opportunities to contribute to your online content. They enjoy happy hours, sporting events, and other exciting social engagements. They also like to stay fit, so make exercise facilities or coaching available.

2 Global Givers

Persona

Global Givers are new to the workforce, but come with a passion for social and global causes. They are trusting and positive but shrewd about accurate information, which makes them wise decision makers. They are quick to participate in socially responsible causes, but they also take the initiative to create, market, and execute their own causes.

Connect

Global Givers thrive when connected to a meaningful cause, so adopt green practices and align their tasks with a socially responsible purpose. Inspire them by championing social events with a cause, like building a playground or serving meals to the homeless. They also care about their personal health, so make exercise facilities and healthy, socially conscious food choices available.

3 Traditionalists

Persona

Traditionalists tend to have children, and they value work-life balance. Backed into a corner, they will defend their family life at the expense of career. They are stable, frugal, and highly educated (including a global perspective), but dislike disruptive change.

Connect

Traditionalists thrive when work-life balance is equitable and stable, so manage change responsibly and avoid knee-jerk decisions. Ensure that work is aligned with positive core values and meaningful purpose. Make company outings family-friendly (weekend cookouts, ball-games, etc.) and foster a welcoming workplace for visiting children.

4 Nostalgics

Persona

Nostalgics are resourceful, self-sufficient, and stable out-of-the-box thinkers. They tend to be independent, so these might be your consultants and part-time employees. With introvert tendencies, they would rather work from home but aren’t great at monitoring email. Nostalgics love experiences and would rather enjoy the moment than record it. They also like to read, but will opt for a hard-copy instead of an e-book.

Connect

Nostalgics are highly-creative, and they thrive when solving difficult problems autonomously. Offer them your most difficult problems, give them trust, and get out of the way. You can inspire Nostalgics through literature and experiences. Provide access to highly creative and intelligent content; and develop your story-telling practices. Create or record experiences, then recall them later.

“Millennials don’t want to be managed, they like to be led, coached and mentored. This generation is on fire and ready to go. Are you ready to change the world?”
― Farshad Asl

5 Trendsetters

Persona

Trendsetters lead adoption, diving head-first into new ideas and products if they believe their is potential. They also have followers and can generate a lot of momentum. These are likely junior employees, maybe even at their first job. Trendsetters tend to care about appearances more than substance and may adopt new ideas and products without considering the consequences. They love originality, authenticity, and variety; but convenience is important and brand loyalty unlikely.

Connect

Trendsetters love to lead new trends and thrive in the spotlight. Consider giving them a company-wide or industry-wide voice, directing them toward competitive ideas and technologies. Regard them as consultants that help you stay on the cutting-edge, but follow-up their recommendations with market research and cost-benefit analyses. Allow trendsetters to work autonomously and allow them to find inspiration through original and socially responsible ideas. Ensure that benefits and “must-do” tasks are convenient.

6 Skeptics

Persona

Skeptics are not easily swayed by others because they like to see research or proof firsthand. They are pragmatic, dismissing most popular beliefs, and are unlikely to entertain abstract ideas. Skeptics can be indecisive and may tend toward despondence.

Connect

Skeptics are in their element around facts, so ensure access to authoritative sources of information and research. Allow Skeptics to enjoy digital entertainment in the workplace, but give them more responsibility than they would otherwise request. They may also benefit from soft-skills training, mentorship, and regular socialization with diverse employees.

Maximizing the potential of your Millennials will be challenging, but if you spend time with them, learning to understand their drives, it will help you predict what type of environment they need. It will also help you determine what your best employee looks like. Keep in mind that no Millennial fits into just one category. Look for characteristics that span two or three instead.

Recommended Reading: Motivating Employee Retention: Intrinsic Motivation

June 26, 2018September 25, 2019

What is Corporate Culture?

What is Corporate Culture?

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Jonathan Mills

When I tell someone that I consult on corporate culture, the first question they ask is, “What is corporate culture?” To be fair, this subject is nebulous and broad; but understanding its meaning is critical to managing what is ultimately an extremely powerful force in your organization. So, I answer in one of two ways:

Corporate culture is “the way things are around here.” It is that sense of expectation for the way work-life is experienced. When you go to work on Monday, what do you assume will happen? How do you expect to feel? How will you interact with others?
Corporate culture is your company values expressed in day-to-day work-life. These are the ground-floor, authentic beliefs and paradigms created by your daily practices. They are not the high-level corporate values from your website, although healthy organizations can draw a line between their corporate values and their culture.

The reason this subject is so critical is that an employee’s work-life has a dramatic impact on their effectiveness and on their personal health. People need healthy experiences to be productive. Anything else is a substitute that results in despair and disillusionment.

Highly successful firms have discovered the importance of fostering their culture as a core competency, treating it as a strategic necessity. For these firms, team and customer interactions are shaped by their core values (e.g., integrity, civility, creativity, cooperation, trust); and employees demonstrate values-aligned behaviors that help them deliver top-quality products and services. They might also enjoy any of the following benefits:

Reduced collective uncertainty: Employees hold a common understanding and expectation for change.
Social order: Expectations are clear, understood, and communicated.
Continuity: Values and norms are maintained from one generation of employees to the next.
Collective identity and commitment: Loyalty and a sense of family are fostered.
Vision for the future: Employees feel inspired and motivated to move the organization forward.
Employee morale: Happy employees produce and serve with excellence.
Commitment: Employees finish their projects with excellence.
Productivity: Even unassigned employees are never idle.
Physical health: Low health costs and low levels of absenteeism.
Emotional well-being: Reduced risk of burnout.

The consequences for overlooking culture are also worth considering. One such consequence is workplace aggression, which manifests in the absence of modeled core values. Groupthink reinforces this behavior, making change difficult. It manifests itself as passive-aggressive behavior like the intentional missing of deadlines, the production of sub-par work, or being absent or late for meetings. Overt expressions occur in the form of workplace bullying, public criticism, gossip, or being generally pushy and uncooperative. These issues occur far more often than most would like to know and in many forms. If you are in a leadership position, you should take a close look at your employee work-life, because workplace aggression isn’t always obvious.

In 2011, Monster posed the question, “Have you ever been bullied at work?” and received 16,517 responses (click here):
“A surprising two-thirds of respondents admit to having been victims of workplace bullying and about half of the employees that have not been bullied directly have witnessed it.”

Corporate culture is a lynchpin for your company’s success. If you don’t have a good grasp on what it is, then spend some time learning to understand it. You can also reach out to Corporate Culture Specialist for guidance and training. Our mission is to elevate this subject to a higher level of visibility, helping organizations think strategically to make work-life culture a powerful competitive edge.