Many companies have long known the benefits of hiring
interns. Benefits for the company
include finding bright, new talent to bring a fresh perspective to the
organization as well as a conduit for filling the talent pipeline in the
future. Benefits for the intern include
showcasing skills, gaining work experience, learning from others in the
organization, and testing out a potential full-time employer for the
future. The relationship is a “win win”
for both the company and the intern.
Here, at Learning Dynamics, we have been fortunate to have
hired more than 50 interns over the past 15 years. Because of our location, we have partnered
with professors from Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, CT, and University of
New Haven, in New Haven, CT, who have sourced intern talent for us. Because these programs have HR Management
and/or Industrial Organizational Psychology programs, our interns have gained
invaluable experience in learning and development to broaden their experience
and exposure to those disciplines. In
return, we have capitalized on the ideas and skills these interns have in
enhancing our learning and development tools and programs.
We are proud that many of our interns have gone on to successful
careers with such companies as GE, LinkedIn, Pepsi, Raytheon, Subway and Penguin
Publishing, to name just a few.
Interns are a valuable company resource. If you haven’t already, you might want to
consider hiring interns for summer employment.
It can prove to be a positive return on investment.
Did you know that current research indicates that the No. 1
leadership skill most managers lack is communication with empathy?
The need to “create a communication-friendly environment” was the first choice
listed on the top 10 skills and qualities of leaders by Officevibe,
a fast-growing web-based tool for human resource and business leaders. And in
2015, an Interact/Harris
Poll of approximately 1,000 U.S. workers illustrated the importance of
opening those communication lines with empathy. In the poll, 91% of employees reported
that communication is an area where executives need to improve, and a closer
look at the results reveals a striking need for more empathy in the workplace.
A failure to recognize employee achievements was cited by 63% of respondents,
topping the list of specific communication issues. That list also included refusing
to talk to subordinates (51%) and taking credit for others’ ideas (47%). Some
in the survey even complained of bullying by management.
All employees are entitled to a respectful work environment,
but communication with empathy can impact more than that. As it raises team
morale, it also can improve the bottom line.
According to Gallup’s 2015
State of the American Manager, disengaged employees cost up to $500 billion
in lost productivity per year – with poor managers responsible for at least 70%
of that employee disengagement. Liz Ryan, HR professional and author of the
book Reinvention Roadmap, says the
No. 1 skill these managers need is what she calls “perspective-taking.” In her column
on that subject for Forbes.com, Ryan spells out a “working” definition of
communication with empathy. “The more often you consciously step out of your
own perspective to take someone else’s view, the more powerful you will become,”
Ryan says.
So if you are trying to narrow the focus of any leadership
training and development efforts you may be considering in the near term, this
is one you may want to prioritize for anyone who manages people.
Learning Dynamics offers training, organization development and coaching services that can help your organization grow and excel. Contact us today, call 203.265.7499 or email jdemaio@learningdynamics.com.
Customer-centric banks have systems that support, not impede, their customers’ experience with them.
Starting with their core system, banks must ensure that
their core system provider remains state-of-the-art and not “user-hostile.”
Often, every 5-7 years, a bank’s contract with its core service provider comes
up for renewal. Many banks, because of their employees’ comfort with the
system, will automatically renew, rather than determining whether there is a
more state-of-the-art digital system available that enhances the customer
experience.
The bank’s core system, coupled with its internal systems and procedures, will impact customer service. Take opening accounts, for example. This should not be a cumbersome process for the customer, or the bank employee, where it takes a half hour to open an account. We know of several banks where opening an account is so laborious that branch staff suggest customers or prospective customers set up appointments to do so.
A core system should also be evaluated on the ease of use
and intuitiveness of back office, loan, and sales functions as well. Can it
support ancillary systems, such as mortgage and loan origination? Does it
incorporate the latest compliance and security measures?
With fewer customers coming into the bank, online banking
needs to be easy to use. At one bank, the online banking system is so
complicated, that branch staff hesitate to bring it up as an option to
customers, for fear that the customer will ask for a demonstration by the
employees, who will likely struggle with it!
Other internal systems, such as General Ledger, should be
reviewed periodically for ways to streamline them.
A bank should also update its policies and procedures, and
have them readily accessible for customer-facing employees. As previously
noted, procedures using the Playscript format are easier to write and follow,
as opposed to ones written as a lengthy paragraph narrative.
Blunder Bank
At Blunder Bank, the same core system has been used for
decades. The system is outdated and difficult to use. Customer-facing employees
even develop their own “work around” so that customers are not inconvenienced
by it.
Better Bank
At Better Bank, senior management asks, “How can this
enhance the customer experience?” when designing, revamping, or purchasing
systems. The bank ensures that employees receive timely training on their
systems and maintain up-to-date, easy-to-follow documentation.
Coaching Tip
When working with an employee who is struggling to use a new
system, which can impede service to your customers, remember that everyone has
their own learning style. It may be that the struggling employee is a visual
learner, and needs to spend more time navigating the system to better
comprehend it.
Question for
Reflection
Do your employees receive timely training on
your internal systems?
Is there up-to-date documentation for all of
your systems?
Does your core processing system enhance or
impede the customer experience?
Learning Dynamics offers training, organization development and coaching services that can help your organization grow and excel. Contact us today, call 203.265.7499 or email jdemaio@learningdynamics.com.
A recent
Learning Dynamics training workshop with managers of a healthcare organization
served as a reminder of the importance of listening at every level of the
organization. The program, Leadership Communication,
includes a discussion and exercise on active listening, and it was one of the
most productive parts of the day’s effort.
Nearly
everyone has heard the term “active listening,” but how many of us use the
skill regularly? In Leadership Communication
and other communication-themed programs, we highlight the value of asking
questions, listening without interrupting, paraphrasing, and confirming
understanding. We know that many people don’t use active listening techniques
often; rather, they frequently are just waiting for their turn to talk.
On this
day, we asked the participants to pair off and ask a simple question: “What can
I do to help you be more successful in your job?” These were not people who
reported to each other. They were managers who lead their respective work
centers, so this is not a question they frequently present to each other. The
results were thought-provoking.
Within
minutes, one of the participants said, “This is great! We never have a chance
to speak like this.” After several minutes of productive conversation using
intelligent questions and active listening skills, all came away with ideas to
help each other move the organization forward. The total invested time was ten
minutes.
So, what
can leaders take from this exercise? Here are some ideas:
Encourage
idea-sharing vertically and horizontally within the organization. Schedule some
high-value business partnership time to allow for activities like that
described above.
Ask
questions at all levels. Then listen. Employees in customer-facing and
production roles likely have ideas to share. After all, they are the ones
executing on management’s direction. What might they teach leaders who are
willing to listen?
Managers
don’t always have the best answers. Paraphrasing Steve Jobs, we hire smart
people, so shouldn’t we listen to them?
Finally,
employees become more engaged when they feel heard. A key engagement question
concerns one’s ideas and opinions carrying weight. What better way to show an
employee that her opinions count than by asking questions and actively
listening?
It is not
always easy to just listen. The potential benefits – new ideas, better team
work, and more committed employees, to name a few – make it worth the effort.
Be a better leader and listen.
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Learning Dynamics offers several instructor-led, webinar-based, and digitally-delivered learning and development solutions to help your team members become better communicators. Contact us today to discuss your priorities.
Age diversity and inclusion are essential for success in today’s complex workplace. Most employers today recognize the need for diversity, making sure that people of different ethnicities, nationalities, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability status and age are critical to the future of an organization.
The argument for age diversity and inclusion is unrefuted and new research supports that premise. Currently 5 different generations are part of the workforce.
Age diversity improves performance and productivity in the workplace. Companies need to be aware that age is a number not a credential and outdated stereotypes still influence perceptions of age. Comments such as. “He’s too old to master a software program”. Or “she’s too young to…” only serve to dismiss their value. An employee’s knowledge and experience increases with age and a young person with strong skill sets should not be held back.
Research clearly demonstrates how age diversity improves an organization’s performance. Studies find that the productivity of both older and younger workers is higher in companies with mixed age work teams. More specifically, age diversity in teams is positively related to performance when groups tackle complex decision making tasks. Lastly, age diversity leads to greater engagement, teamwork and innovation.
The following are some practices to boost age diversity and inter-generational understanding:
Open apprenticeships for workers of all age.
Programs to help workers re-enter workforce after a long absence.
Facilitation of cross generational mentoring programs.
Raising awareness of inter generation differences through training and education.
Organizing employee resource groups for support.
Actively recruit talent across all ages.
Companies that adhere to these practices will certainly reap the benefits of age diversity and inclusion.
Learning Dynamics offers training, organization development and coaching services that can help your organization grow and excel. Contact us today, call 203.265.7499 or email jdemaio@learningdynamics.com.
“What did you learn today?” It was a question I was often asked at the end of school days. It was a question I heard often in my corporate years, after completing training or implementing a new process. It has become a central question for me in undertaking any new endeavor, personal or professional. It’s a key question to ask oneself when faced with successes or failures, achievements, or disappointments. “What did you learn?” implies identification of what worked and what didn’t and defines the path forward.
The need to learn is a given. Without learning, say goodbye to growth, evolution, personal and professional development, and constant improvement. More importantly, say goodbye to your business if learning is not a constant.
Learning is a strategic initiative, and arguably the most critical component for a company’s growth and success. And it can never stop. Employee training and development is essential, but if training doesn’t result in demonstrated learning, it’s just lip service. For a company or an individual, learning must be greater than or equal to the rate of change.
Educator Neil Postman stated that “children enter school as question marks and leave as periods.” In many instances, the same can be said for adults entering the corporate world. It is imperative to keep the question marks on the forefront.
So how does one go about making sure that employees are learning, learning, and learning without cessation? This is where training comes in. Training must be meaningful to the employee, not a formalistic exercise to satisfy a regulation or required hours.
All training programs have learning objectives, but every training program ever designed and conducted must include this objective: To generate thought. Thought leads to understanding and awareness, which leads to paradigm shifts and inevitable growth. Growth is the greatest ROI there is for an individual or a company. Think about the difference between a degree and an education. Getting a degree means attending classes, obtaining the required credits, and passing tests. Obtaining an education requires critical thinking and understanding. Author Wallace Wattles stated: “There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world.”
In educating people on content, trainers must never lose sight of the intent, which is to generate thought and increase learning. Learning needs to be integrated into all processes and outcomes. Too often, training and subsequent learning is in reaction to something that failed. If a valued customer is lost due to poor customer service, it’s easy to mandate customer service training . . but it’s also too late.
At Learning Dynamics, we customize each learning solution to ensure that participants are challenged to think, learn, and grow. Our goal is to have them answer a key question: “What did you learn today?”
Almost everyone today is familiar with the term “customer experience.” According to Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, 80 percent of businesses compete on the basis of customer experience. But new research shows that customer experience alone is not enough. Progressive companies are now focusing on “employee experience” as the newest competitive edge.
So, what is “employee experience?” It is the sum of everything an employee experiences throughout his or her connection to that organization – from recruiting to the end of their employment. It is not perks, parties, employment branding or employee engagement. Mark Levy, former head of Airbnb, defines it as “anything that sets employees up for success and improves our culture.” Those companies investing heavily in employee experience often find themselves on the Best Places to Work lists and also have improved profitability as well as two times the average revenue. With social media commentary available to all, prospective employees review comments made about employee experiences in selecting which companies they wish to apply to.
So, in looking for a new competitive edge for your company, ask yourself how you can enhance and elevate the employee experience in your company. What processes and practices are in place that set employees up for success and ensure an improved culture? It’s worth the time to ask.
Learning Dynamics offers training, organization development and coaching services that can help your organization grow and excel. Contact us today, call 203.265.7499 or email jdemaio@learningdynamics.com.
Now Can Be the Time for Servant Leadership by Vice President Bill Florin
You want to do the right thing for your people, being there as a resource to help them do their best work. You want your team to be open, honest and engaged. Maybe you are trying to figure out how to lead Millennials and the next cohort of people hitting the job market, Generation Z. If any or all of these ideas resonate with you, it might be worth looking at Servant Leadership and what it can offer your organization.
Servant Leadership (SL) is a concept made popular by Robert K. Greenleaf. He realized, during his 38-year career at AT&T, that it is as important for the organization to serve people as it is for people to serve the organization. This was a revolutionary concept when he published his essay detailing the model in 1970. Since then, SL has grown in popularity. Learning Dynamics has been doing more work in this area as organizations seek ways to create inclusive, inspiring and engaging environments as a platform to growth.
Surveys have shown that the youngest generations of people in the workplace value authenticity, honest feedback, and an opportunity to be heard, respected and contribute. The leader who practices SL concepts makes this a part of her everyday work experience. More than a dictatorial, order-issuing boss, the SL manager works as a coach, creating a culture in which people can experiment, explore new ways of doing things, make mistakes, and innovate. Ultimately, work becomes a place where people feel supported and valued, a place where people can and want to do their best work.
One of our Connecticut-based Learning Dynamics clients recently engaged us to facilitate a workshop to review that organization’s SL journey since its official launch as a component of its operating platform more than a year ago. During this session, which hosted nearly 30 people, the entire management team engaged in discussion of their SL experiences. This conversation included the company president. The mood was relaxed; you would not know the president was the top person if we did not do introductions.
While there was much discussed during the three hours, one message was clear: The company is going through a transformation, becoming a place where trust, respect in every direction on the organizational chart, and open communication are reality, not some wish for the future.
Importantly, accountability is a critical part of the formula. The same culture that fosters collaboration also demands honesty and a coaching approach when an individual is falling behind. The leaders view open, honest, timely feedback as a vital component of their core roles. Servant Leadership is not soft.
It is true that changing culture is hard work. It can be a years-long journey. But for organizations that embrace the idea and align everyone it, from the part-time individual contributor to the CEO, Servant Leadership can be an energizing shift that boosts the company to new high-water marks for performance.
Learning Dynamics offers training, organization development and coaching services that can help your organization grow and excel. Contact us today to discover if Servant Leadership could be appropriate for your company.
The concept of emotional intelligence has been around since Aristotle. He wrote:
“Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not easy.” ~ Aristotle
Even back then, the great philosophers understood the importance of managing your emotions.
Some people seem to have it to a greater degree and some people, well, not so much. We have all known a few bullies at work, yes? People, who when they are having a bad day, seem determined to pull everyone else down with them.
Leaders especially need to be in charge of their emotions. Take the time to raise your awareness on this important topic. If you master it, every area of your life will improve.
Emotional Intelligence is known as EQ (Emotional Quotient) and it is more than just self-regard or self-esteem.
It is also not about being nice or smiling all of the time. It is not about expressing every emotion you are feeling either.
A person with high EQ has the following qualities and awareness:
Empathy: The ability to pick up on emotional and social cues and respond appropriately. The ability to read body language and non-verbal communication to understand others better.
Self-honesty: The ability to know and accept your own qualities, faults, limitations and be able to recognize patterns of behavior that either help or hinder situations. (But don’t beat yourself up.)
Consciousness: Recognize that emotions you may be feeling can get in the way of accurately assessing emotions in others. Be aware of when you may be projecting your feelings onto others.
The way you work on and improve your EQ is to:
1. Manage your feelings. You can begin with positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you have great coping skills. Tell yourself that everything is okay and not an emergency. Accept that: a) you have a choice, b) you make a difference, and c) you are an important part of the situation.
2. Develop social behaviors. Respond to people’s needs instead of reacting and don’t take anything personal. When others are behaving or acting poorly it may have nothing to do with you. Build conflict resolution skills and be open to feedback.
3. Identify and prioritize what is important. Understand why you may be feeling the way you feel and weigh your decisions based on what is really important (not the urgency you feel in the moment). Separate your feelings with your reaction. You can still be angry but react kindly. By doing this, sometimes we realize we are getting upset over nothing and it’s just NOT that important.
A few words about optimism . . .
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”
~ Reginald B. Mansell
Educate yourself and grow your EQ to increase your happiness, manage life’s challenges and be a better leader.
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This article was written by Maureen Ross Gemme, Senior Consultant with Learning Dynamics. Visit her personal profile page to learn more about Maureen’s career and expertise.
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Learning Dynamics offers an Emotional Intelligence program designed to maximize the value of EI with leaders who are entrusted with motivating staff. Contact us today to learn how we can help your organization develop your supervisors and managers into EI conscious leaders.
How many of us have heard…or uttered … these phrases in our professional lives?
“I haven’t had a performance review with my boss since I got here.”
“She couldn’t really tell me why I got the performance rating.”
“It’s not fair. I know I did better than he says I did.”
“He said, I should ‘be happy’”
Are these the comments that stellar organizations and relations are built upon? I think not. If this is, or has been, a part of your journey, how can we as leaders make change? Some believe that change can only occur from the top of an organization. There is a grass roots component that I believe can enhance your work place and potentially have an impact on the larger organization. It begins with first level leaders understanding key themes about managing employee performance to better the organization. I have always thought of these as the key components of understanding outstanding employee performance management:
1. WHY
2. WHO
3. WHAT
4. HOW
5. WHEN
Let’s address each of these in successive posts, starting with WHY.
WHY IS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT TO THE WORKPLACE?
1. Critical to Business Success. Employees must have expectations for performance excellence tied to goals. Without employee performance expectations aligned with company vision and mission, employees and leaders struggle with focus. When employee expectations are aligned and met, it is a simple progression that leads to enhanced engagement.
2. Improves Colleague Engagement. Simply doing without understanding why limits employee engagement. Imagine the motivation when an employee actually gets it. Think of how that employee feels about him/herself and the work required on a project, when they are clear on the importance of how their role relates to the end product.
3. Drives Individual Employee Development. As the leader assigns goals and/or objectives, it can be done with an eye toward stretching the ability of the employee. In so doing, a business-complementary stretch objective is introduced; the employee senses trust on the part of the leader and can more easily align with growth/development opportunities. Success for both parties is derived from employee growth and business success. Of course, employee accountability for performance is an important part of development and growth.
4. Enhances Rewards and Recognition Program. With a clear, established performance program, employees understand what is happening to them. Comments like those that opened this blog can be reduced and eliminated.
We may even get solid suggestions and recommendations from our employees concerning rewards and recognition. Talk about engagement!
5. Incentivizes Employees. Now we have employees who understand and participate in the organization’s rewards and recognition program. They are bought-in to their individual development objectives. They are engaged because there is clarity and understanding about what they are doing and why. Because they see the alignment with overall business vision and goals, these employees are now leaning forward, looking for additional opportunities.
Once we have clarity about WHYperformance management is valuable, we need to next look at WHO is involved in our performance management process. That is the topic for our next blog.
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This article was written by Gary Steele, Vice President with Learning Dynamics. Visit his personal profile page to learn more about Gary’s career and expertise.
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Learning Dynamics offers several customizable leadership development programs including Coaching for Results. Contact us today to learn how we can help your organization develop your supervisors and managers into leaders.
