Imagination & Creativity - A Tip From The Manager’s Answer Book

Did you ever think about what gives you a different perspective?  Is it a new setting, or situation, or circumstance? Did you ever hear people say that they’re most creative when they are not at work? There’s something about stepping out of your usual routine and environment that allows new ideas to flood our brains.  When you expand your perspective, you expand your horizons as well. 

In 2020, we’ve found ourselves in new and different situations and circumstances. These days people are not at their usual place of work, but are still working, and working amidst distractions and interruptions. Enough to stifle anyone’s creativity, but it’s certainly bringing a new perspective to the way we do things. To paraphrase the title of a Tony Schwartz book, the way we used to work isn’t working anymore. 

Manager’s Tip:  During these difficult times, don’t lose your perspective. Opportunities can grow out of chaos and crisis. Potential can be unlocked creating positive and lasting change for your organization. It’s the time for new ideas and energy, for taking action, and for putting people first. You just have to expand your perspective. One silver lining I see from this pandemic, it will retire, forever, that tired phrase we’ve always done it that way!

As leaders in your organization, you recognize that creativity and innovation are critical – whether it’s developing new products or services or just finding improved ways of doing things.  You want nurture that innovative self inside each and every employee. You

need to start by letting your employees know that you are open to new ideas and suggestions and that you value their creativity. However, recognize that in these times, idea generation is going to take more time and effort. Be patient. Let the process be organic. 

You can read more about imagination and creativity on page 98 of The Manager’s Answer Book a proud 2020 Winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Award. The Manager’s Answer Book is available from Amazon -- https://tinyurl.com/y8umaqpz - Barnes & Noble or your local independent bookstore.

And remember “What you imagine you create.”

Webinars, Presentations & Training, Oh My

Webinars are happening constantly now as people are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.  My friend, Joe Cardillo, posted some extremely good advice on LinkedIn recently. It was timely because I’d suffered through a 90-minute webinar containing only 30 minutes of useful content. The presenter took 30 minutes telling his backstory (of nominal relevance to the topic) before getting to the content. Then another 20 minutes at the end promoting his services before getting to the Q&As. He broke all of Joe’s guidelines which I’ve tailored and added my own thoughts before sharing below.  This advice is also relevant to in-person presentations and other training sessions.

Want to make your webinars and presentations useful for the attendees? 

• Include only relevant content. Edit out anything not originally built for the webinar’s topic.
• Total time should be one hour – 45 minutes to present and 15 minutes for Q&As from the audience. If you can’t meet this guideline, then cut something out. Times may vary for in-person presentations or virtual conferences. Nevertheless, honor the time that’s allotted. 
• Have structure and don’t wing it. Divide the program into blocks using the topics you plan to cover.  You’ll have some introductory material and some ending material, so plan approximately 10 minutes for each block or segment, depending on the number of segments you have.
• Practice in advance. Review and re-write bullets and talking points. This will keep you on track and succinct, ensuring that the audience remains engaged. If you do, they’ll want to come back for more. 
• Make sure that your slides are engaging.
• Part of practice is timing the webinar. You want to make sure you can cover all of the useful information you plan to share with the audience in 45 minutes or the allotted time.
• Promote it by using an easy-to-understand description that tells people the title (make it informative – 50 to 70 characters maximum). Include what you’ll cover (keep it brief – 50 words or less), who will present, and the length of the webinar. Include a registration page or form.
• Send registrants: one (1) email to confirm their registration, one (1) email to remind them, and one (1) email to announce a replay or recording afterward. Nothing is more annoying than getting multiple and constant emails before and after. I know because my presenter did all those annoying things.

Follow these rules and you will do fine, learn some things, and make your second, third, and fourth webinars even better.

Cornelia Gamlem

Learning and Teaching

I know I’m not alone in being a faithful reader of Seth Godin’s daily blogs (and yes, I still can’t believe he blogs every day and I think once a week is a challenge). Monday, March 23, 2020, his blog ended with this challenge: “What will you learn today? Who will you teach?”

As we’re all living in what seems to be an alternative universe in which we are working from home and keeping our social distance from neighbors and friends, this challenge is perfect.  Seth comments that “we may not be able to anything about external events, but we have control over our actions.”

Like everyone, I’m spending a lot of time on Zoom and conference calls, and I’m learning where to place my laptop so that I’m not focused on how wrinkled my neck is. I hope I am using this time to learn and teach others.

How about you? What will you learn today and who will you teach? Maybe not every day of this period of time, but I hope that more days than not, I learn something new that then I can turn around a share with someone else.

One of my passions is helping people who are considering a job or career change. While this may not be an ideal time to be interviewing, I’m trying to think of other things people can do during this time. It is a great time to update a LinkedIn Profile or reach out to people in their network that they haven’t talked to in a while. No, this is probably not the time to meet for coffee or lunch but why not certainly can do a Zoom call or even an old-fashioned phone call to reconnect?

Another thing I can learn is how to make better use of video technology. I’ve done plenty of webinars over the past few years and am pretty comfortable doing them, but I’m less confident about my ability to use some of the great features of other platforms. Great time to give this a try. 

I’ve always believed that it was a good thing to be a lifelong learner and now, thanks to this pesky virus that has stopped so much of our world, I have the time to do it.  Let’s learn together and make these necessary life changes into something positive. Maybe I can get motivated to blog more often…and then again, maybe not.

Barbara Mitchell

Look Who’s on the Global Stage!

My Asian adventure continues. In December 2006, I was part of a delegation of HR professionals that travelled to China through the People to People program.  The trip took us to Beijing and Shanghai where we visited businesses, including Lenovo and Texas Instrument, universities, and the Ministry of Personnel of The People’s Republic of China.  

Entering the Ministry and taking part in the presentations and discussion was surreal.  It’s primary function is human capital development in the public sector—Chinese civil servants and employees at institutions providing social and service delivery functions, such as schools, research facilities, and medical centers.  We learned about its role in the transition of China from a planned to a market economy.  

At Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management in Beijing, we exchanged ideas about HR and management issues.  The faculty discussed their research on evolving business and management strategies and the emerging role for HR in China. Most of us in the delegation were surprised when a young and very assertive female Assistant Professor commented, "We encourage our old people to retire.” It was in response to a question regarding concern over losing institutional knowledge and experience. What we learned was that as China emerges from decades of a planned economy, they are suffering from a loss of talent, especially middle management.  What young managers and professionals lack most are experienced mentors.  Our take away from that discussion was their need for management training with an emphasis on middle management. Many of us in the delegation saw a big opportunity in that area.

Fast forward to February 2020.  Last week Barbara and I were each absolutely surprised and delighted to receive a very unexpected package in the mail.  Our publisher sent us presentation copies of the translation of The Manager’s Answer Book into Chinese and The Big Book of HR into Vietnamese. We knew that they sold the foreign rights to our books, and we knew The Big Book of HR had sold in countries such as Brazil, Germany, Spain, U.K., France, Australia, India, Mexico, Japan, Canada and Italy.  But to see it translated into two Asian languages—that was beyond our wildest expectations.

Looking back on that December 2006 afternoon at Tsinghua University, I’m delighted to be able to fill a part of that need for middle management training in China with The Manager’s Answer Book.

Cornelia Gamlem

A Challenge for 2020

Best places to work. These competitions abound on the national and on the local level.  They cause many people to stop and think: Are they really objective?  That’s often going to depend on the process, the judging criteria and the judges.  I was asked to serve as a judge last year in a best professional contest.  With some reluctance I said yes.  Reluctance turned to enthusiasm when I received the well-defined criteria and realized that being new to the community, I didn’t know any of the entrants.  I could be totally objective and judge them against the standards.  And my top candidate won. 

It’s great when employees feel there is something special about finding a job, a company, an organization where they genuinely enjoy going to work every day and even putting in extra hours sometimes.  Who do you want judging you as an employer – a panel of external judges or your employees? 

Consider the following excerpt from an Albuquerque Journal article that appeared on December 12, 2019 about a local, top workplaces competition.  Two of the questions in survey for the 2019 competition were:  How satisfied are you with your job? How satisfied are you with your organization?  Some of the rave reviews from employees surveyed among last year’s winners include:

• Decisions are made based on member impact and the bottom line is not the primary focus. People who work here are generally passionate about helping our members and our community.
• I have the ability to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives every day.
• Have never worked in a place that makes you feel so welcome and needed.
• I really enjoy coming to work because it’s a very positive environment to be in! I love what I do and enjoy learning new things, but especially spending time with the students because they are an important part of our community and our lives.
• This job allows me to work to my strengths. I am able to balance work and personal life with my work setting. I love the people that I work with, they are all supportive.
• Every day is different, challenging and exciting.
• I am able to do what I love and grow.
• I enjoy my co-workers, team work and making the job fun. I look forward to coming to work every day for another new adventure. Having management understand and support our team is a huge factor.
• Every person I have interacted with is so helpful and happy to help teach me something new. I have never felt discouraged or dreaded coming into work. I truly feel like I am making a difference in other’s lives even without presently meeting them face to face.

Here’s the challenge for 2020: Think of the accolades you want your employees to shower on you as an employer – or even as a manager. Then make it happen. Engage your team every work day during the coming year. Get some ideas on page 37 of The Manager’s Answer Book.

Is this Respectful?

Microaggressions, those prejudiced comments and actions that are indirect, subtle, or intentional forms of bias, are more common in the workplace today than you might imagine them to be. Often hard to recognize, they have a negative impact at work.  Microaggressions cross boundaries—physical, personal, and interpersonal boundaries. They can devalue other people, impact feelings of inclusion, and diminish employees’ contributions.  If they are lodged against people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, or other protected groups, they can be forms of discrimination, especially if they occur frequently. 

On a Sunday morning in September of 2019, I read a cartoon, a column, and an article in the newspaper that all illustrated microaggressions—situations where boundaries were crossed.

Dilbert was mocking a bunch of men who are weak, stupid, and can’t solve a problem while the women can. Is it sexist because only the men are weak—not the women? Of course it is. Discrimination on the basis of sex covers both men and women, and this crossed an interpersonal boundary.

The work advice column discussed repeated and frequent disparaging comments about age directed to an older worker by a younger one. This is another example of crossing an interpersonal boundary and is a potential violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, especially if the behavior is persistent. 

Then there was the article was about workplace discrimination against natural hair—natural for African-Americans.  It cited allegations of job offers rescinded and terminations that occurred because of hair style—explicit discrimination. Subtle discrimination was also included—comments about natural hair being unprofessional and the microaggression of attempting to reach out and touch the hair of an African-American colleague. This crossed a physical boundary.

Another example from a different source illustrates a manager crossing a personal boundary.  She continually complained in staff meetings about her step-child’s medical needs. A staff member had a child with similar needs and was extremely uncomfortable with the manager’s comments.

What can individual employees do to contribute to a workplace of respect? 

• Be discreet and sensitive to others. Don’t assume that other people won’t be offended.
• Consider the impact of your behavior on others. 
• Respect privacy—yours and that of others. People have varying comfort levels about discussing certain topics.

What can organizations and managers do? 

• Raise the bar on acceptable workplace behavior and accept nothing less than respect and professionalism.  
• Acknowledge employees who treat each other with respect. 
• Talk about respect, civility, and your policies, with team members. 
• Encourage employees to speak up, and acknowledge them when they do. 
• Take concerns and complaints seriously, and have a neutral process to look into them. 
• Dispel any myths that anyone is exempt from your high behavior standards.

Don’t let microaggressions take your organization down a slippery slope toward a toxic workplace. It’s up to the leaders of the organization to take on the challenge of building and maintaining positive workplace cultures.  

Honor Veterans With Jobs!

Hiring veterans is a sound business investment. Yet there are myths or concerns that often cause reluctance to do so. 

One myth is that veterans suffering from PTSD are unstable or may be a liability. PTSD is not a condition confined to combat veterans. Anyone in the population can suffer from it. Don’t let that be a barrier.  

Other myths, or assumptions, are veterans always want to be in charge or they are overly qualified and likely to leave for more pay. Like any assumptions, they may apply to some individuals but are not likely to apply to all veterans. Grant qualified veterans an interview and ask them about their knowledge, experiences and skills—in other words, their job-related backstory.

Finally, there’s the assumption that if a veteran does not have a degree needed for a particular job, then skills and knowledge are lacking.  The training the military invests in technical skills such as pharmacy tech, dental assistants, payroll specialists can be the equivalent of up to two and one-half years of civilian training. In basic training, which equals approximately six months of civilian training, veterans learn critical thinking, problem solving and accountability.  

Aside from the technical skills and security clearances veterans bring to the table, here are just some of the other reasons to consider them for jobs in your organizations.

Veterans foster teamwork. In the military, it’s critical to work as a team to accomplish the mission.  Veterans have extensive experience working to complete a mission, regardless of the time it took, or the levels of stress and adversity they faced.

Strong leadership and followership qualities.  Veterans are trained in effective leadership and are given authority over others. They are accountable for the success of the team and the mission. A good leader needs good followers to succeed and veterans understand this like no other members of the civilian society.

Trust and respect. Organizations can’t succeed without trust among its members. This couldn’t be truer than in military organizations where trust is critical for mission success. Veterans learn the importance of respect—respect for each other, for authority, and for policies and protocols along with the potential consequences of not following protocols and procedures.

Tax credits. Organizations can earn Work Opportunity Tax Credits of up to $9,600 for hiring unemployed or disabled veterans. The credit can be higher for wounded warriors.

It’s true veterans are not necessarily prepared to get jobs outside the military. That should not be a barrier either. Consider using veterans who are currently in your workforce to help recruiters understand and interpret the qualifications listed on a veteran’s resume or application.  An experienced veteran can help translate military experience to civilian job requirements.  

All veterans want to make valued contributions to the workforce, not unlike most civilian workers. Don’t be reluctant to hire these qualified man and women who are enthusiastic to learn and move your organizations forward. 

Becoming a Great Manager Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

It happens all too often. Someone is hired or promoted into a management role without being prepared for the people management responsibilities that accompanies the position.  They were a good engineer, sales professional, or financial guru—all the best technical skills. Often overlooked when these hiring decisions are made is the people side of management.  This can cause a new manager to struggle, and those struggles affect the whole team.

Manager’s Tips: Managing people is challenging. No matter if you’re a new or seasoned manager, you should always be working to sharpen your people management skills. That is exactly why we included a question in The Manager’s Answer Book on how to up your managerial game.

Here are a few of those suggestions:

• Take advantage of books, webinars, podcasts, YouTube videos, and so many more ideas from experts
• Get to know your employees so that you understand what motivates them
• Listen carefully to your staff
• Reward successes and learn from failures
• Be a positive role model—live your values
• Find a mentor and be a mentor

We also think it is important for managers to be able to show vulnerability. Many managers make the mistake of thinking they need to have all the answers. They feel that if they admit they don’t know everything, they won’t be respected. In fact, the opposite is true. Letting your employees see that you are human actually builds respect and loyalty.

For more information, check out page 114 of The Manager’s Answer Book.  Remember that management development begins with you, so take charge of your own development.

Tips for Collaborating

Collaborating can be fun and a way to find new approaches to your work. Barbara and I always joke that we’ve written several books together and we’re still talking to each other, sometimes several times a day. Here are some tips we came across recently for getting the most out of your collaboration experience. 

Be clear. Don’t assume others understand you or what you’re going to do next. Don’t assume they are mine readers. 

Carry your weight. Once you have a clearly defined next step, do it. You can’t control other people, so focus on one thing you can control—your own work.

Have an agenda. Aimless meetings or phone calls that don’t produce anything are problems.  An agenda with clear goals and discussion items keeps you the project on track and everyone accountable. 

Don’t be shy. Yes, be polite, but don’t accept ideas you think are inferior. Don’t hesitate to offer your own ideas.

Stay visible. Nothing is more frustrating than someone who doesn’t respond to emails or texts for days at a time. Be responsive.

Remind yourself that no idea is too small. Don’t sacrifice details for focus on big picture stuff. Sometimes going down a lengthy rabbit hole can yield pure gold. 

Prepare your arguments. When you’re collaborating, you’re a committee member. Take time to organize your thoughts. 

Embrace discomfort. Collaboration sometimes means ways of working that you’re uncomfortable with, but unless this involves illegal or unethical activities, make an effort to embrace it.

Speak up early. If you’re not happy or comfortable with something, don’t simmer for months and then blow everything up. Speak up right away. And if you lose the point, be diplomatic and graceful.

Be prepared to go on alone. Give the project your best, and approach the partnership honestly. But if your partners fail and drop away, have a plan for how you’ll get something out of it anyway—and know how you’re going to handle it if you are the one who has to drop out. 

Collaborating with someone might be an amazing experience that changes how you work, or miserable one—either way it’s going to teach you something.

Adapted from an article by Jeff Summers, All Together Now, in Writer’s Digest, November/December 2019.

How Do You Not Know This? Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

A commentator on the news recently referred to LBJ, and quickly clarified he was not talking about LeBron James but rather the president in the 1960s. 

This brought to mind a conversation I had a few years ago with my nephew, Jim, a border-line Baby Boomer and his husband, Rich, a GenXer. Rich was telling us, “We recently watched the movie All the Way about Lyndon Baines Johnson.”  Huh, I thought.  Who refers to him as Lyndon Baines Johnson?  He’s LBJ, as in the campaign slogan All the way with LBJ. Hence the title of the movie.  “And during the movie,” Rich continued, “Jim asked me: How do you not know this?” Generational differences were clearly at work here.

Every generation brings their own points of reference into the workplace. So, it’s not that unusual to hear comments like How do you not know this? 

Manager’s Tip: How do you better understand and manage generational differences in today’s workplaces? That’s a question included in The Manager’s Answer Book and here’s some of what we have to say.

Take the time to look for the common ground. For example, for younger generations, work is not the main focus of their life and/or their identity. They are more inclined to want to have a life outside of work that is meaningful. So do the older generations, but the younger ones seem to be better at making it happen. In fact, many of the things that the younger workers want—a friendly environment, the ability to use their skills while learning something new, respect, the opportunity to help others, adequate paid time off and flexibility, health and welfare benefits, and the opportunity to do meaningful work—are things older workers wanted, but the difference is they just didn’t know they could ask for them!

Don’t let differences drive a wedge among coworkers.  Bridging the generation gap at work happens by recognizing that we are all at different stages of our lives, and possess different career aspirations and needs.  As with any diversity challenge, figuring out what’s unique brings about greater understanding and a recognition that we have more in common than we realize.  

__________

Optimism & Positive Thinking

“Optimism—It’s not just a mindset. It’s a behavior.” I saw this on a meme posted on social media. It got me thinking about several things. How do you observe optimism? How do you observe any behavior for that matter? Is it important to observe behavior?

I recently heard in a writing workshop—writing about emotions—that a significant amount of communication is transmitted through non-verbal means, such as expressions, body language or vocal tones.  So, I went on to research how you describe optimism in a character.  Here’s what I learned.

The character may display a wide grin, make joking observations, or turn away and burst out into laughter. Their speech may be bubbly, their eyes may glow, or their gestures may be animated. An optimistic character may lean in, make strong eye contact and smile a lot. 

Why is observing behavior and emotions important? Alan Alda talks about listening with eyes, ears, and feelings—or emotions—in his book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? This observation helps you relate to other people and better understand them.  

I got to test this out recently while talking with people about workplace issues.  Reading their non-verbal cues proved to be just as important as asking questions and listening to responses. Was there a disconnect between what the words they were saying and what their expressions and body language were telling me?  In one case, yes there was, which led me to explore some facts further.

On page 127 of The Manager’s Answer Book, we explain that nonverbal communication is an indicator of the effect you are having on others and whether your message is being heard and understood. More importantly it allows you to observe other people’s emotions and emotional state and to be comfortable. When you are comfortable with one another, you are able to relate to that person and track their ability to follow you. The result is that you are in sync with each other—you are communicating.

Friday, September 13, is Positive Thinking Day—a day to celebrate optimism. Show your optimism—smile, laugh, be bubbly and glow. Let those around you be comfortable so it’s easy to relate to each other. It’s a great way to build positive and respectful workplace relationships.

You Know What You Should Do

Not long after we wrote The Big Book of HR, we were speaking at an event and signing books.  During a lull in the activity, someone came and sat down next to us — uninvited — and starting chatting away.  “My father wrote a book,” she said and proceeded to tell us about it.  We weren’t paying much attention, not that we were rude, but potential book buyers approached and we turned our focus to them. 

When the conference attendees returned to their session, our new best friend remained behind, once again engaging us in a conversation. “You know what you should do?” she said before proceeding to give us unsolicited advice about book marketing — this from someone who never wrote nor marketed a book.  You Know What You Should Do has become a standard joke between Barbara and me. But kidding aside, we are both always sensitive to offering advice to others — solicited or unsolicited.  And when we do, we frame it in positive terms and phrases: “You might consider” or “Have you ever thought of..” or “Something that might work is...”

I heard an interesting quote recently that says it all and has such wide application today — in business and in politics. “The world is changed by your example not by your opinion,” Paul Coelho. People are so quick to voice their opinions without stopping to think if anyone is interested, if they are relevant or if they add value.

Managers can take a valuable lesson from this and apply it to their interactions with team members and others in their organization. Remember that in your role as a manager, all eyes are on you. How you present yourself, how you communicate, how you act, all reflect on the type of leader and person you are — and you will want to reflect on those traits that project confidence, credibility and integrity.

For more insights on leading by example, you know what you should do?  Check out Section 4 of The Manager’s Answer Book. Seriously, if you don’t already have a copy, we’d be so honored and thankful if you’d pick one up.  And if you do have the book, we’re confident that you’ll find thought provoking ideas in that section and others.

Creativity - Use It or Lose It

I recently read a quote from Maya Angelou that I can’t stop thinking about.  She said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

She’s absolutely right – as if I’d ever disagree with someone as talented as Ms. Angelou.

When it comes to business, don’t we want our employees to be as creative as possible—unless their job requires they a task that is highly specific—like a surgeon.  Not sure I want my surgeon being too innovative while removing my appendix!

So, if creativity is to be encouraged, let’s talk specifics about how managers can maximize the creativity their employees possess.

To get started, managers should let employees know that they are open to hearing them and genuinely seeking new ideas and approaches. And if your team brings new ideas to you, listen and withhold judgment before you agree or shoot the new idea down.

We’ve talked before in this blog about avoiding phrases like, “No, that won’t work here” or “But we’ve always done it this way” or “We tried that in 2000 and it failed miserably.”   Nothing will shut down creativity like being told what you’re proposing is a bad idea.

Encourage your employees to take a step back from the routine work and imagine how it could be better. It is so easy to get caught up in just getting things done and not consider how something might be improved.

Try reserving one staff meeting a month to hold a classic brainstorming session. Start by setting ground rules that should include things like:

• Be specific about the topic you want ideas about. Let people know ahead of time so they can come with their thoughts and ideas
• Get as many ideas out before you analyze each one
• Don’t criticize someone’s idea
• Get everyone involved.  Don’t let one or two people dominate the session.  Encourage your introverts to participate
• Make it fun. Play music. Use colored markers and sticky notes.  Liven things up

Odds are if you encourage creativity you will get it from your team and remember the words of Maya Angelou, “The more you use, the more you have.”

#KuToo

You may have read recently about the protest in Japan. Women are protesting, no revolting, against the requirement that they wear high heels to work, claiming it’s gender discrimination. Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Minister, Takumi Nemoto, a man, claims, “It is socially accepted as something that falls within the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate.”  Well, I respectfully disagree.

When I heard a news clip on the radio about the #KuToo movement, a play on the words for shoes and agony, I thought of something I read in a career advice column earlier in the year.

The advice seeker wrote that her company requires professional office attire and for women that means high heels. She’d been diagnosed with back pain and told by her doctor to wear flats.  Her boss called her out for wearing casual shoes. She wanted to know if the boss could dictate what she wore.

Well, both columnists who responded totally missed the mark. She talked about employment-at-will, securing doctors notes and eliciting advice from the boss. He did an on-line search of women’s shoes where he found 25 types of women’s heels, and talked about a shopping trip with his wife for women’s shoes.

While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t specify manner of dress as a protection, there are state and local non-discrimination laws that do. And without checking with an employment attorney, I’d venture an opinion that requiring women to where a certain style of shoes, while not making the same demands on men, is likely sex discrimination under Title VII – or close to it.

The advice seeker didn’t elaborate on the nature of her back pain, but its root cause could be covered by the Americans with Disability Act.  Her employer could be flirting with yet another claim of discrimination.

Dress codes are tricky. Indeed, we struggled with how to talk about “questionable” workplace dress in our next book about the dynamics of workplace behavior.  Yes, employers should have the expectation their team members – male and female – will dress in a manner that’s professional, acceptable and appropriate for the organization’s business. In certain occupations, those that are safety related for example, requirements for certain manner of dress, including shoes, is certainly reasonable.  But mandating that high heels is the only acceptable foot ware for women, is not.

In The Manager’s Answer Book, we talk about recognizing other legal pitfalls in Section 7. We’d be delighted if you’d purchase a copy and check it out. https://tinyurl.com/y8umaqpz

Namaste

“Imagine what impact this single word – Namaste – could have on the world if every day you looked each person that you passed in the eye and said in effect: I salute the Divine within you. I salute what you do best. I salute your natural gifts. I honor your uniqueness and your specialness.” Kevin Hall

This traditional Indian greeting is a gesture of respect, and respect is at the core of understanding diversity. Each of us possesses many unique characteristics that are often described as dimensions of diversity. They include obvious characteristics such as age, ethnicity, sex, mental or physical abilities, and race.  They also include other, not so obvious characteristics, such as education, military experience, religious beliefs, work experience, work and communication styles and, yes those special talents and gifts that we all possess.

At a time when we are experiencing so much divisiveness in our society, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all take the time to heed Kevin Hall’s advice and incorporate it into our daily routine. It may not be realistic to stop and say it out loud to everyone you pass - but take the time to mentally honor the uniqueness and special gifts of others, especially people who appear to be different from you. Listen to colleagues in meetings. Hear what they have to say. Don’t make assumptions about people around you. 

We’ve gathered a number of blogs we’ve written over the years into a new e-booklet entitled “Diversity & Discrimination”. You can find it at www.bigbookofhr.com. Feel free to download a copy. 

Namaste. 

Helping Employees Deal with Workplace Stress Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

Managers in our fast-paced business environment face many challenges but none perhaps greater than how to help employees deal with ever changing priorities and the stress it can cause.  Many people don’t respond well when, just as they’ve started a big project, they’re told that that work is being discontinued or put on hold and now they have to switch to a whole new set of deliverables.

Manager’s Tips:  We address that topic in our latest book—The Manager’s Answer Book.  The question is” This organization moves quickly and priorities shift frequently. This puts a lot of stress on our teams. As a manager, what can I do to mitigate stress for my team?”

Here’s some of the answer:  “I am so glad you recognize that the work environment can be highly stressful to your team—and to you as well. In addition, there’s the reality that your employees are trying to balance work needs with family and life needs. You’re probably not going to be able to change the fast pace of change in your organization, so what can you do?”

• Encourage your employees to take breaks during the day. Even a minute of deep breathing can reduce stress and anxiety.
• Exercise is an important factor in reducing stress. Stretch breaks can work wonders, as can short works outside. Fresh air can be invigorating.
• Be as flexible as possible about time off so that employees can take care of issues in their personal lives. It will give them peace of mind.

For more ideas on how to help your staff deal with stress, see page 84 of The Manager’s Answer Book.

Will You Take Returns?

 

Many organizations are finding the competition for new hires to be challenging at best so why not consider bringing former employees who left in good standing?  These are sometimes referred to boomerang employees and are typically people who left  you to pursue a job they thought was perfect—but maybe it didn’t work that way so they might be willing to return.

The good news is you know the quality of their work and they know your culture.  They will return having had new experiences and hopefully, new ideas but before you go after former employees, you will want to give this some serious thought and consider:

• How will your current employees react to a former employee returning? 
• How will the returning employee react to perhaps having to report to someone who was a peer (or even a direct report) before they resigned?
• Will you grant them their original hire date for benefits purposes? If yes, is this fair to people who’ve stayed with you?
• How will you bring the returning employees up to speed on changes you’ve made since they left? Caution: they may think everything stayed the same as before.

Re-hiring former good employees might be part of your overall recruiting strategy so you may want to give it a try.  In today’s highly competitive war for talent, you want to be sure you are casting a wide net for new hires. Some other sources might include using social media including 

Twitter and LinkedIn as well as networking and your own career page on your organization’s website.   And we have more information about recruiting former employees on page 62 of The Big Book of HR.  

Don’t overlook a highly cost effective source—a well crafted employee referral program which we will discuss in future blogs.

Big Sky – Big Ideas

“There’s so much sky here,” my friend exclaimed.  “No more than where you live,” I answered.  “The difference is that you can see more of it in the west.”  Where I live now – with wide open spaces and the ability to see over 100 miles from my backyard – is much different from where I used to live – where he still lives – with trees obscuring your line of site and blocking the ability to see as much of the sky or distances as far as I now can.  

Here in New Mexico the topography is different than the topography in Virginia.  The first time I lived here I used to say that I’d never seen the horizon on land – just at the beach where the water met the sky.  That probably wasn’t true, but I marveled at how wherever I looked, I could see the sky touching the earth.  This new horizon – or view of it – gave me a different perspective.

Did you ever hear people say that they’re most creative when they are not at work? There’s something about stepping out of your usual routine and environment that allows new ideas to flood our brains.  When you expand your perspective, you expand your horizons as well. 

What do you do to expand your perspective? How do you break free from your routine and environment in order to find your creative self?  Some people crave solitude and serenity, others the bustle of big cities. The fact is, you can find energy and creativity in different places and situations – you just have to expand your perspective!

As leaders in your organization, you recognize that creativity and innovation are critical – whether it’s developing new products or services or just finding improved ways of doing things.  You want nurture that innovative self inside each and every employee. One way you can encourage that is to have tech-free zones within the workplace, or tech-free times such as no emails or texting at certain times, days, over weekends, or on vacation.  Insist that your team members take the time to clear their minds and broaden their individual perspective.  

You can read more about innovation on page 98 of The Manager’s Answer Book.  And remember “What you imagine you create.”

Successful On-Boarding Programs: Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

Somewhere along the way you’ve probably heard that “you never second chance to make a first impression.”  This is certainly true when it comes to on-boarding you new staff members. So, take the time to do it right the first time because a well-crafted and well-executed on-boarding process is the first step toward engaging and retaining your new hires. 

You spend a lot of time and money you spend on hiring great new people. You want them to know they made the right decision to join you and to be productive as quickly as possible.

On-boarding starts as soon as the candidate accepts the job offer.  Continue to communicate with new hires during the time before they start. Send them benefits information so they can make good decisions. Include them on press releases or any other events your organization has—even before they start.  Send important information they need to make their first day an easy one including arrival time on day one, where to park or what commuting options are available, whom to ask for when they arrive, and a schedule of the day’s activities.  

Manager’s Tips:  In our book, The Manager’s Answer Book, we pose the question: “When I was hired, my on-boarding session was focused on administrative issues and it took me a long time to learn about the culture. I want to do a better job for my team.”

Part of the answer is: “Be ready for a new employee’s first day. Have their workspace ready with all of the tools and equipment to do their job. Managers should spend as much time as possible with a new hire on their first. day. Take the new hire to lunch. Share the organization’s history, vision, values, and mission.”

“The on-boarding process doesn’t end on the first day or the first week. Build in checkpoints at 30, 60, and 90 day.”

For lots more great tips on a successful on-boarding process where you make that good first impression you know is important, see page 82 of The Manager’s Answer Book.