Origins of Labor Day

On March 25, 1911 as the Triangle Shirtwaist Company burned, a young social worker who was in Washington Square looking on in horror as the seamstresses jumped to their deaths.  That young social worker was Frances Perkins.    It was because of this event that she left her office as head of the New York Consumers League and become the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York.

When you walk into the Department of Labor’s building in Washington DC you are greeted by a statute of Frances Perkins.  In fact, the building is named for her.  Frances Perkins was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet.  In this role, she had an unenviable challenge: she had to be as capable, as fearless, as tactful, as politically astute as the other Washington politicians, in order to make it possible for other women to be accepted into the halls of power after her.

While famous simply by being the first woman cabinet member, her legacy stems from her accomplishments. She was largely responsible for the U.S. adoption of social security, unemployment insurance, federal laws regulating child labor, and adoption of the federal minimum wage.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. some 10,000 workers assembled and marched from City Hall, past reviewing stands in Union Square, and then uptown to 42^nd Street.  The workers and their families gathered for a picnic, concern and speeches.  It was organized by the Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions.

Debate continues to this day as to who originated the idea of a workers' holiday, but it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions.

By 1884 similar organizations in other cities followed the example of New York and celebrated a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. By 1894, 237 states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

Marking the end of the summer vacation season and return to school, Labor Day, is celebrated on the first Monday in September, as a tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. This year, Labor Day is next Monday, September 5, 2016. Enjoy it and take a moment to remember its origins.

Recognition and Retention

HR professionals constantly look at turnover metrics and compare them to industry standards. How do we stack up against the competition? What can we do better to retain good employees?

Business owners and business leaders are constantly concerned about customer and client retention. How do we stack up? What's the competition doing? What can we do better to meet our customers and clients expectations and needs? How can we retain them?

Let's examine a situation from a consumer's viewpoint. The nail salon where I'd been going for at least 18 years was recently sold. It was a family owned business and the two principle employees who were family members left when the sale was completed. On my last visit before the sale, I made my next appointment. It would be with the new owners. When I arrived at my scheduled appointment time, 9:30 a.m., the he place was closed. I returned at 10:00, employees were there and getting ready to serve other customer.

 “Could I come back?”

 “No, I had an appointment at 9:30 and you weren’t here.”

 “Oh, we were late today.”

So the search began for a new salon.

The next candidate lasted about six weeks. She was serving someone when I arrive on time for my second appointment causing me to wait 10 minutes. Her service at a quality that was less than I expected and the prices were higher. The search continues.

Third time's a charm, after a rocky start. The nail technician with whom I'd scheduled my appointment failed to record it. “Could I come back?” Here we go again. I agreed to see someone else since I was desperate. I'd gone to this salon years ago until my technician left and I moved on.  Turns out as Laine, the new technician, engaged me in conversation, I shared that with her. She responded that she thought I looked familiar. She remembered me after all these years. She remembered the woman who did my nails, where she sat, and other seemingly obscure details. She did superb work that met, even exceeded, my expectations. Most importantly, she recognized and remembered me.

Just like Norm in Cheers, everyone wants recognition -- to be where everyone knows your name, or at least remembers your face. There's not much difference between employee recognition and client/customer recognition.  We've said so many times, it costs nothing to recognize employees.  A client once shared how her company's CEO made it a point (and had a system for) remembering people's names. It endeared him to the staff, and the new staff members when they acquired new companies. They always had his back.

The same goes for clients and customers. They want their needs and expectations recognized and met. Three people lost my business because they didn’t recognize the importance of my needs nor the value of my time.

Leaders in human resources, marketing, and business development all need to work together to share and align strategies and models around recognition.  It leads to decreased turnover (employee and customer) and increased retention.

I've got Laine's back in my saga. Her gain is her co-worker’s loss. Her excellent work is what sold me. Her recognition will keep me coming back!

Celebrate Even Small Wins

Some managers do a pretty good job of giving recognition when something really big happens.  You know what I mean—when someone comes up with a million dollar idea or makes a big sale. Sure, then it’s easy to get everyone together to celebrate!  But, what about the smaller successes—do you take the time to celebrate them?

Let’s say your team meets a significant deadline or milestone.  Why not take some time to celebrate that to encourage them to keep going.  Big wins are rare so it those are the only ones you recognize, you’re probably missing some great opportunities to recognize and reward success.

Be sure to celebrate in a timely manner—as soon as possible to maximize the impact of the event or goal being met.  When you plan the event, take some time to make note of everyone who should be included when you make your speech.  We’ve all seen the fall out when a key player’s name isn’t read—something like that can negate the recognition event!  And, please don’t just decide to thank the department head or team leader and leave out the others who contributed!  Thank everyone who contributed!

We strongly encourage you to develop a culture of recognition. We’re not suggesting that you make it so commonplace that it loses its significance but make it part of your culture to recognize successes and to reward good performance.  You may want to create some sort of special memento that is given to teams who succeed. It can be something fun or something serious. I’ve heard of organizations that have a rubber chicken that is passed from team to team and proudly displayed when won while others hand out trophies.  It doesn’t really matter what it is—just make sure you are fair and consistent when handing out rewards and recognition.  Don’t overlook the power of a handwritten note from the CEO to thank each team member—those will be treasured and displayed for a long time to come!

Remember, the small wins are important so take time to celebrate when they happen!

Understanding Your Conflict Style

In order to manage workplace conflict, it’s important to be able to understand and adjust to each situation and to the preferred conflict style of those involved.

Everybody has a conflict style preference and knowing our own style preference and those of others can really help us manage workplace conflict. Here are the style definitions:

Competing attacks and likes to argue and debate. This type is competitive, assertive, and uncooperative, and can be threatening and intimidating, causing others to give in to avoid the argument. Competing means “standing up for your rights,” defending a position you believe is correct, or simply trying to win.

Accommodating is unassertive and cooperative, and is the complete opposite of competing. Accommodating may yield to another’s point of view or give even when h/she believes h/her ideas are better.

Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative and neither pursues h/her own concerns nor those of others. This type will not commit and is unsure where h/she stands on issues.

Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative and takes a win-win stance in an attempt to work to find a solution that fully satisfies both people. This style approaches conflict with skill and balance, understands the value of positive conflict, and often acts as a mediator.

Compromising is moderate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness. The objective is to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies both parties. Compromise gives up more than competing but less than accommodating and is intimidated by direct confrontation. They look to gain consensus or seek a quick middle-ground solution.

Each of us is capable of using all five conflict-handling modes and no one uses a single style of dealing with conflict. But certain people use some modes better than others and, therefore, tend to rely on those modes more heavily than others—whether because of temperament or practice.

Understanding your own preferred conflict style and the preferred conflict style of others can really help take some emotion and some personalization out of the conflict. When we understand conflict styles, we hopefully will stop thinking in terms of “I’m right and he’s wrong,” and take the actions of others less personally. Then we can use the energy we’d normally waste on trying to figure them out to creatively resolve the underlying issues of the dispute. We can also consciously choose to use a different conflict style when the situation demands it. But this takes practice to use a style that perhaps isn’t as comfortable for you as your preferred style. However, you can learn to use different styles effectively and it is worth it to try!

Once you understand your own preferred style of dealing with conflict, it helps to try and understand the people you work with and how they approach conflict. While it’s probably not a great idea to just ask them, if you listen carefully and observe your co-workers, you will probably be able to get a pretty good idea of their conflict mode. Once you’re armed with that knowledge (and remember, just like you, other people may use different conflict modes at different times), here are some ideas of how you can work successfully with a person using that particular conflict style or mode:

Competing: If you’re working with someone whose style preference is competing, take time to allow them to vent. You will want to be gracious while doing your best to discover what they fear. This is a good place for you to use reflecting listening skills and don’t forget that humor may go a long way in getting a competing person to relax and then be able to resolve the conflict.

Avoiding: If you’re working with someone whose style preference is avoiding, you will need to be direct and patient while you work to understand their position. You will need to be supportive and allow that person to feel as if they can confront you with their issue.

Compromising: If you’re working with someone whose style preference is compromising, active listening skills will be useful as you work to create a supportive environment where the person will feel comfortable. Try describing the impact of their behavior on the situation and allow them to feel as if they can confront you with the issue.

Accommodating: If you’re working with someone who is accommodating, you need to try and get them to open up on how they are feeling and what they fear. You need to monitor their energy level since they are susceptible to burnout. Your role is to solicit their input and their feedback because they probably won’t offer it willingly.

Collaborating: If you’re working with someone whose style preference is collaborating, you and others in your work group will probably learn early on to depend on them in conflict situations since they are skilled at resolving whatever comes up. Watch and learn from them in order to enhance your own abilities to deal with conflict.

Why is it so important to understand our own conflict style preference and the style preferences of those around us? Different styles lead to different approaches to how we relate to others and how we work together. These style preferences aren’t perfect or always accurate, but can be helpful as you work with others in your organization to resolve the conflicts that arise just because we’re human beings who think and act differently.

This article was originally published on December 28, 2015 on Thoughtleadersllc.com

Interviewing – Planning for Success

I started working at my Dad’s grocery store when I was seven years old. I have had a job or multiple jobs ever since that time. In all my decades of working as an employee, independent contractor or consultant I have only experienced, seen or found a couple of business that used consistent and effective interviewing.  If you want to hire someone or if you want to be hired, the interviewing process is very important. Take adequate time and effort to put a plan and process together.

How do we select the right candidates?

To select the right candidates, think intrinsically and do a thorough job to determine if candidates are a good “fit” for your organization, team or family. The word intrinsic means, “to belong naturally.” Carefully consider what it means to “belong naturally.” People like to have a sense of belonging. If that sense of belonging can happen naturally and freely, that is what you are seeking. So how can that happen for your situation? From the start, see it as a sorting exercise and then a selection process. A temptation is to jump quickly to a decision that you have found the right candidate before you have completed the search process. Work consciously.

One approach to determine a natural fit, is to use a criteria of four areas found in the book “The Managerial Moment of Truth” by Bodaken and Fritz. The factors are skills, attitude, alignment and interest. Does the individual have the skills you need? Does their attitude complement the culture? Is there an alignment of values, principles and priorities? Do they have genuine interest in buying-in, owning and taking pride in what your business does and how you do business? All four areas must match!

The best and right candidate is a mutual decision.

How can we best prepare ourselves and the candidate for the interview?

Have absolute clarity about your specific needs, interests and desires. Have focused open-ended questions prepared that you ask all candidates.  Have a plan and process that you use consistently. Share your process timeline with candidates. Include emails and phone interactions in the process.

From “The Big Book of HR,” use the STAR approach when asking about or sharing work experiences. S - Describe a specific Situation. T - Explain the specific Tasks involved. A - Explain the specific Actions you took. R - Describe the Results of your actions.

The interview process is an opportunity to show both your professional and personal genuine self. Being authentic and truthful is always the best practice.

As the interviewer, show the organization, the team and the culture. Involve other team members in the interviewing process. As the candidate, give evidence of what you have to contribute to the team. Be open and direct with your own questions as well as how and where you see exciting connections with the organization. You as company or candidate are making a significant decision. Interviewing is critical - Do the homework!

This article originally appeared in the Taos News on March 20, 2016.

Bernie Linnartz