Understanding the Perspecitive of Another Generation

Q: As management, sales and human resource professionals, we are suppose to be able to quickly assess various business environments, understand cultural and technological trends and in general, be able to see how others see the world. Intellectually, this may make sense, but can a person understand fully the perspective of another generation?
RC, Kansas City, MO

A: What a great question and this gives me the opportunity to lighten up your week by beginning with a fun test. Watch the following two videos below. They will take up about 4 ½ minutes each of your time. They are both “hot linked” so just click on them, turn up your speakers, enjoy the music and enjoy the events.

1. The Fifties

2. The Sixties

If you are a Baby Boomer, think about how hard it would be to convey the social or personal significance of these events, activities or icons to someone of another generation (like your kids). You could tell them what it was like but would they really feel it the same way you do when you watched these videos? If you are not a Baby Boomer, show these to someone who is and let them try explaining it to you!

In either case, you will begin to appreciate how truly distinct the culture of each generation is at the most basic level. We could do well to remember this the next time we assume we “get” a different culture, age group or technical discipline.

My hopes are that you have a week filled with sunshine!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC

Commitment and Urgency

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMITMENT AND URGENCY!

Whether you are in a sales scenario, dealing with a peer or subordinate, or a customer or vendor, you must include Commitment and Urgency.

The dictionary defines commitment as: “The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons.

My definition or what I call a “Mancusoism” is: “An agreement to do something….anything… or nothing at all.”

So many times in my consulting assignments I’ve had managers tell me that their employees aren’t performing to his/her expectations. But when I question the process of dealing effectively with other people, most of the time the “commitment” is solidly missing in the equation.

They will say: “I’ve told them many times what I want done” or “I’ve shown them many times on how to do it” but they just don’t seem to get it. And I ask, “….Did you confirm that they GOT IT?” Did you verbally get them to say, “I GOT IT AND I CAN/WILL GET THIS DONE?” I’ve preached in many of my weekly newsletters that you must get employees to take ownership of the process, their actions and their words. A commitment is an agreement herein to “do it” or “get it done” or “follow up” or say, “I can’t, won’t or just don’t understand!” You as the manager/leader need to know!

This is no different in the sales process. You must get a commitment from the client. The commitment might be a date certain to come back and continue or it might be a commitment to never come back again. But there must be an agreement to do something. And by the way, this commitment concept works both ways. Don’t just be one who gives the orders but demonstrate your professionalism by giving your commitment to get theirs.

Now let’s move onto value of Urgency.

Dictionary: “The Quality or condition of being urgent, pressing importance.”

Mancusoism: “Setting the listeners hair on fire!”

If your prospective clients’ “hair is on fire” and he is looking at you the fire extinguisher sales person or the sales person next to you who sells gasoline, which one will he/she choose? Which one would you choose if your “hair was on fire”?

If you ask the questions in a proper order; if you ask the right questions that provide you with the details of the customers need or pain (fire); if you become one with the buyer; if you clarify the understanding of the pain; you can then explain the VALUE of YOUR fire extinguisher and affect the outcome of the sale.

This works exactly the same in dealing with employees. It amazes me how “busy” a manager can get that he/she forgets to include the employee in the process. Once you become “one” with the employee, your manager job becomes easier. You become the leader the employees want and look up to. Remember, just because you are a manager, does not guarantee you are a leader. Leadership is an earned level of achievement when dealing with people at any level and that includes sales, customer service, managing a process, division or a company. People follow leaders because they WANT to.

I always look forward to hearing from the people who receive this newsletter every week, because I too learn how to help put the fires out. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for upcoming newsletter, I welcome any and all.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso
George F. Mancuso, CPC

How Do We Stop the Interview Bias of Hiring Managers?

Q: How Do We Stop the Interview Bias of Hiring Managers?

We recently learned that, when interviewing candidates, some hiring managers are biased against people who have an accent. How do I convince them that this biased attitude affects our commitment to hiring a diverse workforce that is reflective of our community at large?

----At Odds, HR Generalist, Vancouver, WA

A: The short answer to your question is to show them research that supports the idea that diversity significantly contributes to an organization's competitive advantage

The somewhat longer answer: The ability of an organization to commit to hiring a diverse workforce is challenging for a number of reasons. First, there are only so many positions available for a qualified pool of people to hire. Second, people within the organization might not be committed in full to hire a diverse workforce. Third, the organization itself may not have systems in place to engage a diverse workforce. To get everyone on board with having a diverse workforce, try the following strategies to get people thinking in new and creative ways:

Analysis First: It's important to take a look at the organization itself to understand its relationship with diversity. This means a closer look must be taken at the organization's policies, procedures, hiring strategies, orientation, training, performance appraisal system, goals, mission and values. Do these structures support or inhibit diversity?

Understand Diversity: Many times, "you don't know what you don't know," as the saying goes. In other words, some people haven't been exposed to diversity issues, challenges and opportunities. Improvement can be made by having "brown bag lunch talks" in which diversity is the featured topic. A seminar on the competitive advantages of diversity also might be worthwhile for all your employees.

Senior Leaders/Diversity Champions: The senior leadership needs to talk about diversity in a public setting. Employees need to hear from the top that diversity is important. And, when leadership positions are being hired for, hiring managers must do their part to seek diverse candidates. Also, special attention must be paid to "diversity champions": those who get it and want to do something about it. These are the folks who can act as catalysts to get others excited about diversity.

Orientation and Training: Diversity must be a keynote topic during orientation and throughout training. The more people hear about diversity, the more opportunities they will have to look at what it means to them and their department or program. For hiring managers, this implies being more open when hearing a person with an accent. Instead of shutting the person off, it instead implies keeping an open mind and working to discover the individual's unique strengths.

Institutionalizing Diversity: It is one thing to talk about diversity. It's quite another thing to have a systematic approach for embracing it. Institutionalization comes down to proactively discovering ways to integrate diversity within the organizational culture. For instance, diversity might be integrated into the organization's training program, where people learn more about diversity. Diversity could also become an organizational value, where people discover ways to bring the value to life and create a diverse work environment.

Moving Diversity Forward: All organizations seek to improve in some way. By embracing diversity, an organization can significantly improve by gaining new perspectives and insights. The key is to look at diversity as a way to grow the organization and take it to the next level. The more positive outcomes that are achieved with diversity, the more diversity gets branded as a positive employee experience. The "diversity experience" will begin to take on a life of its own with proper maintenance and dedication.

Branch Out: Organizations often put their public relations and/or public affairs departments in charge of projects of social responsibility. This is another way for organizations to learn about a community's diversity assets. Not only could organizations contribute to their communities, but they can also team up with diverse individuals, who might one day be an employee, customer, vendor or board member.

Go out and make this week one for the record books!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC

No Esprit De Corps?

Q: It’s hard for me to imagine that a group of engaged employees would be indifferent to the activities or situations that would create risk for their organization. As an executive of a less than 100 employee manufacturing firm we seem to have experienced this event on way too many occasions. Why don’t employees come to me “before it’s too late?”
JM ,Omaha, NE

A: Disengaged Employees Can Spell Trouble at Any Company

You can set up all the compliance procedures and employee hot lines you want, but you need to put mechanisms in place to encourage people to WANT to address the problems. Encouraging people to become whistle-blowers is a challenge for any organization.

My consultant side immediately wonders; A.) Why do employees become silent when a “risk” event pops up its ugly head? B.) Why do some employees take the position, “it’s not my job to report my peer-supervisor- manager etc?” C.) What causes employees to become disengaged from the situation at hand?

The very first item I would look at is the true Esprit De Corps or lack of it in the organization. Not a facade of spirit which is one where the boss believes everybody loves him/her. But a true spirit of professionalism, demonstrated camaraderie, an intrinsic give and take helping hand at all levels and people honestly dealing with people. No doubt that these are part of the cultural challenges facing employer’s every day.

Without the items mentioned in the paragraph above, I would ask, “….how then can there be a mechanism to report and deal with at risk situations?” Employees don’t want to buck the good old boy network; they don’t want to deal with the fear of retribution from management or the offending party and certainly don’t want to be labeled the company snitch.

If you have not provided a mentally safe work environment, you continue to be at risk for these types of events. Managers of companies must keep an open mind, view the company activities and it employees equally at all times. If an owner becomes entrenched within the good old boy network I mentioned above, he/she loses most of the ability to direct the company except through the eyes of what the “network” wants. With that said, I would sincerely ask you this; “Does that scenario spell S-A-F-E?”

The resolution of these issues begin at the top. There is no magic wand to wave, no script or procedure to write that makes everything all better in a flash. Employees must want to be there; they need to be wanted; they need to feel mentally safe; they need to know their vote counts; they want a manager who is a leader not a leader who is a manager; Did I mention that these issues BEGINS AT THE TOP?

I certainly hope this is a fabulous week for you.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC

More About Change

Q: After reading your newsletter regarding “Change” it occurred to me that mine is not the only company that this is happening in. I began to wonder how the resistance to change is overcome. Can you tell us how we might prepare the company, from the CEO on down, for proposed changes and to garner their support? And, what level of management would be best suited for this task?
RW, Overland Park, KS

A: Overcoming the resistance to change begins ONLY at the highest level. If you are a business owner, “C” level executive, President, Executive Vice President I subscribe to you today that you are solely responsible for the following general categories within your company:

Communication, Leadership, Confidence, Motivation, Dedication, Responsibility, Definition, Honesty, Professionalism, and oh yes Communication! Yes I realize this is not the normal rhetoric you’d hear from a consultant, but think about it…..If you demonstrate these items in your business and professional life, what could be the outcome?

It all begins at the top. Companies that start and stop change and/or growth, confuse the employees, customers and vendors. If you are guilty of that, please believe me that your credibility outside of your three square feet of personal space has been tainted. Communicating one message while implementing another is totally counter-productive and not to mention a very destructive method of running a business.

To answer your question fully is almost impossible from this keyboard. But the long and the short of it is there MUST BE A COMMITMENT that doesn’t waiver. The “executives” have got to walk the walk and talk the talk and they can’t deviate for the sake of the personal agenda a a chosen few. Commitments of change need to be in writing and everybody needs to know the plan. This will help keep the plan on target until the goals are reached. If the plan seems to be getting off target, communicate to get it back on line. Did I mention that talking as a form of communications is okay?

Employees must be counted in and they need to believe in their executives so that they can feel safe, comfortable and buy into and take ownership of the plans of change as well. Support is earned when all parties realize that the executives ARE DEMONSTRATING through their actions their COMMITMENT and DEDICATION to the plans of change as well. Communication, Communication and more Communication is the key. The people around you are probably not prophets, they’re not mind readers …COMMUNICATE in a positive manner so that when we are all in the same sand box the entire team knows the goal is to build a castle.

I received many Emails from last week’s newsletter. As an update; In example # 1, my friend did get the call and he has been hired as the new Director of Economic Development. I am confident that community made the right decision and they will begin the defined and dedicated growth process necessary to again make them a thriving historic community. Change is absolutely in the making!

In example #2, several people wrote to me that they wondered if I was speaking about them as they had experienced similar experiences. That response didn’t surprise me and I can only hope that my message gets out and our workplaces become a much better place for it. I hope that owners and managers realize the intrinsic damage they are capable of cause to their employees and other people around them. But more importantly, to realize just how great their organizations could be honest communication, legitimately define a plan and commit to change. Step out of your role and look back at your company. Don’t rationalize your actions, play the devil’s advocate. Criticize yourself. Get an outsider to evaluate you as a manager and if you’re doing all right, then kudos to you. But if you have any deficits or weaknesses like 99.9% of us do, then work on fixing them. Become a leader through your actions not because of your title. There truly is no other way.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso

George F. Mancuso, CPC