Creating Workplace Culture That Actually Works

 

Workplace culture often seems like some sort of abstract concept. We think, ‘Oh to build a great culture at work, we have to create something that mimics Apple’ or some other hot, tech company. In reality, building a dynamic work culture is much simpler, based on how the organization’s values, attitude and behavior manifest daily in person to person exchanges.

A recent article in Ragan cited twelve workplace characteristics that will have employees packing their bags and updating their LinkedIn profile as they look for a new job. When you go through the list, you’ll likely be walking down memory lane, recalling situations in previous jobs, or perhaps even your current, where the atmosphere was stifling.

To avoid this type of attrition, let’s focus on three lessons learned:

1. Leadership is key. Let’s face it, we mimic our surroundings. If we’re new on the job, and not in a leadership positions, we often observe and copy the behaviors of others around us. Leadership is key in setting the standard,  and clarifying expectations throughout the organization.
2. What’s the real issue? Many employees bring you the symptom of a problem that they want you to solve. Your job as a manager is to dig deeper and find the real issue, by asking questions such as, “What’s underneath all this?” or “What’s the most important issue we need to look at now?”. Once the employee sees the real issues, help them tie it back to its impact on the team and organization. This will then start to create real change.
3. Structure enhances productivity and networking will aid efforts. Your colleagues are bright and good at what they do. However, what do they do? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out. Help every employee create a LinkedIn profile and encourage them to connect through the company page. Why is this important? When you’re trying to figure out who handles media inquiries, it’ll only take two minutes instead of an hour!

Simple habits build success. Take a look around your work; where do you see yourself succeeding? Start with what’s working and expand from there. What can you work on next?

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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Human Capital Trends: Diversity Takes the Spotlight

69% of executives rate diversity and inclusion as an important issue (up from 59% in 2014).

In 2017, the proportion of executives who consider inclusion as a top priority has risen 32% from 2014.

These statistics are just a few from Deloitte’s global research, which included 10,400 business and HR leaders across 140 countries. The global surveys were split between large companies (more than 10,000 employees), medium-sized companies (1,000-10,000) and smaller companies (less than 1,000 employees). The resulting 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report provides an informed view into the future of work—and what some consider to be the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

One of the nine trends identified is the reality gap between diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts and results. Today we’ll take a look at that trend, discuss why things need to change and why diversity and inclusion are taking center stage, review the old ways versus the new ways of approaching diversity and inclusion, and lay out steps you can take to shorten the gap.

Snapshot: Diversity and Inclusion Today

Research shows that diverse teams are more innovative, engaged and profitable. But today’s diversity and inclusion needs are more than just profits and productivity. In today’s world, D&I impacts brand, corporate purpose, and performance.

We’ve seen scrutiny of lack of diversity on the news, and now that scrutiny is coming from within the companies themselves. More people are champions of diversity and inclusion, and the Millennials see it as an essential part of corporate culture. This moves beyond building diverse teams, to insuring that everyone has a voice and is heard. The next generation, Gen Z, will be the most diverse to date, and companies will need to make way.

Despite the increased scrutiny, and increased awareness of unconscious and explicit bias, results are appearing too slow. The most popular way to address these issues is training, and while helpful, it appears that making people aware of diversity and inclusion issues is not enough. Organizations must take a larger stroke, by implementing data-driven solutions and increasing transparency. They also need to immerse executives in the world of discrimination and bias so that they can truly understand how they affect decision-making, talent decisions, and business outcomes. As Deloitte says, “A set of ‘new rules’ is being written that will demand a new focus on experiential learning, process change, data-driven tools, transparency, and accountability.”

The era of HR filling a quota to meet diversity goals is over. Ownership of diversity and inclusion efforts now fall into the laps of leadership, with senior leaders holding leaders at all levels accountable to make concrete, measurable progress with diversity and inclusion efforts. Why the shift?

Five Reasons Diversity and Inclusion Are Taking Center Stage

1. The Global Political Environment

Employee sensitivity is up due to immigration challenges, nationalism, and fear of terrorism appearing frequently in the press. Employees are personally concerned with these issues and want their employers to offer perspective. In this way, D&I now touches issues of employee engagement, human rights and social justice.

2. Organizations are Becoming Global Entities

As large organizations increasingly define themselves as global entities, religious, gender, generational and other types diversity issues become a greater reality.

3. Diverse and Inclusive Teams Outperform Their Peers

There are many studies showing the benefits of diverse teams and inclusive cultures. Deloitte reports, “Companies with inclusive talent practices in hiring, promotion, development, leadership, and team management generate up to 30% higher revenue per employee and greater profitability than their competitors.”

4. Gender Pay Equity in the Spotlight

Gender pay disparity is increasingly in the public eye. Companies and even government administrations are taking the necessary steps to make improvements. For example, Salesforce analyzed 17,000 employee salaries and identified a gender pay gap; they then spent roughly $3 million to even it out. On a governmental level, Canada’s Justin Trudeau appointed a gender equal-pay cabinet in 2015.

5. Baby Boomers Staying in the Workforce Longer

Career trajectories have changed due to Baby Boomers remaining in the workforce longer. That delay in retirement means a workforce with generational diversity like we’ve never seen before.

As you can see, the shift in how diversity and inclusion is approached needs to expand. It’s helpful to look at Deloitte’s following table which how D&I was approached in the past, versus how it needs to be approached now.

Four Ways to Start Amping Up Your Diversity and Inclusion Efforts

So if you’re an organization who is just getting ramped up for diversity and inclusion efforts that extend beyond training, where do you begin? Do you toss your training programs and start fresh? Here are the first four steps to take.

1. Share Research With Leadership

Providing data on the value of diversity and inclusion can get top leadership on board. But being on board is just the first step. Then they need to be held accountable through metrics and reports on diversity in promotion, hiring and compensation.

2. Use Analytics

Human Capital Analytics can identify patterns of racial bias, inequity in compensation, and bias in hiring and promotion much easier (and significantly faster) than any HR department can. After these patterns are identified, a more targeted plan can be implemented.

3. Extend Efforts Beyond HR

Diversity and inclusion should be on par with compliance, IT and security, practiced by everyone and owned by leadership. It is not just an HR responsibility—it’s a business responsibility.

4. Pay Attention to Global Differences

Remember that as organizations become more global, the diversity and inclusion needs will vary by region. The problematic areas you address and plans you put in place for the U.S. won’t necessarily be the same as the problems and plans in the Middle East. Listen to your employees’ interests and concerns, then decide what needs to be measured from there.

Expansion and Agility

As global networks expand and technology transforms the workplace, D&I models will continue to evolve. There isn’t a strategy organizations can develop today that will still apply in a decade. However, when diversity and inclusion is considered part of the corporate infrastructure, leaders can take the same agile approach to closing the gap that they take to surviving a world in constant flux.

Have you noticed an increase of buzz around diversity and inclusion in your workplace? We’d love to hear about any initiatives you’ve experienced.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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How to Grow Human Capital During Hard Times

 

Without a doubt, the most important capital right now remains human capital. Organizations that will thrive after the pandemic are taking actions now to improve their future stock of this form of capital that delivers over 90% of organizational results.

As I write this, medical and financial fears abound. Much of the U.S. (and the world) is reeling from either the direct effects of the corona virus pandemic or the restrictive orders in many areas. Coming into sight is another fear – of the long-term losses in our personal financial and national economic systems. What degree of financial security do individuals and families still have?

Businesses have been forced to close or have lost many of their customers. Local and state organizations may face substantial reductions in budget. Cash is in short supply, and the future is looking murky, at best.

Under these conditions, what actions should hard-pressed leaders take? Accept government grants and forgivable loans? Cut costs and reduce full-time staff? Motivate shareholder or customer loyalty? Maintain or acquire tangible assets like machines or upgraded factories?

The answer might surprise you.

But first…

What Is Human Capital?

Many people are surprised to hear that something called “human capital” even exists.

That’s because, in the U.S., we don’t always think of developing our people as an intrinsic, necessary part of growing our organizations or our economy. This attitude is left over from the Industrial Age, when manufacturing was the primary driver of results, success was based on your ability to build a better, faster and cheaper widget, and manufacturing employees were considered just another cog in the process.

Old ideas die hard. But if we look at the past thirty years, it’s clear that our most successful organizations — from Amazon to Apple, from NASA to Walmart to Pfizer— aren’t thriving because of their superior assembly lines, but rather because of their superior ideas.

And who is it that generates ideas?

People.

To Understand Human Capital — and How to Develop It — Look to the Military

It used to be that — just like in the private sector — the world’s military organizations were competing to amass equipment. If you wanted a dominant military, you needed to have more ships, more tanks, and more munitions than your adversaries.

But today, military equipment, like all other tangible capital, has become a commodity. It’s reasonably cheap, readily available and in great supply. That’s why it no longer signals superiority. That’s why the U.S. military now understands that physical capital is no longer a differentiator for the world’s militaries and that superiority today isn’t based on having more equipment; it’s based on having better trained people.

Look at the example of education.

Does the Military Have a Human Capital Strategy for Education?

For more than eighty years, the U.S. military has led the nation with its efforts to optimize its human capital systems, adopt novel human capital strategies, and use analytics to assess and improve its human capital performance.

In keeping with this, our military has a simple and effective strategy for education: It makes education and training available to all recruits, based on their talents and desire to learn.

How has this strategy benefited our nation?

The “American Century” was kicked off by both our country’s technological advances during World War II and by the gains in middle class education that allowed us to turn those advances into global business dominance.

But the military’s commitment to education didn’t end with armistice. Every year, our armed services operate the world’s largest educations system, where male and female Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines engage in formal professional development. And as the cost of private and public colleges continue the skyrocket, the military’s training and education system, costing well over $30 billion per year, is free for service members and remains a major reason for enlisting in our all-volunteer military.

Does the United States Have a Human Capital Strategy for Education?

Yes. And it is also simple, though much less effective than the military’s. Our strategy allocates the quality and amount of education according to your zip code and family’s financial acumen. Facts are stubborn things and we need to own this one.

80-90% of our current high school students are qualified to earn either a college degree or a technical training certification. Yet many of them will not achieve that dream because it’s become unrealistically expensive.

How would things be different in this country if education were allocated based on your drive and desire to learn, not on line 42 (adjusted gross income) of your parents’ federal income tax return?

How much more would an educated and certified national population be able to contribute to our growth and resilience, during good times and bad?

I believe that our wealth and productivity would grow exponentially, along with the percentage of our citizenry that was vested in that growth. And perhaps the current pandemic will clear the way for developing bold new experiments such as student loan forgiveness, free virtual learning, even mechanisms for containing college costs to help us test that proposition.

Human Capital Will Light Our Way

Even before the corona virus pandemic, the United States was wrestling with major social issues such as inequality, the mismatch between workers skills and available jobs, apathy, alienation, and unnecessary displacement and despair. Too many, we’ve lost our way and we tend to fight over trivial issues, forgetting that long-term national success depends on perpetual strategic investments in national human capital.

The pandemic has laid bare, for those who choose to see, how impoverished our stores of both tangible and intangible capital had become. We’ve woken up to an understanding of how low our levels of not just medical supplies but also of leadership, truthfulness and problem-solving skills, have dipped.

Yet the pandemic has forced each of us — from business owners to employees, from policymakers to members of the public — to begin to develop our own human capital strategies. To ask: where, in these hard times, do we put our energy? Our creativity? Whatever money we command?

Do we compete to accumulate wipes and masks and tangible goods, confident in the individualized idea that “he who dies with the most toys wins”?

Or do we also support, help, train, educate and invest in each other — strengthening our families and work teams, sharing knowledge and know-how, coaching each other to higher levels of capability until this challenge begins to pass?

Our nation’s first responders and medics have already courageously answered this question.

Now it’s up to the rest of us to follow.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send me an email, or find me on Twitter.

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How and Why to Ask For What You Want at Work

I still cringe when I think of the time I got my haircut during my teenage years. The hairdresser asked how I wanted it cut and I replied, “I don’t care. You choose.” In that moment, I gave away total control of how I looked to a complete stranger!

As a child, I never learned to clearly ask for what I wanted. I always said, “I don’t care” even when I did care. I didn’t want to rock the boat and create conflict, so I kept quiet instead of voicing my opinion or request.

Through lots of personal development work, I slowly improved in speaking up. In fact, I went a little overboard and became a touch demanding at times. Telling my mom, “I need you to do this by tomorrow” was probably not the best way to treat her! Over time, I’ve slowly learned when to speak up and when not to speak up.

What is Self-Advocating?

Though it often doesn’t come naturally, speaking up and self-advocating is a vital professional and personal skill. What is it? It’s the ability to say what we need, want and hope for in life and at work. It’s the capacity to ask questions humbly, and admit mistakes. It’s about standing up for yourself and others in the face of large or small injustices.

Why You Need to Speak Up at Work

Let’s talk about work. When you don’t self-advocate, your approach to your career is passive. You rely on your manager to know what is best for you, how you’d like to progress, and what factors and peer behaviors are impacting your work. But not all managers can keep track of exactly what’s going on in their team member’s day-to-day life, and zero managers can read minds. Without communicating what you want, and what is standing in your way, you are relying on the unknown to shape your career and life.

Much of my coaching focuses on speaking up and asking for what you want. And I don’t just mean asking for a raise or a new position. It can be small things too, like when a colleague does something that irritates you, or when a client asks for more than the contract stipulates. These are examples of speaking up for your own good, as well as the good of your team or organization.

But How Do You Self-Advocate?

So how do you do it? I asked Jezra Kaye, a public speaking coach who works with people to improve public speaking skills. Her company is called Speak Up for Success; she’s the perfect person to turn to for self-advocacy help! Here are her five steps for asking for what you want.

Asking For What You Want at Work: 5 Steps

1.    Know Your Value— What do you bring to your company or team that they would otherwise have to do without? What have you accomplished for them? Can you put a dollar figure on the clients you’ve won, or the time you’ve saved through good practices? Even intangibles like increasing team morale can sometimes be quantified (“Our team lost only one member last year; the other teams all lost two or more”).

2.    Do Your Research— What do others at your level, in your field, get paid? How fast have others in your company been promoted? Are you being fairly compensated (often, women and people of color are not)?  Should you be making more than others, because you supervise more people, manage more projects, or have special expertise?

3.    Develop Your Strategy— You know your manager! Are they best approached at 8 am on Monday morning? Over drinks on Thursday night? After a difficult project has wrapped? Should you make an appointment, or have a casual conversation? Do they need time to process, or pressure to decide? And WHAT is the argument that will win them over?

4.    Plan Your Speech— Don’t leave this important conversation to chance! Work out what you’re going to say, and then…

5.    Practice, Practice, PRACTICE Look, asking for what you want can make you uncomfortable. It can make all of us uncomfortable. The truth is, there is a very slim chance you will get what you want unless you ask. Follow these five steps and give it a shot.

Do you have a story about self-advocacy in your own life? Maybe a time where it made all the difference for you or a time that it could have?

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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A Quick and Creative Way to Solve Problems at Work

Most of us have seen this image before. Some swear it’s a duck, while others swear it is a rabbit. Both are correct! But this exercise gives us a clear example of how individuals naturally see the world differently. And in the work environment, this different way of seeing things, if leveraged, presents a huge advantage.

Seeing the world, and situations, in only one way can interfere with our ability to problem solve. We look at situations in a way that comes naturally, and are blind to other perspectives that may increase our ability to solve problems or innovate. Each of us benefits greatly from the perspectives of others at the workplace.

Yet it doesn’t always feel that way. Often times sharing an idea in a meeting is like morphing into a dartboard. You share your idea, and then everyone throws darts at it. You may even try to get the buy-in from coworkers in advance of the meeting to mitigate getting shot down, frustrated—even embarrassed—so quickly.

What if I told you there was an easy and fun way to prevent this kind of meeting? What if you were able to use a simple methodology that instigates participation and positive outcomes to problem solving?

Enter the “Six Thinking Hats,” developed by Edward de Bono. As Freddi Donner explains, the Six Thinking Hats is “a tool for group discussion and individual thinking that involves six colored hats. “Six Thinking Hats”, and the associated idea parallel thinking, provide a means for groups to execute a thinking process in a detailed and cohesive way, which allows them to think together more effectively.”

What Are The Six Thinking Hats?

Here’s a great video explaining what the Six Hats are, and how the method works.

De Bono writes, “Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic ‘thinking hat.’ By mentally wearing and switching ‘hats,’ you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.”

To understand each hat and the associated roles, take a look at the table below.

As a basic example, if you were “wearing” the green hat, you would approach an issue or conversation as creatively as possible. You’d look for possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas.

Yet if you were “wearing” the black hat, you’d look at the same issue or conversation with a keen eye for danger. You’d attempt to ferret-out anything that could go wrong.

Now, you must be prepared to be a little uncomfortable. It’s common to feel uneasy approaching an issue in a way you’re not used to. For example, if you’re someone who informs your own decisions based solely on facts, you may feel awkward or resistant to approaching an issue by expressing your fears, likes, dislikes, loves or hates. After all, you’re a facts person, not an emotions person. But forcing yourself to think from that perspective might surprise you with innovative ideas.

A Basic Example of Using the Six Thinking Hats

Let’s take a look at basic example and run through each of the six hats in action. Let’s say you are the leader at a software development company, which has been steadily growing. While you still feel like a startup, the fact is, you’ve outgrown your office. Employees are sharing desks, the space is crowded and cluttered, and two of the three meeting rooms have had to be converted into offices. This leads to unnecessary tension in the office, and people are starting to complain. You haven’t made the move yet because you know it will significantly increase operational costs.

Let’s approach this problem using the six thinking hats as a guide:

White Hat: What are the facts about this problem?

The basic facts are there are 50 employees (and growing) in an office space that comfortably accommodates 30.

Yellow Hat: What is good about having this problem?

It’s great to be growing! We’ve added amazing talent to the team and we will now be able to accomplish even more as a company. We can expand our current offerings and add new products to grow the business even more.

Black Hat: What is the worst that could happen if we don’t fix this problem?

If we stay in this office, the worst that can happen is expensive attrition. We will lose the great talent that it took us months to find. That will lead to low employee engagement, which leads to poor productivity and even more attrition. We won’t be able to move forward as a business without our talent.

Red Hat: What do I feel about this problem?

I feel conflicted. On one hand, my employees and their needs are the most important thing to me, so seeing them crammed in together makes me feel like I’m disappointing them. On the other hand, I’m hesitant to increase expenses in what feels like a pivotal time in the business. That makes me very nervous.

Green Hat: What are some creative ways to address this situation?

One idea is to have some of our team work from home to free up space in the office. Another possibility would be moving into a shared office space with another startup. This would cut the costs of a larger office space. Also, we could leave this area of town and move to the new burgeoning warehouse district, where rent is cheaper.

Blue Hat: How do you know you are following the six hats method?

I’ve written all of these questions down and written my answers under the designated color for each hat. I can share these notes with my VP and get her feedback.

In the end, this leader decided to create a small task force to investigate the new warehouse district, and possible shared office spaces with the other startups around town. They have a three-week discovery period, after which the team will meet with the heads of each department to vote on the best course of action. They will use the six hats again!

As you can see, this exercise enabled the head of our hypothetical software development company to think through the situation from several perspectives. And by forcing the consideration of different perspectives she may not naturally be drawn to, she achieved “parallel thinking,” which is a more dynamic way to work through a problem.

Let’s move beyond the individual and discuss how to incorporate the Six Thinking Hats method into our workplace. Here is a step-by-step guide.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Incorporating the Six Thinking Hats at Work

 

1.    To prepare, choose a work challenge and form a small team of 4 or 5 people.

2.    Make sure that your attendees are aware that you will be using this method and that your goal is to fully investigate the situation at hand and develop an execution plan based on the meeting. Therefore, all attendees who can contribute to the facts should plan to bring them to the meeting.

3.    Before the meeting, create an agenda, including a video link from the first lesson in this course, and ask your team to watch this video before the meeting. Ask your participants to be prepared to use this methodology when coming to the meeting.

4.    Make sure it is a safe environment and that no one is “wrong” for adding to the content of the meeting. Even if you do not agree, say, “That’s interesting” or “Let’s note that point of view”.

5.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

6.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

White Hat: The facts. What do you already know?

Note: Facts often get disguised as opinions. If someone states a “fact” that appears to be an opinion, ask the participant (without judgment): “What specific behaviors cause you to think that?” Or “How do you know that?” Listen for the fine line between opinions and fact.

Red Hat: What is your gut feeling about the situation? How do you feel about the situation? (Happy, angry, etc.; all emotions are to be recorded.)

Black Hat: What do we need to look out for?

Yellow Hat: What are the reasons to say yes? What are the benefits and upsides of this situation?

Green Hat: What are other ideas that can be a part of this thinking?

Blue Hat: Make sure all the participants are maintaining the parallel thinking.

These questions should really get the team thinking and spur an active discussion. For fun, if you can access paper (or hats) in the six colors, bring them to the meeting to reinforce the colored thinking. Bandanas would work as well.

If you’ve never tried the Six Thinking Hats method, we are excited for you to do so. As De Bono says, The Six Thinking Hats is “A powerful tool set, which once learned can be applied immediately!” We’d love to hear about your experiences with this method.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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