Category: Human Resource

Article Contributed by Sara Taylor, President, deepSEE Consulting and Author of Filter Shift: How Effective People SEE the World.

Diversity Fatigue. It’s that feeling that employees in the workplace express when they see a Diversity training on their calendar, “Seriously?! Diversity training again?” It’s that feeling that seasoned Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) practitioners express when I run into them at a Diversity conference and they say, “We’re still talking about the same issues we talked about 20 years ago!” It’s that feeling that leaders in organizations get after supporting a D&I strategy but still don’t see the results they’d like to see.

This fatigue is a symptom of a larger issue.  Despite decades of hard work by committed practitioners and leaders, the promise of D&I has remained ever outside our reach. As a practice of Diversity and Inclusion, our approach needs to evolve in order to fully meet that promise. It’s time for Transformational Diversity.

Transformational Diversity is a shift to a new level that requires us to actually operate differently. We enter the workplace—whether it is already diverse and inclusive or not—with new mindsets and skillsets that allow us to transform the situations we’re in and the organizations we lead because we’re actually able to see and respond to greater levels of complexity. This sets a goal that is much more challenging and thus more requires more comprehensive work. When we operate in this stage, we ensure that differences transform individuals and their ideas as well as organizations, their environments and the work they generate.

To achieve Transformational Diversity, we need to be able to Filter Shift^®, to recognize both our own unconscious Filters as well as the Filters of others, then shift those Filters to respond more effectively in each situation and with every decision.

Filter Shift combines both the ability to reduce the negative interference of the unconscious and increase the ability of Cultural Competence. With a combination of these abilities, we are able to see and respond to the complexities of Diversity, to transform our perspectives and therefore the situations we are in and to finally achieve the promise of Diversity.

Both of these abilities are necessary for us to reach that transformation. Let’s look first at Cultural Competence. Many of us are operating on the left side.[1] In a continuum of cultural competence development there is a distinct difference between the first three stages on the left side where we are significantly less effective and the last two stages on the right side where we reach higher levels of effectiveness as we interact with others. 15% of us have made it to the right side, but only 2.5% of us are in the last and highest stage of competence where we have the level of competency necessary to operate in today’s diverse workplace. [2]

When we operate on the right side, we begin to see a greater level of complexity when it comes to differences. The key is that we see those differences without judging them—consciously or unconsciously. They aren’t good. They aren’t bad. They’re just different.

This is where the ability to reduce the negative interference of the unconscious comes in. Our Filters, that operate in our unconscious, determine how we see each other, the decisions we make and the behaviors we deem good, right and professional. Since they are formed by my past experiences, I believe them to be true even when they’re not.

Obviously, when they’re not, they get in the way and can cause misunderstandings. That’s when we need to be able to shift them to be more effective.

This ability to Filter Shift allows us to see greater complexity in our colleagues and therefore, greater complexity in their contributions. When they are able to do the same, the benefits are exponential. With these skills, we can regularly achieve the maxim of “the sum is greater than the whole of its parts.” I am able to see myself and my ideas differently because I can see them through the eyes of others. That’s transformation.

Transformational Diversity allows us to finally fulfill the promise of Diversity. For decades we have said that a diverse workplace is better, that diverse teams are higher performing and make better decisions. In actuality, drawing from the research of Joe DiStefano, we learn that diverse teams can be the least productive and lowest performing.[3] DiStefano specifically compared diverse teams with homogenous teams and then looked at their performance to see which group did better. He found three types of teams.

The majority of the diverse teams were also the lowest performing teams, falling behind their homogenous counterparts. However, there was also an elite group of performers. Those were the very few diverse teams that outperformed the homogenous teams.

What makes that smaller group of diverse teams so elite and high performing? It’s their ability to interact more effectively with the diversity around them.

Transformational Diversity provides the prescription for Diversity fatigue along with the much-needed traction for our spinning D&I wheels. Most importantly, it helps our organizations and the individuals within them to be their most effective.

This is the new way forward.

[1] Intercultural Development Inventory, IDI LLC, 1998-2011

[2] Intercultural Development Inventory, IDI LLC, 1998-2011

[3] Creating Value with Diverse Teams in Global Management, Joseph J. DiStefano & Martha L. Mazneski, 2000

Employee retention is an essential part of saving your company money, and creating a strong and positive company culture. Social media offers a very simple and effective way of connecting with your employees, allowing you to promote employee engagement, and strengthen relationships with your employees. Here are 4 ways to use social media to do just that.

1. Make Connections

It’s a good idea to start small when connecting with your employees—you don’t want to overwhelm them or make them feel like you’re connecting with the intent to get into their personal lives. Connect with a few employees you’re close with and encourage them to invite others to connect and join in the conversation.

2. Ask for Feedback

Whether publicly on social media, or through private message, reach out to your employees and ask their opinions. Employee feedback is invaluable in helping you get a clear picture of how your employees perceive you and the workplace. Make adjustments accordingly to help you determine just how to motivate employees and keep them happy.

3. Keep it Light

While you want to discuss business topics, try to keep things light and fun. Create posts that encourage employees to comment and share their thoughts, whether they’re work-related, or random facts about themselves. This is your opportunity to set the tone for your company culture and let your employees see you as a person rather than just their boss.

4. Create Shareable Content

Creating content that’s easily shared allows employees to interact with you better, and to share what you post via their own social media accounts, giving you to take advantage of free advertising. In addition, when employees share content from your business, it shows the people they interact with how much they enjoy working for your company, encouraging positive workers to seek employment with your business, which further improves employee retention.

No Better Time Than Now

There is no better time than now to start reaching out to your employees via social media and connecting. Social media offers countless opportunities and ways to motivate employees to keep them engaged, and promote retention.

Share this post and start motivating your employees today!

Article Contributed by Finn Pierson

As a startup, you’re competing with established companies that are offering the best and brightest candidates incentives. You’re not going to have the money or resources to offer them huge benefits. You’ll have to get creative and offer incentives that are more appealing.

Starts with a Job Description

You’ll want to be transparent in your job description. The beginning stages of your startup will vary from how it’ll look a few years down the road. It means that prospective employees should know that before they join the company. When a new candidate is looking for a steady job that never changes, they aren’t going to like the new responsibilities or changing job description as your company grows. You need to prepare them in advance, so they know what to expect.

Amazing Benefits

There are amazing benefits to starting with a company that will be going places in a few short years. Candidates are willing to take a cut in pay for the chance to work in a company that they believe will hit the map in a major way in a few years. They want to be in on the ground floor of a company that will take off like Snapchat, Facebook or Google. When you’re hiring, it’s important that the benefits outshine the competitors, who will be offering cash incentives and swag gifts. You might offer them freedom in some way, or give them appealing benefits like learning. They want to be in on the ground floor of a major force. In fact, many employees said that there are many things they want more than money at their job.

Positive Relationships

It doesn’t matter if you don’t plan on hiring all the candidates that you hire, you should be building a rapport with each. The employee you do hire should not wish within the first few weeks that she’d never been hired. An employee might not be a good fit, but there are ways to make the rejection sting less. Ask the employee to refer qualified candidates to your startup and provide a finder’s fee. You might also offer to help with referrals and tips on interviewing. You don’t want your business to start out with a reputation for treating employees or candidates badly.

Bring in Hiring Help

When you’re a smart business owner, you understand that you don’t have the skills to do everything. Whether you’ve tried to do a few interviews that failed or hired the wrong people for your company, you should consider bringing in someone else to do your interviewing. Once the candidates are weeded out, you can meet with them. Check with friends and family who have done interviewing for tips or learn where to find the best candidates for your startup. It might make sense to hire a recruiter to do many of your interviews since they’re experienced.

Know Your Needs

As a startup, you’re in budget mode. There’s no way you can hire a full staff of people that you need like social media managers, web designer, copywriter or sales staff. You’ll need to really analyze your needs as the business is gaining momentum. While you might desperately need strategic IT staffing at your startup, a copywriter might be something you can outsource to a freelancer who understands your business.

It’s important that you understand the needs of your startup and what you’ll require in an employee. You might have to hire one person who wears a few different hats. Be transparent in the interview process and don’t promise things to the candidates that you can’t deliver. They’ll be resentful and could leave you when they’re needed most.

Article Contributed By Steven D. Goldstein

No one enjoys working with a coworker with a poor attitude. Oftentimes, these employees are the first to be let go, with managers fearing that their demeanor may infect the rest of the team.

However, sometimes these less-than-positive employees have insights that can dramatically improve your business. Their anger may come from legitimate grievances that, if addressed, will lead to greater creativity and productivity in the workplace. As a leader and corporate advisor, I’ve seen numerous examples of successful turnarounds borne of employee frustration.

When dealing with this kind of worker, ask yourself:

Are they angry because much of their job is tedious, inefficient work that is sucking up their time, energy and motivation?

Everyone has parts of their job that they don’t like, but sometimes the minutia of a job can overwhelm a person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a team member frustrated because she has  to put more hours into a status update for her boss than she can into actually making progress on a project. If your employees are consistently having to divert their efforts into tedious work, they are going to become frustrated and will drag drown the productivity and morale of an entire team. If an employee doesn’t feel like his time is being utilized, he will become angry.

So how do you combat a problem like this? Ask yourself, can the work be paired down? Can status updates be briefer or less frequent? Can meetings go from an hour to a half hour? Can tedious work be split up? Remember: billionaire Mark Cuban was once a frustrated tech company employee who got fed up with poor work policies and struck out on his own. Don’t underestimate the importance of fixing this problem, or you may never know the real talent that exists within your team. 

Are they angry because their goals aren’t clear, or because they aren’t empowered to reach them?

It is impossible to keep a good attitude when you’re chasing a series of ever-shifting goals, or you’re not given the right information or tools to achieve them. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve seen employees trying to rally a team together, only to be impeded by endless trips to supervisors to ask for approval, or being forced to iron out every detail before they’re allowed to execute a single aspect of a plan. This just amplifies how long it takes to get things done.  If there’s one credo I could offer to nearly every business, it’s that you’re not moving fast enough!

Even worse, and more demoralizing, is when a goal is clearly outside of the employee’s ability to achieve it. Employees need achievable goals, as well as “blue sky” goals, in order to feel like their work is purposeful, and reachable. If they are unclear (say, for example, if they’re judged on 20 different metrics) they’ll have no idea how to proceed, what’s really important, and will likely grow angry with their boss or the company itself.

Are they angry because they lack adequate incentives?

One of the number one reasons employees check out at the office is that they feel that their work is unimportant, or they don’t feel that they have an incentive to achieve more.

In most companies, money is the incentive, either in the form of a higher salary, a bonus, and in some cases, stock options. And while that can definitely help some people, it doesn’t solve the innate problem of a team member needing to feel valued. If they are paid well, but are constantly undermined by their manager and increasingly byzantine rules and regulations, how long will that money keep them? This is particularly true with Millennials, who are not swayed by the typical perks and benefits many companies used as incentive for past generations.

In particular, they want to see what good they are doing. In my new book Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?, I spoke with Claes Landberg, general manager of YOTEL in New York City, who told me about when he was just starting out working at managing a small restaurant in Stockholm:

“…My dishwasher was talking about what a failure he was in life, because he was only a dishwasher. So the next day I decided to do an experiment…I decided not to have him do the dishes for lunch.  He looked at me like I had three heads, but did what I said.  And then we start lunch, and the restaurant fills up quickly, and I hear the chef and everybody starting yelling ‘Hey, I need plates, I need plates!’ But we’ve run out. So I stop things and I say to them…we are closing down the restaurant. We can’t stay open because we don’t have plates to serve our guests, which means none of you have jobs anymore. And I turn to the dishwasher and I tell him, ‘this is how important you are. Everyone in this room—and their families—depend on you doing your job and doing it well.’ I’ve never seen anyone wash dishes the way he did after that.”

While it’s a rather extreme example, it fundamentally showed him and his team the value of his work. Find ways for your employees to see firsthand the value they’re creating, reward them both publicly and financially, and you’ll have highly motivated workers who will step up to the plate every time.

Author Bio:

Steven D. Goldstein has thirty-five years of experience working as an operating executive at both global Fortune 500 corporations (including as Chairman and CEO of American Express Bank), midsize companies, as well as advising private equity firms with their portfolio companies. He currently serves as Chairman of US Auto Sales, as Senior Advisor to Milestone Partners and as Senior Advisor to Alvarez and Marsal.

Article Contributed by Rachelle Wilber

Human resources, also called human resources management or HRM for short, could easily be renamed the “people department.” In its most traditional implementation, human resources is in charge of recruiting, hiring, training, tracking and firing, as well as legal compliance, benefits oversight and dispute resolution.

So it is no wonder even the savviest of entrepreneurs and business owners are often found scratching their heads when attempting to describe or quantify HR’s value or function. In this post, learn four easy ways to streamline, simplify and improve HR outcomes in your company.

Automate Routine Functions

There is an undeniable part of the human resources department’s regular workload that is highly routine. Examples include collecting employee time sheets, monitoring time-off requests, processing expense reports, submitting payroll, tracking benefits usage and more.

Today, human resources software is available to reduce tasks such as these – which used to take hours – down to minutes each week. By automating routine tasks, you can free up your high value HR staff to use their time more productively and efficiently.

Opt for High Return Recruiting Methods

A huge facet of any successful HR department’s role is recruiting and hiring the right talent for the right roles at the right times. Since losing even one trained staff person can cost anywhere from half to 400 percent of that individual’s annual salary, it is in the company’s best interests to hire the right person the first time.

Not surprisingly, this will require rigorous review of recruiting and hiring success to date, and perhaps a migration away from traditional recruiting towards social media, which has been shown to boost hiring results by 2.5 percent over traditional methods.

Go as Paperless as Possible

Not only does using paper increase your overhead costs, but it reduces employee productivity. For the paper-intensive traditional HR department, moving to a paperless workplace and using human resources software can show a near-immediate improvement to productivity and profitability. This is especially significant in a department which historically has had its own challenges with quantifying its impact on the company’s bottom line.

By bringing in new HR software tools and fully using cloud-based file sharing and storage solutions, digital document signature services and mobile-friendly connectivity tools, you can add “sustainable business practices” to your company’s community impact, reduce your monthly overhead costs and improve the productivity of your HR staff at the same time.

Be Sure Your Employees Know What HR Can Offer Them

It makes little sense to maintain a human resources staff if your employees have no idea what they do or why they are there. A fully functioning, connected HR staff can make the difference between disconnected, disgruntled employees and a workforce that feels heard, valued and supported to do their jobs and be fully rewarded in turn.

Be sure your workforce knows that HR is there to help them use their company benefits, resolve disputes, maximize retirement savings plans, make use of all training resources and ensure each employee receives equal rights and opportunities within the context of their individual roles. Encourage your HR staff to connect individually with each employee as well to answer questions and provide support as needed.

By implementing these four tips within the context of your company’s human resources function, you can not only improve the productivity of your HR staff, but you can do the same with your workforce company-wide. Perhaps even more critically, a high-functioning and productive HR department can translate to improved his value employee retention and growing profitability for your company’s bottom line.

Bio: Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @RachelleWilber; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009221637700