uh oh somethings wrong

Everyday isn’t “business as usual”.  Sometimes there are blank stares or no eye-contact at all between employees.  Sometimes there seems to be more meetings in the hallway than in the conference room. Sometimes everyone is late and feels like the office is empty by 4:55pm.

Managers and owners need to pay attention to their instincts; when something doesn’t seem just right, it probably isn’t. And ignoring it won’t make it go away.

What to do?

• Start a daily “start-up” meeting or process so everyone has to “check in”.
• Investigate opportunities for group training,  group socializing or projects.
• Managers and owners demonstrate new efforts in communication and openness that is supported by follow through.
• Ask employees about ideas to improve morale, and actually listen. Don’t discourage them, take all the suggestions and come back to them with a plan.
• Churn, shake it up. Do some office reorganization, move some desks, improve the quality of the wall art and signage. Clean the carpets, shake out the dust.  Listen and learn to your team as you do this and hear what they are saying about “work”.

And for those companies with some serious burn-out consider getting outside help. No one can make cultural changes alone.

Nothing Stays the Same

Pay attention!

• Seeing it  OR
• Hearing it  OR
• Doing it.

 Accelerate ROI would like to suggest that with the increase of information and informational stimulus, that our generation of workers are best reached by “experiential learning”.

 What is experiential learning? To Accelerate ROI it means when learning creates  a new perspective or a change of heart. Accelerate ROI believes experiential learning happens in groups, when people can observe learning in others and when the entire group has a shared experience.

The “AHA” moment in learning can happen when a student:

• Observes a fellow student make transformative changes in behavior based on learning.
• Connects a learning with a personal sense of truth.
• Takes a risk to try something new.
• Is compelled to tell someone else what they have learned.
• Learns something once, and remembers it forever.

Accelerate ROI’s goal is to create experiential learning for business teams for improved performance and job satisfaction.

Today, everyone is a forecaster. With information and images at our fingertips, it appears anyone can make a case that a personal preference could be “trend” or will soon be.

So after scouring the internet and surveying our favorite resources, we offer these observations for our readers on what could be trends for 2012. We consider them from the employee seat and the employer’s.

• Quality of Life: Home is Work and Work is Home.
• Digital World: Connected but Not-Protected.
• Mentoring Vs. Development: Self-Help Growth Programs.
• Space Shifting: The Environment Morphs and is Mobile
• Culture Vs. Rules: Increasing Trust

For more read on…

Quality of Life: Home is Work and Work is Home.

• Staff/workers/teams want to have the flexibility and transparency to check in and out of their personal lives seamlessly in their work day.
• Employers are balancing between trust worthy autonomy and protecting the company assets and agendas.
• Recommendation: Workers please acknowledge to your teams when you are “at work” or on a personal moment. Employers please monitor level of productivity not appearances of social engagement.

Digital World: Connected but Not-Protected.

• Staff/Workers/Employees want to be available to family so caring smart phones is a good thing there, but not so good when it means your boss sees you as always available. Staff/Workers/Employees want to be engaged in social media and share their lives from all points of their world. They see it as entertainment, stress relief, pleasure. BUT may not be aware of the danger of exposing information that could be harmful to their careers, relationships or those of their families and employers.
• Employers are tempted to control use of smart phones by providing them, and linking them to office servers and e-mails. Employers have no real clue how paranoid to be about staff sharing work related information even informally in social media.
• Recommendation: Employees monitor carefully what you share in social media. Assume what ever you write/share is going directly to your bosses desk.  Consider engaging in some sort of digital disciplines for amount of use, when to use. Always be aware that everyone knows what you are doing. Employers, give ‘em a brake. Inform employees of the rules if there are any. But more importantly make sure your handbook covers your concerns and risks of the digital world.

Mentoring Vs. Development: Self-Help Growth Programs.

• Staff/Teams/Employees/Workers are human beings who crave praise, correction and inclusion. When quality programs of development are not offered through their jobs, workers will seek it out through networking groups, mentoring opportunities and community programs. We can’t not look for this support. LinkedIn and their “groups” is a growing resource for like minded professionals to gain help in “next step” personal development and decision making.
• Employers/Bosses/Managers while they need this themselves are probably pacing themselves based on increases of personal work-load for the same 8 hour day. They may not see the advantage of  managing a development program when they are stressed for time already. Reviews and salary discussions can not replace true development programs. Bosses are nervous about how much their company allows them to “give” to their teams. Many of them see the need.
• Recommendations: Workers, ask your supervisors and team members for support. Ask about programs and ask how other team members are handing development needs. Employers, don’t ignore the need. Open dialogue goes a long way. A creative team can create low to no cost ways of building team skills.

Space Shifting: The Environment Morphs and is Mobile

• Workers/Teams/ Staff appear to be more compromising where the photo of the family dog sits in their offices. Collaboration requires work to be done in a variety of places in an office. While everyone wants “their space”, the time spent there or the need to nest or escape is changing. Wireless networks untie us all from our cubicles.
• Employers/Bosses and Managers’s facility budgets are liking the new mobility as it puts less stress on creating personal permanent environments. It does challenge the electronic and computing budget. There is also an increased ability to work from other then “the office”, which doesn’t initially appear to be an issue but starts to reduce the ability to create team culture over time.
• Recommendation: For both employees and their bosses, the benefits and challenges of the technology of our digital workplace are from stabilizing. Shared information and shared accessibility is key. Process and procedure management has to evolve, cannot be mandated, but at some point everyone has to compromise to meet goals.

Culture Vs. Rules: Increasing Trust

• Worker/Staff/Employees, over 40% are waiting for the economy to get better and then they are going to find another job. According to Deloitte, a recognized leader in business consulting and financial planning, In their “2010 Ethics in the Workplace Survey-Trust in the Workplace”. July 10, 2010 48% of all employees report that when the economy gets better, they are looking for another job. Why? The lack of trust and transparency in the workplace www.deloitte.com
• Employers/Bosses and Managers, most of whom are employees as well are in the same boat. Corporate Fortitude has written a couple of “case studies” about this issue. Please look for older posts with the titles, “Why we don’t trust Chuck the Paranoid Manager, (Part 1 and 2)
• Recommendation: Company stakeholders need to take this issue seriously and begin to monitor how fearful their workforces are. There are several training groups, methods and processes that have been used to help company teams move their culture from negative to helpful

It was no longer fun;  the staff were at odds with the owner, there was the sense of “us verse them”.  Staff gathered in the break room and parking lot to share their complaints and concerns versus the open office.

Shortly after Mary’s admission of defeat, she was making a sales call to a builder who happened to have engaged a trainer for his group. They talked about the cultural conversion going on within the organization and Mary announced she wasn’t going to leave until she met this trainer.

His name was Wes, and he met with Mary that day, and three additional times. During those meetings he helped her see how her behavior and the culture created by her actions and intent resulted in the current condition.

This led to a 12 month course of training for the entire company. Initially it meant 1/2 day a week of classroom work. For a design firm that makes its revenue billing time, this investment in training meant losing the opportunity to bill $1000 to $2000. per week. Seems crazy, but it was necessary and worth every dollar. The staff recognized the investment and they were learning every week valuable skills they could use the rest of their lives.

Office Chair Basketball in the Warehouse 2005

During the year of intense training, some staff left but those that stayed and invested in the learning  benefited beyond expectation.

With this new understanding of groups and business culture, one or two projects that r.o.i. Design was working on during that year took on a whole new agenda. The famous story is when we were placing the last of some lobby furniture in the public space of this health science workplace, and we see the owner of the building arguing with the contractor.

“This building doesn’t work!” he shouted. The contractor saw us, and waved us over to support him.

After several hours of meeting, we discovered that the owner, contractor and architect had created a vision for how this company should work. They designed their new building to this standard. But they hadn’t included the staff in their process and when they moved into the new space, the workforce panicked at the lack of familiarity the space presented. They began to try to recreate their “old” space, ignoring what the owner/design team thought was leading workplace innovation.

After further investigation and inquiry, we discovered that the staff was aware that some mysterious changes were going on and most of them became suspicious and fearful.  Leadership wasn’t including them and they didn’t have any process or procedure that allowed them to get the information they needed or they could trust.

These two experiences within a 12 month period, created for r.o.i. Design a turning point, a landmark in how they approached projects and people.

It became clear that the training they experienced changed all parts of their business behavior and could be of value to so many companies who were experiencing burn out and fractured teams.

So convinced of the benefit of this program, they created “Accelerate ROI” with the conviction that employees  who have experienced the change are the best trainers.  They understand how helpful confrontation with supportive leadership is the best way to create positive and lasting change in business cultures.

Our story has many chapters and so many victories. We welcome you to the journey

But now the word is out in a way that people will accept it. Psychology Today and the Financial Times both published articles about trust in the workplace this summer of 2011. And the tweets have been mounting up, more than 500 in one day. (See snipits below)

The companies that ignore this message are going to be rebuilding their workforce and adding new programs that builds better teams and more trust within their culture. Don’t wait.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Time to Put Trust and Ethics Back in the Workplace
Financial Post (Canada) (08/24/11) Williams, Ray

The 2010 Ethics & Workplace Survey by Deloitte LLP reveals that 30 percent of working Americans intend to search for a new job when the economy gets better, and of this group, 48 said a loss of trust in their employer is the reason. The survey also found that 65 percent of Fortune 1000 executives believe that trust will be a factor in possible increases in voluntary employee turnover

More employee engagement ”would improve productivity”

…………………………………..

“If there is trust in the workplace, it is more likely that employees will feel more supported, motivated and committed. They are more likely to take pride in what they do, enjoy working with their colleagues and ultimately enjoy their jobs,” she added.

Mutual insurance, retirement and investment group LV, who recently won the most effective recruitment and retention prize at the HR Excellence Awards, announced they will be conducting their own regular surveys to help create a happier and more productive working environment……..

We spent time discussing what true change is, and how to test if change is real and how to trust it. So after a while I asked him, “You basically don’t trust people, right?” He laughed and said, “Probably not, should I?”

If people can’t change, then how do they grow and develop? If people can’t change, how did Robert Downey Jr. manage to re-enter the world of movies and Hollywood after disappointing fans, studios and family? And the doubters say, “its an act” or “they have “people” insulating them from real transactions.”

We have many stories of our customers employees magically “changing” after being involved in a series of “trainings”. Not every individual of the team changes, but in most cases, in every engagement there is at least one significant change in a person’s performance and behavior per group, and overall, the group culture changes.

Credit Union New Hire; After training this shy, overweight, soft spoken teller was asked to take on the role of the new branch manager after only 6 months of employment. Her co-workers raved about her while the folks that didn’t get the promotion after being there for years and years, were puzzled by the conversion.

Design Executive; After training, this DE made an about face in how she treated her team and customers. Her employees reported they were doubtful that the shift in behavior would stick, but after 12 months, they reported that the change in their boss was permanent and real and a testament to the program.

Financial Controller; After training, this highly paid, experienced skilled individual dealt with her inability to be happy at work, and tired of “faking it”. She quit and changed careers.

So what are some basic truths about change?

• It doesn’t happen without pain, either before or during transition.
• It doesn’t revert, it is permanent.
• It won’t happen outside of a supportive group process with authentic and caring accountability.
• It doesn’t happen without an “AHA” moment that occurs in response to personal awareness and learning.

(The Alexander Technique is a philosophy about how we use our bodies and the power of kinestheology. The AT is very popular with performers who rely on their bodies for their careers and income, they need their bodies to work. While at a seminar I was in the audience when an accomplished pianst played a Chopin Cantata for her AT coach. It was beautiful. When she finished and the clapping subsided, the coach asked her, “where do you fingers start in your hand?”. Puzzled, she pointed to her wedding ring,and said “Here?”. He told her, her fingers started just above the wrist in an amazing cluster of bones and muscles. Without pause or discussion, she played the cantata again. She flew throught the notes, weeping and screaming with delight and it was even more beautiful than the first time. She learned something it was impossible for her to forget and it changed her piano playing for life.)

Is everyone capable of true change, yes. Does everyone change, no. Change requires recognition and awareness. Change requires a willingness to change.

Please come back to read more about some of our experiences with people who changed.

Are families so stressed today, that they are forced to be organized like businesses with schedules, charts and points? 

"Modern Family"

The typical family in America is no longer the nuclear (Mom-Dad-2.5Kids-2.5Pets) family. If one out of every marriage ends in divorce, the blended family starts to look like the typical family. And of that group how many homes have a single parent? Or two single parents? And how many  2nd generation divorced families are there? And then you add families with same-sex parents, or adopted parents, and the likelihood of any “norm” dissolves along with only one “ how-to-be-family” guide-book.

Our culture may not have a baseline anymore of “how to be family”.  If our marriages aren’t working, if we aren’t going to church, mosque or synagogue, if we aren’t hanging out with grand parents, if we aren’t affiliated with an extended family of help, anywhere, how could we possibly know how to be family? The emergence of the “super nanny” as a career suggests families are looking for help to create a better “home”.

Home is supposed to be the safe place where you can trust your parents and siblings. Family is the place where you can get help, test out new ideas without fear of failure or ridicule.

Sure there are plenty of circumstances today where kids are fed and housed, and even after they graduate from college they have a home. But more and more employers are finding the need to retrain their new hires in the ways of trust and integrity, because it isn’t in their cultural vocabulary or experience.

Everyone needs three things: to be loved, to be included and to be corrected.  Loved without conditions, included without exception and corrected in real-time with a goal of personal success. If we haven’t experienced this structure in a family, we have a difficult time trusting professional relationships or agreements.

So Accelerate ROI suggests that it is a good business practice to support the family; to invest in building healthy families that know how to build structure for kids, celebrate achievement and positive behavior, and support personal growth with consistency in rules and reward for the family. How corporations support the family could be as diverse as the families themselves? Offer training, support local social service networks, incentivize employees, run PR and advertising campaigns, show up in community events, speak up about the need for families to be successful.

Vacations are great but too often they show a family dysfunction that requires more than time away with each other. Don’t be afraid, gather some fortitude. Make the needed changes in our families and businesses that create a legacy of trust and integrity for years to come.

John Candy Wasn't My Dad

My Dad was a business man; probably better described as a sales man. I have two older brothers but I am the one that caught the “business” gene.

He and I weren’t close, but  I paid close attention and here are some anecdotal stories about my Dad-

My Dad did not Drink Milk

It’s one o’clock in the morning, my dad is making a phone call. The phone is in the center hallway of our 1950′s home. He says “Applebee! Where’s my money?” He couldn’t get this guy Applebee to answer any phone during the day, so he got his home phone and called him well after bedtime, for 14 days straight. Dad got the money. I learned that persistence is required in business, and collecting money was a big deal.

Going to the trade shows was a big deal too. The station wagon would be loaded with literature, sample parts, tablecloth for the display table, and a bunch of maps. We were all happy to finally wave him down the driveway since he had barked at us for days to do this and to do that. It wasn’t until the end of his life that I heard stories about how he performed at manufacturer showcases. “Dick could talk to anyone. He made us all laugh, but we bought something”. I remember seeing a picture of him talking in front of a group and throwing his tie across his shoulder to make a point. I learned that presentation and being in front of people was a requirement of a good sales person.

You need some courage to meet you goals

Sometimes after dinner we would sit on the front steps of our house, not do much but stare down the street, talk to the neighbors walking by with kids and dogs. Dad didn’t engage me in conversation, he talked at me. “Take more risks, Mary. You will never get what you want without taking risks”. Dad wasn’t a particularly happy guy, and I think he saw himself as being able to do more if he could have taken more risks. Remember we lived in the town where Amway was born, and he went to the same school and church as those guys. They started something in a garage down the street. I learned that dreams should be kept and never give up.

The last few years of his life, he and my mom, ran a factory representative business out of their basement. I think this is the most fun they had in their entire life. This was the first time they worked together, and needed each other to make the business “go”. Dad worked up until 6 months from his passing. It took Mom more than a year to clear out the basement and wind down the business. She is now 92, and she got a call in the last few weeks from an old customer to ask her how she was doing. It made her smile. I learned that work can be fun because of the people and then finding a way to share and meet goals with those people.

My Mom with Great Grand Baby Tekla

My mother wanted me to be a teacher and I did teach school in New York in the 1970′s but it wasn’t for me.

Now I train businesses about how to get the most out of their valuable employees, and to make employees happy to perform. I don’t tell stories about my Dad in my engagements, but maybe I should.

There wasn’t a better teacher, than my Dad.

Change, revised strategies and related success was just as much about chance as it was about strategy.

But when Egyptian citizens appear to have been able to change the recording of history and the fate of the future by their actions in March of 2011, we re-examine whether or not there is a formula for change.

Corporate Fortitude has paid special attention to those reports that have aligned the Egyptian coupe to the American Revolution. The soil of our fathers and of our sons is rich with meaning and power” says an interviewee.

Corporate Fortitude recognizes the role of technology and social media in this “current event”. The power of communication is available to the masses through hand held, satellite driven technologies. Censorship requires a global “wall” that for the most part is not possible.

We humbly suggest that many of the following components need to be included in a strategy to create lasting change (for a country, a company, a family,….)

1. The ideas come from and are executed by the cultural masses. This means for many companies the “workers”, for countries the “citizens”, for familes “the un-empowered”.
2. The most successful tool for communication and information is NOT the official one but the grass roots, viral, electronic, most open ended means to send and ask for information. Before today’s technology, this was the spontaneous “town hall” meeting. Today it is the literate post, multiple posts and direct conversations in social and electronic media.
3. The outcomes are not predictable, or measureable by the powers in place but by the entire community within and outside of the circumstance. The global community can weigh in at any moment on the viability, the value of or the attractiveness of, an idea or plan.

Chuck had a tough 2010 with a variety of human resource disasters. His own review included “Too eager to believe information on face value from employees without valid proof or data. Needs to be more careful in granting autonomy to project management.” He had spent the first 10 years of his professional managerial life in his family business which ended in a successful acquisition and separation for he and his brothers and mom. What he had learned there as “typical operational standards” were far from what he was experiencing at his new job.

He looked up at the clock, 12:35, 10 minutes before his next appointment. He decided to take those minutes and walk around the office and say hello to his team. He was looking for dropped eyes, evasion and out right frowns. But whether it was the mornings events, or some other miracle, he saw his team as being open, receptive and curious. He engaged in small talk, shared coffee, and showed up 5 minutes late for the next meeting.

As the meeting commenced, he glanced over his shoulder into the bull pin of activity still wondering if he was having a “Christmas Carol” type vision, or if there was something truly different about his work place. His latest hire caught his glance, waved and mouthed “d o y o u n e e d s o m e t h i n g ?”, to which he smiled and shook his head and waved his hand.

Returning his attention to the meeting at hand, the team leader looked at him and said, “Are you OK? Do you need a minute?”. Chuck who typically had a light air and ease about him, was a little distracted. He was trying to discern if he should take this chance to check out his observations with this part of the team, or hold on to the idea and talk to his co-managers and superior, later. He didn’t like second guessing himself.