What Leaders Need to Know About Engagement

Gallup’s 2016 survey results have shed light on how poor engagement is in the workplace.  If only 13% of workers feel engaged, there are serious consequences for productivity, turnover, and team effectiveness.  Managers may be instrumental in encouraging employees and helping them improve their levels of engagement.  Gallup (2016) focuses on 12 elements that are important to having effective and productive workers, which include:

• They know their job expectations
• They have the right materials and equipment
• They have opportunities to do what they do best
• They have regular recognition or praise
• They believe someone at work cares about them
• Someone at work encourages their development
• Their opinions count
• Their job is important to achieving the company’s mission
• Their co-workers are committed to quality work
• They have a best friend at work
• Someone talks to them about their progress
• They have opportunities to learn and grow

If managers and leaders had a conversation with their employees about these 12 areas, they could determine where employees lack engagement.  Employees may simply lack clarity regarding what is expected of them.  If leaders understand this, they can create engaging conversations to help improve communication.  It all begins by asking questions and opening a dialogue.

Because there are so many areas where employees may experience issues with engagement, it may be helpful to take on each area one at a time.  Perhaps begin a conversation about job expectations this week and spend the month working on that if that is problematic.  Next month consider asking questions about their materials or opportunities, etc.  Take some time to get to know each person’s individual needs.  Have a plan to meet with employees and follow up on any information obtained that indicates improvement is required.

Keep in mind that engagement involves emotional commitment, and people base 70% of how they make decisions on factors that involve emotions.  Leaders must recognize the importance of focusing on feelings and emotions because that impact how employees behave and the choices they make.  By increasing engagement or emotional commitment, organizations found less absenteeism, less turnover, and improved productivity.  The key is to recognize that leaders have the most impact on employee engagement.  Employees do not leave companies; they leave their bosses or leaders.

Please click on this link: to take a Generational Engagement Survey.

Related Articles:

• Soft Skills: Critical to Employee Success
• Managing Millennials Requires Understanding Their Values
• The Cost of Engagement and How to Improve It
• What Can We Learn from Billionaire Ken Fisher About Introverts and Extraverts
• Forbes: Generational Issues in the Workplace: Millennials vs. Boomers
• Determining Personality Type for Team-Building

 

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What John Tamny of Forbes Can Teach Us About Sexy Marketing

On March 7, 2017, Forbes’ Editor John Tamny will speak in San Diego about the fed. What does that have to do with sexy marketing? Tamny has done a great job of utilizing celebrity examples to make his points about economics. Think about his latest book title:  Who Needs the Fed?: What Taylor Swift, Uber, and Robots Tell Us About Money, Credit, and Why We Should Abolish America’s Central Bank. If it were just titled Who Needs the Fed? that would not be nearly as intriguing. Taylor Swift is far sexier. What is great about Tamny’s writing is that he discusses important economic subjects, while bringing in celebrity examples to bring his points home. By using timely examples like Taylor Swift’s stance on Apple’s decision to give away music for free, he appeals to the masses. Tamny’s title and content choice demonstrate how even the most challenging topics can be made more appealing if the right picture is painted in consumers’ minds.

Tamny probably learned many content publishing tips from his work at Forbes. One thing his book’s title demonstrates is how important it is to reach prospective customers with a personalized message. That is what top marketing professionals hope to accomplish. However, many marketing professionals can attest that this may be challenging when creating content at scale. To help improve this process, I wrote and taught some brand publishing courses as part of my work as the MBA Program Chair for the Forbes School of Business and Technology. I was fortunate to interact with many CMOs at last November’s Forbes Summit in Coronado. My interactions with these professionals reinforced how many of them experience the same frustrations involving the difficulty with the process of transitioning from traditional forms of advertising and marketing toward brand publishing. Personalizing content, making it appealing or sexy, can be quite challenging. When creating the brand publishing courses, we used Bruce Rogers’ Publish or Perish Report as a key component. Bruce did an excellent job researching how top companies use the vast number of vendors in the most effective ways.

Whether marketers want to create a social media campaign or individuals want to write a book, the same thing is true; content is king. That is evident through the work from John Tamny. For those of you in the San Diego area on March 7, I highly recommend reserving your spot for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see John Tamny, top Editor at Forbes, speak for free. I will be there and look forward to interviewing him.

About the Author:

Dr. Diane Hamilton is an award-winning speaker, nationally-syndicated radio host, educator, and the co-author of It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality  Dr. Hamilton has spoken for top companies including Forbes about topics including leadership, engagement, emotional intelligence, and generational conflict. She can be reached at DrDianeHamilton.com. If you would like to sign up for her update please click here: Contact Dr. Diane Hamilton.

Related Articles:

• Soft Skills: Critical to Employee Success
• Managing Millennials Requires Understanding Their Values
• The Cost of Engagement and How to Improve It
• What Can We Learn from Billionaire Ken Fisher About Introverts and Extraverts
• Forbes: Generational Issues in the Workplace: Millennials vs. Boomers
• Determining Personality Type for Team-Building

 

 

Top Companies and Leaders: Connecting Through Talk Radio

Radio remains a leading platform for organizations to advertise and for individuals to learn lessons from inspirational speakers, authors, and leaders.  If an executive’s day is so packed with things to do, the thought of listening to a radio show may seem like a luxury.  However, the reality is, a lot of people are listening.  News Generation shared some important statistics.

• Radio is the leading reach platform: 93% of us listen to AM/FM radio over the airwaves, which is higher than TV viewership (85%), PC use (50%), smartphone use (74%), and tablet use (29%)
• 265 million Americans 6+ listen to the radio each week;
• 66 million Millennials use radio each week;
• Audio consumers are listening for more than 12 hours each week; and
• The majority of radio usage comes from employed listeners; nearly three-quarters of Generation X listeners work full-time.

With so many working people listening, leaders must ensure that their companies are represented well there.  Radio is just one part of the total brand publishing picture. Radio shows seek sponsors with enticing messages.  Business organizations have a variety of goals they want to achieve with their message.  Radio advertising is cost-effective, time-efficient, demonstrates measurable results, and can provide the following opportunities.

• Shows social responsibility and improve their image
• Builds brand loyalty and increase their customer base
• Drives traffic and increase sales
• Educates consumers in an intimate forum

Not only can leaders connect to their consumers through radio, but they can also learn from it.  There is no shortage of talk radio shows where leaders can learn from their peers. With the advent of iTunes, IHeartRadio, and other platforms, everyone has the luxury of listening when it is convenient, and they can do it on just about any mobile device.  The more technology changes, it is interesting to witness how the need for connection and edutainment continues to remain popular.

About the Author:

Dr. Diane Hamilton is a nationally-syndicated radio host of Take The Lead Radio, an award-winning speaker, educator, and the co-author of It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality.  She developed brand publishing courses for Forbes based on Bruce Rogers’ Publish or Perish Report. Dr. Hamilton has spoken for top companies including Forbes about topics including leadership, engagement, emotional intelligence, and generational conflict.  If you would like to learn more about these issues or be a guest on her radio show, you can go to Dr. Hamilton’s website or contact her through Linkedin.

Managing Millennials Requires Understanding Their Values

Millennials are one of the most misunderstood generations, which has led to frustration in the workplace.  With so many generations working together, it is not unusual that there would be some conflict. The biggest issues have revolved around the clash between Boomers and Millennials.  With varying views on political and leadership issues, as well as differences in the frequency at which they embrace technology, conflict management has become a top concern for many leaders.  Part of learning to manage this unique generation includes understanding and embracing their values.

The Forbes Mentor Week presentation, “The Future of the Workplace” focused on what will happen when Boomers finally retire, and Millennials take the wheel.  This presentation addressed some myths and facts about Millennials.  In addition to the information provided there, here are a few more Millennials statistics that may be surprising:

• Millennials are now the largest living generation
• Millennials make up more than 25% of the U.S. workforce
• Nearly half of business to business researchers are Millennials
• Millennials are among the strongest advocates of business
• Millennials’ top issue that concerns them in business is education (including skills and training)
• Millennials’ loyalty to employers remains low with many anticipating leaving jobs within 2-5 years
• Although they embrace technology, 40% believe it poses a threat to their employment

Millennials want to experience engagement at work.  For this group, engagement requires that they have a sense of belonging.  To meet this need, leaders must clearly share their vision, to obtain their cooperation.  Millennials must feel valued; therefore, it is critical that leaders show them respect and reward them for their efforts.  In research by Zemke, Rains, and Filipczak, the authors found that Millennials had nine more frequent requests. These included:

• Help us learn
• Believe in us
• Tune on to our technology
• Connect us
• Let us make it our own
• Tell us how we’re doing
• Be approachable
• Plug into our parents
• Be someone we can believe in

Part of being successfully in meeting their requests is to provide timely and detailed feedback.  Millennials like to receive feedback more frequently than past generations.  They like to meet privately and learn about their performance immediately after, with concrete observations.  They do not mind hearing they need to improve, but they will want to have specifics on how to accomplish that.  To ensure proper training occurs, managers should vary the way in which they present information. Millennials are avid learners and like to get their information through technology.  Allowing for workplace flexibility may be critical to Millennials staying with their employer.  Flexible working conditions are linked to improved productivity and engagement in this group.  By offering flexibility, employers have found that it has encouraged their sense of accountability.   By demonstrating to Millennials that leaders appreciate their values, they will have a better opportunity to lead this group in a way that meets their unique needs, leading to improved engagement and productivity.

Please click on the following link to take a Generational Engagement Survey.

About the Author:

Dr. Diane Hamilton is a speaker, educator, and the co-author of It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality and award-winning speaker at DrDianeHamilton.com.  She is a former Editor in Chief at an online education site and has written for several sites including Investopedia.  Dr. Hamilton has spoken for top companies including Forbes about topics including leadership, engagement, emotional intelligence, and generational conflict.  If you would like to learn more about these issues, you can sign up here: Contact.

Related Articles:

• Soft Skills: Critical to Employee Success
• The Cost of Engagement and How to Improve It
• What Can We Learn from Billionaire Ken Fisher About Introverts and Extraverts
• Forbes: Generational Issues in the Workplace: Millennials vs. Boomers
• Determining Personality Type for Team-Building

The Cost of Low Engagement and How to Improve It

Many people misunderstand the meaning of engagement. It is important to note that engagement does not mean satisfaction. Engagement refers to an emotional commitment to an organization and its goals.  Engagement, generational conflict, emotional intelligence, and other communication issues are some of the most requested speech topics by organizations. This is not surprising because 60-80% of all difficulties in organizations stem from relationship-based issues.  Numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between engagement and performance.  Leaders with high levels of engagement also were more transformational, had higher levels of interpersonal skills, and had a better sense of well-being.

It behooves companies to improve engagement for a multitude of reasons, including retention issues.  Gallup found that the cost of disengagement was estimated at $550 billion annually in the U.S. With all the chatter about how often employees, especially Millennials, job-hop, it is important to consider why.  Studies indicate multiple reasons.  Talent Solutions found that 42% of job switchers stated they might have remained with their companies had they had better opportunities, benefits, recognition, and rewards.

To appreciate the importance of engagement, leaders must consider who lacks engagement and why.  Organizations may be able to not only improve turnover with improved engagement, but they may also be more profitable.  Organizations have shown a 6% higher net profit margin if their companies have high levels of engagement.  It can be helpful to look at some startling statistics provided by SHRM, Gallup, and other top researchers.

• 87% of employees are not engaged at work
• Engaged companies have a 6% higher net profit margin
• Managers spend up to 40% of their day dealing with conflict
• Women are 35% engaged; men are 29% Engaged
• 29% of Millennials are engaged at Work
• Millennials change jobs more than three times that of non-Millennials
• Engaged Millennials are 64% less likely to switch jobs
• 59% of Millennials, 44% of Gen Xers and 41% of Baby Boomers say opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them when applying for a Job

To create improved engagement, employers should focus on communication, growth, development, recognition appreciation, trust, and confidence. Since engagement is an emotion-based issue, it could be critical to create a baseline measurement of employees’ emotional intelligence.  Emotional-based assessments like the EQ-i may be useful.  Leaders must share the results with their employees to develop action plans to improve any personal issues employees may have.  Once personal emotional issues have been addressed, leaders should recognize their responsibilities to improve. Leaders need to get into the rhythm of communicating, showing concern for employee growth, recognizing achievements, and instilling trust by doing what they promise.  By improving emotional-based issues like engagement, managers can use that 40% of their day with productive issues rather than dealing with conflict.

Please click on this link: to take a Generational Engagement Survey.

About the Author:

Dr. Diane Hamilton is a speaker, educator, and the co-author of It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality, and award-winning speaker at DrDianeHamilton.com.  She is a former Editor in Chief at an online education site and has written for several sites including Investopedia.  Dr. Hamilton has spoken for top companies including Forbes about topics including leadership, engagement, emotional intelligence, and generational conflict.  If you would like to learn more about these issues, you can sign up here: Contact.

Related Articles:

• Soft Skills: Critical to Employee Success
• It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality: Understanding Post-Boomer Generations
• What Can We Learn from Billionaire Ken Fisher About Introverts and Extraverts
• Forbes: Generational Issues in the Workplace: Millennials vs. Boomers
• Determining Personality Type for Team-Building

Soft Skills: Critical to Employee Success

Attend any leadership conference, and someone likely will bring up startling statistics regarding how employees and leaders lack something they refer to as soft skills. This term is used to describe many qualities that include interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and other personality-based issues. The problem that many organizations have experienced is that people are hired for their hard skills, or in other words, for what they know (knowledge). Then later, are often fired for their lack of soft skills, or what they do (behaviors). If employers recognize the importance of soft skills, they can avoid costly hiring and training mistakes, improve turnover, and boost productivity.

Most leaders do not think graduates have the soft skills that businesses require for success, and 75% of newly hired executives have difficulty with these core competencies. Soft skills are critical for interpersonal relationships and communication. One important reason to develop these skills is that most employees do not quit because of companies; they quit because of leaders. Stress from working with leaders who have poor soft skills costs American companies $360 billion a year.

Some of the most problematic areas for employees and leaders include difficulty with listening, communication, team-building, listening, negotiating, problem-solving, decision-making, time management, motivation, and emotional intelligence, which includes interpersonal skills. The Millennial generation often gets bad press for having less-than-stellar soft skills including lack of patience. The use of too much technology may cause a breakdown in interpersonal relationships. Instead of interacting before meetings, many individuals embrace their cell phones. This lack of interaction has led to issues with listening and poor two-way communication.

The good news is that individuals can improve their soft skills. Authors like Daniel Goleman have found that emotional intelligence, which includes things like interpersonal skills and empathy, can be developed. Having a baseline measurement of emotional intelligence levels may be an important part of monitoring improvements. Seeking a mentor may be helpful as well; it is important that employees and leaders are open to feedback. It is important for individuals to consider ways to overcome their personal weaknesses and threats. Identifying the problem is only the beginning; having a plan to improve with measurable goals may be critical.

Employers face a financial burden if employees do not have proper soft-skill development. With the increase on reliance on technology, some basic interpersonal relationship skills may not have developed well. Employers can help employees and leaders develop these important skills through training programs and education. The first step is to realize there is a problem; only then can individuals set measurable goals to improve.

To receive updates regarding interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, engagement, and tips for working on generational conflict, please feel free to sign up for: Updates

Related Articles and Videos:

• What Can We Learn from Billionaire Ken Fisher About Introverts and Extraverts
• Forbes: Generational Issues in the Workplace: Millennials vs. Boomers
• Determining Personality Type for Team-Building
• It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality: Understanding Post-Boomer Generations