Presented By

They are changing the workplace culture

Hannah Hahn

Digital Natives

09. 2015Vol.3 No.09

1207 Resource Planning

A critical component to employee lifecycle success

2419

Performing Under PressureHow to overcome this myth?

Turning Stale Managers Into Stars How to do that?

The Millennial Work-pocalypse A survival guide

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Presented By

Digital Natives

The tech-savvy generation now entering the workforce is expected to have a significant impact on workplace culture as its affinity for technological innovation drives social interactions, access to information and expectations in the workplace. PG.05

They are changing the workplace culture

InTeGRaTed TalenT ManaGeMenT

05 Digital Natives They are changing the workplace culture Hannah Hahn

07 Resource Planning A critical component to employee lifecycle success Dan Carusi

08 Team Building For Hourly Employees What’s in it for me? laura Macleod

10 Retaining And Motivating Staff A 5-point guide for HR professionals Natalie Richardson

12 The Millennial Work-pocalypse A survival guide Jeff Weber

15 Career Development How far are millennials willing to go? Randhir vieira

16 Understanding Employee Motivations Three easy ideas to strengthen retention rates instantly sal apuzzio

PeRFORManCe ManaGeMenT 18 Improving New Managers’ Skills Critical Incident Technique to help managers get better andrew larrison

19 Turning Stale Managers Into Stars How to do that? eileen McDargh

21 Upskill Your Team Continuing education motivates employees and fills the skills gap Dr. Marie Bountrogianni

24 Performing Under Pressure How to overcome this myth? JP Pawliw-Fry

25 Success And Collaboration With Remote Employees 4 tips for delivering results Rickard Hansson

09 2015Vol.3 No.09

1207 Resource Planning

A critical component to employee lifecycle success

2419

Performing Under PressureHow to overcome this myth?

Turning Stale Managers Into Stars How to do that?

The Millennial Work-pocalypse A survival guide

Editorial Purpose: Our mission is to promote personal and professional development based on constructive values, sound ethics, and timeless principles.

Talent Management Excellence Essentials is published monthly by HR.com, 124 Wellington Street EastAurora, Ontario Canada L4G 1J1.

Internet Address: www.hr.com

Submissions & Correspondence:Please send any correspondence, articles,letters to the editor, and requests to reprint, republish, or excerpt articles to ITM@editor.hr.com

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Talent Management Excellence Essentials Publishing:Debbie McGrath, CEO, HR.com - PublisherShelley Marsland-Beard - VP of SalesBabitha Balakrishnan - Editor Harshavardan Rao - Design and Layout

Copyright © 2015 HR.comNo part of this publication may bereproduced or transmitted in any formwithout written permission from thepublisher. Quotations must be credited

Vol.3 No.09$9.99 a montth

With the emergence of millennials, the work-place culture has undergone drastic changes. The entire focus is slowly shifting to adapt to the millennials’ style of working. Earlier, employers set the norms and employees had to adjust ac-cordingly, but with the millennial era, employers are trying to keep up with the pace of the new generation. In this issue, we have a majority of articles that focus on millennials. Our cover story Digital Natives by Hannah Hahn is one among them.

Though Hannah reiterates that companies today should be planning for ways to attract Digital Natives, according to her, it should not be done at the expense of excluding talent from all generations into the workforce. Attracting and re-taining previous generations is equally important, and employers should encourage collaboration between all generations across the organization. The key is in finding the right generation balance in the workplace and using up-to-date technology

to enhance working relationships. Rightly said!Millennials are voicing strong concern over the

lack of career and skill development opportunities at work. According to the national “Millennial Mindset Study” of 1,200 employed millennials conducted by ResearchNow and Mindflash, the “lack of company support for training and devel-opment” is the #1 most surprising aspect of work in the “real world.” So beyond the challenges of a rapidly-evolving job landscape, they have one more unexpected hurdle to tackle – the dearth of training and guidance. Read more about how far are millennials willing to go in Randhir Vieira’s article Career Development

Today’s generation of workers were raised on mobility and flexibility, expecting to be able to connect instantly to anything and everything, no matter where they are, says Rickard Hansson in his article Success And Collaboration With Remote Employees. The simple solution to stay ahead of the business curve is adopting a social intranet. Businesses that do so can achieve remote working benefits while maintaining effective communica-tion and collaboration regardless of location. He puts forth 4 tips to ensure remote employees are fit for success.

“While I wouldn’t compare millennials to zombie hordes, their large-scale entrance into the workforce will fundamentally change the professional climate just as the emergence of walking dead would fundamentally change daily life on earth,” says Jeff Weber in his article The Millennial Work-pocalypse. According to him managers who delay preparing for this impending ‘millennial-pocalypse’ will certainly regret it. So, how can managers be ready for the impending takeover? Read his article to know more.

One of the most discussed topics in the talent management space is how to effectively moti-vate and retain staff. Natalie Richardson offers a 5-point guide for HR professionals in her article Retaining And Motivating Staff. Do not miss it!

Apart from the millennial-oriented articles, we also have a good bunch of other articles that will help you increase the needed skills. Gain fresh ideas and learn about proven approaches that can help you stay a talent management top performerHappy Reading and Do send us your Feedback!!

Guest editor’s note

Have a Say? Write to the Editor.

Regards,

Debbie McGrathHR.com

By Hannah Hahn

They are changing the workplace culture

Digital Natives

The tech-savvy generation now entering the workforce is expected to have a significant impact on workplace culture as its affinity for technological innovation drives social interactions, access to informa-tion and expectations in the workplace.

These so-called Digital Natives are those 30-years-old and younger who grew up with digital technologies and integrated them into their lives from a very early age. They grew up with the Internet as the sup-porting technology for their lifestyle and describe it as an extension of their bodies.

In a survey of more than 2,800 young adults from Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and China, researchers from CBRE Global Workplace Solutions sought to gain an in-depth understand-ing of this generation of Digital Natives and assess its significance to the workplace.

Among the findings of the “Digital Natives: Born 2 B Connected” study:

• 83 percent always carry a mobile phone with them • 73 percent say new technologies are addictive• 84 percent of U.S. respondents say being at the forefront of

technology is beneficial in the workplace• 77 percent say advanced technologies in their workplace is im-

portantTechnology has permeated all spheres of Digital Natives’ lives,

instilling a need to be connected 24/7. This “always-on” lifestyle is jam-packed with multitasking, defined by fast-paced communica-tions, and increases workplace spontaneity with less concern about planning out the day.

Phones and email have created a fusion of the business and social spheres, blurring the boundaries between life and work. Social interac-tion remains the main purpose of their Internet use. Yet Digital Natives

reported that whenever they use their mobile phone for leisure, they inevitably see and respond to business email.

Digital Natives’ advanced technological skills support them in dealing with large volumes of information. With the need for flexibility and their mobile working mentality, Digital Natives do not want to be tied to an office, but expect to work from a variety of locations to accomplish their work efficiently. But do they play nice?

What happens when the “always-on” lifestyle of Digital Natives meets the predilections of the baby boomer and Gen-X generations in the workplace?

Our current question-and-response environment has produced collaborators who live and breathe the concept of a sharing society that exchanges information, experiences and data. Digital Natives have dealt with information sent and received in real time in social media platforms from their very early days. Previous generations, on the other hand, whose brains were developed before the advancements of digital and social technologies, have had to learn and adapt to this new way of communication.

For all their technological savvy, Digital Natives, have commonalities with older generations. They describe themselves as the “same, same but different.” It’s not what they do that’s different, they say, rather it’s how they do it. The differences include:

• How they approach daily work • The way they integrate technology and the internet into their lives • How they communicate and interact with each other Digital Natives bring a new working culture that companies can

benefit from. New communication styles and the demand to be connected “whenever and wherever,” make Digital Natives ideal col-laborators and networkers. They are skilled at collaborating with all

5Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015 Submit your Articles

COVER ARtiClE

6 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

Digital Natives

generations as processes are increasingly supported by technologies. Managing the influx of information

Digital Natives are confident that any bit of information can be found somewhere on the Internet. Obtaining the information is simple, but choosing how to process the material is a challenge that is quickly overcome.

Those who cannot capture the information right away tend to look for another source that is easier to understand. Some businesses have implemented intelligent filters and alert systems to support smart searching on the Internet to combat information overload and direct users to comprehensive and easy to understand sites.

Another way that Digital Natives manage the high volume of information is by forming online communities. Within the online communities, user-generated content (UGC) is widely shared and can be accessed by every user. This type of collaborative content allows others to add, improve, complete and critique entries, which increases the accuracy of the content. This team approach of collective intel-ligence supports the mindset that all information is out there, and a quick question to the crowd will generate an immediate answer. What should businesses be doing?

Companies can leverage the positive attributes of Digital Natives to improve efficiency and collaboration, but businesses cannot expect integration to happen organically.

By focusing on the following areas, companies will have a greater chance to recruit and retain younger workers:

• Create greater access to technology in the workplace• Cloud computing for easier updating and distribution of infor-

mation• Internal knowledge management to support collaboration• A more comfortable working environment, as the lines between

work and private life blur• Integrating technologies within the office, such as Wi-Fi, booking

systems and video conferencing, allows workers are able to easily transition work from the office to their homes

Companies today should be planning for ways to attract Digital Natives, but not at the expense of excluding talent from all generations into the workforce. Attracting and retaining previous generations is equally important, and employers should encourage collaboration between all generations across the organization. The key is in finding the right generation balance in the workplace and using up-to-date technology to enhance working relationships. ITM

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Hannah Hahn is the Global WorkPlace Innovation Manager for CBRE Global Workplace Solutions. Hannah is responsible for trend research and roadmap-ping. She has several years of experience in this area, having conducted numer-ous global trentd research projects. Hannah’s focus is on using the findings from research projects to drive product solutions for CBREcustomers. Follow @diehanseEmail. hannah.hahn@jci.com

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People are your product – and proactively investing in your talent is critical to your firm’s success Your people are your product.We’ve all heard that phrase. But, what does it really mean?

In practice, it means that your people reside at the top of your resource chain, which is why focusing on your employee lifecycle is critical to your firm’s success.

Employee Lifecycle Model The employee lifecycle, as defined by global talent solutions company

Hudson, is a perpetual circle consisting of attracting, selecting, devel-oping, engaging and retaining employees and maintaining strategy at its core.

It’s about nurturing and developing your best people so that they stay, build client relationships and ultimately help your firm grow. Conversely, losing your top talent can equal losing your top clients.

So how can you proactively invest in your employee lifecycle? While many see the issue of talent retention as strictly a human resources matter, in reality it is broader than that. To succeed, you must make the employee lifecycle part of your firm’s operations strategy.Teaming HR & Operations

So, how do you ensure that your human resources and operations teams work hand-in-hand on your employee lifecycle model?

First, make sure it mirrors your firm’s overall development plan. Business strategy applies as much to your people as it does to the bottom line – in fact, they’re aligned.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is a critical tool for achieving this synergy. The right ERP system will allow you to set realistic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), built around real, mea-surable data. This, in turn, will empower your project managers to set attainable targets for employees.

Ultimately, ERP software provides a 360-degree view of your busi-ness, offering a real-time perspective of the good, the bad and the less-than-attractive issues that need to be addressed. Knowing these issues is half the battle to making necessary course correctionsEmployee Hire-to-Retire Lifecycle

In support of this approach, a recent IDC survey, “Managing Your Consulting Firm for Growth”, describes the employee lifecycle as a top priority.

According to IDC, employees comprise one of three key lifecycles – the other two being customers and projects – at the core of a successful consulting business. Each must be managed with trusted operating metrics, including the employee hire-to-retire lifecycle.

With the right ERP system in place, your firm will be better positioned to audit resource allocation, share knowledge and assess project profitability. Armed with this information, you can connect the dots and see how individual employees relate to your firm’s overall lifecycle – and, ultimately, its profitability.

The right ERP software makes it more cost-effective to manage your people. As a result, you’ll be able to monitor your profit margins more closely and further grow your professional services firm.

At the end of the day, effectively managing your employee lifecycle is about having access to the right information. If you aren’t already, it’s time to invest in a project-based ERP system today. ITM

By Dan Carusi

A critical component to employee lifecycle success

Resource Planning

Dan Carusi is Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at Herndon-based Deltek, the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solu-tions for professional services firms. Email DanielCarusi@deltek.com

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How to Win the War for Talent

Interactive

FEAtURE

Team building is promoted in every workplace and employees are expected to become active team players. Retreats, parties and special events are planned to foster cohesion and support among workers from all departments and positions. Everyone in solidarity behind the organization and its mission. Sounds great, and it may be effective for management and executives, but hourly employees don’t buy it. Here’s why:Job not Team

Hourly employees are hired to do a job and when the shift is over, they are out the door. That is the contract (whether verbal or formally written, as in a Union shop) they enter into when they accept the position. Joining a team is not part of the deal.No benefit. No buy-in

The goal of team building is improved productivity, which translates to higher profits and increased sales. Executives and managers benefit by receiving bonuses, promotions, and stock options. None of this trickles down to benefit hourly employees. Their wages and work conditions are not positively affected by increased revenue.

The key to including hourly employees in team building is to answer their question: What’s in it for me? Here’s how:Be Direct

Go straight to the employees (formally in a meeting and/or infor-mally in the cafeteria) and ask what they need. This could be specific technical issue (don’t have supplies), communication (managers give conflicting directions) or cultural (nobody cares about our feedback). Listen and determine how you can best address these issues. Be clear and specific with your response. ‘I will speak to managers and get

back to you by the end of the week.’ NOT ‘I’ll see what I can do.’Listen and Respond to Feedback

Hourly employees are often on the front lines of the organization, dealing directly with clients and customers. Yet, their feedback is rarely considered or put into effect so they feel they are not heard or taken seriously. Request and honestly evaluate suggestions from hourly employees and follow up. ‘Interesting idea. Let me run it by HR and I’ll get back to you next week.’ NOT ‘I’m not sure about that. I’ll see.’Say Thanks

Everyone likes to be appreciated and a simple ‘Thank you’ goes a long way. Offering suggestions, working overtime, performing a task outside job description, assisting a client or customer- all of this and more should be acknowledged and appreciated. Takes just a moment. Benefits last much longer.

Team building for hourly employees is possible if employers take the time to connect and listen to worker needs. When hourly employees ask What’s in it for me? You’ll have an answer. ITM

By Laura MacLeod

What’s in it for me?

Team Building For Hourly Employees

Laura MacLeod, LMSW. With a background in social work and 2 decades of experience as a union worker, Laura MacLeod created From The Inside Out Project with all levels of employment in mind to assist in maintaining a harmonious workplace. She is an adjunct professor in graduate studies at the Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work and leads training sessions for social work professionals at The Coalition for Behavioral Health and Institute for Community Living in New York City and speaks on conflict resolution, problem solving, and listening skills at conferences across the country.  Connect Laura MacLeod

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Acquiring and then retaining the most capable and competent pro-fessionals, or ‘talent’, is one of the main priorities for human resources managers. Nurturing your existing staff can help avoid a high turnover rate – your staff will be happier and more invested in your company. However, you need to consider this task with forethought and care.

The economic situation and global competition have had a great impact on the framework of today’s human resources departments. These factors have also had serious effects on employment and the motivation levels of employees. This is pushing HR managers to set new goals and new priorities in their strategies, it is part of their role as intermediates between staff and top management to identify a bal-anced solution that would be beneficial for all parties.

An HR department’s biggest priority is to acquire and then retain the most competent and experienced professionals. In an increas-ingly competitive business world, it is essential to maximize each and

every resource at your disposal in order to avoid being surpassed by the competition. Not only that, but the cost of training employees only for them to later move on, in the worst case possibly even to a competitor, can be a severe drain on resources. Motivate employees and enhance them

Companies have a tendency to focus on the individual performance of employees, investing time on identifying their weaker areas. However, it can be easy to neglect addressing how these individuals perform as part of a group. Increasing the attention placed on developing social skills and other factors such as collective productivity is the real key to business development. This can motivate employees to contribute and ‘buy in’ to the company by promoting freedom of expression and communication, and through the exchange of best practices and experiences. For example, including further training programs in your employee offering can have the dual effect of improving employee

By Natalie Richardson

A 5-point guide for HR professionals

Retaining And Motivating Staff

10 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

Interactive

Retaining And Motivating Staff

performance and therefore also the business operation, as well as increasing your employees’ sense of personal development.

“Adult to Adult is the key driver for motivating and retaining employees. If you treat your people like adults, they will behave like adults, if you treat them like children, they will behave like children. It should not be difficult, but acknowledging, appreciating empower-ing and respecting your own people will lead to them repaying you handsomely. If you treat your own people badly, then they are likely to do the same to your customers. One of the most successful CX brands in the world, the Ritz Carlton, guide all of their employees to their North Star. Ladies & Gentlemen serving Ladies & Gentlemen - sums it up perfectly!” Ian Golding (ijgolding.com)Horizontal management

Traditional hierarchical structures are rigid and nowadays unsuited to the needs of a fast moving industry. Market changes and innovative work processes are increasingly at odds with the new generations of workers. HR managers must therefore stimulate the changing role of managers and meet the expectations of the company. More ef-ficient management of employees in this framework may have a role in stimulating social interaction between managers and employees, and in turn simplify dialogue between the different functions. These in turn trigger a climate of greater freedom, and therefore employee satisfaction.

A company applying a horizontal management structure would involve self-managed teams, in which, decision making time is short-ened and unhindered by layers of management. This decentralized decision-making process promotes employee involvement as they are in turn made more responsible in steering the business success, making employees feel more valued and therefore more motivated. “A flat company structure helps to speed up communication and also enable staff with a sense of value and more freedom to communicate with management, also creating a healthier and more sociable office environment.” Elena Martinez emc traduccionesProvide employees with the best tools to perform their job

Developing employee skills is undoubtedly important, but it is also necessary to provide them with the right utensils to perform their job. As technology is ever developing, the tools available to your staff should also be upgraded so as to accelerate and encourage development in the digital realm. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to use electronic systems and innovative tools, which will also ensure that you gain a competitive advantage over your competition. This, for example, would mean investing in new equipment such as computers or software.

Using a ten-year-old software when a competitor is using more in-novative solutions will not only hamper your staff’s ability to perform but will also give your competitors the advantage from a client’s perspective. When staff recognize that an investment has been made towards improving their ability to complete their work effectively, they will consequently feel that their work is valued, and in turn, this will improve motivation. Career paths and internal progression

This is one of the most important and effective ways to reduce the turnover of staff, although one must admit that it is also the most dif-ficult to implement. Employees want to feel they are making progress and that their careers can advance. You could review the organization of your company or your department to examine how to create dif-ferent roles and responsibilities, which can be turned into specialized career paths for employees. A career path is represented by the ability to move towards a number of specialized positions that provide several

benefits to the employee, whether they are professional titles, new responsibilities, additional authority or higher salaries. Promote a sense of participation

Many companies are emerging from a phase of complex internal reorganization, involving resource optimization and cost cutting as a direct result of the recent economic environment. Managers are di-rectly involved in this process, in order to support the organizational transformation. Recent times have seen the rise of new policies and reporting systems to monitor performance, with the aim to return more autonomy to managers.

When re-shaping the structure and applying such changes, it is important to establish a forum whereby everyone from the organisa-tion can have some amount of input. Whilst this might not result in everyone’s needs being satisfied, it can enable managers to make decisions and steer the organisation’s operations in a direction that will allow a large majority of the workforce to feel that their input and experiences are valued. Bina Briggs from plaintalkinghr.com states: “Simply put, treat people as people; involvement and inclusion are two of the key factors which help to retain and motivate employees.”

Cary Cooper, Professor of Work Psychology at Manchester Univer-sity, believes that the conditioning factor in the future of work will be to manage a continuously variable number of employees by offering them flexibility. Cary Cooper states that as time goes by, working methods will be increasingly diverse, as well as the needs of the people working within the organization change, from part-time and temporary staff, as well as meeting the needs of the older population, which will have to work longer, and the younger generation, who want to start a family. It is an interesting perspective and one that could serve to attract and retain new talent.

We are moving towards a more collaborative work environment characterized by flexibility, advanced technologies and optimized processes. All of this is crucial to attracting and retaining employees; while taking in consideration that the cost of replacing talented people leaving the company is often very high.

“We deploy a range of different schemes to ensure ongoing motiva-tion of staff including proactively seeking feedback, engagement in improvement plans, incentives etc. Staff motivation levels are critical in our business and we cascade this culture through the teams by including this within our business KPIs and team objectives. There are a myriad of different motivation techniques that can be deployed and no one size fits all. In essence, however, staff motivation is driven by three key elements – listen, empower and appreciate!”

Ultimately, the common factor is to create as comfortable as pos-sible a working environment for staff. This will not only result in a motivated work force but will undoubtedly aid staff retention. ITM

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Natalie Richardson is Content and Online PR Executive at Search LaboratoryEmail: natalie.richardson@searchlaboratory.com

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Toll Free Forwarding Blog

 By Jeff Weber

 A survival guide

The Millennial Work-pocalypse

Yes, it’s true: Your workplace is undergoing apocalyptic change. The millennials are coming- in fact, they›re already here. And while I wouldn’t compare millennials to zombie hordes, their large-scale entrance into the workforce will fundamentally change the professional climate just as the emergence of walking dead would fundamentally change daily life on earth.

Earlier this year, millennials became the largest share of the American workforce, and by 2020, they will make up an estimated 46 percent of all U.S. workers. Managers who delay preparing for this impending ‘millennial-pocalypse’ will certainly regret it. As millennials spread through the workplace, leaving a trail of tweets and Snapsterpieces in their wake, managers need to know what to do to prepare for the impending takeover.

While much has been said about how employers should cater to millennials in the workplace, these conversations tend to avoid spe-cific advice for coping with the coming seismic shift. So to help you better understand millennials’ motives, characteristics and feeding habits, here’s a field guide to surviving, and even thriving, in your post-apocalyptic workplace.Don’t skimp on skills

 If our world descended into a zombie deathscape tomorrow, any respectable ragtag band of survivors worth their weight in rations would need to acquire a certain set of skills to survive. Target practice and sparring lessons would be vital for leveling up your survival posse, but these skills won’t help you at work. In the millennial work-pocalypse, managers will need to take an increasingly active leadership role to teach the young workforce tangible, marketable skills to keep up with the increasing complexities of work in a globally interconnected and digital age.  

According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, millennials rated training and development as the most highly valued employee benefit. In fact, training and development outranked desire for cash bonuses by 300 percent. Often accused of being apathetic and unambitious, millennials clearly demonstrate the opposite; a 2014 study showed that 83 percent held or aspired to hold leadership positions in the workplace. They’re just motivated by different things, and personal development is at the top of their list.

At Instructure, we recently conducted a study as we prepared to launch Bridge, our corporate training platform. We found more than half of managers say entry-level employees (that’s right, millennials) were only somewhat prepared to contribute to a company immediately. While the millennial generation is certainly well educated, it appears there are still skills they can only learn on the job or through formal training. It’s the manager’s job to transfer these skills.

Instead of complaining, bridge the gap between employees’ un-preparedness and their desire to lead by putting premium effort into in-house training, education and assessment.Learn to speak to millennials

  In the horror-comedy-romance Warm Bodies, the zombie-fied hero R merely wants to be loved, but his efforts to communicate are often misjudged as terror. As soon as he and his human-crush Julie find common ground (what better way to kindle a zombie-human romance than by listening to Guns N’ Roses Patience together on an abandoned airplane?), R begins to come to life and the two can work together to fend off zombie attackers. 

(Note: we should definitely try harder to understand our millennial colleagues, but if the zombie hordes arrive tomorrow, and one of them appears to “just want to be loved,” don’t get caught with your guard Or your machete down. You can’t be too careful.)

Communication is especially important to millennials, which means your camp needs to learn to speak like the first generation of digital natives. Since millennials place a far greater emphasis on technology than their baby boomer bosses a majority of them say state-of-the-art equipment is vital in their employer selection it’s important to open lines of communication that millennials can respond to.

This means the time has come to do away with tired PowerPoint presentations, and that technology should enable continuous, real-time feedback. Rick Grimes couldn’t have survived the apocalypse for five seasons if he were delivering all his messages bi-monthly via carrier pigeon, and neither will you without the right tools.Cultivate esprit de corps

 While sparring skills and advanced weaponry are important for survival when the undead roam free, successful leaders will also make boosting team morale a top priority. I mean, if you’ve watched AMCs “The Walking Dead,” you know that one of the most trying aspects of surviving a zombie apocalypse is coping with constant disappoint-ment: “zombies raided our farm,” “there’s no help at the CDC,” “even the nice people have gone cannibal,” and so forth.

For millennials, motivation comes from more than compensation - they expect work to be something bigger than a financial transaction between employer and employee. It’s about enrichment, fulfillment and the flexibility to achieve the lifestyle they want on their own terms. Studies have shown millennials are motivated by meaning, and it’s nearly a requirement for their job. Seventy-seven percent of millennials stated their ability to excel in their job is contingent upon deriving meaning from their work.

Once you’ve learned to effectively train and communicate with the incoming millennials, foster a corporate culture with incentives and work-life balance that mesh with the values of our new mobile generation. Doing so will build loyalty.Accept your fate

 In the post-apocalyptic workplace, the key thing to remember is this: resistance is ultimately futile. In the words of he who knew and understood zombies best: Most people would rather face the light of a real enemy than the darkness of their imagined fears. It’s time to step into the light and face the millennial takeover head-on. ITM

Jeff Weber is Instructure’s VP of People and Places, where he is doggedly fixated on bringing even more awesome talent to the company. Before Instructure, Jeff worked at Ancestry.com as SVP of People and Places. Jeff has years of in-house HR and organizational development experience, having worked for companies like Shell Oil Company, Amoco Oil, and Novell. Follow @Instructure Visit www.instructure.com

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12 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

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By year’s end, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts Millen-nials will comprise the largest percentage of the workforce – and 75 percent by 2030. They now face the realities of increasing numbers of part-time jobs and growing losses of jobs in major industry sectors: construction, manufacturing, information and finance. Beyond the challenges of a rapidly-evolving job landscape, they have one more unexpected hurdle to tackle – the dearth of training and guidance. Real World, Real Let Down

Millennials are voicing strong concern over the lack of career and skill development opportunities at work. According to the national “Millennial Mindset Study” of 1,200 employed millennials conducted by ResearchNow and Mindflash, the “lack of company support for training and development” is the #1 most surprising aspect of work in the “real world.” This is troubling in and of itself. Additionally, mil-lennials remain largely unimpressed with their work life. In fact, when asked which TV show relates most to their work, more than one-third chose “The Office” since their work is “a bit on the ordinary side.”

Millennials already privileged to have entered the workforce are confirming this reality and cautioning their younger peers. Nearly 40 percent of those interviewed offered this cutting piece of advice to the Class of 2015 college graduates: “Invest in your own skills training to make you as marketable as possible.” This is a sad state of affairs when you consider that, in addition to being the future leaders of our organizations, millennials actually do crave skills coaching and growth.

In fact, recognizing their own skills gaps, today’s millennials iden-tified “project management” (25 percent) as the job skill they want to develop most, followed by “interpersonal communication” (21 percent) and “problem solving” (20 percent). Employers are feeling the need for this development, too. A huge gap remains between what Millennials think they need to know upon graduating and the skills that employers claim they really want: Leadership skills followed by sales training and marketing knowledge, general business acumen, entrepreneurialism and financial/economic knowledge (2015 Deloitte Millennial Survey)Meeting the Demand on Their Own

The good news is that the millennial generation is willing to take their career and skill development into their own hands. According to an October 2014 Harris poll finding, 27 percent of employees and 26 percent of unemployed Americans are willing to invest up to $1,000 of their own money each year for relevant skills training. Couple that with the findings of the “Millennial Mindset Study” by Mindflash which found that 88 percent of millennials are willing to invest personally, sacrificing anything from vacations to coffee habits to train themselves in the skills needed to compete in the workforce today. Clearly, millennials are hard-working, driven, ready and able to jumpstart their own training despite the bad rap they often get in the workplace.

This holds true in multinational teams around the world as well. Globally, millennials prioritize development right up there with spending time with their family – particularly in Europe, followed

by Latin America and North America – according to a 2014 survey of 16,600+ respondents of the “Millennials: Understanding a Mis-understood Generation” report (conducted by INSEAD’s Emerging Markets Institute, Universum, and the HEAD Foundation). And with the plethora of tutorials offered – such as LinkedIn’s Lynda.com – to supplement the high volume of company-provided LMS based training to effectively compete in the workforce, millennials are not only willing but also able to take training matters into their own hands if need be. The Employer’s Charge

What does this mean for employers? Quite simply: Companies that offer both training and growth opportunities will be best positioned to harness the vast potential of these young professionals.

The question often comes down to where to start. It is likely no big surprise that millennials expect a different format for training than L&D departments have provided when previous generations entered the work force. New technologies, such as the LMS and mobile learn-ing are providing new capabilities in learning delivery. New ways of transferring information are being explored and implemented, such as micro learning, gamification and other digitally enabled learning techniques.

Companies are wise to focus on quality over quantity, ensuring that training is tied to:• Information organization and relevancy to the job (perhaps

by clarifying the legality of certain behaviors and the impact on con-tinued employment without risk)• Clearing the path for career development and advance-

ment (perhaps by describing situations that may arise in manager-employee relationships that need to be taken under considerations as you get promoted)• Enabling transformational change In fact, these three tenets of creating quality training make for ef-

fective training no matter your generational affiliation. ITM

By Randhir Vieira

How far are millennials willing to go?

Career Development

Randhir Vieira leads the Product, Marketing and Engineering team at Mind-flash. Prior to joining Mindflash in 2012, he was VP of Product and Customer Care at Eye-Fi and Senior Director of Product Management at Yahoo!. He holds an MBA in marketing from Emory University in Atlanta, GA and a B.A. in Economics from Mumbai University (India).Connect Randhir Vieira

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15Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015 Submit your Articles

By Sal Apuzzio

Three easy ideas to strengthen retention rates instantly

Understanding Employee Motivations

Today’s business climate is mired with employees who struggle with self-motivation and company engagement, leading to an increas-ingly common issue of low employee retention. Benefits packages have been the traditional remedy to this problem, incentivizing workers for longevity and engagement. However, this issue is complicated by generational differences. As confirmed by a 2015 Metlife study, employers are balancing baby boomers, Gen-Xers, and millennials – and soon Gen Z – all of whom have varying wants and needs. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how to keep your top performers.  

Because of this gap, managers and their HR departments have to think differently about how they inspire loyalty. One of the best ways to do this is to take advantage of face-to-face, human interaction, as well as personalized communication using the advanced HR tech-nology available today. Once you better understand what motivates them, that knowledge will be invaluable to helping you help them.

Here are three easy ideas that managers can implement as early as tomorrow to further understand the people who work for them, and therefore tailor their benefits strategies accordingly.

1.Break the ice, get them talking Looking to put their best foot forward in front of their boss, some

employees tend to behave differently in the office than they would in a more casual environment. With that wall of professionalism up, they may be less likely to share frustrations or opinions. To diffuse this, take group activities outside the breakroom to somewhere actually fun and engaging. Some examples include a company volunteer day or group trip to a brewery. Casual settings like these encourage employees to open up; a 30 year old employee may discuss a newborn child (life insurance) or the new intern might divulge interest in graduate school (education subsidy). Employers may be surprised to see what they learn if they engage on a personal level. 2. Stay ahead of the curve

Millennials – more so than any previous generation – struggle with company longevity. And now that millennials are officially the majority group of the workforce, this point becomes critical! This is exacerbated by the increasing number of organizations who are of-

fering tailored perks like regularly-scheduled office happy hours or video game lounges. It is more vital than ever to monitor the competi-tion, see what they’ve got, and do it better. This also applies to Gen X and above, whose needs might not be as flashy but are of equal importance. Research is key, as technology and mobile innovations are being made daily. Subscribe to your HR provider’s newsletter for ideas, or check your competitors culture blog every once in a while (and have your own, too!).

It’s also important to stay on top of the latest HR tech trends. Using the latest and greatest platforms for communication and benefits will show your employees that you are ahead of the curve, and it will also piece together nicely with their lifestyle habits (think: apps to manage spending accounts from their phone, or an intuitive interface online to manage personal benefits). 3.Keep an eye out for red flags

No matter the generation of worker, any manager with their eyes peeled can tell when an employee has checked out. Productivity slows, they seem less engaged in long term projects, so on and so forth. But instead of dancing around the issue, hoping for improvement, managers are in a unique position to confront the issue head-on. Sit the offender down and ask point blank about their job satisfaction, and what can be done to improve engagement. This might mean new responsibili-ties, new benefits, or a change of role entirely. But at the end of the day, it is up to the manager to assess the value of the individual to the organization, and determine how much can be accommodated. Always remember, your employees are people too

The HR landscape is constantly evolving, so it is important that managers and professionals are equally as fluid. That said, one of the most critical pieces of taking the step to dig deeper into employee motivations is to have a system in place that not only measures engage-ment, but actively engages with employees. With the right technology, HR can automatically personalize communication with employees; when an employee updates a status such as a new job title, address change or family changes, HR can generate personalized messages to offer congratulations, alert employees to required actions, and aid in benefits selection. This type of system can show you if employees are responding to your changes, and ultimately, provide a barometer of success for your HR department. One thing is a given: employees of any age want to be valued and appreciated. That, more than anything, will drive the utmost loyalty among staff. ITM

16 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

Sal Apuzzio is the Senior Vice President of Sales Americas at Thomsons Online Benefits. He joined Thomsons with 25+ years of enterprise software sales ex-perience, and 10+ years of sales leadership experience with major software pro-viders. At Thomsons, Sal leads the U.S. sales and marketing teams to expand efforts for global HR management solution providers in order to drive growth and revenue to the company. Sal is passionate about software sales and solving customers’ business challenges.Connect Sal Apuzzio

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“the HR landscape is constantly evolving, so it is impor-tant that managers and professionals are equally as fluid. that said, one of the most critical pieces of tak-ing the step to dig deeper into employee motivations is to have a system in place that not only measures engagement, but actively engages with employees.”

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A common phrase in any industry is that an employee does not quit because of the organization but rather a poor manager. The implications of a poor manager can yield some rather unsavory consequences for the organization. Often times managers are hired based on experience and this does not always mean that they understand leadership theories or self-evaluation techniques. Training new managers can be helpful to reinforce good practices and company standards.

Often new managers or even leaders will want to take the reign of a project, pushing their initiatives upon their team. In times of confusion or role ambiguity this can be helpful to the team as well as the project’s success. I recently was reintroduced to the concept of critical incident techniques (CIT) as a way to help newly assigned or inexperienced project managers find solutions to common practice issues. Although it may sound scary, a critical incident is merely a behavior or action that is commonplace to the manager or organization.

The concept of CIT was developed by J. Flanagan in 1954, it was based on the concept of observation to study a set procedure for human behavior in order to solve practical problems. Over time, this technique has branched off and been modified to fit multiple situ-ations and positions. A good strategy to implement this technique is through interviewing the team members or affected individuals through objective questioning once the manager has been observed. When used in the right context CIT can be a very useful tool:

1. Isolate the issue – It is impossible to fix something that we do not know is broken.

2. Observe the issue – When possible, directly observe the behavior or in this instance the management style within the team. It may seem uncomfortable but not fixing the issue will be more painful in the end.

3. List the why’s – Make a list of why this behavior is happening. More importantly we want to examine all the plausible alternatives.

4. List the consequences – Another important aspect is under-standing how deep the issue is affecting the individual, team, or organization. Ultimately if this issue is not big enough, you should be asking if it is worth fixing.

5. Interview all affected members – Use a proven concept of probing questions such as: What was supposed to happen? What actually happened? What can we do to fix this?

6. Map out solutions – Find sensible and realistic solutions. Big problems may require a big fix such as counseling, training, or re-hiring staff members.

7. Implement solutions – Follow through with the solutions or whatever the alternative may be for the issue. Spending the resources to figure out the problem is only half the battle.

8. Follow up – Ensure that the behavior has changed and the issue continues to be mitigated. This may require follow up training, evalu-ations, or merely a quick coaching session. PM-ITM

By Andrew Larrison

Critical Incident Technique to help managers get better

Improving New Managers’ Skills

Andrew Larrison is an instructional designer and doctoral candidate. Since 2008, he has been in the training and development field providing training and instructor led resources to both the military and nonprofit sector. He currently holds membership with the Society for Human Resource Management, Ameri-can Psychological Association, and the Society for Industrial and Organiza-tional Psychology. He is a decorated disabled veteran who proudly served in the US Army. Andrew’s research and passion is focused on veterans transitioning into the civilian marketplace.Email alarrison@larrisonstandard.com

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18 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

The critical incident technique.

Interactive

FEAtURE

A new report from Gallup, based on extensive polling, finds only 10% of managers have what it takes to be “a great manager.”Deep breathe before you fire the lot or cry foul.

First, Gallup didn’t just make up these numbers. They measured the engagement levels of 27 million employees in 195 countries. In the US, only 30% of U.S. workers are fully engaged, and Gallup thinks managers are largely to blame (it says 70% of the engagement variance is down to them). It says there’s “a clear link between poor managing and a nation of ‘checked out’ employees.” Gallup insists that only 1 out of 10 managers has the innate talent to do just that: manage.

Second, there are clear-cut reasons. From my vantage point, manag-ing others requires a rare blend of these talents:• Superb communication skills that keep people informed and

motivated about the future.• Consistently aligning actions with values and holdings them-

selves and others accountable for results with the right amount of assertiveness to get the results.• Decision-making that is for the good of the team and the

company-not just politically expedient.• Demonstrated concern for the growth and well-being of em-

ployees.• Personally engaged and excited about the role they play.

Determined to invest in ongoing learning for themselves and others. Third, too many managers are given this position because they were good in a previous role. This does NOT mean they have the skill or the desire to manage. My son is a great example. With a PhD in Computer Engineering, he held a position at the Super Computer Center in UCSD, working on visualizations. Then he was promoted into management. He hated it. He did NOT like managing others. Eventually, he would leave to find work that allowed him to use his skill in a way that best suited him.

Finally, the common practice of rewarding only those with a higher pay grade negates the fact that pay should be reflective of performance and not title. This practice urges employees who want to earn more to seek advancement which-like happened with my son-could actu-ally be detrimental.

First, carefully re-examine all processes related to promotion, pay, succession planning and talent development as explained above.

Second: Ask all current managers what interests them most about their role and-if they could wave a wand and reverse their career progression (without concern for money), what would they want to do. If a manager isn’t engaged and enthusiastic about her role, think how that impacts a department.

Third: Conduct small focus groups representing various roles and levels in the organization. Ask: How do you know a great manager from a poor one? What behavior and actions do you see, hear, experience? Ask: can you name a great manager right now?

Fourth: Bring all the identified “great” managers together and ask them to help determine hiring and promotion practices. Ask them to determine what ARE the question that should be asked? Because these talents won’t show up on a resume or an employee folder, how might these potentially “great” managers be identified?

Lastly. Breathe. This is not something that can be done overnight. The larger the organization, the more layered the organization, the more bureaucratic the organization, movement will be slow. So start small. Begin with “the converted”. This is a department or a team that really wants to tackle the development of management and the creation of a high performing, engaged group. Build upon that momentum, and watch the magic happen. PM-ITM

© 2015, The Resiliency Group.  Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are

reprinted intact and all links are made live.

By Eileen McDargh

How to do that?

Turning Stale Managers Into Stars

Professional speaker, consultant and author Eileen McDargh has helped leaders, organizations and individuals transform the life of their business and the business of their life through conversations that matter and connections that count. Visit www.eileenmcdargh.com Connect Eileen McDargh

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What is the biggest challenge for Canadian businesses today? A shortage of skilled workers, according to a recent survey of executives prepared for the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC). What are those executives doing to address the skills gap? While 71 per cent agree that employers have a responsibil-ity to provide employees with career management programs – which may include tailored training and career planning – just 29 per cent actually offer them.

That may sound like bad news, but it’s actually a tremendous op-portunity for forward-thinking companies to distinguish themselves from the competition. Join the minority offering targeted continu-

ing education programs that enhance employees’ skills and advance employees’ careers and you can position yourself as an employer of choice to attract and retain the talent you need.

Here are just some of the ways continuing education can motivate employees and help your organization fill the skills gap.1. Getting technical

One of the fastest-growing skills needs is in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM fields. These disciplines are advancing quickly, and companies and their employees need to keep pace. In a recent report, the Conference Board of Canada estimates that up to $24.3 billion in economic activity evaporates every year

By Dr. Marie Bountrogianni

Continuing education motivates employees and fills the skills gap

Upskill Your Team

21Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015 Submit your Articles

Upskill Your Team

because employers are unable to find recruits with the skills required to innovate and grow in today’s economy.

Continuing education can deliver technical training that equips your organization for today and tomorrow. It can increase employees’ confidence and prepare them to shift into newly created roles within your organization in in-demand areas such as big data and predictive analytics. Keep in mind that the most nimble learning institutions stay in close touch with industry so they can identify emerging trends and build programs that address emerging needs.2. The soft side

A recent Workopolis survey asked employers why they were strug-gling to fill positions. A higher number pointed to a shortfall in soft skills (29 per cent) than to a shortfall in technical skills (23 per cent). The CERIC study identified the soft skills Canadian executives value most: A positive attitude, good communication skills, teamwork skills, and a strong work ethic.

Interestingly, the same study found that six in 10 executives (62 per cent) are willing to hire based on soft skills and then offer technical training to get new employees up to speed. In a world where technical know-how is in short supply, however, it’s worth considering that soft skills can be learned too.

Through group projects, class presentations, one-on-one mentoring and teacher-student coaching, continuing education can enhance an employee’s soft skills – which improves the office environment for all employees. Try to choose a learning institution that favours instructors with real-world experience navigating interpersonal relationships in the workplace.3. Encouraging “intrapreneurship”

Entrepreneurs share a mindset that enables them to take charge, embrace new perspectives and transform challenges into opportuni-ties. Intrapreneurs bring the spirit of entrepreneurship in-house – and encouraging intrapreneurship can help organizations improve products, services and processes through creative leadership, innovation and enhanced problem-solving.

Guided by continuing education, employees can learn how to think and behave like business owners, bringing fresh attitudes, approaches and strategies back to the workplace. Learning institutions with dynamic business incubator facilities can share practical entrepreneurial experience with intrapreneurs and equip them to spread a culture of entrepreneurial thinking across your organization.4. Making it convenient

We’re all pressed for time, and it may feel daunting for employees

to sign up for continuing education on top of existing commitments at work and at home. That’s why convenience is key. Online learn-ing can be accessed from anywhere at anytime – even, if you choose, during work hours if you can dedicate a few hours a week to advance an employee’s value to your organization. Online learning also makes it possible for you to select the best program, rather than the nearest location.

Make sure the learning institution you select has the expertise to build interactive online programs that encourage participation and engagement. And know there’s a lot to choose from, with more and more online courses offered every year.5. Custom-built for you

If a number of employees need training in a specific area, you can work with a learning institution to create a customized program delivered at your workplace, online or on campus. This allows you to design a course that teaches precisely the skills your organization needs. You can also incorporate organization-specific information and relevant case studies, and link theory directly to practice, making the instruction directly applicable to each employee’s day-to-day job.

Customization can be very cost-effective when you partner with a learning institution with experience combining existing modules with your organization’s specific requirements. It’s efficient, too, allowing a number of employees to acquire new knowledge at the same time, with the additional benefit of in-class discussions among co-workers that can solidify learning.6. Learning to grow

Giving employees opportunities to learn through targeted continuing education programs is an essential component of a career management program that enables them to reach their full potential. Employees who are satisfied with the progress of their careers are, of course, more likely to stay for the long term. That saves you the time and cost of hiring and training replacements and retains valuable organizational knowledge acquired on the job.

Employees with the right skills are also an increasingly important contributor to business growth. As a result, career-building initiatives are a priority for many Canadian companies – and, fortunately, with the wide variety of continuing education programs available, they’re not difficult to implement. By partnering with top-ranked learning institutions to assess your needs and create a comprehensive continu-ing education strategy, you can start building the workforce of the future – today. PM-ITM

Dr. Marie Bountrogianni is Dean of The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University (The Chang School) in Toronto, Ontario. Prior to joining Ryerson, she was president and executive director of the ROM Board of Governors.Prior to entering politics, Dr. Bountrogianni was the chief psychologist for the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. She has taught at Seneca College, McMaster University and Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a doctorate in Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto. Dr. Bountrogianni is a board member of Northland Power Inc., the Canada California Business Council, Skills Connect Inc. and the Human Resources Policy Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. She was recently named one of the top 10 most influential alumni at the University of Waterloo by the CBC.Connect Dr. Marie Bountrogianni

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“guided by continuing education, employees can learn how to think and behave like business owners, bring-ing fresh attitudes, approaches and strategies back to the workplace. learning institutions with dynamic business incubator facilities can share practical en-trepreneurial experience with intrapreneurs and equip them to spread a culture of entrepreneurial thinking across your organization.”

22 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

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“Whenever I attend a meeting with employees, clients and inves-tors, there is always a spotlight and I feel like I need to say something witty or motivational at all these events,” according to Julie Howard, CEO and member of the Board of Directors at Navigant Consulting, a publicly-held consulting organization. “As a leader, there isn’t a meeting where there isn’t an expectation that you will lead the discussion and contribute in a more intellectually significant way.”

This a great example of a highly successful leader who risks suc-cumbing to the myth of pressure – that we need to over-perform or do something extraordinary in our pressure moments. The fact is that nobody performs better under pressure. Under pressure, individuals do worse. Whether in sport, school, or business settings, the long-held belief that the successful “rise to the occasion” or statistically perform better under pressure is a myth. According to data, it’s simply not true and buying into this concept only exacerbates the problem.

There’s a widespread myth that athletes excel under pressure, and many in business believe they should also dominate in pressure situations. However, if we look at basketball statistics from game transcripts collected for all NBA games - including play-offs - played between 2003 and 2006, identified every free throw taken in the last minute of a game when the teams were down by one point and the outcome was still uncertain, we see that even athletes succumb to pressure. The season average for free throws made successfully was 76 percent, but in these high-pressure situations, the players made only 69 percent of their free throws. In other words, they shot significantly worse when their team was down by one point (a pressure situation) than they did overall.

This difference was statistically reliable and true for even the legend-ary Michael Jordan, who consistently shot below his season average when the pressure went up. Similar data exists around the mythology of the ‘clutch’ hitter in baseball (apologies to Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, whose best play-off appearance only equaled his fifth-best regular season).

Outside of sports, the same myth holds true. You can see the same pervasive, negative effect of pressure on two important skills that most schools and organizations attempt to develop in their populations: creativity and teamwork.

According to Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, who has extensively studied workplace creativity (defined as the ca-pacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations), subjects report feeling more creative in pressure situations, but an analysis of their work found them to be far less creative than on non-pressure days. There’s the paradox: pressure causes us to fail creatively but to feel like we are superhuman at the same time.

Amabile’s research found that people get confused about the differ-ence between “getting stuff done” and “doing good work”. Yes, time pressure can stop us from procrastinating, and help us feel like we are accomplishing more. Yet, as experts on managing pressure have pointed out, time (and other pressures) might make you feel more creative, but it does not help you do higher-quality work. In fact, it does just the opposite, usually with negative consequences to the project in question.

Pressure has a similarly negative, though different, effect on teams working under the gun. Under pressure, teams become increasingly caught up with the risks of failure, rather than with the requirements

of excellence. As a result, they revert to safe, standard approaches, instead of offering original solutions tailored to clients’ needs.

Harvard’s Heidi Gardner found that when teams face significant performance pressure, they tend to defer to high-status members, at the expense of using expert team members. This would be analogous to a team of physicians ignoring the expertise of the best surgeon in the group and deferring to another doctor who is not a specialist in the field but is senior on the staff.

Here’s how it develops: As pressure mounts, team members drive toward consensus in ways that shut out vital information. Without realizing it, they give more weight to shared knowledge and dismiss specialized expertise, such as insights into the client’s technologies, culture, and aspirations. The more generically inclined the team becomes, the more mediocre the solutions they offer. This occurs at the most senior levels in an organization and in creative teams expressly put together to work on mission critical projects.What to do overcome this myth?

When you are feeling like you have to “rise to the occasion” in a pressure moment, here are three Pressure Solutions from the Perform-ing Under Pressure book that will help you be your best: • Don’t try to be better than your best. Unrealistically, people

expect they need to over-perform or have super-human abilities under pressure in order to succeed. They don’t. Instead, concentrate on just doing your best. For instance, if Julie Howard tries to come across as overly “witty or motivational,” it will be inauthentic, and people will sense that, ultimately, having a negative impact. • Recall you at your best. Your daughter’s nervous about an

upcoming soccer game. After reassuring her she’s going to be great, she’s still anxious. Instead, ask her to imagine a time when she played her best - scoring the winning goal - which is far more helpful. Pro-fessionally, remember how you felt after securing an important new client or delivering a powerful presentation. This instills confidence and reminds you that you do have what it takes to succeed in your pressure moments.• View change as an opportunity, not a crisis. People tend to

view change as a crisis and feel uncomfortable as a result. If Julie sees every Board meeting and difficult client situation as a crisis, she cannot perform at her best. If, on the other hand, she sees them as opportunities to connect with a key client or get new ideas from the Board, she will be able to maximize her performance in those situations.

By applying the strategies, Julie – and you – will be reminded that you have the necessary skills and experience to perform successfully in any pressure moment. You are in your role as leader for a reason. You don’t have to over perform or do something super human, you just need to remember that you have the capability to succeed when the pressure is on. PM-ITM

By JP Pawliw-Fry

How to overcome this myth?

Performing Under Pressure

Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry, an internationally renowned expert, trainer, and speaker at the Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP), is one of the world’s most highly respected resources on pressure and performance. His New York Times bestselling book Performing Under Pressure (co-written with Hendrie Weisinger) provides actionable “pressure solutions” that maximize success during pressure situations, as well as real-world examples from his clients, in-cluding corporate executives, Olympic athletes, and Navy SEALS. He also offers in-depth, science-based research about pressure’s impact on the brain and, ultimately, our performance.

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24 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015Submit your Articles

As a new generation of millennial workers enters the workplace, businesses are beginning to see a demand for change in the traditional workplace culture and environment. Today’s generation of workers were raised on mobility and flexibility, expecting to be able to connect instantly to anything and everything, no matter where they are. The same goes for what they expect at the workplace. The simple solution to stay ahead of the business curve is adopting a social intranet. Busi-nesses that do so can achieve remote working benefits while maintain-ing effective communication and collaboration regardless of location.

Ensure your remote employees are fit for success with these top tips for delivering results, no matter where your team is located.1. Instant Access

It’s 2015, and the likelihood of work bringing you to the office every single Monday through Friday is slim. For many different reasons, work schedules might require employees to go from office to office, work after hours or simply be in another location. Because of this, it’s important to always have access to documents and information, at the click of a button. Implementing a social intranet makes this, and more, possible by bringing all of your work—whether it’s a blog post, company files, or client codes—into one consolidated location. A cloud-based platform encourages the flexibility of work from any-where, without sacrificing results or company efficiency.

2. MobilityEveryone is guilty of being heavily dependent on mobile devices,

including employers. Although most work isn’t done from smartphones yet, this mobile trend is starting to develop in the workplace. In 2014, 132 million people recorded that they use their smartphones at work, which is expected to grow a third by end of year. For remote-working employees, having access to their entire work portfolio often comes in handy when needing to reference a file on the go. A social intranet platform with an accompanying mobile app is a surefire way to ensure employees are accessible and able to retrieve documents, at all times. A mobile app brings a sense of familiarity to employees as well – they’re connected to work like they are with social networks and other apps on their phones.3. Collaboration

Sometimes the appeal of working remotely—the lax dress code, stress-free environment, etc. — can overpower reality. But, what most employees don’t realize is the possibility of a decline in social connec-tions as well as collaborative spirit. In fact, more than 43 percent of remote employees confess that they have felt disconnected, turning to things such as television to pass the time. A well-used social intranet, however, helps ensure that employees regularly interact and collaborate. Intranets utilize group, private and video chats, document sharing, comment capabilities and other methods of interacting online to ensure employees are constantly engaged with one another, communicating as if they were in the office. By scheduling time to intentionally brain-storm and collaborate with team members, employees can combat any collaboration slump.4. Productive Work Environment

Surprisingly, surveys have found that remote workers are more productive than those in office. For some, it is easier to feel connected to work and projects when in the office, but for others, productivity is rooted in comfort—the comfort of their homes. Businesses with a collaborative social intranet can ensure employees are contributing, whether present in the office or not. Work is updated in real-time, can be accessed across multiple platforms, and is available to everyone in the company’s cloud.

A social intranet is a necessity when empowering a remote workforce. Document collaboration, instant messages, group chat features, and social networking capabilities combined in one, cloud-based platform that is accessible from anywhere at any time ensures your business will continue to succeed—no matter where you are. PM-ITM

By Rickard Hansson

4 tips for delivering results

Success And Collaboration With Remote Employees

Rickard Hansson is the founder and chief executive officer of Incentive, a leading provider of a complete social intranet for mid-market organizations and enterprise teams. With more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry, Rickard is a serial entrepreneur and self-taught programmer who created Incen-tive in 2008 based on his belief that internal workplace communication should be a social and collaborative experience. Connect Rickard Hansson

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25Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 09.2015 Submit your Articles

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