I am a baby boomer but one of the groups which is starting to enter the workforce is the “millennials”, those born between 1980 and 2000.   How are these young people different?  Well one major difference is that they are highly skilled in social media and digital communication.  While I did not start to use a computer until I was in my early 40′s and Facebook, Twitter, Texting and such are all fairly new to me, these young people are experts. They are going to expect to use these skills in their work environment.

But another characteristic is that they are a group who likes to give back and to be civically engaged.  So if you are hiring these young people, it is important to give them opportunities to contribute to society, in addition to what their job entails. 

Millennials also like to be “in the field” and to solve problems collaboratively, not sit behind desks.  So again, it is important for them to be involved in projects that take them out of an office.  They also tend to be creative and productive and certainly expect to be compensated for these skills.

Unlike the last generation who seemed to go from college right into the work force, a lot of millennials are pursuing advanced degrees.  This may necessitate that employers may have to pay a premium for these kinds of backgrounds.

They are also “ready to take on the world” so be sure to give them encouragement.  Spend time teaching and coaching but then “let them go”.

Last week I mentioned “Words of Wisdom” from an article in Inc. Magazine.  Here are the remaining ideas from some key entrepreneurs (and I quote):

• Systems run the company; people run the systems.
• It will take four times as much work as you expect but be 10 times more rewarding than you can imagine.
• There is always a solution.
• You cannot do everything yourself.
• Without knowing where you are at all times financially, you are destined to fail.
• Never confuse a consultant with a partner.
• At its founding, a business is victim to what you don’t know; at adolescence, it’s victim to what you think you know; and as it matures, it’s victim to how willing you are to hand the reins to those more qualified.
• You don’t lose until you give up.

Inc. Magazine always has interesting articles and surveys.  Here is one of my favorites:  “Words of Wisdom” from some of the top entrepreneurs.  Here is what they had to say and I am quoting from the article:

• Get in over your head.
• Before you build the product, write the ad.
• Focus on simple things like profitability and execution.  You don’t need to come up with the next Facebook to create a successful business.
• Keep the main thing the main thing.
• You will be remembered for how you deal with the ups and downs.
• Failing gracefully is more important than succeeding.
• Surround yourself with great partners and share the rewards.
• Hire slow; fire fast.
• It’s a lot harder to repair a train while it is rolling down the tracks, so get everything set up before you build momentum.

Read next week’s post for the remaining “Words of Wisdom”.

Although I have done other posts on customer service, it is always a good reminder.  Although providing good customer service is often a matter of common sense, that doesn’t mean it comes easily to all business owners or managers.  Here are a few key reminders:

• It starts with you.  Lead by example.
• Put customer service principles in writing and make sure that each employee is aware of them.
• Provide regular customer service training (We can help!!)
• Make sure that employees give good customer service to each other.
• Build trust with your customers.
• Build trust with your employees and with each other.
• Be a great listener.  (We can help!!)
• Be thoughtful and show appreciation.

Again, these are “common sense” principles but not always so easy to put into practice and to continue!  Remember that customer service training is one of our specialities and we would be happy to help you!

Inc. Magazine annually ranks the 40 top small company workplaces.  Some of the characteristics of these companies is that they have a good working environment where people have opportunities to learn and advance.  They also recognize that employees have a “life outside work”.   Here are some statistics about the winners:

• 75% offer educational assistance
• 83% practice “open-book” management
• 28% pay for their employees’ health insurance
• 95% offer flexible work arrangements
• All provide more than the average two weeks of vacation.  Some provided 4 weeks.

If these are not characteristics of your company or division, you may want to think about how to implement some of these ideas.  It costs a whole lot more to hire and train new people than keep the ones you have!

I have been discussing key points in building a strong team.  One of the most valuable benefits a company can provide is assistance with the relationship between their professional and their personal lives. 

• Consider flexible hours.  Staggering starting and ending times can not only be helpful to the employee, it allows for the company to have “live” people there at some of the more “off hours”.  Someone might want to come in at 7 and leave at 3.  Someone else might want to come in at 10 and work until 6.
• Allow telecommuting.  Many companies now allow their employees to work from home most of the time, but even if that is not possible, consider the idea of telecommuting periodically.
• Parental or spousal assistance.  Many of  your employees may have children or aging parents and  this can present problems when there are school holidays, when their children are sick, or when a spouse or parent needs doctor appointments or special care.  If you have many employees who have young children, you might even consider setting up some “after-school care”.

Respecting your employees’ personal lives and challenges they face, is an important part of building a good team and a strong company.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I have worked at some really good companies and some that were not so good.  Today I want to focus on how you treat a new employee.  I remember a radio sales job I took in Miami, having just moved there from San Francisco.  I had only been in the area for a couple of weeks, and actually lived about 30 miles north of the radio station so was not even familiar with what was near the station.

On my first day, the manager said hello and then disappeared.  I was given no instructions other than “here’s our media kit – why don’t you familiarize yourself with it?”  At lunch time, the other sales people all left for lunch.  I had no idea about where to eat and didn’t know the area at all.  It was not a great start.  I did not feel that I was a valued addition to the company.  Now I can understand how busy we all are, but here are the things I have always done for a new employee, particularly on their first day and even in their first week:

• I am there to greet them and to show them their desk or office and where things are.
• I show them things like how to use the phone, set up voice mail, etc.
• I give them a list of other employees, what they do and where they are located.  I generally set up brief meetings with the team members and managers so they can give an overview as to what their job functions are.
• I have them “shadow” other team members.  For example, if  they are in sales, I arrange for them to go on calls with each of the other sales people.
• I take them to lunch.  I also try to arrange an “after hours” get together with some of the other team members.

Now if you are not in a position to do this yourself, I’d suggest you find someone who will do these things.  It gets the new employee off “on the right foot”.

I’ve worked at some very good companies and some not so good ones.  In reviewing what made some of them so good, I have found several principles they all had in common:

• They had open communication.  They shared information – the good, the bad, the ugly.  When people see “closed-door meeting” or hear rumors, it quickly destroys a team. Secrets cause backstabbing and power plays.
• They allowed all or most to participate in making decisions.  Often an owner or a couple of managers get together and make decisions that affect much of the group.  Then it makes it hard for a “buy in” by the rest, so if at all possible, let your team make decisions with you.
• They build their company on service, but not just customer service to their clients, but to each other.  And even more importantly, they provided service to each other without a thought of a return.  Sometimes sales people provide customer service and it is done to make the sale or keep the sale, not simply because they feel it is the right thing to do.  If one of your team members finished his/her project, would they think “what can I do to help someone else on my team?”
• Along with the previous idea, they managers or owners treated everyone equally as if they were also owners alongside them.  When people have that kind of respect, they are much more likely to be creative and innovative and want t0 make the company better.

You can probably think of other key ideas, but let this get you started thinking how you can build a better team and a better company!

I am a sports fan.  In particular I like  professional football.  Growing up my family did not really get involved in sports.  We never watched football or baseball.  I went to a women’s college, so we didn’t have football or baseball teams.  When I moved to Pittsburgh in 1975, I had never watched a professional football game and hardly knew what the Super Bowl was.  However, I lived in Pittsburgh when they won their four Super Bowls and I became a fan.  One of those years the Pirates also won the World Series.  And the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup a number of times.  You can hardly not live in that city without being a fan.   After that, I started to also watch baseball, hockey and to a lesser extent, basketball.  I do now follow some college sports as well. 

So why do I tell you this?  Part of the reason is simply that there are so many incredible sports analogies and sports quotes that are so fitting to life!  I have been talking about planning and goal setting and here are two final thoughts on goals, using sports quotes.  (You can find many more, I’m sure!)

“In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goal posts are.”  Arnold H Glasgow

“You can’t hit a home run unless you step up to the plate.  You can’t catch a fish unless you put your line in the water.  You can’t reach your goals if you don’t try.”  Kathy Seligman

Yesterday I commented on what to do when goals don’t work out.  Here is another strategy you can use to break through challenges (and it’s actually good to use in many situations).  It’s the concept of the ” Power of Threes”.  Our brains tend to grasp concepts best when they are organized in groups of threes.  This is also a key to memory.  If you are trying to memorize a long list of items or numbers, memory experts always tell you to break the list into groups of three items or numbers.  Think of your phone number – it is grouped in three sections.  How about your Social Security Number?  The Trinity.  You can probably think of lots of places where things are grouped like that.

So you can use this principle to help you find your way out of challenging situations.  If you are not motivated – take a few seconds and think “what are three things I could do right now to get motivated?”   If a goal is overwhelming – take a few seconds and think, “what are three things I could do to break this goal down or three things that could move me forward on this goal?” This works for all kinds of things.  Let’s say your desk or office is a mess – “what three things can I do right now to get more organized?”    If your house is a mess – “what three things can I do right now to start cleaning up my house?” 

It is interesting that a tool as simple as this can make a big difference!