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Tag: leadership advice

4 Ways to Offer Wellness Tools and Retain Your Workforce

As labor shortages continue to impact companies across industries, businesses are shifting their focus to employee retention. According to Bank of America’s recent Workplace Benefits Report, 46% of employers have seen an increase in resignations over the past year while one in three employees have switched jobs or thought about switching jobs. Colorado’s labor force participation rate dropped to 69.2% in November 2022 and according to some media reports, Colorado’s unemployment rate could go to 9.4% next year. That’s why it’s more important than ever to retain your workforce.

READ: Guest Column — Helen Young Hayes Talks Talent Pipeline Disruption

Our research shows employees are significantly stressed by current economic conditions, leading to a decrease in their feelings of personal financial wellness. The percentage of employees who feel financially well hit a five-year low in July 2022. Perceptions of financial wellness are also impacted by ethnicity, gender, and generational factors. For instance, women continue to trail men in their feelings about financial wellness and preparedness, and employees of color report significantly lower feelings of financial wellness compared to white employees.

Many leaders already feel responsible for their employees’ financial well-being. However, as employers address record levels of turnover amid a period of economic uncertainty, it is more important than ever to provide additional support and resources. What can leaders do to retain their workforce? A vast majority of employers now say that offering financial wellness tools can reduce employee attrition, and wellness tools can help attract higher-quality employees. To help retain your workforce, you should consider the following:

Embrace employee financial wellness and expand support.

Given higher than usual inflation, employees are feeling the pinch financially. Employers should embrace programs, such as financial coaching and digital tools that help employees better plan and manage their finances. For example, 91% of companies see higher employee satisfaction when they offer resources to manage overall wellbeing. Companies that take it a step further and broaden their wellness programs to include mental and physical wellness resources see noticeable improvements in productivity, employee stress, morale, creativity, and innovation.

READ: The Top 5 Ways You Can Support Mental Health in the Workplace

Providing access to investment advice.

Employees are eager to invest and grow their wealth, which can be an intimidating process. Four-in-ten employees say they want access to advice from an investment professional. Armed with that knowledge, 62% of employers now offer employees access to investment advice services. Whether it’s an internal team or external partner, give your team the tools they need to feel confident in financial decisions.

Focusing on health care education.

84% of employers feel very responsible for their employees’ understanding of retirement healthcare needs and costs, and 89% of employers who offer Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) contribute to their employees’ savings. Yet, only 54% of employers communicate about these topics at least once a year. There’s a big opportunity to improve communication and educate employees about their healthcare benefits. Take the time to remind them about their options, especially as you gear up for open enrollment.

Equity grants are powerful recruitment and retention incentives.

As an employer, you have insight into compensation and should regularly review pay and conduct an equity analysis. 76% of employers believe equity compensation is a differentiator for employee recruitment and retention, and 44% of employees who participate in equity compensation plans say it was an important reason for accepting the job.

The Bottom Line

Employers serve as significant advocates for their company and work, which is why it’s important that they have the resources and tools to bring their best selves to work. Employers can help by taking the initiative and give your team the tools to not only survive but retain your workforce in this new world of recruiting.

 

New HeadshotTy M. Aslin is the Colorado Market Executive for Business Banking at Bank of America

Why It’s Important to Invest in Yourself — and 4 Ways to Do So

As a business owner, you must be willing to invest in yourself. But beyond willingness, you need to take the time and be intentional about doing so. As an entrepreneur or leader, you likely wear many hats and have a never-ending to-do list. However, it’s essential that you don’t neglect your own personal and professional development. This is imperative, especially for women and people of color who are typically underrepresented in the business sector.

READ — Project Greer Street: Guiding Young Black Scholars 

Why Investing in Yourself is Paramount

If you’ve been on an airplane recently, you might remember the flight attendants specifically instructing parents or those traveling with children in their safety demonstration. They are told that in the event of a cabin pressure change, they should place the oxygen mask on themselves first before their small children. It’s a critical step that can be applied to real life.

If you don’t care for your needs first, you might find yourself drained and unable to care for the needs of your business or others around you. Investing in yourself is like putting the oxygen mask on you first, getting what you need so that you can take on other tasks and help other people.

Four Ways to Invest in Yourself

So, how do you place this proverbial oxygen mask on yourself? There are many options, and everyone has their own unique ways that may or may not work for someone else. Investing in yourself should be tailored to what fills you up and recharges you. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Seek Out a Mentor or Business Coach

Find a mentor or business coach who can take you to the next level. You can likely name a few people right now that might be a good fit for this role. Reach out to them and find out if they’d be willing to spend some time mentoring you and helping you grow.

READ — Want to Set your Business Apart From the Rest? Consider Apprenticeship

Get Involved in Your Community

Find a community cause you care about and seek out a leadership role. Not only will you be investing in the community you live or work in but also in others around you. While taking on an additional task might sound counter-intuitive to putting on your oxygen mask, volunteering is an excellent opportunity to boost your spirits and invest in yourself.

Delegate When Possible

Knowing when to delegate is a skill and an art in letting go. Sometimes, to focus your energy on a few areas, you need to be willing to let others take care of some items on your to-do list. Think about:

  • Who else on your team is ready to step up to a task?
  • Who can be trusted with handling the implementation of your vision?

Once you can identify these individuals, you will probably feel more confident in delegating tasks. To invest in yourself, make sure to have people you trust that share your vision.

Start a Good Habit

Set aside time every week to focus on reading, listening, or learning. Make this a habit and stick to it. For example, attorney and business leader April Jones takes a power walk every single morning. She uses this alone time to pray, think, and learn. The bonus in this scenario is the physical and mental benefits of exercise. However, it’s okay to choose a habit that is sedentary, such as sitting down to read a book for 30 minutes in your favorite place or listening to a podcast while taking a hot bath. Whatever you choose, make sure it helps you feed your soul and grow intellectually or in your leadership role.

 

April Jones 2 1Jones leads the Sam Cary Bar Association in a second term as President (2005 and 2021). She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Jones is a member of the California State and Colorado State Bars and is a 2021 recipient of the Denver Business Journal “Outstanding Women in Business Award.”

What Real Estate Investors Need to Know to Reduce Litigation Risk in Transactions 

When done correctly, investing in real estate can be a wise decision. It offers the potential for steady cash flow, tax advantages, diversification, a hedge against inflation, and the opportunity to generate passive income. But real estate investing also comes with its share of risks, including some that can lead to costly litigation. 

The point of investing is to make money, so spending money in court battles is not what any investor wants to do. Investors must know some risks to watch out for when entering a deal. 

Title Issues That Can Affect a Real Estate Investment

Title work may seem like a routine part of a transaction, but this seemingly mundane step can reveal a range of issues that can derail a deal and jeopardize the value of an investment. Title-related risks include the possibility that someone else:  

  • Owns an interest in the property  
  • Has rights affecting title arising from leases, contracts, or options 
  • Claims a right to the property through forgery or impersonation 
  • Has an easement on the land 
  • Has a recorded right to limit the ways the property is used 
  • Has a recorded lien or encumbrance on the title 
  • Tried to enforce a discriminatory covenant, condition, or restriction based on things like race, religion, ethnicity, or other unlawful grounds

These defects and others may require legal steps, such as filing a quiet title action in the court where the property is located. A quiet title action is a lawsuit to clarify who owns the property. However, even if the suit is uncontested (meaning the other party doesn’t defend their side of the case), it can still cost thousands of dollars to resolve.  

It only gets more costly if a defendant actively opposes the investor’s ownership claim, turning what should be a money-making opportunity into a sizable money-consuming battle. 

Risks Related to Zoning, Building Permits, and Improvements 

Investment properties also carry risks related to zoning and permitting. Therefore, before investing, it is a good idea to do some digging to discover these potential liabilities with the help of a qualified real estate lawyer.  

The land or building may violate a zoning law or subdivision regulation affecting the property’s use. For example, the violation could make obtaining a building permit to modify or improve the property challenging or cost-prohibitive or cost-prohibitive to obtain a building permit to modify or improve the property. For example, the investor could be required to spend money to correct or remove the violation or bring the property up to new code requirements.  

In some cases, buyers have even been required to remove or alter structures because they violated existing zoning laws or were built without permits.  

Sorting out issues like these can require appearances before local zoning boards, municipal authorities, and possible lawsuits. This takes time and money, which the investor would rather spend in other ways.  

Risks Stemming From Lien Claims 

Existing liens may encumber properties. They can be legitimate liens or spurious claims that don’t hold water. Either way, they cost money to resolve, eating away at returns on investment. Some examples of liens that may exist on a property are: 

  • Mortgages: It is common for a seller to have an outstanding mortgage on a property. Typically (but not always), there is little risk associated with these because the mortgage can be paid off as part of the sale. 
  • Contractor liens: A previous owner may have failed to pay a contractor who placed a lien on the property (mechanic’s lien), requiring payment before the property can be sold. 
  • Tax liens: A purchaser may become liable for unpaid property taxes. Additionally, if the previous owner owed federal income taxes, the IRS may have placed a lien on the property in an attempt to collect. 
  • Judgment liens: A seller may have a court order requiring payments to satisfy a judgment to someone which, when recorded in the county, has to be satisfied or addressed as a part of selling the property. For instance, a judgment lien could be placed because the owner owes alimony or child support. Or, the owner could have lost a lawsuit, resulting in a lien on the property.

Consider Protecting Your Investment By Retaining an Attorney 

Investors purchasing property in Colorado should consider working with a qualified real estate attorney during the purchase process. Yes, hiring a lawyer upfront is an expense. But, it pales in comparison to the cost of litigation.   

Ideally, involving a lawyer early on can go a long way toward avoiding those large litigation bills, allowing you to reap the benefits of your investment sooner. 

For more information about avoiding real estate litigation in Colorado, contact Hackstaff Snow Atkinson & Griess, LLC, at 303-534-4317 or visit our website. 

 

John T Snow
John Snow
Aaron
Aaron Atkinson

Aaron Atkinson and John Snow of Hackstaff Snow Atkinson & Griess, LLC, are top Denver business attorneys and litigators with expertise spanning various industries. Specializing in business law, litigation, intellectual property, tax law, and dispute resolution, John Snow and Aaron Atkinson offer an in-depth understanding and knowledge of general real estate and litigation rules and regulations and are a trusted resource for business owners throughout Colorado.  

How to Thrive When You’re Worried

To quote Erma Bombeck, “Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but it never gets you anywhere.” None of us could have predicted that we’d be facing a pandemic followed by war and unprecedented inflation. Not surprisingly, it seems that everyone is waiting for something else to happen and the whole world is tense with worry. However, there is a way to strengthen and protect your business, replacing worry with a path to get you where you want to go and thrive.

The stronger your business is, the less likely it will be affected by unforeseen challenges and events. Better financial management is not the simple solution. Strengthening and protecting your business in any environment takes a strategic recruitment and retention plan that supports your people, who will in turn help maintain and grow your customer base. One depends completely on the other.

Your plan should be based on two guiding principles: hiring for shared values and alignment, and building happy, supportive workplace cultures where employees and customers bond effectively — nourishing relationships, increasing retention, and creating a more sustainable future for your business. Use two underlying strategies to help execute your plan:

Hire for character, then for competency.

Most of us were taught that you should “hire for competence and fire for character.” There’s nothing neutral about character. Employees who do not share your corporate values actually dilute them. They detract from the essence that defines your company and drives your success. If you find that you must fire someone for their character, the damage has already been done.

Here’s how to know for certain whether the person you want to hire is a good match with your values and culture. Start by ensuring you have a laser clear understanding of who you are as a company by asking yourself questions like “what makes my company unique?” “Can I define, specifically, what my core corporate values are and how I live them daily?” “Can I describe what my work environment is like day to day?” When everyone in your organization answers these questions the same way, you can ask new candidates the same questions and measure their responses to ensure alignment.

The next step is behavioral interviewing. Train your hiring managers to ask behavior-related questions. This means asking candidates to solve real problems they may face in their new job and describe how they handled a particular situation or person in a previous job. Behavioral interviewing gives you two kinds of insight: real-world action taken to get a job done and a deeper sense of character based on what was important or difficult for them, how decisions were made, and similar details.

If the candidate’s character fits with your community, interview that person a second time to assess their competency. Assessments give you further insights into the thinking, specific skills, and cultural fit of candidates and the ability to compare them to current employees. They help ensure that you have the right people in the right roles to do their jobs well.

Build a culture that puts people above everything else.

Being a people-first community is your strongest competitive edge in winning top candidates and retaining employees. Companies that put people first are kind, respectful, fair, caring, and empathetic — nearly the opposite of how workplaces used to be, and many are still. They have a sense of community that harnesses their collective talents and energies to achieve big ideas. Alignment is the natural outcome when you build your community around the common good character of your employees, whose leaders care about their wellbeing.

Today, the most important common trait found in the best leaders is empathy. There is no stronger way to show that you put your people first. In addition to valuing and modeling empathy, great leaders build morale, trust, and motivation through clear and transparent communication, empowering decision-making, being flexible, trusting that people will get the job done, and leading by example.

When you face challenges, be flexible and fair in finding solutions and involve employees in the decision-making. Keep people in the loop about what’s going on with the business. Ask employees what they need and want and consider expanding benefits with a range of options that are valued by employees.

These strategies are essential to successful recruitment and retention and in building high-performing communities. Following them will help you thrive through any perceived or real challenges on the horizon. And no more worrying; everything is going to be okay.

 

 

Kathleen Quinn Votaw2 is Founder/CEO and Speaker/Author of TalenTrust and KQV Speaks. Her first book, Solve the People Puzzle: How High-Growth Companies Attract and Retain Top Talent, debuted in February 2016; with the second book, Dare to Care in the Workplace: A Guide to the New Way We Work and related Podcast launched between 2021-2022.

Kathleen and her firm have achieved many recognitions from many well-known organizations, including ColoradoBiz Magazine, Vistage Worldwide, and the coveted Inc. 5000 for two consecutive years. Kathleen is a regularly published columnist and popular speaker on topics related to HR strategies and workplace culture. Reach Kathleen at [email protected] or (303) 838-3334.

Leveling Up Your Leadership Style

How do you engage yourself as a leader? As an executive, aspiring leader, or manager — you can reflect on your progress, record your success, and stay on track in order to reach your personal and professional goals — then, build upon your mastery of leadership as you engage yourself and others for success.

The main focal point is that each of your incremental improvements leads toward your overall success.

How can you lead better? When being a leader, or manager, it would help to consider the difference and how you would lead more effectively. To answer this question, read the article in Harvard Business Review, “Great Leaders Embrace Office Politics,” by Michael C. Wenderoth, published on April 11, 2016. The main focal point is that each of your incremental improvements leads toward your overall success.

In the first step, determine how you can lead people with a plan to work on improvements. It is the time to tap inner resources! Write these inner resources down now.

Using the SWOT analysis below, write down your:

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

Then, write down how you can:

  • Build your strengths
  • Lessen your weaknesses
  • Take advantage of your opportunities
  • and, Avoid your threats

Now that you have conducted your SWOT analysis, you need to:

  • Identify, and write down your current obstacles.

Next, write your action plans:

  • Write down your to-do list to help you reach your goals and objectives, and most importantly, write your action plans to accompany your goals

Now that you have identified your obstacles and action plans, develop a personal strategy that is a major milestone in your work and personal life:

  • Write down what you can begin to do that will enhance your success as a leader or aspiring leader, such as a response to pandemic recovery

Then, determine how you can best lead yourself. Ask yourself:

  • Am I on the right track?
  • If so, do I value the things that will result in my high performance?
  • Am I a team player?
  • If so, how? If not, why not?

Once you determine your level of leadership and how you can lead yourself to be a great team player, use the four functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling) to help you succeed in your endeavors.

Answer the following questions:

  • How can I better control my performance so that I can achieve my goals and objectives?
  • How can I lead myself to better ascertain my goals and objectives?
  • How can I become more organized in order to accomplish my goals and objectives?
  • What plans can I make to ensure that my goals and objectives are met?

After writing them, place them on your to-do list.

Write down how you show courage.

After identifying what makes you an effective leader, determine how you feel about your leadership style. What do new work scenarios, such as during pandemic recovery, look like for you? Write them down in one to three sentences.

Write down how you show courage. Think of how fearless or fearful you are. Do you respect your own fear? Do you attempt to master your awareness of fear? Do you act despite some level of fear being present? Think about and write down how you will address your own personal fear. Feel good about yourself and your work and career. Ascertain a high level of self-efficacy.

 

Mostafa Sayyadi

Mostafa Sayyadi works with senior business leaders to effectively develop innovation in companies, and helps companies—from start-ups to the Fortune 100—succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders. He is a business book author and a long-time contributor to business publications and his work has been featured in top-flight business publications.

 

Michael ProviteraMichael J. Provitera is an associate professor, and an author of the book titled “Mastering Self-Motivation” published by Business Expert Press. He is quoted frequently in the national media.

 

You’re not building a company; you’re building a community

Communities–whether families, clubs, churches, neighborhoods, or towns–form around relationship, trust, common values, and shared interests or experience.

Great companies are built on the same characteristics, with the addition of common purpose: to serve clients.

If you are a leader, you’re building more than a company; you are building a community.  

Just as your company is unique, so is the community you develop. More than the products or services you provide, it’s the sense of community you create that attracts and retains top talent.

The best business leaders put a lot of thought and effort into building communities that work for members, in this case employees. They treat their employees with the same care they treat customers. 

Employees are your internal customers. You want customers to return again and again to buy your products/services—and you want your employees to show up at work, day after day.

When both customers and employees are eager, that’s when you create business success. Like customers, employees are unique individuals. They experience your community differently and have different needs that should be catered to. 

When you take good care of your employees, they will take good care of your customers. And success follows.  

You create the best experiences for employees and customers alike when listening and communication serve as the pillars of your community. 

Today’s employees want leaders who not only listen, but hear, and they expect leaders to communicate with honesty and transparency. They want communities where respect, fairness, inclusiveness, flexibility, and celebration are shared values. 

Building the kind of workplace people want today requires leaders to switch their thinking from “culture” and “engagement” to a focus on employee experience and community. Everyone knows what a community is and how it feels to be in one.  

In the past, we haven’t thought of work as being personal, but it is, as is everything about our lives.

The best leaders realize they need to think about their employees holistically, recognizing the reality that people bring their whole selves to work every day.

They arrive with their needs, tragedies, health issues, family problems, lengthy commutes, and other stresses on their minds—as well as the desire to share their achievements and good news in their hearts.

What’s going on inside isn’t always evident on the outside and that’s why leaders need to create environments where everyone feels safe and comfortable being themselves.  

 Added to this complexity is that everyone isn’t working in the same place anymore. Many leaders wonder whether it’s still possible to build community in our new world of remote and hybrid environments. It is. Flexibility is the key, and technology tools help achieve a positive experience in every kind of circumstance.

Let employees discover for themselves how they work best. Listen to what they need and what they want, communicate clear expectations and guidelines, and then trust them to be productive in the way they are most comfortable working.

Working remotely can eliminate many of the personal issues employees have to deal with when being onsite, for example the high cost of childcare and caring for elderly or disabled relatives. Without those stresses, people are free to focus on getting the job done.  

After the past two years, people are exhausted, burned out, and waiting for the next shoe to drop. A sense of being out of control is shared by everyone in your company’s community.

You can help them get through this period by creating an employee experience where people come first. Continuously model the values and behaviors you want to see and show genuine interest in your people. 

When you dare to care for employees, you’re creating a resilient community that attracts top talent and retains them through current challenges and thrives on the other side of them.  

Kathleen Quinn Votaw Kathleen Quinn Votaw is CEO of TalenTrust. Her first book, Solve the People Puzzle; How High-Growth Companies Attract and Retain Top Talent, debuted in February 2016. Her firm has achieved several awards, including recognition from Inc.5000 in 2015 and 2016. She speaks frequently and advises CEOs on trends in talent and how to be strategic in developing a people strategy. Kathleen has served on several nonprofit boards including Colorado Companies to Watch and ACG-Denver. Reach Kathleen at [email protected] or 303-838-3334.

Which currency guides your life?

Hispanic,businessman,holding,papers,hands,and,smiling.young,team,of,coworkers

In one of Aesop’s Fables, “The Hare & the Hound,” the predator furiously chases the rabbit, fails and prepares to go hungry that evening. The fable’s lesson emerges when an onlooker taunts him with, “The little one was too much for you.” The hound replies, “Ah well, don’t forget it’s one thing to be running for your dinner, but quite another to be running for your life.” 

In my twentieth year, following a debilitating sports injury, the driving currency of my life began to emerge. Nursing the temporary loss of my sport and the permanent loss of a teammate, I transferred my achievement passion from gymnastics to French and classic guitar. This filled a need to move concentrated training hours from the gym to learning a new language and a musical instrument—I craved achievement.  

What drives your life? 

Currency of the head–You are a project person. A successful endeavor is your ultimate reward. You are happiest when your ideas and efforts come to life. If you won the lottery you would finish your project first, before collecting your winnings. What you crave most is “agency”—being actively involved in getting things done. 

Currency of the heart-–You are ‘in it’ for family, friends and community. Projects or dollars are fine only after you spend time with the people in your ‘clan.’ Nothing makes up for lost time or discomfort among the people closest to you. Few things in this world can cause you to miss your child’s piano recital, a niece’s championship soccer game or a friend’s theater production. 

Currency of the wallet–You learned early that money moves the world. A dollar is for counting and accumulating. The power that money confers makes nearly every sacrifice worth it. Agency is fine as long as the numbers add up. The dollars you access make up for projects on hold or missed family commitments. The more money you have the happier you, your family and the community will be. 

What’s your currency slogan?  

  • “I love a good project.” (Head) 
  • “Family, friends & community.” (Heart) 
  • “Another day another dollar.” (Wallet) 

For happiness solve for “X” 

In each equation of head, heart and wallet currency, our defining outcome is fulfillment or happiness. Figuring out the math assignment to solve for x helps us to either escape Aesop’s hound or end up on the menu. Now, more than ever, each of us is grinding out a personal equation and crunching the numbers for the currency we want in our lives—the currency of life that makes us whole.

Cashing in your currency defines your happiness. The relentless achiever sacrifices all for a completed milestone—fluency in Paris; performing at a wedding. We feel relief and vindication when the job is done.  

The person who trades in heart currency doesn’t care if it was exchanged through the head or wallet as long as the outcome benefits someone they love. For them, this is happiness.  

The wallet person finds happiness in trending numbers. They create joy by turning numbers into dollars, yen, renminbi, euros or pounds. While others get to this point and think about what to do with the money, the wallet person has just crossed the finish line—mission accomplished. 

Whether it is fulfillment or happiness you seek, in order to find it, you must align your weekly, monthly and annual activities to the currency best suited to your nature. Without assigning good or bad to ‘head,’ ‘heart,’ or ‘wallet,’ the closest you are to your core nature the more authentic you can be in all that you do.  

The ‘Gratitude’ Test 

How do you know which is your dominant life currency? A slogan might get you close, but analyzing your gratitude will reveal your true essence. Write down eight things you are grateful for in your life. Next, check which ones are of the head, the heart or of the wallet. Finally, tally the check marks in each category. 

Screen Shot 2021 12 13 At 14725 Pm

Your gratitude totals may show a clear winner. If they are close or tied, only you know which carries the most weight in your daily life. There is no right or wrong, only alignment.  

What do you value? 

Head Heart Wallet 

-Effort is noble -Family is noble -Power is noble 

-Legacy is king -Humanity is king -Wealth is king 

-Money is ‘means to an end’ -Money is security -Money is the end 

-Solution = hard work -Solution = enough $$ -Solution = more $$  

Currency Alignment 

Those who find happiness have matched their life activities to the currency they value most. When this happens you reduce internal conflict and nearly eliminate stress. For millions across the globe, this ‘currency awareness’ can be the silver lining to a world-wide pandemic. 

Aesop’s ‘hound & hare’ fable might suggest that, like the hare, if you are to win that race for your life it helps to pick an arena where your natural currency is a personal advantage. 

Rick Griggs is a former Intel Corporation training manager and inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool. He runs the ten-month Leadership Mastery Academy. [email protected] or 970.690.7327. 

This is what holiday parties need in 2021

Virtual,christmas,new,year's,eve,party.,man,smiling,wearing,business

Many of us have heard the analogy that being invited to the dance is diversity, and being invited to actually dance is inclusion and belonging is somehow the next step.

Some suggest that belonging is not just being asked to dance, but having the DJ play your favorite song or knowing the playlist.

As we begin the holiday season, and plan company holiday parties, focus on equity; not belonging.

What is equity?

Equity means ‘I don’t want to dance with you and knowing I can do so without retribution or retaliation.’ Belonging sounds great, but I don’t belong to you and employees don’t belong to their organizations. The word has an inherent connotation of ownership or obligation, which in my mind, is fundamentally wrong. I will settle for fair pay and a raise…equity.

Just because you dim the lights and turn on the music doesn’t mean I have to dance with you. There should be no retribution for not dancing with you or the assumption that I should be dancing with you. What does this mean in a real work environment?

What does belonging look like at the holiday party?

At a company holiday party, there are often symbols of Christmas that are not “really Christmas,” like Christmas trees or jokes like, “Can’t we just say Christmas!” Well, to belong, it is easier to just let all that go and participate because calling these items out brings down the party or implies somehow you are opposed to religion.

As we all know, questioning company culture has consequences because if you don’t know how to belong to the group, you don’t get promotions and opportunities. Minoritized groups know how to belong and do so at the sacrifice of their personal values and beliefs.

Equity means every employee can speak freely without consequence. I am not suggesting, employees should say offensive or hurtful things. Rather, when you approach the one Jewish person on the team and say, “We are having a holiday party you don’t mind if we decorate a tree do you?” or “We are serving pork. Can you just pick around it?” That is not inclusion, but belonging. A decision has already been made and you are asking them to go along without complaining.

These questions are about ‘will you be a part of our group or not?’Any person who has been put in these positions knows there is only one answer to these questions because if you decline the invitation to decorate the Christmas tree and request other items be added to the menu, you will be judged and everyone in the department will know you are a problem. You do not belong. You are not a team player. The reality is that in this situation one cannot say, “No.” They also can’t give you permission on behalf of everyone that shares their faith, race, sexual orientation or gender so please don’t ask.

Belonging means you ask me to dance with conditions. It means you ask me questions and make statements with the intention of inclusion but without equity. You want to be able to speak without worrying about how you might be judged while you judge me for how I respond to your questions that can be demeaning, insensitive and insulting.

Equity means we are all willing to listen to the uncomfortable truths and accept the reality that our words can be hurtful. Even if your intent was not to be offensive, I have the right to be offended and speak that truth. We don’t have to belong to speak our truth. Equity gives space to different realities and histories. People can come to the party and not drink; you can still serve alcohol. Allow individuals to come to the party and not be judged for how they participate.

How do we have inclusive holiday parties?

Here are three tips to make this holiday season a joyous one.

1) Celebrate. We can celebrate together, eat and drink without asking each other to deny our personal beliefs or values. In a business or personal setting, it is best not to invite people to your house and ask them to pray and worship in another religion for which they do not believe.

2) Respect. Do not ask anyone for permission to do something that would be inconsistent with their values or beliefs. I don’t have to dance with you to be your friend or colleague. Equally important, don’t ask others to give you permission on behalf of everyone that shares their identity.

3) Have fun. There are many ways to have fun. Some dance, some talk and others eat. We should honor and value that each of us can enjoy participating in our own unique ways. This holiday season we celebrate all of us.

Jason R. Thompson releases a new book, Diversity and Inclusion Matters in December 2021. The book shares practical tips on how to implement DE&I practices and perspectives in the workplace and society. Jason has over 25 years of experience building, managing, and consulting with DE&I programs of national and international scale. To learn more, visit JasonDEI.com. Follow Jason R. Thompson on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Are your filters blocking effective communication?

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Believe it or not the majority of your conversations with other people involve the filters you carry. What does that mean? Your filters are your knowledge, experience and values that directly influence how you listen, think and communicate.

In Sherpa Executive Coaching we refer to filters as the block to your ability to be centered and objective in conversations with people who have different points of view.

Believe it or not, not everyone thinks the way you think. We actually see others as we are rather than who truly are.  

“When your filters are in place, you only interpret things as if you had said them. You don’t search for what someone else means, based on their experience, knowledge and values. So, what are filters? 

  • Your personal agenda: Self-contained directions and guidelines that you follow every day. 
  • Pre-conceived notions: Views you have held in the past, with or without adequate information and evidence. 
  • Judgment: Formal decisions you have already made in advance. 
  • Experience: Answers that worked in the past, based on what you have been through in your life. 
  • Opinion: Beliefs or thoughts you have on a variety of issues. 
  • Values: Things you hold most important as you relate to your job and working with others.  

Filters fuel mind-reading, fortune telling (assumptions about how the future will be), and conclusions about why people do what they do or say what they say. Ultimately your filters block effective communication, whether that be collaborative problem solving or casual sharing of information. Pause for a minute and reread the list of filters again. For each filter ask yourself a simple question: How does this filter impact how I communicate?  

As you find yourself in situations where you feel you can positively impact other people’s perspectives, be conscious of your intonation, body language and choice of words. “Your job is to realize how often your filters influence what you think, hear and say.” (Be Don’t Do, By Brenda Corbett and Judith Colemon).  

One of the most effective ways to create safe space between two people communicating is to practice a simple tool used in the Sherpa Executive Coaching process: Listen, Think, then Communicate. It sounds like a simple enough tool to use yet because of our filters, our ability to consciously hear what another person is trying to communicate gets in our way. When we slow the dialogue down by asking questions for clarity, or asking for a pause to think about what was just communicated, and then we can formulate our response based upon the insights that often drop in the pause.  

Our world is full of offense these days which flows directly from our personal filters. Much of what spins us into an emotional fit in our daily life usually involves another human being, so it is worth our mental attention to explore what is really going on behind the annoyances. What if you made the conscious effort to see life through the lens of the person you are communicating with this week? What would you imagine you would notice to be different?  

One of the quickest ways to cut through filters is the use of well-placed questions: 

  • A question to ask yourself: Hmmm. Now that spun me. What’s that about for me? Take accountability for your emotions and get to the bottom of which filter was triggered. 
  • I notice you didn’t respond during our meeting. What was that about for you? This question allows you to step away from conclusions you might make around another person’s behavior. 
  • What do you want to do about that? What have you done in the past that worked for you in a similar situation? What do you need from me? These 3 questions give you, the receiver, the opportunity to stay in the audience (the objective observer) rather than jumping on the stage and taking a role in the sender’s drama. Clarity of focus leads to accuracy of response.  
  • That’s a lot of information. Would you please give me a few sentences to sum up what your main perspective is on this topic? This is a great question to use if the sender of the information has a pre-conceived notion from their past experiences that more detail is better.  

Just because someone has a filter does not mean you have to sit and receive the ramification of that filter. For example, you say something in a conversation and the receiver says: “that offends me.” You have the ability to crack the filter code by inserting a question that can open up effective dialogue: “That was not my intention. What specifically about what I said offended you?” 

Based on what the sender says in response to your question, you have the opportunity to stay off the stage of drama and explore your next question to create positive connection verses a dialogue where the filters are guiding the outcome, which too often end in an animal planet scene. 

When I was training up for my black belts, after each technique, we would always come back to a sparring stance. From this position we could easily execute our next move in the ring.

In Sherpa Executive Coaching, we have a similar stance for effective coaching conversations: Be centered and objective, be a good listener and be inquisitive.

These 3 “Be’s” put you in a powerful stance as a detective of what is actually being communicated rather than what the filters dictate. Take back your power to create safe space in the midst of dialogue.  

Take Action: 

  • Observe your conversations and notice where your filters may be distorting the information that you are hearing and influencing how you communicate and behave.
  • Make a conscious effort to hear what other people are trying to communicate along with understanding their side of the story.  
  • Be quick to hear and slow to speak. Think before you speak. Keep your filters in check.  
  • Ask effective questions to gain clarity around what is being said.  

 Lauren E Miller, has a Masters in Adult Education with a Certification in Human Resources Development. She has personally conquered two of life’s top stressors at the same time, advanced cancer and divorce. Now Google’s #1 Stress Relief Expert, Award Winning Author, HRD Trainer and Certified Sherpa Executive Coach, Lauren provides process driven programs and custom trainings with structure, guidance, support and accountability designed to create positive change in behavior resulting in positive impact on business (IOB) and life purpose.  Explore More: http://LaurenEMiller.com  

Effective methods to best manage a project team

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Project management is reliant on good team management skills. You must instill empowerment and inspiration in your employees by demonstrating good leadership. You must maximize the team’s potential while making the team members feel as though they’re not being utilized to their greatest potential.  

There’s a gray area between not doing anything and overdoing it, but with experience, you will be able to move gently in the space between the two. 

Managing project teams effectively 

To ensure your team has continual improvement, you must inspire your employees. Managers that set a good example for their team, and train future leaders, have delivered results in the industry on several occasions.  

We’ll have a closer look at some of the most powerful team-management tactics that you may utilize in order to make yourself a respected project manager. 

Make sure the team is balanced 

When was the last time you heard of an organization devoting significant time and resources to enhancing their recruitment process? As much as half of the work you’ll have to accomplish is choosing the best personnel for the task. You need to make sure your team members’ abilities and personalities are in harmony with the project’s needs. For instance, if you have a project, let’s say, in composting statistics you can find a team member that is into gardening to do the task. 

Those who are great at what they do but who don’t play well as part of a team will most likely slow you down. Interpersonal skills are needed by all team members, hence only people with interpersonal skills can contribute value to the team. To have a well-balanced team, you must discover the exact balance. 

Guarantee easy accessibility and visibility 

Often, project managers have no authority over the organization’s data policy. However, in the team, you need to maintain a high level of project transparency and ensure all team members have access to the relevant data. You can even use digital tools such as ERP that help you with data management.   

An obvious sign of ineffectual leaders is their inclination to keep critical information limited to those who are truly necessary. Mushroom management is so hazardous that it needs a distinct name. Working in an open manner will give you the most of each member’s skill set, as well as enhanced internal accountability, all while keeping progress in check. 

Transparency is an excellent way to increase communication and collaboration among your company. You will be able to learn more about these concepts in the next sections. 

Help team members to communicate effectively 

Nobody finishes projects on their own. Their success is influenced by numerous internal and external entities. You have to keep them involved over the project’s lifecycle as a project manager. The only way to handle it is to use excellent project management communication. You can gain these communication skills by attending PMP training online. This way not only will you advance your career as a project manager, but also be able to offer more valuable help to your team members.   

In all professional environments, effective management is dependent on clear and effective communication. When it comes to project teams, it is imperative that you state the project’s objectives and connect everyone’s interests in order to gain everyone’s commitment. 

Also, you will remain on top of any impending threats, before they become problems for your project. You can use such knowledge to react to hazards proactively when team members communicate their worries and issues in project management.  

Cultivate a collaborative work environment 

All of these tactics are intertwined. For instance, without a model of effective communication, you cannot foster cooperation, and without collaboration, you cannot support effective communication. Everything is linked together like a seamless cycle. 

The importance of a collaborative environment in your team’s development and overall function cannot be overstated. Everybody should feel comfortable opening up about their personal struggles while doing their jobs. Promoting open debate while holding meetings on a regular basis goes a long way in fostering a vibrant work atmosphere. 

Acknowledge the ideas of your team  

People’s ideas are valuable, and it’s important to have conversations with your team about progress. 

When it comes to new ideas, no one can have them all, and you should practice discussing your strategy with your team so you can gain their trust. The key to creativity is to stimulate discussion and exchange of ideas. The methods proposed by both of these are essential to optimizing your procedures and improving your team’s overall performance. 

People from all walks of life have the ability to give ideas. A leader’s responsibility is to make their members feel secure and ensure that they have an opportunity to share their thoughts.  

It is important to discuss and respond to all ideas whether you genuinely believe in them or not. While you should not always embrace them, you should show appreciation and urge your team members to keep working actively on the project plan. 

When grooming future leaders, give them responsibilities 

Leadership experiences must be built into your project team members. They will later become leaders, and you must make sure they have that experience. You will have to have faith in their judgement and allow them some flexibility.  

Incorporating delegation is the best way to become a great manager. If you are always obsessed with micromanaging the tiniest details, you won’t be able to organize and implement a superior strategy for carrying out the items on your to-do list. 

 Manage the conflicts within the company 

When different personalities collaborate, there will inevitably be tension. You have two options: either reduce the problem or stoke the flames. The first rule is to never choose a side or become biased in the pursuit of objectivity. Additionally, devise your answer to the issue according to its nature. 

It should be stressed that the conflict does not pertain to the strategy that should be taken or any other type of professional problem. This can be done by reminding everyone of the genuine purpose and containing the situation. However, if it is of a personal nature, try to give team members some room to work with each other. It is absolutely imperative that you try to mediate their differences whenever feasible. 

Regardless of the issue you are facing, your ability to lead will certainly be put to the test in that scenario. 

Pay attention to constructive criticism 

To be like you, who constantly solicits feedback from your clients, project teams should also solicit feedback from you. Even while leadership is somewhat of a natural ability, it is still necessary for you to cultivate and fine-tune it for your team’s unique characteristics. 

Some members of your project team do better with a little oversight, while other members perform better when they are allowed to implement their unique style. After spending time with your staff, you can learn more about their preference. Other leaders use suggestion boxes, questionnaires, or long-term forms to monitor the performance of their employees and tweak their methods as needed. 

Strategies depend on the team you’re working with. But the only thing you need to remember to make sure you’re successful is to keep a firm, but understanding hand. Your team is made up of humans that have their own feelings and lives. Make sure you don’t forget that in the process of reaching your goals.