Managing Millennials (and Everyone Else) in the Moment

Brittany, a twenty-something employee, received her annual evaluation. She got a pretty good review from her boss, along with a nice raise (at least in the boss' opinion).

How did Brittany react? She was disappointed at the meager raise. She felt sure she was going to get not only more money, but a promotion, and was angry when she didn’t. Brittany did not believe the boss understood her contribution to the company, so she voiced her concerns to the Big Boss (and, I suspect, to anyone inside or outside the company who would listen). Brittany left the clear impression that she would seek opportunities elsewhere if her concerns were not dealt with.

Sound familiar? It does to me. I’ve heard this from more than one client, and the scenario is increasing as the Millennial generation advances in the workplace. This group is the most confident, the most vocal, and the most open of any generation, and many Boomers aren’t coping particularly well.

Millennials are teaching us very important things about management. Here are a few suggestions, based on my own totally non-scientific research.

1. Abolish the annual or biannual employee evaluation as your primary evaluation tool. This generation has made it completely clear they want rapid feedback. Give it to them. The time you spend in providing rapid feedback (which doesn’t have to be huge) will be more than made up by the decreased drama that comes from clear, consistent communication.

2. Debrief after every major project. First, ask your Brittanys how they think they did. Then let them know what you thought of their performance. That simple sequence and interchange will give you the basis for a truly productive conversation. It is during these conversations that employees learn what it takes to get to the next level – and they’re all interested in progressing.

3. Don’t sugarcoat your information. It’s tempting to go easy on this very privileged generation, but studies tell us that they appreciate straightforwardness. Boomers often tap dance around difficult conversations. Millennials are more likely to speak plainly, and to respond better to straight talk.

4. Connect with your employees through the work itself, not through your HR and compensation processes. Have your mind and your eye on the people who work for you. Correct, teach, and praise in the moment. Feedback is needed now, not six months or a year from the moment.

5. Assume your employees will leave you. I don’t know a single Millennial who plans to stay at his or her company indefinitely. The employment picture has changed forever in this regard. Understanding and accepting this will allow you to work in the moment, focusing on what really matters.

These five suggestions apply equally well to workers from every generation. Do you remember how many times you walked out of your own evaluation when you were an employee thinking “What a load of ****?” This new generation is different in their willingness to vocalize previously unspoken thoughts.

No doubt about it: Millennials are creating all kinds of discomfort and irritation in the workplace. However, given the rates of divorce, alcoholism, obesity and drug addiction among Boomers, I wonder if the Millennial approach — for all its grandiosity and self-promotion — might be a healthier alternative.

Ten Things to Be Happy About

It’s July. Hot, sweltering, and dusty (at least in New Mexico). We’re between Independence Day and Labor Day: a long time before any freebie days off. Our jobs are stressful, our lives drive us crazy. What on earth could there possibly be to be happy about?

Glad you asked.

1. At least for today, the oil spill has stopped leaking its toxins into the beautiful gulf.

2. Our pets will always be happy to see us, no matter how rough our day has been.

3. We are not yet through this recession, but we have soldiered on in spite of it.

4. We have strong minds and mostly useful bodies.

5. We have air conditioning.

6. Even if we don’t like our jobs, we’re putting food on our tables with the money we earn.

7. We’re capable of learning from our mistakes if we choose to.

8. Some of our professional relationships give us a reason to get up and go to work each day.

9. Things are changing every minute. We cannot know what wonderful event is around the corner, but we can choose to believe it is there.

10. Someone, somewhere loves every one of us.

These are just ten things from the top of my head. I’ll bet you can come up with at least ten things of your own. And I guarantee you’ll feel better for the effort.

Civility As a Tactic

Recently I had a couple of phone conversations that started like a race horse leaving the gate. No “Hi, how are you?”. No “What’s new?”. No “Is this a good time?”. Just an immediate recitation of needs or events. What kind of response do you think the callers received? Right. I was something less than involved, because I hadn’t really been invited to be.

Civility as a daily life choice is an optimal existence. It is also an effective communication tactic. Conversational civility is so much more than small talk; it is a roadmap you can use to help you reach your desired destination. Without it, you might very well lose your way in the conversation, because half of the conversation is essentially missing. And when you lose your way, the chances decrease that you will get what you want or need from the conversation.

On the flip side, employing civility in your conversations contributes to the possibility that you will achieve your goal, whether it’s information, affirmation, or simply a lightening of your burdens. My husband always says “You never know what someone else is going through.” He counsels to communicate accordingly, and he’s right. Asking those little, seemingly perfunctory questions, is essential to getting a read on the other person’s receptivity to you at that moment.

This is civilized behavior, but it’s also tactically intelligent. If you want something from another person, even if it’s only a friendly ear, you are smart to ask small questions. By doing that, you invite the other person to be involved and thereby increase your chances of having a productive conversation.

Creating A Singular Service Experience

The older I get, the more I realize I’m not all that unique. The services I offer — communications training, strategic planning facilitation, motivational speaking — are provided by competent people across the globe. I’m not the only one who does this work. I’ll bet whatever you do isn’t so unusual, either. If we’re providing services and products similar to those of our competitors, how can we differentiate?

There’s really only one way: make your customers feel something about you. Not your product or process, not your price, not your fancy building. YOU. If you want more clients, make working with you a truly singular experience. Six basic principles apply.

Recently I went to an “eco-urban lifestyle market” in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a facial. I was a new client. From the first telephone conversation with Andre, I was completely and utterly delighted. Within 30 seconds, he and I were like old friends. (Principle #1: use your voice and words to make clients feel comfortable quickly). I looked forward to meeting him in person. This is definitely not how most of us feel when booking an appointment anywhere.

Andre was expecting me when I arrived (Principle #2: be ready for your clients, not surprised by them). He knew who I was without my telling him and said “Hello, Melinda! We’re so glad you’re here!”. He was genuinely warm and welcoming. (Principle #3: Express your gratitude and joy to customers). Before I could sit down, Andre had poured me a glass of tea, telling me all the while how terrific I was about to feel and what a fantastic facial I would receive from Kevin. (Principle #4: shine a spotlight on your co-workers’ abilities).

Needless to say, the facial itself was terrific, as I expected it to be. (Principle #5: customers always expect your service or product to be good, so your technical skill will rarely be a differentiator). However, I’ve never before felt as special and welcome as this team made me feel. It was impossible to imagine that they had other clients, because they looked right at me and said “We do all of this just for you.” (Principle #6: make every customer feel as though they’re your only one).

As you can imagine, they do have other clients. Plenty of them. It’s likely they say something similar to every single one. Does that make them less than genuine? No. They love their work and truly enjoy their clients. It’s obvious. It’s authentic. It’s singular.

Take a few minutes to look around your business and reflect a bit. Then take a look in the mirror and consider the six principles above.

What are you and your team doing to give your customers a singular experience? What are you doing to make them feel something about you? Whatever you do, make sure your actions and interactions come right from the heart. When they do, know that your competitors who create only neutrality with their customers will have a really tough time catching up to you.

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Five Steps Up the Corporate Ladder

With the economy still in the doldrums, those of you who have jobs are among the fortunate. Here are five steps you can take to keep your job and thrive, wherever you are professionally.

1. Know your company’s power structure. Find out as quickly as you can who’s who and what’s what in your firm. Determine very quickly who’s in your corner and who wants you to disappear. Do everything you can to work on projects with those who support you.

2. Get face to face with the organization’s leadership as often as you can. You’ll probably have to initiate the effort on this one. Only by having individual relationships with leaders (and as many other team members as possible) will you build a base of support. People do business with people they like and trust; it’s no different between you and your company. So get out from behind your desk and go talk to people.

3. Develop a succinct response to two questions: What do you do here? What are you working on? You need to be able to describe your role, your current activities and how they contribute to the company’s success.

4. Communicate more clearly than anyone else, and don’t be afraid to ask the same of others. Many people aren’t skilled communicators, so you have to take that responsibility. For example, have you ever been hit with something to be done “ASAP”? Ask the ASAP people to give you a specific time and day when they need the project. They won’t fire you because you asked for a deadline; they’ll know when to expect the work, and you’ll be able to set priorities.

5. Keep everything in perspective and laugh often. Life can be pretty funny when you step back and take a look at it. So laugh a lot. You’ll like your life better, other people will enjoy your company, and you’ll be more successful in the long run.

The Truest Way to Build Your Credibility

How many promises have you made that you haven’t kept? How many times have you let yourself off the hook?

Every time you commit to an action and do not act, you lose credibility. Every time you end a conversation with “I’ll call you next week for lunch” and you don’t call, you lose credibility. Every time you agree to champion a task for your company and you drop the ball, you lose credibility.

The consequences of lost credibility are significant at both an individual and an organizational level. Humans are generalizers by nature; I’m convinced it goes back to our cave man days. Each time one of your employees or partners makes a promise to do something and fails to deliver, it’s not just that person whose credibility suffers. By extension, your organization also runs a risk of losing credibility.

This problem can seem insurmountable, but it isn’t. You can improve your credibility and, by extension, your company’s, by changing your own behavior. Now that I think about it, any change you want must begin with you (Gandhi said as much, more eloquently).

You can start today. Just for today, keep whatever commitments you made. If you vowed to exercise and eat right, do it. Just for today. If you promised Mary in accounting that you would have your expense reports done by close of business today, do it. Just this once. See how it feels at the end of the day to have lived credibly.

Build on small achievements until you are consistently credible, both in the commitments you make to yourself and those you make to others. Don’t get crazy and try to change everything at once. Start small. Meet a commitment every day. Pat yourself on the back when you do. Kick yourself in the behind when you don’t. Rectify your lapse immediately.

Then, and only then, can you ask others in your organization (or in your personal life, for that matter) to keep their commitments.

Annual Employee Reviews: So 20th Century

Remember when correspondence took a couple of weeks? Now it happens in seconds. Remember the glory days of printed newsletters: the writing, the printing, the stuffing, the stamping, the mailing? Pretty much gone. And how about returning phone calls “as soon as possible”? Now, it’s within a specific number of hours (if you’re savvy).

Yet companies that practice business at 21^st century speed are still doing annual employee evaluations. You really have to wonder why. The data on young employees show that their strong preference is to receive regular and rapid feedback on their performance. So why are managers waiting a year? How is this a good business practice?

The Millenials have it right on this issue: annual emploee reviews are worthless. Baby Boomers like me can tell war stories all day about enduring employee evaluations from both sides of the desk. As employees, here’s what we were thinking during the evaluations:

1. I hate this.

2. Why didn’t my supervisor tell me I screwed up on that project six months ago?

3. I wonder if that mistake is going to cost me a raise.

4. How much raise will I get, anyway?

5. I hate this.

As managers and executives, here’s our thought process:

1. I hate this.

2. I can’t remember anything this employee did all year.

3. This evaluation form is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. How can I assign a number to someone’s work for a whole year? Should I use decimals?

4. What if I give him a bad evaluation? Will he quit?

5. Seriously. I’m going to speak to our HR director as soon as this evaluation is over.

6. I hate this.

None of this is productive. It’s a much better use of time to evaluate employees by project or task. Debrief after every major effort. Tell the employee straight up what you think they did well and what might have gone better. And if you’re really brave (and, again, savvy), you’ll ask them what they think of your performance. Then, together, line up your mutual expectations for the next project.

If you think you don’t have time to evaluate employees after a project or task, think how much time it takes to recruit, hire, and train a new one after the old one quits because she wasn’t getting the right feedback at the right time.