What Does Christmas Mean?

The race began on Black Friday (or earlier) to get the best gifts, the most gifts at the lowest price.  There are lights to be strung, songs to be sung, and decorations to be hung.  Parties are planned, cookies are baked and cards are written and sent. Children wait breathlessly for Santa. It can be the most wonderful time of the year or the most stressful time of the year.

Don't get me wrong.  I love the season with all the lights, decorations, and songs.  I have so many fond family memories of decorating the Christmas tree with my siblings and father -- laughing and squabbling.  And baking cookies with my mother -- "don't forget to burn one tray because your father likes them."  I still remember the year I got a baby doll with a crib and wardrobe.  It was much more than I expected and it was wonderful!  The best part of the season was going into Manhattan with my father for a day, walking down Fifth and seeing the stores decorated, seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center and having lunch or dinner someplace special.

Now I live in an area where people come from many diverse religious and cultural backgrounds.  Not everyone celebrates the holiday, and if they do they bring different rituals and customs to it.  The most diversity I remember from my days of ole were my Jewish friends who went out for Chinese food and a movie on Christmas day. 

These days I see a holiday that has become over-commercialized.  People bemoan the fact that clerks in stores (where I live) "won't even wish you Merry Christmas!"  Perhaps they don't celebrate the holiday and it doesn't occur to them. 

Last year I was in Albuquerque, NM for Christmas.  It's a diverse geographic area in many ways, but the cultural and religious diversity are different from Washington DC.  Associates in stores still say Merry Christmas.  The local paper ran an article about what atheists do at Christmas.  Christmas Eve and Christmas are normal days.  One gentleman (who was raised Catholic) spoke of still decorating with lights and greenery, pagan, not Christian, symbols.  When greeted with Merry Christmas he thanks people, acknowledges the thought, and responds that he's an atheist.  He respects the role religion plays and the meaning it has in other people's lives.

Christmas is a day that celebrates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but the date of his actual birth is unknown. It is not recorded in the Bible.  The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336 AD, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the December 25. Christmas is a religious holiday that has become a universal holiday for government and business offices.  And the universal holiday has created a commercial one.

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)

Religion aside, for me the month leading up to Christmas is filled with wonder and light -- the excitement before the gloomy days and nights of January and February. It's a reflective period, one of hope and compassion. Whether you celebrate Christmas, another holiday, or no holiday at all, do you take any meaning from this time leading up to a new calendar year? Are those meanings reflected in any of your traditions?

Even cultures that celebrate Christmas, have different traditions. Some cultures that I didn’t think of as celebrating Christmas, have traditions associated with it.  I was surprised when I visited China in December 2008 to see Christmas decorations and hear Christmas music playing. Over the next two weeks our phototweets will feature Christmas traditions around the world.  Follow us on Twitter @bigbookofhr and enjoy the journey.  We’ll be back in January.

Marriott – Changing With The Times

Earlier in 2014, I heard Karl Fischer, Chief Human Resources Officer for Marriott Americas, speak on the topic of Human Resources in a Digital World.  I was expecting him to talk about how the company was using technology for all of their HR needs.  He did, but it was in the context of changing generational expectations. 

Marriott hotels have been built around the values and needs of the baby boomer generation, which wants consistency in their travel experiences.  Yes, that’s me, especially when it comes to business travel.  And I can attest that I’m never surprised when I stay at Marriott.  There brands may vary, but my experience at the various brands has always been consistent. 

Marriott is now seeing the necessity of evolving its hotels to meet the needs and wants of the next generation of travelers, the Millennials or Generation Y (Gen Y).  They are looking for adventure in their travel experience, and Marriot must change their brand to attract those travelers (just when I was getting comfortable).

Gen Y is the demographic cohort that follows Gen X.  By 2018, the majority of the workforce will be Gen Y.  They generally have a different approach to work and to life than previous generations.  Consider the following expectations of Gen Y:

1.     Meaningful work, and work that is interesting.  They want to make a contribution and an impact.  They want to work in an environment where they feel comfortable.   It's normal for them collaborate and to interact – all the way to the top of the organization.   Gen Y has no problem sending an email to the CEO and expecting an instant response. 

2.     Smart technology.  They are highly tech savvy.   They are very connected through technology and grew up with the Internet and instant messaging.

3.     Authentic connections.  They want to talk things through (dialogue) and not be talked to (monologue) – and many of those conversations are virtual.  For example, unlike Baby Boomers, Gen Y don't connect with brands (I'll always choose a Marriott hotel, given a choice and availability).  Rather, they'll ask for recommendations, virtually, on line from friends and from people they don't know.  More important to them is what other people say versus any advertisement Marriott can place on TV or other media.   

4.     Exploration and discovery.  They want the unique experience, not the consistent one.

While Marriott is seeing the need to change its lodging brand to attract the new generation of travelers, it also must change its employment brand to attract Gen Y into its workforce.  The challenge for Marriott is how to connect with them in the way Gen Y wants to connect.  Gen Y wants simple, interactive access, anyplace, anytime.

At Marriott’s site, Marriott.com/careers, potential employees can search and apply for a job, explore career paths, and learn more about Marriott.  There is a “Connect With Us” feature on their career site where you can meet people who work for Marriott and discover why so many stay for a career.  They have a “Stay in Touch” feature that provides a way to explore possibilities and learn about Marriott culture.  Since Gen Y is all about their tablets and PDAs and not about laptops, they can visit Marriott Careers Mobile on their devices.    

Marriott associates share news and make connections through all the social media platforms, where Gen Y hangs out.  A Gen Y can check out job opportunities through Marriott Careers on Facebook, Marriott Careers on Twitter, and Marriott Careers on Weibo in China.  There is even a GPS feature on the career site that allows applicants to calculate commute time to the particular property at which they are interested in working.

What impressed me after listening to Fischer was that Marriott is applying the research about the Millennial Generation to its marketing strategy and its employment strategy -- recruitment and retention -- so it can attract this generation as guests and as employees.  Marriott is not standing still.  It is recognizing that times are changing and is changing with the times.

Taking Care: A Leadership Competency

I once heard David Ulrich speak about leadership and the need for leaders to invest in themselves. He offered several examples. The most interesting and powerful to me was the need for leaders to take care of themselves emotionally and physically.

We are living in times when organizations are doing more with less and workers are concerned about losing their jobs. Anxiety about the economy and fear of the unknown are fueling employee stress. I was talking to someone recently who indicated that with changes in his company’s leadership, employees were being urged to adopt a 24-7 mindset and always be accessible to their clients. I asked him if the management team was “leading by example”. The response was: “Hardly, they may work long hours Monday to Friday, but they take their weekends off.”

That is hardly what Ulrich meant when he talked about leaders taking care of themselves. That was just one of the many competencies for the leadership model he offered. He also talked about the need for leaders to assure that their moral compass was intact. Leaders also have to assure that they are taking care of the organizations and those organizations’ assets that have been placed into their care.

Leaders who are not aware of the stresses that their employees are feeling and the employees’ need to deal with these stresses run the risk of appearing indifferent. This perceived indifference may add to employees’ stress. This, I’m afraid, is what my acquaintance was experiencing.

The moral compass of the enlightened leader takes care that the message that he or she is sending is not contradictory. Enlightened leaders model the behavior they expect from the employees. Taking time off on weekends and for vacations to rest, relax and reflect is reasonable behavior. However, expecting employees to be tuned in and turned on 24/7 when you’re not is contradictory.

The moral compass of the enlightened leader sets realistic expectations. It’s not realistic to expect that people have no time to disengage, refresh, unplug and look inward on a regular basis. That includes taking a break from the electronics that consume their time.

The moral compass of the enlightened leader looks at the bottom line and the economic costs associated with employee morale and stress. When employees are under stress they are not engaged and productivity suffers. Even in difficult economic times, turnover can increase especially among top producers and high potential employees. Dissatisfied employees can impact customer satisfaction and profits decrease. Stress affects employees’ health and absenteeism and healthcare costs increase.

Establishing a regular routine to take care of oneself can be simple. Here is a list of “Zen Things” I came across:

1.     Do one thing at a time.

2.     Do it slowly and deliberately.

3.     Do it completely.

4.     Do less.

5.     Put space between things.

6.     Develop rituals.

7.     Designate time for certain things.

8.     Devote time to sitting.

9.     Smile and serve others.

10.  Make cleaning and cooking become meditation.

11.  Think about what is necessary.

12.  Live simply

There are many things individuals can do to take time to rest, relax and reflect. The challenge is creating a culture in organizations that values and provides the opportunity to do so for the health of the workers and the organization.