Thanksgiving – A Time to Reflect

Children in classrooms around the country have been making crafts from construction paper this month – Pilgrim hats, “Indian headdresses, leaves, pine cones – symbols of fall and Thanksgiving culture. Stories will be told in school about how the Indigenous people of North America (Native Americans) shared their harvest feast with the starving English settlers -- turkey, waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. Not exactly the turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, yams and pumpkin pie on this week’s Thanksgiving table.

For the Wampanog tribe, the purpose of the harvest feast was to give thanks for the bounty of food that the growing season had produced -- for the rain and the sunshine which caused the plants that bore the food to grow.  Giving thanks is integral to the Native American culture.  The harvest celebrations allow a time to reflect on being thankful, to be with family, and to count blessings. 

The Wampanoags were caring people who lent a hand to the settlers who were, at the time, less fortunate.  They were heroes who shared their celebration with the Pilgrims.  Yet somehow this has become lost.

Did you know that the day after Thanksgiving is designated as our country's official day to pay homage to Native American heritage and culture?  Somehow, this too has become lost.  Black Friday (and now Gray Thursday) morphed into the official kickoff of the "holiday" shopping season where we pay homage to retail.

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to reflect and pay homage to the people and things that are important.  This year we’ve got a great deal to be thankful for and would like to take a moment to reflect on the people who helped us with our success. We couldn’t have made The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook a reality without them. Shout outs to Susan Devereaux, our virtual assistant, for editing and formatting the manuscript and keeping us on track; Marilyn Allen, our literary agent, for her help and; the staff at Career Press for continuing to believe in us; Sharon Armstrong, our biggest cheerleader; and our many friends and family members who labored through the writing process and gave us encouragement.

Reflect on accomplishments and celebrate successes in your organization.   Give thanks to the people who made those successes happen.  Reflect on your own organizations culture -- it traditions and celebrations.  Review the past, look to the future and take some time to just be!

Workplace Bullying—It’s a Bottom Line Issue!

The following is an excerpt from our article that was published by HR.BLR.com on October 12, 2015.. The full article can be found at:  http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/Health-Safety/Violence-in-Workplace/Workplace-bullying-bottom-line-issue#

What is Workplace Bullying?

Workplace bullying is defined as the repeated infliction of international, malicious, and abusive behavior that interferes with a person’s ability to do his/her work and is substantial enough to cause physical and/or psychological harm that a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive.

Workplace bullying can take many forms including:

·       Shouting or screaming at a co-worker

·       Singling out a co-worker for unjustified criticism or blame

·       Excluding a co-worker from work activities or social events

·       Ignoring work contributions

·       Using language that embarrasses or humiliates a co-worker

·       Making jokes that repeatedly target the same person

The bad news is that bullies can be anyone in the organization—including managers and leaders. So, organizations must realize that, if anyone can be a bully and anyone can be bullied, having a policy against bullying is their first defense.  Policies can be helpful but to really have an impact, the policy has to be enforced and the subject of bullying discussed so that everyone knows the organization has zero tolerance for bullies.

Elements of a Workplace Bullying Policy

A workplace bullying policy should include:

·       Purpose or objective of the policy

·       Who it covers (all employees, managers, executives,)

·       Definition of workplace bullying*

·       Examples of behaviors that will not be tolerated

·       How to report workplace bullying

·       Investigation process

·       Consequences of workplace bullying

Communication Process

Once you have your policy developed, this is a great time for a communication blitz on the topic of workplace bullying.  Train managers on how to spot bullying and how to report it and on how your policy works.  Hold meetings with all employees to discuss the policy and the consequences of workplace bullying.

Let everyone know that each person has a responsibility to keep bullying out of your organization. This is another place where “if you see it, say it” applies.

Bottom Line

Most of us want to work for organizations where we feel productive and where our contributions to be valued.  Workplace bullying can impact our organization’s productivity and therefore, our bottom line.  Organizations today can’t afford to be silent on this issue—it’s too important to be overlooked.

What the World’s Most Innovative Organizations are Doing Right

Fast Company magazine does a yearly review of innovative companies.  In the most recent study published in March of 2015, they list the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2014.  Not surprisingly, Google tops the list but there are others on the list that are lesser known but still innovative and interesting organizations.  Their study was conducted over 6 months time and they reviewed thousands of organizations.

As they reviewed the data they used, some trends emerged and we’ve summarized five of them for you to consider as you, hopefully, work to encourage innovation in your organization. 

·       “Exceptional is expected”—Google is number one on the list because its people execute at a high level often.  Word like exceptional aren’t often used in business but should be!  We all should be striving to do great work as frequently as possible and to take whatever our role is to new heights—not just once in a while.  I would love to work for an organization that expected me to be exceptional—how about you?

·       “Innovation is episodic”—interesting that only a few of the companies that made last year’s list are on this year’s list and the authors think that is not because those people “lost their edge,” it’s because innovation isn’t a constant in most places—it comes and goes!  This should remind us to grab on to an innovative idea when we find one and not let it go as it may never come again!

·       “Making money matters”—it’s nice to have a workplace where ideas are flowing but if those ideas can’t be translated into new business opportunities or improvements, they really don’t matter.  The really innovative organizations generate new ideas that result in moving the business forward and are self-sustaining.

·       “Happy customers make you happy”—their example of this is Yelp which works hard to reward its customers by adding features that make it easier to use their product. This is in contrast to organizations that were on previous lists that appear to be doing the reverse—making it more difficult to be their customer.  Do you listen to your customers and use that feedback to move your organization forward?

·       “Unlocking global talent unlocks possibilities”—they cite a company in Kenya, IHUB that is unleashing Silicon Valley potential by signing up 10,000 members, launching 152 companies, and expanding into Tanzania and Uganda.  Are you thinking globally for ideas and markets?

  Our world has become so focused on short-term results that we often neglect the ideas that have long-term impact.  What are you doing to ensure that your employees and dare I say you, are encouraging innovation?  If you’re not coming up with new ideas, what’s to become of you?  Robert Sefan writes in the Fast Company article, “Breakthrough progress often requires wide-eyed hope.”  Not something we think about in business today but maybe we should!

It is encouraging that Fast Company says, “Risk of failure and collapse are always with us. But the culture of innovation across the globe is more robust than ever!”

Building Healthy Organizations and Leadership Teams

The facilitator at a recent breakfast meeting brought the topic of healthy teams for the group to discuss. He framed his presentation and subsequent group exercise around Patrick Lencioni’s 2012 book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business.

A smart organization is one that has a defined strategy and has teams and processes in place for marketing, sales, financial health and technological resources. A healthy organization has minimal politics – the focus is on the team; clarity throughout the organization – everyone knows where the firm is going, how they are going to get there, and what their roles are; high morale – employee engagement is strong; consistent productivity; and finally, low employee and customer turnover. So how do you get there?

Randy Taussig, our facilitator shared Lencioni’s five-step process. It begins with trust, vulnerability-based trust that is authentic. When a leader can be vulnerable and show his or her humanity, it sends a powerful message. If trust is absence, well pack your bags and leave.

The second element or step, once trust has been established, is healthy conflict – Don’t forget The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook!  Too often, conflict is perceived as negative, but the ability to have passionate, positive debate moves the organization forward. It’s not about personal gain or winning an argument. Rather it’s about giving everyone the opportunity to have their say so ideas and issues can be presented, decisions made, and then allow everyone to move on. When there’s fear of conflict or unhealthy conflict, the result is the avoidance of issues, passive-aggressive behavior, and lack of engagement.

Healthy conflict leads to the next step – true commitment. Healthy conflict provides input. When all team members know and understand all opposing points of view, they will be able to commit to team decisions and buy into them. It avoids those situations that we’ve all witness in organizations, where everyone shakes their heads in agreement, then leave the meeting and voice discontent or just don’t stand behind and support the decisions.

When true commitment exists, accountability can be embraced – that is the willingness not just to be accountable as an individual, but to hold others on the team including the leader accountable. If accountability is avoided, feedback does not take place. It’s the old adage of telling the boss (or anyone on the team) what you think he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear – withholding vital information.

This leads to the final step – results – collective team results that supersede any departmental or personal objectives or pursuits. If there is inattention to results, the team loses track and misses what was possible.

Test if your team is a healthy one. You can do this exercise alone, but it’s more powerful to do it with others:

1.     Describe a time when you were part of a team that exhibited some or all of these behaviors. What stands out about the experience?

2.     Then, describe a time when you were you were part of a team that did not exhibited these behaviors. What stands out about the experience on this team?

3.     Generally, how good were the outcomes and results in both of the above?

4.     Looking back, how important was the “health” of your team in achieving the overall results you expected in the scenarios you described.