1. Be Appreciative
   The need to be appreciated is a need all people have, regardless of generation! When you appreciate something that your boss, your manager, or your fellow colleagues has done – don’t just tell them or drop them a thank you email – buy personalized stationary and mail them a card! Make a statement and voice your appreciation! Gen Y’s may prefer to receive a thank you via technology, but remember who you are talking to – older generations often prefer the ‘good old fashioned’ way (in person, over the phone, in a card), and they will appreciate your effort.
2. Challenge Yourself
   Don’t wait for your employer to provide ongoing training. Take the initiative and seek further training for yourself. Take leadership courses. Advance your skill base. Meet for coffee / lunch with wiser and more experienced colleagues and learn from them. The more you do, the more you learn, and the more employable you become.
3. Be Open to Feedback, Even If It Hurts
   Sometimes feedback hurts. When we receive negative feedback we often get defensive and dismiss it, especially if the communication of the feedback was poorly handled. But ask yourself if there is any truth in the feedback. Try to be objective. Ask people around you that you trust and respect what they think. Then ask yourself, what can you learn from this? What can you do differently? How can you use this experience to help you progress? The only way we will move forward is being willing to hear and learn from feedback, both positive and negative.
4. Think Big Picture and Volunteer
   Gen Y’s will often tell me that they don’t want to volunteer; after all, they have skills and degrees that seem ‘so much better’ than volunteer positions.  But this is a shortsighted perspective. Volunteering is such a simple strategy to get ones foot in the door of a company you want to work for. It builds relationships, increases confidence, and provides new skills. Volunteering may seem like a short term loss but is often a huge long-term gain (which is the heart of discipline and delaying gratification). Think big picture not just about today!

Part of the 8 Practical Tips For Gen Y Success series:

1. 8 Practical Tips for Gen Y Success (part 1)

A few years ago I was speaking at a conference on how to successfully manage Generation Y, and I made this statement: “Gen Y’s want the same things that other generations want: respect, praise and recognition when appropriate, promotions, appreciation, balance, working with top leaders, opportunities to be mentored, consistent and specific feedback, challenging work, training, work perks and a great working environment. The only difference is that they are not afraid to ask for these things.

Lately I’ve been doing more talks to Gen Y’s and their managers about what they need to be successful during this current economic downturn. Here are the first 4 of my top tips:

1. Talk It Out – Don’t Just Quit!
   When personal conflicts occur, people keep their frustrations to themselves or worse, start backstabbing at work. This creates a toxic office culture and solves nothing! Be courageous and if you’re frustrated with your boss or fellow employees, have the guts to speak to them directly. Listen to how they perceive the situation, and try coming up with solutions. Personal conflicts will happen at all jobs, and often the bigger problem is the manner in which it’s handled rather than the conflict itself. Quitting is simply the easy way out – not the best way!
2. Ask – Don’t Demand
   When people demand (even in the nicest tone) it often comes across with an attitude of entitlement and can really rub people the wrong way. Instead of saying ‘I need to have Friday off to go to a doctor’s appointment” try saying “I need to schedule a doctor’s appointment – is it ok if I can take some time off on Friday?” Making requests in the form of a question will come across as being much more respectful to older generations.
3. Find a Mentor
   I’m convinced that one of the best strategies to not only make ourselves more employable and learn great skills but also to deal with generational gaps is mentoring! Gen X, Boomer & Traditionalist managers have been around longer, they have an incredible amount of wisdom and experience to share with Gen Y’s but here’s the trick – Gen Y’s have to take the initiative! Gen Y’s need to take the lead, and you’ll be surprised how many managers are thrilled that someone is asking them for their advice!
4. Ask & Manage Expectations for Feedback
   If you need more feedback (which I often hear from Gen Y’s) tell your boss. Ask how often you should expect feedback to help manage your own expectation. One Gen Y I coached told her boss “I really want to do a great job for you. So the more I know how I’m doing the better I will be able to meet your expectations. What is a realistic expectation I should have in terms of feedback? Monthly? Quarterly? Annually?”

Stay tuned tomorrow for my next 4 tips.

Communicating in clear language can change everyone’s behavior and eliminate insincerity and increase productivity. Here are five things you should keep in mind when you’re faced with a task you don’t want to do:

1. Yes means 100% commitment. Once you say yes, you are required to act professionally and engage 100% in the task as if nothing in the world is more important or more interesting.
2. Negotiate prior to saying yes. Try something like: “This is the second weekend in a row that I will be in the office, can we agree that the next two weekends I will not be available?” Ask for a joint review of the value of this additional weekend effort mid next week. This will help you assess if it was really necessary, if it could have been planned better, of if you could have just said no.
3. Yes is very powerful. When people know that anytime you say yes, you’re all in, it empowers you to communicate and act with real intention and clarity. It makes everyone engage in your concerns with greater commitment. They know if they satisfy your concerns and needs, when you say yes, you’re 100% in.
4. Stay focused. Practice staying focused on action, positive intent, expressing concerns, and reluctance in professional terms and a conversational manner. Even the President of the United States has to say yes to meetings, events and speeches he would dearly love to miss.
5. Push Back. Say no clearly with a brief and clear explanation. When asked, “Can you do these two things for me by the end of the day?” Push back. “No sorry, I really have to complete this project by the deadline.” Negotiate again. “I really have to complete this project by the deadline. I can do it first thing tomorrow.” This will become an ‘all in yes’ if negotiation for tomorrow is accepted.

Our roles in life as partner, parent, colleague, boss, and friend lead to a constant effort of balancing our ‘yeas’ and ‘nays’. Communicate with clarity and care and you will be able to have ‘yeas’ you can live with and ‘nays’ they can live with.

To feel valued, to know, even if only once in a while, that you can do a job well is an absolutely marvelous feeling. – Barbara Walters

Marni and Cecile at WestJet

I’ve been on a lot of flights lately and have been lucky to experience exceptional customer service. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, it’s my duty to expose the performance and make the experience real.

Last week I was on a WestJet flight from Montreal to Toronto and was greeted by Marni and Cecile, the WestJet cabin crew. From the first hello, I felt that this flight would be different. They were attentive, friendly, and witty. So much so that it made me stop and take notice. It was obvious. Their focus was on making this flight enjoyable and safe for their passengers. I wanted them to know that I noticed and that I appreciated their focus on me.

When it was my turn, Marni asked me what I would like, I said, “I would like to know who I could talk to about your outstanding customer service.” She was surprised that I would think that her normal, everyday actions could be considered “outstanding”. I explained that my mission was to expose exceptional customer service. During the next 30 minutes Marni, Cecile and I became fast friends and the flight was that much more enjoyable. I am holding the business card of the Sales Super Center at WestJet and will let them know about their Super Cabin Crew.

It’s time to Be Real

Each one of us has the responsibility to expose exceptional performance. Every action, behavior, and attitude done with focus and intention deserves to be exposed. This recognition makes our jobs real and creates connections and conversations built on trust and respect. People need to know that those who work at your company notice the things that get done. People need to know what it means to feel real recognition.

What actions, behaviors, and attitudes are you going to start recognizing at your company today?

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]]> http://rypple.com/blog/2010/03/12/give-kudos-win-prizes/feed/ 0 http://rypple.com/blog/2010/03/11/corporate-culture-and-the-small-ask/ http://rypple.com/blog/2010/03/11/corporate-culture-and-the-small-ask/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:04:54 +0000 David Stein http://rypple.com/blog/?p=5044 Everyone at your organization who interacts with customers or potential customers is responsible for creating a customer first corporate culture. It’s not just the responsibility of your customer service people.

Many sales people believe the key to success is to be very aggressive – to push hard, and have a big “ask”, before they have established a trusted relationship with their potential client.

The principle of the “Small Ask” works in reverse:

1. Care about the problem your prospective client is trying to solve.
2. Think about an approach that is in the best interest of the client. One that mitigates risk, and builds confidence in the shortest period of time.
3. Start with a smaller deal that gives you the opportunity to build a relationship, and see the potential your solution can deliver.

This approach is not commonplace. Many buyers will be shocked by your less aggressive approach and actually embrace it. Many sales managers may also be surprised, and ask, why aren’t you going for the jumbo, enterprise deal?

Our response:
By going against the grain in the short term, you will have to opportunity to quickly build a relationship, establish value, and grow the deal size significantly over time. In today’s challenging and cynical market, an approach and a corporate culture that really puts customers first can be a powerful source of competitive advantage.

The secret of man’s success resides in his insight into the moods of people, and his tact in dealing with them.- J.G. Holland

The traditional method by which they are taught to provide performance feedback to employees, sometimes referred to as “constructive criticism,” is often the very reason they avoid giving feedback in the first place.

That kind of feedback is typically framed as: problem, examples of shortcomings and negative impact. Inherent limitations with this kind of communication frequently manifest themselves as follows:

• From the employee’s perspective this information comes across as finger pointing, fault finding and disciplinary. Typical outcome: Defensive reaction
• Most of us avoid conflict like the plague. Who wants to be on the other side of dealing with the employee’s defensive reaction?

So what can managers do about it? How can they create talking points that are honest, not watered down yet hearable and sayable?

Understanding uncensored perceptions is the key. These are the real feelings about a person or circumstance, which would be inappropriate to share in their raw form. “He’s so high-maintenance”, “She’s a slacker” and “he inundates people with too much information” are examples of feelings managers might have but are appropriately unwilling to share.

Censoring some perceptions is probably a good thing, yet most often the manager simply won’t say anything at all. The person who should be receiving feedback misses out on the opportunity to gain some awareness around a key issue.

If you are a manager experiencing this sort of problem, try taking your negative thought and translating it into language that describes the exact opposite. The result should be talking in terms of what you want to have happen as opposed to talking about the problem behavior or performance.

Here are some examples of negative thoughts translated into “develop the ability to” statements:

The lesson here is to frame performance issues as future-focused thought that describes what the performance could and should be. The statements above are just the beginning of the conversation, you’ll need to explain in detail what you mean by “Use your experience and knowledge to mentor those with less experience.” You’ll need to reach agreement with the employee on what the associated actions will be in order to meet the performance objective.

Part of the Management Tips to Successfully Motivate Gen Y series:

1. Practical Tips for Managers to Motivate Gen Y
2. Practical Tips for Managers to Motivate Gen Y (part 2)

As promised, here’s part two of Practical Tips for Managers to Motivate Gen Y

1. Don’t Expect Them to Read Your Mind.

Skills and habits that may seem obvious to X, Boomer and traditionalists managers are sometimes not obvious to Y’s simply because they were born and raised in a completely different era! Tell them what you need, how you need it, when you need it and why you need it. Spelling it out will take time but will save you time in the end.

2. Set Boundaries from the Top and With Respect.

Its not the job of employees to figure out what is expected of them or what the boundaries are in their new job – boundaries need to be set and communicated from the top-down! Be clear about your boundaries, what you need from your team, what rewards they will receive for work well done and also any consequences if job expectations are not met. As long as you’re clear, and your expectations are reasonable and spoken in a tone of respect, Gen Y’s will step up!

3. Listen, Challenge and Give Feedback.

Gen Y’s often tell me that they are unchallenged and bored. They often say they ask for more work from their boss but their requests are either ignored or downplayed. Providing challenging work will not only help get more work done – but will motivate them to stay engaged and plugged into your company! Give them regular and immediate feedback. Let them know what they are doing that is good as well as areas that need work. They want to excel and the more they know how they are measuring up to your standards the better!

4. Ask Their Expectations.

Take time to find out what your Gen Y employees’ ambitions are. If they seem unrealistic to you, use a tone of respect and be honest with what you think more realistic expectations would be. Share your wisdom about what they can do practically to achieve these goals.

Part of the Management Tips to Successfully Motivate Gen Y series:

1. Practical Tips for Managers to Motivate Gen Y
2. Practical Tips for Managers to Motivate Gen Y (part 2)

As more Gen Y’s enter the workforce, many older generations seem puzzled and often confused about this “new generation”. They’ve heard stories, they’ve read articles and they wonder if managing this new generation is really going to be different.

As a consultant who works with all generations, I’m excited for this challenge in our workplace cultures! Why? Because I think Gen Y will force the rest of us to get our act together. They will encourage us to step up to the plate, communicate with respect, be clear about our expectations, and partner and work as a team.

I’ve worked with managers of all generations, so here are three tips for how managers can successfully manage Gen Y, especially during these tough economic times:

1. Focus on the Power of Influence, Not the Power of Authority
   Many managers believe that because of their position younger generations “should” respect them. However, many Gen Y’s believe respect is to be “earned” not “given”. Simply listening, praising work well done and being genuinely interested in your employees (which are basic skills great managers do anyways) will not only help retain and motivate them, but also inspire them to work hard for you!
2. Point the Finger Inward, not Outward
   It’s easy to blame, point fingers and throw our hands up wondering why this next generation is “this way”. They are often described as being entitled, spoiled and the “Me” generation. Yet we forget that as a culture we’ve taught them this! Instead of blaming them, we should ask ourselves the question – what can I learn from Gen Y? What can they learn from me? Simply changing our perception towards them radically changes how we communicate to them and how they communicate back to us.
3. Don’t be Fooled by Arrogance
   Often I read that Gen Y’s are ‘so confident’, yet Gen Y’s have often admitted to me that they battle with insecurity, anxiety and worry. Their insecurity is often covered by a mask of arrogance. As we go through this economic crisis, expect anxiety and insecurity to rise.  Simply investing into your employees, asking how they are feeling about the crisis (again a basic skill great managers do) will go a long way toward engaging and motivating them!

For further insight into Gen Y in the workplace, check out my post What Gen Y Really Wants At Work. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow to learn the remaining tips.

While some industries are better suited to foreign expansion than others, successful internationalization ultimately comes down to managerial will and skill.

Check out why Daniel and David believe international markets are a key component to the success of Rypple.