The importance of American labor could be summarized in how we won World War II. Late to the fight, our workers played just as much of a role as soldiers by producing unprecedented quantities of ships, guns, planes, and vehicles. As the war concluded, workers had indeed, earned our deep respect.

In the 50s, we shifted our manufacturing capabilities by building the best cars and products in the world. We gave Veterans “first-in-line” access to jobs, and we created millions of homes at ridiculously low price-points. Through the sheer value of America’s talent, we became the world’s superpower.

In 1976, two famed economists at Harvard published a paper that would change virtually every aspect of running a public company. It is our collective illiteracy about this event that causes so many people to blame others without actually knowing how we got here. Michael Jensen and William Meckling published the now-legendary paper,

“Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure.”

In it, they argued that corporations needed to align the interests of manage­ment and shareholders. To put this bluntly, they proposed the sole purpose of a corporation is to deliver and grow shareholder value.

For CEOs and shareholders, this was as healthy as leaving a ton of biscuits in a room with two dogs. For corporate executives, stock-based com­pensation became the alignment mechanism of choice. Consequently, their incomes skyrocketed. In the 1970s, CEOs of large, publicly traded companies earned less than $1 million in today’s dollars. Today, that average has grown to $11.4 million. The new model motivates CEOs to incessantly focus on stock value rather than enhancing the real, longer-term performance of the company.

During the past 40+ years, the entire investment market shifted from long-term investment in building organizations and markets to realizing as much out of stock value as possible and to reach that in the shortest period of time. Investment banking turned into a multi-trillion-dollar industry. CEOs and hedge fund leaders became the foundation for how we dealt with workers in large organizations. With stock value becoming the number-one pursuit, American businesses and CEOs traded the long view for volatility, thus shifting the dynamic interests between capital and labor. As providers of capital push CEOs for greater and quicker returns, cutting back on labor is now the easiest way to signal they are ad­dressing corporate financial performance.

Many workers were quite supportive of the American dream. But during the last 40 years, the average income has stagnated while hourly compensation dropped. Workers witness venture capitalists taking advantage of financial deregulation to buy companies, take out loans on the assets, and pay huge dividends to themselves. Many of these ac­quisitions went bankrupt as employees lost their jobs, health insurance, and pensions. These financial barons are often celebrated and admired, but it has also resulted in mass income inequality at an alarming trend. Was this done intentionally? I believe it was done blindly.

Many of America’s workers have watched their job, and financial security goes up in smoke. Anger, contempt, and cynicism turned into raging fires as they read stories of greedy CEOs backdating stock options and pushing the envelope to unethical, and sometimes illegal, degrees. But perhaps it was amorality that angered them the most. In many organi­zations, the underlying message was that when needed, workers mat­tered. However, the cycles of hiring and laying people off reached such dizzying heights that we now have a labor force that views work as a temporary assignment.

The single-minded pursuit of building shareholder value has weakened the strength of our country. There was a time when shareholders, employees, product quality, and customer satisfaction were equal. Sadly, by making shareholders primary winners of an organization’s profits, we now produce large quantities of cheap stuff. We often treat customers by examining how much irritation they will put up with before moving on.

As a post-war country, Cadillac was the “Standard of the World.” But after the Theory was embraced, GM began pulling every dime that could be turned over to management and shareholders. Materials infamously got cheaper. Instead of innovation, Cadillac built the Seville on a Chevy Nova frame and charged as much as an E-class Mercedes. Lee Iacocca famously revived Chrysler with the “K” car while his Pinto turned out to be more threatening than a hitman.

Everything became cheaper. The results can be experienced by sitting in any Cadillac model and then moving over to an Audi, BMW, Lexus or Mercedes. The late Lee Iacocca celebrated the fixation on shareholder value by building such notable products as the “K” car and the Pinto.

Today, our country faces a variety of significant challenges. Underemployment impacts half of our workers. Accelerating change is kicking far too many people to the curb. In the last 2 years, we have witnessed California’s utility companies cutting expenses so close to the bone that hundreds of people have lost their lives to fires. Even in the face of bankruptcy, they have paid their shareholders fortunes and kept millions in bonuses for themselves. The state’s governor Gavin Newsom is courting Warren Buffet to buy the land rights to our utilities. Perhaps this is a good time to understand that Warren never takes shortcuts. He rigorously upholds bringing integrity to every aspect of organizational practice.

I do not believe that change will come from anyone who is benefiting from the Theory. We will also not break out of the current state if most people don’t understand how we got here. Instead, But, I have great faith in our children and young people because they will not put up with this crap.

A few years ago, I flew into Calgary to deliver a keynote on employee engagement. My time in the flight was invested in reading the biographies of the CEOs and business owners attending the event. The vast majority of them were in petroleum. At the time, delays in the Keystone Pipeline and a downturn in the global market had turned Calgary into something of a ghost town.

At the beginning of my presentation, I said, “While flying into your beautiful city, I studied your backgrounds and your organizations. Since many of you are laying off thousands of employees, perhaps we could discuss self-change rather than employee engagement.”

The response was enthusiastic. Later, during Q & A, I suggested the possibility that many of the leaders in that conference would do well by investing in the future rather than waiting for the past to spring back to life. For example, we have many energy firms making that shift because they take the future seriously. But the room turned a bit dark when I said, If we don’t progress, our children will do it. Because they will not put up with this.”

Isn’t it time to declare Theory of the Firm a failure?

In terms of excellence, it has turned into a shortcut for reaching mediocrity.

Ironically, most of the people upholding and protecting the Theory of the Firm are in their 60s to 80s.

Perhaps our children actually are here to save the world.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2019, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post How Shareholder Fixation Built a Culture of Mediocrity appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

The Modern Workplace

How many of us are conscious enough to be excited about trading in the traditional sense of security for perpetual growth?

In essence, this is what the new workplace offers, as well as demands.

For the vast majority of us, real change is a frightening prospect. For example, when we began our programs in 1990, most of our participants were pursuing one significant professional change. After making that transition, many would tell me, “I’m glad that is over.” But it wasn’t over. The world just became faster and faster. Now, imagine how much the national workplace will improve if we develop a thirst for learning and growth within ourselves and throughout our organizations.

It will require us to reinvent, learn, unlearn, and relearn in shorter periods. When we ask or order our employees to “snap out of it” or “get used to it,” how can most of them comprehend how to do that? Yet many leaders continue to display the “do it or else” tactic only pushes more “going through the motions.”

Similarly, any notion that people should somehow be skilled at continuous personal change is far-fetched. Organizations, realistically, must develop their workers to not only understand change but to learn how to change themselves continuously.

But let’s get real. There isn’t a corporate budget in the world to pay for the consulting fees it would take to do this. Yet, when we move the entire process in-house where it belongs, the financial investments are minimal, especially when we factor in the increases in performance and engagement that will ensue. It can be hard for CEOs to do this when much of their time is being used by cleaning up the problems of a disengaged workforce.

The purpose of employee engagement isn’t about working harder or even being more productive. Engagement is being awake, interested, enthused, empathetic, helpful, and growing rather than being stagnant. An engaged national workforce is the single most crucial target for America’s future. In all probability, that will never happen because of our government. It will happen when employers realize that building their own highly engaged workforce is a far better strategy than laying everyone off when they become obsolete.

We live next to one of the country’s largest grocery stores. But, we only shop there when times we need an item right now. Disinterest and surliness is the norm. Not only do we encounter a bad attitude at the front of the house, but we have also had to bring back rotten food routinely. So, we drive 5 miles to shop at a store with higher prices. We also go to Trader Joe’s where the average tenure of a cashier is 18 years. I’ve written about Trader Joe’s, Southwest Airlines, Cornerstone on Demand as cultures where the CEO leads engagement, employees are grown to succeed, and support to each other breeds support to the customer and shareholders.

We have been delivering group engagement programs for years. When people find out what their peers most want to accomplish when they understand the challenges that are in that person’s way, the entire dynamic changes.

Germany, Japan, China, and other nations are role models in preparing their citizens for the future of work. Instead of assuming that an obsolete worker is a worthless expense, they routinely invest in keeping employees up-to-date with their skills.

In the United States, I believe our future rests in individuals that embody the American spirit, the ones that do not wait for others to help them. It is also emerging from the organizations that are already building such workers. In all cases, the CEO leads the culture. These CEOs mindfully grow talent, and mentorship is a way of life.

For the leaders that don’t get it, untruthful sales pitch no longer fool premium talent. The transparency revolution will see to that. It is time for our country to start treating the most exceptional talent pool on earth for what it is.

It is our most valuable asset.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2019, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Why Does Employee Engagement Rely on Self-Change Skills? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Then, everything changed. Academics and business authors suggest that we get rid of them. But, the need for mid-managers is stronger than ever. It is the role of the manager that must be changed, transformed, and reimagined. Just be prepared for the pushback when you suggest this to a mid-manager. Most likely, their response will be, “I’m too busy.”

“But, the very future of your workers depends on your reinvention.”

“I’ll pencil it in over lunch…at my desk.”

Advancing technology is like a tornado from Oz blowing task work away. In its aftermath, we find entire categories of workers who need to change. This is why our managers must change, transform and reimagine their careers. As for employers, this is the time to carefully question if laying off the very people who know the most about your frontline is such a good idea. In reality, the mid-managers ought to be the first target for learning how to change and learning how to show others how to change as well.

As technology accelerates it is giving us freedom. The most cynical or contempt-filled reader will respond, “What, freedom from having an income?” But, it is giving us freedom from monotonous tasks, quotas, and other forms of mind-numbing work. The kinds of new work that is coming towards us are more interesting, visionary, and impactful in the world. The greatest social entrepreneurs are using technology to change the world. For example, Peter Diamandis says, “The best way to become a billionaire is to help a billion people.” Consider how lame that statement would have been just 20 years ago.

As the value of task work and its workers plummet, the work to be done is radically different. Instead of tasks, an endless stream of new jobs and roles is emerging. The new workplace will reward those with any or a group of these skills: Creativity, narrative, accountability, empathy, engagement, solving problems, influencing others, sales, and managing the “big picture.”

Robotics and software have been game-changers with blue-collar work. De-monetized services such as LinkedIn and Facebook are impacting millions of white-collar workers. But, Artificial Intelligence will cause disruption as we have never witnessed before. Wealth managers will need to become curators. Medical research will exponentially find more cures for disease. Higher education will be available without paying a cent.

The most valued middle managers will be the ones that are only too happy to let go of tasks so they can develop their employer’s greatest asset, its people. They will be responsible for helping others to embrace active learning, develop new life skills, and to use new forms of technology that exponentially grow personal productivity.

Don’t trust the senior executives, the academics, and the authors of self-help books to propose a solution. Even the Harvard Business Review, characterizes mid-managers as the most disengaged of all workers. They are overworked, undervalued, and the most at-risk during layoffs.

The rock stars are quite different. We recently finished an executive development project with one of the most brilliant scientists in the world. Until we met, his value as an individual contributor had received global recognition. But, in one promotion, he was responsible for hundreds of his company’s best and brightest scientists.

During our first meeting, I said,

“Up until today, you have been judged and promoted because you are a brilliant scientist. But, from this moment forward, your value will be measured in how you inspire hundreds of brilliant scientists to change the world.”

His eyes lit up. The new mission became the centerpiece in how he wanted to grow. Now, he engages with his direct reports with the central mission of rewarding high personal performance with breakthroughs in their careers. He is teaching his direct reports to harness the needs and expectations of their workers with growth, progress and other forms of success.

The greatest managers know the needs and expectations of every person that reports to them. They take the time to harness those needs into energy and action. A great manager will conspire to create a culture that people love because love pushes us to perform way outside of our comfort zones. Great managers teach active learning, influence, and help their highest performers connect with game-changing mentors. They not only make it safe to ask for help, they often reward employees who do.

Unfortunately, frenzy breeds thoughtlessness. In so many organizations, the CEO doesn’t think of the impact that disengaged managers have on their profits and customers. Many don’t realize that disengaged managers are actually dooming the CEOs future.

How do we get started? We begin by elevating the value of our time. After we deliver an engagement program to an intact team, most everyone wants to sustain the transformation. That happens when they use small rituals that produce mindfulness.

One of them is to answer a few questions at the beginning of each morning. Instead of reading e-mails and listening to voicemails, they take 5-minutes to answer a few questions that organizes their priorities.

Here is an example:

• Who most needs my attention and inspiration?
• What is the most valuable problem to solve today?
• Describe today’s ideal blend of tactical and strategic work.
• How can I best sell our ideas and solutions?
• How can I best take care of myself?
• What can I do to create greater engagement and effectiveness with our team?
• Describe one really valuable action that might require your courage.

It takes five minutes.

What is the point?

In the years ahead, technology isn’t taking away our value. It is up to us to make the kind of practical and visionary changes that elevate our value, the allow us to change the world, and to help the people around us.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2019, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Mid-Managment, Engagements Final Frontier! appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Think about it. If people are unable to think about something else for only 15-seconds, sales pitches don’t work and ordering people around will never produce employee engagement.

We are motivated by one outcome: Fulfilled Expectations.

When we become skilled in accessing the needs and expectations of our stakeholders, we are more able to help them succeed. When stakeholders candidly talk about our strengths and weaknesses, we are more able to change. In a rapidly changing workplace, the ability to connect with others skyrockets. When we are able to motivate our teams in genuine ways, that investment pays off.

We designed our first leadership program for one of the world’s biggest media companies. When I ran that curriculum past our internal partners, they had strong reactions.

“If our managers ask these questions directly, someone is going to get hurt.”

I came back with, “Why on earth would you want a manager who is averse to hearing the truth?”

Prior to designing customized interviews, we invest a great deal of time learning details about each significant stakeholder relationship and business issues. We probe interpersonal relationships. We look for current and desired future states. This information helps us develop strikingly specific and brilliantly good questions. For the executives, the immersive experience of asking these questions and respectfully listening to the answers tends to be a life-altering experience.

Why is masterful inquiry such an important skillset?

Asking and listening was always preferable behavior than giving people orders. Stakeholders are far more driven when we connect with the needs and expectations. Socrates believed that we get the truth by asking the right questions.

Connectivity, this ability to fluidly find the truth of our stakeholders becomes especially important during accelerating change. Today’s leaders have to make changes more frequently and often with significant disruption. Hanging on to the old motivation chestnuts such as, “Do this or else” or “You should be happy to have a job,” destroy productivity and buy-in. Far greater success takes place if our language speaks to their expectations. In other words, finding ways to honor our expectations as well as theirs produces far better results.

We ask our leadership clients to tell us when their executives are receiving their packages from Inspired Work. There are always a few calls that begin with, “You can’t be serious. You want me to ask these questions?” Our reply is always the same. “Yes. Please note that all of them have received letters telling them what to expect, to be candid, and if there is any kind of retaliation to call us. We have yet to receive such a call.

It has been said, “the truth will set us free but first, it will piss us off.”

Consider the impact of just two questions:

“What do I do that motivates or demotivates you?”

“What can I do to become a more effective leader?”

My interpretation of humility is simply to be open. Albert Einstein once said, “I want to know the thoughts of God. The rest are details.” We often confuse humility with humiliation. The smartest leaders that I know are always humble, open to suggestions, eager to improve, asking for help, and acutely listening to others.

The most impressive leaders that I know are absolutely clear on their mission, vision, and purpose. But, they demonstrate real humility and skill in making it safe, even compelling, to tell the truth, find the truth and live in the truth.

This is the kind of leader that connects and improves employee engagement.

This is the leader that lives in transparency. Why is this so important? Everywhere that we look, we find organizations and leaders being toppled by the transparency revolution. Technology has taken our culture to a place where nothing is private, very little can be hidden, and if we attempt to do just that, the results can be spectacularly awful.

There are many organizations and individuals that have been totally caught off guard by the new reality. The payoff from full transparency will be spectacularly good. In alignment with the value of truth, transparency will force us to change for the better.

Consider the lost opportunity and the missing truth when we send out a consultant to conduct 360s or we have employees go online and participate in a “confidential” 360. As the landscape around us continues to speed up, the truth becomes of our most valuable assets.

Transparency will force us to work with nothing to hide and run our organizations with nothing to hide.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2019, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Just Why Do Leaders Need Truth? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Let’s start with the good news. Barra has made bold moves towards the future by investing in self-driving cars, electric vehicles and ride-sharing networks. In 2016, GM purchased Cruise Automation for $1billion, a start-up that has become one of the leading technology houses for autonomous cars. Today, that unit is valued at $14.6billion.

Mary Barra has led the company into the black posting profits of $4.6billion in the first half of 2018. Stock value was stronger, especially in comparison to Ford. But, compared to overseas competition, General Motors continues to carry forward the shortcomings that have blunted the American car industry. In terms of developing aspirational consumer or employer brands, Mary reveals her utter lack of imagination. Business journalists are applauding the company’s improvements in profit performance, but compared to what? Daimler Benz, Toyota, and BMW continue to outperform GM by wide margins.

In my book, The Workplace Engagement Solution (Career Press), research strongly indicates the vast differences in philosophy between the CEOs that develop category leadership and the CEOs running cultures of mediocrity. This is where Mary Barra’s lack of imagination is leading to more of the same from American car companies.

America almost lost its car manufacturing industry during the recession. In the years since, many of us have treated their comeback as a success story. However, those of us who read car magazines know that nothing has really changed in terms of producing cars that people aspire to own. Much of the problem emerges from a lack of commitment to brand as well as people. Quite simply, if it isn’t working out, throw out the garbage.

Most of us can instantly envision a Porsche 911, a Mercedes S class, a Toyota Camry or a BMW 3 series. That is because of the kind of pride that can only happen from continuous improvement. Auto journalists continue to rank GM products as deeply inferior to the overseas competition. Interiors are bean counted into mediocrity. And, if people are not buying the brand, simply get rid of it. For example, the Impala used to be a legendary name until Chevrolet demonstrated its lack of commitment by periodically plastering that name on cars that offered little pride at all. At times, the name was abandoned for years only to be thrown onto a car because of its poor market performance. This cynical view of the consumer is demonstrated the moment they open the door and sit in the car.

Mary Barra’s biggest failure of all is in GM’s commitment to employer brand. My greatest concern for America isn’t about lowering unemployment; it is about rapidly growing underemployment. Upwards of 48% of our country’s workers characterize themselves as underemployed. This means that about half of our workers are getting kicked to the curb by change.

But, in countries such as Germany, underemployment is a non-issue. As we blame technology for the loss of jobs, German auto manufacturers lead the world in the use of robotics. But, they don’t lay workers off, they train them to do new and more interesting work. The German government is an active partner to the auto industry. Government subsidies are provided for apprenticeship programs. BMW and Mercedes consistently rank amongst the best employers in the world while GM continually brings up the rear.

Many business journalists are applauding Mary Barra’s decision to ax cars and people as a commitment to the future. Let us be clear. Her strategy demonstrates her commitment to trucks. How will GM ever compete in the war for the world’s best talent? In our research, we cannot find one iota of information that it has even crossed her mind.

There-in lies the rub. GM will no longer make mediocre cars, it will provide big sports utilities and trucks, a place where consumers tend to be more forgiving on quality issues.

The most predominant aspect of GM’s employer brand is mediocrity as well. We see the results in the company’s disloyalty. But, the real failure is in pride. How would the world’s greatest designers and engineers aspire to become part of a culture where talent isn’t developed and employees are treated as a commodity on par with the cars? It is a bit like a top graduate student from Stanford trying to choose employment between Apple and Yahoo.

We learn nothing of value by studying dysfunction. General Motors ought to be emulating what is happening with the most profitable automobile manufacturers in the world. They could become enlightened about how to build better cars as well as more profitable cars. All the possibilities of why she wouldn’t study success have uneasy answers.

It has been said that “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Unfortunately, yesterday’s debacle didn’t offer up the courage, to tell the truth, and make a commitment towards excellence.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2018, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post The Truth Behind Mary Barra’s Debacle appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

In 1990, I launched Inspired Work out of my condo in Malibu. I was excited, scared, proud, and resolute. Right after getting my corporation papers, I took off for my branch at First Interstate Bank. I remember walking through the door holding those papers as if they were first prize in a contest for personal change. The representative gave the paperwork a glance and with a dismissive sweep of her hands said I was missing a document and to come back. A few days later I did come back to shut down my accounts. In the next few years, First Interstate was swallowed up by Wells Fargo. I left because I didn’t want to be with a vendor that viewed me as just another task.

My accountant referred me into City National Bank and I have been there ever since. For consumers as well as employees, there couldn’t be a more stark contrast between the two.

This past week, Wells Fargo admitted that it improperly foreclosed on 40% more borrowers than first reported. But, to put the latest scandal into sharp focus, let’s review the organization’s behavior over the last two years:

2016

• Regulators fine Wells Fargo $185 for creating as many as 2 million fake accounts to juice the bank’s books. The bank dismisses 5,300 employees who were acting under the orders of the divisional head. None of the transcripts reveal who was pressuring such a large number of workers to commit fraud.

2017

• It is revealed that Wells Fargo retaliated against workers who tried to blow the whistle on the fake account practice.
• New allegations are lodged that the bank modified thousand of home mortgages without getting authorizations from the customers.
• The bank admits it charged 570,000 customers for auto insurance they did not need.
• A class-actions lawsuit is filed in behalf of small business owners for overcharges on credit card transactions.
• The year closes with a new scandel. Thousands of mortgage holders were fined for missing deadlines. And yet, the notices were purposely delayed to orchestrate even more income.

2018

The Federal Reserve makes an announcement that Wells Fargo will not be allowed to grow its assets until it cleans up its act.

Consider the pact with the devil that employees of Wells Fargo have had to embrace in order to work there. Perhaps the single biggest blow to the shareholders of this organization is that premium talent will no longer consider Wells Fargo as a premium employer.

The Contrast

The first time I became aware of City National Bank was in reading about the kidnapping of Frank Sintra, Jr. The criminals contacted his father and refused to return the young man unless he brought them $240,000. The bank’s first CEO got out of bed and personally counted out the money in their headquarter’s vault.

I’ve been with the bank for 28 years and have never had a hiccup. Everyone that I know who is with City National has this kind of fierce loyalty and I can only wonder, why do banks such as Wells Fargo even have clients?

The entire ethos of City National Bank’s consumer and employer brands is reflected in one employee. I was her favorite customer.

For years, Jennifer was A.J. Kroener’s assistant at the Century City Office. Whenever I walked in the door, she would call out, “David, how are you?” She always made it clear that if I had any problem, she would take care of it. Trust me, I was not their wealthiest client. But, she treated me as if all valuables in their vaults were in my name. After years of hard work, I was able to order a new BMW convertible. Jennifer took care of all the paperwork. At the time, I was single and spending a lot of time on the road. Jennifer became the person that actually celebrated the purchase. The day it was delivered, I dropped by the bank to make a deposit. I remember walking in the door and Jennifer yelled out, “Did you get it? Is it here? Take me on a ride.”

She took a break and walked out to the garage. I put down the roof, cranked up the stereo and took off. Her hair was flying as she held her hands in the hair yelling, “Woo hoo!” I thanked her for being so kind in helping me get the car. She laughed, “Help? You’re my favorite customer.”

A few days later, I walked in the door and Jennifer wasn’t there. The energy was off and I asked what was going on. Jennifer had a heart attack and passed away.

Hundreds of people showed up to her funeral.

Most of us were customers. Some of us walked up to the podium and declared we were her best customer.

The thing is, many of the customers and employers are still there and we recount how her enthusiasm and kindness changed our lives.

Here is what I propose. If you are a business leader and you are trying to develop a strategy for making real money, compare the two stories.

Which one would you emulate?

The post Does Your Bank Love You or View You as an Easy Mark? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

A consumer brand tells the world why you exist.

An employer brand is who are actually are.

In our country, entire tribes of CEOs perpetuate an idea that in order to offer low-prices customers are willing to have a mediocre buying experience. There was a time in our history, where they could work. However, technology is evening the playing field. For example, when we can order just about anything without leaving home and have it delivered in hours, why go to the mall and deal with irritated employees?

Let’s take a look at two comparisons. Each demonstrates the power of solid employer branding:

• Von’s Pavilions and Trader Joes
• United Airlines and Southwest

We live next door to a Von’s Pavilions located at the beach. Online critiques of the store include statements such as, “The store’s employees ought to be on suicide watch.” Von’s nationwide has one of the lowest customer service scores amongst all of the largest grocers.

Vons is owned by Albertsons. The company posted its first profit in years on February 24.

On the other hand, mention Trader Joes and people’s faces light up. The average tenure of a Trader Joe’s cashier. While many CEOs will be dismissive of the comparison, Trader Joe’s prices are even lower than Von’s. And yet, Trader Joe’s isn’t a commodity, it is a carefully orchestrated consumer experience. This is a company that controls costs through tight inventory strategies and portrays a family to its customers. The average tenure of a Trader’s cashier is 18 years.

Trader’s doesn’t release its net profit figures. However, the company sells $1,734 per square foot per year while Whole Foods, the runner-up, sells $930 per square foot. Most Trader Joe’s customers smiling and kind staff as well as unique food values to be a winning combination.

Bring up United Airlines and what images come to mind? People being tasered and dragged off of planes, dogs dying in the cargo hold, and employees with absolutely no sense of enthusiasm.

On the other hand, Southwest Airlines is famous for its culture of low rates, workers with humor, courtesy and playfulness.

Southwest Airlines is famous for its culture of workers who demonstrate fun, courtesy, and playfulness and now they have added a profound dose to the employee as well as customer experience. Those characteristics had already made Southwest the most loved airline based in America. Commercial pilots hold up Southwest and FedEx as the gold standard for a positive work experience. A couple of years ago, CEO Gary Kelly, decided it was time to create renewed energy in their culture. He introduced a new set of aspirations for all of their employees. He asked everyone to support a vision of being the most loved, flown and profitable airline in the world.

Kelly suggested that one of the ways they would deepen their culture come from telling stories of how they improved the lives of the customers they touch. He said, “We exist to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost travel.” He asked everyone to develop the art of storytelling and to become involved with the story’s behind each passenger’s travels and to find ways to elevate their lives.”

The heart behind this commitment is profound. It can be gut-wrenching. As I researched their stories, I found a letter from a woman named Nancy:

“Last night, my husband and I got the tragic news that our three-year-old grandson in Denver had been murdered by our daughter’s live-in boyfriend.”

Her husband had to get his daughter as quickly as possible. He was on a business trip. In Los Angeles, the crowds were so backed up that he was going to miss the plane. TSA could have cared less. But, a flight attendant from the first leg of his journey had already called ahead to the pilot of the last plane. He ran to the gate expecting to see everyone gone.

The pilot and the ticketing agent were waiting for him. One of them asked, “Are you Mark?” The other added, “We held the plane for you and we are so sorry about the loss of your grandson.”

True employee engagement develops cultures that matter and businesses that we love with fierce loyalty. Because, all of them have heart. But, the greatest heart of all is an employer brand that orchestrates outcomes that are as rich as this story because heart cannot be faked.

Sure, consumer brands are good. But, employer brands determine what our businesses become.

The post Why Have Employer Brands Become More Important Than Consumer Brands? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

However, once we define what we want to accomplish, our success is purely based on the quality of the people we get to help us.

People from all walks of life come through our programs because a Socratic (question-driven) curriculum that produces life-changing and unique outcomes for everyone.

I cannot count the number of entrepreneurs that have come through our programs who have reached a point in their success only to hit a wall that requires they surrender the behavior and outlook that got them to that point-in-time. The turning point usually requires bringing in new support systems and finding talent that will elevate the business as well as their lives. This is one of the most frightening moments within early entrepreneurial success because it means surrendering the behavior that worked really well…to a point.

Elon Musk is possibly in the biggest crisis of his life. Tesla has revolutionized the world. His vision has moved his company to a certain level of success. His hard work has created advances in electrical infrastructure and battery technology that has set the stage for a quantum leap with electric-based transportation. However, manufacturing challenges in quality control, speed, efficiency and production costs have turned into a nightmare for the founder. By extension, Tesla is facing its biggest crisis even without its production challenges. Because, Volkswagen Group, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, GM, and Jaguar are all releasing entire lines of electrically propelled transportation. Most of them have superb commitments to quality with the resources to deliver it.

Before continuing with Elon, an anecdote from our own graduate base can crystallize the challenge. Everyone signs confidentiality agreements in our programs and when we share an anecdote, it is with their permission. This one included the caveat that we would not share her name.

We were leading a large Inspired Work Program at LAX. Our meeting room looked out on planes taking off and landing. Regardless of the number of people, they tend to go inward quickly and they craft their own ideal vision, mission, and purpose. The curriculum gently leads them into recognizing the life skills they need to become successful with that vision. Let’s be candid, there is almost always a certain degree of discomfort about looking at obstacles.

We had a well-known entrepreneur in the room. She was a spectacular leader in her industry. At the first break, she navigated her way over to me and said, “This has been wonderful. You have exceeded all of my expectations and I’m going to go home now.” I’ve found that the more uncomfortable someone becomes, the bigger the breakthrough. I managed to get her to stay. By the second day, some of us were envisioning her taking a chair, breaking a window, dropping a rope down the side of the building and making a run for it. Then, it happened. She became distraught and started a disclosure. Her father was the single most influential role model in her life. He taught her that if you want to get something done right, do it yourself. This outlook had worked at first, but now her success had become a trap. She was working late into the night, hadn’t taken a vacation in years and was constantly exhausted.

Sound familiar?

After this insight, she cleaned up and customized her entire support system. I ran into her a few years later and asked how she was doing. She smiled and said, “Surrendered.” Not long afterward, the business was sold for a bloody fortune.

Elon Musk is, by all accounts, encountering an emergency riddled with the theme of someone who is, in the end, fully human. Trapped in the all too common notion that only he can solve the problem is potentially killing him as well as the extraordinary innovation he has introduced to the world.

In strikingly rapid progression, Elon interviewed with the New York Times and told the world he is in the most difficult and painful year of his life. He revealed he sleeps at the company and is taking large doses of Ambien in an attempt to control his sleep. Not long after that interview, he typed out a shocking Tweet, “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.”

A few days later, he appeared on a podcast with one of my favorite comics, Joe Rogan. I love Joe and have seen him live many, many times. But, Elon Musk, CEO of a public company and Joe? They smoke dope together on a podcast.

In less than one month after it all began, the SEC is ready to file charges against him for securities fraud.

If I was his advisor, here is what I would do:

• Have the Board and the Chief People Officer create a task force that manages Mr. Musk for the time being. Pull him out of the public eye and help him sort through this rather dreadful pothole. He is one of the world’s great innovators and yet he is human and has a very human crisis.
• Hire one of the best reputation management firms to take charge of his messaging.
• Get Elon off of all forms of sleep medication. Do I know of what I speak? In my internist’s office, there is a file. On the cover, in large block felt-tipped letters are the words, “If David Harder asks for sleep medication, shoot him.” Unfortunately, the body quickly habituates to sleep medication requiring larger doses just to sleep for short periods of time. When it reaches this state, we have no way of knowing if he even remembers sending that crazy Tweet.
• Take contrary action to his statement that he is, “Trying to recruit Sheryl Sandberg” to fix his production challenges. That one statement revealed the weakness of his talent plan. Offer a “too big to resist” bounty to recruit a production chief from a leading German or Japanese auto manufacturer.
• Call a Board Meeting to perform the intervention. I’m serious. With personality types such as his, the ones with the delusion they can fix everything, can and will bring down the company.

I am a big, big fan of Elon Musk. But I am painfully familiar with the signs of a meltdown that can kill off a company or an individual. The guy deserves every chance in the book. But, right now, he needs a new support system customized to help him with his health, to objectively solve Tesla’s production challenges, and help him learn that the right people will help him, if he asks or if he allows it.

The question is just how will his ego make room for that?

The answer will be more critical than anyone can imagine.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2018, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post How Can Elon Musk Be Saved? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

The symptoms of disengagement are closely aligned with the turmoil rolling through our culture. While unemployment rates are lower than ever, the real scourge within our country is underemployment. In a recent survey 48% of America’s workers characterized themselves as underemployed. More and more people don’t see where they fit in with the future of work. Until we resolve this challenge, we cannot possibly turn around the dismal number associated with engagement. That kind of correction has to be corrected by none other than the CEO or the business owner. Far too many engagement programs fail based on the following chain of events, repeated in organizations every day.

The CEO visits human resources and ask that the “engagement problem” is resolved. By the time the CEO hits the door, he or she is disengaged. The chief human resource officer starts telling the organization, “We are going to fix the engagement issue.” The employees look past that individual’s shoulders to the CEO and witness business as usual. The organization takes an employee survey. The feedback makes managers feel even more inadequate in dealing with the problem. They are sent to a leadership program. They return to work with enthusiasm and the employees respond, “So what.” Sadly, the talent executive is usually held responsible for the failure.

CEOs have a long history of turning culture over to human resources. But CEOs from our most successful organizations, the category leaders, take charge of their cultures and recognize that talent is king in achieving ultimate success. We see this in CEOs like Bill Bechek at Bain, who makes the ongoing development of all employees as their #1organizational priority. We find individuals like Scott Scherr of Ultimate Software, who treats talent as members of the family and does everything he can do to give everyone a sense of life balance on their own terms. These are not metaphysical, float across the room in a Saffron robe to hit the gong pushovers. In fact, they are far more rigorous and honest than many other leaders. During the development of my book, we interviewed Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone on Demand. Throughout, we witnessed his thoughtfulness and his active responsibility in the culture of yet another category leader.

CEOs such as Adam Miller ask and get answers to questions like:

• What kind of employer brand will fulfill our vision? 
• What are the values, central competencies, and style of our ideal employees? 
• When people hear our organization’s name, how do we want them to envision our people? 
• How effective is our workforce with active and continuous learning? How can we build this practice into our culture?
• What is the current “engagement state” of our managers and how will we improve that? 
• What are the various forms of bias in my own dealings with talent as well as bias within our hiring managers?
• How will I orchestrate an engagement solution in my organization? 

My readers know that I advocate employee engagement as synonymous with our commitment and ability to change. We cannot have one without the other. Authentic personal change involves a certain degree of discomfort. But, when we expand the dynamics of personal change to a workforce, only a CEO can establish the kind of accountability necessary to transform the culture.

For years, we have told our participants that instead of debating about the philosophies of Inspired Work, try on our point-of-view for a couple of days and see where it leads. If it doesn’t turn out to be valuable, set them aside.

Answer the questions.

See where they lead.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2018, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post 7 Questions Every CEO Needs To Answer About Talent appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

• United Airlines or Southwest Airlines?
• Google or Yahoo?
• Vons/Safeway or Trader Joe’s?

Odds are high that you have identified the better employer with each example simply through word-of-mouth or direct customer experience. Or, you might be seriously interested in working for one of these organizations so you have read employee feedback at Glass Door or Indeed.

The war for talent is back. Unfortunately, many leaders assume their organizations can act in much the same way they did twelve years ago. We find that many employers could use basic good manners in how they treat candidates who are either seriously or not being considered for a position. For business reasons, talent acquisition ought to embrace the kind of world-class customer service practices that the market will talk about.

But, the biggest existential challenge in today’s employment market is transparency.

The biggest impact on talent acquisition is transparency. All of the sales pitches in the world won’t overcome bad word-of-mouth and or consistently negative reviews online. Today, with little effort, savvy candidates quickly learn how your organization treats its talent and whether the statements about culture are real. Transparency is beginning to introduce issues of survival for many organizations.

Once the word gets out, the premium talent runs when they hear your name. As CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, in a now legendary act of desperation, spent over a billion dollars acquiring smart start-ups. But, she wasn’t pursuing unique technology or new markets. She couldn’t get the premium talent required to turn Yahoo around. Think of it. When Stanford’s best graduates hit the market they might be thinking, “Google, Apple, or entrepreneurship?” But Yahoo? Some of the world’s better candidates would view a stint at Yahoo as a career killer. They envision a tribe of stagnant stakeholders that torpedo change. One client indicated getting anything done there was a bit like trying to get fresh bread in Russia.

For Yahoo as well as other employers, the employer brand determines what an organization become. For example, we live at the beach in California. There is a market within 300 yards of our home. But, we usually drive 5 miles to buy groceries at a market that easily charges 30% more. Why? The grocer next door routinely generates reviews on Yelp like, “The employees in this store ought to be placed on suicide watch.” At the other market, employees remember our names and do whatever they can to help out. They smile and look you in the eye. They love to work there.

The nearest Trader Joes is 10 miles from our home. We drive in once-a-month to get supplies. The average tenure of the company’s cashiers is twenty-one years. While their prices compete with commodity oriented stores, the customer experience is as good as any luxury brand.

CEOs are responsible for defining and leading their culture. When a CEO defines or allows their organization to become a commodity, they will spend most of their time trying to generate enough profit to keep the shareholders happy. All too often their strategy includes, “Just how much can we irritate the customer before they go away?”

If you can’t attract the best talent in your industry, you will never achieve category leadership. Your employees will actively or passively practice disengagement. Customers will have lower rather than higher expectations, which isn’t a good place to start any relationship.

Everyone knows this. With the advent of Glassdoor and Indeed, any savvy employee can find out what it is like to work for you. They know if your internal treatment of employees is vastly different from the promises in your ads. If you think an employer brand isn’t a big deal, think of the segment of workers that aspire to work at certain organizations and the workers that view work as “just a job.”

Today’s savvy CEOs will not tell human resources to “fix the engagement problem” or “improve the quality of candidates.” They will answer basic questions like, “Who do we want to be?” “When people think of our employees, what comes to mind?” “If we want to attract the best talent in this category, what kind of culture do we need to build?”

I have individual human resource clients from all of the world. When we begin a career marketing campaign I make it clear he or she will vastly improve the odds of success by answering a few questions. Perhaps the most critical question is, “Has the CEO taken ownership of the culture?” If not, they probably ought to keep their bags packed.

Employer brands are not perfect. However, the great ones are designed to attract the very people that fit into the tribe. The Walt Disney Company has gotten a great deal of mixed feedback in the market. In the 80s, word was that if you didn’t come into work on Saturday, don’t bother coming in on Sunday. And yet, the organization is filled with lifers. In the midst of delivering a leadership program at Disney, one of the executives asked, “What do you believe is Disney’s employer brand?” I thought about it for a moment and responded, “The employer brand is to attract the talent that creates magic at great profit in the midst of chaos.”

The room went silent for a moment and then broke out into gales of laughter. For someone who loves that, they will stay at Disney for years. If they don’t, they will find the environment insufferable.

This past year, United Airlines reminded millions of consumers of the cynicism and contempt that permeates their culture. Lost and dead pets, customers dragged out of their planes, unruly environments, lost and damaged baggage. Today, many travelers will only board a UA flight is there is no alternative. The company doesn’t have an equipment problem, it has a talent problem. But, one CEO after another places cost-cutting ahead of customer experience and employer brand. The results speak for themselves.

Uber might have been one of the country’s most successful start-ups in many years. But, their contempt towards female employees and drivers has led to perhaps the first time in business history where consumers are mindfully selecting Lyft because its spiritual and moral principles are superior.

Bottom-line? There are no shortcuts in building a great organization. People will sustain your success. Talent will make you a category leader.

Why has the employer brand become more important than the consumer brand?

Because the consumer brand is what we sell.

The employer brand is what we become.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2018, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Why is Your Employer Brand More Important Than Your Consumer Brand? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.