Human capital

Future of Work: What do Longer Lives Mean?

My grandparents were born not long after the Civil War and lived into their mid-60s to mid-70s. My parents and their siblings lived into their late-70s to mid-90s. The Boomers have made ‘60 the new 40′ and millennials are likely to see passing 100 years old as pretty routine.

Have you thought at all about what this means for business? For your own future?

I suspect many people have not. When I speak about longevity, current audiences are almost as likely as those 15 years ago to assume they will retire in their 60s. Investment companies regularly report that retirement savings are not adequate for living beyond 10-12 years of retirement.

A recent book, THE 100-YEAR LIFE: LIVING AND WORKING IN AN AGE OF LONGEVITY by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, offers ideas and insights for our future. Businesses which begin to adapt now will have an advantage. Longer lives also mean different patterns of working and education. Yet most of us still build our business practices around some three-stage life notions of education in youth, 30-40 years of work, and then retirement.

The recent Great Recession brought some changes as more people worked into their late 60s and mid 70s. Retirees returned to the workplace in temporary, seasonal, and lower-skilled jobs. Today there are more people working past 55 and into their late 70s than at any time since before WWII. But companies have not fundamentally changed their practices.

No-one can really save enough to retire for 30 – 40 years in a 35 – 45 year work life, especially now that pensions have become so rare. One of the early illustrations in the book is a scary look at this point. Someone born in the early 1970s, […]

By Patra Frame|March 19th, 2018|culture, non-profits, Smart practices|Comments Off

Good Reads: Creativity and Constraints

Most successful CEOs and executives are readers. Feeding your curiosity is as important for your growth as reading about business.

What have you read lately that you found interesting – inquiring minds want to know – or at least I do if you are willing to share.

I read about “The Geography of Genius” by Eric Weiner and it sounded interesting. Who thinks of geography as an aspect of genius? And in the first chapters, I wondered. Then the ideas began to coalesce.

On management and HR:
“Michelangelo was a sculptor when chosen to paint the Sistine Chapel ceilings.” The concept then was to choose someone clearly talented and assign a huge, impossible task. Now we minimize risk-taking — we want the perfect candidates who have already done our job before we hire.

On creativity:
“Foreign born immigrants in USA are 13% of the population, one-third of all patents, and 25% of US Nobel Laureates.” Why? ‘Unusual and unexpected events, actively experienced, lead to cognitive flexibility in those open to new experiences and thinking.’ Our reactions to constraints fuel creativity.

“Corporations spend huge sums of money on workshops designed to help employees thing more creatively…. (which is) futile if the environment in which they work is not receptive to new ideas.”

Read this book for some ideas of your own on how to break constraints and grow yourself and others. It reminded me that I need to remain curious and open to new things to feed my growth.

“No Ordinary Disruption” by Richard Dobs, James Manyika, & Jonathan Woetzel is a more classic ‘business book. Much of it is based on the work of the McKinsey Global Institute.
“The rise of emerging markets, the accelerating impact of technology on the natural forces of market competition, the […]

By Patra Frame|October 20th, 2017|Business planning, Executive development|Comments Off

A Fair Chance: Hiring People with Criminal Records

Does this mere title scare you? Have you ever thought about why you might hire someone with a criminal record or do you just expect other firms to do that? One of the big problems in our society is that we in the US jail far more people per capita than other countries. And if they cannot find jobs when they have paid the price for their crimes, how do you expect them to live? So yes, there is a moral case to be made.

There is also a business case – related to performance and retention. Plus in the tight labor markets in MetroDC it is still a labor market many have not tapped.

Some background:

Over half of all convicted prisoners are in for non-violent crimes
Minorities carry the highest burden and there is good evidence of discrimination in the entire legal process.
The majority of prisoners are in state prisons (59%) and local jails (28%)
One-third of working age Americans have a criminal record.
In Alexandria, their unemployment rate is 65%, which is a little lower than the national average.

The federal government has several programs to help returning citizens (one of the many terms used besides ex-convicts – and my personal favorite) with job skills and employment. There are also programs to help employers hire them – from bonding to tax incentives.

Many national employers and local construction firms have extensive experience in successfully hiring and retaining people with criminal records. Small and mid-size businesses will find excellent local support for their efforts to do so.

I recently attended the Fair Chance Business Summit, a program of the Alexandria Reentry Council on hiring returning citizens. There were a number of local employers talking about their […]

By Patra Frame|October 11th, 2016|hiring, values|Comments Off

GROW! Personal and Professional Development Tips

A new regular feature covering articles and resources which can help you grow your skills, develop others, and grow your business. Recommendations welcome!

The toll of incivility on employees and morale:
http://blog.hreonline.com/2016/08/11/getting-incivility-under-control/

Employee productivity, morale and email outside work hours is covered in this article. Note: if you have non-exempt (under the Fair Labor Standards Act) employees and they are checking email, you will need to compensate them for the time too.
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9241-check-email-after-work.html

Meetings, we all hate meetings -but most organizations need to have some. Good article with useful checklist at end!
http://www.performph.com/hidden-costs-company-meetings/

Increase your success – interesting infographic for every small business owner

Successful People: Working Less and Getting More Done [Infographic]

Worried about employees leaving? It is likely that you will lose people but there are some good retention ideas here.

Why Employees Plan to Leave Their Jobs at Small Businesses

Need to hire? Check out some common hiring mistakes and see which you may need to correct.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3059758/3-hiring-mistakes-most-companies-dont-realize-theyre-making

Also, the new rules for overtime pay go into effect December 1, 2016. Here are the annotated slides from the webinar I did for the Virginia SBDC Network.
http://alexandriasbdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/OvertimePresentation624.pdf

The Alexandria SBDC will offer special HR Consults on this topic on October 26th, contact Gloria Flanagan if you want an appointment to discuss your issues.

By Patra Frame|September 27th, 2016|Small Business Development Centers, Smart practices|Comments Off

Communication Tips – Listening Skills 2

An effective listener must direct and guide many discussions including performance management, dealing with customers, interviewing job applicants, among others. One aspect of better listening is learning how to gather information via smarter questions. This is the second on major aspects of listening skills. See also http://shrinsight.com/communication-tips-listening-skills/

Requests for Information

A major type of questions are requests for information. The six common types are:

the invitation to talk
open-ended questions
fact-seeking questions
comprehensive questions
probing for specifics
encouragers

An invitation to talk is a statement rather than a direct question but it invites the person to talk about a given subject. For example: ” I’d like to hear about the goals you have for this year”. Invitations to talk feature:

It focuses attention on a specific topic but gives a wide range of options to the person responding.
Its use keeps your views from influencing the response you will receive or tipping your hand about what you want to hear.

Interspersed with direct questions, it can keep a discussion or interview more comfortable and less like an interrogation.

Open-ended questions are good ways to start a flow of information because they call for an extended answer and cannot be answered “yes” or “no”. They give people room to respond and communicate that you are interested in the response.

For example: “Do you like your job?” can be answered yes or no and is closed-ended. Rephrased as “What do you like most and least about your job?”, it communicates that you really want to know details and their ideas.

Fact-seeking questions are designed to elicit very specific or factual information. They are questions with a narrow, more precise focus. Here are some examples:

What did you do to resolve the customer’s complaint?
How do you want our current policy changed?
What training have […]

By Patra Frame|February 8th, 2016|Communications|Comments Off

Millennials and Our Future

I am not a big fan of business books. So many are one small idea blown into a book and poorly written too. But I recently read a book with some ideas useful to any small business or non-profit.

When Millennials Take Over by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant

This is an optimistic look at the future of business. It is a short, easy read. Better yet, you may already being doing parts of what they suggest is the future of business – to be digital, clear, fluid, and fast. As you know if we have met, I am not a big fan of the hype surrounding the millennials. They are not so different or so bad but are much like past generations were in their 20-30s. What they do bring is a different view of many technologies and of data-gathering. The book recognizes the hype early but uses them to organize its premise of the changes hitting most organizations over the past five to ten years and how millennials expectations can offer some solutions.

Digital refers to ‘organizing and working in ways that leverage’ the possibilities of digital technology.
Clear refers to the ‘value of clarity’ inside organizations. And many small businesses do this just to stay in business and grow.
Fluid refers to how the ‘heirarchy shifts and morphs decision-making’ as needed to be most effective.
Speed refers not to incremental steps but to the mindset and practices that allow your to leap forward as needed.

The book helps you make sense of ways to reduce the administrivia that stops many people from contributing all which they can. It not only demonstrates the critical aspects of your organizational culture to your success but also shows how that impacts the […]

By Patra Frame|December 29th, 2015|Business planning, Policies and Practices, Small Biz|Comments Off

Managing Performance 1: What’s the Process?

The goals of any performance management process or system are productivity, continuing improvement, and accountability. If you are hiring effectively, most employees want to contribute and succeed in their work! Founders, executives, and managers play key roles in ensuring that individuals have the skills, tools, support, and knowledge to do so.

Performance management is an on-going work routine designed to help ensure that each person becomes and remains a highly productive, effective contributor. It is a cycle which includes action from orientation through termination.

There are nine discussions which have been shown to have a major impact on productivity. These are:

Orientation to the work unit
Initial work assignment discussion
Orientation follow-up
Agreeing on work assignment plans and measurements
Career coaching
Recognizing consistent progress
Recognizing above-average performance
Counseling and correcting substandard performance
Regular,on-going performance discussions

Note that some of these are relatively formal, scheduled discussions. Others can be ‘catching the person doing something well’ and saying so, on the spot skill coaching or advice, or other less formal communications.

New employees want to know about the overall business and where and how they fit in. Providing the information they need to succeed, as in the first three above, helps convey your expectations clearly and provides a blueprint for success.

Discussing and agreeing on work assignments affects the individual’s sense of positive involvement. It gives both of you an opportunity to address issues and clarify expectations. When work plans in whole or in part are developed jointly, the risks of misunderstanding and poor performance are reduced. Realistic standards are more achievable. So is success for you both and for your company!

Career coaching involves providing information and feedback. It includes ‘how to succeed here’ talks, discussions of the individual’s goals, as well as future plans of the organization so that an […]

By Patra Frame|July 5th, 2015|Smart practices|Comments Off

WANT TO HIRE THE BEST?

Planning hiring is a standard part of business planning. But too often we just plug in a standard title and some $$ in the budget and think it is done.
Want to hire the best matches for your needs?
Want to hire people who will succeed and stay?
Top Tips for Smart Hiring

Tip 1. Develop a recruiting plan for new hires – and use it for replacements also. Include these parts for each potential position:

desired attributes, specific skills, attributes to avoid, possible demographics
potential sources of candidates
application and selection process

Commonly we focus on specific technical or professional skills we are seeking and we might add ‘soft skills’ like good communications or ability to maintain confidentiality. But you want to really focus on the ‘whole person’ you need. In defining desired attributes as well as specific skills, you help yourself focus on cultural fit – the attributes needed to succeed in your organization and the position.

You may also want to realize what attributes you want to avoid. “Don’t hire jerks” is a recent push. Many companies have tolerated jerks if they brought in revenue or were technically brilliant in a core field.

If you want to broaden the creativity of your group, plan for possible retirements, or know you are losing a key person; then you also may want to consider demographics. This is rarely a ‘must have’ but more usually a preference. You might want some maturity in one position and someone with a different industry background for another. I, of course, hope you will also consider hiring a veteran.

Tip 2. Consider potential sources of candidates.

Have your best people come from one or two specific sources?
Do you encourage employees to refer people for your open positions?
Are you working […]

By Patra Frame|December 31st, 2014|hiring, Policies and Practices|0 Comments

Tips – Culture and Success

I talk often with clients on the topic of their culture and how it is manifest in their daily activities, procedures, and practices. Culture is critical to business success. Yet many organizations have not designed or managed theirs, so it exists more by default than intention. Even more have developed significant differences between what they say and what they do. Think how many say they want teamwork but all rewards and raises are done individually, for one common example.

This SlideShare presentation by Reed Hastings is an excellent example of how to think about an organization’s culture and what it really values. It is clear about many of their choices and decision points. Their culture is not something you want to copy, you may agree with it a little or a lot. Still, it should give you ideas to consider. But the presentation is a great way to get your brain thinking about culture and what that really means in daily actions. http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

Your organization’s culture needs to be based on your business reality and values. It needs to support your business goals and drive your policies and practices to be effective.

An effective culture also reduces your risks and enhances productivity as people understand what it takes to be successful and what is valued. Changing a bad culture is far more difficult work. Far better to think about your organization’s regularly and tune-up as needed.

One of the interesting assignments I have done recently was a part of a turn-around process that included culture reassessment. The client CEO and team worked through a values clarification exercise together and then turned that into behavior expectations. We developed practices based on that. Several years ago I did a similar […]

By Patra Frame|August 5th, 2014|culture|0 Comments