Tag Archives: culture

Now that we’re mobile, what’s your PMC?

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I’ve been doing a lot of research lately as to what companies are doing in the way of staying engaged with their employees and customers, especially now that we’re all mobile.

Most of what I have been reading is that though companies are realizing their employees and customers are already online, they are not quite sure how to incorporate it into their culture.

While I was visiting my family back in Alabama, I noticed my daughter kept getting texts from her boss as to her availability to work, times and so-forth. I realized that getting on the text band wagon at work could be both a useful and annoying tool.

It gives immediate access to recipients and could be used to stay continually engaged with mobile employees who are out in the field, changes in shift updates (as in the case of my daughter) and if one used a little creativity they could easily alleviate costs and headaches by going mobile.

The way we communicate is evolving. Here are a few new stats:

  • 94% of Gen Y own cell phones
  • 6.5 Trillion SMS (short message services – text, mobile, web) messages were sent in 2010
  • 8,000,000,000,000 Text messages will be sent in 2012
  • In 2012 more time will be spent accessing the internet via mobile than the computer

I think something to keep in mind  is staying true to your company’s culture and where it’s headed. And also looking at the demographics of your employees (millennials, boomers, etc.).

I know that email is so 2010 and I personally get so many emails I can hardly sift through them. I prefer texting over emails and phone calls. In fact, I wish I could change my voice mail to say “This is Susan. Please hang up and send me a text.”

So what is your Preferred Method of Communication?

Hidden truths of motivation

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I came across this little video blurb on Friday and it really makes sense. What motivates us at home and work? Check it out!

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Photo Credit: Celsias

PSU, Generations and Culture

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Today’s guest post is from one of my online friends in the HR Vendor world, Chris Capozzi. Chris and I have been connected online for awhile now, engaging and so forth, and had the chance to meet IRL at this year’s Illiniois SHRM State Conference. Take it away….

Are there lessons we can learn from Penn State?

Is there a generational consideration that should be given to Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky and others involved in the allegedly horrific crime committed on the campus of Penn State University?  Did the perspective on life that is shown from their generation lead to the actions of the alleged cover up in this case?  Could we learn more on what this teaches us about similar situations?

The answer is yes.  The generational perspective in this case comes from a generation known as the tradionalist group.  This group is from the WWII era and Coach Paterno, born in 1926 falls right in the middle of this group while Coach Sandusky born in 1944 is on the edge of the baby boomers. Let’s examine the key characteristics of this generation and see if this sheds some light on the relationship between these two individuals.

The tradionalist generation are loyal to the employer and expect loyalty in return; possess strong interpersonal skills, enjoy flextime so they can work their own schedule; believe promotion, recognition and raises should come from job tenure. They build a legacy – expect a lifetime career with one employer or at least in one field and have a sense of personal responsibility to work.

Coach Paterno was the leader of this program for over forty years and developed a culture of loyalty from those involved. The corporate culture within the system was solely directed by his life experience.  He has built a legacy but regardless of all the good will that he has built over the years his moral judgment will be forever in question.  While we may never know the truth and circumstances in this tragedy, what we do know is if the culture were different within this team all of the cases that occurred after 2002 could have been prevented.

What would this legacy look like in the corporate world?

The leader that has been in place for decades setting a culture of “this is the way we have always done it” and expects everyone to fall in line with the culture the leader has built as his legacy.  In this company if a scandal was brewing we would see the leader take care of it and expect that he can handle the situation in the way he knows best.  The leader would know that if such a scandal was public his reputation and legacy would be destroyed.

Can we learn from this?  Sure we can. Has this happened before in the corporate world and a different direction taken?  Yes it has.  Think back to 1982, potassium cyanide was placed in Extra-Strength Tylenol throughout Chicago. Seven individuals died from this form of terrorism. Johnson & Johnson (the makers of the pain reliever) could have simply taken Tylenol off the counters in the Chicago area. Instead, the company immediately recalled Tylenol from the stores nationwide. Consumers, advertisers and other businesses praised J&J for its swift actions. Today the company is one of the most well-liked companies by consumers (Bickel, 2011).

Will Penn State University be able to recover from this scandal?  Yes, if they put safe guards in place to ensure this can never happen again.  The school must work to create a safe environment for all staff, students, and visitors. PSU will need to carefully create a standard of operation procedure in reporting and handling such situations in the future.

Future leaders of the institution will need to have a greater understanding on the impact that child safety and the handling of this situation will have on the future enrollment of students and families supporting youth camps on campus.  A policy is not enough.  A culture change is needed and respect for people should be at the foundation if they indeed want to return happy to the valley.

About the Author:

Chris Capozzi is the Director of Business Development for Legacy Business Cultures whose workshops, train-the-trainer programs, and employee climate surveys have touched thousands of organizations, millions of employees, managers and leaders across the globe. Legacy Business Cultures and its partners have been the experts in helping shape organization culture Worldwide for over 14 years. Connect with Chris on twitter @chriscapozzi.

Strategic Planning – It’s all about influence

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Day three of the SHRM Strategy conference I sat in on Jason Lauritsen‘s “Strategic Planning – The Power of a Plan” session and here are some highlights.

First of all – you gotta love Jason and his style. He has a real way of engaging with his audience, and for a speaker – that’s huge! After all, who wants to sit there and be talked “to?”

Steering the Ship

His opening line was  ”The only way to steer the direction of the ship is to convince others that you’re going in the right direction -that’s influence.” Not only having a plan, but being able to relay the plan or direction to others within the team is crucial. It’s about getting others on board with the plan, helping them to get a hold of the vision and seeing their part in it – while keeping them engaged throughout the process.

Influence before Implementation 

Sometimes we get blindsided by all the other stuff going on while we’re trying to implement a plan – I’ll call them distractions.  Maybe it’s dealing with the “everyday stuff of HR” and we say, “Screw the plan – trying to get these folks together is like herding cats.”

The definition of influence is - the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others. Now let me ask you – is this you?

We can talk about our plan and strategy of “where we are going next” but the buy-in is a whole other ballgame. This is what separates the #winners from the #losers – especially in “game strategy” is not just lip service (as one of my high school teachers use to say) but being able to actually sell it to not only the C-Suite, but to the company as a whole and then implementing the plan – and seeing it through to completion without being side-swiped or quitting.

And by the way, if no one trusts you and most people hate you – you’ll have a harder time influencing them to catch your vision.

What’s missing?

Strategic planning is all in the approach and being influential in stating the benefits and side benefits in a compelling way– to really moving your organization forward. It’s got to be more than “you’re such a great guy – we love playing follow the leader” and instead about “you have really great ideas, we trust you, we’ve seen your track record – and we’re on board.” After all – you are captain of this ship!

Results of Strategic Planning and the Power of a Plan:

  1. Helps you with key relationship building
  2. Perception management
  3. Performance linkage to the business and how we support them
  4. Builds confidence within the team
  5. You’re building a community of trust and loyalty
In the end – there is no right way – figure out what works for you and your organization (for the right reasons and the right way AND for your company culture). Here’s a recap:
  1. Discovering what needs to take place– learning, curiosity, figuring out the game (what to do about it – research is key)
  2. Asking questions with a curious mind with a lack of defense
  3. Gathering info  and discovering your path (even from your employees)
  4. Putting a Plan in Place
  5. Communicating clearly – your plan
  6. Influencing others and helping them see their part in the plan
  7. Seeing it through to completion