March 21, 2018

Motivating, Engaging and Recognizing Employees

Show Notes
Transcript

People are the engine that companies run on. Yet, many companies struggle with their human capital practices as they are first established or as they grow over time. Creating an environment and job tasks that motivate employees to want to give their best is no small order. And finding ways to keep employees engaged and persisting even through organizational challenges or restructuring can perplex even the quite experienced executives. And finally, recognizing employees for their performance and contribution comes in many forms – which ones work well for your organization?

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Network, It's staff and management.
There are some people that make their work

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just another thing they have to do, and there are those that make their

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work something that they want to do. Welcome to Working on Purpose with your

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host Alas Cortes. In our program, we provide guidance and inspiration from those

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people who have found deeper meaning and
personal connection to their work life. It's

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beyond nine to five. HiT's Working
on Purpose Now Here is your host,

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Elise Cortez. Welcome back to their
Working on Purpose show. Thanks for tuning

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in again this week. I'm your
host, Elise Cortez, joining you from

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Dallas, Texas, which is home
based for me. This program is all

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about helping people more meaningfully and productively
connect with their work and equipping organizations to

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do the same for their employees.
So I bring on guests of a particular

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perspective or experience that I think expands
this conversation, and I often draw in

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the meeting and work research I've been
doing over the last fifteen years, as

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well as from my own consulting experience, including the work I do today and

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Insignia, which is a global management
consulting firm. I'll get to the program

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in just a moment. Let me
thank my media partner and sponsor, jobbing

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dot Com. Jopping dot com is
the leading local and focused job board in

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the nation, and they are dedicated
to helping employers find quality talent in their

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own backyard and getting job seekers control
with their search so they can find work

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close to home. Great partnership.
Thank you jobbing dot Com. Last week,

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if you missed the show live,
you can always catch it via recorded

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podcast. We were on the air
with cc Lions and up and coming author

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who addresses taboo topics that others dare
not embark She's the author of Alpha Female

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Unleashed From the Boardroom to the Bedroom. We talked about what she means by

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the alpha female, how alpha females
can you need to contribute in the workplace,

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and how they show up in relationships
and communities. With us this week

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is Sherry Elliott Yeary, who was
an author, speaker, coach, and

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trainer in the area for human resources
and talent management. She's the author of

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Ties to Tattoos, Turning generational differences
into competitive advantage and you can have it

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all, just not all at once. And we will be talking a bit

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about really purpose in the work that
we do, recognition, and really what

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we can learn from millennials and other
generations in the workplace. Miss Sherry joins

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us from Dallas, Texas today.
Sherry, welcome to Working on Purpose yet

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again, thank you for having me. It's wonderful such a treat. I

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want to start by talking really about
purpose, as you know, that's one

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of my favorite topics to talk about. This is why the show is called

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Working on Purpose. And of course
most people who know anything about she do

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know you as a generational guru,
and you were a recognized expert across the

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globe on employee recognition, motivation,
engagement, among many other things. Of

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course, the generations too so I
want to start our conversation by talking about

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your why, Sherry, Why the
field of HR. I know you've been

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at it for a long time.
I know a lot of your story,

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but our listeners don't. So why
this field? That's a great question.

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I actually was at an HR conference
this morning and someone looked at my name

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tag and I said, oh,
there's a generational guru. And I said,

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yeah, but there's more to me
than just that. So sometimes when

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you get known in one area,
they think that that's all you've ever done

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in life. Hold on a second. I've been in HR for twenty five

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years and I've been working in a
generational space for about ten of those twenty

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five years. And so I started
out in payroll and I really saw that

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personnel, which was what it was
called back when I was first starting out,

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I thought you needed to have a
personality to be in personnel. My

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boss at the time did not have
a personality. So I thought, you

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know what, this is the kind
of work I want to do. And

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so I went back to school after
getting an accounting degree and found my true

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calling and purpose and that was connecting
with people. And that has taken me

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all the way from HR into coaching
and to writing and speaking. So that's

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really been my purpose. It's the
same purpose, it's just taken me down

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multiple different roads. I want to
chill me on that, missary, because

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you know that I've got a perspective
on that, and you know that I've

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been doing research around helping people or
discovering how people find meaning in their work

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and how it's related to their sense
of self identity, and so my fifteen

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Modes of Engagement has been out there
for a while. And what I finally

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discovered, and I don't know if
you and I've talked about this or not,

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but I finally realize that I am, after all of these years,

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living my purpose in terms of the
work that I do, and that is

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it's just so important for me to
be able to help people find their passion

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in their life, ideally in the
work that they're doing, and in a

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way that really helps them grow and
learn and become more of who they were

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than they were the day prior.
So it took me a while to get

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here. I didn't have the story
that you do. It kind of happened

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organically over time, but I finally
got there, and that's great that's all

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that matters. I mean, some
people are doing their second career and you

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know, they're getting to be fifty
and above and they're going, hey,

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I want to do something meaningful,
and I've done this all my life,

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but this really interests me. So
I feel very grateful and I'm sure like

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you do that we found our purpose
in our calling a lot sooner because now

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we have that much more time to
continue and see where that road takes us.

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There's no doubt about that. And
you know, I know that a

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lot of people who listen to the
show, Sharry, And by the way,

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I want to thank our listeners.
We do enjoy listenership from across the

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globe. I noticed when I looked
at the stats last week that Japan who

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had a lot of listeners, followed
by China, and then of course we've

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got lots of listeners across the United
States as well. But I want to

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thank you all for tuning in.
And what I do know about about people

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who listen to the show is many
of them are looking for tools to be

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able to improve the way that they
do their work or the way that they

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lead, or are looking for a
continuous leg up, and others are really

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out there just trying to figure out
what is my purpose. I'd like to

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find it and i'd like to live
it. And so to that end,

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before we talk about companies working in
that space, can you comment on what

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you've learned or seen and how people
find their purpose. I think it's about

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paying attention to the clues. And
when I was younger, I was so

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focused on getting from an hourly paid
job to a salary paid job where I

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actually had paid vacation that I didn't
have that blessing of that opportunity to really

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look beyond anything other than, you
know, making a living. And now

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I look at it and I go, I've followed the energy and I followed

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the clues. If I meet someone
just like how you and I met,

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and we've discussed this before, it
was following that energy. We went,

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oh, yeah, I liked you, and we need to know each other.

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And then as you say, love
at first sight, that is following

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the energy to me, and I
go, that's what I want to keep

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doing. So if something feels right
or it's an interest to me, I

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may not be able to actually use
it in my business or my life yet,

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but I know I will someday,
and it's going to make me a

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better consultants, a better speaker,
and a better person. I like the

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way that you said that, Sherry, following the energy. I didn't really

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think about it that way, but
that is exactly what I mean when I

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when I talk with people about paying
attention to queues and such. So for

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the benefit of our listeners our story
really quick, I reached out to you,

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and I think it would have been
I think we decided it was two

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thousand and eight something like that,
and I was when I had co founded

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the organization Improved Experience, and I
was reaching out to on the hopes that

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we might partner together and somehow be
able to at least refer a business to

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one or another, if not somehow. You know, you came on the

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platform that we were working on,
which was which was an It was an

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HR online feedback tool that we had
created, and when we met, just

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like you said, there was instantaneous
connection. We just got each other.

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It was like one of those kind
of things where we just knew that there

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had to be some way to be
able to do something together. And then

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not that long after that, I
called you up. I think it was

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two months that are and said,
hey, I'm hosting this conference in San

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Francisco. Don't have any budget at
all to pay you, but would you

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come and speak on something that delights
you? And you said yes, of

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course, and the rest is history. So I think, you know,

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opting into those kind of energy sources
that fuel us, that make us see

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a possiblity bigger than ourselves, I
think it's part of what I would want

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our listeners to pay attention to your
thoughts. Oh absolutely, And like I

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said, the more you do it, the more you get good at it,

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And even things that you may not
seem important. For instance, I

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went to hear Gabriel Bernstein at her
new book launch in Boston. It was

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like three days before the event,
and I went, why not? This

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is something I want to learn about, And so it was like get on

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a plane. So trying not to
let things limit you and go, well,

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you know it's only three days away. Oh you know, if you

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can do it, make it happen, because if it's pulling you and drawing

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you, there's something there that you're
going to learn and know that's going to

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make you a much better professional and
person. So just just do that just

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don't put a lot of notes follow
the yesses. Now, since we're still

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talking about purpose, I've wanted to
also see if you could conjure any examples

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of companies that really have organized themselves
around purpose or they find a way to

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keep purpose alive for their employees.
So I have one example that I want

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to start with, and I want
to see if you can think of any

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others yourself. But I recently,
let's see, would have been last fall

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sometime went to a conscious capitalism event
here in Dallas, and the speakers for

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that event were executives from a car
resell company called Drivers Select, and I

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was immediately involved and in love with
with with what they are up to and

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essentially what they're doing, Sherry is
and what they are doing. I have

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since had them on my radio show
as well, and they were found fantastic.

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What they were really up to is
they have created a culture of purpose.

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Everything that they do is about the
heartbeat of the of the customer,

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delighting the customer. They created processes
around how employees respond, and they recognize

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employees to respond quickly to a customer's
wishes and hopes, and so the whole

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culture is this vibrant thing of passion
and purpose and customer delight. So they're

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an organization that I would point to
as doing it well in terms of creating

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a purpose that's alive for their employees. Can you think of any that you

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would want to call out and show
out as an example. Yeah. Actually,

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I worked for a nonprofit quite a
long time ago ashead of HR and

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it was here in Dallas, and
they really brought around and had us go

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a lot. It was for domestic
violence shelter and it's really hard work and

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so for them to find a way
for us to have purpose and meaning to

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their works, it's really difficult when
you're taking phone calls twenty four hours a

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day of batters and abuse men and
women. And to provide that opportunity for

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them to see that they actually are
making a different We spent a lot of

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time showing them what they were doing
in these people's lives, and people who

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graduated through the program would come back
and bring their children and show how they

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set up their new life and thank
the people, their case workers, their

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intake, their hotline workers, you
know, everything from the janitor. Because

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each person made a difference, and
that difference and that connection is what kept

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the staff together and wanting to work
in a nonprofit environment for less than top

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wages and in a very deep,
difficult job. And I was really impressed

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with that. And that's one of
the reasons I stayed as long as I

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did, because you knew you were
making a difference in someone's life, and

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I really like the way they didn't
you just say, Okay, it is

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hard. Instead, I said,
this is hard, but look at the

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impactor making. And we were able
to honor employees and bring them together and

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celebrate the successes of the people who
were able to graduate the program and move

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on and have a better life.
I think that's a beautiful story. And

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I think so much of this whole
notion of purpose is really all about language,

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right. One of the things that
we know at Insignium is that there's

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real power in language, and being
able to articulate something means that you are

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declaring it into existence. So even
just simply organizations that in view in their

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culture and the way that they start
meetings or the way they talk around their

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purpose or their mission is can be
so important in grounding people into that space.

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You know, for example, I
know that years ago I had a

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conversation with a woman who was part
of it. She was also a nonprofit.

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So we don't want listeners to think
that you can only get purpose if

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you're a nonprofit organization, because it's
just not true at all, right,

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But but in her case, she
had the ability to look at every transaction.

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It was a supply chain organization supplying
various necessities to ravaged countries by that

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usually had some kind of a storm
or some kind of a crisis element to

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it, and she took delight in
being able to see that in her role,

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tracking every little piece of the supply
chain that got those supplies and materials

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to the needed location. That's really
what gave her. She knew that that

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was purpose of the organization, and
she could actually track her own purpose individually

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to her performance to that, and
it made her work. She felt like

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she was on fire every day going
to work. Oh yeah, And that's

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action is the reason that gives us
the engagement and makes us want to come

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back, whether we're working for a
non profit for ourselves or for somebody else,

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that's exactly the motivator. Well,
and so now to that end,

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there's one human being in that hole. Shall we say, supply chain.

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Who can really make a difference,
and that is the boss, the supervisor

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of the manager, the person that
maybe is one level above an individual employee.

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So sometimes it's a little bit harder
to notice or recognize it as an

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individual employee. Just what is the
purpose of this organization and how am I

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connected to that? So are the
leader can have a really strong role in

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that? So do you can you
comment Sherry and all this stuff that you've

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been up to, how can leaders
help presence purpose for their employees to help

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motivate them and engage them. Yeah. One of the things that you know,

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and I love the way transition from
manager and boss to the word leader

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because I think that's one of the
biggest things is, you know, boss

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just has such a connotation if we're
going to boss people and you know,

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we're managing you instead of leading you
to a place of performance, engagement,

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joy, you know, all of
those things and satisfaction. And I think

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it starts with one's being a leader
and walking their talk and being open and

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hearing feedback and that is more collaborative
in the work environment most definitely, But

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they need to be able to lead
and to lead and show that they are

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human, and they have interests,
not just what they do eight to five

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or nine to five, whatever it
happens to be, that they have other

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things they do. This is who
I am as a full person. And

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so I think what that does is
also gives employees the opportunity to go so,

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you know what, this is my
job stay in accounting or in customer

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services. I think I might be
able to do something out? Could I

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sit on this project for this team. Leaders can help provide those opportunities and

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clear the pathway for people to have
the opportunity to learn something new. You

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know, and as you're talking to
Sherry, what I'm also remembering is,

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you know, just the way that
a leader can go about working with individual

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people can be so powerful in terms
of helping do presence purpose. So as

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an example, right now, we're
working with a client on what we call

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the Inspirational Leader program. And what
that program is really all about, Sherry,

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is it's designed to help leaders develop
the skills to be really powerful listeners

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to their people, so that they
can really understand who is this person,

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Sherry who works for me, What
lights her up, what turns her on?

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Because if I can be tuned into
that, then I know what inspires

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that person. And if I know
what inspires that person, I've got a

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pretty good chance at being able to
help connect them to something bigger of import

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that helps them stay motivated and engaged
and just alive in their work. Have

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you seen examples of that with somebody
doing that really well? Actually, you

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and I have worked with the client
and it's not nonprofit, so this is

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good. It's actually a PR agency
here in Dallas. And on my first

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tour around their office, I saw
it in each cubicle. Not only did

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they have their strength finder postage,
so you knew what their top five strengths

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were, but you also knew who
they were and what their hobbies were and

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if they had a family. And
I absolutely love that. I could walk

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into somebody's cubicle and not even know
their name, but I would know exactly

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what their strengths were, so I
can even have an idea without knowing what

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their position was and what they did, and then who they were as a

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person. So how incredible to know
that when you're working or a new employee,

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or you're trying to connect with each
other, Oh wow, this person

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plays hockey, or this person's from
India. I mean, it just creates

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that instant connection and you can do
that with just two simple pieces of paper

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up in your desk. I just
thought that was such a great idea,

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and unfortunately I wasn't the one who
gave it to them. And you could

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class what you want, but you
know that doesn't really matter as long as

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you can you can just recognize it
in them, right. I think it's

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it's beautiful and it's it's really the
important or the power of seeing individual people

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is just so important in terms of
being able to take a stand for what

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they for what they stand for in
life, Who are they, how do

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they come to work? And especially
right now, for example, Sherry,

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I'm working with an organization where they're
conducting layoffs and I reached out to one

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of the people who is the project
lead that I've been working with, and

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he said, guess what, at
least I'm one of them. So and

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I knew this about him because he
and I had been talking and I could

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stand in his presence and see him
right. And so there's something about being

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able to do that with someone that
is so powerful. So if a leader

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can do that with each one of
their people, they really know who they

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are and what their heartbeat is.
What a difference that can mean in terms

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of helping them find and connect with
their own purpose as well as helping thread

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that back to what the organization does. Oh and it creates an immense amount

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of trust when you know something about
someone and you lean in and be authentic

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and vulnerable and tell someone something that
probably isn't well known in your bio or

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on your website or something. I
told a lady sitting next to me that

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I was from Canada, and I
joked and told them who my first American

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job was twenty years ago was with
Hooters, and she just laughed. I

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was not in my bio. I
said, yeah, but it was an

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HR and so it just kind of
broke the ice, and now she and

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I knew and then she shared something, and then she and I knew more

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about each other. And there wasn't
a bigger connection after that. And it

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wasn't anything big except where it was
our way of creating a thread of connections

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so that we had an opportunity to
want to know more about each other.

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And it does it makes you real
and approachable, and that's really what it

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is for leaders when they can do
that there people feel like they're able to

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go to them, especially in difficult
times or with questions. Couldn't agree more

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and a beautiful way to take us
into our first break already. I'm Elise

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Cortez, your host. We were
on the air with Sherry Elliott Jury,

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who is an author, speaker,
coach, and trainer in the area comman

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resources and talent management. She's the
author of Ties to Tattoos, Turning generational

294
00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:51.119
differences into competitive advantage and also you
can have it all, just not all

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00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.359
at once. To join us today
from Dallas, Texas. We've been talking

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a bit about how we can bring
purpose alive and organizations through individuals and to

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the organis. After Rake, we're
gonna talk about recognition. Stay with us.

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We will be right back. Friend
us on Facebook to keep up with

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what's empowering the world. Voice America
Empowerment. Elise Cortez is a speaker and

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00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:27.680
engagement and development catalyst. She designs
and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement

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workshops and can bring her expertise to
your organization. She will help ignite meaningful

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00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:38.240
development within your workforce that will increase
employee engagement performance and retention. To learn

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more or to invite Elise to speak
to your organization, please visit her at

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www dot Elise Cortez dot com.
She would welcome the opportunity to help get

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your employees working on purpose. Follow
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cutting edge of social media. Did
you keep up? Life can be confusing

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at times. There can be uncertainty, disappointment, and an inability to clearly

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see where you're headed. But it
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If you understand how to take the
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and learn to be clairvoyant. Listen
Wednesdays at eleven am Pacific time two

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00:21:53.839 --> 00:22:07.559
pm Eastern on Voice America Empowerment.
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To reach our program today, please
call in to one triple eight three

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Again that's one triple eight three four six

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nine one four one. You may
also send an email to Elise ali se

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00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:32.680
at Elise Cortez dot com. Now
back to Working on Purpose. Thanks for

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00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:34.240
staying with us, and welcome back
to Working on Purpose. If you're just

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00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.680
joining us. My sis Sherry Elliott
Jury, who is an author, speaker,

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00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.839
coach, and trainer in the area
of human resources and talent management.

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00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:47.039
She's the author of Ties to Tattoos, turning generational differences into competitive advantage and

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00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:48.680
you can have it all, just
not all at once. I'm your host,

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00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:52.640
Elise Cortez. So before the break, we were talking about purpose and

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the importance that plays in staying motivated
and engaged with the work that we do

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and being recognized as individuals. For
this sake meant I want to talk about

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recognition, Sherry. So I know
that it's been said that recognition has been

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proven to be one of the highest
drivers of engagement. Do you know where

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that comes from? Is that from
surveys? From feedback? How do we

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know this? One of the things
that I found interesting that you just said

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that the conference over that this morning
they pulled up a statistics that over seventy

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five percent of employees that are happy
and engaged at work has taken no time

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off in six months due to illness, and the remainder had taken over eleven

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days. So it's really interesting to
think about when people feel engaged and recognized,

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they're not needing to be gone.
They are much happier, healthier people.

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And so I just found that fascinating
that that was a new two seventeen

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survey that they discussed this morning,
and I thought, wow, it just

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goes more and more to about how
we treat people and we recognize them in

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a way that's meaningful to them as
well as their feeling engaged. You cannot

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put a dollar amounts on that.
Yes, we can look at cost the

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turnover and six time workers comb accidents, but you know, really there is

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no amount of money you can pay
someone to being engaged. You can pay

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them to do their jobs, and
you can recognize them for doing their job,

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which is a paycheck. But there's
other things, those intangibles that are

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really critical. I honestly say two
things to that. So one I can

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say that doctor Bob Nelson, who
will have on the air at some point

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in the future, I know he
also sees that recognition is the biggest driver

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of engagement, and we'll find out
what he means by that when he comes

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on. But I will tell you
from my own experience. I had the

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wonderful experience of working with a company
called the Center for Talent Solutions for a

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couple of years. Derek Barton is
your CEO. Hello Derek, if you're

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listening. They have a particular program
that they do where they have identified fifty

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talent variables that are drivers for employees
and they're broken into four different categories.

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And the number one that they have
found that it seems to resonate as the

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most important, most commonly chosen as
the number one driver for engagement is value

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and to be valued and appreciated.
So that's I think quite quite along the

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lines of recognition. How would they
know that that unless somebody recognized them as

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such? So that's one way that
that we found that, and the way

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that they did that was they had
that fifty variable survey that they used in

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the work that they did, and
so that's how it was discovered. And

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just to quickly see what we mean
by that, what does that look like?

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I remember distinctly and one of the
engagement consulting assignments that I was working

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on it was with a hospice or
organization, and of course what came up

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was that value and appreciation variable was
really lowly scored very important to them,

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but scored low as their experience.
And looking at the open text comments to

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support of that, what employees were
saying is that executives and leaders who walked

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down down down the hall and never
even acknowledge or say hello or good morning

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to other employees. They felt belittle
by that, not seen, not acknowledged,

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not valued. So pretty simple action
to be able to correct, right,

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Cherry, just add a good morning
and look up for a moment to

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your day. But can you talk
about that what you've seen in other organizations

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around how they practice recognition. Well, yeah, that's a that's a great

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question. When you said that about
just looking up, I remember working with

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one of the tribal nations in Oklahoma
and their CFO, one of the three

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sixties came back. And the biggest
thing is he wasn't sound approachable because when

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he walked down the hallway, he
walked with exceeding speed and looked straight down,

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never making eye contacts. And it
was because he was thinking about his

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next meeting he was going to.
The people were actually afraid of him because

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he never looked up and engaged with
them. His employees wouldn't come to him,

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nobody would want to walk into his
office or dare stop him in the

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hallway when he was walking with such
find of it purpose because they didn't want

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to bother them. So that's absolutely
true. It's a very small thing.

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And I was like, wow,
just lift your head and look at your

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employees. So it is amazing how
that can make a difference. Can you

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first, let me let me back
up and say that I know because of

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the work that I've done in terms
of our researcher and certainly just being in

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organizations and doing various kinds of surveys, cultural surveys and other kinds of surveys,

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that recognition is an individual thing.
In other words, people like to

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be recognized according to how they like
to be recognized. Some people want to

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be trodden across stage and given a
trophy and everybody collapse. And others want

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to see their name in a newsletter. Others want to you know, they

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want something that they could take home
that says their employee of the year,

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whatever it was, right, and
others just really it's more valuable just to

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hear from the boss. Wow.
Do you know that without your involvement,

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we would have never brought this thing
home. Can you talk a little bit

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about how you've seen organizations be able
to tailor their recognition practices to their employees.

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Yes, and it's very costly.
It costs you a four by six

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index cards. That's it. That's
a simple assist thing to get. And

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I tell people to just sit down
with your employees with your four by six

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index cards and ask them how do
they want to be recognized? Wow,

406
00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:26.400
how do they want to be communicated
with? And so what? Like you

407
00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:27.880
said, some want a trophy and
they're going to tell you, oh,

408
00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:32.480
yeah, you know, annual service
awards. And it's funny because my husband

409
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:33.759
said he had to move offices recently, and I said, well, did

410
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.039
you have a lot to move because
yeah, And I said, what about

411
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:38.119
those awards you got, And he
said, they're in the trash the minute

412
00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:42.759
I've been given them. And so
you know, it's just such a waste

413
00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:48.839
of resources if that's not really impactful
to the person you're giving it too.

414
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.880
So if you ask them, for
instance, I worked with a college recently,

415
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:57.240
and they would give awards for tenure
or for doing a great project.

416
00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:03.000
Most of the millennials I spoke to, for instance, they were up sick

417
00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.160
to their stomach, I eat,
throwing up, still wanting to call in

418
00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:10.359
sick the day before they had to
get on stage and accept an award because

419
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:14.720
they were terrified. Now, if
you'd ask them what they wanted, they

420
00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:18.160
probably wanted a Amazon gift card and
Apple gift card. They might want a

421
00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:23.000
day off to go volunteer. Now, maybe somebody more as a baby boomer,

422
00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:27.680
more in the forties to fifty five
range, would want extra time off

423
00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:33.319
or a bigger pay increase, or
yes, a letter from the president or

424
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.799
an email going out from the CEO
to the whole company touting their accomplishments.

425
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.920
So I really think, honestly,
that four by six index card is so

426
00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:42.400
true. How do you want to
be recognized? How do you want to

427
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:48.920
be communicated with? And that goes
from verbal to written to email to text.

428
00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:53.400
Even some of my providers that like
my hairdresser, for instance, I

429
00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:56.400
asked her, how can I make
my appointments the quickest? Some people i've

430
00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:00.039
online tool, she says, don't
detect me. I love that. Now

431
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:04.400
I could spend all this time calling
people or if they just tell me you

432
00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.079
make that ask. But I'm going
to be able to connect with you that

433
00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:12.079
much quicker and we're going to be
more efficient. Hm. You know,

434
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:17.559
one of the things that I see, especially newer leaders, newer managers,

435
00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:21.079
making the mistake of and I know
I've done a fair amount of work with

436
00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:25.359
management training and leadership training over the
years and just developing them as leaders and

437
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.480
they're along their journey and it's it's
natural. It's nothing. This is not

438
00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:33.400
a knock on any of us,
but it's that thing of the natural thing

439
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:34.559
when you step into a new spaces. Well, I'm going to do it

440
00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:37.720
like this because that's how I would
like it done for me. In other

441
00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:42.160
words, I'm going to create a
recognition system for my employees because this is

442
00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:45.279
what I would want that would that
would be nice for me, And it's

443
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:48.599
just so misguided and not again,
not in a bad way. I'm not

444
00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:52.200
trying to knock on them. It's
just misguided. It'd be like it would

445
00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:56.119
be sort of like me attempting to
try to talk with you in Spanish when

446
00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:59.640
your language is Russian, right,
it just wouldn't it just wouldn't connect.

447
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.039
And so I like very much idea
of that little note card because if you

448
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:07.519
then can understand what it is that
matters to someone, what really motivates them,

449
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.799
because that's what you're getting down to
at the end of this thing.

450
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:18.079
That recognition, that means of recognition
is the way to be able to motivate

451
00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:22.039
someone. So for me, for
example, I like responsibility, so I

452
00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:25.920
would like to have more responsibility heaped
on me. Of course, you know,

453
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.920
the way that I earned my income
is important because I support myself,

454
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:33.680
So those are important to me.
And like your husband, Cherry, I

455
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:41.480
don't need a plaque. You want
more opportunity, like you said, and

456
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:44.880
you want to learn, and you
have a zest for learning. And so

457
00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:48.200
when you're asking someone and they say
that to you, and the next project

458
00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:49.880
that comes up, you go,
wow, that's great. You know,

459
00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:52.960
here's an opportunity to work on this. If someone tells you they have an

460
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:57.559
interest in marketing or you know,
in human resources or something, you can

461
00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:01.160
actually provide that. And it's an
easy thing to do. It's not like

462
00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:06.160
it costs a lot of money.
But employees are going to recognize that and

463
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:12.519
they're going to so appreciate that you
are actually speaking their language and to that

464
00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:15.400
and they'll get them. Yeah,
that's right. That we goes back to

465
00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:20.200
what we were saying back on the
previous segment about actually seeing someone for who

466
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.559
they are and allowing being able to
see what inspires and what matters and what

467
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:29.359
motivates them is incredibly powerful and useful
for the connection, as you said before,

468
00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:31.799
the trust and sorry for the motivation. And to that end, one

469
00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:35.240
of the other pieces that I really
like to talk about, and it's something

470
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:38.680
that I've done a lot in my
consulting with leaders along their developmental journey,

471
00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:44.680
is is the importance of articulating those
still even if there's another way that employees

472
00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:47.359
want to be recognized, being able
to tell them and whatever format it is,

473
00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:52.839
one on one in a group meeting
and a department meeting across the organization,

474
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:57.960
whatever it might be, is finding
a way to tell them why,

475
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:01.000
what you appreciate about them, So
igno knowledging them and so what I mean

476
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:02.640
by that, and I know you
know it this, but this is for

477
00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:07.680
our listeners right too. When we
acknowledge somebody, we do it in a

478
00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:14.400
way that really says that it presences
how you've seen that person and what you

479
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.359
saw them do. So just simply
acknowledging you know, Sherry, I can't

480
00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:21.079
tell you the number of times that
I've seen you in action with a client

481
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:22.680
and you move the dial, you
make a difference, You connect with them,

482
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:27.319
you understand the heartbeat of their problem, you address it efficiently and effectively,

483
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.480
and I can see that they're they're
connected to you. That's one way

484
00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:36.119
of acknowledging you. I could also
acknowledge you and say that I know that

485
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:40.559
absent your intervention or work with a
client, they probably maybe wouldn't still be

486
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:45.240
in business. What a difference that
has made, right So, being able

487
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:51.960
to really articulate very squarely what a
person has done and why that performance is

488
00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:58.720
important to you and to the organization
is incredibly powerful as a motivator. And

489
00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:01.359
that's true and that's very important.
But where's it on the other side too?

490
00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:06.839
If somebody gets a customer service a
feedback, how great is it that

491
00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:08.920
a leader would take that and go, you know what, You've got some

492
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:15.519
really good kudos from somebody who appreciates
what you did for them. Say it's

493
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:19.079
a call center or whatever it happens
to be. If somebody takes the time

494
00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:22.280
to say, this person gave me
great service hotels, for instance. I

495
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:25.760
love giving feedback when somebody's done a
really good job for me, believe it

496
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.760
or not, all also do it
on the other way because I believe if

497
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:32.360
we don't give the feedbacks, then
it's not going to change anything. And

498
00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:36.280
so if someone does a good job, I'm going to let the manager know,

499
00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:39.360
and I really want them to share
that with their employee because how cool

500
00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:44.320
is that when they know they've made
a direct difference for somebody else and that

501
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:47.960
even though it's their job, they're
making a difference. But well, incumbent

502
00:34:49.079 --> 00:34:52.639
on the leader to pay attention to
that, no question about it. Although

503
00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:54.480
I'm going to quickly say something really
quick to bring us back and thread us

504
00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:58.960
back to a previous show that I
had with doctor Norman Baldwin. We were

505
00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:04.760
talking about the importance of cultivating followership. So employees, those of you who

506
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:07.679
are individual contributors or who don't have
people that report up to you, do

507
00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:13.280
you know that you too can acknowledge
your boss in ways that encourage his or

508
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:15.960
her behavior the way that you want
them to. So keep that in mind

509
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:19.440
that when your boss does something for
you the way that you like it,

510
00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.480
tell them so, because it will
encourage their behavior. I think that's an

511
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.119
important thing to add at this point, that that's a two way street.

512
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:31.639
This recognition stuff so good for our
personal lives too. That's exactly right.

513
00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:36.320
Whoever is, whoever are centificant,
other is or people connected to us?

514
00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:39.880
For sure. While we're talking about
recognition, let's go ahead and bring in

515
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:45.960
the millennial part of this planned conversation
here, Sherry, So you clearly know

516
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:49.559
a lot about the generations in the
workplace. Can you tell us a little

517
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.199
bit about is there a difference in
how that the generations in the workplace like

518
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:57.280
to be recognized? Maybe you could
start first by however you want to presence

519
00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:01.800
the generations, But is there a
difference in how they're like, Yeah,

520
00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:07.119
typically we don't have a lot of
traditionalists who were born before nineteen forty four

521
00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:10.119
still in the workplace, But that
doesn't mean we don't have people with the

522
00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:16.199
traditionalist mentality. So I think that's
really important first is to realize that just

523
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:21.639
because someone falls within an age range
or they're called a certain generation, does

524
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:25.320
not mean that they are going to
behave that way, especially with the differences

525
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.480
in culture. So I say,
my generational DNA is that of a gen

526
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:35.920
xer, but my generational personality,
based on life events and where I was

527
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:40.920
raised, I'm more like a baby
boomer in my behavior. So I just

528
00:36:42.119 --> 00:36:45.119
I like to put that little no
doubt there for people, especially for the

529
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:50.079
listeners who are thinking, okay,
well millennials, all they want is to

530
00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:53.800
be told how great they are over
and over and over again. But that's

531
00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:58.639
not true of all millennials. So
that's really important is to understand the distinction

532
00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:06.519
and have the awareness to ask them
excellent, I can appreciate what you said.

533
00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:08.039
You and I've talked about this before
that there's a lot that I tend

534
00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:12.400
to draw from in terms of my
values from the traditionalists, though I behave

535
00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:17.079
I guess more like a gen xer. I think that's a really important distinction.

536
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:22.480
And one of the things that I
have heard some of the experts talk

537
00:37:22.519 --> 00:37:28.480
about is that millennials seemed to want
more frequent at least feedback. Let's never

538
00:37:28.519 --> 00:37:30.599
mind acknowledgement, but at least feedback. Do you think that's true. Has

539
00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:35.199
that been your experience or is that
your knowledge? Oh? Absolutely, so.

540
00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:39.559
Envision a bank account and hopefully the
more money we put in it continues

541
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:44.320
to grow. It's kind of the
same way with millennials. You put in

542
00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:49.480
the positive feedback. Eight strokes a
day is what I tell my audiences and

543
00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:52.880
my clients. Eight strokes a day
have positive feedback, and you need to

544
00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:59.760
build that bank account before you can
start having constructive conversations. Notice I didn't

545
00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:04.840
say you're telling them what they did
wrong. They're having a positive constructive conversation.

546
00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:07.440
Because it's quite a shock when a
millennial is typically in their first job

547
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:12.280
and they hear from their boss that's
not right, go back and fix it,

548
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:14.119
and they're like, well, what
do you mean to go back and

549
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:16.880
fix it? You know, they
haven't built that maturity in that time in

550
00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:22.440
the workplace to know how to do
things differently. So they need a lot

551
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:25.519
of positive strokes and so if you're
not putting money in the bank, you

552
00:38:25.559 --> 00:38:30.440
can't take it out. And that's
really the important point that I want to

553
00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:34.480
make about millennials. As they do
they need to know they've grown up being

554
00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:37.320
told how great they are and all
are the positive things they're doing by their

555
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.760
parents and a lot by society,
that by the time they get to their

556
00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:46.480
first job or in the workplace,
they need that affirmation before you can start

557
00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:52.400
as their boss or their leader giving
them constructive feedback. That is one of

558
00:38:52.440 --> 00:38:59.079
the most unique pieces of feedback that
I've heard about the millennials. And I

559
00:38:59.159 --> 00:39:00.679
want to comment on that, Sherry, but let me let's cut to a

560
00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:04.719
break first, and I'll do it
after the break. I'm Elise Cortez,

561
00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:07.519
your host. We're on the air
with Sherry Elliott Eery, who is an

562
00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:09.400
author, speaker, coach, and
trainer in the area of human resources and

563
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:15.320
talent management. She's the author of
Ties to Tattoos, Turning generational differences into

564
00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:19.199
competitive advantage, and also the book
called You Can Have It All, just

565
00:39:19.239 --> 00:39:22.400
not all at once. She turned
to Today from Dallas, Texas. After

566
00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:24.440
the break, will finish our conversation
on millennials and the rest of the generations

567
00:39:24.440 --> 00:39:37.679
in the workplace. See what this
will be right back. Friend us on

568
00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:44.679
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering
the world. Voice America Empowerment Alice Cortez

569
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:50.159
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

570
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:54.119
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

571
00:39:54.199 --> 00:40:00.760
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

572
00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:05.079
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

573
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:09.360
please visit her at www dot Elise
Cortez dot com. She would welcome

574
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:15.320
the opportunity to help get your employees
working on purpose. We're making it easier

575
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:20.440
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00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:23.000
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00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.639
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582
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583
00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:08.599
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584
00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:14.360
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585
00:41:14.440 --> 00:41:30.400
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586
00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:44.239
on Twitter for more great ideas at
Voice America Empowerment. This is Working on

587
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:49.039
Purpose with Elise Cortez. To reach
our program today, please call into one

588
00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:52.719
triple eight three four six nine one
four one. Again, that's one triple

589
00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:57.960
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one. You may also send an email

590
00:41:58.039 --> 00:42:06.159
to Elise alike at Elise Cortez dot
com. Now back to Working on Purpose.

591
00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:13.760
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to Working on Purpose if

592
00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:15.400
you're just tuning in. My guest
is Sherry Elliott Urie, who is an

593
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:19.320
author, speaker, coach, and
trainer in the area of human resources and

594
00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:23.159
talent management. She's the author of
Ties to Tattoos, Turning generational differences into

595
00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:27.800
competitive advantage and also you can have
it all, just not all at once.

596
00:42:28.039 --> 00:42:30.000
I'm your host, Elise Cortez,
So before we went on break,

597
00:42:30.039 --> 00:42:36.360
I said that I would comment on
what you said there about why millennials like

598
00:42:36.639 --> 00:42:39.199
to have so much positive feedback and
what you had said, if I can

599
00:42:39.239 --> 00:42:44.320
paraphrases, that they had spent most
of their life hearing about what they were

600
00:42:44.360 --> 00:42:46.159
doing well, and so they're not
a custom yet. They don't have they

601
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:51.719
don't have a bank built up yet
of being able to presence constructive feedback against

602
00:42:52.360 --> 00:42:54.679
what maybe is positive. And that
is the first time I've ever heard an

603
00:42:54.679 --> 00:43:01.679
expert to talk about why millennials need
that in such a I would say neutral

604
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:07.199
or even positive way, and I
really appreciate that. Is there anything else

605
00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:13.320
that you want to help us understand
about why or how millennials specifically like to

606
00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:17.880
receive feedback or recognition. Well,
part of it is they've been raised by

607
00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:22.320
baby boomer parents who wanted to do
things different than how they were raised by

608
00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:28.400
their traditionalist parents, who were very
frugal and had a ton of respect and

609
00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:31.599
said the same job all the time. So baby boomer parents were gifting,

610
00:43:31.719 --> 00:43:36.920
and technology was coming up, so
they were giving things to make their children

611
00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:39.920
happy, which are now our millennials
and to keep them connected, and so

612
00:43:39.960 --> 00:43:45.239
they are so tethered from their their
phones, to their eyepatched to their smart

613
00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:51.559
watches, et cetera, that they're
used to instant gratification. And so that's

614
00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:54.320
one of the biggest reasons that when
they get into the work world, it's

615
00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:58.880
really difficult because they consider at their
desk and go, hey, I just

616
00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:01.280
did something, and nobody he's here
to thanks me. A friend of mine

617
00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:07.159
did a survey with a large a
very large organization, and they were looking

618
00:44:07.159 --> 00:44:10.320
at onboarding and one of the young
ladies had been there one day and she

619
00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:14.840
came at the end of the day
dinner survey about what she thought about her

620
00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:23.800
first day, and she's like,
there wasn't alone another word. Nobody celebrated

621
00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:30.159
me because I showed up to work
on time. You know what. That's

622
00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:34.639
the idea. Yeah, I can
tell you. One of the reasons I

623
00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:39.559
continue to teach. I teach for
Southern Methodist University in a communication department.

624
00:44:39.559 --> 00:44:43.360
And one of the reasons I liked
doing that one it's a great experience.

625
00:44:43.360 --> 00:44:47.599
It's a great school. The kids
work so hard. To the intellectual part

626
00:44:47.639 --> 00:44:51.880
of my life is really important to
maintain and Stoke. And three, I

627
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:54.960
want to stay connected to that that
youngest generation coming into the workforce, to

628
00:44:55.039 --> 00:45:00.039
understand who they are, what they
want, and help bridge them with what's

629
00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:05.440
currently in the workforce, because I
do see a lot of managers exasperated with

630
00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:08.880
how do I get these youngsters to
want to come to work, to work

631
00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:12.320
at the level that I want them
to to be engaged, et cetera.

632
00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:15.599
And it's kind of going back to
our example. Before I think of well,

633
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:22.679
they're speaking Spanish and I'm speaking Russian, or yeah, exactly when we're

634
00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:29.280
speaking, you know, we're actually
speaking versus texting, right right right?

635
00:45:29.719 --> 00:45:34.320
Yeah? Yes? And where is
where I shared yesterday on my social media

636
00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:37.320
I thought was, you know,
as a parent and as somebody who works

637
00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:42.159
in this field, was very disturbing
to me that there's a new survey out

638
00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:45.760
that between two thousand and nine and
two thousand and fifteen, the number of

639
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:52.159
students visiting counseling center has increased over
thirty percent when it comes to dropping out

640
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:58.480
of colleges and because of anxiety,
depression, et cetera. Because they are

641
00:45:58.559 --> 00:46:01.719
so used to having their parents hold
their hand, the helicopter parents. Now

642
00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:06.239
they're in college, they don't have
their parents with them. They're so very

643
00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:09.079
accomplished and they get to school and
now records members of college students are seeking

644
00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:14.519
treatment and dropping out of school for
depression and anxiety, and it's causing a

645
00:46:14.760 --> 00:46:20.000
huge problem for schools obviously because they've
got so much funding and et cetera that

646
00:46:20.079 --> 00:46:23.119
they need. But we also need
this generation to be trained and ready to

647
00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:27.719
take over for us, and that's
really really important. So we need to

648
00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:32.639
set them up for success as much
as we can. Yes, and boy,

649
00:46:34.079 --> 00:46:37.280
talk about going back to you know, seeing Back in the first sement,

650
00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:39.880
we were talking about the importance of
leaders being able to see and understand

651
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:45.760
what it is that inspires or matters
to their individual employees. Boy, if

652
00:46:45.800 --> 00:46:49.400
you step back for a second and
understand that millennials are having that kind of

653
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:52.159
experience and that level of anxiety is
stepping into the workplace, I think it

654
00:46:52.239 --> 00:46:57.320
might change your context as to how
to interact with them instead of seeing them

655
00:46:57.320 --> 00:46:59.960
and as you know, what's wrong
with these people, it's oh my god,

656
00:47:00.039 --> 00:47:02.079
us, how can I help usher
them in and you know, make

657
00:47:02.119 --> 00:47:07.599
this easier for them and pull out
and draw out their best talents and contributions.

658
00:47:07.159 --> 00:47:10.920
Actually, that's the reason I just
finished writing this new book series on

659
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:15.239
millennials, because even though ties to
Textoos covers all four generations and we talk

660
00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:21.239
about collaboration, it's a collision.
Millennials are getting such a negative wrap and

661
00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:24.880
yet they are positioned as you know, the largest consumer, coming up with

662
00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:30.719
the most disposable income, as well
as in the workforce. That it's really

663
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:36.239
important we understand not only how to
manage them, but how to attract them

664
00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:39.480
and then how to motivate them so
that we are speaking the same language.

665
00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:43.280
And that means, you know,
as leaders, we need to give a

666
00:47:43.320 --> 00:47:45.320
little in the way we're used to
doing things so that we can meet them

667
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:50.840
and that's helps them learn from us
as well, and so that cross mentoring

668
00:47:50.920 --> 00:47:54.760
is is really critical. Kind A
client recently complained that one of their employees

669
00:47:54.840 --> 00:47:59.599
was outsick and called into their benefits
department and said, hey, you know,

670
00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:01.039
I didn't know that I had to
pay money and I'm here at the

671
00:48:01.079 --> 00:48:05.960
office. Can you help me at
the doctor's office. There's this thing called

672
00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:09.719
a co pay, and you know, chances are and it makes the benefits

673
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:15.920
manager really upset that this person called, well, didn't you read the explanation

674
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:19.119
of benefits, will know if you
handed it some in paper, probably not.

675
00:48:19.639 --> 00:48:22.880
And you know, you have to
realize this is probably the first time

676
00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:28.119
they have gone to a doctor's or
to get a prescription without their parents' credit

677
00:48:28.159 --> 00:48:31.400
card or on their parents' insurance.
Because once they're twenty six so they have

678
00:48:31.440 --> 00:48:36.079
their first job, they have to
be on their own benefits. And so

679
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:40.400
even if something as simple as holding
forums or doing little videos as an employer

680
00:48:40.800 --> 00:48:45.239
to help connect with them and say, hey, if you need this,

681
00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:47.440
this is how to do it,
or refer to this video and make it

682
00:48:47.519 --> 00:48:52.159
fun and interactive and really quip because
they need to know that. And if

683
00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:57.719
you make them wrong for not knowing, that takes away a whole lot of

684
00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:00.320
that bank account that you're supposed to
be building. From a trust perspective,

685
00:49:00.679 --> 00:49:05.920
instead, understand their point of view
instead of just going well, shouldn't they

686
00:49:05.920 --> 00:49:08.480
know that already? I mean jee, Or shouldn't they know to show up

687
00:49:08.480 --> 00:49:13.119
at eight o'clock instead of eight ten? Well, maybe there's some work that

688
00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:15.559
needs to be done on time management, but it comes from a place of

689
00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:22.599
being support instead of looking at them
from a negative place. Two things that

690
00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:24.239
come to mind. First, can
you share with this a little bit to

691
00:49:24.239 --> 00:49:29.880
help us understand. I've heard it
said that millennials are the largest generation in

692
00:49:29.880 --> 00:49:34.400
the workplace today. Do you know
what's the segmentation breakdown right now for the

693
00:49:34.440 --> 00:49:37.079
generations in the workplace? Do you
have that hand at the top of your

694
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:39.360
head by chance? Yeah? Yeah, Actually, I'm just finished writing a

695
00:49:39.519 --> 00:49:44.760
bolge that be four generations, and
so it was I'm looking at it's projected

696
00:49:44.800 --> 00:49:46.800
over the next two years. So
within the next two years, traditionalists will

697
00:49:46.840 --> 00:49:51.960
make up less than one percent of
the workforce, baby Boomers less than twenty

698
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:58.239
two percent, gen Xers will make
up twenty percent, and we've got approximately

699
00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:01.280
fifty percent of the workforce will be
millennials, and then Gen Z will be

700
00:50:01.280 --> 00:50:07.679
coming in the youngest generation that'll be
seven percent, and so they're going to

701
00:50:07.719 --> 00:50:10.320
be within the next two years making
up over half our work force. So

702
00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:17.000
we really only have not even enough
Baby boomers who have knowledge capital to train

703
00:50:17.159 --> 00:50:22.320
and pass on that information that's so
needed. And it's really difficult to get

704
00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:25.400
gen xers to want to work for
a company. A lot of gen xers,

705
00:50:25.440 --> 00:50:29.840
like yourself and myself, we want
to work for ourselves. Because we

706
00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:34.480
have a lot of flexibility, and
the gen xers are the smallest generation that

707
00:50:34.519 --> 00:50:38.719
can actually bridge the gaps between baby
boomers and millennials. And when I talk

708
00:50:38.760 --> 00:50:42.960
of my clients, I explain to
them, this is the time get your

709
00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:46.239
gen xers in here to make the
shift and the movement to help connect with

710
00:50:46.280 --> 00:50:51.559
millennials as your baby boomers are getting
ready to retire. Because gen xers embrace

711
00:50:51.760 --> 00:50:58.800
diversity and technology and they can speak
the millennial language as well. Great,

712
00:50:58.840 --> 00:51:01.800
so that it isn't it was coming
my mind is and you're starting to say

713
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:05.880
this already, but I want to
really bring it forthright for our listeners.

714
00:51:05.920 --> 00:51:09.199
Is I don't know too many generations
that don't often look at the one that's

715
00:51:09.239 --> 00:51:13.239
coming after them and saying, oh
my gosh, everything's going to heck and

716
00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:15.800
a handbasket, Oh my goodness,
is what's coming up next? And very

717
00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:21.360
seldom do I hear people say,
wow, you know so much promise with

718
00:51:21.400 --> 00:51:24.320
the next generation. There's always the
tendency to judge, it seems to me

719
00:51:24.400 --> 00:51:29.559
in my limited perspective, and what
I would like to really encourage, of

720
00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:32.360
course, this is a show that
really is designed to help people get some

721
00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:37.320
different tools and adopt a different mindset. Is I'd really like to encourage people

722
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:40.719
to embrace what can these other generations
do for us? Where can we find

723
00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:45.400
some not just commonalty, but synergy. And I like very much the way

724
00:51:45.440 --> 00:51:47.880
that you're talking about that, Sherry, and I know that when you do

725
00:51:47.960 --> 00:51:52.000
talk about generations, you tend to
look at what they each bring. So

726
00:51:52.119 --> 00:51:57.199
could you say a little bit about
just how might these generations really work together

727
00:51:57.920 --> 00:52:04.039
to synergize a better future for us
in the workplace. I think it's about

728
00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:07.199
honoring the differences. And I was
talking to someone the other day about a

729
00:52:07.239 --> 00:52:09.760
new speech, and I said,
I said, this is what I talk

730
00:52:09.840 --> 00:52:14.199
about, and I made this statement, it's not right, it's not wrong.

731
00:52:14.400 --> 00:52:15.639
We're just different. She goes,
Oh my gosh, that's it.

732
00:52:16.239 --> 00:52:20.440
And but it's true. It's not
right or wrong the way each other does

733
00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:24.599
things, just it's different. So
acknowledging it's different and then sharing how we

734
00:52:24.639 --> 00:52:30.480
can work together and bring those strengths
is really the way that we can collaborate

735
00:52:30.559 --> 00:52:35.239
into the future. But first it's
a matter of no more pointing fingers and

736
00:52:35.360 --> 00:52:37.880
saying, but you don't like to
have meetings and you like to have too

737
00:52:37.920 --> 00:52:42.519
many phone calls and you meet us
in our seats, hold on, how

738
00:52:42.559 --> 00:52:46.440
can we take what we all have
as strengths and bring those to the table,

739
00:52:46.840 --> 00:52:51.920
and that is our pool. That
is the magic for an organization when

740
00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:58.239
they recognize people are not their job
descriptions. People are of people and working

741
00:52:58.360 --> 00:53:01.599
from their place of strengths. The
most important thing leaders can do to make

742
00:53:01.639 --> 00:53:07.360
a collaborative, engage work environment.
So to that end, just something to

743
00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:10.800
make it even more specific for our
listeners. I did a show probably about

744
00:53:10.840 --> 00:53:15.000
almost two years ago now on reverse
mentoring, and what we talked about was

745
00:53:15.519 --> 00:53:19.800
one way to go about uniting and
synergizing the generations in the workplace is to

746
00:53:19.880 --> 00:53:24.480
bring in the younger millennials and have
them paired specifically with someone in the organization

747
00:53:24.480 --> 00:53:29.920
that's maybe more of a boomer or
even a Gen X or the millennial is

748
00:53:30.039 --> 00:53:34.360
helping that person to really adopt an
embrace technology in a way that empowers them,

749
00:53:34.960 --> 00:53:38.480
and the boomer or X or even
traditionalist is helping the millennial learn about

750
00:53:38.559 --> 00:53:44.320
strategy, learning about developing relationships,
learning about tentialing through the organization, about

751
00:53:44.360 --> 00:53:47.400
the past history of the organization,
and together they're each mentoring the other and

752
00:53:47.519 --> 00:53:52.480
everybody wins. Yeah. I'll give
a quick story to that. When I

753
00:53:52.519 --> 00:53:55.480
was doing research for Ties to Tattoos, I had the opportunity at work with

754
00:53:55.559 --> 00:53:59.840
the Dallas Mavericks and their sales force, and I thought, what are they

755
00:53:59.840 --> 00:54:04.480
call niquam Canadian? I know hockey, I don't know basketball. But it

756
00:54:04.559 --> 00:54:07.000
was actually there was more about their
sales team and what they were seeing is

757
00:54:07.400 --> 00:54:10.679
they were having such a huge turnover. They were hiring for the look in

758
00:54:10.760 --> 00:54:16.719
the education, but nobody took the
time to train millennials and to go with

759
00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:22.119
them. So when somebody got a
no and a millennial got to know,

760
00:54:22.280 --> 00:54:27.519
they're like, oh, that no
hurt their feelings. Nobody explained to them

761
00:54:27.599 --> 00:54:30.000
that the no men no I don't
want to buy your products, not no,

762
00:54:30.679 --> 00:54:36.559
I don't like you. So they
internalize that and without that ability to

763
00:54:36.599 --> 00:54:40.199
have reverse mentoring and to have somebody
who's been doing it for a long time

764
00:54:40.239 --> 00:54:46.400
share the difference, that made a
huge turnover in what their numbers look like,

765
00:54:46.599 --> 00:54:52.039
just by shadowing and explaining that one
thing. Because millennials are highly confident,

766
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:57.440
but typically not in sales, because
they take it personally, and because

767
00:54:57.440 --> 00:55:01.800
they don't like phone calls. We
are almost entirely at a time, but

768
00:55:01.880 --> 00:55:06.119
in about twenty seconds, Sherry,
what would you like to leave our listeners

769
00:55:06.159 --> 00:55:09.800
with? That was a beautiful point. All I want to say is just

770
00:55:09.880 --> 00:55:15.840
be open, follow your path,
be interested, and share who you are

771
00:55:15.960 --> 00:55:19.559
vulnerably and you're going to make a
difference in the world, especially in your

772
00:55:19.599 --> 00:55:23.360
workplace, and be a positive leader. How gorgeous is that? Thank you,

773
00:55:23.400 --> 00:55:25.800
Sherry, Thank you so much for
joining me yet again and sharing your

774
00:55:25.800 --> 00:55:30.840
passion and your talents with us.
Great to have you back. Thank you

775
00:55:30.920 --> 00:55:34.039
for having me. If you want
to learn more about Sherry Elliott Yurie and

776
00:55:34.039 --> 00:55:36.880
the work she does, or the
books that she's writing or have out there

777
00:55:36.880 --> 00:55:40.639
in the universe, go to her
website. It's generational guru dot com.

778
00:55:40.719 --> 00:55:44.480
We will see you next week for
you to another interesting, engaging conversation.

779
00:55:44.800 --> 00:55:46.320
Remember that work is at least one
third of our lives, so let's work

780
00:55:46.360 --> 00:55:57.800
on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed
this week's program. Be sure to tune

781
00:55:57.840 --> 00:56:02.440
into Working on Purpose featuring your host
Elise Cortez every Wednesday at six pm Eastern

782
00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:07.559
time three pm Pacific time on the
Voice America empowerment channel this week, find

783
00:56:07.599 --> 00:56:09.360
your life's purpose at work.

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