Praxis Speaks

Any smart business operator, from the highest corporate executive to the small business entrepreneur, understands that to be successful, one has to plan for success.  Often these plans manifest in the form of company mission statements and succinctly articulate to the public the goals and priorities of a company or organization.  It is vital to understand that a mission statement is much more than a catchy phrase; it is the collective vision of the company.  It is the reason a company exists.  Within the scope of strategic planning, heads of companies often issue directives down the command chain that will help achieve objectives and to ensure its future solvency and growth.  Unfortunately, companies often forget that it is the employees, the everyday worker on the front lines, who often determine ultimate success or failure of a company and spread the corporate culture to the customer.  Without the acceptance and adherence of company mission statements from the management down to the line staff, an organization cannot hope to achieve long term success.  Acceptance and adherence is in no small part contingent upon whether employees embrace initiatives handed down from on high or simply disregard them as yet one more ring through which they have to jump.   How these directives are conveyed to the employees can mean the difference between acceptance, disinterest, or even contempt. 

According to the latest research study from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (I4CP), less than 20% of corporations report that the majority of their employees can recite their mission statements.  In other words, the vast majority (over 80%) of employees out there in Corporate America cannot articulate their company’s mission statement.  This is obviously problematic on many fronts.  First, an employee who does not know where his or her company is heading cannot be an integral team player.  This may lead to poor performance reviews and consequently loss of employee motivation over the long term.  Consequently, even one unsatisfied or unhappy employee will generally spread his or her displeasure through both overt and subtle ways such as publically denigrating management and the company, purposefully performing less than optimal work, and at times intentionally sabotaging operations.  This behavior tends to spread through the ranks and across departmental lines.  It can become a systemic attitude that can threaten to undermine a company’s initiatives.  It’s important to understand that employee dissatisfaction does not occur overnight; rather it is a complex manifestation of multiple causal factors.  Once it is firmly implanted however, it becomes incredibly difficult to overcome.  Often, the solution takes the form of massive labor restructuring in order to bring in new and “untainted” talent, so to speak.  Obviously, this is an intensive reactive measure, incurring heavy costs both in terms of time and money.

Secondly, and more importantly, employees who don’t understand the company’s mission statement are symptomatic of a much larger problem; primarily a lack of understanding from the executive ranks of motivating associate incentives.  This condition often becomes evident far too late.   It is likely that the high levels of attrition so common today in Corporate America are in part due to a perceived disconnect between employees and management.  To use a popular phrase, “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  It can also be said that employees won’t care about learning company goals and initiatives until they understand that there is an incentive associated with knowing this information.   As studies have shown, threat of disciplinary action will have only a minimal effect in terms of increasing compliance in the short term.  Over the long term, it only serves to create an “us against them” mentality.  It is far better to find positive ways to increase compliance and interest in company objectives.  Here are some of the easiest:

1.       Involve employees in decisions.  Without a doubt, one of the most common complaints I’ve experienced as a manager and as a trainer of other managers is that employees often feel unheard.  Face it; no one likes to think of themselves as an automaton, merely plodding along day in and day out with no clear sense of direction.  We all want to have some basic sense that we are to some degree in control of our work environment.  This can be achieved as easily as keeping employees abreast of important information BEFORE it becomes mandated.  Hold focus groups, informal meetings, and discussion boards to give employees a sense of input about the direction of the company.  Besides, don’t you want to know how a new initiative will be embraced?  Often the front line employees know customer preferences best and can give valuable input as to the viability of a new company mandate or policy.

2.      Focus on rewards as opposed to punishments.  As mentioned earlier, negative consequences will only ensure that employees aren’t caught acting in counterproductive ways.  It’s incredibly easy for an employee to go into a status quo mode of working whereby they escape the immediate notice of management, often engaging in passive-aggressive methods of disrupting operations.  Obviously, this does little to promote the company’s objectives.  Consider adopting an incentive or rewards program to increase productive behavior.  An employee who is rewarded rather than punished is much more likely to show an interest in company goals and may seek to become an advocate for these goals to the customers and other employees.  Your front line employees are your best source of word of mouth marketing!

3.       Develop your talent.  What better way to increase knowledge of the company mission statement and objectives throughout the ranks than to promote exceptional people up the chain?  In this way, the communication flow becomes multi-directional; from the top down as well as from the bottom up.  They can “infect” the culture in a truly positive way.  Consider this scenario: a line employee who shows the ability and desire to embrace his or her company’s culture is promoted, over time, to the ranks of Vice-President, COO, CEO, President, etc. Over the 15 years or so that it took to accomplish this, he or she has vehemently spread the company mission statement and culture to multiple employees and managers up the chain.  Think of the weight that carries to other employees.   Promote your good people internally before looking outside the company.  There is plenty of raw talent just waiting to be developed.

Brooks Barton

Review these tips to keep your resume or CV from winding up in the trash:

1.        Keep the length down to 2-3 pages.  Though I will say this, as a professional career coach I often tell my clients that it is the first page of a resume that counts.  IF you can catch their attention on the first page, they may very well read a longer resume.  The main idea is to keep the resume or CV succinct and above all pertinent to the job to which you’re applying.  That being said…

2.       Keep it visually appealing.  Keep your fonts consistent and at least at 12 point fonts.  Don’t play around with this too much.  Times New Roman or Arial.  Keep tables and charts to a minimum on the resume.  The idea is to think of your resume as a collective work of art, that when viewed from a distance looks smooth and polished.  A trick I tell my clients to use it to view it in the “Print Preview” section of Word to see it as others will see it.  Does it look fluid or choppy?

3.       Hybrids for higher level pro’s. In terms of style, I’d recommend what’s known as a hybrid CV, a cross between a functional and chronological (Google this if you’ve never heard of it) for those who have impressive academic and career credentials.  Graduate degrees such as MBAs, MDs, PhDs, JDs, etc stand out.  If you’ve been in the job force for more than 10 years, consider yourself a fairly seasoned professional.  Try to dedicate your first page to education, transferrable competencies, licenses/certs/, and additional skills.  The remaining pages should focus on your job progression.

4.       What can you do for me? Consider turning the classic “Profile” section into a “Transferrable Competencies” section to show employers what you can bring from one company to the next.  I’ve found that it helps to spell things out as simplistically as possible. 

5.       Take off any personal information that does not pertain to the job.  A professional executive should have way more than a CV and cover letter.  You should have additional pieces such as a Benchmarks Summary, Resu-Letters, Supplemental Pieces, Individualized Competencies, projects/presentations, etc.  By having a portfolio of different specialized pieces, you can shorten your CV down to a respectable 2-3 pages of raw, impressive information.  Plus, you can gradually WOW your prospects throughout the interview process rather than simply dumping everything in their laps at once. 

6.       No cookie cutters please! Always individualize your CV to some extent based on the job to which you are applying.  No cookie cutters at the higher levels.

7.       Focus on features vs. benefits.  Employers want to see more in the way of measurable stats including percentages.  These really jump out at employers.  Mix a healthy dose of both qualitative and quantitative information.

8.       Lastly, have two sections under each job position: “Major Responsibilities” should list your functions and “Major Accomplishments” should list your benefits what you did to make a company better.  Most important, they need to understand how you can do the same for them.

                                                                                                                                       Brooks Barton

I was facilitating a mediation session the other day for employees of a small non-profit organization.  One of the participants, an engaging woman, was obviously unhappy with her manager and the President of the Board of Directors.  Dissatisfaction on many levels is obviously not uncommon within mediation, but it became apparent that her issues were multi-faceted and fairly incongruent with one another.  Many of her complaints stemmed from lack of respect, no input within the organization, and feeling unappreciated.  Again, there was nothing unusual with those types of issues.  However, it occurred to me that mediators often take on the responsibility of trying to add meaning to fairly intangible concepts such as “I feel unappreciated.”  As mediators, it is not our job to assign meaning, but rather to ascertain meaning by asking probing questions of the participants.  Often people come to mediation without a clear understanding of what exactly is needed or wanted to make a resolution possible.  Often, people merely need to engage in catharsis.  This is acceptable, even desirable to some degree, but the problem occurs when we as mediators prematurely decide what vague language means.  We cannot work with concepts or feelings per se, though this is a starting point.  Emotions are the starting point to eventual understanding and clarification, but a mediator must act only as a guide or catalyst, never as an active participant.  As a participant, you must decide what your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) entails.  In other words, what is your bottom line and what will your response be if you don’t get it?  Only you can decide this but remember, you must ultimately decide on things that are concrete and are workable within the scope of the mediation.  In other words, instead of saying, “I feel unappreciated”, think about things that you would like to see happen within the mediation that will help resolve this particular feeling.  For example, maybe you need more regular face time with your manager or maybe you need to be paid compliments on a more regular basis.  Only you as the participant can decide what it will take for you to feel satisfied.     -Brooks Barton

So you have decided to start looking for a new job.  Maybe you’re getting laid off or maybe you’re just tired of your boss.  Whatever the case, you need to take into consideration some important facts:

1.        Realize it’s quite a job in itself to find a new job.  Generally, people take for granted the amount of work required to land a new position.  The days of posting your resume on job boards and actually getting some hits are long gone.  In case you haven’t heard, we’re in a major recession and everyone and their brother are competing for the same jobs these days.  You need to be prepared for a protracted “career searching campaign” with innovative job seeking methods. 

2.       Don’t quit your day job!  Or your night job, part-time job, or any other job for that matter that has a steady pay check rolling in.  Since you’re likely to be looking for six months or longer, (yeah, that’s no joke) you will definitely want to hang on to your current job until you are certain something else is ready and waiting. 

3.       Misrepresent yourself at your own peril.  Employers are savvy these days and they will most definitely check your credentials including employment history, criminal background checks, and often credit and drug screens.  I can attest to this fact personally having caught plenty of applicants who clearly took major liberties with the truth.  Sure, you might land a job based on false information, but when your company finds out (and they always do) it’s going to be pretty embarrassing to be led out by security.  Worse, the company could press charges for fraud.  There are certain ways to exaggerate your skills and background without blatantly lying.  Believe me; the best jobs go to those who know how to skillfully tread this line.

4.       Be always mindful of the “big four.”  When seeking that ideal career, you have to practice due diligence to MINN.  First, your marketing materials must be top notch.  This includes your resume, cover letter, and any other piece or written material that a prospective employer may see.  What?  You only have a resume and cover letter?  Consider developing other pieces such as a benchmarks summary, resume supplement, or resu-letter.  Next, how are your interviewing skills?  Do you know the right questions to ask?  Do you know the one thing you never tell during a job interview?  Third, are you skilled at negotiations?  Are you comfortable asking for what you’re worth?  Do you even know what you’re worth?  Consider giving this some thought.  Finally, what does your network look like?  Does the extent of people in your network include your grandmother and that guy who sold you your car?  Are you terrified at the notion of calling people you know for information about potential job openings?  In this world, you must have a solid web of people who you can call on.  Vital statistic:  Only 4%-5% of jobs are secured through postings on job boards and traditional application methods through the HR department. 

5.       Adopt a “sales” mentality when it comes to finding a job.  Remember, you’re selling your most valuable asset, yourself!  You must become adept at marketing your skills to prospective employers in such a way that they won’t be able to resist hiring you.  Perhaps you’ve heard of the old saying in sales, “Features tell and benefits sell.”  Corny though it may sound, you must make your prospective employers understand the value of what you bring to the table.  Stop telling them what you have done in the past.  Nobody cares.  Let them see what you will do for them and why they should care.  Spell it out for them.  Instead of simply using semantic phraseology, always throw in some statistical facts whenever possible.  For example, instead of saying, “Designed state of the art database system for all healthcare contracts”, say, “Through the design of a state of the art database system, ROI was increased by 35% over a six month period on all healthcare contracts for current company.  Based on preliminary research on ABC Company, this would yield similar if not higher results.”  You might even want to have a separate area on your resume for “potential benefits” to the company to which you are applying.  Yep, you guessed it; this means individualizing your resume for each company.  The days of the “cookie-cutter” resume are gone.  Nowadays, we have a new term for that type of resume; it’s called the “tombstone” resume.  Interpret that as you wish.

6.        Consider hiring an expert.  Professional job coaches are skilled at increasing your visibility as well as decreasing the time it takes to secure a position, often by as much as 50%.  Frequently, they work on a commission basis and sometimes they merely charge a flat fee.  But one thing is certain; they can be worth their weight in gold when it comes to training professionals on how to maximize their perceived value to potential employers.  They are can develop marketing material for you, role play and give you feed back on your interviewing skills, show you how to manage your appearance, give you best practices on networking and negotiating, as well as numerous other topics.  They often offer a free initial consultation to determine your specific needs and a good career coach will do a lot more listening in the beginning than talking to make sure they hear you loud and clear.   – Brooks Barton

Do you remember the last time you got into an argument with someone? Chances are you do because typically when we disagree with someone it tends to stick with us because of one simple reason alone: the other person was acting irrationally, right?  Have you ever walked away from an argument with one of your peers or friends thinking, “How can he possibly think that way or hold that opinion?”  One prominent psychologist has studied this very concept and formulated a theory that describes how and why people develop the opinions that they do.  Chris Argyris of Harvard University developed what he calls “The Ladder of Inference” which essentially attempts conceptualize the pattern of human beings’ thoughts and actions.  It consists of seven “rungs” which become progressively more subjective as one is exposed to more and more experiences over time.  We naturally filter out things in the “real” world that do not reinforce our assumptions and beliefs about the nature of our world.  At the top of the ladder are our actions which are solely a result of our a posteriori knowledge which, of course, has been continuously filtered over the years.  The result is what we know as opinions and are often a cause of conflict in our relationships.  The point then is that we can do little to shape the opinions of others in the context of deeply held beliefs, but we can understand why other people may hold different viewpoints than us.  More importantly, we can develop a sense of self-awareness about our own dogmatic views of the world and embrace them. At the same time we can open ourselves to the notion that our own perceptions as well as the perceptions of others are more of a subconscious reaction to the stimuli around us and not a personal attack on character.–Brooks Barton

How do you manage conflict?  Do you compromise, avoid, or compete?  For most of us, that’s a difficult question because we really don’t stop to think about it that often.  When we do, it’s usually because we’ve just gotten out of a therapist’s office or we’ve had the ultimate blowout with our spouse or partner.  But it’s practical and beneficial to understand your conflict style in a manner that will not only preserve your current relationships better, but also allow you to see how and why certain patterns emerge within those relationships.  There are many personality inventories available for public use that will give you insight into how you handle conflict, but one that is very easy to administer and score is available at www.webhome.idirect.com/~kehamilt/ipsyconstyle.html.  It is important to understand that there are no “good or bad” ways of dealing with conflict.  Each has its merits depending on the situation.  Let’s look at the five categories in more depth to see what they mean and how they may affect the outcome of a mediation or ADR session:

Competing–Also known as contending, this style means that you are more likely to impose your solution on the other party.  People who compete are not necessarily interested in finding a win/win outcome. 

Collaborating–Also known as problem solving, this method is most likely to yield a win/win outcome if the other side adopts this stance as well.  This simply means that each side is willing to give a litte in order to find a mutualy satisfactory solution.  This is most beneficial for parties who will need to carry on a relationship at some level in the future.

Avoiding–People who avoid are most likely to “bury their heads in the sand” and hope the conflict merely goes away.  Because of this, you may find it difficult to get someone who adopts this style to actively engage during a mediation or ADR session.

Accomodating–When someone chooses to accomodate or “yield” they are essentially lowering their expectations and/or goals within the context of the conflict.  This may likely occur because of frustration, passivity, or simply a strong desire to get through the conflict.  The difference between accommodating and collaborating is the fact that this style is one sided whereas in a traditional collaboration both parties tend to lower their expectations to some degree in order to resolve the conflict. 

Compromising–This style of handling conflict is very similar to collaboration in that certain concessions are likely to be made for the sake of resolving the conflict.  The main difference here is the fact that in order for someone “give up” something, they require the addition of something in order to balance the scales.  In a compromise the individual seeks a position where losses are offset equally by gains.

As mentioned, there are no “right or wrong” ways of dealing with conflict.  Keep in mind however, that each style is likely to ellicit a specific response from the other party in conflict.  In terms of finding a win/win solution, compromising and collaborating tend to work the best.  Plus it has the added benefit of maximizing the chance that the relationship will have some level of sustainability in the future.  This is especially important in divorce cases where children are involved.  Always enter a mediation or ADR session by asking yourself what your ultimate goal is and whether you’re going for the right reasons.  Ultimately, mediation is about finding win/win outcomes unlike litigation where an adversarial environment is not uncommon.–Brooks Barton

Recently, I was part of a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Association for Conflict Resolution. The moderator asked someone on the panel the question “do you apply dispute resolution techniques in your personal life?” Good question, I thought, because whatever knowledge you gain in any phase of your life contributes to your general knowledge base. You just have to apply it. The skills you learn as a Dispute Resolution professional or in conflict management training will potentially affect every part of your life. One of the basic concepts is that conflict is not necessarily negative. It can bring issues to the table, clear the air, and if approached positively, can lead to more understanding and compassion toward another’s point of view. When you understand that people often have hidden agendas, you can try to read between the lines of a conversation to understand the other person’s real motivation, which may not be apparent in their words or actions. The ability to determine your own and another person’s conflict style—whether you’re talking to your mother, your spouse or partner, your child, a worker, your manager, a member of your congregation, or the clerk at the grocery store—can facilitate a better understanding of the situation. These skills can bring an authenticity and meaning to all of your interactions, and make your relationships more fulfilling. It’s not always easy to apply what you’ve learned and to put these techniques into practice—but since life is full of conflict; you’ll get lots of opportunities to perfect your skills. Understanding the framework of conflict can help you put it into perspective and feel more control and balanced in every phase of your life.–Donna Roberson

Every company is different in terms of culture, directives, and employee and customer programs.  We want to hear about your specific experiences in the workplace.  Post a story about a specific challenge your company faced and how it was handled.  We are especially interested in communication barriers either internally between associates or externally with customers.  Below are some questions to help get you started. 

1.  From your perspective, what do you feel are your company’s greatest challenges at this time in terms of customer service and loyalty?  Please be as specific as possible.

2.  How are these challenges currently being met?

3.  What is the cause of this current challenge?

4.   What do feel is a solution to this challenge?

5.  How much of a priority to the decision makers of your company do you believe it is to correct this problem on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the greatest)?

6.  If you could choose one area of your company to change immediately, what would that be and why?

7.  If you could have any training program implemented that you wanted for your management and line staff (both back of the house and front of the house), what would the name of that program be?

            I take a lot of pride in the fact that I’m a very forgiving person. To me, this is not a weakness, as it is sometimes seen in our society, but a strength. Forgiving doesn’t mean condoning the act. The members of your family of origin can have a lot of their own issues that they bring to the structure, and this can make for a very contentious environment growing up (and on). But if you don’t deal with the issues from your family of origin in particular, that baggage stays with you throughout your entire life. The pain from the hurt that your parents and family of origin might inflict on you can stay with you, even when you think you’ve dealt with it.

Wilmot says that “understanding a person’s goals, reaffirming the value of the relationship, granting another person a face-saving opportunity, or participating in a fair and open process sometimes bears no fruit.”

Sometimes you can’t agree on the nature of the violation, and that’s okay—especially if you know that it won’t happen again. The dynamics change once there’s a balance of power, such as when a child grows up and a parent may not have the same amount of power in the relationship. Pruitt says that steps with reconciliation begin with facts about the past. I believe this is true, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can share those facts with the other party. It might destroy the other party if you held the mirror up and they weren’t ready to look into it.

Many years ago, I began to understand that forgiveness is one of the most important skills I could develop. Also, my spiritual views of the world include a strong belief that everyone is on his or her own path, and that every experience that we have is leading us toward soul growth. I began to see my childhood and other time periods in my life as experiences that made me who I am. If you have a very high self-esteem, you feel more comfortable in your own skin, and therefore more comfortable in accepting other people in their own skin. You can’t change other people, but you can change the way you react to them. This may sound cliche and trite, but there is some wisdom in that old saying. Changing your reaction can help you move beyond feeling like a victim, and more like a person who is in control. Sometimes you need to forgive, selfishly, for your own piece of mind.

            Sometimes it helps to write down your feelings in a journal as a method of really clarifying your thoughts. You can also write the other party a letter that you know you’ll never mail. This can be cathartic and allow you to analyze the issues. This can help you move beyond the injured innocence, a desire for revenge or punishment, obsession, and into the transcendence stage. This doesn’t mean that issues will never surface about that situation or other party again, but it can give you the tools and objectivity to analyze, understand, and confirm your feelings about forgiveness and how to apply them to your life.

            There’s a popular saying to “forgive and forget.” I think it’s healthier to forgive and not to forget. This doesn’t mean to obsess or not to move on. This means you are in a strong enough place and there’s a balance of power that will not allow the other party to injure you in the same way, but by embracing the lessons learned from that situation, you have become a stronger and more complete person. According to Wilmot, joining forgiveness and forgetfulness minimizes the experience of one who has trusted deeply and been betrayed.

The process of forgiveness can lead you on a tremendous journey of self-discovery. It can help you develop a philosophy about the world and your place in it. It can give you a sense of empathy and understanding and compassion for other human beings, and to realize that we’re all on our own paths but are heading in the same direction. Forgiveness possesses an intangible power that is not fully comprehensible in a rational way. –DR