Social Media: Learning From Slime Mold

Much of the buzz about social media has been about how to utilize it for marketing.  As you might expect, there a lot of spaghetti getting thrown on the walls as people try to determine what works. For some good guidance on the subject, check out http://customersrock.net or www.thesocialgathering.net.   The numbers are astounding.  If you haven’t seen it, check out this YouTube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Convinced?

But these numbers aren’t getting generated because everyone thinks this is such a great marketing vehicle.  This is happening because of social media’s innate power to connect us to each other in ways not even imagined two decades ago.

We are interested in social media not because it offers a way to accomplish marketing goals, but because it offers organizations a way to evolve to their true nature.  One of the main points in our book is that organizations should not be thought of as machines, but as living, evolving complex adaptive systems.   Just like slime mold!  Like beehives and ant hills, slime mold offers some great lessons about adaptive systems.

One of the characteristics of healthy complex adaptive systems is that there is a seamless flow of information and immediate feedback between the individual cells, or modules.  While traditional organization structures served to stifle the flow of information, social media offers organizations a way to let the information flow uninhibited between parties.

While there are horror stories of viral communications spiraling out of control, the connections are happening whether you like it or not – you can’t control it.  However, you can embrace the potential.  Enabling your people to connect without filters and restrictions frees the organization.  If you have good people, they will do the right thing.

Learn from slime mold – let them connect.

Scott

Not Your Parent's Retirement

OK – the recession is officially over. Glad that’s past us.   So why such high unemployment?   One reason is that the earnings that have partially restored the stock values have been based on cost cutting, furloughed employees, and aggressive financial restructuring.  Maybe the bleeding has stopped, but we don’t have lift-off yet.  Based on the stubborn reluctance of the financial industry to reinvest in their customers and businesses to shed the fiscal conservatism that saved their skins, this recovery may be a long slow ride. 

The impact on those Boomers facing retirement will be profound.  We know that the financial crisis took a bite out of retirement savings.  While some losses have been recouped, this was still a generation with the lowest savings rate in history.  In short, a great many people were really unprepared for retirement and will have to work longer than planned.

The good news is that the economy will need them.  Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a shortage of prime aged workers (25 to 54 years), companies will have to find ways to retain these workers.  For some companies, the impact will be profound.  It is estimated that 65% of Boeing’s workers are eligible for retirement in five years!

The options to keep aging Boomers productively engaged will be many.  The migration to free-agency, the reduced need to be physically present, the outsourcing of rote labor, and the adoption of technology will create a much more flexible and capable senior workforce.

One of the main strategies for reducing cost has been to offer packages to the higher cost, senior workers.  It worked!  Unfortunately, many businesses may soon have to turn around and figure out ways to keep the ones they will need to grow the business when the market finally turns.

Scott

The Deep Roots of “Control”

In my last blog post I talked about how much opportunity there is in shifting from a desire to control our surroundings, to instead view chaos as a reality to embrace. While the dynamics of chaos can feel confusing and sometimes frustrating, it brings with it great energy. It's also a real hothouse for innovation.

I was recently reminded of both how pervasive our view of creating a logical, orderly world is, as well as the opportunities that can emerge if we can just let go and love the chaos. The New York Times science section had an article that described some forms of cancer that broke with the normal pattern (and expectation) of "linear growth." Apparently, researchers had tracked a variety of tumors which shrank or disappeared on their own, defying the medical belief that cancer has a natural, continuous progression of negative mutations. As they puzzled to understand this finding, they ultimately concluded that their underlying thinking was flawed. Cancer isn't linear, it's a dynamic process. Its growth isn't simply a function of the immediate cells that surround it, but rather is a result of interactions with the entire human body, setting the stage for unexpected and sometimes positive changes.

The critical implication is that rather than treat cancer as an isolated entity that can be controlled through surgery or chemotherapy, it needs to be healed in context of the entire system. Scientists need to study more deeply how cancers interact with the immune and endocrine systems, among others, and then devise holistic treatments. And other variables, such as nutrition, stress and exercise may also play far greater roles than medicine typically considers, as just one resulting example.

So the medical profession, like business, is starting to understand that thinking in terms of linear processes may not be the only way to view the world. And by actively considering the reality—and the value—of the chaos around us, we may uncover exciting new ways to solve difficult problems and make powerful changes in our lives.

Jennifer

It’s Time to Love the Chaos

Left-brained, linear thinking is pervasive in our culture. Many of today's professions, including business, law and all the sciences, are based on a foundation of knowledge creation through data collection and analysis. With the right amount of information and careful thought, every problem can be solved and every task can be organized into an orderly process. We can smooth out the chaos and create control.

But as our world becomes increasingly complex, we're finding our ability to tame the chaos has its limits. Our processes start to fail so we add more steps, but then they become too cumbersome to manage. Our data seems insufficient so we collect more, but its volume overwhelms us. We build in quality checks and balances, but before long we have a bloated bureaucracy. How, then, do we get our arms around the craziness and create the order that we desire?

The answer is: you don't. The new game in town, especially in business, is to let go of control, let go of the chain of command, let go of step-by-step thinking and instead embrace all the energy and insight that chaos has to offer. We live in a complex world, and by designing systems that leverage, rather than fight the chaos, we create flourishing enterprises that bring out the best in our business. And even better, it brings out the best in our people.

Does this mean we abandon our systems and let things go wild? Not at all. But instead of making processes the center of our business and expect people to adapt, we need to make our people the heart of our business, and offer resources and tools that uniquely suit them. We need to trust in the intelligence and ability of our people. Only then can we expect to work our way through the tough problems that we're all facing in today's environment.

So instead of thinking about how to get rid of the chaos that occurs in a dynamic business environment, we need to see it as a positive reality, something to embrace and draw energy from.

It's time to love the chaos!

Jennifer

You've Done Gallup.....Now What?

When we ask if a company is investing in engagement, we often hear,  “Oh, yeah, we have Gallup.”  Even I have relied on Gallup as a measure of my team’s level of engagement.   Unfortunately, many executives believe that using Gallup will solve all of their engagement problems when in fact, doing a Gallup survey is just the first step.

Gallup determines the level of engagement of your people by asking 12 basic questions they’ve honed by surveying millions of employees.  Make no mistake, Gallup knows how to do research.   It is no coincidence that the world relies on Gallup to learn about everything from Swine Flu to Sarah Palin.   Engagement is just one of many research products Gallup offers.

Unfortunately, the Gallup questions are really designed to assess the level of engagement but are only partially useful in helping you focus on what you need to do to make improvements.  While “having a best friend at work” may be a great indicator of your level of engagement, what’s a manager supposed to do with that?

Another limitation is that the issues are usually reported at the manager level, so that’s where improvement initiatives are typically generated.  That is fine as long as that is where the problems exist.  The risk is that the process to address more systemic issues can devolve into multiple, fragmented and disassociated initiatives.  If the problems are more structural, there may be no mechanism for escalating the problem, or if there is, top executives may not have a true understanding of the root cause issues.

What this means is that while Gallup can represent a good start to addressing engagement, believing that it provides a “comprehensive solution” to systemic issues will leave both management and employees disappointed.

Scott

Everyone Gets A Trophy

It is human to complain about the younger generation.   The current sound bite about the Millennials (Gen Y) is that we have so coddled them and programmed their pre-adult existence, that they have developed very unrealistic expectations about how hard life can be, how long it takes to develop deep expertise, and how we all need to deal with unpleasant people and situations at work.  The fear is we have raised a generation of dilettantes, incapable of toughing it out or working through difficult issues.

While there may be some truth to the claims about Millennials, expecting them to grow-up, tow-the-line, shape up, and get with the program is silly.  Like it or not, these kids are products of the world we created.  They expect challenge and growth opportunities in their work.  They want to save the world.  And they have a very clear perspective about how well traditional companies treat their workforce when faced with the prospect of not making this quarter’s earnings projection.  Many truly believe they are on their own – responsible for their own development, financial security, and career path. 

While dangerous to make broad generalizations, my experience is that they are just as smart, hard working, creative, and dedicated as their elders.  When given the chance, they will work their tails off for something they believe in.  They just happen to be much more skeptical about traditional business.  Do you blame them?

So rather than ignore the critical issues which truly define this generation or hope that they will become more like Boomers as they age, we should all embrace the energy and passion that this generation offers.  A company that demonstrates that it truly has their interests at heart, will be rewarded with a highly committed and engaged workforce.


Scott

“Top Workplaces” in a Tough Economy – Part 3

I'm back again with one more post on the Detroit Free Press "Top Workplaces" report. (Scott was nice enough to let me "hog the blog," but he'll be offering up some new insight next time.)

As previously shared, this particular study used an employee survey to identify the region's top workplaces. Participants not only rated their organizations on a variety of factors, but they also rated these factors in terms of importance. This prompted me to wonder…which questions were important to the employees, and which they also indicated that their organizations performed positively? As I scanned the lists, I found one clear winner.

Third on the list of importance was: "This organization operates by strong values and ethics." And this same question was number two on the list that demonstrated how well their organizations performed. Values and ethics therefore appear to be a sweet spot; employees consider this a critical expectation in the companies they're a part of, and the best businesses act in ways that convey true integrity.

An organization's values are less about talk and more about visible action, and this past year was "Exhibit A" in demonstrable values. Every business had to make very difficult decisions, decisions that had a profound impact on their people. Some used blunt force, using a ragged bottom line to defend layoffs, salary reductions and increased workloads. Others took a different approach, and were both business-like but empathetic, still making some of the same decisions but finding ways to do so with care and concern.

One interesting example was a law firm that offered one-year sabbaticals to many of their attorneys. They gave them a modest salary, continued to pay benefits, and in return asked that they use the time to develop their capabilities in some way. As a consequence, the firm was able to reduce their payroll, retain talented employees and offer them a chance to recharge and grow. Everyone was happy with the solution, and when the economy warms back up, they'll be in a position to take full advantage.

If you're interested in checking out this study, go to http://www.freep.com/ and click on "Best Workplaces in Detroit" on the front page.

"Top Workplaces" in a Tough Economy – Part 2

In my last post, I introduced a study conducted by the Detroit Free Press which identified the "Top Workplaces" in Detroit. They used a proprietary survey which asked employees about a variety of workplace factors, as well as their relative importance. It was the importance questions that really caught my eye, since they provide some insight concerning what employees are looking for from the companies they work for. So what did they have to say? Today I'll share the top two.

The number one, most important workplace factor was "I believe this organization is going in the right direction." This statement seems to speak to the trust employees place in their organization's ability to weather the economic storm, as well as the hope they place in their collective future. A truly great company is therefore one that can take the hard blows we've all endured, yet leave everyone believing that the future is still bright.

The number two spot had a question that was just as powerful and just as interesting. With only a one percentage point of difference, the second most important factor was "I feel genuinely appreciated at this organization." This is another way of saying, "my presence and my contribution matter." When you're just a face in the crowd, it's easy to feel disengaged. But when the people you work with—whether it's your manager, your peers or your customers—let you know that you provide them with real value, then it becomes easy to come to work every day. And the top workplaces are designed and managed in ways that allow everyone to make a difference.

Next time I'll do one more post on this study by sharing the third most important question, and as with the other two I've shared, it's a real building block for any enterprise that wants to thrive in today's complex world.

Jennifer

“Top Workplaces” in a Tough Economy – Part 1

I was commenting to Scott that all my blog posts start with research, but as a confessed "junkie," I find that research is a great source for shaping new ideas, as well as a way to catch a glimpse of what's emerging on the horizon. So imagine my delight when I opened the Sunday paper and found an entire section devoted to the "Top Workplaces" in Detroit! And there was so much in the coverage that I'll share it over several short posts.

My first observation is to say that Yes, there are still great places to work in Detroit, despite the difficult economic environment. In fact, 32,000 employees participated in the Detroit Free Press sponsored survey, which was used to select the best companies from each of three size categories (Large/500 or more employees; Medium/150 – 499; Small/up to 149).

The survey itself consisted of 20+ questions that looked at how employees feel about various workplace factors, such as their trust with leadership and opportunities for personal development. In addition, they were also asked to rate each question in terms of their importance.

Between the two lists, there were plenty of interesting insights, beginning with how the questions related to compensation and benefits stacked up. There was one question which asked whether the pay was fair, and another which asked whether the benefits were competitive for the industry. Typically, these types of questions get "negative" responses—most of us think we're worth more than our salary suggests. So I wasn't surprised to see these two questions in the bottom third.

I was surprised, though, where these two rated in terms of importance. In similar surveys, a key insight is that compensation is never the most critical, and that was true in this case. But in this economy, I thought they might at least be in the top quartile. However, I was wrong. They were dead last. So even when times are tough, the best places to work keep their employees by offering much more than a decent salary and benefits. And in coming posts, I'll pass along some info on what this talented group of employees value the most.

Jennifer

Turtle Thinking

I think some feel the signs of recovery are a little like Mark Twain’s quote, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” in that “rumors of the recovery have been greatly exaggerated.” It has been weird – lots of positive earnings reports, the market breaking 10,000, but consumer confidence falling. This may be because for the average person, it is still rough and scary out there.

But in the past couple weeks, I have been struck by a couple items which point to a deeper issue. The first was a letter to the editor of T&D, a magazine published by the American Society of Training & Development. The writer was basically disputing the trend data predicting a labor shortage due to retiring Boomers, mainly because all he could see day-to-day was people hanging on to their jobs for dear life. The second was a friend, the President of one of our partner companies, who said that most of his clients said they were planning on spending at the same level in 2010 as in 2009. Really? Your plan in a growth market is to spend as little as you did during the deepest recession in 60 years?! Hmmm…..

I am reminded of the 2005 Cornell University Study by Garrick Blalock, Vrinda Kadiya and Daniel H Simon that found that in the first 12 months after 9/11, anxiety about flying led to an increase in highway travel, and as a result, an estimated 1,250 adults died in traffic fatalities who otherwise wouldn’t have. The point is that when we are afraid, we lose our judgment – in this case, people opting for a less-safe mode of transportation.

I fear that we have been so affected (and programmed) by the 24 hour news cycle and the relentless reports of financial disaster, that many executives don’t see the recovery as it is beginning to happen. Those in the grip of fear will continue to make poor decisions, like opting to drive versus fly…..or failing to invest in your best people at a time you will need them the most.

Scott

What Older and Younger Workers Have in Common

Much has been written about the "generation gap," and its presence is as powerful in the workplace as it is in popular culture. Younger workers have no expectations of a "cradle to grave" work experience, and as such are actively seeking out organizations that will provide offer more than a paycheck.

But as different as the various generations may be, a new study from the Pew Research Center demonstrates that when it comes to the reason they work, there is actually one expectation that older and younger workers have in common, and it's an important one. This particular research explored why people work, and older and younger workers were asked to respond to eight different reasons. Only one from the list elicited a significant response from both groups: it was the desire 'to feel like a useful and productive person'. Across the board, workers of all ages want a job in which they can make a real difference.

It's also worth noting that this study was just completed, and reflects current attitudes. So while businesses are looking at the world through a very pragmatic, bottom line lens, their employees are still seeking something larger and more significant from their work. What an opportunity for businesses that can get past their own anxieties and lead in ways that allows the talent in their organizations to flourish and contribute in meaningful ways.

Jennifer

The Economics of Engagement

In our discussions with leaders and partners, everyone asks about the economics. Since we started this adventure, we have wanted to create a “Calculator” which can measure the impact of greater engagement and retention. In searching online, I didn’t find any other calculators which were very interesting, but I did find a wealth of great research which supports the premise that investing in engagement is not only good for the lives of the individuals, but it is really good for the wallet!

I found four separate arguments, all supported by strong research, which are very compelling:

Engagement: The Center for Talent Solutions has determined that, on average, highly engaged workers are 22% more productive than normally engaged workers, 63% more productive that workers with low engagement, and almost 2.5 times as productive as actively disengaged worked. Further, Towers Perrin and Gallup have both determined that, on average, about 22-29% of workers are considered engaged, while at the other end of the spectrum, between 11-17% are actively disengaged. As productivity can translate directly into EBITDA, lower costs, or sales leverage, the simple goal is to create more highly engaged employees, thereby shifting the mix.

Retention: As you might expect, there are a number of explicit and implicit costs to losing people you don’t want to lose. First of all, productivity drops when someone decides to leave. You may pay some form of severance depending on how the exit is handled. You may have to pay more during the vacancy in over-time or contractor fees to get the work done. You will incur recruiting, hiring, and possible search expense to get a new resource. You may pay signing bonuses or incentives. You will face lower productivity while the new person comes up the learning curve, and you may incur additional training expense for the new employee. Then you might need to pay more for the new person and that person may end up being less productive than the old employee.

Employee Life Time Value (ELTV): This is a measure, much like Customer Life Time Value which is useful to assess whether investments in the employee are worth it: e.g. do the expenses designed to improve engagement and retention pay off over time. While engagement and retention are typically measured during a year, this allows you to see what impact investments have over a longer period.

Business Performance: Finally, there is study after study linking levels of engagement to basic business performance metrics like EPS and sales growth, operating measures and customer satisfaction. While these vary by industry, the companies on the '100 Best Places To Work' routinely out-perform their counterparts on most of the crucial financial dimensions.

Of course, each of these is related, but the fun part is that they can all be measured and tracked. This is not touchy-feely stuff – we are talking about raw productivity,as in people producing more output for the same amount of money. It's bottom-line stuff!

Well, you know me. Raging geek. You can take the boy out of the spreadsheet, but…… I got very excited. I immediately built an economic model that can show you the impact of these issues within your own organization. We are in the process of making it pretty, but we should be able to let our clients play with all the critical assumptions so they can determine what the potential impact of improving engagement is in their organization. We want them to be conservative and be able to play with different scenarios so they can find the right course of action. We’ll keep you posted.

Finally, last week was a big week for Dragonfly ORG. Our book, Enlightenment, Incorporated, Creating Companies Our Kids Would Be Proud To Work For was released on Amazon.com and a few other online stores. Very cool! We are happy with how it turned out and hope you enjoy it. If you want to order a number of copies, please contact us as we can get discounts for higher volume.

Scott

Making Empowerment More Powerful

Although the concept of “employee empowerment” has been around since the 1970’s, there is still much to be learned about how leaders can create an empowering culture, as well as identify ways the organization can benefit. And some new thinking on the subject just emerged from a group of researchers at the University of Georgia. They recently completed a comprehensive study of empowerment that not only demonstrates the extensive value to be gained, but teases out some interesting insight on how to deeply engrain empowerment into your culture.

The first thing the team did was build a rich definition of what we mean by the word “empowerment.” We often think about it in context of giving employees increased authority to make decisions as part of their work, and this is certainly true. But they also noted that empowered employees are independently proactive and believe that their work makes a difference. Essentially, these employees recognize that they are accountable for the viability of the business, and feel an obligation to act in ways that honor this responsibility. These talented individuals believe that the vision of the organization can’t be achieved without them.

Next, the researchers looked at whether an organization benefits when they build a culture that encourages empowerment, and as past research has demonstrated, the answer was a clear “Yes.” Empowered employees have greater job satisfaction, feel a stronger commitment to the company, and perform at higher levels. They are also experienced less job-related stress, which is a good thing in the tenuous world we live in today.

Finally, the research team tackled the question of how best to promote empowerment, and this is where it gets really interesting. Is it by providing tangible resources like training and budget? Did it happen by how the individual jobs or the organization itself is designed? While these factors may contribute to empowerment, a critical factor was something quite different. What they learned was that empowerment becomes stronger when employees believe that the organization “cares for and values them.” It’s a feeling, not a tool. And more specifically, it’s about being recognized as a unique human being with the ability to step up and make a difference, everyday.

Imagine the virtuous circle of success that’s created when employees can face the ever escalating challenges of life in today’s world with real confidence--and that the organization believes it too.

Jennifer

Competing for Talent: Lessons from the World of Marketing

While conducting research on the latest theories about organization effectiveness and the nature of complex, adaptive systems, I was struck by the parallels to a world I know a lot about: marketing, sales, and customer relationship management.

The data says we are facing a severe shortage in prime-aged (ages 25-54 years) workers in the coming decades, which means there will be competition for the best talent, even if this recovery will be “job-less” in the near term. When the imperative to compete more aggressively for customers emerged in the late ‘80’s and 90’s, we saw massive investments in the data, technologies, and analytics to better understand and more efficiently meet the needs of customers. TQM, Customer Satisfaction, Direct Marketing, and CRM all emerged out of the relentless focus on reaching, acquiring, and retaining customers. We are an adaptive species so in times of scarcity we always get creative in how we compete for resources, whether it be game, water, customers, or workers.

The good companies have always valued their best talent. But in recent years, with such intense focus on improving the bottom line and reducing expenses through repeated restructurings, many companies have reverted to an “employees-as-parts” mentality – believing that employees can be shed and reacquired at will, like ordering parts from a catalog. As this recession ends, these companies will be in for a rude awakening.

They will have to learn how to compete for people and they will be well served to take a page from the Marketing Best-Practices Handbook:

• Understand that your relationship with your customer employee is a two-way street which grows stronger only when there is a healthy flow of value between both parties
• Understand your customer’s employee’s needs, expectations and values
• Segment your customers employees into needs-based segments in order to more effectively address segment-specific needs and wants
• Understand that not all customers employees are created equal and that different approaches will be required for different people
• Understand customer employee preferences for communication and interaction across all available touch points so that your expenditures to reach them are efficient and effective
• Understand where your customer employee is on the employee lifecycle and determine how his or her needs may differ depending on where they are.

Also like the world of marketing, the leader who better addresses the needs and expectations of his or her workforce will be rewarded with greater energy, engagement, and loyalty. The days of unspoken contracts for long-term employment are long gone. The younger generations have no expectations for or belief in loyalty from their employer, mainly because the companies can no longer promise loyalty in return. So in the realm of talent engagement, like customer relationship management, the only thing that really works is building a strong relationship between the organization and the individual, a relationship in which both parties perceive real value.

Scott

Everyone’s Feeling a Loss

As a professional who focuses on improving retention and engagement in organizations, I’ve been surprised by the number of people who say, “You must not be busy these days…anyone who’s working must be happy to even have a job. So engagement’s not an issue. Right?”

Wrong. Right now, many organizations are filled with the “walking wounded,” people who have watched their businesses decline, and then experienced one loss after another. Whether these losses have come in salaries, 401K matches, paid vacations or worst of all, valued colleagues, employees have been devastated, and simply having a job doesn’t fill the void.

I saw this great survey in one of my web searches. A study was done in which they asked people, “How many hours a day do you spend looking for a new job while you’re at work?” Amazingly, nearly half of them admitted to spending up to three hours. Or then again, maybe I shouldn’t be amazed....

And you can almost hear the employers thinking, YIKES!

The irony is, now is the time that organizations need their team members to be at their best. Every drop of profit needs to be squeezed out, and employee productivity and engagement represents one of the best opportunities most businesses have. But meanwhile, the losses pile up.

Jennifer

The New Adventure

With this post, Jennifer Rosenzweig and I are launching our blog, "Enlightenment, Incorporated." As many of you know, she & I have co-authored a book by that title which is due out in the coming weeks. The full title is "Enlightenment, Incorporated, Creating Companies Our Kids Would Be Proud To Work For." The book describes our belief that we are in the early stages of a profound change in the US business environment. Several trends are changing the rules of competition again and will require organizations to continue to adapt to these changes to survive and thrive in the next business cycle.

As Boomers retire, and don't worry, they will eventually retire, they will create a shortage of prime-aged (25-54) talent. Further, as they enter the "twilight" of their careers, they are redefining their values to consider their legacy and contribution. The Gen Xers and Millennials (Gen Y) have already entered the workforce with radically different expectations, experiences and values, so the organizations they choose to work for will need to address these emerging needs and expectations. Technology and communications continue to reshape how we work and the companies we work for. Dynamic, adaptive network organizations, with porous boundaries and virtual, telecommuting workforces will be the norm. And finally, the pressure for greater social responsibility and sustainability is rapidly becoming a strategic mandate. What this means is that the future business model will be very different from the traditional model we find in most organizations today. It also means that one of the over-riding strategic priorities will be the ability to attract and retain the very best people.

There are many firms out there that can help with this or that claim to focus on this issue, but we believe that while many firms offer point solutions - training, coaching, recruiting, incentives, compensation, etc., people will only remain fully engaged within an organization if the whole business model is perfectly suited for emerging environment. That is why we have launched a new company, Dragonfly Organization Resource Group, to address this opportunity.

This blog will be an avenue to share our thoughts and beliefs about the issue of the organization of the future. But it will also be about our experience starting a new venture in the depths of a recession. To date, we have connected with a lot of you and we are already on our journey. So we hope that you join us on this path, contribute and get involved. We also hope that this is fun and entertaining.... God knows it has been for us.

Scott