Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Things I Wish I Knew about Business and Careers When I Was 22

This year, I released the 10^th Anniversary edition of my first book, the bestselling They Don’t Teach Corporate in College. I wrote the book when I was 26, and ever since then, I’ve learned a ton about what works and what doesn’t in the business world. Today, I’m sharing some of my recent insights.

No one cares as much about your career as you

While your organization and your manager probably do have your best interests at heart, no one will ever put as much time and energy into your professional development as you will because no one benefits from it as much as you. So don’t be passive. Advocate for the best learning opportunities and experiences, and be proactive about keeping your skills fresh.

Careers are peaks and valleys

Even if you were to stay on one career path, which is highly unusual these days, there’s no such thing as getting to the top of the ladder and staying there. Careers are very long, so you have to figure out a way to remain relevant and engaged over time. Occasional momentum loss is normal, but you need to be able to recover.

Plan now for what you want later

When choosing a career, it’s important to think through what you want for your life over the next several years. For instance, if you’re a married 25 year-old in law school and you know you want to be a hands-on mom or dad soon, it’s not the best idea to become an associate at a huge firm. A flexible career doesn’t happen overnight: the right steps must be taken early.

For more, please see the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Why New College Grads Shouldn't Work from Home

Telecommuting is the future.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about a quarter of employed Americans work from home some hours each week.  In a recent study by the Families and Work Institute, 63 percent of employers said they allowed employees to work remotely in 2012, up from 34 percent in 2005.  Even Marissa Mayer, the new Yahoo! CEO who banished telecommuting from company policy last year, can’t stop this train.

Given the pervasiveness of the trend, in the new edition of my book for entry-level hires, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, I added a section on telecommuting.  I recommend that twenty-something employees who want to telecommute talk with HR and/or read their orientation materials to understand how their organization’s flextime procedure works.  I give them some suggestions regarding how they can build a business case for telecommuting and how to trial the new arrangement successfully.

The downside of early-career telecommuting

There is something, however, I feel I need to add for any HR managers that may be reading this.  As a general rule, I don’t think professional entry-level hires should work from home more than one day a week.  Being able to telecommute effectively implies that you can do your job just as well remotely as you could in an office, and I don’t believe that’s the case with young twenty-somethings.  New college graduates haven’t worked long enough to have mastered critical soft skills such as in-person communication, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence.  Their learning curve also includes cultural assimilation, or figuring out and then adhering to the spoken and unspoken rules of engagement within a particular organization.   If they don’t have the opportunity to master these things in the same building as colleagues and managers, they may never catch up.

For the rest of the post, check out the SilkRoad blog.

Millennials Aren’t Aimless Kids Anymore

Picturing millennials, we may think of late bloomers carrying huge debt and living in their parents’ basements.  For many millennials, however, those days are far in the past.  According to the results from a survey I conducted last year with Deloitte, 50 percent of currently employed millennials already meet our definition of a leader.  Forty-four percent of them have only three to five years of experience, yet 41 percent have four or more direct reports.  By contrast, at the same age, most baby boomers (born 1945-63) and Gen X-ers (born 1964-79) were still in junior-level positions.

New Leaders Sink or Swim

Organizations haven’t adequately prepared these young professionals to be managers, and it shows.  Of current millennials who are leaders, only 36 percent said they felt ready when entering the role, and 30 percent still do not feel ready today – citing managing difficult people or situations, lack of experience, and dealing with conflicts as their top concerns upon entering a leadership role.  Informed leaders agreed that millennials lack self-awareness and the ability to effectively manage others. 

Development Focus is Critical

This lack of preparedness echoes what has been reported in prior research.  A recent survey by the American Society for Training and Development reported that two-fifths of millennials don’t think their cohort is entering the workforce with sufficient skills to become future leaders, and Harvard Business Review claimed that the average age to receive leadership training is 42, or a decade away for the average millennial leader.  Over half of ASTD’s respondents felt that millennials require specialized leadership development programs, but only 15 percent said their organizations offer such programs – though the business case for them is clear.  For instance, higher-performing organizations are 57 percent more likely than those from low-performing organizations to have a millennial leadership development program in place.

For the complete post, head over to the SilkRoad blog.

How to Tell if a Planned Initiative is Strategic

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I recently attended a great SHRM session from Elizabeth Ruske and Betsy Sobiech of Tiara Coaching that covered how to use ROI to make your case for a new program (link to April post).  An important aspect of this is ensuring that your proposed initiative is strategic in the first place.  Here are some questions to consider in that vein.

What Makes a Program Strategic?

• The mission of the program is well-aligned with the mission of the business
• The program fits in well with the business’ future plans for growth
• The program touches multiple parts of the business
• The program addresses a critical business, employee, or customer need

What Business Concerns Might Your Program Address?

Using the example of women’s leadership described in Part I of this post, these might include percent of female employees, percent of engagement of female employees, percent of women in leadership roles, percent of female employees staying, # of women in succession plans, external recognition of the company, percent of talented women applying for jobs, and the percent of clients who are women.

Does Your Program Meet Some or All of the “6 Ps”?

• Purpose: The business’ overall mission and purpose are advanced by the program.  Example: “We aim to be the most cutting-edge provider in our industry, and diversity of thought is essential for innovation.”
• Profit: The company’s bottom line is advanced by the program.  Example:  “We will save millions every year if we can retain female middle managers we typically lose after a short tenure.”

Check out the full post at the SilkRoad blog for more!

Q&A with Lindsey Pollak: Next Level Leadership

Without doubt, there is an important transition in your career from being the “newbie” at the office to taking on more responsibility and evolving into a more seasoned role model, and even leader, within your organization. Many millennials are becoming leaders and even more want to step into leadership roles. I sat down with my friend Lindsey Pollak, millennial workplace expert and spokesperson for The Hartford’s My Tomorrow campaign, to hear about how employees can move on to “next-level” leadership.

Alex: What are some tips you can offer to individuals who are looking to gain their first promotion at work?

Lindsey: Try to go from asking the questions to answering them. Here is one way to practice: When there is a new hire on your team, take on the role of mentor. Try to forge a relationship where you become a resource for the person – regardless of his or her level or age. Start small with things like where to get the best coffee or lunch, and you’ll likely find that you become a resource for more important questions, too.

Nearly all millennials (96 percent) in The Hartford’s 2014 annual consumer survey feel they bring new skills to the workplace. One way to use these skills to gain a promotion is to take part in a co-mentoring (also known as reverse mentoring) relationship with a more senior person. You can share your knowledge in areas, such as social media, while the more senior person can impart wisdom about your industry or lessons learned from previous experiences. Co-mentoring also helps younger employees gain visibility with senior leaders in the company.

Finally, speak up in a positive way about what you would like to change in your job, making sure to illustrate how it benefits the company, too. For example, perhaps you have an idea for creating a shared folder for client background research that you can create to save everyone time and effort.

Alex: What resources can promotion-seekers use to give them a leg-up in the process?

Lindsey: Research, research, research. Landing a new job or promotion means knowing your interviewer or manager closely. LinkedIn is the best place to learn about people in a professional way. (Encouragingly, workers ages 25-34 are 1.25 times more likely to visit LinkedIn than the average website).

But, be careful not to focus all your attention online. It’s important for leaders to be tech-savvy, but not tech-reliant. In The Hartford’s 2013 Millennial Leadership Survey, 86 percent of millennials said the use of social media holds some importance to being an effective leader, but is not the only contributor. It’s still important to build face-to-face relationships with people at all levels of your organization. “Can I take you out for a cup of coffee?” is as powerful a resource as any other.

What are other ways millennials can demonstrate leadership outside of the office?

Think through different communities you are a part of, such as a neighborhood, and pinpoint where there are opportunities for you to assert yourself as a leader and really make improvements. The Hartford’s 2013 Millennial Leadership Survey found millennials consider themselves a leader today in many areas outside the workplace:

• Family and friends groups (64 percent),
• Personal interests or hobbies (50 percent), and
• School (36 percent)

Also, 73 percent of those surveyed said they aspire to be a leader in the next five years whether they feel like leaders today or not. To accomplish your own leadership goals, look for opportunities within your community groups, sports teams, volunteer activities, professional associations and even your circle of friends.

 

Who's Better at Business? The Answer May Surprise You

Entrepreneurs under the age of 30 are seeing more growth in their businesses than any other age group, according to the fifth annual DNA of an Entrepreneur report by Hiscox, a global specialist insurer serving the small-business community.

These small-business owners, members of Generation Y, were also most likely to report growth in their businesses over the past year (77 percent) and are optimistic about the year ahead (65 percent). In contrast, more than half (60 percent) of entrepreneurs age 60 and up reported negative revenue growth, or no revenue growth at all, over the past year and 40 percent weren't optimistic about the year ahead. 

The differences seen in the study between the two age ranges are significant. But what’s behind them? Entrepreneurship is a difficult road fraught with emotional and financial challenges, so what’s in Gen Y’s blood that makes members of this generation more likely to succeed?

Bullishness Toward Innovation

Younger small-business owners are driving innovation in their respective fields, with 41 percent of those 30 or younger creating new products in the past year, compared with 20 percent or less of all respondents 30 years or older. We know that in the world of entrepreneurship, you have to be content to throw lots of ideas against the wall and expect only one or two to stick. This mindset is second nature to Gen Y-ers, who tend to be more agile and comfortable with change. Their small-business cultures reflect the fact that they are happy to abandon the status quo if it’s not working, and are always looking to discover the next big idea. 

Freedom To Be Workaholics

Fifty-nine percent of Gen Y entrepreneurs cited increased stress levels in the recent past—the highest percentage of any age demographic—and 12 percent took no vacation days at all this year. But younger business owners can afford to be overly focused on work and its related complications because the other areas of their lives typically don’t take up as much mental real estate (e.g., most don’t yet have elderly parents or young children). Your average Gen Y place of business, for example, is likely to be empty at 9 a.m. but buzzing at 9 p.m. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no issue with the Gen Y work ethic when that person is passionate about his or her job.

For more, head over to the AMEX Open Forum.

Bring Back the Lunch Break!

A recent Robert Half/OfficeTeam study found that nearly half of workers either don't take lunch breaks or take breaks that last 30 minutes or less. Many workers also spend their time multitasking while they eat. More than four in 10 (42 percent) reported that, aside from eating, they spend this time socializing with colleagues, while 29 percent admitted they do work during lunch breaks.

Why has the traditional lunch hour diminished so significantly? The obvious culprit is technology.  Now that it’s easier to keep typing away while we eat, we feel freer to do so. In fact, only a tiny 1 percent of survey respondents said they do nothing but eat their lunch.

A secondary cause is a dysfunctional culture. Some organizations are so competitive that employees feel they must work around the clock in order to keep their jobs and get ahead. They view taking a well-deserved lunch break as a sign of weakness or laziness.

In a business world that's more stressful than ever, putting in long hours without a break is bad for health, morale and productivity. How can owners and managers help turn things around?

Walk the Talk

Instead of paying lip service to the idea of taking a break, let your employees see you doing it yourself. Come on, it won’t kill you. As Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam, says, “Lunch breaks are a time to get in the proper nutrients and give your brain a rest—and that means you’ll have the energy and focus to get through the rest of the day.” This applies to you as well as your team.

Make It a Communal Affair

Put a big table in your break room or kitchen area and hold court there every day at lunchtime. Encourage your employees to join you. Show them that hanging out with colleagues (and yes, even the boss) and interacting on a personal level can be a fun way to pass the workday and get to know each other better. These gatherings can also spark creativity and innovation in your business.

For the rest of my tips, head on over to the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Coping with Volatility in the 21st Century Business World

Lately, I've received a lot of emails from people who are worried about the unpredictability of today’s business culture. Employees simply can’t stomach the constant swinging from one direction to another. They dislike being forced to change priorities every five minutes and want to be able to set long-term goals that will benefit both the organization and their own careers.

The advice I offer in response involves learning to be more comfortable with uncertainty and staving off worry by considering how they'll cope with the worst-case scenario. Some change is healthy, I suggest, and if their organizations don’t continuously evolve, they'll eventually die.

Hearing from all these miserable people has given me pause, however. Perhaps the current business climate has become too volatile. Employees who don’t know what the next day will bring can't maintain productive focus, and organizations that are constantly taking two steps forward and two steps back can't grow to their full potential. 

While business owners should constantly be looking for new ways to innovate, they should also consider how they can promote greater stability in their cultures in order to provide their employees with a blueprint for getting things done. Here are five places to start:

1. Create a Relevant, Long-Term Mission

Your entire senior management team should be involved in creating a big picture mission that is universally agreed upon and can be easily communicated from the top down. This mission should relate to ongoing goals and objectives, and efforts should be taken to ensure that employees understand how their roles fit into the mission and how their performance will be measured. You should use your mission as a starting point to talk straight with employees about your expectations for them, and it should be periodically refined and emphasized so your business stays the course.

2. Beware of Too Many Initiatives

When there are a lot of idea people in the house, it’s tempting to jump on the initiative bandwagon: The market needs this, our employees need that … hey, let’s launch a new program! But think carefully before starting something new that takes focus away from your overarching mission and requires loads of employee effort to get off the ground. While creativity is invigorating and can lead you in new and profitable directions, change for the sake of change is not productive.

Check out the rest of the post at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Are You Leveraging Big Data Effectively?

The data deluge has arrived, and the world is overflowing with new and potentially valuable information. Yet, we are at a crossroads.

Organizations have access to big data that can transform their cultures for the better, but they don’t know what to do with it. Far too often, potentially insightful data is ignored out of fear, ego or pure disorganization. 

Data doesn’t lie and tends to reveal unpopular truths. Humans performing the analysis often pass over what they don’t want to see.

Before we go further, let’s define big data. According to David McJannet, vice president of marketing for Hortonworks, in an article for Information Week, here’s a practical take: “Big data is about building new analytic applications based on new types of data in order to better serve your customers and drive a better competitive advantage.” McJannet doesn’t mention company culture, but it’s as critical a business benefit of big data as any.

Businesses have access to more data about their operations than ever before, but most organizations use only a fraction of it to achieve tangible business results.The primary reason for this is that data doesn’t lie and tends to reveal unpopular truths. Humans performing the analysis often pass over what they don’t want to see and select data that supports a favored direction.

Whether your analytics technology touches every aspect of your business or you're limited to the free version of Google Analytics, here are six ways you can leverage your data to enhance your culture by leaps and bounds:

1. Target and share. The questions we ask our analytics program are often numbers-focused, and it’s all about the formulas. But measurement for the sake of measurement won’t do you a drop of good. As with any major strategy, your analytics approach should begin with the important cultural question you want to answer. Then you can effectively devise an analytical methodology that will address this issue. Once the data starts to come in, don’t hoard it. Distribute it to different departments and individuals so that a richer picture of the results emerges.

2. Let go of hierarchy. In his recent article for the Financial Times, Richard Walters says that in order to take full advantage of big data, personal working styles have to be overhauled—starting at the top. Managers accustomed to making gut decisions have to learn the humility that comes from being led by the data. This might mean that a junior analyst has a better handle on the best solution than a senior manager does. To ease the ego blows, reiterate big data’s benefits to your senior team. For instance, it relieves uncertainty and allows an organization to be more competitive.

For more advice, check out the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

How Hierarchy Is Killing Your Culture

Twenty-first century organizations are flattening, but the change can’t happen quickly enough. Although the corporate hierarchy was invented to promote efficiency, it doesn’t work particularly well in a business world that moves at the speed of technology. If you’re holding on to the old, bureaucratic ways of doing things, you're hurting your business. Don't believe me?

1. Hierarchies Move Too Slowly

Organizations need to be able to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, but a complex hierarchy is like a lumbering giant. As Harvard professor John Kotter told Debbie Robins in The Huffington Post: “Put simply, a hierarchy can’t handle speed well. Rules and procedures that inevitably accompany hierarchies almost never change fast even if they are now irrelevant, overly burdensome, and the like. Hierarchies can’t jump to the left or the right easily, and over time it’s easy to keep adding levels and rules, to keep making silo walls thicker.”

2. Hierarchies Are a Game of Telephone

In order for communication to go from the top of the hierarchy to the bottom, it has to pass through numerous managers. Remember the childhood game, telephone? The message you ended up with was usually a far cry from the first one started. That’s a hierarchy for you. In a flatter organization, it’s much easier to promote a culture of transparency.

For more where this came from, have a look at the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.