As we wrap up the last few weeks of 2010 and look forward to 2011, think about your organization’s current challenges.  Are you in the midst of sweeping change or is it just around the corner?  If “no” to both, might you be missing an opportunity to pursue change in the spirit of achieving your organization’s key business goals and drivers?  Have your organization and your people lost their focus due to all of the distractions and #1 priorities that continually bombard us on a day in/day out basis?  How committed are your people?  Are they part of the 33% of the total US work force that has become “disengaged” per 2010 Gallup and PWC research?  Do your people truly work well together or are you continuously being pulled in to referee?  Have your teams lost their consultative edge and what it means to provide exceptional products and services to your customers?  TechEdge LLC can help you catalyze your organization’s transformation, break through problematic barriers and re-energize your people through a variety of programs, including our guest speaking services.

Our guest speaking approach is unique.  We only present to small and medium size audiences in order to create interactive dialogue and conduct hands-on group and individual exercises that enable participants to solve real-world business problems in real-time mode.  We also provide ready-to-use take-away tools and Action Plans that can be immediately implemented to address your most burning organizational issues.  Our specialty topics include, but are not limited to:

• Creating High Performing Teams & Organizations
• Driving to Customer Service & Results Delivery
• Leading Courageously
• Tackling Demand Intake & Fulfillment: A Practical Approach
• Engaging the Millennials & Gen X’ers
• Upping the Human Connectedness Factor
• Optimizing Your People Potential
• Strengthening Organization Change Outcomes
• Creating Consultative Cultures
• Inspiring Creativity & Innovation
• Instilling Collaborative Behaviors
• Building Enduring Trust & Relationships
• Embracing Constructive Conflict

Non-profits that have utilized our guest speaking services include:

• AIM (Applied Information Management) Institute
• CAIT (The Center for the Application of Information Technology)
• SIM (Society for Information Management)
• NEO IT Think Tank

We provide for-profit client references upon request.

To learn more about how we approach guest speaking engagements, download the slide deck from our September 22, 2010, NEO IT Think Tank event entitled “Human Connectedness and the Business of IT”.  How did our audience react to our presentation? Here’s what Katie Jagusch (URS) posted to LinkedIn:

“Gwen’s presentation on Human Connectedness is fantastic!  She clearly understands the interpersonal relationships found in most workplaces and knows how to improve those relationships in order to increase overall productivity.  The foundations of her methods are based on well-documented scientific studies and I cannot wait to get started putting some of her best practices to use!”

Contact us today to find out how we can deliver a dynamic, engaging, thought provoking, action-oriented and targeted presentation for your organization!  We look forward to serving you!

It’s tough enough getting people to collaborate effectively within/across teams because of this little sticking point called “people behaviors” that’s oftentimes overlooked, but now we’re facing yet another collaboration challenge playing out before us ~ the Baby Boomer, Gen X and Millennial “Great Divide”. And let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that the Great Divide doesn’t exist because the facts and anecdotal data prove otherwise. 

If you’re a Baby Boomer (born 1946-1964), just take 10 minutes and have a heart-to-heart talk with a Gen X’er (born 1965-1979) or Millennial (born 1980-1999) who you have a trusted relationship with, and REALLY LISTEN to what they have to say. Based on my work with clients as we’re proactively tackling the Great Divide… 

Gen X’ers are irritated that Baby Boomers are blocking their way to advancement. Baby Boomers aren’t retiring for a variety of reasons. They’re maintaining their key leadership position stronghold. To further exacerbate the situation, a portion of the Baby Boomers in key leadership positions are behaving as “lame ducks”, to put it bluntly. That bad behavior would aggravate any top performer regardless of when he/she was born. 

Millennials on the other hand, are irritated with Baby Boomers because they’re not effectively engaging Millennials in key areas: 

• Connecting on a human-to-human basis
• Understanding what motivates Millennials
• Providing 1×1 value-add, real-time mentoring, coaching and feedback
• Working with Millennials to create career paths
• Communicating with Millennials using engaging technologies (e.g., social networks, IM, Twitter, Smart Phones)
• Supporting Millennials’ work/life balance needs  
• Creating sustainable virtual teams (which, by the way, save companies HUGE quantifiable dollars plus increase productivity if thoughtfully planned and implemented)

And what do Gen X’ers and Millennials have in common? First, both groups are loyal to people but not to organizations, which means…Baby Boomers, you must genuinely connect with both groups in order to engage and optimize their potential AND retain them! Second, both groups are turned off by Baby Boomers who place monetary-driven (greed-driven) personal, company and shareholder agendas before “the good of humanity.” Baby Boomers, you’re still holding key leadership positions and you’re highly influential, so you can start setting a different tone within your organizations and teams by actively weaving in meaningful opportunities that support “the greater good”.    

So what’s the business case that would compel organizations and teams to address the Great Divide? First, some statistics. Although estimates vary by source, roughly 70 million and 48 million comprise the Millennial and Gen X U.S. workforces respectively, or 118 million collectively, compared to 70+ million Baby Boomers. It’s official ~ Baby Boomers, you’re in the cultural minority. It’s no longer about “you”. I can say this because I too, am a Baby Boomer. But reasons to tackle the Great Divide go beyond that:  

• Baby Boomers owe it to the next generation of leaders and to society to position Gen X’ers and Millennials for success. That’s what genuine leaders do. They take action based on the big picture and the greater good.

• For every Millennial that quits, and they will quit if their key needs are not being met, expect turnover costs to soar. For a company that employs 5,000 with a $50K average annual salary and annual turnover rate of 10% and cost of 50% (turnover costs can range from 50%-150%), reducing turnover by just 3% can save the company $3.75 million annually ($8.75 million vs. $12.5 million).

• For every Millennial and Gen X’er that doesn’t feel engaged, the person is operating at some percent less than 100%. Using the previous example and assuming 2,080 planned annual hours per employee, if 20% of the workforce is operating at 80%, the productivity drain is roughly 416K hours or $10+ million annually, which means that 200 FTE’s (full time equivalents) are showing up for work, are on your payroll and contributing a BIG ZERO to the bottom line. And let’s not forget that unproductive employees slow down productive employees, so the productivity drain will grow vs. shrink if ignored.          

One last tip – don’t refer to a Gen X’er or Millennial by these two or other common generational names. Although Baby Boomers aren’t typically offended by their generational title, the same is not true for those generations that follow. Another cultural difference!   

How are you tackling the Great Divide? Please share your comments with us!

On July 6^th, the presentation “In the Zone” – How to Get There & Stay There was given by Gwen Walsh, president of TechEdge, at Christ Church Episcopal in Hudson, Ohio.  The Hudson Hub Times offers a description of the free program at their website (http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/4851825).

Ms. Walsh spoke about the following topics:

• Explore how to create a “loving what you do and showing it” positive spirit that will influence how others see you — including prospective employers and your network; and
• Learn about the 4 vital ingredients – Identity, Achievement, Reputation and Acceptance — and receive practical tools pivotal to becoming the “best version of you”.

The presentation was well-received and attendees offered their positive feedback:

“You really did a fine job for us this past Tuesday evening, as was indicated in our evaluation forms – everyone said you exceeded expectations! Thanks so much for taking the time to be with us.”

“Thank you for your time and your excellent presentation at the Hudson Job Search meeting on Tuesday, Your “hot topic” seemed to coincide perfectly with the “hot evening”.  You brought “In the Zone” to life with real world examples and dialogue. Your positive spirit and enthusiasm for your subject matter was evident. My MOJO has been greatly enhanced by your fantastic and unselfish presentation.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and also to Hudson Job Search, the organization that invited TechEdge to present.  You can find more information about Hudson Job Search at their website, http://www.hudsonjs.org/.

In other news, TechEdge LLC has joined the Greater Omaha Chamber!  Please visit their website at http://omahachamber.org/ and search for us under the Business Directory.

Finally, TechEdge is mentioned on Jesse Fewell’s “Moving Beyond Management” blog.  Kate Brown, one of our Consulting Parters, gave a presentation about “High Performing Teams”. Great job Kate!  You can view Mr. Fewell’s blog article at http://www.jessefewell.com/2010/04/21/it-wonderland-in-omaha/.

Please share your comments with us!  Also, please be sure to visit us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Several weeks ago I stumbled upon yet another “aha” moment. I was at a client site interviewing front-line employees of a highly successful, several thousand-strong organization that is renown for its high customer retention rate plus great customer service experience — and has the stats plus “word on the street” reputation to back it up. This was the second set of interviews that I was conducting, and in each case, I heard the same consistent message…

“I love my employer because…they care about us, they’ve been great to us, I’m not just a number, we’re family.”

“I’m…angry, resentful, hurt, empty, frustrated and ambivalent about my job. I used to love coming to work, but now I’m just here to collect my paycheck.”

How can a cross-section of people shower their employer with the most genuine of compliments in one breath then choose words that scream “morale has tanked” in the next? Then I met an insightful employee who I’ll call “Joe”. He was a very considerate, thoughtful and soft spoken person who helped me sort through what was really happening when he offered these words of wisdom — “We must honor the past.”

For years and well before Six Sigma, lean automation, instant messaging, social media and you-name-it-technologies took hold, this particular employer counted on each employee to go the extra mile every day – and each employee did so because they knew that they made a difference. If they had an idea that seemed reasonable, they ran with it. If they saw a decision that needed to be made, they acted upon it. If they saw a change that needed to be introduced, they implemented it. If they saw a problem that needed to be corrected, they fixed it. And with this, the business grew, the owners/employees prospered, the employer/employee relationship thrived and the customers kept coming back for more – and life was good.

Enter…a changing marketplace…process and automation…and new managers experienced in and excited about implementing large-scale safety, efficiency and cost reduction solutions. What happened next? The employees reported to new managers that they didn’t really know. There was no history. There was no trust. There was no emotional connection. The managers, looking forward to making a positive difference, introduced new ideas, rendered decisions, initiated wide-sweeping changes and resolved pesky problems – but in a perceived vacuum. And then there were the communication issues. As ideas, changes and new technologies were introduced, the first unintended message heard by the employees was “We, the new managers, are here to fix all of the mistakes of the past – the past that you, the employees, created and totally messed up.” As change pushback occurred, the next unintended message heard was “You, the employees, are being resistant to change. Just do it!” Meanwhile the employees were thinking “We helped the company grow to where it is today. We made the company successful. We consistently went the extra mile. Why are these changes being made? Why aren’t you asking us for our ideas and recommendations? Why are you minimizing and de-valuing us?” The employees’ attitudes drastically changed from being highly engaged to significantly detached. In their words, they were “brushed to the curb.” From the employee’s perspective, their ideas were no longer solicited or valued and they no longer shared a voice in decisions, changes and problem solutions.  Their enthusiasm for tackling the most difficult of situations – their passion for getting things done — their strong sense of ownership — the very essence of who they once were – had been unintentionally diminished.

What caused the great manager/employee divide? Let’s refer back to Joe’s comment “We must honor the past.” As a proponent of Active Listening, what does that phrase really tell me? What’s the “not so obvious” meaning? My conclusion — before we can collectively move forward, we must intentionally stop and recognize our people and their significant contributions that successfully paved the way for the next wave of work and accomplishments that lie ahead. We must genuinely connect with our people on an emotional level – where we can respectfully acknowledge who they are and express our gratitude to them for having created a positive imprint. We must openly discuss how the great foundation that our people have laid has become the perfect launch point for the next step in our organizational evolution. We must be compassionate in our messaging as we discuss “the why’s” behind doing things differently and encourage rich dialogue. But our responsibilities don’t stop there. We must actively engage all of our people as we plan, execute and celebrate organizational achievements. We must continue to nurture the emotional connection because the very essence of who we are as human beings and whether or not we’re appreciated by others directly influences our attitudes, beliefs and actions. How can we draw upon our people’s inner strength or self motivation that is so pivotal to accelerating organizational change when our people don’t feel genuinely appreciated by and/or emotionally connected with those introducing, directing or championing the change?

Thought Provoker: Do you see emotional connectedness as a universal motivator and change accelerator? Please share your comments with us!