Ep. 13: Wearables in the Workplace

Nigel Travis is the current Executive Chairman of the Board for Dunkin’ Brands. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Dunkin’ Brands and added responsibility as Chairman of the Board in May 2013. Dunkin’ Brands Group controls nearly 19,000 Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins “points of sale” in more than 60 countries, from Argentina to Japan. Previously, Nigel served as President & CEO of Papa John’s, the pizza chain with annual system-wide sales of $2.1 billion and more than 3,300 restaurants throughout the U.S. and 29 international markets. During his four-year tenure with the company, Papa John’s online sales tripled through the innovative use of technology. Prior to Papa John’s, Nigel served as the President and COO at Blockbuster, Inc. During that time, global sales increased over 50 percent and the international business was developed to encompass 26 countries with revenues of $1.8 billion. Nigel also built a worldwide franchise network of 300 franchisees in 15 countries with revenues of approximately $1 billion, and transitioned the company from a video rental store chain to a complete movie and game source. Nigel has also worked for Burger King, Exxon, Kraft Foods, Rolls Royce and Parker Hannifin. Nigel’s new book will be coming out on September 18th and it is titled, “The Challenge Culture: Why the Most Successful Organizations Run on Pushback” Why a pushback culture? Nigel says, “Pushback gives you more views, often different perspectives, builds greater engagement and probably alignment within the organization.” This culture gets the best from incorporating peoples’ thoughts. You get the best solutions. This is the way to get people to truly by-in to a project. Why is it hard to get pushback culture going? The approach is anti-hierarchical. People spend time to get to senior positions and once they get there they have a feeling of, ‘I am in charge’. They are often reluctant to give up power and control People are too lazy - it’s easier give orders than cultivate this pushback culture How do you create a challenge culture? Start modeling it yourself It is not something to plug in, it takes time and patience Go in and ask questions - in positive way Drop in to discuss the book, idea, etc. Don’t go too fast; do not be too overt about it (unless you are the CEO) Nigel’s advice for employees: Be civil and don’t attack Use open-ended questions - Can we do it better? - Ask - would you be interested in hearing what I am thinking? What you will learn in this episode: What is pushback and why is it important? Nigel’s experience at Kraft Foods, Rolls-Royce, Parker Hannifin, Papa John’s, Dunkin’ Brands and Blockbuster A look at Blockbuster’s demise and how they could have avoided it Nigel’s biggest triumph and misstep How company cultures in Europe differ from the United States Contact: Nigel Travis on LinkedIn

10 Sep 20181h 16min

There are some organizations that are great. Their employees love coming to work, they have satisfied customers and they make a great impact on their communities. There are also organizations that are not so great. But what makes some organizations great and others not so great? The answer is, great companies have a reason for being and others do not. A reason for being is a non-conventional mission statement that is comprised of four main things. The first thing is they have something that is unattainable. Something that makes their people reach for the stars and aim high and it gives them something to constantly work towards. The second component is something that doesn’t talk about money or financial gain. When a company only focuses on financial gain it doesn’t give employees anything to get behind and it doesn’t give them a strong sense of purpose. The third component is to have something that talks about the impact your organization can bring to the community or the world. What is something your company could do, that fits in with your corporate culture that could better the community outside the walls of your company? An inspirational message is something that people can get behind and get excited about. The fourth attribute of a reason for being is something that rallies employees and something that gets them excited. Something that makes them want to come into work and give all they have. Does your organization have a reason for being? If not, it’s time to create one.

7 Sep 20182min

Dean Seavers is the President of National Grid, US. Prior to leading the US portion of National Grid, Dean worked in leadership at companies such as Ford, GE, United Technologies and Tyco. National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world - covering the UK and the Northeastern part of the US. They have 16,000 employees – about 10,000 that are customer facing and the other 6,000 or so that are in management roles spread out across three states. National Grid serves 20 million customers. What are the workforce trends Dean is paying attention to? The first trend is technology-- we all need to be tech savvy. We can use technology to drive better efficiency and productivity through things like data analytics and automation. Dean says, “The reality is, I think, when you spend 80% of your time doing routine things, you don’t have the time to always focus on the things that truly add value for customers and employees”.   Dean is also paying attention to clean energy sources. National Grid is a big proponent of driving change in the way we consume energy. They are looking to solar, hydro and wind power to improve our impact on the environment. Another trend Dean is paying attention to is self-driving vehicles and electric vehicles. He believes transportation needs to be cleaned up and there are a lot of great advances coming that can help do that. Dean’s advice for leaders is to listen and understand employee base. It really is important to understand the pulse of the organization. You have to be transparent and drive alignment to values and lean into the challenges and make tough choices. What you will learn in this episode: How energy is evolving What it’s like to work at National Grid Workforce trends Dean is paying attention to How National Grid is using automation, bots, and people analytics to stay ahead Why Dean is now a believer in self-driving vehicles How the way we consume energy will change in the next 5-10 years How Dean is future proofing National Grid as the energy industry rapidly changes Contact: Dean Seavers of National Grid

4 Sep 20181h 15min

Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times best-selling author. Over her 15-plus-year career, she’s helped thousands of leaders around the world become more self-aware and successful. With a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Dr. Eurich is the principal of The Eurich Group, a boutique executive development firm that helps companies—from start-ups to the Fortune 100—succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders and teams. Having worked with clients like T-Mobile, KPMG, Walmart, Vail Resorts, and HCA Healthcare, her primary areas of expertise are executive coaching, leadership development programs, and executive team development. Dr. Eurich’s first book, Bankable Leadership, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Her latest book, Insight, delves into the connection between self-awareness and success, where she shares the surprising findings from her multi-year research program on the topic What is self awareness? “It is seeing ourselves clearly.”  Specifically- understanding who we are, how others see us and how we fit into the world around us. One of the biggest myths of self awareness is that we are self aware. They found that 95% of people feel that they are self award but in reality only 10-15% of people actually are self aware. 2 core sets of knowledge of self awareness Internal self aware: I know who I am, what I want, what I value Requires a commitment to look inside of ourselves that is not always comfortable or easy Tend to make choices that make them happy External self awareness:  knowing how other people see us What if I ask others and no one sees me as I do. Sometimes I ask others’ opinions without thinking about what I really want. May need to work on it if someone gave you experience that blindsided you. For example, spouse leaves, getting fired from job How often do you ask for feedback? How did I do on the presentation? Why is self awareness important? If we, as leaders, improve self awareness: it makes us better performers and more promotable. will have more engaged employees stronger marriages   better communicator avoid unethical behavior less likely to lie cheat and steal. lead more profitable companies   What can an employee do in a company? Give an HR rep a call to find what assessments are available, for example 360 evaluations. Starting with a boss, ask for critical feedback. The most successful leaders ask for critical feedback often. Formalize this with your boss to keep the feedback ongoing. Meet regularly Alarm clock events Earth quake events – turns around a serious event New roles and new rules Starting a new job – ripe moments for self awareness Everyday insight – comment from someone that gives a new perspective. What you will learn in this episode: What is self-awareness Myths about self-awareness How many people are actually self-aware Examples of self-aware CEOs What are Self awareness unicorns All about the Impact Yourself  Daily App Contact: TashaEurich.com

27 Aug 20181h 12min

Is there an optimal number of times to check in with employees or gather data on employee engagement? There is an important element of employee engagement that most organizations are missing out on. All organizations want their employees to be engaged at work. Engaged employees are focused, productive and hardworking. But most organizations get caught up in one question. They ask, “how often should I measure employee engagement or employee satisfaction?”. Should we be measuring these things once a year, once a quarter, once a month? There is something vitally important that these organizations are missing out on by only focusing on the question of the optimal number. There is so much more to employee engagement than numbers or data. Organizations need to take a step back and realize it is not so much about how often we collect the data, but what we do with it. The truth is, there is no optimal number. Take the example of a personal relationship, such as a married or dating couple. Can you imagine going to your significant other and asking them, “how often should I be checking in with you or asking for feedback--once a week, once a month...?”. We don’t do that. When something bothers us we don’t wait for the other person to ask us to provide feedback, we speak up, we start a conversation about the issue and we try to resolve it. And likewise our significant other can usually sense when things are going good or things are not going so well. The same should apply in our organizations. As in personal relationships, we should be having ongoing conversations in our organizations. We shouldn’t just be checking in once a year or once a month, it should be an open, ongoing conversation that never ends. Also, it shouldn’t just the be leaders of an organization starting the conversation. Employees should feel comfortable starting a dialogue or providing feedback when something is frustrating, when the process isn’t working, or when they need a different tool to get their work done.

26 Aug 20183min

Mary Bilbrey is the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) for Americas at JLL, the leading integrated global real estate services and investment management firm. Mary joined JLL in February of 2016. She came to JLL from HSBC, the multinational banking and financial services company, where she was the Head of Human Resources for HSBC USA. JLL is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. Their vision is to reimagine the world of real estate, creating rewarding opportunities and amazing spaces where people can achieve their ambitions. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 83,500 Is there truth to generational stereotypes? Some of it seems to be that with every ‘new’ generation we talk about various traits that they seem to display - but in reality it is simply because they are young. It has been true of every generation – they are more idealistic, more ‘me’ focused.  But much of that can be attributed to their youth. It is a ‘life stage’ versus a generational stereotype. 2 things that Mary expects will be driving employers with Gen Z employees: Gen Z did not experience the digital revolution. They were born into an environment where it was part of their life from the beginning. That is going to have an impact. They are beginning to enter the workforce in a very strong labor market. So they have more choices – employers, work environment, vision and purpose of the organization. What will be Gen Z’s impact on leadership? One major factor has been switching of traditional performance reviews to ongoing ‘quality conversations’ that happen all the time instead of only at  midyear performance reviews. This impacts the leaders who have to change how they manage others; it is more intuitive and makes more sense. “One of the hardest things to change has been the need for an enclosed office – there seems to still be an emotional tie to the topic,” Mary says. Mary’s advice for managers is to think about developing multi-generational groups, consider reverse mentoring, and learn from each other. What you will learn in this episode: Generational stereotypes – fact or fiction? How can hallways be places of ‘casual collisions’ The impact Gen Z will have on leadership What Gen Z is looking for in a workplace How JLL is evolving to make sure they are ready for Gen Z What does the future of work look like? Contact: JLL.com LinkedIn

20 Aug 20181h 8min

With major advances in technology and the talk of AI and automation invading the workplace, the subject of soft skills has become a huge topic of discussion for organizations and individual employees. I think soft skills are very important, however I think that most organizations are asking the wrong question when they address the topic. Most organizations ask the question, what do we need to do inside of our organizations to teach more soft skills. They believe that they need to teach their managers and employees to have more soft skills. But think about the assumption that is made when we ask that question. We assume that our managers and employees don’t have soft skills to begin with. The truth is we all learn soft skills naturally as we grow up, as we learn and as we interact with others. We learn how to be empathetic, we learn how to communicate with others, we learn how to deal with emotions. All of these things come naturally as we grow up and experience different things. The question we should be asking is, why is it that employees feel that they can’t use their soft skills at work? The issue is not that people don’t possess soft skills to begin with, it is that they don’t feel safe enough in their organizations to use them. How can employees feel safe to share their opinions, express care and empathy for coworkers, and show their true emotions in the office when they are in an environment filled with bureaucracy, negativity, fierce competition and where employees are seen strictly as numbers. It’s no wonder employees don’t feel like they can use their soft skills. Instead of asking, what do we need to do inside of our organizations to teach more soft skills, let’s ask, how do we build an organization where employees feel like they can use the soft skills they already have.

19 Aug 20182min

Jim Kavanaugh is the co-founder and CEO of World Wide Technology.  From St. Louis, Missouri Jim played collegiate soccer, then he played for the U.S. Olympic men’s soccer team in 1984 and finally for the Major Indoor Soccer League. He graduated from St. Louis University and began his business career as a sales manager for Future Electronics. He has been recognized two years in a row by Glassdoor as one of the top ranking CEOs for all large businesses in the U.S. He was ranked #2 in 2017 and #11 in 2018.   World Wide Technology began in 1990 as a company that was a small product reseller. It has moved into a technology solution provider where they help large public and private organizations discover, evaluate, architect and implement advanced technology.  They are headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with $10.4 billion in annual revenue. WWT currently has more than 4,600 employees world-wide. They are ranked 8 on Glassdoors’ Best Places to Work list for 2018 and 40 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for list. What is the role of CEO? “As a leader of an organization you need to be able to look at things at a 30,000 foot view,” Jim says.  Also, understand, what are the most important things as they pertain to your organization. Focus on how you make an impact. That executive needs to paint the vision from that high level perspective. But they also need to be able to dropdown to the details. For example, if the goal is a new initiative, this might require you to be in the details until it is designed and built. Your goal is to get it going and then delegate it off. People want to know that you understand the business. See the vision, paint the vision but also have a good understanding of the day to day processes of the business. How does one become a leader in general and at WWT? Begin by understanding what is important to that business. - How does it define success? - How are you delivering and overachieving on the objectives of the goals of the company? -  What are the values of the organization that drive them? Make sure they align with your values - make sure you are a good cultural fit. - Live and breathe those values. Personally challenge yourself. - Do a self assessment of yourself. - Where are your strengths, what do you need to do better? - How do people perceive you? Challenge yourself to grow. At WWT, they have a leadership curriculum. They align business concepts and values and they train leaders to be the best manager using these concepts and values. When asked, what is unique at WWT to have scored so high on best places to work surveys, Jim says you have to care about your employees. They are very smart, if you think you can just say you care and not really do anything to show that– it won’t work. If the leadership teams show that they care about employees, then it is a successful culture. You must do the right thing from a cultural perspective. This includes both for employees and their families – in order to be healthy from a cultural perspective. Also, you need to be a smart organization. Set a vision; build an organization with clarity and alignment to the mission. It also must include the right leadership that can build the structure of the organization to allow for growth. What is the mission at WWT? To be a profitable growth company that is also a great place to work. This mission has been around for 15 years. It is three-fold: Profitable – employees need to be accountable to the goals of the organization Growth – this is important to allow WWT to attract the best talent in the industry Create a great place to work – do the right things for the right reasons What you will learn in this episode: Jim’s advice on how to grow within your company How do you know the right person to hire What do you do if you don’t ‘like’ your job How to overachieve without killing yourself What is the role of a CEO How WWT keeps getting high ratings on employee experience surveys Contact: https://www2.wwt.com

13 Aug 20181h 11min