Three Simple Ways to Get the Most From Your Employees

Photo Credit: Hire Velocity Blog

Corporations do many things to attract and retain top talent--from offering flexible work schedules to in-office benefits and perks such as beer on tap, catered lunches, and games (pool, anyone?). However, some are acting even more progressive by considering the health and well-being of their employees as a top priority. Many studies have shown that people are far more effective at their jobs when they are healthy, when they successfully manage stress, and when they feel positive and optimistic. 

A few ways these companies are increasing employee productivity by proactively addressing wellness, driving ROI right back to the organizations:

1. Onsite Health and Fitness- from free cholesterol screenings to onsite gyms, yoga classes, and meditation. Companies that benefit the most are those that encourage and enable employees to engage with these offerings (i.e. health fairs, free group personal training, walking groups during lunch, fitness competitions, etc).  
2.  Cafeteria Menus- Google is a shining example of a company that promotes health and wellness in its cafe, by placing healthy foods into the direct line of sight and relegating candy and high sugar products to less attractive containers that require more effort to access.
3. The Human Factor- A little trust goes a long way. Treating employees like adults will result in increased loyalty and superior work product. This entails enforcing the No Asshole Rule and allowing employees the freedom to work wherever and whenever they are most productive (which for many, does not entail confinement to a cubicle or an open office environment from 9-5) and encouraging them to have lives outside of work (some even offer recreation allowances).

The bottom line- Happiness and health are two essential--often forgotten--ingredients to superior work product. 

It's Better in Groups

As children, our academic curricula itself was only part of the learning equation. The part that really prepared us for life was learning how to learn. 

What’s Your Style? 

The same goes for fitness as it does in academia. Many of us (myself included) enjoy the camaraderie and motivation of group exercise. Personal trainers learn to adapt to each client’s individual style, but how is this applied in group fitness or small group personal training situations when there is more than one style at play? 

In reality, while we may favor one style more strongly than the others, we all leverage a number of different techniques when it comes to learning. The three main ones are: 

-visual (seeing)

- auditory (hearing)

-kinesthetic (doing)

Since each group fitness participant favors a different blend of the three learning styles--for example, some need to see and even try an exercise in order to complete it successfully--instructors and trainers use all three to deliver a safe and effective fitness program. This is the reason you’ll see the instructor demonstrate the moves--and most often do them along with you--as well as call them out (cueing or coaching). Sometimes, the instructor pre-demonstrates certain exercises beforehand and gives kinesthetic learners a chance to perform them slowly before the group routine begins. 

To get the best possible group exercise experience, let your instructor know before hand which learning style you adapt most, and party on. 

Photo Credit: Outklassfitness.com

Bringing Social Back Into the Physical Realm through Co-Working

Online social networking has become all the rage in recent years as a way to build brands and communities and to engage on pretty much any topic you can imagine, from dating to radio, enthusiast groups, religion, politics, customer forums, etc.

The corporate office setup has become more virtual as well, with more progressive companies recognizing that they can eliminate geographic barriers and hire wherever the talent resides simply by adding “strong ability to work effectively on remote teams” to their list of desired skill sets. 

The remote workforce is a win-win endeavor. It saves the company in operational expense and ease recruiting challenges through access to a broader applicant pool, and it adds convenience, balance, and flexibility for the employee. Both enjoy the added productivity that comes with having upwards of 2 hours or more in commuting time each day re-allocated to work, networking, etc. 

But what about the employees who thrive on in-person office structures? Are they out of luck? Not at all. Co-Working facilities, such as Cambridge Co-Working Center earn their profits by facilitating the collaboration and camaraderie that many relish from sharing ideas in-person. This concept is not new, but it has traditionally been limited to people working for the same employer. Co-working in 2012 brings together entrepreneurs, engineers, artists, etc from different industries and companies to inspire and motivate one another. Many employees choose to split their time between co-working  locations and their home offices.

And of course, it didn’t take long for clever people to merge online social networks with in-person co-working. Meetup  groups have been emerging in various cities, including New York, Boston, LA, and Chicago, which gather people together for co-working opportunities that they create themselves. So now, freelancers and other self-employed professionals are taking advantage of co-working. 

The bottom line is that people are most productive, happy, and creative when they can work in the manner and style to which they can achieve the greatest success. Carry on.

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/ORAwyR

Social Networking Lessons From Grade School Children and Their Teachers

No more pencils, no more books....OK, that little sing-song is revealing just how long it’s been since I was in school. And another academic year comes to a close. Over the past year, I’ve spent the majority of my free time in the company of grammar school teachers, and have drawn some key lessons about social media from them and from their students that I apply to my dual professions- integrated marketing and fitness/lifestyle. 

Social Media Lessons For Corporate and Fitness/Lifestyle Marketers From Schoolchildren and Teachers:

• It’s not about having the most toys or even the most expensive toys; it’s about having the best toys and convincing everyone else to want them.
• It’s not about having the most friends (or customers or fans or followers); it’s about devoting your energy to those who are most relevant to you.
• There are many ways to share what you’ve learned. The best way is to tell people with a few clear words and a loud voice.
• If you boast about something great you can do (i.e. on the playground, bench press, or in a data security algorithm), be prepared to deliver or you will be like the boy who cried wolf.
• Digital media is great but it doesn’t replace the ability to see, touch, hear, taste, and smell simultaneously. Play to all the senses.
• You never know what a child (or customer, or training client) is dealing with outside the classroom. Be gentle. 
• You may be good at baseball but fall short in gymnastics. Ask someone who is talented in gymnastics to help you. And then you help him in baseball. You both improve. That’s how it works.
• If your parents do your homework for you, how will you ever learn? 
• Your idea of “good” or “better” may be different from someone else’s. Understand what your students, teachers, clients, managers, etc. think is “great.” Perception is reality.
• If you offend someone, say you’re sorry. If someone offends you, accept her apology. We’re all human.
• Social forums are not just for complaints. If you like something, tell everyone you know. You may even wish to draw a picture. 
• We can measure a lot of things: grades, revenue, member retention, etc. But some things--such as true causality for a purchase decision or enjoyment of phys ed and music classes--do not have established metrics. Yet, their benefits are substantial and lasting.
• Misunderstandings and miscommunications happen despite our best efforts to avoid them. We’re human. It’s never just one person’s fault. Hug it out and move on. 
• Share your snacks. You may be hungry yourself someday. 
• You can succeed without someone else having to fail. We’re all better off if we just help each other. 
• If you focus on the task at hand, you can complete all the major work before 2:00PM. 
• If you hear it as a song, you’re more likely to remember it.
• Along with titles such as Classroom Monitor, Prefect, Vice President of Marketing, and Personal Trainer come great responsibility across the entire matrix. Don’t just manage up. 
• A group of like-minded people uniting for a common goal is extremely powerful. Want to know just how powerful? Ask any teacher who has tried to keep 32 second graders calm on a field trip. 
• We are always learning, always growing, always improving. Enjoy the process.

And to all my teacher friends--any chance you could use your social media influence to convince corporations around the world of the value in having summers off? My thanks in advance. Oh, and one more thing--I really need a new sing-song. 

Photo credit: http://frontier3.wordpress.com/

Etiquette Snafus- From the Office to the Gym

As over 1/3 of US adults are obese*, more and more companies are allocating funds to wellness programs and health education to prevent illness that can result in high costs associated with absences and reduced productivity, not to mention increasing health insurance costs. These companies encourage--and some even fund--employees’ efforts to work fitness into their daily routines.

We’ve seen articles about office etiquette don’ts and a whole slew of pet peeves at the gym. And naturally, as more office dwellers are permeating the fitness clubs, there will be some commonalities. Just a few consistent sore spots:

-Cell phone use - People answering and actually taking calls during meetings, in the locker room, and on the treadmill. I actually witnessed someone have an entire conversation on a mobile phone in the middle of a group yoga teacher training workshop. Even my loudest “Ommmm” didn’t drown out the sound.

-Failing to clean up your messes- There’s nothing like climbing onto a step machine and placing your hand into a pool of sweat. Wipe down the machines. And when you inadvertently leave someone off a meeting invitation or throw someone under the bus in a widespread email distribution (I’m sure you’d never do it intentionally), correct the error and offer a genuine apology.

-Loud or strong-smelling food- Chomping on gum, crunching on chips, and exposing people to the smell of tuna fish or egg salad in any close-quarters environment is in poor taste. And yes, people have been spotted doing this at the gym as well.

-Unruly children- While it may seem to you to be a child’s dream come true to sit quietly in the guest chair at your office for 8 hours or on a bench in the locker room while you shower, change, and chat with your friends, it’s not. Ask your kids. And when kids are bored, they find ways to entertain themselves, which are often disruptive to others. Can’t blame the kids.

-Temper tantrums- No, this one is not about the kids. Stressful situations occur all the time- sales and revenue take a downturn, the club makes an error in billing your dues, office politics become problematic, you have to wait to get onto a cardio machine. How you behave in these moments can be very telling of your character.

There’s nothing wrong with holding people to basic rules of common courtesy. And you will get the best results if you do so with compassion and understanding--we all have bad days. Try a simple “excuse me, could you take that call outside please?” or even a comical (but not sarcastic) quip that pokes fun of the situation, not the person (i.e. “Carol Brady made it look so easy but she had a full time nanny”). And keep pumping iron. A fit and healthy lifestyle has been known to improve mood and ability to manage stress.


Photo Credit: Pure Mobile
*Source: http://www.downtoearth.org/health/nutrition/obesity-america

You Wanna Do WHAT in 2012???

Oh no, not another how-to-keep-your-new-year’s-resolution article. No (phew). This article will not dispense advice about how to keep your resolutions.

Because before you can figure out how to keep your resolutions, it’s even more important to determine how to make them in the first place.

According to a Marist poll (Time Magazine, 2010), only 65% of people who make a resolution keep it for at least part of the year and 35% never even get off the ground. This is not due solely to laziness or lack of motivation. It could also be the case because most people do not create the right resolutions for them in the first place, which herein will be referred to as “goals.”

We have learned the importance of setting ourselves up for success with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-Oriented, Time-Bound) goals, and that’s important but even more important is the sentiment behind them.

Before committing to a goal, ask yourself the following, and remember these are about you so there is no right answer.

Is this goal authentic to who I am? Are you pursuing the goal because you really desire the outcome or because you feel outside pressure? Maybe you want to get along better with your co-workers, always a noble cause. Ask yourself how this matches up to your core values. Are you seeking to create more harmony in the workplace, or to complete work faster through teaming? Or are you looking to advance your own career to earn a promotion or to avoid negative consequence after receiving feedback from others that you need to improve your interpersonal skills? How does this goal resonate with who you are? What does “getting along better” mean to you? Is this really what you need to accomplish or would you be better served to work on seeing others’ perspectives both inside and outside the office? Again, none of these are wrong as long as they resonate with your true self. Or maybe you want to spend more time with your children. Is the reason that you have been spending too much time doing something of lesser priority or that it isn’t about time at all but more about becoming more engaged in their lives?

What do I actually want? For example, suppose you’re debating with your significant other about what to do for the weekend. You want to got to the beach and relax with a good book and a margarita or two. S/he wants to go sightseeing. When you you look at the desired result instead of the activity, you see that you seek relaxation while s/he wants to experience a new adventure. Understanding this, you could select activities that accomplish both of your desires.

The Marist poll revealed that the #1 New Year’s goal is weight loss. And yet so many people fail at this goal year after year, or they go gangbusters at the gym, lose the weight, only to regain thereafter. Perhaps the weight loss itself shouldn't be their primary focus, but rather what they think achieving it will do--make them healthier; increase energy levels; improve mood, concentration, sexual performance, effectiveness at work, etc; make their jeans fit better, etc. If you start with the desired result, you can set your goal and a number of measurable objectives to accomplish that goal. 3x weekly cardio workouts, for example, is just one tactic. If you want your jeans to fit better, you may choose to track your progress by photographing yourself in those jeans monthly and adjusting your tactics as needed. But know what you really want to happen as a result of meeting your goal. You may decide you need to re-state the goal to align to your true desire.

What’s in it for me? As is the case when you contemplate any big purchase, new job, etc, you need to understand how you will benefit from achieving the goal. If your goal is to fit into a dress for your sister’s wedding, what will be your net gain? The feeling of confidence at the wedding? Conformity with others who will be in the photos? The start to a healthier you? Would your net benefit be greater if you maintain that size permanently? Could you get an even bigger bang-for-the-buck by combining this goal with another one? For example, if you also seek more social interaction, you could enroll in group fitness classes to accomplish both fitting into the dress size and meeting new people. Again, there are no wrong answers. Just be very clear on how you want to benefit and then ask yourself if the goal you’ve outlined will help you achieve this.

And never be afraid to iterate. Your goals and resolutions are for you so if your desires and feelings change, go with it. And be sure to write everything down, track your progress, and celebrate your success. Now that’s SMART.

Got Value?

Any marketer worth her salt is familiar with the concept of value-based selling. But where is value derived? Can customers be sub-segmented based on their core value drivers?

It depends on the customer and on the buying decision at hand. It is a pretty safe bet that some element of the experience is at play in just about every buying decision--whether that experiential element is the level of convenience in making a low touch purchase--i.e. pack of gum that is prominently placed at the grocery store checkout counter--or the amount of attention a customer receives from a service department after making a large-volume, high dollar IT purchase.

In general, the more risk that’s involved and the higher the touch in a buying decision, the larger a role an individual’s value system will play, relegating him or her to a segment of one.

And if you think about it, experiential elements stem from consumer values in all aspects of life. Recall the last time you bought a house or car, decided whether to commit to a personal relationship, or chose to take a new job. What was involved in that decision? If you’re like many people, you made a list of desirable attributes that became decision criteria.

Many of the value-driven attributes on our lists reflect our desire not only to benefit from the positive, but to avoid negative experiences we’ve had in the past. For example, a person who felt lonely in a past relationship may seek affection in the next one; the car buyer whose last vehicle broke down unexpectedly on the highway may prioritize reliability in his auto purchase; and the legal assistant who felt unappreciated in her last job may seek a new role with a firm that has a formal recognition program.

I admit to using such lists to organize my thoughts for all of those big decisions, and that they all stem from my values and desired experiences. I value safety in a vehicle over comfort; attentiveness and fidelity in a relationship over financial abundance; creative freedom in a job over title and bonus incentives. For these, I could be listed among sub-segments of people who share similar values. However, other elements I seek separate me from these segments. For example, growing up in small spaces amidst a large family, I developed an affinity for storage space. For me, sharing a closet is a stronger indicator of commitment in a relationship than a ring. When evaluating vendors and contractors for work, past experiences with a few who required extensive amounts of management time lead me to look for people who are resourceful problem-solvers.

So the next time you are considering your segmentation models for your marketing efforts, look through the wider lens of desired experiences stemming from individual values.

Oh, and stay out of my closet!


Photo Credit: Magicofteams.com