Author: Mary Ila Ward

Week 5

Mileage: 32 (I only ran 28- I fell down the steps on Sunday and my foot looked like this for the beginning of the week.)

Long Run Distance:  13 (Half- Marathon Race)

 

We ran 14 miles last Saturday, the longest distance my husband and training partner have ever run.  It went fairly well, but running towards the “finish line” of this run topped it off as a memorable one. As we rounded the corner, we could see that someone had left four cold beers on the curb for us.  Our neighbors had timed our return and set them out, gleefully watching through the windows to gauge our reactions. It was a fun surprise (regardless of whether or not we even wanted a beer or not) for a variety of reasons that I think leaders can learn from:

1. Pay attention. The surprise showed us that our neighbors knew enough about what we were doing and when we were doing it to time our “reward” right.   They were going out of their way to pay attention, placing the beers on the curb in just enough time to not be seen but also make sure they were still cold.  Do you pay attention enough as a leader to be able to catch people in a way that surprises and delights them?

2. Know your people in order to customize. They knew us well enough to customize our beer selections, and to even take it a step backwards, know that we actually drink beer. (Don’t get caught up on the beer here as the example if you’re not into alcohol or disagree with drinking.  More power to you if you are, but the beer is just a metaphor for anything that is customized to your people to surprise and delight).  Do you know your people well enough to customize surprise or planned rewards to be meaningful?

3. Create an experience that lasts longer than the actual reward. The surprise created an experience for us that we will remember.  It was unique, funny, and our neighbors came out of the house after we reacted to our treat (Drew gulped his down, I still reached for the water) and they helped us celebrate the run.  I’m sure this will become a “remember the time when story” amongst our neighbors. In the competitive marketplace for talent, employers and leaders who create experiences for their people that are memorable and unique will attract and retain talent more effectively.  Are you creating experiences that last with your employees?

Go surprise and delight today!

 

 

Although the great recession of 2008-2009 is still a fixture in many peoples’ minds, the job market has changed substantially since those recession years.   I’m hearing more HR pros and business leaders complain about not being able to source and hire quality talent in a broader set of areas than usual.   We aren’t just complaining about the need for computer programmers and skilled tradespersons anymore.

According to the latest BLS Report on job openings and labor turnover,  “Job openings have trended upward since their series low in July 2009, and have surpassed the prerecession peak (April 2007). In July 2016, there were 5.9 million job openings.”  If you don’t think it has happened yet, you’re wrong- job seekers, or those not so active but passive job candidates that we really want, are back in the driver’s seat.

Given this information, there are three things you can do:

1. Lower your expectations and hire to those lowered standards
2. Lure the best talent in by upping your pay rates above the competition
3. Develop your internal talent to be prepared to fill the jobs now and for the future

 

What I see most often happening in a talent crunch is companies looking externally instead of internally to address the problem, yet they don’t lower their expectations or raise their pay.  Then we get the definition of insanity, which is doing the same thing you’ve always done and expecting different results.

Look internally to address your talent shortage woes.  This puts the investment you’ve already made in hiring to better use and it should even motivate your millennials as well as others to stay with you because you are invested in their growth.

How do you keep labor market trends from causing problems for you and your organization?

 

 

 

Week 4

Week 4 Mileage: 31

Long Run Distance:  13

 

I don’t just run to run, and I don’t just work to work.

I run for the health benefits, which is probably the most common reason cited to run, but I also run for the social camaraderie,  for good conversations, and for the endorphins and productivity it produces. I’m sure there are more reasons, but for now, that will do. Oh, and because it provides good ideas for blog posts.

I work, as many primarily do, in order to provide for my family along with my husband. But I also work to try to make a difference in people’s lives, for the social interaction, and if I’m honest with myself, to try to prove or justify my worth.  And it also provides for good blogging content.

In reality though, I could combine my list for running and working into one, because I talk about work when I run and a talk about running when I work.  Many of the reasons overlap or are one in the same, and they all roll into how and why I do life the way I do.

I happen to, also, (just barely) be a millennial. One of the stand-out features and values you will see in the literature about my generation is the need and desire for work-life balance, or what I would prefer to call work-life integration.

In a Runner’s World article and another corresponding article in the print version of the magazine, a study about what millennial runners want emphasized the surge in millennials gravitating towards the half-marathon distance. Making up 43% of the running population, millennials run primarily as a way to stay fit, not primarily to compete, and as a way to do fun too with pre and post race parties and travel destinations. The half marathon distance is the perfect one to train well, have fun, and not let running take over your life. The Disney Princess race is cited as drawing the most attention for millennials, for all of these reasons. The article concludes by saying, “Here’s a plan for anyone who wants to train for 13.1 like a millennial- running without giving up other activities you love.”

And just like millennials don’t want to sacrifice other parts of their life in order to be able to run and race, they also don’t want to sacrifice and segregate for the sake of work.

Work isn’t and shouldn’t be stand-alone activity and running isn’t either.  It’s a way to incorporate and integrate.

Here are some ideas for creating an integrated culture in the work place to help spark not only millennials’ engagement, but also your entire workforce:

• Offer and make community service opportunities a part of work.
• Set-up a mechanism for interest groups to form. Who knows, a running group may emerge.
• Offer flexibility in scheduling in order for employees to structure their day that allows for integration of other life activities.
• Larger employers offer one-stop services on-site like fitness centers, daycares, cafes and even dry cleaning and massage services on site.  For more on this and how it can be justified with the business bottom line, check out Work Rules!  for insights from inside Google.
• And quite simply and most importantly, hire and train leaders who are focused on seeing employees first as people, with lives in and outside of work.  This promotes leaders to ask and care about people’s whole lives.

You don’t necessarily have to create a princess race to draw engagement, but all of these things, if done right, lead to more engagement in the workplace, which has been tied time and time again to better results.

What leads to more engagement for you in the workplace and in life?

 

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