Second Prize: Engaged staff, increased retention, teamwork and trust.

First Prize: A long-term, company-wide culture of awareness of the importance of respecting and protecting corporate information. Employee-driven emphasis on its role in trust-based business relationships, legal obligations to business partners, competitive advantage etc.

In CPS’s Managing Millennials workshop, we suggest many ways to give your Generation Ys some variety in their work, to engage their interest and loyalty, and to offer some outlet for their creative minds, as they focus on routine tasks. Most of these suggestions leverage their technological and generational-specific skills, for the well-being of the organization.

We have recently added another interesting task. Please consider adding it to your list.

Large amounts of proprietary information, including details of prospective contracts and other material that falls into the area of “stuff that shouldn’t be out there” is getting onto the web through blogging, social networking and other breaches of privacy.

Let us assume:

1) that you have trained your Generation Ys, as covered in the workshop, on privacy guidelines and confidentiality.

2) that you are working towards a collaborative and trust-based relationship with your people, because you know the business need for this and the bottom-line values of engagement and retention.

3) that you know the size of the threat of the web-based privacy problem and the numbers involved (look at things like www.websense.com)

You could take a Big Brother approach to protecting your valuable information, and sign up with an information monitoring service. You could take a collaborative, team-based approach and rotate the task amongst your GenYs and GenXs. This will a) get the job done, b) give them some fun, varied tasks (and you know what that’s worth!) and c) create a deep and lasting culture of awareness of the importance of protecting corporate information. And culture change is always the first prize.

It’s not hard to do. [Remember that other generations might be interested - do not exclude them, especially if you are a small enough organization.]

• Call a meeting (remember that pizza!) or send out an email (using E-writing, people…  not 20th century Composition 101!)
• Present the problem of information security, and some information about what various companies are doing about it.
• Put your people into groups or a group to discuss approaches. (You know the drill – a time limit or 24 hours to email group leader and 24 more for the synthesized group responses).
• Take feedback and let them map most of the plan. Review your Marshall Goldsmith rules, and don’t hijack the project because you know more than them. Don’t let them run amok – provide clear guidelines like time off the main job for any one person.
• The end product must have clear objectives and metrics, clear time frames, and must be high on direction, with strong structure from a good executor. No fuzzy edges, no dependence on a “big vision with minimal direction.” The whole thing must run on a system, with short goal spans, not on people remembering things. The check-ins, check-ups and assessments must all be put in the system at the very beginning.
• Encourage your team towards continuous improvement, and ownership of the project. A Ning-based or intra-net based discussion forum for the team (with senior management on the group) would be a great idea.
• Remember to give feedback to your praise-hungry young talent. And any other generations involved. Remember? You said you kinda also like feedback, and you enjoy being praised too!

Let CPS know how you’re doing Glynis

In July 2009, the BBC World Service reported a $180 million cost to United Airlines, when Dave Carroll’s viral video “United Breaks Guitars” led to a share price drop of approximately 10%. www.longislandexchange.com

Carroll’s band and other passengers witnessed guitars being thrown on the tarmac by careless baggage handlers before take-off, and reported this to United staff. Three people showed no interest in their plight, and United dodged his $1200 claim for a $3,500 guitar for a year before denying it completely. Carroll’s song (complete with the badly-mutilated guitar) is apparently destined to become a United training tool. Enjoy it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Disengagement is a major business problem, with many causes. These include a lack of skillful management, selection/succession procedures that do not put the right person in the right job, and inattention to climate and culture. And, of course,  measurable, affordable and effective learning interventions.

CPS is privileged to work with some truly excellent companies, who drive engagement from the top, and have a strong awareness of the cost of disengagement, and its consequences.  They have put the real numbers on retention,  productivity, service, quality, innovation, on-going process improvement, collaborative intelligence and the on-going development of competitive advantage.

Those who want to drive change in the engagement issue do best when they produce the numbers. No one gets out of their comfort zone without a compelling case for action, and many of the people who make key decisions have a background of thinking in terms of numbers, not on whether their people bring their whole selves to work.

Give them the real, hard numbers, plus the basis on which those numbers were derived (c-psolutions has things like how to calculate the cost of turnover etc if anyone needs them). Show them the hard research on why people go through the motions at work or leave their jobs. Give them valid metrics on the impact of disengagement on sales, service and customer retention.

Theory speaks to some people, but the business case is the best and most compelling reason to take the action needed to engage our workforce.

And to stop people breaking those poor guitars.

CPS is eligible to provide custom solutions to clients with state funding assistance, and helps our clients to source these. As a values- and ethics-based small business, CPS specializes in affordable, lasting solutions to people and business challenges.

You can use the following information to develop a company-specific spreadsheet to estimate your turnover and retention costs. CPS does not guarantee that this list is complete.

The 2008 WIR report begins the cost of staff turnover at 1.5 x annual salary. Please let me know if you would like to see that report. Email: Glynis[@]glynis.com

Turnover includes both direct / measurable costs, and indirect / hidden costs.  Both will show up on your bottom line.

The following calculation assumes that your employee gave you two weeks notice. You also had two weeks of job vacancy, which you covered with a temp employee.

You can estimate hourly employee salary costs the easy way: Hourly employee cost = annual salary divided by 1000.

Calculating hourly rates: the average employee in the US works about 2,000 hours each year. Add benefits, payroll costs, and the various other costs of having an employee (people have this habit of needing break-rooms, coffee and bathrooms that businesses have to pay for). Employee time therefore costs out around annual salary divided by 1000. (CPS always reminds our clients of this, when one of the Counties pay for our services: we’re not really free – you’re also investing!)

So what is your turnover going to cost, for the average employee?

Direct Costs

Termination of outgoing employee
• Termination processing – administrative support: 0.5 hour, HR rate
• Temination processing – management: 2 hours, management rate
• Exit interviews – human resources staff and/or external consultant: 1 hour
• Severance pay: $?
• Accrued vacation: $?
• Continued benefits: $?

Vacancy period
• HR liaison with temp agency: 2 hours, HR rate
• Temporary help – 40 hours wages @ $
• Temp agency service commission @ $
• Accounting: checking details and payment of temp agency: 0.5 hours, (A/c admin rate
• Alternative: Overtime for co-workers @ 80 hours

Recruitment
• Writing and placing job ad: 1 hour, HR rate
• Running job ad @ $ (Web and/or print options)
• Alternative: Third party recruiter fees @ $
• Other (e.g. referral bonus) @ $
• Administering and monitoring recruiting process: 2 hours HR rate

Selection and hiring
• Application screening: 0.5 – 3 hours, HR rate
• Interviewing: 3 – ? hours, HR and management rates
• Reference check: 1.5 hours +, HR rate
• Job offer and negotiations (job level dependent): 0.5 + hours, HR rate
• Finalizing employee contract: 0.5 – 1 hour
• Relocation cost? $?
• Other (e.g. signing bonus)? $?

On-boarding, orientation and training
• New hire processing (e.g. benefits set up): 1 – 2 hours, HR rate
• Orientation: 2 hours, HR rate + employee (new hire) rate
• Orientation materials such as employee literature @ $?
• Uniforms, company shirts, stationery, computer software and setups, equipment @ $?
• On-boarding, in-house training, coaching @ 40 hours + (employee time)
• On-boarding, in-house training, coaching: ? hours at trainer/mentor/buddy/management rate (depending on class size, shadowing etc.
• Training materials, equipment and other costs @ $?
• External training @ $?
• Other (e.g. licensing, certification fees depending on industry)

Total of Common Direct Costs

Indirect Costs
• Lost productivity of incumbent, prior to departure (estimate: 2 weeks prior to departure): 50%, 40 hours, employee rate
• Lost productivity of co-workers or subordinates (estimate: 2 co-workers x 2 weeks): 25%, 40 hours, employee rate
• Lost productivity/time of supervisor during vacancy (2 weeks) 30%, management/supervisory rate
• Lost productivity/time of supervisor during on-boarding, orientation and training: 30%. 40 hours: management/supervisory rate
• Lost productivity of new hire during initial transition (week 1): 50% – 100% depending on the nature of training/on-boarding program: 20- 40 hours, employee rate
• Lost productivity of new hire during weeks 2 and 3 of transition (assumes a relatively simple learning curve). 25% + or 20 hours.
• Increased defects/operating errors during temp’s work period (vacancy period) or new hire’s transition to competency: $?
• Dissatisfied or lost customers during vacancy or transition. Varies considerably depending on whether employee forged relationships with customers or ran key systems: $?
• Missed opportunities during dislocation (by outgoing employee, new hire, distracted co-workers, manager/supervisor or temp): $?
• Other: e.g. damage to trust, motivation, teamwork. reputation or employment brand. This depends on the circumstances of the termination, and is affected by the personality and generation of the old employee and those who remain. The managerial skills of the supervisor/manager affect this too. Look at sites like www.glassdoor.com to see some effects of current and outgoing employees using the transparency of the web. The ubiquitous flashdrive-on-the-keyring goes out the door with the employee, and with it may go proprietary information. Please see www.managingthemillennials.com/survey. Please contact www.c-psolutions.com for these results.

Total of Indirect Costs: $ _________

Total Costs of Turnover (Direct + Indirect): $ __________

1.     What your customers say:

Generation Y is a worldwide phenomenon. In the USA, our 80 million Millennials are a daily challenge to how we strategize, manage, and market.

Open a business publication.  Organizations are constantly criticized for poor service that is specifically blamed on disengaged GenYs. I tested this today: the St Pete’s Times listed AOL, Comcast, Sprint, Abercrombie & Fitch, Qwest, Capital One, Bank of America, Time Warner Cable, HSBC Finance, and Cox Communications as examples: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article749365.ece

There are well-researched solutions to these issues. There are specific management skill-sets and behaviors that prevent or cure the problem.

The most successful companies are helping their loyal and innovative Gen Y employees to create new solutions to product and service delivery. They are turning their customers into fans, (think of Apple) and then into an unpaid marketing army. These techniques have also been analyzed, documented and can be reproduced.

2.     What your employees say:

Are your people paying lip-service to the talent squeeze, the Boomer exodus, the global skills race, or the effects of the operator-manager who keeps doing more and more, with less and less?

When you ask about your employment brand, do you get a blank look and a “Huh? What’s an employment brand?”

If you have even a single manager who says, “our strength is our people… you can’t succeed in business without good people” but doesn’t walk that talk, visit the world of the Millennials. Start any place where Gen X and GenY talk – www.glassdoor.com is a good example of the explosion of organization transparency and employment brand sites.  (Also see http://blog.glassdoor.com/)

CPS uses custom surveys (www.ManagingTheMillennials.com/survey) to explore or validate key points that differentiate successful management or business processes from those that give less effective results.

3.     The Millennial guarantee

We live in an uncertain and high-risk economic climate. Maybe there’ll be a tremor near a Californian nuclear energy plant tomorrow. Nigerian oil fields might come under attack. Bananas might develop a new disease.

Can you be sure of anything? Certainly. There are nearly 80 million Millennials in the USA alone. They have predictable traits and characteristics that will affect your organization for years to come. They already have more than $200 billion in spending power. They have billions more dollars in spending influence. The organizations that understand them, in the private, public and non-profit sector, have a massive advantage in hard numbers on the bottom line.

CPS receives good support from those who promote prosperity in our economic community.

Our highly qualified, creative Millennials work together with deeply-experienced older specialists, and we have alliances with national companies that specialize in Gen Y issues. Together we support our client organizations as they build on their Millennial advantages. We ensure that they know how to fix systems with potential Millennial-based problems, before these even have a chance to affect their business process.

4.    County funds for CPS custom workshops, organizational development or other CPS support:

CPS is an authorized provider to entities like Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance, the High Tech Corridor, Pinellas, Pasco Career Central etc. These EDCs will match investment in training your managers, or other staff, to create measurably more profitable, productive and stable enterprises.

If you are in another county, please let us know. We have all contact details and will provide your local Economic Development authority with CPS’s supplier diversity and other credentials.

The cost, to both women and organizations, is high.

Research proves that when women do ask for what they want, they do not do so as clearly, quickly or as often as men do. GenX and GenY women are following in the footsteps of their Boomer and Traditional predecessors in this pattern.

Women also tend to think that what is offered (“what is on the table”) is all that is available. Men draw on their socialization (which includes things like being taught how to slip the Maitre d’ a few bucks for a better table) and assume that their wants and needs might be met if they speak up, irrespective of what seems to be on offer.

Organizations suffer. Their valuable women work and wait for rewards or options, then one day, *poof*! They’re working for your competitor or running their own small business, and you’re saying “why didn’t she TELL me she wanted that position, the same salary as John, that title, a new computer screen, a more flexible schedule, a space heater? It would have cost so little … a tiny fraction of what this is costing us now!”

Linda Babcock, Co-author of “Women Don’t Ask”, admits that those who ask, often get. She describes how she, herself, gave more resources and opportunities to men in her department, while she was researching the way women are socialized to wait for rewards, and why women don’t imagine possibilities outside The System. She did this because men asked.

Great read: “Women Don’t Ask” (by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever) has some great strategies for managing men and women who are valuable assets to your organization, but do not ask clearly for what they want. It’s also a must-read for working women or parents of daughters.