by Fronetics | Oct 18, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media
Supply chain and logistics executives should be using their celebrity on social media to be the public face of their businesses and an extension of their brands.
Here at Fronetics, we talk a lot about the importance of a social media presence for supply chain and logistics businesses. Most companies use social media to build brand awareness, communicate with a target audience, and, of course, attract new leads and customers. It’s highly effective.
But I am a strong believer that executives should also be on social media, as themselves, representing their brands and establishing themselves as thought leaders in the industry.
With their relative celebrity, supply chain and logistics executives are uniquely positioned to attract a following of customers, prospects, potential talent, industry peers, and admirers. They can use social media to connect with these people, share their ideas and industry news, and become the human face of their brands. It amplifies the company’s social media efforts in a way brands can’t do themselves. After all, social media is about connecting with people.
It makes sense, right? But in reality, 61 percent of fortune 500 CEOs have no social presence whatsoever. It’s an enormous missed opportunity.
Think of what these 3 CEOs’ social media presence has done for their brands.
With almost 12 million Twitter followers, the founder and owner of Virgin Group was named the top CEO on social media. Branson insists on creating his authentic content — from funny, personal stories to pictures — himself, and his commitment to posting daily keeps followers engaged. The resulting dialogue and relationship with followers has helped elevate his personal brand and Virgin as well.
Co-founder, president and former chief editor of the Huffington Post, Huffington was an early adopter of social media as a marketing tool. She has used her success at Huff Post and her personal social media presence to increase visibility to her newer projects, including Thrive Global.
Musk has committed to being authentic and open about the ups and downs of his business ventures, and his followers have responded favorably with an almost cult-like following. His personal account’s audience is more than double the number of followers combined for his three companies. Taking a page from Apple’s play book, Musk has used the reveal of new Tesla models and Space X rockets to stir up a buzz about projects. These live stream reveals are flashy, yet cool and casual, and have garnered over a million views.
Supply chain and logistics executives killing social media
This is not to say that there are not some supply chain and logistics executives who are capitalizing on using their personal brands on social media. Here are some as an example:
- Kelli Saunders, Morai Logistics
- Peter Tirschwell, IHS Markit
- Hailey McKeefrey, EBN
Which executives do you follow on social media?
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by Fronetics | Oct 16, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Talent
Google trains new managers in these six areas to make them highly effective leaders.
When you think of the word “manager,” you associate it with leadership. (Or, at least, I do.) But the two don’t necessarily go hand in hand.
Being a manager is just a position; a leader is something more. Oftentimes the skills that get people promoted to the managerial level don’t necessarily make them effective leaders. Then you’re stuck with managers that can’t lead, and that’s a problem. (See How to Be a Bad Leader: 6 Common Characteristics of Poor Leadership.)
Lucky for us, organizations like Google have spent years researching what makes an effective manager. Using Project Oxygen, an internal study analyzing more than 10,000 manager impressions, Google identified 8 habits of highly effective managers, which the company now uses to train new managers. Google shares this presentation through the re:Work website, which focuses on 6 key attributes.
6 key attributes of highly effective managers
1. Mindset and values
Dr. Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, studied the science of growth mindset, the belief that intelligence can be cultivated. Project Oxygen showed that productive leaders live this philosophy at work. They are eager to learn, take risks, and challenge themselves — all of which ultimately boost their performance.
Also, Google empowers new managers to leverage their individual values in their management styles. This drives deeper meaning into their work and supports them when they, inevitably, need to make tough decisions.
2. Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize emotions in yourself and others, and leverage this awareness to manage behavior and relationships. Managers who are emotionally intelligent make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and seem more relatable to employees. They can better control the emotional climate of the workplace by anticipating employees’ needs and creating an environment that supports them.
3. Manager transition
Google has new managers share the challenges, surprises, and frustrations of their transition from individual contributor to supervisor. This not only teaches that it’s ok to be vulnerable and honest, but also encourages others to offer advice and to help devise actionable new strategies.
4. Coaching
A good coach nurtures and grows the talent on his/her team. The positive effects impact more than just team performance. Research by the Human Capital Institute and the International Coaching Federation shows that a strong coaching culture increases employee engagement and revenue growth.
Google defines good coaching as:
- Timely and specific feedback
- Delivering hard feedback in a motivational and thoughtful way
- Tailoring approaches to meet individual communication styles in regular one-on-one meetings
- Practicing empathetic “active” listening and being fully present
- Being cognizant of your own mindset and that of the employee
- Asking open-ended questions to discover an employee’s acumen
5. Feedback
“Embrace bad news to learn where you need the most improvement.” — Bill Gates
The purpose of feedback is to improve performance and foster professional growth. But words can hurt, and employees can interpret constructive criticism as an attack. Thus, the ability to provide feedback effectively is essential for any manager.
Google teaches new managers to be consistent across their teams when delivering feedback, and to balance the negative with positive. It’s also important to treat these conversations as a dialogue, not a monologue. Being authentic and stating growth opportunities in a clear and compassionate way will build trust between new managers and their employees.
6. Decision making
Effective leaders take on the tough task of making decisions and, often, with little time to deliberate. Managers make decisions taking into account their personal values, as well as the values of their organization, and they must be consistent over time.
It’s also important that managers occasionally throw their ideas out to their team and ask for feedback. By creating solutions that are based on a comprehensive understanding of the issue, managers are able to make decisions based on their internal compass, as well as the feedback from others.
After implementing this new-manager training program, Google saw statistically significant improvement in 75% of its underperforming managers. That speaks to the impact these 6 areas have on the effectiveness of new managers. And managers have a major impact on the effectiveness of their teams. So a great new manager can be all the difference for a company. In the words of Andrew Carnegie, “People don’t like to follow leaders who are dedicated only to their own personal glory, but they will sacrifice everything for leaders and communities who give them a higher calling, a greater purpose.’”
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by Fronetics | Oct 5, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
A hot temper. Moodiness. Micromanagement. These are common traits of a bad leader.
What’s the number one reason talented employees quit? Gallop polls show that 50% of employees cite their managers as the reason for leaving. A bad leader can cost your company. And poor leadership at the highest levels of a company can be detrimental to a business (Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes and Turing Pharmaceuticals’ Martin Shkreli, as two recent examples).
While we often write about successful leaders and positive leadership traits, I think it’s about time we start talking about the opposite end of the spectrum. Here are 6 common characteristics of poor leadership that should be red flags to all companies.
6 ways to be a bad leader
1. Lack of transparency
Everyone appreciates honesty and transparency, and the same holds true in a professional setting. Even if you’re trying to prevent worry or stress, employees know when you’re not giving them the full picture and it makes their jobs more difficult.
Your team will appreciate knowing where they stand within the company and the greater goals you’re trying to accomplish. Oftentimes this leads to more focused and driven employees, who take pride in being part of a team working toward mutual goals.
2. Insulting employees in front of their coworkers
We all make mistakes. We are human, after all. But how a supervisor reacts to an employee’s mistakes is a direct reflection of their leadership style — good or bad.
We have all witnessed a leader get upset when issues arise. That’s natural when s/he is invested in the business. Good leaders know cooler heads prevail, offering constructive criticism in an appropriate one-on-one setting. But a bad leader berates employees in a group setting. Instead of helping employees learn from mistakes, his behavior only alienates people and causes resentment.
3. Micromanaging
I bet you are thinking of a specific manager from your past, as I am. Micromanaging may be my least favorite characteristic of bad leadership. Nothing says, “I don’t have faith in your work,” like a boss that is constantly looking over your shoulder.
Employees are only able to grow and develop if they are allowed to do so. Supervisors should provide direction and then empower their teams to get the work done. Your employees will become more confident and productive knowing they have your trust in their abilities and the space to be creative.
4. Lack of empathy
As leaders, we must understand that our jobs are important, but so are our employees. Understanding the challenges that your team faces, both professionally and personally, is key to creating happy and productive employees. When supervisors work to alleviate barriers, they create a supportive culture among their team.
5. Inconsistency
Last-minute changes, mixed signals, and overall inconsistency can lead to confusion and frustration within your team. Leaders who blow up at one person but listen intently to another foster fear among employees, who become unsure of how to approach you. That leads to lack of communication, which is never good for business.
Lack of consistency leads to a lack of trust and slows productivity. Employees that are unclear on direction or expectations spend time and energy worrying about how to approach their supervisors instead of how to get the job done.
6. Closed-mindedness
Feedback can be hard to hear, especially from your staff. But an unwillingness to listen to your team and take their ideas seriously will create tension.
Leaders that dig their heels in and refuse to consider new perspectives make employees feel undervalued and unable to control their own destiny. Not only does this cause employee dissatisfaction, but also leaders miss out on potentially good suggestions to improve business.
Remember, businesses don’t fail — leaders do. What other traits make a bad leader, in your experience?
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by Fronetics | Jul 18, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Talent
Great leaders are able to push employees to their fullest potential and increase productivity without causing undue stress.
In a new study published in the Harvard Business Review, managers were 30% less likely than their coworkers to be stressed out. 30% LESS!
One might assume that leadership takes the heat when it comes to performance evaluation. But we’ve all probably experienced the trickle-down effect in the workplace: If a manager is feeling pressure, it’s safe to assume the team is feeling it twice over.
Not all stress is avoidable, and sometimes certain periods of increased demand can lead to increased performance. Research shows that an optimal level of stress exists below which employees are unmotivated and above which they are overwhelmed.
Leadership consultant and author Steve Arneson describes this balance as the “leader’s dilemma:” Management works to create a balance between pushing employees and pushing them past their limits. He recommends that leaders create a safe and supportive environment where employees feel respected and, in turn, cooperative and productive.
With this is mind, it’s important to incorporate tangible ways of reducing stress for your employees. Though some of these may be obvious, with record-breaking levels of stress at work, not enough leaders are paying attention to them.
5 tricks for reducing stress while pushing talent
1. Provide certainty and clarity (when possible)
Frederick Herzberg, an influential psychologist in business management, wrote extensively about “hygiene factors” in the work place. These are basic factors that cause dissatisfaction and can include: poor relationships with supervisors, company policies, work conditions, salary, and status.
In order to promote productivity, management should focus on providing a level of certainty to its employees. Herzberg suggests fixing obstructive company policies, providing effective and non-intrusive supervision, and creating and supporting a culture of respect for all team members as a few ways to help nurture a sense of certainty.
2. Be fair
There are three drivers that determine fairness in the workplace. The first is the belief that an employee’s input is considered in a decision. Are their opinions valued and taken into consideration? The second, is how decisions are processed and implemented. Are decisions made consistently and with accurate information? The third is how a decision is reported. Are the managers listening to employees’ concerns and explaining their decisions? These three factors can help foster a sense of fairness in the work place that lead to employee satisfaction and productivity.
3. Show support and gratitude
When Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman studied results from workplace surveys, they found that 37% of managers admitted that they never gave their employees any positive reinforcement. That’s a lot of missed opportunities to tell your team that you appreciate their hard work.
Lisa Commendatore, a program director at Northeastern University, goes to the opposite extreme. She believes that rewarding her team turns them into more productive employees. “After a particularly challenging cycle, I make sure to reward my team with a thank you card or a free cup of coffee. The small gesture goes a long way.”
4. Exhibit self-confidence and competence as a leader
It is important for managers to demonstrate their competency. Through hard work, innovative ideas, willingness to take on a new challenge, and working long hours, leaders want to be seen as capable of their duties. These demonstrations don’t go unnoticed by your teams.
It’s a healthy example for employees to see that their stress and efforts are felt all the way up the corporate ladder. Workplaces lacking in trust often have a culture of “every employee for himself,” in which people feel that they must be vigilant about protecting their interests. Managers that are able to create a foundation of trust are helping to alleviate tensions in the work place.
5. Keep your word
As Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management, said in a recent HBR article, “It’s important that leaders are the prime example of thoroughly executing on their own commitments to the people who support them.”
In work, as in life, if you can’t keep your promises, then you shouldn’t make them. Employees are looking to management to fulfill its commitments, and that starts with being a leader that keeps your word. As the saying goes, treat people the way you want to be treated.
Using these strategies can help relieve employee stress at work, leading to productive and satisfied (if not, happy) employees. Recognizing and helping your team deal with their stress is what makes a leader a great one.
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by Fronetics | May 18, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Supply Chain
Add these books to your summer reading list to stay on top of industry trends and jump start your professional development.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X
Nikki Vazeos, regional sales manager at Veritiv, a leading North American distribution company, requires all of her sales reps to read one book a quarter that deals with professional development, sales techniques, or distribution trends and write a brief summary on how it applies to their day-to-day business. I always have found this kind of assignment to be beneficial on many different levels: professional growth, staying on top of industry trends, and of course, continuing education outside of the office.
If you’re a supply chain professional looking to build your summer reading list, this post is for you. Here are 5 highly recommended books that will jump start your professional reading.
5 books for supply chain professionals
1) The Resilient Enterprise
The Resilient Enterprise by Dr. Yossi Sheffi, Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT and Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, has become one of the most influential supply chain resiliency books since its publication. Though published back in 2005, the book is still extremely relevant using numerous case studies and cautionary tales of some of the world’s largest companies. Dr. Sheffi explores high-impact/low-probability supply chain disruptions and the tools companies can use to reduce the vulnerability of their supply chains while fostering an overarching culture of resiliency.
2) The Inevitable
The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly guides its readers through the 12 technological imperatives that will shape the next 30 years and transform our lives. Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives — from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to artificial intelligence embedded in everything we manufacture — can be understood as the result of a few long-term accelerating forces. Kelly both describes these trends — flowing, screening, accessing, sharing, filtering, remixing, tracking, and questioning — and demonstrates how they overlap and are codependent on one another. These larger forces will completely revolutionize the way we buy, work, learn, and communicate with each other. By understanding and embracing them, says Kelly, it will be easier for us to remain on top of the coming wave of changes and to arrange our day-to-day relationships with technology in ways that bring forth maximum benefits.
3) The 360° Leader
The 360° Leader by John C. Maxwell offers an in-depth look at the application of leadership principles, even when you’re not the boss. Maxwell asserts that you don’t have to be the “main” person to impact your organization. The book suggests tangible ways to influence peers and superiors and become a more valuable member of your team.
4) Good to Great
Built to Last, a book published by Jim Collins in 1994, looks at 18 companies that have triumphed over time, and how long-term sustained performance can be built into a company’s DNA over time. In Collins’ follow-up book, Good to Great, he concludes that it is possible, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11 — including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo — and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner.
5) Executive Presence
Executive Presence by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, a noted expert on workplace power and influence, shows you how to identify and embody the Executive Presence (EP) that you need to succeed. EP is a combination of qualities that true leaders exude, a presence that shows you’re in charge or deserve to be.
Articulating those qualities isn’t easy, however. Based on a nationwide survey of college graduates working across a range of sectors and occupations, Sylvia Hewlett and the Center for Talent Innovation discovered that EP is a dynamic, cohesive mix of appearance, communication, and gravitas. While these elements are not equal, to have true EP, you must know how to use all of them to your advantage.
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by Fronetics | May 9, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Talent
Employers that can reduce stresses surrounding childcare increase their chances of retaining their most talented employees.
Many companies struggle with attracting and, more importantly, retaining their best employees. There are many reasons why, of course. But one of them that we don’t talk enough about in the supply chain — though it’s been gaining national attention lately — is the issue of childcare.
This is a very personal matter to me, a working mother who struggled to find a balance between the cost of childcare and the price of my employment. And that doesn’t even cover the emotional, physical, and logistical challenges of finding somewhere to deposit young children for a good portion of the day while you earn a paycheck. But I digress…
The staggering cost of childcare
According to Care.com, the national average for at-home care is $28,354 per year, while in-center care is $8,589 per year. These numbers are often staggering to parents, who are not physically or emotionally ready to part with their newborns after a short, and for most, unpaid maternity or paternity leave.
It’s Working Project and Forty Weeks founder Julia Beck recently wrote about concerns parents consistently face when heading back to work after having a baby. At the top of the list is childcare and a general lack of support from the workplace. “Support from employers makes or breaks the deal, creating either a manageable new reality or the need for a backup plan (or even an exit),” she writes.
Don’t believe that’s true? Take a look at this statistic: 83% of millennials would leave their jobs for one with better family care benefits. As millennials represent an increasing percentage of the supply chain fabric, it’s a concern that should increasingly matter to employers.
Here’s the good news: Every challenge employees face is an opportunity for employers to gain a leg up on their competition for talent. Easing the stresses surrounding childcare can be a simple yet significant way that companies can support their most talented employees, who also happen to be working parents.
How employers can ease childcare stresses for working parents
So what can your company do to help make work/life balance more obtainable for your employees? Here are three practical suggestions that are fairly simple for employers to implement but that might make a world of difference for working parents.
1) Make schedules predictable.
When a parent learns of a last-minute, late-afternoon meeting, they must scramble to find someone to pick up their son or daughter from daycare, miss a long-anticipated school or sporting event, or otherwise come up short on time promised to their families. Setting rules around scheduling meetings can help avoid this additional stress on parents.
For example, some organizations have a policy that no meetings can start before 9:30am or after 4:30pm, so parents don’t have to worry about drop-off or pick-up with daycare facilities. Allowing parents to focus on work and not worrying about running late for soccer practice makes them more productive employees.
2) Offer flexibility.
BirchBox’s VP of People and Culture, Melissa Enbar, explains that her organization offers flexibility around the hours employees work and the location they work from.
Nowadays most jobs can be effectively performed from home or another location. This is a luxury that makes sense for working parents — and it’s an opportunity for companies to offer an extra benefit for employees who want or need to set their schedules around their families.
3) Aid in childcare options.
Whether your company offers on-site care or not, you can still help ease the stress of finding reliable and affordable childcare for your employees.
A good starting point is creating resources for new parents beginning their childcare search. This can be as simple as posting a list of childcare facilities recommended by other employees or as in depth as offering backup childcare options for emergency situations. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, for example, offers a reduced rate for six days of emergency care at home through Care.com, plus access to a backup child care center, according to one employee.
Let’s face it, securing a safe, nurturing childcare option is a challenge for all working parents. When they are plagued by related stresses — such as an unforeseen late meeting, illness, or other everyday concern — parents aren’t able to give their full attention to their job. This comes at a cost to the employee and ultimately, the business.
There are things you, as an employer, can do to make working for your company more appealing to parents. Helping employees navigate childcare stresses will be benefit not only the individual, but the company as well, in terms of employee retention. After all, a flexible-hours or no-4 p.m.-meetings policy may be the differentiator that keeps your talent working for you rather than your competitors.
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