Blog, culture and engagement | Ambition In Motion

by Malhar Lakshman

Wed 13 July 2022

More and more senior leaders are pushing for increased credentials from their managerial staff. In 2020, 43% of US firms had business managers holding an MBA or some form of advanced business degree. This is almost twice that of the percentage in 1980, which was 26%.

Recently, companies and schools have been creating certification programs in lieu of these postgraduate programs. These include Cornell’s business strategy certification, Harvard’s Executive Education Certification program, and Ambition in Motion’s AIM Insights People Leadership Certification. How do you choose what type of education you want? How do you choose between an MBA and a people leadership program?

The costs of an MBA vs the costs of a Certification

It goes without saying that college is expensive. An MBA holds true to this statement. According to Experian, the average tuition cost of an MBA is $66,300. However, this is an average and falls victim to outliers. The online MBA program from the University of Texas Rio Valley is relatively inexpensive $17,000. However, the MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania costs $161,810.

MBA Today lists that among the top 30 MBA programs, the cheapest one would be $55,727 for a full-time two-year program. This means that working will be much more difficult due to academic commitments. In addition to tuition and administrative fees, students need to pay for textbooks, supplies, any equipment (such as laptops, computers, electronics), and transportation. If you are required to relocate to study in this MBA program, you may also need to pay for moving costs and rent. Out-of-state students may even need to pay additional tuition.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 50% of graduate students take out student loans for an MBA program and complete their programs with an average of $74,707 in debt.

In contrast, a leadership certification program rarely leaves the 4-figure mark at all. According to CIO, the costs of these programs range from $1800 to $5700, while the leadership coaching for executive training ranges between $150 an hour to $500 an hour. There are generally no textbooks or supply costs, and most definitely no moving costs. Certification programs have the capability to be held completely online.

In addition to this is the cost of lost wages. During a full-time MBA, it is difficult to hold a job, and you will often have to teach a course at the school you are matriculating in. At the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, full-time MBA students are required to teach managerial and financial accounting courses to undergraduate students. This holds true for many other schools.

Under a certification program, you can actually hold your position and continue work as normal, since it will allow you to practice skills that are taught in these courses. Therefore, you don’t lose any wages.

Applications

Applying to an MBA program is completely different than applying for a certification program. An MBA program has a much more comprehensive application process and runs the risk of applicant rejection.

Most MBA programs require either a Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT for short, or a Graduate Record Examinations, or GRE. Some schools actually require scores for both examinations. Applicants are also required to provide letters of recommendation from managers, colleagues, and mentors, and potentially provide references as well. In addition to this, undergraduate grade point averages are taken into consideration. Finally, to complete the first stage of the application, applicants are then required to write a statement of intent, which is similar to an undergraduate college application essay.

After all of this is completed, applicants then need to wait a few months, and may have the opportunity to be granted an interview. Most MBA programs require an interview before officially accepting a student. The acceptance rate for the interview stage ranges from 34% to 75% in the top 20 MBA programs. The averages end up being a 62% rate of acceptance. After a long and grueling interview, you have between a 10% and 40% chance of being accepted.

A certification program is much easier. Simply verify your identity, provide billing information, and register for the course. If there is an executive coaching portion to the program, your company may have to meet some performance metrics as well.

Time Commitment

The average MBA program takes about two years to fully complete, assuming that it is a full-time program. Online MBAs or Hybrid MBA programs can take a while longer. During this time, expect a majority of your day to be occupied by classes, homework, research, as well as any other responsibilities required by your programs, such as being a Teaching Assistant or an exam proctor.

People leader certifications are more fluid. Since you can view most of the coursework asynchronously, or entirely online, you determine how long the program will take. If there are executive coaching or mentorship programs in your certification, you may have to give up an hour per month or a period of time similar to this.

The Curriculum of an MBA vs the Curriculum of a Certification Program

Courses for an MBA are often very generalized, with a skill set focused on financial management and structural management. Some of the courses include the following:

1) Business Essentials

2) Exploring Business Strategies

3) Marketing for the 21st Century

4) Business and Law

5) Management Analytics

6) Management Accounting

These are all important topics and can definitely add value to a company if a manager executes them correctly. However, an MBA doesn’t necessarily help with soft skills and isn’t marketable in all scenarios. If you want practical and applied skills, an MBA isn’t for you. For example, if you are working as a manager in a field outside of finance, such as in a scientific field, or engineering, it would be best to either get a leadership certification or a degree more relevant to that workplace.

A people leadership certification utilizes soft skills and is much more specialized than an MBA. Examples of topics covered in a certification course include the following:

1) Personal Leadership

2) Intercultural Leadership

3) Service Leadership

4) Strategic Planning

5) Conflict Negotiation and Resolution

6) Organization

These topics are frequently discussed and encountered in the workplace and are important points to address with your direct reports, peers, and superiors.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, an MBA can be a very powerful tool, and in the right hands, can dramatically improve a company. However, with all of the expenses and rigor in mind, along with the focus, it is also best to consider if a people leadership certification might be a better fit for you. Neither is worse than the other, but some may be better in certain scenarios. Evaluate yourself, and your ambitions.

by Grace Tripathy

Wed 6 July 2022

What is a People Leader AIM Insights Certification?

The time has come to train your managers to be the best that they can be.

To be consistent with the visions, values, and strategies of most organizations, managers need to receive information on how to strengthen their capability to meet their organization’s goals. Accordingly, if those skills and capabilities are left unattended, managers will not achieve the desired impact and effectiveness of the company.
By training your managers in effective leadership skills, you can increase the productivity of your workforce.

There’s no better way to ensure that your managers are the utmost prepared to lead at your workplace than the AIM Insights People Leader Certification.

Taking the time to become AIM Insights People Leader Certified will evaluate how your leadership is impacting the quantitative output of your team paired with the qualitative sentiment of working for you as a leader, and overall it will show prospective employers why you are a great leader of people.

After all, managers and leaders provide direction to staff and ensure they are performing at or above expectations. They need to have the ability to assess problems, manage situations, and provide sensible solutions.

Evaluating the effectiveness of leadership within this certification helps leaders identify strategies and techniques that can be employed to encourage the durable effectiveness, performance, and productivity of the organization and its members. Management training that comes with the AIM Insights People Leader Certification program provides feedback that managers can turn into immediate actions.

The AIM Insights People Leader Certification is the only management certification that both teaches and evaluates a leader's ability to impact their team over time.

Why is AIM Insights Leadership Training important for managers?

1. Enhance Your Skills

Do you want to improve your ability to negotiate, communicate, critically think, manage time, or collaborate with your team?

The AIM Insights People Leader Certificate program strengthens your skills as a leader and decision-maker within your company.

Achieving this certificate is the key to every company enhancing management skills as leadership and management skills are among the most important qualities of top executives.

2. Gain Practical Knowledge

You’ll gain practical knowledge by analyzing case studies and real-life examples.

The AIM Insights People Leader certificate program incorporates the latest management concepts, such as employee engagement, company culture, incentives and rewards, purpose-driven leadership, and how to lead multi-generational teams.

Studying such concepts will improve your ability to lead and direct your business’ operations and people.

3. Expand Your Network

When you earn the AIM Insights People Leader Certificate in management and leadership, you have the chance to connect with like-minded individuals from around the world.

You can consult your community of AIM Insights mentors and teammates to share career interests, pose course questions, seek advice regarding a work challenge, learn about a new industry, or connect about another topic.

Networking with other leaders and managers is a great way to share experiences and gain new perspectives in any workplace.

4. Share With Your Team

Through your learning, you may uncover a cost-saving strategy or come up with an idea to improve your company’s culture.

Sharing your leadership certificate knowledge with your team is an influential career benefit. It’s also a strong selling point if you’re trying to convince your boss to pay for your professional development.

If you’re part of your organization’s management team, you can share leadership insights directly with your team.

5. Develop Your Leadership Style

Investing time to study leadership and management with AIM Insights will help you develop your leadership style. As you complete coursework, certain approaches may resonate with you more than others.

The advantage of studying while working is that you can apply course knowledge to see what leadership styles work best for you and your team.

As you do this, you’ll also become more confident in your management abilities.

6. Boost Your Competitive Edge

Completing the AIM Insights People Leader Certification in leadership and management demonstrates your business expertise.

It also builds your resume and can make you more qualified for senior positions, especially compared to individuals who haven’t invested in their professional development.

Earning certification shows drive and passion for improvement.

After all, the best leaders never stop learning.

Explore the AIM Insights People Leadership Certification

It couldn’t be easier to become a Certified People Leader!

Begin by scheduling an interview to see if you qualify - you must be currently leading a team in a management role in order to qualify for the certification!

Proceed to set up AIM Insights for your team, and review your monthly data with an executive coach who guides you on how to improve your overall performance management scores.

Become AIM Insights People Leader Certified after 12 months, and reap the benefits as follows!

● Understand how your performance as a leader compares to other leaders

● Leverage this data (and certification) as a basis for negotiating a bonus, raise, or promotion

● Gain insight into why certain team members are performing better than others

● Receive executive coaching guidance to help you gain certification

● Showcase your certification to prospective employers and on LinkedIn

● Distinguish yourself as an incredible people leader from others vying for similar opportunities as you

The AIM Insights People Leader Certification is the only management certification that both teaches and evaluates a leader's ability to impact their team over time.

by Malhar Lakshman

Wed 6 July 2022

Do you have managerial experience in the corporate workforce? Or are you a current manager angling for a raise or more responsibilities? Regardless of your current position, as a manager, you can always benefit from learning how to market and improve your skills.

Understanding your Weaknesses as a Manager

To be an ideal manager, there are two aspects of your leadership style that you need to recognize- your weaknesses as well as your strengths. Ideally, whatever changes you make need to help eliminate or improve your weaknesses, while either keeping your strengths the same or also improving them. In order to work on your weaknesses, you need to understand what they are.

This is where a good managerial 1:1 will come in handy, as well as foster an environment in which your direct reports are willing to talk to you about your tactics as well. Horizontal Mentorship is an excellent system to implement in your workplace in order to receive this feedback. Once you identify these problems, you can then proceed to attempt to rectify them. Often, some of your own mentors can assist with these, such as former managers, higher-level administration, as well as some of your peers. But eventually, you will hit a point where you can’t really progress any further.

Management is similar to any other career. There’s basic education and training you get, such as an undergraduate degree, and then the equivalent of a postgraduate degree, such as an MBA. But there is a flaw with an MBA. According to Southern Nazareth University, hosting a strong MBA program, the following classes are some of the necessary courses required to graduate with a Master’s in Business Administration.

1) Business Essentials

2) Exploring Business Strategies

3) Marketing for the 21st Century

4) Business and Law

5) Management Analytics

6) Management Accounting

You’ll notice something particular about these classes. While they are no doubt useful and are a boon for any manager, they tend to focus more on the financial and accounting aspects of business management. None of these classes can really help you with the soft skills of a business. Low inventory turnover? Low-profit margins? High expenses? Get an MBA; that’ll help you without a doubt.

But what if you face some ethical qualms about leadership. Such as “How do I foster a sense of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within my workplace?” Or, “How do I retain my employees with incentives other than salaries?”

That MBA just turned into an expensive piece of paper when faced with those types of problems. MBAs are great and definitely cultivate very healthy financial businesses. However, a business is more than just profits, losses, and breakeven points. A business is all of the people that make it up. Effective management means not only having success with the financial parts, but also taking care of your human capital, and leading them to the best of your ability.

Fortunately, there are people equivalent to the MBA. These are known as Leadership Certification Programs. Through these, you can not only fix your individual flaws as a leader, but also demonstrate your skill to your leaders, and then potentially advocate for raises or promotions.

What are People Leadership Certification Programs?

A People Leader Certification Program is a process designed to both teach and evaluate a leader’s ability to impact their team over a set period of time. The closest academic certification would be a degree such as a Master of Leadership. However, not only does this require full-time work, but it is also extremely expensive. Also, you do not get to continuously practice and hone your skills while in this academic program.

People Leader certification occurs simultaneously with your work as a manager and will often require you to execute what you have learned in the workplace as a way to learn more effectively. The best way to hone a strategy is by putting it under fire, and as such, a program such as this can help hone your skills.

The curriculum often discussed within a leadership certification program is as follows:

1) Personal Leadership

2) Intercultural Leadership

3) Service Leadership

4) Strategic Planning

5) Conflict Negotiation and Resolution

6) Organization

It is evident how this curriculum helps any manager. The questions originally posed above can easily be answered by the programs stated above. In addition to that, this training is focused on people management as opposed to financial management, making it more suited for someone who works with direct reports.

People Certification Programs are still very new in the business world. Almost every single one of them are hosted through a college, such as MIT Sloan, Cornell Dyson, or UPenn Wharton. It is rarer to see a privatized one. However, Ambition in Motion has created the AIM Insights People Leader Certification through their AIM Insights tool. By combining business analytics with communication with direct reports and executive coaching, managers have the potential to distinguish themselves from others with the same goals.

How does the AIM Insights People Leader Certification Work?

AIM insights already have three key components to their mentorship process, the performance management tool, the executive mentorship program, and the horizontal mentorship program. Combining all three of these creates a unique and effective way to help managers improve. Using this in conjunction with a direct report response collection process provides a tailored experience that is unique to you.

Start by scheduling an interview with them! You must currently be leading a team in order to participate in this program, due to the requirement of getting feedback and statistics from your team members. Set up AIM Insights and commence work as normal.

AIM insights provide an aggregated score known as a SMART Impact score, which is composed of three sub-aggregates.

SMART goals are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

1) Smart Goals Set- the number of goals set by direct reports that fulfill the SMART requirements as a percentage in relation to the total number of goals set.

2) Goal Relevancy- The number of direct report goals that are rated as highly relevant to the overall company goals, once again as a percentage.

3) Goal Impact- Your rating for each DR Goal on a scale including Low, Medium, and High in terms of how it moves the team forward.

By using these productivity Metrics in conjunction with an executive coach who can guide you on how to improve your scores, you can not only improve this score but become better as a manager as well.

How does a People Certification Program Benefit Me as a Manager?

A good People Certification program can allow you to do the following:

· Highlight to your senior leadership why you deserve a promotion or raise

· Show prospective employers why you are a great leader

· Compare your strategies to other leaders

· Evaluate how you impact both the qualitative and quantitative output of your team

You also gain a certificate and all of the data used to coach you, which you can then showcase to employers, and your professional network, and also be able to leverage to negotiate additional benefits.

The world is constantly changing. Be a good leader and be flexible with it. Don’t be afraid to go “back to school” to become an even better leader. A people leader certification program is a great place to start this.

by Grace Tripathy

Fri 1 July 2022

Retention has become an increasingly critical metric for driving profitability, especially the retention of highly engaged employees. Turnover has become a big problem for a lot of companies.

But, what if you’re looking at the problem wrong? What if it’s not about doing what you can to hold on to those employees, but perhaps it’s about focusing more on creating an environment where good employees thrive and stay?

Retaining employees is an important part of building a successful team. When managers and supervisors work to make their teams feel valued and motivated, employees are more likely to stay with a company that can contribute to the company’s overall growth and prosperity.

Why is it important to retain your employees?

● It can build a strong workforce

Steady employee retention allows managers and supervisors to invest in their team members and helps them develop into more productive employees. When employees stay with a company long-term, they often accept more responsibilities, seek professional development, and help the company grow.

● It increases productivity

Instead of spending time looking for and training new employees, managers and supervisors can focus on helping employees be more productive. A stable staff knows what needs to be done and how they can achieve it. They have a strong foundation for advancement based on institutional knowledge and developed skills.

● It improves employee morale

Employee retention strategies are designed to increase employee happiness and job satisfaction. When managers regularly implement these strategies, they help increase employee morale overall. Employees who feel happy at work are often more willing to work toward the company's mission and contribute to a positive work environment.

● It is more cost-effective

Hiring and training new employees are often more expensive than offering development opportunities to current employees. Consider offering current employees an educational stipend to advance their skills, on-site training, conference options or promotions, and/or extra benefits or perks.

How to retain your employees

If you want to keep more high-performing employees in-house, it’s important to start by creating an effective employee retention strategy.

In this article, we discuss the importance of employee retention and offer 8 effective employee retention strategies for leaders.

1. Create an engaging onboarding process

During the onboarding process, take the opportunity to make a positive first impression on a new employee. Create a process where new employees get comfortably acclimated to the workplace. Do this by creating straightforward training materials, offering support and guidance, and explaining how the company operates.

Introducing new employees to others in the office can help them feel like they are a part of the team right away. Taking them out for a team lunch is another way to make new hires feel welcome and help them get to know their coworkers quickly.

2. Pair with a mentor

A strategy to pair an employee with a mentor can start with the onboarding process. It’s a good way to help new employees feel welcomed and know they have someone to turn to. However, mentorship shouldn’t be offered to just new employees. Everyone can benefit from a horizontal mentor relationship whether by helping others or knowing that they are supported by more experienced teammates.

3. Schedule employee performance reviews

Employee performance reviews are a great way for employees to grow in their roles. Meet periodically to discuss their strengths, weaknesses, and career goals. By learning their goals, you can help them continue to advance in the company.

Offering positive feedback during this meeting can help employees feel valued and more satisfied at work. If the budget allows, use the performance review as a time to offer the employee a raise or a bonus.

4. Show your appreciation

When an employee is doing a good job or has recently earned a big achievement, recognize their hard work. You can show your appreciation by saying it directly to them or making a company-wide announcement. When employees feel their efforts are noticed, they are more likely to continue to work hard and stay with the company.

5. Encourage a work-life balance

A healthy work-life balance is when employees can effectively manage their work and home lives and feel like they have enough time and energy for both. This element has become increasingly important to many employees.

You can help employees achieve a more balanced work-life experience by giving staff more flexibility with their schedules. Consider allowing employees to come in late and make up their work if they need to leave for an appointment. If possible, give employees the option to work remotely. Employees who are feeling sick but can still work or those with a long commute may appreciate the opportunity to work from home occasionally.

Helping employees maintain a work-life balance shows that you value their well-being. They are more likely to stay with the company when they feel like they have a manager who cares about them.

6. Offer professional development opportunities

Helping employees meet their professional goals may influence them to stay with the company because they see it as a place with many opportunities. You can help them by spending time coaching and mentoring team members. Offer your team additional training or education opportunities, such as funding certifications, sending them to conferences, or providing education stipends. Update equipment so coworkers can learn and produce using the latest technology.

And when possible, promote from within. By investing in your team, they can develop their skills and take on more responsibilities, both of which can lead to improved employee retention.

7. Provide competitive compensation and benefits

In a competitive job market, it’s essential that you reward your employees with adequate compensation and benefits when you can. If you can’t afford salary adjustments, consider giving some type of bonus, adding a retirement plan, or improving health care benefits.

You might offer reimbursement for fitness classes or schedule talks on stress management or retirement planning services. All will help raise employees’ job satisfaction and encourage them to stay with your company.

8. Keep communication lines open

Maintaining an open-door policy lets employees know they can come to managers with ideas, questions, and concerns at any time. As a manager, it’s your job to ensure your team, whether on-site or remote, feels a connection to the company and each other. The feeling of belonging and being heard can go a long way toward retaining employees.

by Malhar Lakshman

Wed 29 June 2022

Employee Turnover is one of the most irritating and damaging problems that a business may face. There are a few reasons that this can occur, but luckily, most of these reasons can be easily rectified or ameliorated.

What exactly is Employee Turnover?

Employee turnover is the phenomenon in which an individual leaves their position for another position, or to be free of the workforce. There are traditionally two types of this. The first type of turnover is voluntary turnover, which is when someone chooses to leave their position. Examples of this can be retirement, seeking a higher position, or taking time off to take care of a family.

The second form of turnover is involuntary turnover, which is when someone is forcefully relieved of their duties. This is often initiated by an employer or human resources. This can include being let go, fired, demoted, or a few other actions.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most industries have a turnover rate of 19%. A turnover rate is calculated by taking the number of employees that leave within a specific period of time by the average number of employees working in that time frame. The lower this rate is, the better it is for the employer.

Why is turnover so bad?

The hiring process is not an easy one for a manager, nor is it inexpensive. The process of hiring the best possible candidate includes a few tasks. Not only does this job have to be posted and then advertised, but then needs to be screened for and interviewed. All of these cost large sums of money, estimated to be on average about a third of the employee’s yearly salary, which equates to around $16,500 in many cases. In addition to that, it costs time and money to train new employees and then set them up with corporate devices, insurance, and any other plans they elect to sign up to. Turnover also has the unfortunate aspect of reducing productivity due to fewer hands on deck.

Turnover is often easily avoidable as well. According to the Work Institute’s 2017 Retention report, 75% of the reasons for employee turnover can be prevented, many of which can be blamed on poor management. Employees often choose to leave because of a lack of challenges, feeling underappreciated, or bored. However, they also leave due to poor communication, lack of advancement, mistreatment, or being overworked.

Fixing some of these problems can help increase your retention rate, and consequently decrease your turnover rate. However, understanding that the fault can fall mainly on management is key to helping improve retention. Executive coaching programs such as Ambition in Motion’s AIM insights can help your managers learn about commonly made mistakes, along with how to avoid them. AIM Insights also offers executive mastermind groups, which function similarly to Masterclasses.

Increasing Retention Rate

The following problems are three of the reasons that most frequently cause employees to leave, along with some suggested solutions.

1. Unclear Job Descriptions that do not portray a position accurately

This can be rectified at the source of the problem. Have your current direct reports have a hand in designing these job position descriptions. They understand these positions the best since they work in them every day.

2. Poor compensation

This is often difficult to fix since your company may not always be able to simply add more money to the payroll budget. However, it is important to understand how to give fair and adequate compensation. This should be given based on experience, skill, and how much you expect out of them. Do not expect someone for who you are paying the bare minimum to go above and beyond in every task you give them

3. A Lack of career advancement opportunities

There is a certain type of employee known as a career-oriented worker. These individuals strive to gain advancement and continue working. Without any promotions or opportunities for advancement, they tend to lose interest and will look elsewhere for jobs. Do not be afraid to give more opportunities to your employees. Have faith in them.

Better communication will also almost always help with issues related to trouble retaining employees. According to a report made by TinyPulse on employee retention in 2018, there is a 16% retention rate decrease for employees who aren’t receiving or giving feedback.

A good 1:1 can not only give your employees feedback and a feeling of appreciation and recognition but also show you as a manager what you need to improve in order to retain your employees. Regular and honest communication will show your employees that their help is valued and that you care about their growth as a direct report as well as a person.

A good onboarding program can work wonders as well. In a survey by CareerBuilder, 9% of employees who have left their company blame it on a poor onboarding experience, and 37% of those employees say that their managers weren’t even present during the onboarding. More details will follow about how to create an effective onboarding process, but at the very least, make it as thorough as possible for your newer direct reports, and be present and attentive at these meetings.

Through communication and improvement, you can keep your turnover rate as low as possible, and succeed in the workplace.

by Malhar Lakshman

Mon 27 June 2022

Offices are often set up to be diverse, with employees differing in age, gender, race, mindset, work orientation, and many other aspects.

While we have previously discussed how to best foster entry-level direct reports, another demographic that is often ignored are the most experienced workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics department, 22% of the current professional workforce is above the age of 55. However, there is an ongoing movement where older workers and their knowledge are treated as obsolete and are let go.

Therefore, if you are in a managerial role in which you are overseeing older individuals, there are certain considerations you can make to ensure that you are best leading older Direct Reports.

What can Older Employees offer?

Older direct reports tend to have great experience and perspective that many younger employees lack. They tend to understand the structure of your office better than anyone else there. Many managers often pair them with entry-level workers as a mentor to help them understand the soft skills of being in an office.

When I entered my first office job, I was incredibly lost since it was an entry-level and client-facing position. Consequently, I made a few mistakes, as one does on their first job. Unfortunately, I got a very angry phone call from a customer, and regardless of what I was able to offer them, they gradually became more aggressive.

As I was crying in the break room, an older gentleman named Jim noticed and came over. After exchanging a few pleasantries, I learned that he had worked for the company for 37 years and was about to retire. He asked what had put me in such a bad mood and was shocked to hear what had happened.

As soon as I got a call from the next customer who was known to get irate easily, Jim sat next to me and started typing notes as he listened to what they had to say. He gestured at me to use some of the phrases he had typed up, and to my pleasant surprise, worked without a hitch. I received a high customer satisfaction score and learned a lot from Jim about how to communicate with customers.

Jim continued to coach me and taught me skills such as customer-facing techniques, along with how to communicate and correspond with my managers and coworkers. I can confidently say that without Jim, I would’ve quit that job.

People like Jim exist all over the working population. Understanding how these older direct reports can teach and mentor younger direct reports can dramatically improve your employee’s efficiency.

Why the diverse perspective an older employee brings is beneficial to the business?

In addition to the potential mentorship opportunities that older employees provide, they also have a few aspects unique to them that lend them a perspective that younger employees may lack.

First, they are often very cost-effective. Due to the fact that they are more settled in their industry, you do not need to worry as much about turnover costs. According to the Wharton School, there is a common misbelief that older employees may need more time off due to health restrictions and incur higher health insurance. This is untrue. On average, health costs are less for older workers due to them no longer having dependents on their healthcare plans. In addition to that, Medicare can further reduce healthcare bills after an employee passes the age of 65.

Second, older employees also have a bigger focus on customer-facing skills. Due to their years of experience, these workers tend to have much better communication skills, with not only customers and vendors, but also with their coworkers.

They also have extremely high problem-solving skills. Since they have encountered so many problems of their own, older employees can draw upon some of the solutions that they have used in the past to help solve current problems. A key part of problem-solving skills is to learn from past mistakes. These employees have made mistakes in the past, and typically do not harbor fears of making more mistakes, unlike younger workers. Their angles and techniques can be drawn upon without any problems.

Should employers be worried that older Employees are outdated?

A current argument for hiring younger workers is that older workers simply don’t have the knowledge needed to survive in the current industry. An example of this could be in the technology industry, which is changing every day, and even newer employees struggle to keep up with it.

This argument isn’t the best in my opinion, on the grounds that there are multiple areas in which an employee can be used. Not only can older employees be used in mentorship roles, but also in positions other than just the skills portion.

It is important to remember that these employees grew up during a time when the internet and even smartphones weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now. Therefore, these employees grew up in a time where personal interaction and memos were mandatory for success.

Due to the many changing environments that they’ve already been through, older employees are often extremely flexible and work hard. In addition to this, the power of a good network will never diminish. They can often set up future ventures for you that results in a large profit. Certain industries also have structures that have been in place for years, regardless of how trends develop. New workers may have trouble adjusting to these, but older workers thrive in them.

How can you best utilize these older and more experienced workers?

For starters, it's important to understand that these employees might even have more experience than you, regardless of your position. As such, you should acknowledge this, and be willing to learn just as much from them as they do from you. Give them fair treatment as well. It is completely okay for an older person to make as much or more money as a younger person if they have more experience.

Instruct your younger workers about the concepts of horizontal mentorship. Just like your younger workers may have biases, older workers can have the same biases. You can instruct and help your older workers in the same way that you would the newer workers. Give them opportunities to learn and develop, just like you would a younger direct report.

When recruiting, as mentioned before, try and eliminate race, gender, and age from your recruiters’ strategies. Longevity and age can be buzzwords for your strategies. It's important to recognize that not everyone has the same financial checkpoints at the same time. What one might accomplish by 65, might not be accomplished by someone else until the age of 70. According to the Harvard Business Review, it costs about a million dollars to retire at the age of 65. Understand that everyone will have some form of motivation to work.

by Grace Tripathy

Wed 22 June 2022

You can’t ignore employee resignations, although I would prefer to call them employee realignments. In the beginning, it looked like employees were leaving the workforce to retire early or join the gig economy (think Uber drivers, virtual assistants, etc.) and be their own boss.

Today we know that unemployment is down, and employees aren’t leaving their jobs to altogether quit working. They are just leaving their current jobs for better jobs.

This is employee realignment of the workforce, not true resignation from the workforce, and there are many reasons some companies can’t seem to hold onto their best people.

Oftentimes, there is a lack of self-awareness amongst managers and leaders that creates unhealthy patterns in the workplace and leads top employees to quit.

To provide your employees with just and equal opportunities in your business, you must understand the potential for unethical workplace behaviors and the importance of avoiding them as a leader.

Crucial Leadership Failure #1: Not recognizing that the employee is actually the primary customer.

What’s happening on the inside of an organization is felt on the outside by customers. That means you start your customer service and CX efforts internally.

Employees should be treated, cared for, managed, and responded to in a way that is consistent with what the company wants to see mirrored in their customers.

In other words, treat employees as if they are customers. Anything less is inconsistent and will erode your efforts to provide a good customer experience.

And just as customers want to trust the companies they do business with, employees want to trust the companies (and people) they work for. When employees trust their leadership, are treated fairly, and are recognized for their good work, they will be working for the company, not just the paycheck.

Crucial Leadership Failure #2: The failure to recognize the difference between leadership and management.

Management and leadership are not the same. Managers have to make people follow, but leaders make people want to follow.

Ultimately, leadership creates the culture of the company.

Managers ensure compliance with company policies, processes, and other operational aspects to ensure continued business as usual.

Once leaders understand the difference between management and leadership, they stand a better chance of getting employees to put forth their best effort, especially when it comes to taking care of customers.

Crucial Leadership Failure #3: The failure to recognize and end nepotism in the workplace.

Instances of nepotism create an unhealthy work environment wherein employees feel undervalued.

If nepotism occurs in the workplace, this could affect your employees’ job satisfaction and opinions about the company. If one person begins exhibiting low morale, other employees can also take on this approach.

The result is a lack of loyalty and dedication to the job at hand.

If a company allows nepotism to occur, talented employees might look for employment opportunities elsewhere. Specifically, with companies that value skill and dedication over family relationships.

This can be problematic for your company as it limits the ability to retain good, hardworking employees to help your business succeed.

Crucial Leadership Failure #4: The failure to give credit to your direct reports.

Everyone has experienced or witnessed instances in which credit was assigned in an unfair manner: managers unabashedly took credit for the work of their invisible hard-working staff; quiet performers were inadequately recognized for their contributions; credit was assigned to the wrong individuals and for the wrong things.

Just as much as constructive feedback should be given in many forms, so should employee appreciation. Some employees may live for public praise at the end of a meeting or a company all-hands, while others may prefer the intimacy of a quick chat in the hallway or an individual email thanking them for a job well done.

As a leader, giving out credit is essential in showing your employees that you see them, and motivating your employees to continue creating their best work.

Employee recognition may take the form of an employee of the month award, a sales all-star of the quarter, or even a full employee appreciation day.

While every company may not have the size or resources to devote an entire day to employee appreciation, recognizing employees in big and small ways can make a huge difference to morale and culture.

Crucial Leadership Failure #5: The failure to recognize the importance of proper coaching over negative criticism in the workplace.

Feedback is crucial. It improves performance, develops talent, aligns expectations, solves problems, guides promotion and pay, and boosts the bottom line.

Workplace coaching, employee coaching, or business coaching is the continuous two-way feedback between the employee and the coach with the intention to work on areas for improvement and reinforce strengths to sustain the progress of the employee’s performance.

In other words, coaching in the workplace means empowering employees to be the best performers that they can be.

Workplace coaching (NOT criticism) is important to set employees up for success in the workplace by providing the tools that workers can use to increase their knowledge and improve their skills.

Crucial Leadership Failure #6: Failing to recognize that finances are not the only form of valued compensation.

Multiple studies have proven that employees want more than money. Employees value flexibility over money, meaning that paying people more money to tolerate a toxic environment may have worked for previous generations, but it no longer appeases employees, especially the Millennial generation.

They want to be valued for what they do. That means they want recognition for their work, opportunities to learn and grow, and fulfillment in their day-to-day responsibilities.

Leaders need to be more empathetic and understanding of their employees. Doing so will bring out the best in their people, hence multiplying their capabilities.

Crucial Leadership Failure #7: Failing to recognize when to give your employees a break, and how much work is appropriate to assign in a given time.

Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so tempting to work your best people hard that managers frequently fall into this trap.

Overworking good employees is perplexing; it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for great performance. Overworking employees is also counterproductive.

If you must increase how much work your talented employees are doing, you’d better increase their status as well. Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process.

Raises, promotions, and title changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload. If you simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a thing, they will seek another job that gives them what they deserve.

by Malhar Lakshman

Mon 13 June 2022

A good office is diverse in many ways, and a good manager has picked his staff with a sense of diversity in mind (or if the team was inherited, ideally diversity was considered when picking the team members). Race, Sex, Creed, Religion, and Work Orientation are all important aspects to keep in mind. However, one aspect of employees that is often understated is age.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics department, 34.9% of the working population is below the age of 30. With this age comes equally diverse amounts of experience. An effective workplace will have employees of vastly differing ages, from high-school-age interns, all the way to individuals contemplating retirement.

Therefore, the key question that you may ask is, “how can I as a manager foster growth for entry-level employees and help them contribute regardless of their lack of experience?” The answers to this question are far simpler than you think.

Why are Younger employees so useful?

Younger and entry-level employees bring a lot to any company they work for. Firstly, entry-level positions pay less than more senior positions. Please recognize that less pay typically equates to fewer responsibilities. It is perfectly acceptable to expect a certain amount of work from your younger employees, but you should expect more work from your senior employees.

Entry-level workers are also a clean slate for the most part. A very frequent issue while hiring is encountering certain philosophies or ingrained ideas. For example, if I had to hire for a data management job between John, who has 1 year of experience, but uses cloud-based storage, and Dave, who has over 20 years of experience and uses physical hard drives, I’d probably pick John. Industries are always adapting and evolving, and stagnancy can be harmful.

Finally, what entry-level workers lack in experience, they can make it up in enthusiasm and engagement. They are often willing to put in extra time to ensure the quality of their work and will be in constant communication with you and their coworkers to be the best they can be.

What should a manager teach newer direct reports?

Skills that a manager can best impart to a new direct report are primarily soft skills. Direct reports are often very knowledgeable about the topic or tasks that they have been assigned but may lack office etiquette or may also have trouble understanding workplace dynamics.

When you were an entry-level worker, what did you struggle with? According to Glassdoor, many entry-level positions are client-facing, and often also require intra-office communication. What tools of the trade do you use to pacify angry clients? How do you coordinate a meeting with your entire team? How did you learn to delegate all of the tasks your bosses gave you?

Teach them about how to properly communicate with your coworkers. Should they email someone directly, or would it be better for them to call a secretary? How do they need to request time off? Does it have to go through Human Resources? Through a direct manager? Does their team need to know? All of these answers just went through your head in the blink of an eye. Entry-level workers don’t have those answers yet.

In addition to this, there are often tricks that you use in your daily work that not everyone has the knowledge to be able to utilize. Imagine the following scenario. Microsoft Excel has a feature where users can fill a cell and its contents down a column or in a row. This is especially useful in relation to formulas and expressions utilizing other cells since it can allow you to finish an entire table in minutes.

However, if a user were to manually enter data into every cell, it could take drastically longer. Simply teaching a worker this small trick could make their work more efficient and could allow them to work on other tasks.

Remember that your experience is a privilege that not everyone has been afforded yet. Use it to help the person who may one day help others down the line as well.

Why should you help foster these younger workers?

1. It’s the right thing to do. When you entered the workplace, I’m sure you had troubles at some point and had some form of mentorship. Without that initial leg up, how else do you think you succeeded in the workplace?

2. Younger workers may often have a few ideas that in spite of their experience can be extremely valuable. Have you ever heard the saying “The way to solve an impossible task is to give it to someone that doesn’t know its impossible?”

The same concept can apply to these entry-level workers. Due to the fact that they haven’t been with your company for a long time, they may approach problems in a different way than your coworkers that you may have been with longer. As a result, you then have a different perspective that can be very helpful.

3. You need to realize that you and your coworkers will not be around forever. New opportunities arise, retirement beckons, and situations occur. Entry-level employees can be developed into senior positions, and the improvement in their skills can only help the company.

All in all, younger workers can be a tremendous boon to your company, but only if you can properly nurture them. Set them up almost like a sapling. Continue to help them, and eventually, they will grow into an asset that will change the way your company thrives.

Even if they don’t stick around, be a reference for them. Let them use the experience that you have given them to help more and more people, and keep the training chain going. It will only help.

by Grace Tripathy

Mon 13 June 2022

Brian is the Vice President of engineering for a high-growth startup with 800 employees. His company pays way above the market average but they hold an “earn your seat” mentality when it comes to the work.

The challenge that he is facing is that his team will follow instructions and do everything they are asked to do, but won’t move the ball forward. They are always waiting for him to tell them what to do, rather than aspiring to set goals to impact the company on their own.

He would like for his team to better understand the company’s vision, both because it develops them and because most of his direct reports are interested in the compensation that comes with transitioning from a senior engineer to a staff engineer (the highest level software engineer at this company with almost a $200,000 increase per year).

Some of his direct reports want parity promotions, meaning that because they have been at the company for longer than others (which for everyone is less than a year), they deserve to get promoted.

The promotion process at his company is also really convoluted. Essentially, to get promoted, a manager has to sponsor the direct report with a 10-page overview as to why the direct report deserves the promotion.

It has gotten to the point where Brian will actually recommend his direct reports leave the company for the role they want (at a different company) for 6 months and then come back and interview for the role they wanted in the first place because it’s very difficult and time-consuming to move up in the workplace. This contributes to the job-oriented mentality that incentivizes employees to only do the bare minimum to get their paycheck.

As Brian is sharing his company’s processes with the Ambition In Motion mastermind group, he is realizing that the company may not be setting its employees up for success.

The well-above-market pay paired with the “earn your seat” mantra incentivizes people to sabotage each other, do the minimum work that doesn’t get them fired, and leave the company if they want to get to the next level.

The group suggested that Brian chat with his leadership team to discuss his thoughts because if things don’t change, they could have a bunch of people that are only there for the money and aren’t focused on the vision of the organization.

How does company culture impact employee motivation?

Employee motivation is the fuel that propels the organization forward. When motivation levels are high, there is growth; when it’s down, the momentum stalls.

So, what motivates your employees?

There are various reasons and needs that motivate employees. And your company culture has to address these reasons and needs to foster employee motivation and engagement.

Before we get into this any further, let’s start with the basics. Why do people work?

● Purpose – They want to contribute to the company’s success.

● Potential – They want to benefit in the long run in terms of promotions, salary hikes, or greater responsibilities.

● Play – They enjoy their daily work as it ignites passion and curiosity in them.

● Economic Pressure – The financial factors motivate them, such as a desire to earn more or fear of losing their source of income.

● Inertia – They work because they have to; they have no goals or reasons to work.

If you notice, the first 3 reasons are positive, and the rest are negative. Employees with positive reasons to work tend to be productive and engaged at work.

Companies with growth-oriented cultures encourage these positive reasons and build a culture around it.

How you can incentivize your employees to care about more than just salary

Although Brian is part of a fast-growing startup, 8x growth in employee headcount within their first year, his desire for employees to care more is actually a quite common question that we hear from leaders of all company sizes; how do you make people care?

It’s a more common problem than we’d all like to believe. It happens in every industry and workplace. This problem affects all of us.

Unfortunately, you can’t make people care. But, you can provide all of the right elements that inspire them to choose to care about your business, your team, and their job. Here are four strategies for successful leaders that can skyrocket the results of your employees.

1. Share your care with your employees.

As simple as it sounds, many leaders, even when they do care about their people, aren’t always very good at sharing that appreciation. Your employees won’t care about your company or your goals unless you care about them and their goals first.

Learn, practice, and get good at recognizing your employees because appreciation is the number one thing that managers can do to inspire their teams to produce great work.

2. Cheer for effort, because it deserves it.

As we travel and speak to organizations, we often find that many managers are confused by the difference between appreciation and incentives. Incentives can be seen as a transaction; if you accomplish “a-b-c”, then you receive “x-y-z.”

Oftentimes incentives are presented before a project or assignment.

Appreciation, on the other hand, isn’t solely focused on the outcome. Instead, it’s an acknowledgment of a person’s intention, hard work, and their results. When efforts and results are recognized, employees report:

a) increased confidence in their skills,

b) an understanding that they are on track and in good standing with their manager, and

c) it creates an improved relationship with their leader.

3. Be crystal clear about what you value.

Telling your employees that you expect the best from them doesn’t actually mean much to them because they don’t understand what that means to you. Employees want to know exactly what they value and appreciate.

4. Show them how they can make a difference

Most people don’t apply for jobs and assume they’ll be mediocre at best. They apply for jobs at companies where they believe their skills and experiences will make an impact; where their thinking and effort will make a profound difference.

Still, we’ve spoken with many struggling managers who can’t understand why a certain employee isn’t satisfied by simply becoming the mirrored version of a job description.

When employees are not shown that they have the capability to utilize their skills to make a difference, they may get in the habit of doing the same thing every day, without the incentive to do more.

Encourage your employees right off the bat and throughout their time at your company to do the most that they can do, to benefit themselves and the company. AIM Insights can help you with suggested encouragement and questions you can ask your team to help convey this message.

While it may seem frustrating that you can’t force your employees to care about your company, your goals, your customers, your teams, or even their own jobs, you have the ability to give them reasons to care.

And, in our experience, when your employees care about more than just their salary, they’ll achieve at a level that surpasses anything you could have ever imagined.

by Garrett Mintz

Fri 10 June 2022

LinkedIn News recently published an article about Walmart’s $200k store manager problem. The article shines a light on the fact that simply paying higher salaries doesn’t necessarily create great leaders.

Leaders at Walmart realized that they needed a multi-pronged approach to developing reliable, effective managers, so they started investing in manager training and coaching to help develop their managers.

Walmart is learning the same lesson as many businesses: great leadership requires investment and effort. I’m going to cover how we got into this position and what we, leaders in organizations, need to do to minimize the learning curve of a new manager becoming an effective leader.

How did we get here?

The rapid increase in job transitions over the past few years (sometimes called The Great Resignation) has caused people to rethink their priorities for work.

Some people qualified for leadership roles have learned that they just don’t like the responsibilities of being a leader.

Some new managers from outside the company fail to understand or adapt to the culture, and therefore struggle to get buy-in from the new teams they are inheriting.

Some new managers have never managed before. Their promotion to a management role is an opportunity for growth, but instead, they aren’t provided the guidance on how to effectively lead.

These are just three examples of how manager development can go wrong. Without a strong system for training managers, replacement and resignation can rapidly spiral out of control and have long-term consequences on company culture and productivity.

I recently wrote about how to maintain you’re a-game as a leader, where I described how many universities have downgraded degrees in management into co-majors or tag-along credits instead of being its own degree path. This happens because most recent graduates aren’t being hired to manage people so for universities to boost their placement rates and starting salary rates, it is more advantageous to train students in degrees that companies need from recent graduates right now. This shortsighted approach to management training is one of many contributing factors to the very issues facing companies today.

The dearth of up-and-coming managers has led to greater turnover for both managers (e.g., they struggle with the transition) and the direct reports in their charge (they aren’t going to put up with a bad boss). This self-sustaining cycle of turnover can wash away company culture in months and take years to rebuild.

What can we do about it?

1. Equip managers with the tools and data to better understand their direct reports

There is no such thing as an effective one-size-fits-all management philosophy. That mode of thinking contributes to turnover.

Why?

Because people are driven by different motivations at different stages in their life.

One metric that we measure at Ambition In Motion (AIM) is Work Orientation. Our custom assessment measures what drives you at work and helps you understand how your work should fit into your life.

Some people are motivated by professional growth (Career Oriented), some people are motivated by work/life balance (Job Oriented), and some people are motivated by the value of their work for changing the world (Calling Oriented). Everyone has a mix of these motivations, but one type usually stands above the rest for an individual.

If you understand the Work Orientation of each of your direct reports *at that moment in time*, you can craft your leadership style for that person based on what drives them.

And that “at that moment in time” is important because Work Orientation is fluid. Unlike personality, which is generally consistent throughout life, Work Orientation is constantly in flux. Life events (starting a family?), professional events (getting a promotion?), epiphanies (deciding to start your own business?), influence from friends and colleagues (friend’s company has gone completely remote while yours hasn’t?), and more will mold your Work Orientation over time. Our job as managers is to be on top of these changes and adjust our leadership style and actions to manage your direct reports at that moment in time.

A good start for preparing to manage direct reports is reading about it. I’ve written about How to Manage Career Oriented Direct Reports, How to Manage Calling Oriented Direct Reports, and How to Manage Job Oriented Direct Reports in the hyperlinked articles.

The other big tool to equip managers with is a system for observing whether their perception of the workplace, productivity, and culture is shared by their direct reports. When leading a team, it’s difficult to get out of your head. This tool gives them the ability to observe and understand whether the team members agree (or disagree) with the manager’s assessment of individual productivity, team cohesion, and other metrics.

This information is critical because perception gaps cause people to become disgruntled. People tend to judge themselves on their intentions and others on their perceptions. I was five minutes late because traffic was absurd today and nobody could predict it; you were late because you don’t care about being on time. Finding and understanding your perception gaps help you find real solutions.

Managers need to understand where their people are coming from and empathize with their direct reports (and provide clarity) when there are gaps.

My team and I developed AIM Insights to identify the most important metrics for managers to understand their direct reports and cut through the noise. AIM Insights collects and measures everyone’s perception of their: task performance, team cohesion, team productivity, organizational citizenship, and manager performance.

If a direct report feels like they aren’t performing well, but a manager thinks they are performing great, this indicates that the direct report lacks clarity as to what success looks like in his role. Once the manager has this information, they can clarify expectations for that team member and help support long-term productivity and engagement.

And vice versa, if a direct report feels like they are performing great, but the manager disagrees, that indicates that the direct report lacks clarity as to what success looks like and that the manager must clarify expectations and help the team member improve their work.

2. Train managers how to act on that data and make their direct reports feel heard

The number 1 issue with any performance management tool in any HRIS platform is equipping managers with the training to interpret and act on the data to make tangible improvements.

If a company surveys its employees but then doesn’t equip managers to do anything with that data, that company is wasting its employees’ time, creating frustration, and depleting engagement.

Why?

Because that data isn’t just for the executive team to review quarterly or annually. That data needs to be acted on!

If managers don’t identify productive actions from the data, there is no incentive for the direct reports to give an honest response, if they bother to respond at all.

Therefore, it is critical that companies, if they ask for survey data from their employees, train their managers on how to interpret the data and have effective 1:1’s with their direct reports based on that data.

3. Actively coach managers throughout their tenure and support the need to adapt to the ever-changing nature of leadership

Leadership is an ever-evolving field. Economies are changing. Consumer demands are changing. Employee demands are changing.

Reviewing the employee salaries and benefits packages of companies even as recently as 5 years ago has drastically changed between now and then. What might have been thought of as outlandish and unnecessary is turning out to be required of job postings (my local Uhaul has a billboard that says “start today. Get paid today.” which was unheard of 5 years ago).

Managers should be coached throughout their time as a leader with an organization, not just when they attend random offsite training. Leaders can’t just wait for the company to hire a speaker or host an event when they need to handle difficult circumstances. Life doesn’t consider the optimal timeline for you to get the training just in time. Sometimes stuff happens you need to be ready to handle it.

Building rapport and offering consistent guidance helps managers handle the seemingly insignificant issues and builds the foundation for ensuring they won’t turn into massive issues.

Getting new managers to become effective leaders takes time. It isn’t easy and it isn’t obvious. Hopefully, these tips help your company excel and thrive in the future.

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Why your Managers need to be AIM Insights People Leader Certified

Distinguish yourself from other managers with the AIM Insights People Leader Certification

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Reducing employee turnover is critical to running a profitable business

How a manager can best lead Older Direct Reports

Managing older direct reports is critical to becoming an effective leader

Leadership Failures that Drive Good Employees Away

How to avoid the mistakes that drive your best employees away

How Managers Can Foster Growth for Entry-Level Direct Reports

Developing entry level employees is critical to the success of an organization

What Happens When Salary Is The Only Thing That Holds You To Your Job?

Salary can create more harm than good if poorly managed

How to Upskill New Managers Quickly

Reducing the learning curve of new managers becoming effective leaders is critical to a company's success

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