Even though I don’t own an Alexa or similar AI device, I thought I was somewhat familiar with what they do.

Turns out, I wasn’t.

I watched Auggie’s face light up when his dad finally got the Echo app installed and connected it wirelessly to his wifi router.

The birthday boy immediately went over to this bright blue hockey puck sitting on the end table and said, “Alexa, tell me a joke.”

Alexa replied, “Why won’t a shark eat a clownfish?” Pause. “Because they taste funny!”

August laughed, even though I don’t think he ‘got it’.

He then said, “Alexa, play Bootyliscious by Beyonce.”  (I swear to God I’m not making this up.)

Within seconds, that song was playing.

He then asked Alexa to read him a story – and sure enough, Alexa did.

I’m a fairly tech-savvy baby boomer, but this entire scenario has launched my brain into orbit, and I’m not sleeping very well.

I can’t help but wonder what impact this technology is having on Auggie, and the millions of other kids like him the world over. Is it stimulating their creativity, or destroying it? Is it going to make them passionate learners, or make them think that school, books, and teachers are obsolete and unnecessary?

I then find myself wondering how I would be different, if at age 4, instead of talking to my teddy bear, I’d have interacted with a plastic thing-a-ma-bob that was infinitely smarter than any adult I knew. Where would I be now if I would have had 24/7 access to a robot that could royally entertain me, educate me, and open new worlds for me just by me ordering it to do so like a king to a peasant?

I’m not sure of that answer, but I know that I’d be a vastly different person than the guy who’s currently typing up these thoughts on a Mac.  And maybe that’s a good thing.

Look, there’s no turning back. I get that. The genie is out of the bottle. Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and this is a truly game-changing technology that can and will benefit mankind in a myriad of ways.

But let’s be very clear. Artificial intelligence is just that, artificial.

No matter how smart Alexa gets, it will never be a replacement for human contact. While this device can read my grandson a bedtime story and audibly say “good night, Auggie,” it can’t possibly put any truth or meaning behind those three words. It will never have the capacity to care if Auggie actually has a good night’s sleep. And it can’t hug him, tuck him in, kiss him on the cheek, and convince him he is loved.

Thank God, August has two wonderful parents that provide him the care and love he needs. And in this crazy world, that’s no longer a given.

And if you don’t believe me, just ask Alexa.

ON POINT – Leaders need to understand the impact that ever-changing technologies have on young people, many who can’t comprehend life without them. Young brains are wired to demand instant answers and simple solutions, but not to solve problems pragmatically. Moreover, although your emerging workforce may respond to AI-based skills training, they will never reach their potential without caring human interaction.

The post How AI is Impacting the Emerging Workforce appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

These days, it’s not uncommon to see professional athletes sign enormous contracts punctuated with a staggering number of zeros.

What is uncommon about this particular story is where Love signed his new deal.

The 29-year-old power forward signed his contract extension in front of nearly one hundred construction workers who are completing the $140 million renovation of the Cav’s home stadium; Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Imagine for a moment that you are one of those construction workers making somewhere between $50-$80K per year.

You’re busy installing new seats in the upper deck of an arena when suddenly a voice comes over the intercom inviting you to take a short break and come down to the gymnasium floor for an exciting development.

Minutes later, the team’s General Manager introduces a nicely dressed basketball player (currently relaxing during a 4-month off-season) who, with the effortless flick of his pen, signs a contract that guarantees him 400 to 500 TIMES the amount that will appear on your year-end W-2.

But that’s not all…

In addition to those fat checks, the guy in front of you will be cheered and idolized by tens of thousands of adoring fans all while being treated like the King of Siam everywhere he goes. He’ll never wait in line for anything, nor will he have to hunt for a parking spot. And let’s not forget the beaucoup dollars that will pour in his coffers from corporate sponsorships and endorsements for playing a game you’d gladly play for free.

After a short speech, the star disappears into the locker room signaling that it’s time for you to climb back up to the nosebleed section and go back to installing another row of seats.

Let that scenario wash over you for a minute.

Now breathe as you chew on this:

Why did the construction workers in this video cheer wildly for Love? Why didn’t they rise up, revolt, and shake their fists in outrage, demanding more money for the much harder work that they’re doing?

I think the answer lies in the employee’s perception of fair pay.

Construction workers don’t compare their paycheck to that of an NBA superstar; they compare what they’re making to other construction workers. They won’t revolt if a professional athlete – or a cardiologist – or a mortgage banker makes more than they do, even if it’s multiples of what they’re earning.

But if that guy next to him – or even the worker across town who’s doing the same job for a competitor – is getting noticeably more dollars more than they are, you can bet your hammer drill that there’s going to be some fireworks.

There is no single factor that’s more important to an employee than the compensation they receive for the work they do.

However, if an employee feels as if they are being paid fairly, which is to say equal to another similarly skilled and experienced individual doing the same work under the same conditions in the same vicinity, then they tend to base their level of engagement and their desire to remain with their employer on other cultural factors (i.e. atmosphere, growth opportunities, autonomy, recognition, etc.).

ON POINT – While it improves your attractiveness to job seekers, you don’t have to offer higher compensation than the other employers in your market to win the war for skilled workers. If you offer wages that are deemed competitive, you can dominate the labor market by focusing on continually improving the other 6 cultural pillars that make you a better place to work.

The post Do You Have to Pay Your Employees Like Superstars to Keep Them? appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

A. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they’re all in the top 6 of the 15 dream jobs that our nation’s youth aspire to have one day.

What jobs didn’t make the list? Roofer, custodian, auto mechanic, welder, truck driver, short order cook, pest control technician, retail cashier, call center representative, senior caregiver, sanitation worker, and hotel housekeeper.

While your life might be less colorful if musicians and athletes didn’t exist, close your eyes and just try to imagine life without someone to change the break pads in your car, patch the giant potholes in the street you commute on each day, bus the dishes from previous diner at the table where you’ve just been seated, or pick up the trash you leave at the curb.

You’d probably feel like you were living back in the dark ages.

Trouble is, the jobs that didn’t make the dream list aren’t sexy. They offer no promise of fame and fortune. Their titles don’t generate ‘likes’ on Facebook pages. And while the emerging workforce is brimming with aspiring singers and rappers, YouTube stars, video game designers, and professional skateboarders, no one fantasizes about a job as a factory worker, a security guard, or an airline baggage handler.

“HELP! I can’t find good people for these jobs!”

Young people fill stadiums hoping to get an audition that could lead to becoming the next America Idol, and Google (Fortune’s #1 rated Best Place to Work for 6 consecutive years) receives more than two million applications each year. But unless you’re offering instant stardom and a multimillion-dollar recording contract, or a a six-figure starting salary and fringe benefits that include free afternoon massages, gourmet food, child care, and laundry services, odds are you aren’t getting nearly enough applicants to fill your openings.

The United States is suffering its worst labor shortage in decades. Millions of jobs are now begging to be filled by anyone willing to learn them and apply themselves fully to the task. Many of these jobs pay well and offer free training and rapid advancement to anyone with a GED who can pee in a cup and count to ten. And yet, while so many misguided youth have set their sites on careers that will never materialize, these important and meaningful jobs go unfilled.

And the resulting labor crisis is bringing scores of business owners and managers to their knees.

How are you meeting your staffing challenges?

Over the past 5 years, I’ve gotten an earful about how employers can’t find good people. Now I’m determined to find the answers. (And there are answers!) I’m scouring the world in search of savvy employers who have cracked the code on hiring, and I’ll be including their stories in my forthcoming book FULLY STAFFED: Finding and Keeping Great People for Jobs They Don’t Consider Sexy.

In just a few short weeks, my research team has already unearthed some incredible recruiting and retention ideas and tactics that will work in your operation, regardless of size, scope, or industry. We’re currently looking to interview owners and managers of small to medium-sized businesses (or franchise locations of larger businesses) in diverse industries across the U.S. to add even more case studies and examples.

If you’re an employer who’s using creative or “guerrilla” strategies and tactics for finding employees to fill the unheralded jobs on the front lines of your organization, please consider sharing your success in a groundbreaking book, slated for release in late 2018.

Allow me to shine the spotlight on you and your business and give you some great PR. And if you submit this form and I use your story, I’ll send you a signed galley copy of the book before anyone else gets to read it so you can stay one step ahead of the competition.

Thank you for spreading the word and helping to crowdsource solutions to this problem.

The post How Are You Filling the Non-Sexy Jobs in Your Organization? appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

Growing up, I probably spent as much time hanging out with those families as I did my own. Television families of the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s were characterized by kind and caring people that ate meals together, were respectful of authority figures, and who were always there to celebrate the accomplishments of each other, cheer for one another, and go to the extreme to help each other in times of trouble.

So yes, personally speaking, I’d be attracted to work for a company that advertised that it treated its employees like family.

But if you’re in the market for a younger demographic to join your ranks–anyone south of 40–perhaps promoting a family workplace is not the best idea.

The mental images those job-seekers might conjure up of a family-like workplace would more likely resemble the Bundys, the Simpsons, the Sopranos, or the Pritchetts. (Hard to think of a TV family now that isn’t wrought with in-fighting, sarcasm, dysfunction and total disrespect for parents.)

Sadly, recent studies show that less than half of American families now eat dinner together fewer than three times per week.

In times where sightings of functional families are as rare as leprechauns and unicorns, the number of companies that advertise “we treat employees like family” is at an all-time high. Maybe that’s because boomers and Gen X’ers cling to the fantasy that we’ll be taken care of by our employers the same way Ward and June Cleaver took care of Wally and ‘the Beav’. Conversely, managers want their employees to give them the same degree of honor and respect as Richie and Joni gave to their parents, Howard and Mariam.

But if you stop and consider your own family for a moment, you’re likely to think of some aspects that you’d rather not expose. There’s some degree of weirdness, and some bickering, and definitely some made-for-TV drama, right? Not that there’s not also some warmth and love and fun and smiles, too. But it ain’t exactly like the Brady Bunch, is it?

If yours is anything like mine, you wonder, “If they knew the whole truth, would anyone volunteer to be a part of this family?”

So rather than aim for providing a family atmosphere to your workers and to job-seekers, what if you, instead, aim for – and promote – a culture where employees are treated and valued like friends.  Not the faceless variety of friends we claim on our social media pages, but rather those who actually show up to take the other end of the couch on moving day, who celebrate our milestones, who hold us up to a higher standard and help us be the best version of ourselves, and those who really do have our backs 24/7.

And yes, some of those friends coincidentally happen to be people to whom we are also related. But that’s rapidly becoming more of the exception than the rule.

ON POINT: In a perpetual mission to attract the best talent to companies and organizations of all shapes and sizes, the term ‘family’ has become ‘cliche’. It misses the target of what you aspire to be, and certainly what you want your employment brand to represent. Aim higher.

The post Stop Treating Your Employees Like Family; They Deserve Better appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

The post If You’re Not Mentoring a Millennial, You’re Only Cheating Yourself appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

It’s entirely possible that you have a Grinch or two (…or fifty) working across your front lines. Although they may physically blend in with the pack, their sour outlook and foul disposition can drain the holiday cheer from your culture and suck every ounce of Christmas joy from your customers. 

Understandably, you want to eradicate the Grinches from your workforce. But hey, you’re short-staffed as it is, and you desperately need every warm body you have just to make it through to next year.

So rather than fire them, is there any way you can you transform your Grinches into gleeful contributors?

Yes. And here are two ideas to help achieve that result: (WARNING: Both are counter-intuitive to your instincts!)

1. Strengthen the relationship by showing you care. Pull them aside and ask them about their holiday plans. Or ask them to tell you about the best/worst Christmas gift they ever received as a kid, or ask them what their all-time favorite holiday movie is. You might find out that you share something in common with this Grinch, and it’s from there where the relationship can take root and blossom. It’s easier to stay positive and perform for a boss you really like, and it’s really hard to dislike like a boss who goes out of their way to show that they care about you.
2. Show ‘em some love. Yeah, I know. This is the complete opposite of everything you want to do; and they sure don’t deserve it. But there’s no better way to crank up the positivity and productivity in your Grinches than with a warm greeting and a compliment. What is it that your Grinch is doing right that you can praise them for and even reward? If you called them to your office, they’d be expecting some sort of correction or condemnation on their behavior. Can you imagine how much they’d be shocked if, instead, you offered a smile and a pat-on-the-back for something they did that was positive? Even though their heart wouldn’t instantly grow ten sizes, it would certainly impact their performance that day, giving you a chance to call them back in tomorrow. Lather-Rinse-Repeat. Get it?

ON POINT – If you have a surplus of applications on your desk with qualified eager candidates chomping at the bit to join your ranks, then fire and replace all your Grinches immediately. However, if employee turnover is zapping your Christmas joy, then go against your instincts and attempt to transform your Grinches into gleeful contributors and dedicated performers.

The post How to Transform Workplace Grinches into Gleeful Contributors appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

The post Southwest Airlines is Dead Serious about Employee Fun appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

I went camping with my wife in the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.

The campground was clean and pristine, particularly the public outhouses.

Anyone who’s frequented campgrounds that have no running water knows how disgusting the restrooms generally are.

The sign that hangs above the toilets in the two gender-neutral stalls reveals the answer to this mystery.

Unlike most public facilities that post signs with authoritarian commands like DO NOT PUT TRASH IN TOILETS!, this clever sign also explains the why behind the request: IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO REMOVE.

Oh, …it also contains those two magic words mother taught us as kids: PLEASE and THANK YOU.

ON POINT – It’s astounding how people will comply with rules, policies, and requests even when no one is watching when

• the reasons, rationale, and resulting outcomes are provided, and

• they are being asked kindly and treated respectfully

(If the signs above the sink in your bathrooms read All Employees Must Wash Hands, it’s time to examine how you’re communicating with your people, both verbally and in written instruction, in all aspects of your business.)

The post Managing Behavior: A Simple but Profound Lesson from an Outhouse appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

These iconic brands are legendary largely for the outstanding customer service they provide.

That level of customer service is based upon a simple — but profound — leadership principle. And while the phrasing varies from one great organization to the next, the tenets of the principle don’t:

Hire smart people and relentlessly train them to the point that they are empowered to make decisions that may cost a few dollars in the short-term, but will build loyal flag-waving customers for a lifetime.

Just imagine if the gate agents for United Airlines in Chicago had been relentlessly trained and subsequently empowered by management to continue to sweeten the offer for passengers on their oversold flight to Louisville until they got four happy volunteers.

I highly doubt the offer would have exceeded $1200 in travel vouchers plus a guaranteed seat on the next flight before a swarm of passengers would have rung their call buttons to volunteer to deplane.

As it turned out, those Chicago gate agents were tasked with placing their own common sense and good judgment on hold to follow an insipid, short-sighted protocol that will likely cost United over a billion dollars in lost revenue, lawsuits, and negative PR.

ON POINT – Companies that inspire On Fire employee passion and performance are those that hire smart people, train them well, and then give them the autonomy to make decisions.

The post How Having a Culture of Autonomy Would Have Saved United Airlines a Billion Dollars appeared first on Eric Chester.

        

Although parent’s night for 1^st and 2^nd grade students always draws a full house, the parent-teacher conferences at the neighboring high school are sparsely attended, generally attracting only those parents of the highest achieving students.

Those parents that the biology teacher, the English Lit teacher, and the algebra teacher really need to talk to rarely show up.

As a former high school teacher (spanning six years in three different high schools) this always boggled my mind. I wondered,“Why do parents of low-performing students not take the time to come meet with their teachers?”

Then one day, it suddenly dawned on me. The answer to that riddle was contained in the question. “When parents stop taking time to meet with their kid’s teachers, it’s a safe bet that that student’s performance will start to decline.”

THIS PERFORMANCE AXIOM IS ALSO EVIDENT IN WORKPLACE CULTURES

With employee engagement, workplace culture, and the millennial mindset being such critical issues for businesses in every industry, I’m not surprised by the number of requests that I receive to speak to audiences of leaders and managers.

What IS surprising is that most of these requests come from organizations with better-than-average to exceptional cultures; many that already boast sky-high employee engagement scores and are frequently recognized for being ‘the best place to work’ in their industry.

Seldom do the requests come from companies with subpar employee engagement scores and high turnover.

It doesn’t make sense.

Then again, maybe it makes total sense.

Just as I experienced when meeting with the parents of straight-A students who were never tardy, came to class prepared, and who always turned in their homework on time, it seems as though I’m, once again, preaching to the choir.

This may leave you wondering “why do the companies that are renowned for having amazing workplace cultures continue to invest heavily in the improvement of those cultures?”

And once again, the answer to the riddle is contained within the question.

ON POINT – There is no status quo for the true pro. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.

The post Preaching Engagement to the Culture-First Choir appeared first on Eric Chester.