Would you like to work for a place that champions respect for everyone? That respect would include an everyday practice of good manners. Good manners? Are good manners relevant or even possible in today’s workplace? Yes, they are! Here’s some examples and why they matter more than ever in creating a healthy respectful culture for everyone. And, here’s how they can work for you.
Young professionals look for respect from their employers. From their boss, peers and company. Unlike prior generations, Millennials and Gen Z’s are vocal about asking for respect simply for being them, a unique individual who works at the same company. Respect having nothing to do with their seniority, experience or earning it. And, they will easily leave a position if they don’t see it being demonstrated, even if there is no job offer to escape to. Does that mean they show respect openly and easily to others they work with and their employer?
How can you be consistently authentic and true to your values? One of the things I admire so much about Millennials and Gen Z’s is their devotion to fairness and inclusion. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working with them. According to Inc. Magazine Winter 2018/2019, a survey done by MUSE of Millennial bosses, their top priorities are humanist in nature. They include “creating positive work cultures, forging strong relationships in person and caring for the whole person, not just the worker.” Do these translate to non-work or personal life situations? If you are being genuine when you speak of those beliefs and those are truly your heartfelt standards for living, they would.
Conflicts and disagreements were quick to happen with some younger professionals I’ve worked with, not through their wanting to be rude, but in their attempts to jump to connect dots. They wanted to move quickly; on to the next thing and press ahead. In doing that, however, they weren’t realizing they were missing full conversations with people. Instead of waiting, listening and asking questions, they were making assumptions around a conversation. Wanting things to move quickly, they were cutting people off from fully expressing their views. A satisfying conversation never actually happened then. How we worked through this? And, a tip from Tom Hanks.
What is a satisfying and beneficial response? It’s a response which lets you know you’ve been heard, viewed and treated with respect. This means both sides are heard and treated with respect. Here are three examples that would have closed the cycle of on-going requests and been satisfying to both people.
When asked, most people want to raise their profile in their company. They want to be noticed, rewarded and appreciated. If you truly want to be recognized with a promotion or award, making your clients happy is not enough. Developing connections with colleagues, senior executives and your boss is what brings about the recognition. Here are some tips for in person communication. (This is the last of three blogs about managing up for young leadership.)
If you want to establish a great working relationship with your boss, knowing whatever you can do to make your boss’s job easier is good. Being a young professional, Millennial or Gen Z, guidelines to do this may not be so obvious. Here is the first of three blog posts on how to manage up. This first one focuses on laying the ground work for good communication.
In a team sport, the adrenaline flows fast and easy because there’s a shared natural purpose to want to win. Faced with a survival type of situation whether real or fabricated like in scouts, outward bound, etc. everyone wants to get out of a tough unfamiliar environment. Grouped together in a “Escape Room” people strive to solve the puzzle and escape. Work or volunteer situations, the natural motivation for a closely knit group is not as obvious. Is it realistic to expect group members at work or with unpaid work to be enthusiastic and want to work together?
How do you handle this? You realize a meeting or conversation is all about the other person. What to do? Do you explain their offer isn’t beneficial for you? Ask for what you want from them and see how attentive they are? Cut the conversation short? Some advice when this happens to you…
Everyone has their “safe zone”. Millennials have tighter zones than other generations for many reasons. If you allow the young talent in your projects, staff and organization to stretch beyond that space, you’ll be rewarded by their increased participation, productivity and personal growth.
