2022 Reflections

2022 Reflections

Well, it's that time of year again! Another December is upon us, and the year is nearly over. I don’t know about you, but for me, this year seems to have flown in.  The team at Futureneerz has had a challenging yet rewarding and fulfilling year filled with plenty of fun, joy, tears, sadness, and laughter as we tried to navigate back into yet another ‘new’ normal. We continue our work to help brave and bold leaders, create courageous and compassionate workplaces so their businesses & people thrive. 
 
We grew the team at Futureneerz to help support our clients and each other. We are very grateful to each of you for trusting us to meet you where you are at and help you get to go where you want to be. You may be making either evolutionary change in incremental steps, or you may be making more revolutionary change. Either way, your actions will likely have positive impacts on you, but also on the community. Courage is fuel for your success so be BRAVE and BOLD. 

Reflecting on 2022, for many the year continued to bring its challenges and yet we faced them together and will continue to do so, so that we all move from surviving to thriving when we are ready to do so. The team continue to be in awe both personally and professionally at our clients and their resilience and desire to not only do better but be better! We met so many amazing people from teams all around the world and we got to do some face-to-face sessions again towards the latter part of the year, which we are beyond grateful for. Although people are still nervous, there was a real sense of a need for human connection, bringing it back to basics and to have some fun!  

We are planning for 2023 and beyond and look forward to bringing more insights and new nuggets of learning information to help drive behavioural change so that we can live as many best days as possible. Until then, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone for their ongoing support - it means the world to us. 
 
Taking time off is never easy when we absolutely LOVE what we do but the BRAVE and BOLD step is to give ourselves the rest that we need so that we can truly be our best selves and come back thriving in 2023. We encourage you to do the same. 

We hope you take time for yourself over the festive season to practice some compassion and self-care, spend time with loved ones and take time just for you so that you can recharge.  
 

Take care,

Michael Stafford, Senior Coaching Panel Partner  
 

Four Steps to Bring Your Employee Value Proposition to Life

Four Steps to Bring Your Employee Value Proposition to Life

According to research conducted by Gallup, 80% of the global workforce is ‘sleepwalking’ in their work (Gallup). That’s 8 out of every 10 employees who are not bringing their A-game to work. 8 out of 10 employees are not engaged in their role on a daily basis. So, what is the impact of this? Poor motivation, poor contribution, and ultimately poor productivity and profitability.

Take a moment to imagine YOUR workplace where every employee knows exactly what is expected of them, where they give their best each and every day, where they are committed to their company’s mission and values and motivated to contribute to the success of the company! Imagine YOUR WORKPLACE, where all your employees know their unique strengths, their personal power, and edge and how to purposefully apply them to their work on a daily basis.

How would that feel? Wouldn’t that be a great place to work? Helping your Leaders and your teams to do their BEST WORK and THRIVE?

To make this happen, you really need to explore your Employee Value Proposition (EVP). At FUTURENEERZ, there are 4 steps to bring your EVP to life so that employees bring passion, have a purpose that is aligned with the company, and deliver performance for the business.

Step 1: Your Reality Check

Assessing the “here and now” of your team – to understand where your team is at, their pain points and challenges, and what will help them do their BEST WORK and THRIVE?

One simple way is to employ a strong listening strategy/engagement survey. Your employees need to feel safe and heard. The Q12 is a simple but powerful tool that focuses on 12 engagement areas (Gallup Q12) and becomes a simple checklist of how to be a great leader!

What people don’t realise is that 70% of engagement is down to the manager (Gallup Engagement). So, no pressure! Let’s start with the managers and equip them with the tools to unlock the full potential of themselves, their teams, and the business.

Step 2: High-Definition Awareness and Impact

This is all about helping people to understand each other better through a common language of strengths (e.g. CliftonStrengths), which builds a trusting, psychologically safe space where we collaborate better to get things done.

Let’s create an environment where Leaders/Managers have confidence in their coaching capability, through a strengths lens that unlocks the full potential of their team driving passion, purpose and performance.

Step 3: Razor Sharp Alignment on your WHY | WHAT | HOW

Now that you are clear on yourself and your team, razor-sharp alignment is fundamental here – getting clear on your WHY, WHAT, and HOW. Culture simply comes down to "how we do things around here."

WHY does your company exist? What is your company/team's purpose? WHAT are the strategic priorities in order to deliver your WHY? HOW would you like to behave as a Team? What are the values, behaviours, and working principles that will help you deliver your WHY and WHAT?

The Lifestyle of an Infinite Mindset by Simon Sinek helps provide unity of purpose, clarity, and structure so everyone is aligned, has a common language, and is moving in the same direction, together!

Step 4: Purposeful communication and collaboration

The reality is some managers are uncomfortable and avoid having purposeful conversations with their teams. 74% of feedback conversations are demotivating (Gallup research on Feedback). 51% of people are not clear on what is expected of them. People are not aligning on their WHY, WHAT, and HOW. We need to help managers create powerful and robust ways of working and a feedback and recognition culture where everyone is clear on what is expected of them, they are truly seen for the contribution they are making to the business, and feel valued (The Check-In Conversation).

Bring your EVP to life and showcase what you are offering your current and prospective employees

The workplace of today requires you to know what’s going on with your employees, develop your future leaders who are clear on your WHY, WHAT, and HOW, and have the confidence and awareness to create powerful coaching conversations with their teams where everyone does their BEST WORK and is thriving. Each workplace is different, and your employee value proposition should reflect that: it’s a manifestation of what it means to come work for you. If your EVP isn’t spelling this out, how are you attracting and retaining your top talent?

Futureneerz – What a Journey

The inspiration behind FUTURENEERZ

I LOVE to develop and nurture young talent!  This ‘love affair’ really started back in 1997. I had completed my first year as a Jameson Brand Ambassador in Portugal and was asked to develop and deliver the Jameson Graduate Programme 3 week training programme in Dublin for the next cohort of Brand Ambassadors. While I was so excited at the prospect of creating and delivering an engaging Jameson training programme, it really drove me to delve deeper into understanding the training needs of the group.  How could I really develop these Jameson Brand Ambassadors to be the best they could be?  The rest as they say is history! I became so passionate about developing young talent that in 2007, I was thrilled to take on the management of the Jameson Graduate Programme globally and continued to lead the programme until 2015.  I was also privileged to lead a number of fabulous young dynamic teams in Irish Distillers – Pernod Ricard over that period of 2007-2015.  I was always so impressed with their drive, ambition and determination. I loved working with this bright, ambitious cohort, but my desire to develop young talent didn’t just focus on Millennials, it actually spanned across the Centennial generation (Generation Z born in 1995 & beyond) too....my children’s generation - primary and secondary school students, university graduates and all those amazing parents who wanted their children to be the best they could be. While I knew I wanted to help young people reach their full potential, I wasn’t sure how exactly or what was my exact business proposition back in 2015 – but I knew I needed to explore its potential!

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY

So I left Irish Distillers in 2015 and embarked on a wonderful journey of discovery! Firstly, I plunged myself into a journey of self-discovery while studying to be an Executive Coach with Positive Success Group (PSG) at the Marino Institute, Dublin and qualified in October 2015. I absolutely cherished my coaching journey where I really explored who I was as a person, a coach, what were my values, what did I stand for. I really pushed myself to define my business purpose, what was my niche market, what was my authentic voice in the world! 8 months ago the idea of FUTURENEERZ – Future Leader Pioneers was born!

Now don’t get me wrong...it wasn’t as easy as it sounds!!  It took a lot of research, reflecting and refining to really nail my purpose, honour my values and own my authentic voice ! I have to be honest, I was nervous at the thought of sharing my purpose with the world, but the desire to learn more about GEN Z & GEN Y and evoke transformative change in individuals, teams and organisations really pushed me out of my comfort zone!

RESEARCH INTO MILLENNIALS & MANAGERS OF MILLENNIALS IN THE WORKPLACE

In order to add real value to organisations, I knew I needed to immerse myself in the whole world of Millennials & Centennials – understanding their needs, wants & wishes. I needed to get under the skin of the millennial mindset in the workplace as well as the pain points and motivations of their managers.

So in early 2016, I nose-dived into a significant and wide-reaching research effort aimed at helping businesses and employers understand their millennial generation. I gathered the data from a variety of sources, including on-line research, Millennials & managers of Millennials focus group panels, on-line surveys and extensive desktop research from highly reputable experts in this area (including the Gallup Foundation who have engaged in decades of research around Millennials, strengths-based culture and employee engagement).

Through this extensive research effort, I analysed and uncovered the most important findings related to Millennials and managers of Millennials including what they want from their boss and organisation and what I termed as their conditions to thrive. 

I’m delighted to say that our research effort is on-going! FUTURENEERZ now has a fabulous research panel of Millennials and Managers of Millennials who help us stay real and keep our finger on the pulse! They ensure our insights and offerings are practical and relevant to the ever changing workplace.

REAL INSIGHTS, STRATEGIES & PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

At FUTURENEERZ, we are truly passionate about developing and nurturing talent and promise to provide real insights, strategies and practical innovative solutions that will help drive high performance and team engagement. We actively listen to the needs of the organisation. We see ourselves as a Generation Y & Z lense for organisations to really understand the Millennial mindset & identify what is needed for both junior and middle management to reach their full potential. We will support you in the co-creation of a clear journey roadmap – reviewing where you are NOW and where do you want to go in the FUTURE.

A STRENGTHS BASED APPROACH

At FUTURENEERZ, we know from our research, it is critical that organisations build a strengths based culture in order to recruit, retain and develop Millennials. As a GALLUP Strengths coach, I can provide the latest strengths, employee engagement trends/research insights as well as offer strengths based development and coaching and engagement workshops to further develop your young talent.

"If you’re interested in finding out more about how FUTURENEERZ can help you and your organisation then Contact Us TODAY! – we’d love to talk to you!"

Who are GEN Y?

What Millennials want...

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are defined as the generation born between early 1980s until early 2000s.This generation are driving unprecedented change in both business and society as technology, globalization and new communications have become an integral part of their lives. They are used to living a fast-paced, technology driven and autonomous lifestyle.

Like every new generation, Millennials are often misunderstood. This leads to myths about this generation. Most commonly that they are unpredictable, aggressively ambitious and impatient for promotion and are not prepared to put in the effort to achieve success in their careers.

According to research conducted by Gallup’s report “How Millennials Want to Work and Live” they are the generation most likely to look for and change jobs. This has given them a reputation as being job hoppers. Through their research Gallup found that 21% of Millennial workers had left their job in the last year to do something else. This represents is over three times higher than that of non-Millennials. The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey Research suggests that 66% of Millennials expect to leave their current employers by 2020. This poses a serious challenge to any business employing a significant number of Millennials and suggests a growing myth around Millennials that they are not brand loyal. This is referred to as the ‘loyalty challenge’ in the Deloitte survey. Millennials are currently the largest generation in the US.

So, what exactly are Millennials looking for in a job and in a company?

In general, Millennials mostly want the same things from their employers as other generations such as great managers, development opportunities and a role that is suited to their strengths, values and interests. In fact a growing body of evidence suggests that employees of all ages are much more alike than different in their attitudes and values at work. All employees seek the opportunity to learn and grow, the opportunity for career development and for a manager who supports and invest in them. The difference with Millennials is that they place a greater emphasis on these opportunities to learn and grow and on opportunities for advancement. In addition, they want a clear purpose, clear KPI’s, a clear link between the work they are doing and the company vision.

Once Millennials have clear understanding of their purpose they then want autonomy to get the job done but on the way to delivering they want regular feedback and mentoring. They want to make a difference, they want to see the impact of their efforts and they want to be praised for the results they achieve. It seems they are clear on what they want so why are employers not listening? Why do they not recognise this? The reality is that companies are struggling to cope up with Millennials needs as traditional business methods seem insufficient.

By 2025 75% of the workforce will be Millennials so it’s time to embrace this new generation as they are the business leaders of tomorrow. As they now move into management positions companies cannot afford to ignore their needs any longer. Working out what they want is important to employers with the key question being how to secure their loyalty?

On the flip side, Millennials’ willingness to switch jobs and companies presents a substantial attraction opportunity for organizations. Ultimately, Millennials are consumers of the workplace. They shop around for the jobs that best align with their needs and life goals. More than ever, employers need to know and act on the factors that make their company appealing to these candidates. They have to make it easy for prospects to choose them over their competition.

Although income is not among Millennials’ top five factors when applying for jobs, it still matters to them when looking for a job, as it does to all employees. The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey found that when money is removed from the equation, work/life balance and opportunities to progress or take on leadership roles stand out for Millennials. Flexible working arrangements, getting a sense of meaning, and training programmes that support professional development are all factors this generation consider attractive from an employer perspective.

If your company wants to do a focus on addressing the ‘loyalty challenge’ it’s important to understand what motivates Millennials, what doesn’t, and the delicate balance between the two.

If you want to find out more about how FUTURENEERZ can support you in building your future business leaders Contact Us TODAY!

The Strengths Superpower

WORLDWIDE, ONLY 13% OF EMPLOYEES ARE ENGAGED AT WORK

In a global research poll carried out by Gallup, only 13% of people going to work every day are engaged… that means 87% of us are just turning up, or worse causing total mayhem for our company and colleagues because we are just not happy in work!  Scary thought isn’t it?

Now we know that most organisations want to develop and engage their employees’, but to get there virtually all follow the conventional wisdom that we must find what’s wrong with people and then attempt to “fix” it!  And unfortunately, research suggests this can result in a culture of mediocrity and disengagement.

But did you know that people who use their Strengths every day in their work or daily activities are 6 times more likely to be engaged and 3 times more likely to report having a better
quality of life

So here are a few questions for you…

Do you know what your core talents and strengths are? Do you know what you bring to the table? What are your superpowers? Can you articulate exactly who you are, what you offer and how you can lead others? 

Or how about this…

Do you ever wonder why you don’t get on with certain people? Or how about the project or team you are working on… ‘Why don’t they understand where I am coming from?’ Or ‘how can I really develop and motivate my team’?

These are questions and challenges that plague us every day…

So here’s a thought..... what if you had the opportunity to do what you do best every day? What if you could articulate exactly who you are, and what you bring to the table? What if you could say with complete confidence that you are happy in your work and that you are fully engaged in your current everyday activity? What if you could motivate your team by giving them projects and tasks that suited their strengths so they were highly motivated and engaged in their roles and exceeding their goals?

At FUTURENEERZ we’ve found that in a strengths-based culture, employees have the opportunity to do what they do best every day. Their development is grounded in what they do right, not what they do wrong. As a result, employees look forward to going to work, achieve more while they are there and stay with their company longer. Companies can all but eliminate active disengagement by emphasizing strengths over weaknesses: Managers who predominantly focus on employees' strengths reduce active disengagement to an astoundingly low 1%. That’s an enticing stat isn’t it?

PEOPLE WORKING IN THE STRENGTHS ZONE....

•  look forward to going to work

•  have more positive than negative interactions with their co-workers

•  treat customers better

•  tell their friends they work for a great company

•  achieve more on a daily basis

•  have more positive, create, and innovative moments

FUTURENEERZ can help your organisation tap into the power of a strengths-based culture through an innovative online assessment known as the Clifton StrengthsFinder.  Don Clifton, the Father of Strengths Psychology invented it in the late 1990’s following a landmark 30 year study.  Clifton StrengthsFInder empowers people to identify and develop what they do best.  It provides the basis for meaningful coaching and ongoing conversations that create a culture of coaching and intensive development. Today, more than 16 million people around the work have discovered their strengths through the assessment.

Taking the Clifton StrengthsFinder solves one key issue – identifying employees’ individual talents – but there is more work to be done to develop a true strengths-based culture.  FUTURENEERZ will work with you to form a highly individualised strategy for building and maintaining a strengths-based approach to developing your young talented workforce.

Our Managing Director, Ciara is a GALLUP strengths coach and would be delighted to chat with you on how we can help you develop your teams and drive high performance through a strength based approach. If you’re interested in finding out more, please Contact Us at FUTURENEERZ.

Conditions to thrive

By 2025, over 75% of the workforce will be Millennials, ARE YOU READY?

The modern workplace presents many challenges for employees and managers, including changing job requirements, fast-moving technology, global connectedness and matrixed teams.  Millennials also place new demands on managers. The workplace is evolving, and so must the way employees are managed and developed.

At FUTURENEERZ, we have seen this clearly through our research to date in Ireland as well as highly reputed international research reports such as Gallup's latest report, How Millennials Want to Work and Live. Over the past 40 years, Gallup has studied tens of thousands of teams globally to learn more about the issues, pain points, challenges they face, the techniques managers, teams and organisations use to create highly engaged teams, and most importantly, the things that high-performing teams do that distinguish them from others. 

At FUTURENEERZ, we call these distinguishing factors ‘Conditions to Thrive’. There are 3 core conditions that companies focus on in order to drive high performance and engagement.

1. Passion & Purpose

•   Organisations provide a Clear Vision, Company Purpose & Inclusive Culture to their workforce.

•  Team success ultimately depends on the team’s ability to identify and focus on a compelling vision or common purpose and understand the role each member plays in reaching that vision.

 2. Trust & Strengths Based Culture

•  Trust is a core company value & cornerstone of organisational behaviour.

•  Companies embrace a strengths based culture. Team members are aware of their unique talents and how they can help the team respond to or achieve the common goals.  They also know how the others on the team can best contribute. As such, they act interdependently.

•  They have an understanding of how each person is inclined to think, act, and feel.  This awareness helps the team navigate the issues all teams encounters. Certain talents make team members adept at conflict management, documenting the team’s work, setting direction, influencing others etc.  In short, they understand how the team can work best together.

3. Cash + Love

•  While a competitive package is required to recruit and retain Millennials.  The No.1 driver for Millennials is development! They are most interested in opportunities to learn and grow, as well as a manager who cares about them as people. They want interesting work that makes a difference in the world and aligns with their personal sense of purpose. They don’t want to be micro-managed, they want to be coached with constant feedback and communication with the opportunity to advance as they develop.

•  Interested to learn more?  Please Contact Us, we’d be delighted to discuss our research & practical solutions with you.

It turns out that what is really important in building a great team is the individual.  It is how each person thinks about his or her contribution within the context of the others on the team and how each person combines his or her strengths with the complementary strengths of others to tackle challenges together.

The team’s aim is to achieve excellence and get the most out of each team member’s natural talents. In building great teams, it is therefore important to start by understanding and appreciating each team member’s talents and intentionally leveraging these to reach the collective team goal.

If you want to find out more about how to develop a high performing team based on a strengths-based approach, Contact Us at FUTURENEERZ.