"Master of the Obvious"

I'm a graduate student at the University of Dayton (Go Flyers!) finishing my Masters of Education in Community Counseling. That means I'm training to be a therapist. One day in class, I commented on something the professor said because I wanted clarification. A classmate turned to me and said, "You have an uncanny grasp of the obvious."

"Thank you?" I thought to myself.

To this day I don't know if that was a compliment or a brazen slap in the face. What I've come to accept, is that there are an awful lot of folks in business who have no grasp of the obvious. We get so caught up in sounding smart or powerful or in charge that we forget to simply state the obvious.

How many times have you sat in a business meeting and thought, "what are these people talking about?" The trend is so bad there are games like Conference Call Bingo where folks try to get 5-across on a playing card filled with meaningless corporate jargon that does little more than bore the listener. In its worst forms, these phrases confuse employees and customers alike.

Let me know if any of these sound familiar to you:

- We're a global solutions provider
- Our people make the difference
- We need to go the extra mile
- Let's look at the big picture
- We can't lose sight of our value-add

We've grown so accustomed to hearing these phrases from our leaders in the workplace that we've forgotten to ask them what they actually mean! When was the last time you asked your boss, "Hey, when you say ,'Our people make the difference,' what do you mean by that? What kind of difference are we making? Are the employees 'Our people' or is there some group in a back office somewhere with the title 'Our people'?"

I'm interested in your thoughts. What are the things you hear in the office that make you scratch your head and ask, "Huh?" What are the questions you'd really like to ask your boss (you know, if you weren't scared to death that you'd be fired for speaking out)?

"Our People Make the Difference"

The most common phrase we hear from businesses is "our people make the difference." At first, that phrase sounds wonderful. The company appears to believe in their employees. Value is given to the individuals who perform the work every day and they are indeed identified as the most important aspect of a company's offerings. They are, in fact, part of the product being sold.

What most companies don't realize is that the saying is true - for every business. The people in your business truly do make a difference. The question is: what kind of difference are they making?

Think about this:

• Who interacts with your customers?
• Who interacts with your suppliers?
• Who determines your business' strategy and where your company is going?
• Who makes sure you're meeting government regulations? paying the right taxes? fulfilling your legal and contractual obligations?
• Who builds your reputation?

The answer to all of these questions: YOUR PEOPLE.

So, what happens when you aren't meeting the needs of your people?

It's easy to think of employees in terms of their numbers. How many of them are there? How much are you paying in taxes to keep them employed? How much time are they performing revenue generating activities? However, the more important numbers are these:

• How many customers do your employees encounter daily - on and off the job?
• How much company time are employees spending trying to manage their personal lives because they don't have the life skills to handle things outside of work?
• How often does the stress of feeling overwhelmed cause an employee to avoid solving a work problem because he simply doesn't know how to face it?
• How many times has an inexperienced manager in your organization cost you a valuable employee because she didn't know the difference between managing and demanding?

Your employees make a huge difference in the success or failure of your business, whether it's part of your marketing message or not. 21st Century Professionals focuses on identifying and addressing the personal and professional needs of your employees to ensure that the difference they make is for the better. We know that healthy, well-rounded people outfitted with the proper life tools and support systems make incredibly productive and efficient employees.

Call us today to discuss how we can make a difference for your people, so they can make the right kind of difference for your business: 937-867-0667 or email info@21stcenturypros.com.