Competency and Performance Solutions

Third Prize: A self-sustaining system for monitoring your corporate information security and privacy on the Internet.

Second Prize: Engaged staff, increased retention, teamwork and trust.

First Prize: A long-term, company-wide culture of awareness of the importance of respecting and protecting corporate information. Employee-driven emphasis on its role in trust-based business relationships, legal obligations to business partners, competitive advantage etc.

In CPS’s Managing Millennials workshop, we suggest many ways to give your Generation Ys some variety in their work, to engage their interest and loyalty, and to offer some outlet for their creative minds, as they focus on routine tasks. Most of these suggestions leverage their technological and generational-specific skills, for the well-being of the organization.

Continue reading »

The following article, by Glynis Ross-Munro, was published in the Summer 2009 edition of The Woman Advocate, Vol. 14, No. 4,by the American Bar Association. Copyright is shared with the author.

Glynis is President of Competency and Performance Solutions, a Tampa-based consultancy that assists firms with generational differences, collaborative thinking skills, culture and inclusiveness. She has been married to a lawyer for 33 years.

The success of a legal team depends on collaboration and teamwork. In the current workplace, that means solid communication between four generations of professional and support staff, clients, business partners, witnesses and others. This is no easy task. Continue reading »

As GenY specialists, we have to comment on Mark Bauerlein’s new book, “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)”.

The Emory University Professor presents his figures showing a decline in US adult literacy (40% of high-school grads in 1992; only 31% in 2003) and the many areas where young Americans lack knowledge, such as geographic, historical and political cluelessness.

Bauerlein is even more annoyed because his Gen-Yers are unapologetic about their ignorance. They dismiss the idea that they should have more facts in their heads, and call it a pre-Google and pre-wiki anachronism.

CPS’s position is that Bauerlein has a good case, and is also completely wrong. Gen Y has massive skills gaps in some areas, but is the smartest generation ever in others. Continue reading »

CPS hears both sides of the “Managing the Millennials” debate.  www.ManagingTheMillennials.com/survey brings us many candid snapshots of the world of work from the GenY perspective, to add to our research, focus groups, interviews and workshop-based knowledge. Our one VP is, of course, a Millennial too.

CPS now has permission to publish a highly entertaining MiIllennial’s perspective. Paul exemplifies many of the characteristics of the 21st century GenY knowledge worker: massive technical knowledge, a graduate education, and a history of entrepreneurship. Born in Tampa, he is an experienced, multi-lingual global traveler and married to a physics PhD student.  Enjoy!

Then go on www.glassdoor.com (or something similar) and see whether your organization also needs to think seriously about collaborative management, collaborative thinking, and the competitive and innovative edge your Millennials bring to the table.. Continue reading »

You’re dealing with a client, co-worker, outsource project team member or supplier, and need to guess more about his/her thought style to work more effectively together.

You can guess a client’s or remote colleague’s generation from their writing, and give them appropriate service or packaged data.

Mature/Traditional: No emoticons. The writer thinks smiley faces are unprofessional and signs of lazy writing. You’ll tend to see longer, more complex sentences, and spelling is really good. Paragraphing is usually excellent, with careful punctuation. Continue reading »

1    What your customers say.
2    What your employees say.
3    The Generation Y / Millennial guarantee.
4    County funds for CPS services

1.     What your customers say:

Generation Y is a worldwide phenomenon. In the USA, our 80 million Millennials are a daily challenge to how we strategize, manage, and market.

Open a business publication.  Organizations are constantly criticized for poor service that is specifically blamed on disengaged GenYs. I tested this today: the St Pete’s Times listed AOL, Comcast, Sprint, Abercrombie & Fitch, Qwest, Capital One, Bank of America, Time Warner Cable, HSBC Finance, and Cox Communications as examples: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article749365.ece

There are well-researched solutions to these issues. There are specific management skill-sets and behaviors that prevent or cure the problem. Continue reading »

80 million Millennials are changing every aspect of the business environment, and they’re your customers, suppliers and employees.

CPS finds that a lot of companies don’t have comprehensive strategies to manage this generation in their business world. They are paying heavily with low productivity, high turnover, weaker business relationships and brand problems. They are also failing to make good use of the many innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities the Millennials offer. Continue reading »