
With four very different generations making up today’s workforce, how do you effectively engage them all? In particular, a frequent question we receive is how to communicate with younger employees.

Today’s workforce is made up primarily of four generations: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Gen Y (also known as Millennials), and Gen Z (sometimes called Post-Millenials). The two younger generations have been driving huge shifts in how people communicate in the workplace. As a leader, how do you connect with younger employees? This episode helps you get started by understanding their values as well as their communication habits and preferences.
 
Our guest is Jesse’s colleague and son, JJ Lahey. His age and his experience in both internal and external communications make him a great person to discuss this topic. JJ is a communications professional who specializes in graphic design, video production, and web design. He works on our team at Workforce Communication, as well as in the marketing and advertising department of SunFrog, a large T-shirt manufacturer. He’s among the very youngest of the Millennials, right on the border of Generations Y and Z, and has done a lot of observing, reading, and experimenting with engaging those generations.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 

LinkedIn: /in/jjlahey
Twitter: /twitter.com/jjlahey

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194: Engaging Generations part 1 — How Millennials and Gen Z Are Reshaping Workforce Communications | with JJ Lahey

Engaging Leader is a show that shares principles to communicate, engage, and lead with greater impact. This podcast helps you inspire trust, passion, and action.

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This is a special episode of Engaging Leader, featuring part 2 of an excerpt of Jesse’s live interview on TechSmith’s Visual Lounge with Matt Pierce.
While part 1 focused on the 5M framework as a comprehensive planning tool for communication, Simple Visual Story (SVS) is a great model for executing the components of the strategy more effectively, especially for remote communication. 
SVS increases the effectiveness of videos, graphics, and other types of communication and education tactics to inspire trust and drive action. The SVS model has three components:
Simple:

Short. Make it as long as it needs to be, but no longer.
Purposeful. Be clear about the target audiences and the outcomes you are seeking. What ACTIONS do you want people to take? What FEELINGS and BELIEFS do you want to stimulate?
Well crafted. Words matter – the right words and messages trigger worldviews and provoke reactions. Design also matters – the right graphical construction invites the brain to pay attention and digest the information.

 
Visual:

Metaphors. Metaphors stimulate paradigms and set expectations. Use an image, analogy, or a “word picture” to associate with something already familiar to the audience. 
Images. The average person reads between 200 – 300 words per minute, but less than a second to process an image. Eye-tracking studies also show that people gravitate immediately to images. Keep in mind that you are constantly competing with social media and mobile notifications for attention. 
Characters. According to MIT neuroscience research, images with people in them are the most memorable. Will your spokespeople or other characters resonate appropriately with the real-life people in your audience?

 
Story:

Connection. A story makes it real … an issue affecting real-life people, not just a concept from management. A powerful story creates an emotional bond, so people are more likely to be open, willing, or even motivated to change.
Entertainment. If they have enough to keep people mentally interested, stories guide the imagination and frame the future. 30% of people say a movie has changed their mind about an issue.
Action. An effective story depicts specific people doing specific things and having specific feelings. This simulates the behaviors you’re asking people to practice. They equip people by showing, not merely telling. 

 
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Video version of this interview at TechSmith Visual Lounge
Homepage: TechSmith Visual Lounge
Website: TechSmith.com
Example of Simple Visual Story video for Owens Corning 
Twitter: @JesseLahey
LinkedIn: /jesselahey

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221: Simple Visual Story (SVS) Model for Effective Communication | with Matthew Pierce


This is a special episode of Engaging Leader, featuring part 1 of an excerpt of Jesse’s live interview on TechSmith’s Visual Lounge with Matt Pierce to share tips for engaging a remote workforce.
How effectively are you communicating with your remote workforce?
Remote communication is more widespread than it’s ever been. Many people now have to communicate almost entirely online, using virtual tools such as email, and audio and visual communication like video calls.
But remote communication can bring new challenges. Ideas can get lost in virtual translation, or people can be indifferent to taking action. So, how can you ensure that your communication is clear, motivates your audience to act, and helps you reach your desired outcome?
 
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Video version of this interview at TechSmith Visual Lounge
Homepage: TechSmith Visual Lounge
Website: TechSmith.com
Example of Simple Visual Story video for Owens Corning 
Twitter: @JesseLahey
LinkedIn: /jesselahey

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

220: Engaging a Remote Workforce | with Matthew Pierce


 
We’ve entered a new era with more people than ever working remotely, especially from home. This past year, according to author Charlene Walters, women have made up 80% of the people who left the on-site workforce during the pandemic.  
In this second of a two-part interview, Jesse is joined again by Charlene to discuss tips from her new book LAUNCH YOUR INNER ENTREPRENEUR: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success. This conversation includes:

The challenges female leaders and “fempreneurs” face about working from home
How to master a remote work environment and balance it with your leadership
Tips for leading a remote team
Fostering engagement and loyalty in a virtual environment

Charlene Walters, MBA, Ph.D. is an entrepreneurship coach, business and branding mentor, author, and trainer. She developed a digital entrepreneurship MBA program, has taught hundreds of business and marketing courses at a number of universities, and has led workshops for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Insider Platform and other corporations.
 
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Book: Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur
Twitter: /CWaltersPhD
 Instagram: /charlenewaltersphd
 LinkedIn: /in/charlenewaltersphd
Website:  OwnYourOther.com

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219: How Women Leaders Can Master a Remote Work Environment  | with Charlene Walters, MBA, PhD


 
Many people say that entrepreneurship is often still a man’s world ― despite the fact that 42 percent of all small business or franchise owners are women, and there are 13 million female-owned businesses contributing to $1.9 trillion in revenue in the US. According to author Charlene Walters, a multitude of research has shown that many women entrepreneurs and leaders struggle more than men with certain issues that may thwart their success.
In this interview with Charlene, we discuss tips from her new book LAUNCH YOUR INNER ENTREPRENEUR: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success. Our conversation includes:

The challenges female leaders and “fempreneurs” face in the world of work and business … and how to reframe them as opportunities
How to overcome imposter syndrome
How to deal with haters
How to fight self-sabotage

Charlene Walters, MBA, Ph.D. is an entrepreneurship coach, business and branding mentor, author, and trainer. She developed a digital entrepreneurship MBA program, has taught hundreds of business and marketing courses at a number of universities, and has led workshops for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Insider Platform and other corporations.
 
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Book: Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur
Twitter: /CWaltersPhD
 Instagram: /charlenewaltersphd
 LinkedIn: /in/charlenewaltersphd
Website:  OwnYourOther.com

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:
Apple Podcast | Google Play | Spotify |  Stitcher  | Other Ways to Listen

218: Overcoming the Challenges Faced By Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders | with Charlene Walters, MBA, PhD


 
Us versus Them gaps have always affected the American workplace – Sales versus Marketing, Manufacturing versus Engineering, Human Resources versus Legal. But today there is an urgent need to address a wide range of culture gaps, especially due to the impact of the pandemic, racism and protests in support of Black Lives Matter, and an intensely divisive U.S. presidential election.
No matter what your politics, one thing is clear — the old tools just don’t work; a new approach to diversity, cultural difference, and inclusion is urgently needed. What can business leaders do to create true synergy among the diverse and often fiercely divided members of their workforce?
In this interview with Laura Kriska, author of the new book The Business of WE, we discuss a practical roadmap for building cohesive, high-performing teams, regardless of personal differences. Drawing on her decades of international experience as a cross-cultural consultant, Kriska shares her proven three-step method for closing the gap between Us and Them in your workplace.
Our conversation includes:

Simple examples of “We-Building” behaviors or gestures
Overview of the 3-step process for closing Us versus Them gaps in your workplace
Actions that will contribute toward building a WE culture
Tips for we-building while working from home, especially during this pandemic?
How can people use the WE-building tools in their daily lives,  both the workplace and beyond

Laura Kriska is an internationally recognized expert and leading consultant on cross-cultural relations with more than 30 years of experience bridging gaps in diverse workplaces. She has worked with Fortune 500 companies on four continents, helping thousands of business leaders and professionals build trust across Us versus Them differences based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, age, or any factor of identity. Her first book, The Accidental Office Lady, was based on her experience as the first American woman to work in Honda Motor Company’s Tokyo headquarters.
 








 
 


 
 
 
 
 

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Websites: laurakriska.com
Book:  The Business of WE: The Proven Three-Step Process for Closing the Gap Between Us and Them in Your Workplace
Instagram: /laurakriska_author/
Facebook: /LauraKriskaauthor
Twitter: /LauraKriska
LinkedIn: /in/laura-kriska
* mentimeter.com
* hcleadershipessentials.com

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194: Engaging Generations part 1 — How Millennials and Gen Z Are Reshaping Workforce Communications | with JJ Lahey

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