Although the date varies, every winter hundreds of thousands of adventurers around the world choose to hurl themselves en-masse into icy waters in an event called The Polar Bear Plunge. Why? Some do it for the thrill. Some do it to have a great story to tell. Some do it to support a cause: throughout the U.S., the Polar Bear plunge raises much-needed funds for the Special Olympics. And some people just love to break away from the humdrum and try something new.
I’ve never done an official Polar Bear plunge, since being in my bathing suit in the winter with a bunch of strangers feels the opposite of inspiring to an introvert like me. But last year I did jump fully clothed into a lake three weeks after the ice had receded. My brother dared me, and I took him up on it.
It went like this: 3-2-1 “I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Splash! Then came a moment when every system in my body seemed to go offline. There may have been a buzzing in my ears while everything recalculated, and finally one very clear thought formed: “This was a huge mistake!” Because my nerves didn’t know how to interpret the cold, my skin felt like it was on fire. Somehow my brain forced my muscles to overcome their instinct to seize up completely and convinced them to get me OUT OF THE WATER. I don’t remember the process of getting to shore—I just know it was FAST.
Once on land and sort-of dry, I felt elated. The alertness that followed beat anything my local coffee shop could have brewed for me. It was (literally) cool, and I’m glad I did it. It got me out of a rut I hadn’t known I was in. Having done it, I really understand why people come back to the Polar Bear Plunge year after year. It’s wacky and fun, and it’s a great “Guess what I did this weekend!” story to share.
Starting a new year is often filled with resolutions and aspirations. But just like a Polar Bear Plunge (or even a generic icy plunge), taking that first step can be daunting. The initial shock of the cold water is similar to the challenges and uncertainties we face in our careers and businesses. However, just like the plungers who emerge invigorated and exhilarated, embracing the challenges and pushing through our comfort zones can help us achieve remarkable things.
Whether you're a seasoned goal-setter or a champion of gentle beginnings, here are 5 ways to kick off the year on a positive note, without turning blue from hypothermia:
Dust off that unused notebook, get outside with your camera, or download a pottery app (there’s an app for everything these days!). Dedicating time to creative pursuits, no matter how messy or imperfect, can ignite your mind and spirit. Tapping into creativity can help generate new approaches to existing problems, leading to breakthrough solutions that might elude you. Who knows, you might surprise yourself with your hidden talents!
Big resolutions often set us up for disappointment. Instead, focus on tiny, achievable actions. Want to be healthier? Start with daily walks or cut back on one sugary snack. Need to learn a new skill? Spend ten minutes a day taking mini lessons. By breaking down your goal into manageable, bite-sized parts, you build momentum with each accomplishment. These mini-victories fuel motivation, combat overwhelm, and provide valuable feedback to adjust your approach. Small changes, consistently applied, have a way of snowballing into big results.
Schedule some mindful “me time.” Whether it's meditation, journaling, or a solo nature walk, carve out space for introspection. Use this time to reflect on your priorities, values, and aspirations. It’s amazing how much benefit can be had by just spending a few moments every day in quiet reflection. Give that busy brain of yours a break and you might just find new inspiration!
Kindness is contagious, so be the source! Donate to a worthy cause, volunteer your time, or simply offer a genuine smile and a warm hello. Helping others not only benefit them, but also boosts your own sense of well-being. In fact, author/researcher Allan Luks discovered what he called the “Helper’s High,” which is, “the powerful physical feelings people experience when directly helping others.” Doing a kind act for others is one of the happiest ways to elevate all areas of your own life.
Taking the time to acknowledge your achievements, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is crucial for sustained motivation. Did you finally finish that report? Pat yourself on the back! Cooked a delicious meal? Treat yourself to a second helping! I have a task tracking app that makes a happy little chime when I check something off. That chime reminds me that I accomplished something, so I’m a little more jazzed about getting to the next item and checking that off. Recognizing your progress fuels your enthusiasm to keep moving forward.
Remember, the new year is not about drastic measures or punishing routines. It's about starting fresh, feeling good, and setting yourself up for success. So, if an icy plunge isn’t for you, that’s ok! (And frankly, normal). Embrace a gentler, more sustainable approach to positive change. Who knows, you might just inspire others to do the same. If you’re feeling stuck career-wise or a little stumped about just what you need to help you move forward, let us help! Take the plunge and try one of our development reports for behavioral insight into specific ways to maintain momentum to achieve your goals.
Now go forth and conquer the year, sans hypothermia!
If you surveyed all business leaders, I believe most of them would say they want their employees to thrive and succeed. Aside from my optimistic view that most leaders want the best for their employees, there is also a practical side to employee achievement — successful employees equal successful businesses. Additionally, successful businesses create jobs, which means hiring more employees. It’s the occupational circle of life!
However, employee success doesn’t happen by accident. And not knowing how to help employees grow and develop — or not making it a priority — is where some companies stumble. Just like you have to plant flowers in good soil, ensure they get enough sun, and water them regularly, your employees need the right elements to help them grow, flourish, and reach their potential. If the thought of cultivating talent in your company feels daunting, here are 5 steps to help you get started.
Understanding your organization’s needs can help target your efforts in developing your personnel. What are your strategic goals and priorities, both for the short term and the long term, and what is your game plan for achieving those goals? What kinds of employee talent are required to accomplish these business plans? Once you have this mapped out, you can determine the resources you currently have and the gaps that need to be filled.
Now that you know where you’re going, you must figure out who is going to get you there. Some people will immediately spring to mind in terms of their skills, knowledge, and experience, but don’t overlook the employees with great potential.
To uncover those hidden gems in your organization, consider conducting performance evaluations more frequently than once a year. According to Demetria Miles-McDonald, founder and CEO of Decide Diversity, “[Annual performance reviews are] very misleading as to who's going above and beyond…If you're doing performance reviews on a more regular basis, like quarterly or even monthly, and it doesn't even have to be something that's super formal, then the chances of you identifying someone who is a high potential employee definitely increases.”
These performance evaluations can also illuminate the career paths your employees might be well suited for as well as the opportunities for upskilling that will enable them to progress. Additionally, professional development assessments can help steer your performance conversations to make them more productive. Understanding an employee’s intrinsic behavioral traits and motivators can add depth to your discussions and specificity to the employee’s development trajectory.
Sporadic or one-off training sessions aren’t usually effective at facilitating ongoing talent growth within your organization. Employees often forget what they’ve been taught soon after the session, especially if they don’t have ways of practicing and honing what they’ve learned. And sending personnel to an occasional webinar or class does not send the message to them that your business is truly committed to their growth. To achieve effective and sustained employee development, you must weave continuous learning and development into the fabric of your company culture.
LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky says, “I truly believe that your next top employee is most likely your current employee. And if you focus on skills and understand the skills of your existing workforce, and where you need to go as a company, there’s a huge opportunity to help your top talent find different roles inside of your company instead of learning and leaving.”
A great way to show leadership’s commitment to cultivating talent is through experiential learning — learning by doing. An example of this is delegating responsibilities and projects to personnel to give them opportunities to handle tasks that are new and different from their daily work. Rather than viewing it as simply getting work off a manager’s desk, delegation should involve discussing assignment parameters, clarifying expectations, being available for guidance, and providing feedback. While the tasks should not feel overwhelming, they should stretch employees and help personnel enhance their knowledge and capabilities.
Another example of experiential learning is what LinkedIn calls “tours of duty.” These are rotational assignments given to employees, which in turn, fosters the growth of new skills, experiences, and the chance to explore different career paths.
As employees become more comfortable and confident taking on new assignments and responsibilities, it’s valuable to give them the chance to take calculated risks, try new methodologies, and even make some mistakes without feeling they will be penalized. While it’s important to establish the boundaries employees should work within from the start, offering reasonable autonomy can further develop their independent decision-making skills.
Coaching and mentoring employees is an essential component to cultivating your workforce’s talent. Providing personnel with opportunities to take on new responsibilities or assignments won’t get your staff (or your business) far if there is no one to offer meaningful feedback, provide necessary guidance, and give encouragement. An effective coaching and mentoring relationship is a partnership in which the coach or mentor is invested in the employee’s growth and success and the employee benefits from the coach/mentor’s experience and insight. It facilitates two-way communication: the employee freely discusses their aspirations and the setbacks they’ve encountered, and the coach or mentor guides the employee in working through challenges and celebrates their successes with them.
If you want to cultivate talent in your business, Omnia is here to help! Our independently validated behavioral assessment can give your business data-based insights on what drives, motivates, and challenges your staff. And understanding your employees is the key to unlocking their potential. Contact us to get started!
If you are one of the millions of March Madness viewers, you’ve seen the coaches on the sidelines – suit coats and ties flapping, shouting their heads off, sweating and clapping. You might have thought, wow, that job looks stressful! It’s easy to forget that what we see broadcast is the tiniest little part of coaching. It comes after countless hours of working with the players. It’s when the coaches have to let go and see if all their work paid off.
If you’re a manager, you get this. Sure, people are probably not placing bets on how well you and your team are going to do (I hope!), but the pressure is there just the same. You may feel like doing some clapping, flapping, sweating, and shouting yourself. And when you step back and let your staff perform, you might feel like you’re in the spotlight, too. And yes, that can be stressful! Remember, like those NCAA head coaches, you are not alone. They have a cadre of coaching staff, and you have The Omnia Group!
Coaching is more than training. A person who has been trained to play basketball knows the rules of the game and some of the skills, but they are probably not ready to jump into a Division 1 game. They need to know how to perform individually, how to work with their teammates, how to perform against certain teams, and how to adjust based on changing circumstances in the game. A great coach will prepare them for that, taking a different approach with each player, with the understanding that personalities and skill sets are not all equal.
To know how best to coach your performers, you must know who they are – their strengths and weaknesses and their preferences. A behavioral assessment, like the Omnia Assessment, is an excellent tool to help you understand an employee’s coaching needs. When you know, for example, a person’s communication style, you can adapt the way you approach them. Someone outgoing and expressive likes to brainstorm, talk problems through, and learn in a socially interactive way. Someone more reserved likes to explore information on their own first and learn as much as they can via playbooks or online training before trying to put things into practice. Are they ready to dive right in, or do they want to approach a skill more cautiously? Do they need unexpected variety in their coaching, or do they learn best when they know exactly what to expect? Knowing all these things can keep you from wasting valuable energy on a method that isn’t quite doing the job.
Even the most solitary of jobs involves some interplay with other members of the company. When coaching, you need to consider how well the team members work together. Do one person’s strengths complement another’s? Is one inclined to take on too much and another inclined to take on too little? If so, adjustments will be needed to ensure the work is equitable, everyone is pulling their weight, and mistakes aren’t being made because someone is overextended.
A good coach understands that different levels of preparation are needed depending on the situation. If the workload changes dramatically depending on the season or the date, you need to prepare your team to pace themselves and manage their efforts accordingly. If some work requires assertiveness or more readiness to smooth things over, you need to prepare your employee to identify that and respond.
At Omnia, we’re all about coaching. We have tools specifically designed to give you, the manager/employer, insight into how to coach your people to perform at the top of their games.
Have more questions or want to dig deeper? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager. They are always ready to stand on the sidelines, shouting and clapping, with you!
When you hire someone, you want to be sure that they'll do well in their new role. You invest too much time and money to end up with someone who can’t fulfill their responsibilities. But you can’t rely on first impressions or feelings of rapport to identify A-players. Instead, you should use several data points to support your hiring decisions. That’s where cognitive reports and behavioral assessments come in. We’ll share why and how you should use them in tandem when you evaluate candidates.
Before we go any further, let’s define cognitive ability. Cognitive ability is what your brain is capable of doing. It’s the taking in, organizing, processing, and applying of information. You see it in action when you:
While this ability gets partially determined by genetics and can be influenced by outside circumstances, like injury or illness, it can be developed and refined over time. You can improve your cognitive functioning by practicing self-care, reducing stress, and doing activities that exercise your brain, like reading or completing puzzles.
Cognitive ability plays a significant role in determining whether someone will succeed or fail in their position. If the capacity is there, the employee can complete their work effectively and make valuable contributions to the company. It’s also an indication of the candidate’s ability to learn, adapt, and grow. But, if the cognitive ability isn’t high, they may struggle, feel overwhelmed, and likely will not be as productive nor pick up new concepts quickly.
The good news? You can prevent that unfortunate scenario by incorporating a cognitive assessment into your hiring and promotions process for necessary roles.
A cognitive report will tell you if a potential candidate has the cognitive ability to fulfill the responsibilities of a given position. The report should describe their capacity to:
Once you have the assessment results, you can decide if the candidate can handle the position as advertised.
Behavioral assessments also take a deep dive into each candidate’s brain. But, instead of illustrating their aptitude, they reveal their tendencies, preferences, traits, and motivations. The assessment should answer whether a candidate:
With the results in hand, you can determine if their personality would be an asset or a hindrance to them in the target role.
You understandably want to make your hiring process as simple (and cost-conscious) as possible, so including multiple assessments might seem counter-intuitive. But, we invite you to think a little longer-term. Matching the right candidate with the right position will have major benefits, including reducing costs related to turnover, hiring, and unmotivated staff.
Putting the insight from these assessments together gives you a complete picture of the potential team member. You’ll know what their brain is capable of — and how they tend to work. That knowledge can help you make the right hiring decision the first time and manage the new hire effectively once they’re on board, saving you untold dollars, hours, and aggravation.
While you may be convinced that you should give these assessments to job candidates, you likely have no idea where to start. That’s where we come in. We’ve developed a cognitive assessment and a behavioral assessment that are proven to provide the information you need to make wise hiring and management decisions.
Our assessments are simple, and candidates can complete both of them in less than 30 minutes. You’ll receive instant results, so you don’t have to delay your hiring process. If you’d like additional insights, our analysts are available to provide verbal consultations as well.
Want to learn more? Contact us today!
Your hiring process is the gatekeeper for your organization. It lets in top talent and blocks out less-than-ideal candidates. But, you must have the right components in place for it to work properly. Scientific and objective measures like cognitive and behavioral assessments can strengthen your hiring process so that only the best-suited professionals make it into your organization.
Have an article-specific question or want to continue the conversation? Now you can! Contact the author directly through the short form below and Tonya DeVane will respond to your query. If you have a more general question please use our chat function, call 800.525.7117, or visit our contact us page and we'll have a subject matter expert answer your questions.
Welcome to Camp Omnia. This month we’re embarking on a learning journey to help improve yourself and your team. You know, just like summer camp ought to be.
While there aren’t any ropes courses, trust circles, s’mores, or singing Kumbaya, (though we fully support the team efforts), we have packed this camp with valuable information that will stay with you long after the fireflies have dimmed, and the summer heat fades into a crisp fall.
What’s summer camp without badges? Each week of Camp Omnia is devoted to a specific topic affecting performance in all industries. Bonus, you can earn merit badges with each week’s topic. You’ll receive a bonus merit badge by participating in our Camp Omnia: Ask the Experts webinar!
Week 1 – June 7, 2021: Earn your Retention Merit Badge
Week 2 - June 14, 2021: Earn your Selection Merit Badge
Week 3 - June 21, 2021: Earn your Team Dynamics/Conflict Resolution Merit Badge
Week 4 - June 28, 2021: Earn your Self-Awareness Merit Badge
Interactive Webinar June 15, 2021: Camp Omnia: Ask the Experts
Our presenters, aka Omnia Camp Counselors, work closely every day with clients in various industries, including financial, insurance, manufacturing, staffing, and many others. We wanted to present a fun, engaging series to help spread the knowledge.
Our experts have over 80 years of combined experience in employee selection and development. They also have diverse backgrounds, from being small business owners to leading large corporations. If you have a “people problem” chances are they’ve seen it.
Keather Snyder, Chief Revenue Officer, is a leader in helping organizations improve and optimize their talent selection, development, and company culture. For over 25 years she’s sold and built global sales teams, created innovative marketing strategies, and led exceptional client delivery and professional services organizations.
Wendy Sheaffer, Chief Product Officer, has over 20 years of experience helping companies hire the right person the first time, manage more effectively, and build high-performance teams using everyday tools and behavioral concepts.
Tonya Devane, Senior Client Advisor, has over 20 years of experience with hiring and developing an A-team. Her specialties include coaching and consulting in leading, engaging, and retaining teams in various industries, including insurance, financial services, staffing, and healthcare.
Join us June 15, 2021, and ask whatever is on your mind. We’ll focus on selection, retention, team dynamics, and the importance of self-awareness, but we’re open to all topics. As always, you can contact our experts directly by calling 800-525-7117.
So, let’s get to it and kick off our summer camp series with the curiosity and enthusiasm we’ve been building up all year. We’ll skip the trust falls and go straight to the good stuff.
Continuing our series on performance management, we turn our spotlight to The Advisor. Like the Analytic (and all other personality groups), Advisors have specific behavioral traits and preferences that are the most comfortable for them. While they can show any behavior necessary to do a job for a short time, the core traits of the Advisor personality group require the least stretch. This is where the similarities between the Analytic and the Advisor end. In almost every other way, these two personality groups are polar opposites.
The Advisor has tall Omnia columns 2, 3, 6 and 7. Translated into English, this means members of this group tend to be risk avoidant, outgoing, systematic and autonomous. They love to be around people, and they can almost always make time to interact with coworkers, customers, management, vendors and most people they see. As extroverts, they get their energy from these interactions, and they want to help pretty much everyone they meet, which is where the title Advisor comes from. This personality type solves problems by talking things through, thinking outside the box and using creativity. They are more focused on the big picture than details. They make excellent coaches, trainers, counselors and, you guessed it, advisors.
Advisors are one of the few groups with some built-in conflict among their own columns. Unless addressed through specific training and management techniques, this conflict can create some interference regarding their own contentment in a role as well as posing some performance challenges.
Conflict: Advisors are people pleasers (column 2) who want freedom (column 7). Advisors don’t like to make waves, but they can bristle at having their every move orchestrated. What happens when a manager gives them specific, step-by-step instructions to follow? Advisors could feel contradicting needs to be trusted to innovate and to avoid a confrontation. Depending on whether the need to please or the need for autonomy is stronger, this problem could play out in a couple of ways.
Possibility 1. The Advisor does things as told, feels stifled and unhappy, and eventually becomes disengaged.
Possibility 2. The Advisor says she will do things as told, but then does what she wants and hopes it’s not that big of a deal in the long run. This person’s mantra may be “Ask forgiveness not permission.”
Another potential challenge area involves the combination of persistence (column 6) and independence (column 7). Once Advisors figure out how they’re going to do something, they can and will do it just that way forever. People with a combo of columns 6 and 7 are dogged in their attachment to their systems and routines. You could even call them stubborn. They need time. Time to plan and prepare and time to get used to new ideas. But they also need to understand when pivoting to new processes is nonnegotiable.
Now for the good news: These conflicts are manageable using the following steps, and they are worth managing, because with a contented Advisor who uses effective routines, you are likely to have a loyal, empathetic, diligent employee who can patiently develop beneficial relationships for your company and put customers, coworkers and outside contacts at ease.
The best training for Advisors is informal and interactive with a schedule they can review in advance. When possible, make sure there is extra time in each training segment in case it runs long due to expanded discussions of topics. Advisors are comfortable shadowing people so they can see duties in action and ask questions.
During training, make any critical procedures clear and reiterate the need to follow them. But consider allowing opportunities for innovation and creativity. For example: the format of a client call may be set in stone but the way the Advisor delivers the information has some wiggle room.
Highlight standards for accuracy, compliance and timeliness during training, and make sure the Advisor knows he will be accountable for meeting those standards.
Above all, Advisors need people contact. Make sure whatever position they are undertaking has some regular and appropriate interactive elements to it. If the work itself tends to be solitary and isolating, consider offering the Advisor a chance to take part in meetings, group projects, networking events or phone calls. Being able to factor in “people breaks” during the day will help with overall motivation.
Meet with them to devise plans for limiting distractions and mitigating errors in their results. Working in solitude and focusing on details are not strengths for Advisors but solving problems creatively and building work systems are. By collaborating on quality assurance strategies, you can engage them in planning for their own successes.
Whenever possible, ease them into changes. If you need them to do things differently, provide advance warning and regular reminders of an upcoming change. Offer reassurance, since change can be upsetting, and encourage them to verbalize concerns as well as a plan for incorporating the new process or responsibility.
Check in periodically to make sure everything is being done as expected. Compliment efforts and successes publicly and frequently. Advisors are motivated by praise and like knowing they are appreciated and helping the team.
Personality data is a great way to facilitate performance discussions. Here are some general tips for management to consider when reviewing the performance of an Advisor: Set performance reviews at regular, predictable intervals. Seeing a performance review on the calendar helps the Advisor plan and prepare and offers a reminder to be as conscientious as possible. If you need the Advisor to do something differently, be highly specific about what and how; make sure there is no room for misinterpretation. Also outline the consequences of not following through. Set follow up meetings to verify improvements are being made, and make sure consequences are carried out if necessary. But praise improvements whenever you see them.
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