The Criticality of Soft Skills in the Workplace

JOHN BOYENS [0:04]
We’re going to talk a lot about the criticality of soft skills in the workplace, and I’m going to let you know it’s not an option. So if you start thinking about things as we’ll just kind of see if I need to do that, etc, it’s not the case, you have to do that. And part of what I’ll talk about is to give you an understanding of what those are, and how to be able to work those in. So as you start looking at the importance of soft skills. Another phrase or another synonym for that would be people skills, personal skills, right, the ability to interact, communicate, you just heard some of the data from the research about communication skills, teamwork, team building, conflict management, those kinds of things, we have to be able to make sure so as you start to look at the piece here when you look at every study that I have read, they’re going to expect whether you’re a credit collections financial professional, they’re going to expect that you’ve got the technical ability to do the job. That’s a given. Right. But what the expectation now isn’t to separate you from somebody else is the soft skills, part of that, and the ability to manage up, manage down, manage sideways. And so I want to talk a little bit more about that of the folks that I have in the audience, how many are managing people right now. So almost everybody in the room is managing people. So would this be a fair statement, management would be a great job if it weren’t for the people who just want to just test it to make sure in other words, most of the challenges we have are those personnel challenges. And those personnel challenges come from poor communication. So as we start to look at what I’ll talk about the seven critical skills, are communication, teamwork and collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, analytical or critical thinking, conflict resolution, and time management. So if I break those seven down, I want to take them one at a time, and give you a little bit of a sense of that for your particular area. So if you think about you, personally, not your team, but you personally, what is a soft skill that you would like to improve on? What’s something that you think you could get better at for the remainder of 2020? To just holler something out? Negotiation Communication, how about others? Influencing is right, and influencing is about getting somebody to do what you want them to do. But because they want to do it. That’s, it’s like parenting, right? It’s a little bit like parenting if you don’t understand that. Okay, so let’s get into that one. If I come back and talk about communication, what is that, you know, let’s really take it apart and kind of go deeper in that negotiating, persuading debating issues without being abrasive to others. You know, it’s okay, that we disagree. It says We have to understand that people see things differently. And our part is to try to find that common ground between those areas and find where we’re alike more than we’re different. The second piece I put selling ideas is demonstrating products and or services. So when I start thinking about that whole idea of communication, how do I get my point across? And part of that is I need to be able to listen better than I talk. Listen more than I speak. Because a lot of times if we’re thinking about what we’re going to say next, how well will we actually listen? Now, it’s I mean, it’s just hard to be able to do that. And I always tell people, if you’re in an in a conversation, make sure if somebody has something they want to say Have them write it down if you’re talking about something else, because they’re not focusing on what you’re saying, either if they’re going to be able to have their hand up wanting to say something. So that’s what I mean by the idea of selling ideas or demonstrating your products or services, telephone virtual interaction skills. I use a term called Environmental professionalism. You saw on the chart that 75% of the folks who are working from home, well, what’s the background that they have? What’s the lighting system? They have? You know, what’s the communication system in terms of others using phones? Are they using computers and speakers, right? Understanding those things? And how about clutter, we

JOHN BOYENS [4:11]
need to make sure that the desk is not cluttered up. We don’t have cats or dogs walking around in the background. In other words, that environmental professionalism is part of that communication. You hear verbal and your nonverbal, right nonverbal communication is what I’m talking about in a remote environment. Reporting, right, we have a lot of reporting we have to do in our particular role. So what I want you to think about is how do I communicate that in such a way that the person understands and that we get accomplished what we need to get accomplished? I’ll give you a good example. Michelle teed me up a little bit on the conversation about how to interact better with a sales organization. So back in the day, when I was in the corporate world, we had the old computer paper, the green bar, computer paper, I’m going to be older than everybody in the flipping room just about so you don’t remember, but I would get a report from our FNA financing administrative should department that was literally this tall from the ground. And I and I go look Bob Garin was the gentleman that was our finance guy said, Bob, here’s what I need, I need an exception report either really good or really bad, I can deal with that right now all I can do is put a plant on it. Okay? So we need to be able to get that information. That’s what I mean and communicating, what’s the message you want to get across? What do you want the person to take out of that report? Right. So that’s how we’re trying to work interchangeably. And I’m going to talk more about being a strategic partner a little bit later in the presentation, but things that you can do directly with your sales, marketing, and customer service team to make you a value-added player in their eyes. You know, we hear a lot today about, you know, the sales prevention department. I don’t believe that’s true. But you know, that’s kind of built-in adversarial relationships. A lot of times, oh, you know, I work so hard to sell this, but you don’t approve credit, or, you know, you didn’t give them enough of a credit line to purchase what they want to be able to purchase, or they got to fill out so many forms. They got to do personal guarantees, and okay, all right, we understand those things, you have to be fiduciary ly responsible to the organization. But there are things and ways we can do it. That’s in the team in tandem with sales. And I’ll make sure I cover that. Also, this is another important part of being able to draw out other people’s views, opinions, and thoughts. Because what ends up happening a lot of times, if you don’t hear communication back, you’re thinking, okay, everything’s fine. Hmm, not so much, right. And so we have to recognize when somebody’s behavior changes, somebody who’s normally talkative, that becomes quiet, somebody quiet, that becomes talkative. Those are things that are out of the norm, we have to understand what’s going on and understand the message behind the message. So communication, the best way to communicate effectively is by asking great questions. And being a fabulous listener. So that’s what I mean about communication continuing on, listening, and effectively demonstrating the skills and use of language and various forms of language. There’s a there was a book written years ago, called the psychology of memory, it was written in 1974. And what the book went on to say was we retain 10% of what we hear 72 hours after the fact, that is not good news for people like me that make a living speaking, okay. But they say if you listen and write it down, that retention goes to 20%. If you listen, write it down and share it with somebody else, it actually goes up to almost 50%. So the idea about understanding how to be able to communicate and understand how people receive that data. Let’s talk about multi-generations, right? Baby Boomers like me, versus millennials, or Gen Z, there’s a different communication, what’s the preferred method of communication, so they’re more likely to text, send an email versus have a face to face conversation. And then especially on work from home, we don’t have a lot of that either anymore. In other words, be a master of all the mediums in terms of communicating, expressing his ideas, well organized presenting ideas effectively, for both formal and informal. In other words, how you package the information and communication is as important as the information that’s in that document, how you package it, and how you present it is equally important. Okay, here’s what I just talked about there. This is one that I want to make sure for those of you that are still in office, if you look at that last chart, it says physical communication has a 90% retention. Let me make sure we understand it’s not hitting somebody over the head with a baseball bat. That’s not what I mean when I say physical communication. But think about one of the most physical communications you can have. And that’s eye contact, right? So let’s pretend this happens. I want to make this a scenario. You’re in your office, you’re you got things going on, you’re looking at your desk, one of your team members comes in, and they go, you got a minute, and you don’t look up but you go, what do you need? What’s the nonverbal I just gave them

JOHN BOYENS [9:04]
I don’t have time for you what I’m doing is more important. Now, that’s not what you meant. Right? It’s not what you meant. But that’s kind of what happens with that nonverbal communication. So I want to make sure we have a way of being able to get the most out of something. I’m gonna give you another one. Let’s see if we can figure this one out. How many of you have a team member who cannot say hello in less than 15 minutes? All right, so they have a tendency to ramble and go on and on and on. Right? And so you’re a bit I’m seeing a smile. So I know I’m getting there. So you’re busy. This person says you got a minute, you’re thinking I gotta pack a lunch. I’m gonna be here a while. Okay. And so part of what we have to be able to recognize is if somebody’s bringing something to your attention, that’s a talker. Here’s what you need to be able to do. And I’m gonna give you a coaching point on this and it’s not in the deck. So you’re the one who writes it down or hates me or whatever you want. But the way to set This up is to say, Okay, tell me what the issue is right? What’s the issue? Bullets? What’s the issue? What are two or three ways that we can address this issue? And which one do you recommend? And why? Go back to that one again? What’s the issue? Not War and Peace? Not long drawn out, right? What’s the issue? What are some ways we can handle this? And then, which one do you recommend and why? That way? If the person has now done some of that strategic thought you’re seeing them grow. And that’s what you want him to do. You want them to be able to take a bigger step, you couldn’t do all the things in your job. Now, when you first started, right? Think about how many times you stubbed your toe that’s just natural, but now the people are afraid to go to you if they don’t think they can do all the things because you do it so much better than they do quicker than they do, etc. We’re tracking. So I think there are some ways that we really can work on our communication. Okay. teamwork and collaboration. One of the best things about teamwork and collaboration is to be ability to select the right team members on your team. How many of you have inherited team members who show hands have inherited them? Right? So you already got him? And now we got to figure out are they do they have the skill and the will to do the job that they are hired to do? So I asked this question, and I’ll ask rhetorically because I don’t want anybody to get in trouble. But if you were starting your department from scratch today, how many of your existing team members would you hire back in their exact same role? Hey, since we can always get Yeah, the point is, if it’s not 100%, if it’s not 100%, there are only three things you can do with somebody you wouldn’t hire back in the role only three, number one, and the best one is to be able to coach him train and mentor them to get them up to speed because they’re already an employee. So if we can get them up to you Don’t lower your bar, train them to get to where you need them. That’s the best second, is there another place in the organization where they’d be a good fit? Alright, so you’re now being transferred a problem? I mean, is there another? Is there another? Yeah, yeah, this Toad needs to go somewhere else. Right. That’s not what I’m talking about. But finding another place. And third, and this is the one that most of the time we don’t step up to proactively manage them out of the business. If you have a toad on your team, do you believe your team members realize there’s a toad on the team? Absolutely. And if that Toad stays on the team, that’s my loving term, by the way, if that Toad stays on the team, it undermines your whole leadership, they’re thinking, Why in the world? Is Sally your friend still here? Right? So if you have somebody you would not hire them back, train them, move them, or move them out? Okay, that’s, so some of you may be going home with a toad removal program set up, I’m gonna guess that may be the case. You know, we need to have a clear vision, and strategy roles have to be clearly defined. And, you know, you got to figure out well, okay, what’s the benefit? How does my role fit in with the bigger picture, understand that you are as strong as your weakest link? And so you have to recognize who’s on my team. And let’s see how they fit into the bigger picture. So teamwork and collaboration is important. Success needs to be clean and clearly defined. Trust is a must, you need to have to believe that person has your back. There need to be standard processes. Proactive, consistent communication is very important. Identify and overcome potential barriers and objections, and professional and timely follow-up and feedback, right. That’s really what we need to be able to do. So I’m staying on communication and teamwork for a second, I see if I get another little smile out of you. Do you have a member of your team that if you said to them, follow me, the building is on fire, I will lead you to safety, they would say I don’t smell smoke.

JOHN BOYENS [14:04]
You got at least one of those people on your team. Okay. So you got to understand that they don’t see the bigger picture. And so they’re thinking, Well, why should I follow your custom building is on fire. I just told you that. Okay. So I want us to recognize that type of communication, that person needs to be able to understand how their role fits in and how that either helps or hurts the organization. Continuing on. I want to make sure that we understand that adaptability is key. Well, how many folks here think they’re really adaptable? Let the record show I had two hands about here that didn’t even go way up. Okay. So adaptability is hard. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really deal well with ambiguity. You know, I like to have things kind of organized process-wise and, you know, in the roles that we are in, right, that’s kind of a norm, but we have to be adaptable. What does that mean? Whether it’s adapting software adapting training, or new hiring mechanisms to work from home? Right? All that’s adaptability. So I want you to recognize it’s not completely upside down. But business is changing at such a pace today. What does that mean? We have to be able to adapt to what’s going on. And I like to use this analogy just because most people get it. I think it’s like going down the freeway at 70 miles an hour and trying to fuel the car. Because isn’t that kind of what it feels like in your organization today? I mean, things are moving so much faster. So let’s understand, can I have an employee that works well independently, but also can work well as part of a team? That’s another part of my adaptability, by the way, it should be part of the interview process to understand are able to be adaptable, right, and so you don’t start the interview? The question is not? Are you adaptable? Because, you know, they’re gonna give you what you want to hear. So what’s a great question that you could ask in an interview, to determine adaptability? So how did you know give me an example of where you were doing something a certain way, but because of the velocity of business or changing, you know, COVID, or whatever it may be, that you had to change? Right? That’s a great question. To be able to talk, we want to ask situational and or behavioral questions, because we want to understand how do they think, right, and what’s in their heart?

JOHN BOYENS [16:22]
Because that we all know, you all know this. I mean, again, I know,

JOHN BOYENS [16:26]
I’m towards the end of the day, but I’m going to give you as much energy as I got to be able to get you out here. I want you to recognize that people don’t wake up thinking, well, let’s see if I can do this to tick off my boss. That’s not the intent. But sometimes that happens, right? That’s the outcome. They’re just really good at it. And that’s some of the outcomes. So part of what we have to recognize is, how do we determine a good employee from a good interview, ie, we’ve all had that somebody blow your socks off in the interview, you think, Boy, that person is going to be a great team member, we hire him or her only to figure out oh, Toad. And so we need to be able to understand the determine the difference. And situational behavioral interviewing is the best way to be able to do that. Okay, continuing on. Adaptability, alternative solutions, accept surprises, new roles, and new responsibilities, remains calm, at least on the outside, right? And their acceptance and they show confidence, I tell employees all the time, with the data you have, be confident in what you’re doing. And if more data comes in, that makes you change your mind. Okay? So be it. But you have to be confident. If you start to waver in what’s going on, it really is going to cause a ripple effect organizationally. Alright, continue on problem-solving. I just gave you this example earlier. What’s problem-solving? What’s the issue? What are some ways to be able to address it? Which one do you recommend? And why? If I get them to start thinking strategically, not only does it grow, then it makes your job easier. I was on a panel yesterday about the great resignation. And I asked the question, How much easier would your job be if the worst player on your team was a B plus player? People are going Nirvana angels are singing now, right? I mean, that’s kind of what you’re thinking about? Well, guess what, you can control that. You can control that. So I want to make sure that we really understand how to do problem-solving. And when we get really good at it, then we can become pre-emptive. What’s pre-emptive? anticipating a problem before it becomes a problem? So what are some of the issues? There are a lot of times that I know it falls on your department, and I feel bad for you on it. But if there’s a fire on the corner, your desk, what they’re looking at, you’re kind of looking for a bucket of water to put out the fire, as opposed to figuring out how did the fire start? You know, why is there a fire every Friday or at the end of every month? Why is that fire there? And that’s part of what I’m saying when I really am able to look at problem-solving is preemptive. Let’s figure out the problem now. But let’s figure out the genesis of the problem. So it doesn’t continue to happen. I see a lot of nods. So I think we’re on the right track. Okay. Analytical critical thinking, if ever a department would be good at this, it would be your department, credit collections, finance, etc, right? There’s nobody, you’re going to be better at analytical critical thinking. So what we have to do is understand the available information at the time. So I’m going to talk with you later about the C suite. But I’ll give you a great example. I’m gonna give you a teaser now. So if you want to, if you kind of enamored yourself with the sales department, why don’t you go into the database, identify some of your best credit risk customers, and say to the sales organization, here are 50 customers that we can increase their credit line, because they’re good to pay customers. Think any salespeople get excited about that? Oh, yeah, baby, right. You’re gonna get the nicest Christmas present you’ve ever gotten in your whole life. If, okay, that’s the idea about being a strategic partner, or being able to help people, you know, kind of like a no-fly list, let’s not have a salesperson Chase six months, nine months a year trying to get a customer only to have them not past credit approval, right? So give them some ideas that are red flags look for these because they’re not okay. So that’s what I’m thinking about when I get into my analytical and critical thinking. All right, continuing on. Conflict Resolution. Voicemail is not an excuse for having a conversation. Let’s see, if I again, I’m trying to be able to speak real-life to you all, have you ever sent an email to somebody, they replied, and copy to people you saw there too, and you raised them for and then all of a sudden it kept going up. And by the end of the day, half of the company has copied on this email stream that you’ve got to read backward because you don’t know how it got started in the first place to go back to where you got to. Email is to be used to document things. But if you really want actions to take place, again, I’m challenging you, most of you raise your hands that you’ve got a team that reports to you. So how about this? If there’s an action required back, I’m back on soft skills now? Easy communication? If there’s an action required, why wouldn’t you put in the subject line action required by Thursday at five o’clock?

JOHN BOYENS [21:26]
I see. Some people turn around this would be great if I had a camera going that way. Okay. So so the idea is, that we now have a setup where because what happens to us normally is we have this kind of random thought process. And so we write the whole email. And then the last sentence of the last paragraph of the email is where the action is. I’m gonna help you most people don’t read emails all the way through, right? They read bullets, so we’ve got to be able to communicate in a way. And so how do I manage conflict is let’s try not to set it up automatically. Let’s try to be able to minimize conflict. And then look at some of the pieces here. I’ve given you a couple. I said, Listen, carefully ask good questions. Let them talk first, right? Those are big ones. But here’s a part of identifying where do we agree? Let’s figure out the points we agree on first because there are probably more of them than not. But what the focus always is, is that one or two that we don’t agree on becomes the fire drill. So when I have conflict resolution, it’s not about the person, it’s about the behavior or the action, right? That’s a different thing entirely. So I’m not attacking the person, I’m attacking that issue or the problem or what’s going on. And a lot of times people you know, you say well, don’t take it personally, and they’re going well, you’re only talking to me who else is going to be taking it personally if it’s not me, it’s the way you package the conversation. I like to use what I call donut criticism, say something good, then put the issue that’s at hand, and then wrap it up. So I’ll give you an example. You know, you’re doing a phenomenal job, being able to close out the books at the end of the month, you know, this one area that you’re missing on a pretty regular basis, I need for you to be able to pay more attention to that. But I’m confident because of your experience that you’ll be able to get it done. Just see where the piece was in the middle, right. And we all know the best part of the donut is the jelly or the cream of his on the inside. So let’s make sure we get that done. Okay, time management. The only thing we all have in common is the number of hours in the day and the number of days in the week. Okay. And so I always talk about smart goals and you know, salespeople, marketing people, customer service people, they get used to that, but Finance and Administration and credit and collections. That’s not really something that we kind of focus on. But I think it is important for us to establish SMART goals. What are they specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding, and time-bound? So I want us to understand, what can we do to be able to maximize our time now? I’m going to see you again, we’re going to make sure that we all bond here. How many of you all are list maker show of hands, a show of hands fewer makers? Right? Almost everybody in the room puts their hand up? How good is it feel to check one of those babies off when you do it? Right. Pretty good? Yeah, see smart. Now let me see if you’re as bad as I am. Have you ever done something that wasn’t on the list, but you did it? So then you put it on the list? So you could check it off? There we go. Okay, good. We got it. Now I know, I know. We’re all in this thing together. I also want to be able to use the concept of time blocking. I didn’t even know what that was. But I had an executive assistant that was fantastic with me. And I was back in the days when we didn’t have computers. And remember the Franklin planners. Does somebody remember that? Yeah. Okay, good. Yeah, a couple of folks. And so she would block out at different times during the day. 15-minute block 1015 1031 to 115 or whatever. Now, sometimes all it was was to allow me to have something to eat or to go to the bathroom. Okay. But what I meant was, I knew that the day was never going to get fully away from me because I had 30 minutes somewhere booked into that, well look at our schedules, look at things, you have certain deadlines that have to take place month-end, right, we gotta be able to do those, you know where some of the scheduled events are. So make sure you set that and use time blocking to your advantage. All right. Ask yourself throughout the day, not out loud, because people will think you’re weird, but ask yourself throughout the day, is this what I ought to be doing right now? If so, you should keep doing it. If not, do delegate defer, or delay. Do delegate defer or delay, that’s the four DS in terms of really understanding how to delegate effectively, and be able to make sure that you create that to-do list for the following You know, for the following day, and have a and b priorities, I’m gonna give you a phrase that you probably would never think you would hear in soft skills, class. Biorhythms,

JOHN BOYENS [26:08]
let me give you what I mean by that. If you’re a person who needs three cups of coffee to get your heart started in the morning, do not do your most critical things. First thing in the morning, you are not at your best. Conversely, if you jump out of bed, ready to rock and roll, but at about two o’clock, you’re looking for chocolate. Okay? Don’t do the most important things late in the day, because again, you’re not at your best. So not only am I talking about time management, but I’m also talking about where you are at your best specifically. Okay, so does your organization can consider you a strategic partner, right? strategic partner, or staff member? Stretch strategic partner or staff member? And you don’t have to answer I got people looking at each other like, I don’t know what they’re gonna say about me. Okay, so let me give you an example. How often do you see consolidated jobs, it finance, right HR, those are the jobs that they kind of consolidate or they created administrative part. Well, the reason they do that is that they think that they’re a staff job. And I don’t think you’re a staff job. I think you’re a strategic partner. But there are things that you have to do in order to prove that strategic partnership. And I’m going to give you specifics, there are three slides here. But I’m building out a whole program on this in Highako Academy, that you’re going to be able to get into how do I get a seat at the table? Right? And how do I stay there? So let’s give you some ideas as a strategic partner. Are you helping define the success that drives the organization? defining success? You know, what am I doing? Well, how do I play this sit as a credit and collections professional? Do you help drive revenue, profitability, cash flow, margins, compliance, increased average customer spend improved closed rate, shorter sales cycles, and customer retention, you’re going well, some of them but not all of them. I think you can affect all of those. That’s why I put them on that sheet. Now, you may not be affecting them now. But I know you can. Just like I gave you the example there about identifying customers that you could extend their credit line because they’re good to pay and that all of a sudden brings you into revenue generation, increased spending, etc. So again, I know I’m challenging the norm. But I want you to think about this because there are things that you can do to be very valued. Sec, how do I enter the C suite? Do you influence your company’s direction? Do you contribute to discussions about customer satisfaction and retention, employee satisfaction and retention, business strategy or direction? And sometimes I know some of you are thinking this right now. Well, they don’t let me write they don’t ask my opinion. Why do you think that is?

JOHN BOYENS [28:58]
We have to redefine who we are in that role, to be able to prove that value. And so to be able to make recommendations. We talked earlier about influencing communication skills, about talking about new ways of doing things, best practices, doing some research, sharing some ideas, all of a sudden they’re gone, who not only is this person strategic, that’s a person I want to have on my senior leadership team because he or she really gets it. Understanding the role you play in the bigger picture Bridgette had talked about yesterday about the why the right and our panel discussion, and I think that was perfect, right? Why do you do what you do? Why are you in that role? And why do you have the impact that you should have on the company, right, because you’re bringing value into these other areas? I’m continuing on to get there. There are four important questions that need to be asked to ensure your inclusion and C suite discussions. Do and be present. Do and be present. In other words, if there are meetings there, you want to make sure you are part of those meetings. Next on that list, network cross-functionally be a resource that others seek out, even if it’s not, in your specific area, be that resource that learned partner, that thought leader, or that subject matter expert on things. Give an example now, because I’m sure that we have people here that have done that. Have you made a recommendation in your organization, whether it be processes, systems, software, hardware, etc, that has allowed your company to streamline processes? I’m seeing some nods. Okay. And so when we talk about this, that’s that resource to understand what makes the most sense to be able to take our business to the next level, our business, right yours. How do we take our business to the next level, and position ourselves to influence business strategy, I had a gentleman that I worked with years ago, was fantastic. He was an HR executive. But he was not a typical administrative staff or HR executive, he was a business strategist, and would talk about trying to hire different types of people and change the pay range and pay structure because we needed to get a different kind of a person into the organization. And he was ahead of the game on being able to do that, not normally the role that he would play, but he saw the bigger picture. So I want us to think about that, understand your business and how it works, and speak the language of the business, acronyms, abbreviations, terminology, etc. We all know that both from an FNA standpoint, as well as an industry-specific standpoint, you know, there are a lot of acronyms that are going on out there. And if you don’t speak the language of the senior executives, you’re not going to be invited to have the conversation. So again, I’m building out a whole program on this one, but I think that’s important for you to be able to see shared responsibility for goals, even if it’s not, in your job descriptions, express thoughtful opinions supported by data. So it’s not just an opinion, it’s supported by data and leverages your champion technology. And you know, you know, I got people, I was fortunate enough to be old enough to be sitting in a room when Bob Allen who at that time was the Chairman and CEO for AT and T. And this was in Orange County, California years and years ago. And I remember, a person in the audience asked a question, he said, When should our business think about getting on that internet thing? Pretty much how the question was asked. And Bob Allen said, and I’ll never forget it. He said The very fact that you’re asking me that question now tells me you’re too late.