FOR RELEASE: January 12, 2000

Contact: Anne Messenger, President

315-453-8808, Syracuse
607-772-8607, Binghamton
amessenger@amgr.com

Ginger Green - Drake Beam Morin

770-924-1250, ginger_green@dbm.com

WANT TO BE A BETTER MANAGER IN 2000? DRAKE BEAM MORIN RECOMMENDS EIGHT

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

In the 21st century, a shifting landscape of technological and workforce trends will demand a more fluid,
adaptable approach to directing, training and motivating employees. As a 21st century manager, you will be
required to design and implement effective work processes that not only meet changing business needs, but also
meet the personal and professional needs of individual team members.
You will be tasked with managing flexible, project-focused teams made up of older workers, knowledge
specialists, GEN-xers, those who are technologically savvy and those less technologically proficient, contract
workers and more. You will need to do everything you can to hire the right people, train them in work methods
and functions that are constantly evolving, retain key talent and measure performance against changing
expectations.
To be a successful manager, you will need to find new ways to motivate a diversified workforce with
varying levels of ability to change priorities and undertake new ventures.
So what can you do as a 21st century manager to ensure both high productivity and employee
satisfaction? The key is to pay particular attention to how you treat your people. The best way to do this is to
make the following eight New Year’s resolutions the cornerstone of your management style.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #1: Give Respect and Credibility.
Give your team the same respect and credibility that you expect from your boss. Nothing encourages good
performance more than knowing your professional talents and abilities are valued by your employer.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #2: Set Reasonable and Appropriate Priorities.
Review priorities with your team and help them to understand the best way to support the organization’s
business goals. By providing your team with an accurate understanding of the big picture, each team member
will be able make the best possible decision when faced with concurrent or conflicting demands.
New Year’s Resolutions for Career Success Messenger Associates, Inc.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #3: Don’t Be A Micro-Manager.

Allow projects to be done the best way, not necessarily your way. This gives your team the freedom to be
creative and come up with strategies you may not have considered. By allowing your team to be self-directed,
they will be more apt to demonstrate initiative and you'll have more time to work on your own projects.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #4: Provide Specific Goals.
While the process may be their own, clearly let your team members know what you expect from them and when
you expect it. Ask to be kept up to date on the status of projects and be ready to step in if needed.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #5: Tell the Truth.
Let your team know the background and objectives for projects they're working on so they understand the
nuances and details, and empower them to make decisions based on this knowledge. There are few things more
frustrating for employees than learning they wasted time going in the wrong direction.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #6: Don't Over Promise.
Never commit a staff member's time without checking with him or her first. If necessary, tell your boss that you
think it can be done, but that you can’t commit someone’s time without reviewing his or her priorities first. This
approach will help you maintain your credibility with your team, as well as with your boss.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #7: Give Credit Where Credit is Due.
Don't ever take credit for the work of your team members. Privately and publicly acknowledge their
contributions to every project they work on. Not only will your team appreciate it, they'll continue to produce
outstanding work, which will reflect positively on you.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION #8: Provide Opportunities for Professional Development.
Online learning systems and performance measurement tools can greatly enhance worker and manager
communication and productivity. Your team members will become more valuable to your organization if they
have the opportunity to further their professional skills. Technology-based learning solutions are rapidly
becoming the retention and development strategies of choice for managers who wish to provide cost-effective,
professional skills training opportunities for employees.
It’s really a matter of treating your team members the same way you would want to be treated. Giving
employees the guidance, information and freedom they need to do their jobs is the best way to get the job done.
In return, you will win the respect of your team and gain a reputation as a manager who knows how to get
results!

Anne Messenger is President of Messenger Associates, Inc., A Member of the Drake Beam Morin Worldwide
Network. Her company specializes in career management and human resource consulting and was the first of
DBM’s Business Partners in the United States. DBM, a Harcourt corporate and professional development
company, is the worldwide leader in providing strategic human resource solutions in employee selection,
development, retention, and transition. Visit Drake Beam Morin at www.dbm.com.

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New Year’s Resolutions for Career Success Messenger Associates, Inc.

Seven Changes That Will Challenge Managers- And Workers

This firsthand information about the changing workplace will give you an idea of what's to come.
These changes have been compiled from detailed literary research of workplace trends, supplemented
by five focus group seesions and individual interviews involving over 200 work professionals. These
top seven trends will reshape the work environment over the next 10 years.
1 The Virtual Organization
We are rapidly moving toward a distributed work force that uses electronic technology to link workers
and functions at scattered sites. This change is rapidly altering the nature of work from the sales
representatives to shipping employees. The rapid growth of the virtual organization can be attributed to
the rapid evolution of electronic technologies, the rapid spread of computer networks, and the growth
of telecommuting.
The virtual organization will also reshape traditional approaches to group decision making. In contrast
to face to face discussions, e-mail discussions make low status individuals less hesitant to participate in
discussions and relinquish their point of view. These changes will also help employees identify
alternative career targets and let cross-functional teams obtain the best possible mix of technical skills.

2 The Just-in-Time Work Force

In the United States, the number of individuals employed by temporary agencies has increased 240%
in the last 10 years. Along with using more just-in-time workers, organizations are also streamlining
operations and reducing costs by outsourcing support functions.
Finding new ways to motivate temporary employees will become a key issue since temporary workers
lack traditional motivators such as promotions, merit increases, and profit sharing programs. Just-in-
time workers are asked to take a higher degree of ownership in their job by providing them with access
to information and training. In tomorrow's workplace, just-in-time workers will need to be brought up
to speed more quickly.

3 The Ascendancy of Knowledge Workers

We are rapidly shifting from a work force that produces products to one that primarily manages
information. The rapid growth of knowledge workers will require organizations to rethink their
traditional approached to directing, coaching, and motivating employees.
Given the shrinking half life for many technical skills, this change will place managers under
additional pressure to avoid technical obsolescence. Tomorrow's managers will also need to provide
their teams with the historical context needed to understand the workings of an organization and
continually educate new employees on corporate culture and values.

4 Computerized Coaching and Electronic Monitoring

Over the next 10 years, there will be a dramatic increase in the use of electronic systems to accelerate
employee learning, augment decision making, and monitor performance. These allow employees to
learn their jobs faster, provide workers and managers with immediate feedback, and make it easier to
pinpoint performance problems in large call-in centers.

5 The Growth of Worker Diversity

In the next 10 years, worker diversity willl become a critical issue. One reason is that, by the year
2000, 85% of people entering into the US job market for the first time will be women and minorities,
and just 15% wil be white males, according to US Labor Department predictions.

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New Year’s Resolutions for Career Success Messenger Associates, Inc.

During the next few years, many people will have their first experiences with multicultural work
groups and will need to adapt to different work expectations and communication styles. This will
encourage organizations to value highly those workers and managers who can operate within
diversified employee groups.

6 The Aging Work Force

By the turn of the century, the median age of US workers will be 45; by 2005 more than 15% of the
work force will be over 55. Companies are beginning to see the value ot recruiting older employees,
who can provide experience and maturity to the organization and who are often more flexible about
taking part-time and odd-hour shifts.

7 The Birth of the Dynamic Work Force

Work methods and functions are no longer permanent and immutable structures; they are fluid
processes that require workers to adapt continuously. Managerial performance will be based less on the
ability to direct and coordinate work functions and more on improving key work processes.
The dynamic organization require workers to be able to jump quickly into new ventures and manage
temporary, project focused teams, as more and more of their work responsibilities will lie outside of
the traditional "work niche."

Source: The Futurist March-April 1995

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