Kelly McDonald

We all know that the customer is king. In our increasingly competitive business environment, consumers – and their loved ones – have more choices than ever.

It’s more important than ever to cater to individual needs and provide a community, lifestyle and experience that exceeds expectations. Listening to what seniors want and delivering on every promise, no matter how small, keeps your reputation high and referrals flowing in. 

It starts with staffing – finding, hiring, recruiting and retaining the best workers, not just the available ones. This session will show you how to find, hire and KEEP the best talent to build a stable team that focuses on the customer and community experience. Additionally, in today’s diverse marketplace, recognizing that not all customers are the same and that needs may differ with cultural values, age, health and hobbies and interests, this session will also address key consumer insights and tactics to serve all residents.

You’ll leave with an action plan that you can implement IMMEDIATELY.

KEY POINTS:

 Learn the latest recruiting and retention tactics that successful companies use now to hire and retain the best talent – great workers are out there and they can be yours

 Learn key insights into delivering terrific customer service to various high-potential prospects and customer segments

 Specific no-cost strategies and tactics that don’t take a year to get off the ground will be shared, as well as Do’s and Don’ts

SUMMARY:

Here’s a startling and provocative stat: a study by Intuit predicted that by 2020, 40% of American workers would be independent contractors. Growing numbers of Americans no longer hold a regular “job” with a long-term connection to a particular business.

Instead, they work “gigs” where they are employed on a particular task or for a defined time. Borrowed from the music industry, the word “gig” has been applied to all sorts of flexible employment, including “contingent labor,” “temp labor,” or “contract labor”. While this flexibility is appealing to many workers, it often means that the gig employee has little connection to their employer. That’s not ideal for companies and organizations that need to differentiate themselves and demonstrate value to their customers like never before.

Gig employees tend to be younger workers and are typically very different from past generations of workers. They’re driven by different goals and values and their approach to work differs from that of previous generations in almost every way. They’re utterly bewildering to experienced managers trying to groom them into the leaders and managers of tomorrow.

There are numerous industries in dire need of new talent – now. In the next 10 years, more than 50 million Americans will exit the workforce permanently for retirement or semi-retirement. There will be a scramble for good workers and great talent.

Whether your new hires and future employees are gig employees or not, you need to know how to find and recruit the best so that your brand survives and flourishes. And you need to know how to keep them and develop them once you’ve hired and trained them.

Many industries have not done a great job of making their field attractive to new workers. You’ll learn what turns younger workers off about a company or an industry and how to address these issues to position your company competitively against other competing and attractive professional opportunities.

This session will focus on key values of gig employees and younger workers and how you can harness their talent, ambition, skills and loyalty to generate high performance, today and tomorrow.

KEY LEARNING:

 Participants will learn what younger and gig workers look for in a position to have a framework for better understanding these coworkers and employees

 You’ll get the inside scoop on what these associates tell each other about jobs and careers (they believe they have to change jobs every two years to grow and learn) and how to proactively address the fallacies they hold to improve retention

 Best practices and specific strategies from top organizations will be shared to illustrate how you can better recruit, hire, train and retain these workers and develop them

 Interactive exercises will foster discussion and solutions as audience members get to apply what they’ve learned to their own, specific recruiting and hiring situations

ABSTRACT

The demographic, lifestyle, and social shifts that are occurring in the U.S. are startling and profound. One in three Americans is not White. Four states have “minority majority” populations. Young people increasingly are opting not to get married. Rural communities are losing population fast. Consumers trust their friends’ recommendations more than they trust marketing messages. More than 25% of young adults are living with their parents. Families no longer consist of simply “mom, dad, kids and dog” – traditional family structure has shifted to include every definition of family and every kind of family living arrangement.

Customer expectations of what businesses “should” be are changing. It’s imperative that you understand the new demographics and shifts, the way that people live today and what’s important to them. Your business and growth depend on it. How can you effectively serve your customers and community if you don’t know who they are and what they need and value?

And these new consumer and business shifts take many forms: racial, ethnic, gender, generational, sexual preference, linguistic, even lifestage, and even communication styles, to name a few. This presentation will focus on the new demographics and how these affect your business today and tomorrow. You’ll learn:

 The six biggest macro trends and what they mean for your business right now – and what you can do to harness potential business in the future

 Specific implications for all aspects of business (sales, marketing, recruiting & retention, human resources, and customer service). Do’s and don’ts will be covered.

ABSTRACT:

The U.S. population is increasingly diverse, and in some industries, the composition of the workforce is 70% minority. This shift in demographics is a permanent one and brings many changes to our society and our workforce.

These changes also bring unique challenges to employers and workers as values sometimes differ between various cultures.

Among Hispanics, the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., values and customs often differ depending on country of origin and level of acculturation. Learning the key differences in values and cultural expectations among different Hispanic segments can help your business attract, recruit and retain the best employees.

This presentation will focus on how you can best reach and retain diverse workers by understanding varying levels of acculturation, differences in values, and how to increase productivity and retention among your diverse workforce.

KEY POINTS:

 Learn the Four Latino Mindsets and how each view and prioritizes work, family leisure time, and more.

 Learn the core values of various cultures and how understanding these values will help you connect with your employees and co-workers in a meaningful way

 Learn how some employers are using innovative strategies to recruit and retain the most effective workers

 Do’s and Don’ts are covered in detail.

Diversity in the workforce is a hot topic. Many employers are under pressure to make sure their workforce and employee base is diverse, inclusive and representative of the customers they serve. The most progressive organizations value diversity because they realize that a diverse workforce has positive impact on the bottom line. Such a workforce doesn’t just lead to better decisions and solutions and innovation – it has been proven to grow business and profits.

And a diverse workforce doesn’t just mean employees of different racial and ethnic backgrounds; it can also mean diversity of thought.

There are numerous ways we can be “diverse”: A new mom is in a very different place than one who is an empty nester. Someone with a master’s degree is very different than someone who went to a vocational/technical college. Someone who is foreign-born is different than someone who is U.S. born. “People not like you” takes away the baggage that is often associated with the word diversity and frames the subject in a more relatable way. We are ALL dealing with people “not like us”. Sometimes that can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be.

When the person in the next cube or office is different from you, friction can arise. Different people may not see eye-to-eye on an issue. They may have vastly different approaches to work. Their communication styles may be very different. Their comfort in working with technology may be miles apart. Cultural backgrounds and norms can differ. Even men and women can see situations differently. How do you work alongside someone who may be quite different from you, respect those differences and be effective in your role?

And what about leading a diverse team? Leaders face daily the challenges of inspiring, communicating, and executing strategy with their teams. Now imagine the challenges of leading teams that may be incredibly diverse! How does one motivate and lead groups of people who come from different backgrounds? How do you do that when people are motivated by different values and view the world and work through different lenses?

There are dozens of speakers and sessions on management, leadership, and working with difficult people, yet none tackle these business issues from the standpoint of working with people not like you. This is a fresh take on a very important topic – and a timely one. Much news coverage is devoted to what companies are doing to make their workplace more diverse and inclusive. But what is that like for the people who work there, day in and day out? How do they adapt to different people and work approaches?

This session takes the topic of work and leadership to a new place – one that is getting more attention every day and will continue to do so.

Learner Outcomes:

 You’ll learn why diversity at work is important, and why it seems so hard to work with people not like you. And why that makes you NORMAL, not a bad person. You’ll learn why it often comes with stress, complex emotions and even fear for some people.

 Specific tactics will be shared for how employees can succeed in today’s diverse workplace without losing their minds or becoming frustrated by approaches to work that may differ from theirs.

 For those in leadership positions, or those who aspire to manage and lead others, three key steps to make a diverse team work more cohesively, more productively, and enjoyably.

 The four keywords that will transform how you interact with your colleagues and associates in tough situations to get the best outcome. How to troubleshoot the complex issues and address the “derailers” and naysayers that lurk within every organization and threaten its success.

Learn how companies, brands and products struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service.

A “one-size fits all” approach to customer service is no longer viable. Businesses competing on service need to understand and cater to customers’ racial, ethnic, religious, generational, lifestyle and geographic differences in order to meet or exceed customers’ service expectations.

This session will cover core customer groups, including women, the five generations (Matures, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z), racial and ethnic segments, such as Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans, as well as those who are defined by key lifestyle and life-stage attributes.  Includes consumer insights that will help you deliver a better business experience for every customer.

You cannot control the economy, the stock market or the costs of goods and labor. But you can control your organization’s customer experience. It’s an empowering thought. Customer service is 100% in your control at all times and it’s more important than ever in today’s competitive business environment.

And terrific customer service doesn’t have to break the bank:  it’s about understanding your customer’s values and catering to their priorities.

Right now, your customers need you more than ever. But not in the usual way. What your customers want and expect from you now is radically different because we’ve changed the way we work in some     fundamental ways. Now, more than ever, you must differentiate yourself and your company on the experience that your customers have, rather than simply the products and services you offer.

You now have a unique opportunity to “wow” your customers, by demonstrating that you have their back and that you’re here to help and serve them as they navigate whatever is around the next corner.

You can work with your customers in new ways by being “quietly helpful”. The work you do now, in this way, will position you for the WIN:  how you, your company, brand, people and products will be seen long-term, not just when times are difficult or uncertain.

In this session, you’ll learn new approaches and mindsets that will make you better, smarter, and more  effective in serving your customers – and you’ll cement the bond for increased sales and loyalty.

This session will cover:

• How to address the concerns your customers have right NOW – and how you can tie those into exceptional sales and customer service

• How to stay visible without spamming your customers

• 5 low-cost, no-cost action items that you can apply immediately

• What to do – and NOT do – when things go wrong

• Consumer trends and insights to leverage to grow business now