Searching for employment is daunting and stressful, and even more for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. While employers are human and want to hire those who behave and work the way they do, it’s 2021, and diversity is seen as critical to any organization’s success.

The Americans with Disabilities Act bans employers from discriminating against those with disabilities during the application process, hiring, training, and career advancement. Many companies have implemented the same band-aid fix on applications and added the same legal spiel of We do not discriminate based on yada yada…. Very few go so far as to ensure that their application process is accessible, not to mention their training videos, or even essential job functions (such as meetings).

Interviewing, hiring, and retaining deaf & hard of hearing employees depends largely on how accessible the hiring process is, and whether it truly meets the standards established through the ADA. Many in this community face severe difficulties regardless of the industry they wish to work in, often rejected in favor of their hearing counterparts for job opportunities and career advancement. This is supported by data in the 2018 American Community Survey, which reports that only 39.5% of Americans with hearing loss have full-time employment vs 64.4% of all Americans.

Most companies are simply not aware how easy it is to accommodate the deaf in the workplace. As long as they are qualified to do the job in front of them, deaf and hard of hearing people are just as capable as their peers; they just need to be afforded the opportunity. Their accommodations vary from live captioning to ASL interpreters to simple written notes, and there are tax credits that make all accommodations affordable. Check out these tips for interviewing and hiring deaf candidates:

When interviewing…

• DO email all candidates to ask if they require accommodations prior to their interview, even if they do not ask for any.
• DO NOT rescind an offer to interview due to an accommodation request.

Remember that the Americans with Disabilities Act legally requires you to provide accommodations for any interviewee and employee, regardless if you were aware of their disability or not during the interview process.

When hiring…

• DO understand that you qualify towards a Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) by hiring the deaf & hard of hearing.
• DO ensure your training materials have fully-captioned videos.
• DO allow the deaf individual to choose their own reasonable accommodations. (Everyone is different- They know what works best for them!)
• DO look into the Disabled Access Credit (small business only) for financial assistance to provide accommodations, such as ASL Interpreters.
• DO NOT tell the employee that they must provide their own accommodations.
• DO NOT assume they cannot do a task at work due to their deafness.

When we include the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the workplace, we add an entirely new perspective to everything we do. These often-overlooked candidates constantly strive to overcome barriers and prove themselves to be creative, highly motivated, and valuable employees. It’s up to us as their allies to make the workplace welcoming and accessible! You can learn more about the Deaf at work through the National Association of the Deaf.

Looking for guidance or training on diversity in the work place? Contact our team today to learn about more about our trainings and strategic planning sessions!

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By Melinda Graczyk

Have you ever been in your workplace kitchenette or copy room and heard phrases or seen actions such as:

• “She’s pretty smart for a black girl.”
• “What did you think of that (insert activity here) at the team building? It was so gay.”
• “I received the quote for the (product) yesterday. I’m going to go back and Jew them down.”
• Telling lewd jokes or sharing stories about sexual experiences (even if it’s simply done in your presence).

I know I have, and so have your Black, LGBTQIA+, Jewish, and female colleagues, and most likely, they did not feel comfortable enough to speak up and correct the person making the comments. Sometimes the disrespect isn’t as blatant as a comment and appears simply as an individual speaking over or rolling their eyes at another.

Research has shown that being a better ally is one way all employees can stand against bigotry in all its forms at work. Allies are people from a group who do not generally suffer discrimination, but support those experiencing intolerance. The potential benefits of ally-ship in the workplace can take many forms. It can foster positive inter-group connections, undermine racism and other forms of oppression, and build a more positive workplace culture; but navigating complex situations at work and even simply being a good human is rarely easy.

Not all disrespect is based on bias or hate. Things like stress, communication style, and rivalries can all create ill-mannered workplace dynamics as well, but prejudice can be one of the more problematic drivers. Prejudice can be a catalyst of ridicule in ways that we may not be able to see, and this form of disrespect may also be a product of ignorance. There is always the possibility that people might not understand or simply do not know that their actions have a negative impact. Implicit bias shows up as unconscious actions, making it challenging to identify and even trickier to uproot. Here are just two examples of implicit bias:

• A white person at a conference lunch is more likely to sit at a table of white people rather than a table including people of color.
• A man is more likely to interrupt his female co-workers than his male co-workers.

Implicit biases are something that almost all of us have exhibited at some point. This behavior is not because we are bad people, but because we are part of a culture that, despite significant advancement, is still racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Although it may not be comfortable to find out that we have been making missteps of our own, we can take action to change and correct our behavior.

There are several options for being a reactive ally when you witness bad behavior or harassment. None of the approaches are perfect or easy, and you may need to consider more than one option and select the one(s) that is right for each situation.

Several ways to consider intervening:

• The Direct Approach: After assessing the safety of both the target and yourself, be firm and clear to the instigator and have a conversation with them. Point out what they did and how it may have made the victim feel and provide options to change their behavior. This approach gives this person the opportunity to learn from their mistake and see their victim in their full humanity. No one is perfect, and the person making such remarks may not be aware of the hurt they are imposing on those around them.
• Indirectly De-Escalate: Start a conversation with the victim or find another way to draw attention away from the situation (i.e., spill your coffee, ask about an upcoming meeting, etc.)
• Delegate: Notify a person of authority about what is going on. In taking this approach, you delegate the situation to an authorized person in the company. However, HR departments are designed to protect the company, which, at times, may not always serve the victim’s best interests. If they run an investigation, HR may not be able to keep the situation entirely confidential. Additionally, witnesses may not feel comfortable disclosing full details, or “evidence” may not exist. The accused may also try to discredit the victim’s character to create confusion and build a defense.
• Check-In with the Target: After the incident is over, ask the victim if they need further assistance from management, the police, or simply company until they recover from the episode.
• Document: We are all familiar with this approach. Since your phone is likely to be nearby, record the incident, but it is important to NEVER post to social media. You do not want to insult or victimize the person being harassed further.

We all have room to improve in our interpersonal relationships. We need to live in a state of curiosity, not fear, and be willing to learn and work toward becoming excellent at caring for each other.

In search of related trainings or coaching? Contact us today for more information!

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2020 is a year that set the world ablaze – literally and figuratively. Whether you began 2020 considering yourself tech-savvy or not, COVID-19 has pushed many businesses, schools, and people to go online in a whole new way.

This year has revealed just how much social media has changed and what social media consumers truly want has become critical. To finish out 2020 as best as possible, be it running a company’s social media account, trying to expand your small business online, or simply upscale your own personal content, we are here to break down how you too, can be social media relevant.

Using Social as Brand Research

Consumer audiences are using social media for brand research in rising numbers. The use of search engines is starting to fall behind social searches in some demographics. If you don’t have an active and up-to-date social media account, you may be passed over for another competitor. Using related hashtags and locations can help customers find you in related searches before they are aware of your company.

Social budgets have also been skyrocketing. A targeted social media ad will have a much better return on investment (ROI) and data tracking than spending money on traditional print/mail advertising.

Reels

In August, Instagram released Reels, which is a dupe of TikTok. Instagram has successfully taken the format of Snapchat’s temporary vertical videos and AI, and created Stories. Over 70% of Instagram and Snapchat users watch Stories on both platforms daily and as of January 2020, there are nearly 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram.

It is much too early to tell how successful Reels will be and if it will begin to take away from TikTok’s growing number of users. Right now, Reels is not as refined and still has quite a different overall experience than TikTok.

So, if you want to jump onto this trend, gear your content to resemble that of TikTok. Keep it fun, entertaining, and use music and text elements in your video. The key is that they don’t have to be polished professional videos, they should come off as fresh and authentic.

TikTok

TikTok is a very different side of social media. It is creative, fun, and meant to be addictive. It is not meant to be used as a marketing tool though. Many marketing campaigns have been ripped to shreds in the comments, mainly because the app feels like a safe space for young creatives aside from all the marketing on other platforms.

However, some brands have found a way to leverage TikTok. Successful ads come from brands that are targeting the right audience (Gen Z), on the right platform (TikTok), and are the right brand (geared towards young people, trendy). Hollister ads on TikTok have been pretty successful due to using these three elements correctly.

However, the future for TikTok is quite tentative with the ban in India being a huge hit to the platform, as it is the second-largest audience. Alongside that, the U.S. government is currently at work to ban the app due to security concerns. TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology giant ByteDance. The company has an internal committee of the Chinese Communist Party as well as partnerships with the Ministry of Public Security and Chinese Communist Party-supported ventures in Beijing and Shanghai. This leads to concerns about China using access to steal personal data or blackmail U.S. officials.

Whether the TikTok lawsuits prevail, ownership is shifted, or it is banned, we will have to wait and see. Luckily, even if you don’t jump onto TikTok you will not miss out on all the action. There is a lot of social media overlap, so you can still reach many of the same audiences without it. Instagram has really grown and a huge group of millennials are devoted users. This is a great audience because millennials are older, buy more products, and have a larger income.

Social Responsibility & Purpose

The role of social responsibility in brands and marketing has also changed. Companies are no longer seen neutrally as only sales and marketing. People are looking for transparency and community in social media.

The idea of purpose was put to the test in 2020 through COVID-19 and social issues. Companies who are purpose-driven are shown to time and time again outperform companies that are not purpose-driven.

Purpose however is a stance backed by action, core ideology, your employees, etc. It is not simply a blanket post or statement. It is authentic, not just good PR. Brand purpose is successful when it is engrained throughout an organization.

Engagement Over Content

Look to have more one on one interaction with your customers and followers. Responding to negative complaints and positive comments can do much more for brand perception than just pushing out more content.

People will come back to a social media page where they feel valued, heard, and seen. If all you are doing is pushing products or a service without also giving value and engagement, you will lose brand loyalty in the long run.

Need Help with your Social Media Strategy?

As always, at Coeus Creative Group we are here to help you bring your brand and company to the next level. If you or your company could use help with social media strategy, planning, content curation, or having a staff or personal training in social media, please reach out to us!

Email us at info@coeuscreativegroup.com

Check out our website at https://www.coeuscreativegroup.com/

Follow our social media accounts @coeuscg

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Are filler words bad? Short answer- not always. Filler words are a necessary function for interpersonal communication. In one-on-one or small group communication, they serve a purpose in the concept of speech reciprocity. Essentially, filler words signal to the listener that you are still completing a thought and that it is not their turn to speak. But when you are giving a public speech, presentation, or lecture, filler words can have devastating consequences to your credibility.

During a presentation or when giving a speech, “the floor is all yours”. The audience generally is not seeking to interrupt and filler words begin to have negative consequences. We have all seen (and sometimes have been) that struggling speaker who uses um’s or uh’s every three seconds. Not only is this distracting and painful for an audience to sit through, but it can also kill the speaker’s credibility. The use of filler words signals to an audience that the speaker is not confident and is struggling to formulate their ideas. This can make the audience choose to leave rather than sit and listen for one more painful sequence of um…uh…ah… to come pouring out.

So, how can we use Behavioral Intelligence to reduce our filler words in public speaking?

1. Increase awareness – The first step in changing any behavior is to become aware of the situations that elicit the behavior. Do you find yourself having more filler words at the beginning of your speech or presentation? In the end? On topics that you are not as comfortable with? When do you feel anxiety? Noticing these triggers allows us to address the behaviors.
2. Introduce pauses and silence – We often use filler words to allow our brain to catch up to what we are saying, transition to a new thought, or to think through a question or process as we are talking. The best way to get past this is to pause. We generally think that pausing is bad because we find silence to be uncomfortable. However, if you watch someone like Obama (politics aside) and you will see this demonstrated exceptionally well. He chunks his information and uses pauses and silence in a way that makes his message extremely impactful. If you want additional information, this article helps explain how pauses can help eliminate filler words.
   Remember: Silence and pausing in a speech feel 10x longer to the speaker than it does to the audience. If the speaker uses it intentionally, it can make a powerful impact on what the speaker is conveying.
3. Use body language to your advantage – If you’re grasping for thoughts and need the pause or a moment of silence, talk with your facial expressions or gestures. Raising your eyebrows, making strong eye contact, using gestures to imply that you are pondering the thought (Think of bringing your hand to your chin and looking upward as an example). All of these can convey the inherent message of “I am thinking” or “Stay with me while my brain catches up with my words” without having to fill the dead space.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice – The more you practice, the more fluid and natural the presentation or speech will flow. Remember that the information that you are delivering is coming from an expert. Take your time, take a deep breath, and let it flow as though it is a conversation with your friends, colleagues, and peers. This will help to reduce your anxiety which will then lessen the need for filler words. When practicing, record yourself. It may be painful to start (it was for me), but when you see yourself, you will be able to better identify the areas of the presentation or the situations that breed more filler words.

Filler words can have a devastating impact on a speaker’s credibility. Using these tips and tactics, you can start reducing these unnecessary distractions and elevate your prowess in the public speaking world. If you want more custom support, Coeus Creative Group offers a 10 session coaching program to take your public speaking to new heights, contact us today to learn more!

Stay tuned for an upcoming blog with behaviorally intelligent tips to reduce anxiety before, during, and after your public speaking!

Jay Johnson is an internationally renowned speaker specializing in behavior and organizational development. Jay has given keynotes and workshops in 20 countries across 4 continents, empowering audiences with a unique perspective on behavior, communication, and leadership. Connect with Jay on LinkedIn.

Looking for more?

• Listen to our most recent #BehaveIntelligently Podcast
• Attend an upcoming webinar
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• Check out our Charitable #CoeusCares Apparel Line

The post Um, Uh, Like…. Reducing the Filler Words in Your Speech or Presentations appeared first on Coeus Creative Group, LLC.

Networking forces you to put yourself out there; being in that position can be exciting for some, but uncomfortable to others, which is why it’s important to understand how to network as both an introvert and extrovert. At our Network Like a Boss: Understanding Behaviors of Introverts & Extroverts training, we explore the concept of networking from both behavioral types.

We’ve all been in scenarios where we felt completely drained afterward and could not explain why. We start internally reviewing; slept well last night—check, proper amount of caffeine—check… then why am I so tired? The answer is something drained your energy recently and it may not have been the last thing you did. Much like your car has a tank of gas, so do you. Over time activities drain your gas, and you may have been running on fumes because you had not refilled your tank. Most people have heard of the terms introvert and extrovert, but do not really understand what the differences are between them. The biggest difference is how their energy is drained and refilled.

An extrovert tends to gain energy from people and actually find that energy is sapped when they spend too much time alone. Extroverts like being around people from social events to networking, or evening going shopping to busy stores. While an introvert experiences the opposite and loses energy from being around people for long periods of time, so they may do these things sparingly.

To better understand behaviors associated with introverts and extroverts, the following are some example qualities of each type:

• Introvert
  • Thoughtful
  • Loyal
  • Creative
  • Enjoy solitude
  • Close relationships
  • Not talkative

• Extrovert
  • Expressive
  • Enthusiastic
  • Action oriented
  • Large networks
  • Center of attention
  • Think out loud
  • Quick decisions

Their differences lie in science and each behavioral types’ brain functions differently. For example, extroverts use dopamine to feel happy, where introverts use acetylcholine for pleasure; and extroverts brains run on energy-spending nervous systems versus introverts, who run on an energy-conserving nervous system.

Fully understanding your types’ qualities and how they function is key to networking like a boss.

For introverts to maximize their networking they need to focus on preparation. Prior to the event it’s important to have a strong digital, personal brand. Do things like post on your social networks to let people know you’re attending, reach out directly to attendees, and talk publicly about projects, releases announcements, etc.

To make yourself feel most comfortable at a network event, make sure to review the agenda in advance, see who else is attending, identify people you want to meet, and even use a buddy system with an extrovert.

For extroverts a networking event is much simpler. Bring a big stack of business cards, pop a breath mint, and pack your best 30-second introductory commercial. Networking events are like your game day; your brain is excited and your energy is flowing. Just be cautious not to scare away people that are not like you. Be observant, be aware, and network your heart away!

Want to learn more on this topic? Attend our Network Like a Boss: Understanding Behaviors of Introverts & Extroverts in-office training after work on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets here: www.coeuscg.eventbrite.com.

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Talent Development is an investment into the people portion of a business. It can include coaching, training, teambuilding, and a wide variety of job performance skill and ability development opportunities. Companies such as John C. Maxwell, Franklin Covey, and Coeus Creative Group offer a number of opportunities in those areas that can empower a workforce. These opportunities often create conditions in which employees feel like a value to the organization, rather than a commodity that can be sacrificed for the “greater good” of corporate profits. Talent development leads to better leadership and management in addition to significantly reducing the amount of conflict within an organization; again, this can produce a measurable return on investment for the sophisticated company.

Here are a number of benefits organizations can expect when they invest in their people:

1. Replacing an Employee is EXPENSIVE – Talent development helps retain good employees.

According to a study by the Center for American Progress:

“Specifically, the economic studies we examined reveal a number of patterns about the cost of turnover:

• • For all positions except executives and physicians—jobs that require very specific skills—across the remaining 27 case studies, the typical (median) cost of turnover was 21 percent of an employee’s annual salary.
  • For workers earning less than $50,000 annually—which covers three-quarters of all workers in the United States—the 22 case studies show a typical cost of turnover of 20 percent of salary, the same across positions earning $75,000 a year or less, which includes 9 in 10 U.S. workers.
  • Among positions earning $30,000 or less, which includes more than half of all U.S. workers, the cost of replacing an employee is slightly less than among positions earning less than $75,000 annually. The typical cost of turnover for positions earning less than $30,000 annually is 16 percent of an employee’s annual salary.”

At the low end of the spectrum, you are looking at $3,000 – $4,500 for every employee who walks out the door. At the high end of the job spectrum, $15,000+. Ouch. When an organization invests in an employees’ personal and professional development, that employee is more likely to invest themselves into the organization.

2. An Attractive Culture for New Hires – Talent Development Draws the Top Talent

According to a 2016 Gallup Poll, 87% of Millennials say development is important in a job. Given that millennials are dominating the workforce and will continue to do so, an intelligent company will look to invest in their future and create an environment rich in learning and development. Just think, do you want an employee who is interested in being better? If so, you can be the organization that offers the opportunity for growth, which can lead to significant gains in loyalty and job satisfaction. If you build it, they will come.

3. A Better Workforce and Workplace – Talent Development Improves Necessary Job Skills

Talent development opportunities can build critical skills that will help your organization save money, time, and heartache. Some of the most impactful training for a workforce resides in the areas of leadership development, communication effectiveness, and conflict resolution. Again, investments into these critical workplace skills yield exponential returns on investment:

• • A recent article on Forbes highlights a number of different organizational costs stemming from poor employee communication.
  • Inc.com quantifies 3 major hidden costs that are a result of poor leadership.
  • Entrepreneur.com points to a CPP study which calculates that 385 million workdays are lost as a result of conflict in the workplace annually.

One way or another, organizations pay for the skills of its workforce… It doesn’t take a Warren Buffet to see that investing in employee development is a far greater use of resources than the alternative of paying for mistakes.

In today’s economy, a business leader knows that talent development is a necessity for sustainable business. Invest in your people and they will invest in you.

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• Prioritization – Imagine being asked to join friends for dinner, but you have other obligations. You respond with, “I’m sorry; I just don’t have the time.” Now imagine that right after you decline, you receive a phone call from a local dealership saying that you just won a Mustang convertible. All you need to do is show up in the next hour to claim your prize. Would this change your priority? Would you forgo your obligations to collect your winnings? Most people would say yes. Through this lens, we see that time can be “created”. It depends on prioritization.
• Tracking Time – Do you know where you spend your time? Without fail, whenever I ask a client to track their time, the response is, “I cannot believe I spend so much time on _______.” The blank can be filled with a number of different activities, but most common include: social media, email, phone calls, Netflix, and driving. When we make a concerted effort to track time we notice trends. This is similar to tracking food while dieting.
• “Spending Time” – People use this phrase, but may not consider its meaning. The phrase implies that time is a resource, just like money. However, we never hear people say “Time doesn’t grow on trees you know.” Time is not something you can hold in your hand, nor is it something that you can earn more of, so we may not treat it the same way we treat money. We spend money to buy things we need or want, and try not to waste money on things that are not necessary or enjoyable. Looking at time in a similar way can help us not to “spend time” on tasks or activities that do not provide value.

Knowing your priorities, tracking your time, and viewing time as a precious resource may help you to spend your time more effectively. So, how will you manage time moving forward?

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• Focus – This aspect of listening is the most challenging, as it requires significant self-control. Controlling our own behavior is a major element of behavioral intelligence. Unfortunately, neuroscience has shown that our thoughts will naturally stray. A behaviorally intelligent listener should be aware of this and will consistently re-focus their attention to the speaker whenever this occurs. Try following each word that the speaker says, much the way you would read a book. This helps to control your own thoughts as the conversation progresses.
• Absorb – This aspect of listening is where we learn and remember what was stated. From the behavioral intelligence perspective, we need to understand the information provided in order to explain and predict future behavior. One of the key elements is to absorb both the spoken and unspoken messages. This means watching body language, tone, inflection and coordinating it with the spoken words. This helps us to retain information and contextualize it into a coherent message.
• Encourage – This aspect of listening is about giving good prompts and affirmations to the speaker. Imagine talking to someone who keeps looking at their phone and saying, “yep…uh-huh…” This does not make for a very engaging conversation. Encouragement can be non-verbal – good eye contact, nodding the head, smiling, etc. It can also be done verbally – paraphrasing what was said, sharing an insight on the topic, etc. This will also help you to stay focused and absorb the information.

A behaviorally intelligent listener controls their own focus, absorbs the information provided to explain and predict behavior, and encourages the speaker to invoke positive influence.

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