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There is no denying that the demographics of the workforce are changing and will continue to change for years to come. In fact, it is predicted that by the year 2025 three out of four employees will be from Generation Y. As current and future leaders it is critical to understand and embrace these changes. You need to know what motivates and inspires your employees so that you can improve performance, morale and productivity.

In my book, GENerate Performance!  Unleashing the Power of a Multigenerational Workforce, I discuss six simple strategies for leading a multigenerational team.

Celebrate Differences: Once you accept and understand the differences between the generations, you can celebrate them. Then you will see how the generations complement, support and reinforce one another and discover how to utilize your generational resources to optimize your business.

Invest Time: A common effect of all company problems is that they cost leaders their most valuable commodity: time. One way to prevent potential employee relation issues is to get to know your people on a personal level. This means connecting with your employees individually on a regular basis to find out what they need and expect at work, and then doing something about it.

Show Respect: Every person on your team, regardless of their generation, wants to feel respected. Respect, and disrespect, is demonstrated constantly through attitudes, words and actions. Fortunately, you can take intentional steps to change how you run your business or your department to encourage respect. It's the little things that make a big difference.

Leverage Strengths: Each generation and individual has strengths that they offer in the workplace. It is up to you to observe where your people exhibit power and passion on the job. Ask them about their strengths and find opportunities for them to leverage them regularly.

Pay Attention: Effective communications with all generations is very possible. It's not even that hard, you just have to tune in and figure out what works best. By increasing your level of awareness and personal interaction with others, you will find that communication flows much more naturally.

Embrace Change: Change often starts with you. As a leader, you need to embrace the changes necessary to take advantage of the wealth the four generations bring to your workplace. Your team is counting on you to lead and guide them.

The four generations co-existing in your workplace today are a powerhouse of experience, knowledge, talent, energy, drive and innovation. These strategies are simple and straightforward to implement. With a bit of time, practice and commitment, you can have a significant impact on your team and make a difference in their lives.

As strong leaders in the workplace you need to be able to develop solid relationships with your team. Relationships breed trust and trust is critical to be a respected, effective leader.

In today's workplace we rely heavily on technology for communication. Technology plays an important role but it's not always the most efficient or effective way to communicate. Email correspondence is appropriate with employees for fast and easy conversation but it is not going build trust. A poorly worded or wrongly interpreted email can cause a lot of wasted time and energy. The way to build real trust is through face-to-face and verbal conversations. Let me explain a bit further.

Email gives abridged information. We simply don't write the way we speak. In emails we shorten the information and highlight the important points, often leaving out supporting data, explanations, examples and clarifications. The person receiving the information does not receive all the information he or she would have had from a phone call or in person conversation.

Additionally, verbal dialogue is stimulating because it is intense, two-sided and provides detail, feeding on the interactions between the parties involved. With email you cannot see the other person's facial expression or body language to know how they are responding to your communication. To lead effectively, you need to not only pay attention to what your employee is saying but also to what they are not saying.

Have an employee who works remotely? Try to have regular dialogue by phone and schedule time to meet face-to-face when possible. Use video conferencing or Skype as a method of communicating with remote employees. If you have important information to convey, go see the person, video conference or at the very least, pick up the phone.

The bottom line is not to use technology as an escape, but rather as a tool. Your employees will appreciate when you make the time and effort necessary for more face-to-face and live communications. It really can have a big impact.

It's that time of year again. Time for employees to receive their annual performance review. The review is intended to provide employees with feedback regarding their prior year's performance against objectives. However, for many employees, the performance review is a conversation they dread. The main reason for this is that the employees' expectations for the meeting are not met by their manager. Surprisingly, a large majority of managers are not well skilled nor are they comfortable with giving feedback and having effective performance discussions. This can have a significant impact on productivity, engagement and morale.

If you are a manager, use this tips to help make this year's discussions as valuable as possible:

Be well prepared - review notes from previous performance reviews and discussions, stakeholder feedback and employee self-assessments. Be prepared to provide specific examples regarding the employee's work activities.
Keep it private and positive - host the discussion in a quiet, private and comfortable environment. Keep a positive tone throughout the conversation using good eye contact and body language.
Make it a two-way conversation - focus on making the conversation interactive and ask for the employee's thoughts and input. Manager's should not do all of the talking.
Focus on strengths - research has shown that employees are more likely to improve in their areas of strengths. Focus 80% of the discussion on strengths and 20% on growth areas. Pick one or two areas that the employee can develop. Then, seek agreement from the employee.
Offer support and encouragement - the employee needs your support and guidance. Ask how you can help them be successful. Plan a follow up meeting for 2-3 weeks later to discuss implementation and execution of the feedback in the upcoming year.
Performance reviews don’t have to be dreaded or difficult. You can make it a positive experience for both you and the employee by planning ahead and being prepared.

Strong leaders have an innate ability to know the appropriate times to use empathy and sympathy in the workplace. While empathy and sympathy are both ways to show compassion, they differ in their meanings. Simply put, empathy is an understanding of another person's feelings while sympathy means that you can't understand exactly how another person feels, but you still feel for their situation.

When you empathize with someone, you can put yourself in their shoes, so to speak. Perhaps you have been there yourself or can relate on some level. Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings, emotions and thoughts that another person may be going through based on their current circumstances. As a strong leader, the ability to empathize allows you to sense the emotions of your employees and co-workers. Empathy is an innate sense of understanding that gives strong leaders a keen sense of how to best leverage their team.

When you feel sympathy for someone else, you recognize their sadness and suffering though you cannot necessarily empathize with what they are feeling. When you sympathize, you have an appropriate sense of caring, concern and a show of solidarity for the other person.

Individuals typically want empathy rather than sympathy. They want you to understand them. The ability to look at an issue from another's perspective is authentic and real. Your employees will recognize authentic empathy versus sympathy and be appreciative for your response.

So if you do not have a natural sense of empathy, how can you seek to understand the feelings of members of your team? Active listening is the best way to work those compassion muscles. Are you really listening to your employees and trying to truly understand their point of view?

Empathy is essentially the commitment to listen and seek to understand. While sympathy is certainly appropriate in certain circumstances, the ability to empathize with authenticity is a key ingredient for effective leadership.

Just like it is imperative to know and utilize your own strengths, it is also important to know the strengths of those with whom you lead or interact with in the workplace. We are all energized by different passions and talents. Knowing how to leverage others' strengths can be a source of great opportunity. Today's savviest leaders know how to utilize strengths to motivate others.

Here are a few suggestions on finding the strengths in others:

Observe: Take time to watch those around you. Find out which types of projects they seem to enjoy the most. Think about where they apply extra time and effort. Listen for cues such as the issues or topics they prefer to discuss.

Ask: Talk to the people working around you, with you or for you. Ask them what projects make them feel the most energized and what they want to learn more about. Find out how they think their strengths are currently being utilized.

Focus: Having discovered others' strengths, begin to focus on how to best leverage those strengths. Too often we focus on what we think others should be doing rather then what brings them passion and fulfillment. Focusing on strengths will allow you to revamp responsibilities so that people working with their power and passion.

Arrange: Identify projects, opportunities and assignments that will utilize each person's key strengths. Delegate work to your team based on the tasks which will leverage their strengths rather than those they will find draining. If you are not in a position to delegate assignments, work together with your coworkers to divide activities according to each other's strengths.

Once you really start to leverage strengths you will notice a more unified, efficient and motivated team emerging. Innovation will flourish, teamwork will improve and productivity will soar. Who wouldn't want to work in that type of environment?

Listening is an innate skill that we pick up as infants. Yet with all of the distractions we have in today's busy world, it is easy to lose focus when we should instead be engaged in conversation. Think about it. You come home from a long day and when your child is telling you a story about school your mind is still decompressing. Soon you hear the words, "Mom, you are not listening to me!"

Sure, you are listening to your child, but are you really listening to their words? Are you engaged in your conversation or are you distracted by the television, your other child or the sound your phone just made signaling that you have a new text? Perhaps you are thinking about not burning dinner or your to-do list. On the other hand, as parents, we know how frustrating it is when we are speaking to our children as they are focused on a show, video game or book and are only pretending to hear the words we are saying.

The same frustrations happen every day in the workplace. Are you really listening to your employees? Are your employees really listening to you? How is anything going to effectively get accomplished if the team is not listening to one another?

Listening is an important skill that is all too often taken for granted. Here are some tips for active listening:

Stop all unrelated activities before engaging in a conversation with someone. Turn down the volume or walk away from the other conversations so you will not be distracted.

Consider the subject of the discussion and quickly do a mental review of what you may already know about the subject. This will help you to keep your mind from wandering. You may also want to suggest that the conversation begins with a high level review of the topic.

Recognize your emotions and try to put them aside until after the conversation. If you simply cannot do so, consider acknowledging your emotional state to the person with whom you are speaking.

Focus your body towards the speaker. Face the person who is speaking and look him or her in the eyes.

Seek to understand what the speaker is saying to you. Try not to skip ahead or predict what the other person is going to say next.

Do not develop your responses while the other person is speaking.

Actively respond to the person with questions or reactions once he or she has finished. Do not interrupt as that is a clear sign that you are more concerned with what you have to ask than what the other person has to say.

Often it is helpful to summarize and paraphrase key points. This will confirm your understanding of the discussion and create a dialogue.

Listening is so much more than simply keeping your mouth closed. It is a sign of consideration and emotional intelligence. Whether you are having a conversation with your employer, employees or your family, active listening promotes mutual respect.

We all crave acknowledgement for our hard work and dedication. Without recognition, people feel that their work is going unnoticed. This makes them feel undervalued and unappreciated. In turn, they may become apathetic about their work moving forward. This cycle can create an unproductive work environment.

The need for respect is at the core of every person. In a survey conducted by my company, K HR Solutions, respondents indicated that more than money, more than tangible gifts and more than awards, people simply want their boss to approach them and let them know that they have done a good job. There is some confusion, however, about the best ways to recognize good work among your employees.

For many employees, the performance review is a conversation they dread. The main reason for this is that the employees’ expectations for the meeting are not met by their manager. As employees it is important to make sure that you take an active role in your performance. Following are some tips to help during the discussion with your manager.

Be well prepared and be ready to provide input - Review past performance review documents; compile key accomplishments you have made during the past year as well as what you have done to develop yourself. If your manager does not request you to provide him or her with input prior to your performance review discussion, then take the initative and send it to them directly.

Practice active listening - During the meeting, maintain good eye contact and positive (and non-defensive) body language. Listen to what your manager has to say and really be engaged in the conversation. Summarize where needed to ensure that you understand.

Ask questions for clarity - Don’t be afraid to ask your manager for examples or to provide more specifics. Remember, this is your meeting. You want to make sure you know and understand the key messages that are being conveyed to you.

Share responsibility and take ownership - Be ready and willing to ask for and receive support from your manager. Tell them what you need to be successful in your current position and to develop yourself for future ones. Also, explain to them what you will do yourself.

Agree upon next steps - This is a great way to wrap up the meeting. Review the next steps and ask to schedule a follow-up meeting. I suggest 2-3 weeks later so that you have each had time to reflect on the conversation and are prepared to discuss implementation of the action plans.

Using these tips can help turn the discussion into one that is valuable and effective. Take the time to plan and prepare for your performance review. You need to be an active participant in navigating your career.

Each year about this time employees participate in a Performance Review with their manager. The review is intended to provide the employee with feedback regarding their prior year’s performance against objectives. For many employees, the performance review is a conversation they dread. The main reason for this is that the employees’ expectations for the meeting are not met by their manager. Surprisingly, a large majority of managers are not well skilled nor are they comfortable with giving feedback and having effective performance discussions. This can have a significant impact on employee engagement and morale.

Use these tips to make the discussion as valuable as possible.

Be well prepared -managers should review notes from previous performance reviews and discussions, stakeholder feedback and employee self-assessments. Be prepared to provide specific examples regarding the employee's work activities.

Keep it private and positive - host the discussion in a quiet, private and comfortable environment.  Keep a positive tone throughout the conversation using good eye contact and body language.

Make it a two-way conversation - focus on making the conversation interactive and ask for the employee's feedback. Manager's should not do all of the talking.

Focus on strengths and identify areas of growth and opportunity - research has shown that employees are more likely to improve in their areas of strengths. Focus 80% of the discussion on strengths and 20% on growth areas. Pick one or two areas that the employee can develop. Then, seek agreement from the employee.

Offer support and agree upon next steps - the employee needs your support and guidance. Ask them how you can help them be successful. Plan a follow up meeting for 2-3 weeks later and discuss implementation and execution in the upcoming year.

Performance reviews don't have to be dreaded or difficult. You can make it a positive experience for both you and the employee by planning ahead and being prepared.

Check back next week for Employee Tips.

The generations in today’s workplace are different and those differences can be a source of great opportunity. Leverage your team’s strengths by doing a careful examination of your team. To do so, use the following four steps:

Observe
Spend time personally observing your staff. Find out which types of projects your employees want to work. Discover where they are applying extra effort. Listen to the issues or topics they bring up. By observing them you may just discover their power and their passion.

Ask
Don’t try to guess a person’s strengths. Ask them what they perceive their own strengths to be and find out if they think those strengths are being fully utilized. In most circumstances, individuals know their own strengths better than anyone else.

Focus
Having discovered what each person’s strengths are, it is also vital to then focus on leveraging those strengths. Too often, managers focus on what they think employees should be doing better. You will never turn weaknesses into strengths so focusing on the strengths will inspire and motivate.

Identify
Find the projects, opportunities and assignments which utilize each person’s key strengths. Try to funnel work to your team based on the tasks which will leverage their passion and their power.

With these steps in mind, ask yourself if you know each of your employees’ strengths and how you can leverage the generational strengths on your team. Think about what opportunities you can create for your employees to exercise their power and their passion. If you do so, your team will be energized with excitement and engagement at every level. Innovation will flourish. Team dynamics will improve and productivity will soar.