IMLA 2008 Employment Law Continuing
Legal Education Seminar
Personnel Administration
Can a public employer get employees to like
their jobs?
Presented by
Attorney Daniel D. Crean
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, NH
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Developing Effective Teams in the
Workplace
How to help employees do the job
they love while loving the job they do
With appreciation to
Attorney Marlene A. Pontrelli
Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre & Friedlander, P.A.
This presentation incorporates (with permission)
some elements of her presentation made at IMLA MidYear Seminar, April 2006.
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Leadership Coaching
Lessons Learned
Employees are looking for greater balance
and less stress in their lives.
 Employees do look to employers to help
them keep balance in the workplace.
 Effective workplaces require that
managers be team coaches.
 Highly successful teams are motivated by
more than money or loyalty.

Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Consider these matters
1. How many conscious thoughts go
through your head in a typical
day?
2. For what percentage of thoughts
are you really present and
focused during that typical day?
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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3. How many times do you have to
read, see or experience something
before you finally get it?
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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4. What is the most important
relationship in the office?
5. What percentage of your waking
hours do you spend working or
thinking of work?
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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How many conscious
thoughts go through your
head in a typical day?
600,000
For what percentage of those
thoughts are you really
present and focused?
5%
How many times do you have
to read, see or
experience something
before you finally get it?
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Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
What is the most important
relationship in the
office?
Employee and
immediate supervisor
What percentage of your
waking hours do you
spend working or
thinking of work?
75%
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Some thoughts . . .
“In my experience,
there is never
creativity when
people are unhappy.”
“Leadership is not
about what happens
when you’re in the
office . . .
Albert Einstein
It’s about what
happens when
you’re out of the
office.”
Ken Blanchard
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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UN Expert Group Meeting on Managing
Diversity in the Civil Service, May 2001.

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. . . we live in an environment increasingly
characterized by turbulence as opposed to stability;
diversity as opposed to homogeneity.
The randomness of change is altering the workplace,
radically transforming the way that organizations
interact with their environment. . . .
Colleagues working together are increasingly less alike
with respect to gender, cultural background and age.
Reprinted from www.bent.com. Used with permission from CBS
Interactive, Inc., Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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The Changing Workforce
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Radio Babies (1930-1945)
Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
Generation Xers (1965-1976)
Generation Yers (1977-1991)
Millennials (1991 and later)
Does composition of work force affect how you
perceive employees, how they perceive you,
and how they perceive work?
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Diversity Management
U.S. GAO Report to the Ranking
Minority Member, Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, U.S. Senate, entitled “Diversity
Management - Expert-Identified Leading
Practices and Agency Examples,”
January 2005.
 Lists 9 Diversity Management Practices

Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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“Expert-Identified” Diversity
Management Practices

Top leadership commitment

Diversity as part of an organization’s
strategic plan

Diversity linked to performance

Measurement
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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“Expert-Identified” Diversity
Management Practices

Accountability

Succession planning

Recruitment

Employee involvement

Diversity training
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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Leadership Lessons from Larry Bird (with a little
assist from MAP & DDC)

Surround yourself with good people and
let them do their job.

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And make sure they know what their job is
If they love what they do they’ll love their
job. Help people find their passion for
their job (job satisfaction).

Help people to find another job if they don’t
like working for you.
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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More Lessons

Believe in your team (dream big).


Know your team and provide coaching and
leadership.
Hide your weaknesses, play to your
strengths (job purpose).

Know thyself.
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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To create a team, it helps to know why
people are on the team. Then, consider
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Winning is important (need to win as a team).
Make sure everyone is on the same page.
Make choices based on what is best for the
team.
It’s all about preparation.
Your staff is depending on you (a team without
a coach is not a team).
The bottom line is what your fans want (read
councils, governing boards, voters, and
citizens).
Crean Law Office, Pembroke, New Hampshire
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