Reviews

The burdens of strife

Getting Along at Work. By Caleb Crider (Carlisle, 2016, 149 pp. $12.99 U.S.)

Can’t we all just get along? Well, no; not always.

Would be nice, though — especially at work, where many of us spend so many waking hours. Likely no one reading this magazine works in a place of zero strife.

Caleb Crider writes from personal trench experience. He wrote this book partly because he needed it himself — “I learned that not being able to get along with people was a burden and a liability.” He decided to make a serious effort to learn how to get along with everyone he encountered in a day’s work — his boss, coworkers and customers.

So here is what resulted. It’s not so much a handbook for emerging buddyhood, nor a guide to making new best friends. His goal is simply to be able to form relationships that “work smoothly.”

Central to much of that is to bless others by demonstrating Christian virtues in the workplace. “We have the ability to really ruin someone’s day at work,” says Crider. Everyone knows about “customer service,” but not so many about service to coworkers. “Doing our work well and keeping our attitude pleasant while going the extra mile to make our coworkers’ work easier will help them have a much better day at work,” he says.

But it works both ways. Positive relationships also make one’s own work less stressful and more fulfilling. Moreover, “getting along well with others is good for our job security and improves our job prospects in the future.” Bosses don’t like it when staff can’t get along, Crider notes. “Employers prefer not to hire people who have a history of creating conflict.”

He covers a lot of behavioral ground: pride, quirks, critical spirits, grudges and jealousy, to name a few. Most readers will find plenty of personal resonance.

Can you learn something from a coworker who rubs you the wrong way? Is he or she reflecting a blind spot that you, too, might possess? “Remembering that I probably irritate other people just as often as they irritate me helps me to be more gracious with others,” Crider writes.

Sometimes, plain old professionalism can work wonders. “When you act in a respectful, professional way, those you encounter in your work are more likely to respect you,” he says. “Professional behavior doesn’t cancel out personality differences, but it smooths out some of the bumps that cause problems in relationships on the job.”

Do you have a thin skin? In a chapter titled “Practice Not Getting Offended,” Crider reminds readers that “Our coworkers don’t usually come to work in the morning with a secret plan to hurt our feelings.” Biblical support helps, as in Proverbs 19:11 which says it is to a person’s glory to “pass over a transgression.” In a time when common civility seems to be in scarce supply, Crider invites readers to employ six principles to “respect your coworkers.” Imag-

“Employers prefer not to hire people who have a history of creating conflict.”

ine, he asks, what would happen if everyone respected themselves, their coworkers and their boss.

He concludes with three case studies of people who faced special challenges in getting along with coworkers. One you’ll recognize from Sunday school — Daniel of lion’s den fame. Another is Abe Lincoln, and the third comprises 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 69 days.

This is a book for anyone who holds a job. If you want to get a promotion, become more employable, reach targets with distinction and bless your coworkers along the way, you’ll need to get along at work. This may be just the help you need. — Wally Kroeker

Eldercare lessons from Ghana

Who would have thought the soy fields of Africa could yield benefits in a seniors’ home across the globe

by Linda Whitmore

At first blush, you might wonder what a Canadian organization of seven longterm care homes could learn from women soy farmers in Ghana that they could apply back home. But learn, they did, and the experiences of a dozen peopleCare staff who visited MEDA’s Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project in 2014 have been incorporated into its culture and practices.

Forty-five years ago, peopleCare’s founders were pioneers of social entrepreneurship, imbuing their family of homes with the theme of social responsibility even before the term existed. That has carried forward to the third generation and today’s owner, Brent Gingerich.

The trip to Ghana sprang from a strategic initiative called Beyond Ourselves — moving the theme from paper to action.

“We have a commitment to care and to helping those who need assistance with daily living,” says Elaine Shantz, peopleCare’s president and COO. “Seniors are entrusted to us, many at a vulnerable time in their life; we have a responsibility to enhance their quality of life.

“Our people — our 900 employees — are key. When we value them we know they will in turn treat our 900 residents well. We believe people need opportunities to grow — to look beyond our four walls — to experiences they can gain.

Looking outward enhances life — both for the elderly and for women farmers, says president Elaine Shantz, shown with Brent Gingerich, owner of peopleCare.

“Beyond Ourselves sprang from that thinking. We encourage everyone — employees, residents, their families, the local community — to ask how we can engage and develop people. We can get entrenched in our day-to-day work, but when our team of visitors met the women farmers in a soy field in Ghana, they realized people are the same — we face the same challenges.

“Our commitment to people permeates peopleCare. We ask ourselves how do we do our very best for the world around us. Our vision is to change the world of senior living. We need to do that with our people, by developing them as leaders. And part of that is by offering opportunities for growth beyond our organization.” Shantz says she has found great personal support at peopleCare in her eight years with the organization. “We have the freedom to embrace opportunity and try new things for individual growth. Brent allows us to be innovative in our thinking. In a highly regulated sector, we choose to go beyond the regulations and funding restrictions, but still operate efficiently. Because our employees have opportunities to grow, residents have caregivers who are full of passion and commitment.” Four years ago when Beyond Ourselves was initiated, peopleCare invited several non-profit organizations to attend their strategic plan-

Leadership skills can be remarkably similar, whether standing in a soybean field or beside a resident in a senior home.

ning sessions. As a company that employs a lot of women, they saw a natural fit with GROW, which aims to bring new economic opportunities to 20,000 women farmers. A new partnership was born, as were plans for a peopleCare trip to Ghana.

The family of homes began to mobilize to meet a fundraising target of $25,000, each home organizing its own money-raising activities — barbecues, bake sales, silent auctions and even a gala evening — eventually far outstripping the original goal, and raising $40,000 for GROW’s women farmers. Although each employee paid for their own trip, peopleCare provided time off with pay.

The team of 12, including Gingerich, saw how the women in Ghana were learning to farm, to process soy into paste and milk, improving family nutrition. These women were developing leadership skills and empowering themselves to make a difference in their families and villages. They were proud to share their achievements with their visitors.

“The peopleCare team saw firsthand that monumental change is possible through creating business solutions to poverty,” says Shantz. “And they realized that leadership strategies are the same whether standing in a soybean field or beside a resident in a peopleCare home.”

Upon their return, the group shared seven lessons of engagement: 1. Develop relationships 2. Work toward a common goal 3. Build trust 4. Seek out and recognize leaders 5. Shared success for all 6. Sustainability 7. Beyond Ourselves

PeopleCare has been recognized three times as one of Deloitte’s 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada, an award that honors outstanding business performance and innovative management.

Shantz plans to lead a 900-km trek (550 miles) of the Bruce Trail on the edge of Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment this summer to raise $100,000 for GROW. She will be accompanied by Miriam Turnbull of ProResp, a provider of home oxygen and respiratory care.

“Through the trek,” says Shantz, “as we share with other long-term care organizations, we’ll talk about our vision to change the world, our opportunity to make a difference. Personally, I’ve had lots of other people give me opportunities. I want to share that with others — that’s my passion, why this opportunity resonates with me.

“Like the women in Ghana, I have had opportunities way beyond what I had expected. Milo Shantz was my first mentor at age 21 when I became manager of the Stone Crock Restaurant (St. Jacobs, Ont.). Thirteen years later, I joined the credit union (now Kindred), where I worked with Cliff Schott. Today Brent Gingerich continues to provide those opportunities. I’ve been very fortunate to have three lives, and three very different careers.” ◆

Women Walking to GROW

Elaine Shantz of peopleCare and Miriam Turnbull of ProResp plan to trek the Bruce Trail in July to support women entrepreneurs in Ghana. The endeavor will focus on women: • Supporting their families • Inspiring each other • GROWing their careers • Realizing their dreams

Besides raising money for GROW, the effort aims to: • Develop a leadership platform, whether in a soybean field in Ghana or a health care organization in Ontario • Design a model that other businesses can embrace to look beyond their day-to-day work

Others can help by donating, sponsoring and/or joining the Team 100km Challenge. Learn more at: womenwalkingtogrow.com — or call MEDA at 1-800-665-7026 ◆

Linda Whitmore is MEDA’s senior marketing and communications manager.

Elaine Shantz (left) and Miriam Turnbull plan to trek Ontario’s Bruce Trail this summer to support women farmers in Ghana.

Passing the bucks

An era ends as MEDA Trade sells currency division

Photo by Pogonici, iStock

After more than two decades of global leadership, MEDA Trade Co. Inc. is getting out of the foreign currency exchange business.

It announced recently that it has sold its foreign currency business to INTL FCStone, a longtime associate whose global payments division has worked closely with MEDA on projects around the world.

MEDA Trade is a for-profit MEDA subsidiary that provided currency remittance services to international non-government organizations in Canada. By using bank and trading connections cultivated over many years, it offered savings on money transfers as well as innovative ways to convert U.S. and Canadian funds into local currencies in more than 125 countries.

In making the announcement, Gerald Morrison, MEDA’s CFO and president of MEDA Trade, said INTL will provide the same level of service that clients have grown to expect from MEDA.

“They have been excellent partners whose focus on conducting business in the most efficient and ethical manner aligns perfectly with our core principles,” he said.

A Fortune 500 company with more than 30 years of experience, INTL (with staff in New York, London and Singapore) delivers local currency to 175 countries for over 500 not-for-profit, religious and government organizations.

Morrison explained that the foreign exchange department, though it performed with distinction for many years, was no longer part of MEDA’s strategic direction and was not bringing in new business operations as it had in the past. “Another reason is that the regulatory environment for wire transfers and foreign exchange services has become so intricate and complex that it’s very difficult to be profitable at the scale at which we were working,” he said.

MEDA Trade dates back to what was called the Third World debt crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. MEDA saw a need for a service that could buy and transfer relatively small amounts of foreign currencies more nimbly and economically than major banks.

In 1991 Jerry Quigley, now senior vice-president, programs, began brokering “debt swaps” for developing countries. By the time the crisis abated, MEDA Trade had built a reputation for efficient currency transactions and began offering a foreign exchange service. It was in a good position to do so because it understood developing countries and had forged relationships with reliable New York currency partners.

For MEDA, the service provided two benefits. One, it helped clients (including MEDA affiliates) to maximize their funds to boost impact on the ground. Two, the modest spread

MEDA Trade charged produced revenue which was recycled back into MEDA’s programs.

For Sheri Brubacher, the sale will coincide with her June retirement from MEDA. For 18 years she served as the foreign currency exchange and compliance officer for MEDA Trade.

She commonly handled more than 2,000 transactions a year for some three dozen client agencies who needed funds converted to conventional currencies like euros, yen and British pounds, or “exotic” currencies like Kenyan shillings, Ethiopian birr and Nicaraguan cordobas. Clients ranged from Save the Children lot of time studying anti-corruption reports and keeping up with external audits and compliance issues. She also had to educate clients, many of them small charities that weren’t always happy with this new intrusion into their affairs, but who nonetheless were being watched closely to make sure they weren’t a hiding place for funds.

“Everything we did was under a microscope, and we had to prove it over and over again,” says Brubacher.

MEDA Trade wasn’t the only way to move money. A client could simply use a bank or a “foreign exchange boutique” and pay higher fees.

Many banks, if asked to send to a remote place, would just send U.S. dollars — which likely meant a second fee when the U.S. funds were converted again. Also, each conversion necessitated additional accounting steps.

“When we sent, say Kenya shillings, it simplified bookkeeping for our clients,” says Brubacher. “It meant more money ended up going to the beneficiaries rather than being spent on fees and additional accounting costs.”

Then too, MEDA Trade could often gain a volume rate by clustering several trades.

Even its small spread added up and enabled MEDA Trade to contribute sizeable sums back to MEDA. For Brubacher, that was part of the win-win. “The client got a good rate, and any profit we made went back to serving the poor again,” she says.

Beyond the seemingly endless reports and number crunching, she also was always aware that even a routine wire transfer had a human face on the other end — a family getting access to good water, a sick child receiving treatment, a small farmer receiving technical aid. In each case she was helping other service agencies to amplify their work while also earning extra revenue for MEDA. ◆

The service helped clients maximize funds to boost their impact, and earned revenue to recycle back into MEDA programs.

and Canadian Co-operative Association to Mennonite Central Committee and War Child Canada. Altogether the transactions often exceeded a hundred million dollars a year.

Then came the rise of global terrorism, which dramatically altered the banking system and brought everything under more intense scrutiny.

In Canada, anyone transferring money on a regular basis made it onto the radar of a regulatory watchdog that sought to detect money laundering, fraud and the financing of terrorist activities. To operate in the new climate meant being subject to a whole new range of reporting and monitoring procedures.

Brubacher now had to spend a

Alumni help build ASSETS

Refugees find economic hope through early MEDA model

by Andrew Jenner

With holiday demand on the upswing, The Stroopie Company went to two shifts late last year, allowing them to churn out up to 6,000 Dutch stroopwafels (cinnamon-y, carmel-y goodies best enjoyed with a hot beverage) a week. All six workers running the show at the company’s small production facility in Lancaster, Penn., are refugees: three from Myanmar (Burma) and three from Syria. Once a day, they sit down with the store manager, who is also a certified ESL teacher, for a half-hour English lesson.

As a certified B Corporation, The Stroopie Company measures its success by social and environmental standards in addition to the profit column — hence the language classes and $11-an-hour starting wage offered to refugees otherwise facing limited employment prospects. Alone, however, these commitments don’t solve the challenges of solvency and profitability facing any small business. To help meet them, The Stroopie Company turned to ASSETS Lancaster, a job training and business preparation program started by MEDA in 1993.*

One of the organization’s new programs, says executive director Jessica King (EMU 1996), is called the Great Social Enterprise Pitch, which offers a series of business-planning workshops to 10 entrepreneurs who prioritize social and environmental well-being. After the workshops, five participants pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and compete for more than $50,000 in cash and services.

In 2015, The Stroopie Company won the competition, coming away with donated legal services, a free photo session for a new product catalog, and cash that it invested in new equipment.

“It gave us the confidence that we had a great idea going,” says Jennie Groff, one of the company’s owners. “We really feel like we’re poised to grow.”

Lancaster is a welcoming and generous community that resettles more refugees and gives, on average, more to charity than anywhere else in Pennsylvania. By integrating this philanthropic impulse into a workable business model, King says, “impact businesses” like The Stroopie Company are able to fund their own pursuit of a greater good.

“[The Stroopie Company] is a means to an end. The end is about helping their neighbors have better lives,” she says. “There are a lot of ways you can do that. Making cookies is their way of doing that.

“It’s amazing to see the kind of impact that [employers] can have on the lives of people around them, their neighbors and their employees, regardless of what their business is. It’s the spirit of ‘how’ they do it,” King continued. “It might not be all that bright and shiny, but it really matters to people. That’s what really gets me excited.”

Through its various programs, ASSETS provides training and lending to entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups as well as the impact

* ASSETS stands for A Service for Self-Employment Training & Support

Photos by Jon Styer/Eastern Mennonite University

Jessica King, executive director of ASSETS, visits with The Stroopie Company owner Jennie Groff (right, facing) and two employees, both refugees.

businesses committed to social and environmental goals. During the most recent fiscal year, it supported the creation of 40 new businesses and more than 70 jobs, provided loans or long-term training to more than 150 entrepreneurs, and involved nearly 1,500 businesspeople and community members in other programs and events.

“We believe in the power of business to transform our communities for good,” says Tina Campbell (EMU 1999), director of development. “But we are also convinced that it must be equitable transformation — that all races, ethnicities and cultures must be included for true economic development to happen in our own communities.”

According to board member Kevin Ressler (EMU 2007), an important part of this vison has been ASSETS’ expanding focus over the past several years to supporting impact businesses in addition to entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups.

“This work breaks down the barriers of ‘us’ and ‘them’ and begins to see that ‘we’ is our only hope moving forward to maintain a country full of communities that don’t just co-exist but co-create and thrive together.”

Since 2008, The Stroopie Company has employed 16 refugee women in its kitchen. Many have used it as both a landing and a launching pad, a welcoming place to build experience and improve their English before moving on to other things. Recently, when a TV news crew stopped by for an interview with one of the Syrian workers, Groff called in an employee who’d just left to provide some translation help. Watching from the sidelines, Groff was struck by the poise and fluency the former employee had developed, at least in part, right there in the stroopwafel kitchen.

“She came here hardly wanting to say anything. To be able to see

Jessica King, ASSETS executive director

how she’s leaving us — it just was hugely encouraging,” says Groff. “That is totally what motivates my husband and me. It is just so rewarding to see our refugee employees come in and gain confidence. You can just almost see it happening before your very eyes.” ◆

Reprinted with permission from Crossroads, published by Eastern Mennonite University

Don’t curse your own brand

by David Hagenbuch

Scanning a social media feed, a headline caught my attention, “It’s really f***king hard to write articles that don’t suck.” I was surprised to see a post with such thinly-veiled vulgarity, but what I noticed next really shocked me: The post’s creator was not only a person I know but someone who calls me a mentor.

There was a time when no one would have considered dropping the “F word” in any form of professional communication; however, we’ve entered an era in which people from pop stars to politicians effortlessly interject obscenities. Despite the negative impact vulgarity has on a brand, it’s easy to find examples:

Shelly Palmer, one of LinkedIn’s “Top Voices in Technology for 2016,” shared a list of his 10 most widely read articles for 2016, two of which alluded to obscenities: #4 “Apple MacBook Pro 2016: WTF?” and #1 “Apple iPhone 7: Are You F#$king Kidding Me?” The CheatSheet recently published an article with the title “What the Hell is Wrong with Macy’s?” Country singer Dierks Bentley has even titled his 2017 shows the “What the Hell Tour.”

Others also appear comfortable invoking profanity in building their brands. At the grocery store, I noticed a woman wearing a sweatshirt from Shippensburg University with the slogan “Ship Happens.” The crude allusion was evident.

Why would anyone risk associating their brand with foul language? They may want to appear edgy, thinking that such an image will differentiate them from competitors and help them stand out amid the commercial clutter. Regardless the reason, expletives are a short-sighted and shaky approach to brand-building. Yes, they grab attention, but they also communicate several very unbecoming brand qualities: 1. Unintelligent: Anyone who’s ever invoked an expletive knows it wasn’t an intellectual expression. People often say profane things when they’re frustrated, over-excited or otherwise unable to articulate an intelligent, reasoned response. Obscenities are a desperate attempt to utter something impactful without putting any thought into it. Likewise, swearing is a weak substitute for true creativity and original ideas. Those who curse seldom seem smart. 2. Angry: The most common reason people swear is anger. In

3. Unproductive: In a country of declining civility, Porath and Peason (2013) found that incivility in the workplace is associated with reduced productivity, poorer customer service, and lower sales — all bad outcomes for a brand. Profanity grabs attention, but it’s not good at letting it go. It’s difficult for us to “unhear” obscenities, put them out of our minds and move on to productive analysis and action. Profanity limits people’s own productivity and that of others. 4. Indecent: Swear words are intentionally boorish, crude and uncouth. Yes, we appreciate individuals and brands that are genuine and real — that don’t mislead by putting on airs. However, few of us respect or want to be around others who are vulgar, coarse or crass. 5. Untrustworthy: Imagine you’re using valet parking and one attendant says “I’ll take your keys,” while another says “I’ll take your f#$king keys.” Which attendant do you want to park your car? Probably the first one whose professionalism invokes more trust. In almost any situation, we’ll trust an individual with a clean vocabulary over someone with a foul mouth. Trust is the most important thing a brand can gain. When brands lose trust, they lose everything.

Centuries ago, the Persian poet Hafiz advised: “The words you speak become the house you live in.” That proverb couldn’t be more appropriate for individuals and organizations today hoping to build an inviting brand, as opposed to one that appears unintelligent, angry, unproductive, indecent and untrustworthy. No one should curse their own brand. ◆

Workplace incivility has been linked with reduced productivity and lower sales.

fact, the two are so often associated that when we hear someone utter an expletive, we’ll wonder or even ask “What’s the matter?” As a result, it doesn’t take many instances of hearing a person invoke obscenities for us to conclude that he/she is an angry person — or, in the case of marketing, a harsh, unwelcoming brand. Few individuals want to be around others who exude such caustic emotion, and brands need to consider that when using profanity.

David Hagenbuch is professor of marketing at Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, Pa., and author of Honorable Influence: A Christian’s Guide to Faithful Marketing.