Tag: employee engagement

By Scott

Companies are Like People, Our Culture Defines the Relationship – Tips for doing it well

Companies are like people.  There is actually a study of how organizations act and change, which is where the terms organizational development and industrial/organizational psychology come from.

As individuals we build relationships/trust by working/living along side people and showing them consistent behavior so they know what to expect – what we value.  So how does that apply to organizations?

Culture is built through a relentless demonstration of what organizations value. While perfection is the goal, it is not realistic.  At some point we will have to say we are sorry.  This lens can be used to examine when organizations first meet new people – during onboarding.

Here is a miss / don’t miss list based on years of experiencing it and building it as a leader:

Don’t Miss

  • Clean desk / supplies
  • Someone to greet you and say “we were expecting you”
  • Frequent communication with your leader for 3 months
  • Teammates taking you to lunch or inviting you into the circle/social events
  • Paycheck / benefits
  • All the tools that connect us to others – email, phone, computer, mailbox, list of who to call
  • Plan to direct learning for first three months

Miss Sometimes

  • Nameplate on desk
  • Meeting boss’ boss (because of business) day 1 or week 1
  • Formal orientation in week one (not enough people)
  • 100% achievement of everything on the onboarding plan
  • Email Day 1 welcoming new teammate
  • Quick check-in at the end of every day to see how things are going

I am not a hypocracy chaser, and it is important that a line be drawn in the sand saying that “If we do not do these things how can we expect anyone to buy into our values as an organization?”  As Collins said in Good To Great:

The point is not what core values you have, but that you have core values at all, that you know what they are, that you build them explicitly into the organization, and that you preserve them over time. (p. 195)

Living it is more powerful than speaking it, and speaking it is the first step in living it.  It why I put Build Trust at the base of the trUPerformance model.  Working relentlessly at living what we say makes it easier for people to forgive us when we (as organizations) slip up.

After all, organizations are like people.

What is on your Don’t Miss list?

By Scott

Three Ways to Make Recognition a Habit, 1 Thing to Avoid

On one of the first days at my new job I was handed a box.  It was large enough to fit 50-100 8.5 x 11 inch folders, and it was a nice shade of green with a pattern that told me someone had put some thought into the design of this box.  Then I was told what it was – my Recognition Toolbox.  I opened it, and was surprised at how little was inside.  The contents consisted of a few thank you notes, some process sheets for getting gift cards and other rewards, and some post-it notes with a positive slogan printed on them.

Before creating a box – here are three habits that will get you the better outcomes and save some printing costs:

  1. Dedicate 5 minutes at meetings: Start every meeting with everyone sharing a star performer from the week, with the action plan being “how did you recognize them”.
  2. Regular ‘listening’ time for leaders / Also known as one on ones: Sometimes great reminders come from extreme cases.  There is a study shared in the book SWAY (p. 120) about what factors influenced how convicted felons felt about the judicial process.  In the end, it came down to one variable (and it was NOT whether they were found guilty):  How much time had their lawyer spent with them.  People feel better about their jobs, their companies, etc. when leaders spend time with them.
  3. Dedicated visibility time: Plug 30 minutes into your schedule Monday am and Friday pm (or even after weekly/monthly meetings) to just walk around armed with simple questions like:  What’s occupying your mind this week?  What was a high point for this week/weekend?  What do you wish had happened differently?

None of these fit into a box, but they are habits that, when done over time, will make a measurable difference in how people feel and will keep you (the leader) better connected to the business.

 

 

By Scott

Introversion (TED video) and trUYou

At the most recent TED conference in California there was a great presentation about introversion by Susan Cain, who recently published a book on the topic.  It has been watched 1 million+ times already and is a good message.  The title is The Power of Introverts.

I preach talent management as being a conversation, and I like this video because understanding our tendency to think more vs talk is important.  Having a conversation means two people showing up and talking/listening in equal parts.  Susan also makes the distinction that introverts can do public speaking (after all, she is presenting), but it is an activity that taps her energy stores, not fills them.  Her power is in thinking problems through by listening to others share their expertise, researching, and drawing on her own experience.  A great gift for a team, but often hard to tap into.

Here is my add-on to the video:

  • For Introverts – Speak up.  The world, your company, the planning for your neighborhood party will go on without you because you are surrounded by people that have a more natural style to talk and influence.  It is not easy, but with the world moving faster, you are at risk of being marginalized more now than 10 years ago because your leaders/peers have more noise in their lives.  Whispers do not cut it anymore – and a tweet, text, or email is too often just a whisper.
  • For leaders of introverts – How hard have you tried to listen?  To set them(introverts) up to be successful?  At any point in team discussions do you stop the free for all and just go around the room and give everyone 45 seconds of input?  Do you meet one on one with everyone regularly so listening is a habit?  Does your challenge (speak up) come with encouragement and purposeful moves to help them step out?

This is not the only thing a person needs to know about themselves, but it is a good start because how we communicate (or not) is one big measure the world will use to measure us.  Here is a link to a tool I use called my trUYou model. It is a guide for what we need to know about us.  Introversion/extroversion is one piece to us, but it is pretty important.

Want to know how introverted or extroverted you are?  Try this free Jung Typology Test (basically the same as the Myers-Briggs).

By Scott

Tracking Our Happiness – My experience + an exercise for leaders

So I am at Day 4 of measuring my happiness as I participate in the Happiness Research project of Matthew Killingsworth (my last post referenced his article in the Jan/Feb 2012 Harvard Business Review – which I will call HBR from this point on).  One of my blog readers followed suit and shared that the 3x a day reminders were making him angry – which made me smile, so the study is working for me.  I am guessing we will balance each other out in the research. 🙂

Here is what I have noticed:

  • The goal is not about being happy all the time, that is impossible.
  • When I stop to think about it, it makes a difference on how I feel.
  • I get annoyed by the emails – then I remember I asked to be part of it, so I laugh at myself and do it.

This might be a fun experience with a group of managers.

First: Present the opportunity to a group of people and ask for 3 volunteers to participate and own reporting back (sorry, they must have iphones).

Second: It is about a 15 day study, so (as the organizer) email them every 3 days and ask them to send you a quick email (1-2 minutes) answering the question “What a-ha moments have you had in the last three days being part of this study and watching your happiness?”

Third: Set aside an hour with the whole group to process the topic.  As preparation, ask the group to read the article The Science Behind the Smile from HBR Jan/Feb 2012.  For the three volunteers – ask specific questions about what were some of the things that impacted them from the outside (what they were doing? other people? events?) and how what they were doing had an impact?  The agenda might look like this:

1.  Share what you learned (3 peopole) – 15 minutes

2. Brainstorm / Discussion:  What we do as individuals to achieve more happiness today?  Draw a line and ask what we learned that we could/should do more of to increase happiness?  What jumps out at me when I look at this list? (go around the room)? – 15 minutes

3.  Brainstorm / Discussion:  What do we do as leaders do to increase the happiness in our workplace today?  What are some things we could do?  What jumps out at me when I look at this list (go around the room) – 15 minutes

4.  Wrap-up:  What is one thing I am going to do differently for myself or my team? Be specific, and partner people up as partners for success – 15 minutes

FYI – Remember talent management is about conversations, not training.  Leaders getting together to share observations/experiences, make little changes on how they manage themselves/others, and partnering to support each other is like training – but better, and less expensive. 🙂

 

By Scott

Assessments for Individuals – How they stack up

This is a series of extra discussions around an upcoming trU Tips related to using assessments in your business.  It will come out next week.  If you are interested in receiving this special trU Tips, please sign up for the mailing list here. 

All assessments are not created equal.  Here is a document I published that summarizes my opinion of nine assessment tools that I have used or taken in my career.  Most of the big ones are covered, and I have excluded 360 tools because that is a whole different topic.  The right tool for your depends on what you want to accomplish,  your budget, and several other factors. 

Here is a summary of some of my recommendations.

Leadership Transitions?  The tool I use in my practice is the Birkman Method.  It’s unique approach for measuring differentiating between usual behaviors and needs is unique, and the stress behaviors that it identifies when needs are not met.  It is a very powerful tool for transitions and also can easily be used for performance issues and career coaching.  It is the best that I have found, but probably more important is the process involved in assessing risks and priorities.  I have recently been introduced to an onboarding assessment that looks more at organizational factors vs personal style that is very powerful.  More to come on this. . .

Team Development? I use Birkman, and as a result it is the tool that I would use with clients.  The tool that I really like in this area is the Kolbe because of how it summarizes energy for a team and presents it back.  There are many drawbacks to using the Kolbe that I highlight in my matrix, but it creates a great conversation within a team.

Fun Team Development/Team Building?  I have used StrengthsFinder with over 400 people and over a dozen teams.  It is inexpensive and can offer insight into a variety of career or job related questions.  For the money, I would recommend it or DiSC® because of the cost and ease of access to experts if there was a desire to use it across an organization.

Any opinions?  I would welcome them and sharing of tools that I might have overlooked.  trU Tips 18 will be out tomorrow focused on this issue.  Sign up here if you would like to hear more.

By Scott

3 Questions to Answer BEFORE Hire=Yes

A Forbes article was highlighted in LinkedIn Today email (by the way, if you don’t subscribe you should) – and it offered up a three question interview.(link to full article)  The three questions are:

  1. Can you do the job?
  2. Will you love the job?
  3. Can we tolerate working with you?

Of course, practically speaking this is impossible and a bad idea to try and get to a three question interview – but it makes for good internet clicking.  However, it does bring me back to some advice a seasoned HR leader once shared that there are three questions that need to be asked before hiring anyone:

  1. Are they willing?
  2. Are they able?
  3. Are they manageable?

It makes for a great conversation and a great decision.  On the flip side of these questions, candidates need to ask themselves a similar subset.  I preach talent management is about great conversations, so here are these questions adapted for the candidate:

  1. Am I willing (Can I get excited about this role/this team/this organization?)
  2. Am I able (Will I be doing what I do best most of the time?)
  3. Am I manageable by this leader/organization? (Will they be able to get the best out of me and am I willing to help them be successful?)

*fyi – answers to all of these questions require self awarness.  My trUYou™ model helps with this.

We talk about transparency in talent management, one way to create that is to work off the same set of final questions.  That, in itself, could be the basis of a great conversation.

By Scott

Choices. (career and talent management)

Choices. 

It is the word that sums up the goal for our own career development and what every person (young or old) works for.  It is also the goal of helping people find success in their role (called talent management) and in our organizations.  When I sit down with clients or friends to talk through development of leaders or managing a change initiative (especially when jobs are going to change) – my mind and questions wander back to the lens I always use to analyze their talent management habits or change plans:  How effectively is their plan creating a conversation?

Ultimately for people to buy into and successfully help your organization get to a different place, there are four questions they(we) need to bring to the conversation.  This is what makes talent management / change management personal.trUYou: our model for developing self-awareness

  1. What do I know about me?  (here is a link to my model for this – trUYou™)
  2. How do my talents, skills, experience and needs match my role and the roles I am looking at?
  3. Can I work for the person leading this group?  How do I feel about the list of tasks I am being asked to ship?
  4. Am I willing to help them be successful, regardless of my answer to question 3?

This Friday I am doing a key note address for a Junior Achievement Job Shadow Day.  I use 3 different size bikes (that students will ride) and cash to drive home a point – you have choices to make.  It is not always an easy journey, but it has some great rewards.  Here are videos I posted of one of my presentations.  Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

Funny thing – if I were to stand up in front of a bunch of seasoned professionals, I would give the same speech.  It is one of those messages that needs to be learned/relearned throughout our professional lives.

Choices are good.

By Scott

A great question to end your week (or your meeting)

It was a situation I had been in many times before.  Presenting to a group (this being a group of students at Grand Valley State University) and enjoying the interaction.  I was talking about my business/journey, talent management, and connecting back to their topics of diversity and ethics.  I did what every speaker does during a session, I paused and asked “Are there any questions?”.  Quickly a hand shot up in the back from a student who had been engaged all night.  Then he changed my week with one question:

“Through all of your startup, What are you most proud of?” 

Know that my week had not started well, and I had been second guessing this commitment to speak.  My mind quickly went to the faces of a team I had just been talking with that were bringing a different level of energy to their leadership.  I thought of a friend who had recently shared he was adding a one on one with his regimen and using my scorecard.  I thought of the energy my family had put into helping me get started.  I am not sure what I shared, but it was only a portion of the great thoughts that entered my head.

The trajectory of my week changed at that moment.

I love this question.  It makes people think of successes, of relationships they cherish, and of things in their lives that went right.

Try this at a meeting or offsite somtime with your team.  I have even seen it done where people are asked before to bring in an artifact (picture, items, etc.) that identifies something they are proud of.  It will lead to smiles and intimate knowledge of what makes people tick. 

So as you end your week, take a couple of minutes to ponder and answer the question “What am I most proud of?”

By Scott

Onboarding Equation . . and 4 Ways to Influence it

I am reading a book called Emotional Equations by Chip Conley.  As a recovering engineer, I am still attracted to simple ways to understand a complex event – and for anyone who has spent time in a science class, that is what an equation represents.

So here is an equation:  Disappointment = Expectations – Reality

The fundamental event of hiring and effectively onboarding a new person is captured in this equation.  It is no wonder that 40% of leaders from outside organizations fail within 18 months (Watkins – The First 90 Days).  We all have stories of experiencing or observing the moment when the This is not what I signed up for panic hits.

A key part of managing talent coming into your organization or transitioning into a new role is managing this equation.  Here are two ways to better manage this equation for new people:

  1. Name it in orientation:  EVERYONE will feel this at some point, so openly talk about it and have a few people share when it happened for them AND how they worked through it.  (great reason to have a panel discussion of newer employees at some point)
  2. Make connections for them Day 1 so they do not feel alone:  Assign someone in the department or another department as a mentor and guide (someone who can empathize with this person).  It takes 6-12 months to become comfortable/productive in a new role, so this person should stick around (especially if the leader is not good at this).

For a person transitioning into a new role:

  1. Create a plan for success:  On day 1, use a development plan template to talk about why they got the role (their talents/successes), what success looks like, and what they need to be successful.  This provides the individual with a target, some encouragement, and a framework for revisiting the how is it going question and make adjustments as necessary.
  2. Assign a friend/mentor:  For individual contributors or managers give them a mentor (or the leader should do weekly one on ones for 6 months).  For an executive get them a coach.  The ROI for a coach is in avoiding the cost of a bad transition (team turnover, mismanaged budget, etc.).  It will pay for itself, and there is plenty of research to back that up.

Talent management is about great conversations.  Talking about this equation is a great conversation for a person in transition.

By Scott

A Hmmm # for leaders – What’s in your mail?

From a USA Today article on February 8th breaking down what comes in someone’s mail.

  • 22% Standard mail (mostly advertising)
  • 17% Fliers and circulars
  • 8% Catalogs
  • 5% Financial statements
  • 5% First class advertising
  • 4% Periodicals (newspapers, magazines)
  • 3% Greeting cards
  • .7% Personal Letters
  • etc

Imagine how you could stand out as a leader sending a personal note to someone on your team?  A whole lot less competition than email.  Here is a link to the cards I use to say thank you or congratulations.  Having them handy makes it easy to write a quick note.

Email is better than nothing – if you want to measure yourself against nothing. 🙂