The Enlightened Manager

Holiday Drama: When Decorations Cause Conflict at Work

In the workplace, holidays can be a source of both fun and drama. We enjoy the chance to relax and celebrate with our coworkers, and to have some time off. Then there is the dark side - those tensions that can arise around different traditions and expectations.

Years ago I was an HR Manager with the task of keeping tempers cool during the holidays.  My organization even had a “Holiday Policy Email” that went out to outline the rules around celebration.  This email included what was appropriate for decorations, and general guidelines about manners.  Unfortunately these emails seemed to make matters worse, not better.

One year employees were encouraged to put up "non-religious" displays such as trees and snowmen.  A barrage of email comments followed:

• Christmas trees are Christian, and therefore religious.
• Trees are symbols of Pagan religions, and therefore not secular.
• You can't take the Christ out of Christmas, no matter how hard you try.
• I hope that you in HR have a good "holiday" even though you've sucked all of the joy out of our lives by telling us what we can and cannot do for our "holiday" celebrations.  Scrooges!

The following year the "non-religious displays" were encouraged for "public areas", while "private areas" were allowed some leeway.  That year the email responses read:

• I work in a "public" area so it's not fair that I'm being treated differently - my coworkers get to put up extra stuff.
• If my coworker starts playing Christmas music in her cubicle I'm going to have a three foot Buddha installed in mine.
• My coworker decorated the break room, but that is a "public area" for employees so I demand they get taken down.  This isn't her personal space.
• I wish you people in HR would get a little "holiday spirit" and focus on something more important. HIRING perhaps?

As you can imagine, it was easy to feel that this was a "no win situation" and we always hated putting out that email.  It was like throwing blood into a pool of sharks.  Angry hungry sharks!

So what can you do? As a management consultant and coach, while there is no perfect solution, I’ll suggest that you use a general statement of philosophy rather than fixed rules.  Here are some examples:

"To make our customers of all faith-traditions feel comfortable, general holiday decorations in traditional colors will be hung in public areas by our facilities staff.  Employees are welcome to decorate cubicles and offices, although decorations should be removed by January 1^st.”

Or:

"In line with our mission, tasteful Christmas decorations are welcome from December 1st-31st."

And you can always add:

"For questions or clarification on what is acceptable, contact your supervisor."

If you must give guidance, a light touch is best I think. As soon as you start trying to put boundaries around expression, people will feel judged. Sometimes the best policy is no policy.

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Cheri Baker, MA, SPHR is the President of Emergence Consulting. Emergence Consulting's services include Management Coaching,  Leadership Development, Team Building, Customer Service and Communication Skills Training and Strategic Planning in the Seattle, WA area. More information on her programs can be found: http://www.emergenceconsulting.net

Five Questions You Won’t See on a Performance Review

For organizations that do annual reviews, they either occur on an anniversary date or all at the same time each year.  Sometimes those annual reviews come near the end of the year.  In any case, the end of the year is a good time to take stock of how far you’ve come, and how you’ve grown.  It’s a good time to think about who you are becoming.

Here are the questions I’m asking myself as this year comes to a close.  They are not typical performance review questions, but perhaps you’ll find them meaningful as I do.

1.       What are my proudest moments from 2011?  What are the moments I am least proud of?

Remembering these high and low points can provide clues to better knowing my own character, strengths, and limitations.

2.       How am I measuring success?  What does “success” mean to me?

Is success tied to certain metrics?  Numbers?  Or does success mean something different?  How will I know if I have been “successful?”

3.       What dreams or goals did I abandon this year?

My dreams always outstrip my time and energy.  Which ones got short shrift this year?  Did I make a good choice of what to prioritize?

4.       What am I letting go of?

Habits?  Beliefs?  Hobbies? Assumptions?  Worries?

5.       What am I moving towards?

As I am learning and growing, what am I excited about?  What lies ahead?

As you sit by the fire (or even the glow of your computer screen) this year,  I hope you’ll take a few wonderful selfish moments to ask some of the deeper questions.  Goals and objectives are wonderful.  Just don’t forget to take measure of your inner self, the instrument through which all achievements happen.

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Cheri Baker, MA, SPHR is the President of Emergence Consulting. Emergence Consulting's services include Management Coaching, Leadership Development, Team Building, Customer Service and Communication Skills Training and Strategic Planning in the Seattle, WA area. More information on her programs can be found: www.emergenceconsulting.net

The Case Against Coddling People

I don't know about you, Enlightened Managers, but I hate to coddle people.  I refuse to do it.  I have this crazy belief that we're all adults and we all need to be responsible for our own behavior.

Does your organization expect you to coddle people?  If so, how is that working for you?

Let me give you an example.  I had a client once that kept telling me he was going to do a certain set of tasks.  Every week he told me this!  Every week he didn't do it.  We talked about it, discussed some strategies around getting it done, but it still didn't get done.

I canceled our next appointment.  "I don't see a point in us meeting until you get the next step done."

Another example.  I teach university classes in the evening, mostly for fun, and I know some of my coworkers are diligent about following up with students every single week if they miss assignments..  They send lots of careful emails encouraging students to do the work.  Week after week.

I think this is a bit nuts. I follow up the first time or two it happens and offer to be helpful, and then I wait for the student to pick up the work.  I'm a professor, not a day care operator.

I suppose my attitude exists for a few reasons.  First, I believe that no one can "force" someone else to be responsible.  I can be very helpful when someone wants help.  I can be very encouraging when someone is struggling.  But I can't do someone else's job.  They have to pick up the shovel and start digging.

Second, I simply respect my own time too much.  Don't you?

There are plenty of people who are worthy of our help, support, and effort.  You can recognize them by the fact that they try.  I'll walk through fire for someone so long as I can see they are there beside me, striving. Those who don't try need to get their own houses in order.  There is relatively little we can do for them.

Sometimes we need to let people fail a little before they find the will to succeed.

Why Humor Matters at Work

I love to laugh when I am working with teams.  Not only does it feel good to be amused, but I've noticed that when people are smiling they tend to do better work.  I've operated under this principle for a while, in fact, humor is one of Emergence Consulting's core values!  However, my belief that laughter matters has been pretty much a guess on my part.

The New York Time is reporting the results of a small study that indicated that problem solving ability was augmented after participants watched a comedy routine. 

Don't worry, you don't need to be a stand-up comic to embrace the power of humor in your work team or training session.  Here are a few ideas:

1) Laugh at yourselves. Tell a funny story about a time you goofed up or when something funny happened to you.   One of my clients (who will not be named) has a great story about answering a company security alarm in their jammies.   If you can connect the story to the topic at hand, even better. 

2) Build Memories.   When I was managing a team, we had poetry contests and fun potluck lunches.  We built a snowman when it snowed.  We blew bubbles in the summer.  Silly little things that we did over our lunch break that gave us an excuse to laugh.

3) Embrace the Work Weirdness.  Let's face it.  Workplaces can be strange!  There are wacky policies, insane communications, and meetings that just go wrong.  You can get upset about these things, or you can laugh.  Choose to laugh.

4) Surprise Them into Smiling.  I'd occasionally open the door to my office wearing an unusual hat.  It's always been a dream of mine (sadly unfulfilled) to walk into a meeting dressed as broccoli.   Even if you're not a clown like me, what can you do to surprise people?

What are your thoughts about humor at work?

Yes, an Attitude Adjustment May Be Needed.

It's been an interesting week.  I'm always out talking to executives, managers, HR people, and employees, and there has been this weirdness lately.

The economy is getting a little better, there is more competition for talent, and employees are a little less fearful that they are going to get laid off.  So what is happening is that the same employees who would have taken a "heads down mouth shut" posture six months ago are getting a little more vocal in the workplace.

They are talking about areas where the organization can improve.
They are asking for opportunities for growth.
They are expecting that when they have something to say, that a leader will listen.
They are willing to admit it when morale is low, and they expect something will be done.

Combined with this is the reality that some organizational leaders have gotten used to the bad economy.  They've gotten used to the fact that employees are just grateful to have a job, that they tend to keep their mouths shut about problems, and that they tend not to leave when things get dicey.

So what is the result? Some leaders are responding to this renewal of employee opinions (or call it entitlement) pretty harshly.  "If you don't like it, you can leave."  or they simply ignore the feedback they are getting.

Obviously whiny employee entitlement can be a problem.  But if a leader hears an employee bringing up serious concerns about the organization, asking for support in keeping the team engaged, or asking for a chance to develop professionally, that isn't entitlement.  That is an employee who is engaged and wants to make a difference.

I'm worried that some leaders might be too slow to respond to the changing environment.  Employees are no longer terrified that they will get laid off. They are no longer willing to stuff their opinions and dreams behind closed mouths.

So if a leaders says "If you don't like it you can leave" I hope they won't be surprised in a year when people DO leave.

Good talent is precious.  Soon, we'll be asked to do the hard work of retention again.  Meanwhile, everyone is keeping score.

What goes around comes around. :)

The Approachable Executive: Thoughts on Avoiding Fear in the C Suite

"People in my department don't have the luxury of escalating our concerns to our executives.  Should one of us try, our exec would first say "Who are you exactly?" followed immediately by a note to one of his direct reports saying "fire that bozo for not understanding chain of command."

"If you speak up about the quality of our services, you are labeled as not being a team player.  That is the surest way to end your career."

"I want to address a morale department in our team, but my boss just says that if people are not happy they should find other jobs.  I see real problems but she just sees whining."

These are all comments that I've gathered over the past few months from leaders in different organizations. They all expressed strong resistance to bringing concerns to company leaders, out of fear that those concerns would tarnish their careers or get them in trouble.

The consequences?  Good people start clamming up when things go wrong, out of fear their efforts to fix it will blow up on them.

Here is the tricky part, as an executive, sometimes saying "no" to an idea can have unintended consequences.  You say "no" because  it's not a good idea or it's not the right time, and then the person assumes that you are angry with them, or that they've been judged harshly, or that they are being penalized for speaking up.

How to be an Approachable Executive.

1. Listen Actively and Reflect Back what you hear:  "I hear that you are concerned about the quality of the product, and you'd like to make changes before we send it to production, is that right?"

2. Share your Perspective:  "OK, here is what I think.....

3. Appreciate their honesty and intentions:  "Although I don't agree with what you want to do, I do appreciate that you are thinking about quality, and I appreciate that you care about doing a good job.  I hope you'll keep thinking about these things because they do matter."

4. Redirect them if appropriate:  "Is there a reason you didn't go right to Sally with this concern?  I'm a bit surprised that you skipped that step and came to me."

Don't make the mistake of dismissing people when they have genuine concerns.  You may not choose to act on those concerns, but it doesn't mean that you can't honor their intentions and send the message that caring about doing good work is welcomed, not penalized.

 

Fire or Retrain? How to Decide if a Failing Employee is Worth Salvaging

So you've hired an employee and they are not doing very well.  It might be a new employee, or one that you've had for years.  Regardless, you need to make that tough decision.  Do you fire them or do you retrain them?  In short, are you managing them out or giving them an opportunity to improve?

It's a darn hard decision.  On the one hand, you've invested so much in this employee already.  You may know them as a person and feel obligated to give them every chance for success.  On the other hand you don't want to simply delay the inevitable, if it is inevitable.  You don't want to spend your time bailing water out of a sinking ship.

One of the things you can do is to try and distinguish between employees who can improve, and those who cannot.  Here are some signs to watch for:

Develop Employees Who:

1. Acknowledge that they need to improve.
2. Seek out feedback on how they can get better.
3. Take responsibility for their lapses.
4. Demonstrate that they can take action to improve performance.
5. Demonstrate that they can maintain performance improvements over time.
6. Lack skills that can be developed by a trainer, boss, or coach.

Fire Employees Who:

1. Blame others instead of taking responsibiltiy.
2. Need to be "prodded" into improving performance.
3. Say they will improve, but don't seem to put in the effort.
4. Lack competencies that are very difficult to develop (ethics, integrity, salesmanship, empathy, etc)
5. Make short term improvements but are unable to sustain them without frequent reminders.

Sometimes you have an employee who straddles the line between "bad fit" and "trainable" and it can be a very difficult call to make.  In all cases, setting a clear timeline for improvement, being clear about what success looks like, and making sure that everyone understands what is at stake are all good strategies.

How do you decide what employees can be retrained, versus those who simply are not a good fit?  I'm curious to hear what you think!

Retaining Top Performers: A Simple Strategy that Works

Well, it is a good news bad news scenario.  The U.S. economy is improving, although in a somewhat shaky fashion.  Recruiters are recruiting again, companies are moving from fear to action, and it's possible that the long winter of this recession is starting to thaw.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that every employee who has been "grateful to have a job" is going to gradually start asking themselves if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  People tend to stay put during periods of high unemployment, but as jobs recover, there will be more shopping going on.

Don't believe me?  I've gotten seven emails from recruiters just this week.

Here is a simple thing you can do right now.  Schedule some time with each of your employees to ask them about their career goals.  What do they enjoy the most about their work? What do they enjoy the least?  What would they like to be doing in the future?

Have that discussion, and offer some help.  It could be a simple as offering them a job task that matches their interests, or inviting them to participate in something that interests them.  It could be as complicated as engaging them with HR to discuss what steps they can take to prepare for a promotion opportunity down the road.

When we feel like there is a bright future for us, and our boss will help us reach for it, it makes it harder for us to leave.

Start today. Make it hard for your employees to leave! 

Better now, than scrambling when your top person has a job offer in a few months.... 

Something to think about!

Cheri Baker offers a workshop on Retaining Top Performers, designed for HR and Leadership Staff.  Click to learn more.

Those Darn Norms!: How Coworkers and Bosses influence Motivation

"Why should I bust my tail when Janet surfs the internet at her desk every day?"

"I'm tired of being the only one who fills out invoicing requests.  No one else follows the rules."

"When Joe yells at work, no one says anything.  I guess that means I shouldn't say anything either."

Today I wanted to write a bit about group norms, and why they matter when it comes to individual motivation and performance.

When I work with a team that isn't thriving, I often hear the kinds of statements listed above.   It may not be rational, but it is very common that we resist taking on tasks and actions that our peers avoid.

Then we run into an issue with perception vs. reality.  If I perceive that my coworker is slacking off, I am going to get angry if my boss asks me to step it up.  If I perceive that my boss doesn't care when bad choices are made, I'm going to feel like I can't speak up either.

In short, our performance and motivation is strongly influenced by our group norms, the unwritten rules that govern how a team operates.

Intellectually, most of us know that saying "If he isn't working hard I can't work hard" is childish, but it runs very much with our human nature.  There is a kind of inertia that sets in when you feel the people around you are not following the rules.

My best advice to a group experiencing performance issues is to strike at the root of the matter.  No only the behaviors that need to change, but the norms that are driving them.

Yes, I am a "training consultant" but as I've said before here, training is only part of the solution.  You need to identify those norms that are holding a group back, point them out in all their ugliness, and help people develop the willingness to challenge them.

Truth be told, it's one of the things I love best about my job.  We can get so paralyzed by those "unwritten rules" that sap our productivity and happiness - It's tremendously fun and rewarding to pull the cover off the ugliness and empower people to change it.

Consulting is one of those rare careers where bold honesty and calling things out (tactfully) for what they are is rewarded.  I never was very good at keeping my mouth shut just to keep others happy. Just ask my husband! :)

Recognition Matters: The Story of Allyis

I read an interesting article this morning in Seattle Business Magazine, written by Richard Law, the CEO of Allyis in Kirkland WA.

"Seven years ago, Allyis made a strategic gamble: take the majority of our marketing budget and turn it towards employee care and recognition....  The result? Appreciative employees help recruit the best talent they know, and when great work is coupled with positive attitudes, clients keep coming back and referring new clients.  The response has been universal across all generations and experience levels."

One thing that I found interesting about this story is that along with the kinds of recognition programs you might expect (kudos, awards programs, etc) Allyis also embarked on a transparency campaign.  Imagine your executive team openly blogging about what they are "thinking about or working on" and putting your financials bare to employee scrutiny and comment.

I admire Allyis's commitment to transparency and recognition, and the results they've achieved.  When you think about your organization taking these steps - how does that sound to you?  Interesting?  Terrifying?  Possible?

You can read more about Allyis at their website or in the February 2010 edition of Seattle Business.