Manage My Employees

Archive for the ‘Talent Management’ Category

Short article #35

Many managers I’ve interviewed loathe giving performance reviews. But that can’t possibly compare to a likely overwhelming majority of employees, who think the whole appraisal process is pretty much flawed in their organization.

There are a number of signs I’ve identified from client engagements over the last twenty years which point to performance reviews that fall way short of being the management tool they could be.

Here are 5 of the most common signs:

• Managers avoid doing performance reviews, so they’re often late.
• Managers invest too little time preparing, instead they try to get them over with as fast as possible. To expedite, managers use past performance reviews to copy/paste “wording” — and to make fast modifications to scores/ratings instead of stopping to carefully consider each criteria.

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Short Article#34

I was interviewed by Kevin Gray at BNET (a CBS owned top-tier business web site) for the article: Can’t Pay Employees What You’d Like? Praise Them Instead. BNET is a great site for articles on management, strategy, marketing and more.

Personally, I’ve been struck by how many insightful comments have been posted to this article. You can see what I mean when you go to the article then scroll down and read the comments from some very well-informed readers.

Some have taken exception to the title of the article, or the article’s supposed impetus. However, I take a different view. As for "praise" itself, the point that shouldn’t be lost in the title of the article or the article itself (I hope you read it), is that more praise is generally needed in the workplace. And really, the definitive argument I’d make is that both praise and pay need to be at appropriate levels.

Too many seasoned managers, in my view, tend to follow the outmoded MBO style of managing people–where the priority focuses on projects not people, on tasks versus trust, on cost control instead of communications. In the last five years I’ve been encouraged by some progress, albeit empirical, but we’ve got a long way to go…

How do I know? I’ve personally interviewed over 2,000 employees and managers/supervisors in over twenty industries. Employees in large measure believe they are not given enough feedback, especially positive reinforcement, encouragement, appreciation.. whatever label we give it. In contrast, when they foul up or fall short they often hear about it immediately, and then it’s drudged up again and again in their appraisal.

**CASE: The employees of a retail chain I advised told me during interviews of how supervisors routinely did critical "write – ups"… which were placed in the employee’s file anytime they fouled up.

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Blogger Jason Christensen linked to a recent BNET.com article interview I gave regarding “Can’t Pay Your Employees What You Like? Praise Them Instead“

You might want to check out Jason’s article on motivating and building the morale of remote employees, I found it pertinent. He offers up a number of useful ideas especially if you have employees scattered about. See: ON A BUDGET: Motivating your team, bolstering loyalty & elevating morale. (Full Series) « “Life as a Remote User”

Motivating, managing distance employees presents a few unique challenges like…

• Less face time to create open dialogue about work goals, problems, feedback, updates, etc.
• Communication is relationship and distance can impact building relationship and trust.

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Short article # 28

Is there a difference in disengagement and low morale? Perhaps, as author Terry Kabachnick asserts in her book, I Quit But Forgot To Tell You.

Low morale is not disengagement. Low morale occurs when an employee gets frustrated with the work load, the work environment or their supervisor. Disengagement occurs when an employee ceases to care, ie. Their heart’s just not in it anymore…!

How bad is disengagement? A Gallup poll a few years ago revealed that 74% of American workers admit to being disengaged, this costs U.S. organizations $350 billion annually in lost productivity.

What are some of the signs of disengagement?

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People make improvements for their own reasons and that includes making efforts to increase job performance. You can certainly influence this transformation and have astounding results, if you understand the intrinsic (natural, innate) motivations you need to meet.

One well-researched study (Deci & Ryan, 1985; 2000) maintained that people have three innate needs: the need for competence (ability to attain desired results), the need for autonomy (work independence) as well as the need for

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Recently I was asked in a media interview whether losing employees was something businesses really needed to focus on that much, today. The reporter (from CBS) was curious whether or not employees, given the current 10 percent-plus unemployment, would really be looking around that much for another job?

I told him, “There’s always the threat of losing your top performers, they’re more marketable, and savvy competitors may be waiting for the right opportunity to lure them away.”

I also shared with him that businesses simply cannot afford to lose better employees, the cost is exorbitant and the damage left behind can be devastating to the bottom-line with a ripple effect sent throughout the team.

Here are four of the points he and I discussed in that interview (see what you think about them and comment back if you like):

Lost expertise. When good employees leave you, they take their ideas, knowledge, problem-solving abilities, relationships, and creativity to another employer.

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What if you were told “No more budget” or “If you lose an employee you can’t hire a replacement” …or “You can’t buy any new equipment, you must make what you have work!”

As we wrap up 2009 no one knows what 2010 holds in store. But what we can probably be quite certain of a few things:

• Change will be continuous in the future not episodic as in past years.
• Pressure on bottom-line profitability across most industries will likely increase as margins squeeze thin.

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  Much is said about seasoned managers relating better with Generation Y workers, but what should younger professionals do to work well at the office and get along with older generations?

First of all, Gen Yers don’t have years of experience and perspective about the inner-office politics and personality conflicts that can go along with working within an organization. When they get their first taste of ‘it’ they’re often shocked or dismayed.

They can, and do need however, to acquire moxie and survival skills that go beyond their youth. Some tips for your younger professionals…

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