Lifting Employee Productivity Through Encouragement and Praise

I’m a Green Bay Packers fan, so I’m very very happy this week (for those of you who don’t follow American Football, they just won the Super Bowl).  Win or lose, I’m a proud Packers fan, or a Cheesehead as we are sometimes called.  I grew up in Wisconsin, my Dad grew up 30 minutes out of Green Bay.  I was called “Packer” before I was born and they knew what to name me.  And, some of my Dad’s ashes were spread over the 50 yard line at Lambeau Field, where the Packers play, when he passed away in 1999.

So I’m a proud Packers fan.    

But Monday morning Sydney time, when the Packers met the Steelers at the new Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, I couldn’t help but admire Mike Tomlin, Head Coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Because Mike perfectly demonstrated one of the hallmarks of an inspirational leader.

The Steelers played a good game.  Their defense was almost flawless.  They played as a well oiled team.  And watching Mike Tomlin, the youngest Head Coach (hired at just 34 years old, now 38) to both coach and win a Super Bowl told me all I needed to know about how that team works.  

As busy as Mike was on the field that day he took the time to interact with and acknowledge even the most insignificant of those on his team.  Bench players who didn’t have a hope of getting into the game, support staff that are normally invisible in the background, even the guys getting water for the team.  Mike had a smile, a pat and what looked like a few encouraging words.   

Although incredibly focused, he didn’t walk anywhere without acknowledging those around him.  

And you could see the team respond.  On and off the field.

When his players made a few bonehead plays (like turning over the ball 4 times through interceptions or fumbles) he didn’t get in their face and yell as I’ve seen so many other coaches do.  Although I couldn’t hear his words, it looked like he simply debriefed them as to what had gone wrong and then encouraged them to do better the next time.

According to the Gallup Organisation’s research of over 80,000 managers, this is the exact behaviour of a leader who inspires top performing teams.  They found that you can raise productivity levels of a team by up to 19% by addressing “problem” behaviour immediately.  But you can actually raise productivity by a whopping 71% through using praise.  That’s right.  The carrot is far more effective than the stick.

Gallup and now Marcus Buckingham on his own, have both done a great deal of research in this area and they have proven time and time again that encouraging people to play to their strengths and praising them for doing a good job is far more effective than focusing on what the employee needs to improve upon.  

And not only is this the most effective way to get the best out of your staff, they will also be more engaged and happier in their job.  And happy employees equate to stable employees, potentially saving your company millions of dollars over time and you many sleepless nights.

I’ve had personal experience with this.

I ride a motorbike.  Well to be fair, it’s a little 150 cc scooter, but I think I’m pretty bad A$$!  I tell you this because, getting a motorbike license in Sydney is a very rigorous process and my experience demonstrates well the difference between focusing on what you do wrong versus praise.  

It was pouring rain the first time I did my test and I was really really nervous.  My instructor was particularly gruff and made me feel stupid.  I wasn’t a very confident rider back then and by the time I took my test I was almost shaking.  I fell off the bike during the quick stop part of the practical.  It turns out that they frown on you actually falling off of the bike during the test, so needless to say I did not pass. 
In fact, 5 out of the 7 people in my group failed.

Fast forward a few months to my retake.  Guess what?  It was raining again!!!  But what happened served to remind me of the power of positive reinforcement.  This instructor was just the opposite of the first one I had.  He made me feel like I was the best rider he’d ever seen.  Consciously I KNEW this not to be true, but unconsciously I was almost giddy by the time I took the practical.  There was no way I could fail.  I knew it.
And all 9 of our group passed this time.   

So the next time you pass one of your staff in the hallway, take time to notice and acknowledge them.  Let them know they matter.

But more than that, find out what your employee’s strengths are and encourage them play to those strengths.  And praise them for a job well done.
See how much better they perform, how much better you sleep and how much your company saves by retaining instead of turning over your staff.

And guess what?  Despite all of the recent publicity about “Tiger Moms” it works for kids too!

Would you like find out about other strategies to attract and retain your critical staff?  Join me Thursday (Wednesday in the US) for my free webinar.

Interested in a very cost effective way to teach your staff how to manage their careers better (providing them with the #1 thing they look for in a company according to a recent survey by Mercer and the ACCA - career development)?  Contact me about my Career Coaching Mastermind Group - live and virtual sessions held publicly or at your company’s offices for 6 or more people.

Top 10 tips to rocking the interview and hiring the right person! (For the interviewer)

Okay, I’m going to make a bold statement here.  Love it or hate it, interviewing applicants for roles is something most people are just no good at.  But it’s not your fault!

How many of us have been trained to interview?  Unless you are a recruiter, like I was for 15 years.  Yet hiring the right candidate is critical for team cohesiveness as well as, not to put too fine a point on it, the success or failure of you as a manager and sometimes of your company. 

One bad hire can ruin a small company, derail a department, push deadlines back and tarnish valuable relationships with customers or suppliers. Not to mention the considerable stress a wrong hire adds to your life!

I would be a rich woman if I had a cent for every time I debriefed a candidate after interviewing with one of my clients and heard, “oh they were really nice - we had a great chat!” 

Now, there is certainly a case to be made for those informal interview structures, as long as they have a purpose and you know what that purpose is.  But most of the time those same clients simply had those chats because that’s all they really knew how to do.  And in many cases they justified it to themselves by saying things like, “informal interviews get so much more information out of candidates” or “if I give someone enough rope...”

Don’t kid yourself, interviewing is a very precise process that takes preparation.  If you follow these tips you will get sufficient, reliable information to truly make great hiring decisions, ensuring that your goals are met, the company’s goals are met, the teams happy and you don’t leave work every day tearing out your hair.

1. Know what you’re looking for

• Most of the best placements I made over my recruitment career were “a love connection” rather than a “skill set fit”.  You can train skill set, you can’t train culture fit. 
• Hire for culture fit, but first spend some time really looking at what your department or company culture really is.  This takes some thought (and collaboration with your employees and potentially other departments).
• Develop a list of competencies or strengths (I vote for strengths) that fit within that culture.
• Know the difference between a competency (something you’re taught, like how to do a bank reconciliation) vs a strength (something that’s innate like the persistence to follow that bank reconciliation through to the last cent).

2. Be prepared!

• Prepare at least 5 questions in advance based on your list of competencies or strengths and pre-define acceptable answers.
• Use the same pre-prepared questions for each candidate so you can compare apples with apples.
• Spend 10 - 15 minutes minimum reviewing the candidate’s resume prior to the interview (i.e. do not grab it from the printer and read it in the hallway as you’re walking to the interview room).
• Prepare additional questions based on the candidate’s background. 

3. Be skeptical and look for red flags

• Statistics show that 25% of all applicants have major or minor embellishments on their resumes.  Look for them.
• Read their resume like a story
  • Do they have any gaps?
  • How stable has their job history been (too long in one role?  moved around a lot?)
  • Have they been promoted or given additional responsibilities in the companies they’ve previously worked in?
  • What are the cultures of the companies they’ve worked for previously?  Are they a small company candidate interviewing for a large company role or vice versa?  Are they used to more autonomy than you’re willing to give?  Or less?  Either could be a problem.
• Look for any red flags or problem areas.  Where might they not fit?  What will they need from me and can I deliver?  Is this job above or below their skillset and how would I manage that?
• Look for problem areas and have them address those areas to your satisfaction instead of what most interviewers do: try to make them fit because they really like them.

4. Don’t mistake liking someone personally for being a culture fit for your team

• Enough said

5. Ask questions that will illicit detailed, truthful information

• This is called “Behavioural Based” or “Competency Based” interviewing techniques.  If you don’t know how to do this get trained.  But basically you want to ask them for specific examples from their past where they (fill in the blank).  Don’t let them off the hook by letting them tell you what they WOULD do instead of what they DID do.  Unlike the share market, past performance IS indicative of future results. 

6. Reference check to verify answers (see “Be skeptical” above)

7. Let them ask questions - and then listen to what they asked and how they asked it

• You can find out as much or more information by what they ask you than by how they answer your questions.

8. Understand what drives potential applicants that will apply for your role and be able to articulate how your company meets those needs.

• Different generations want different things, understand generational differences.
• Accountants typically look for different things from an employer than a field sales person.

9. Make sure all people interviewing are reading from the same page

• Nothing can turn a candidate off more than getting different answers to the same question from different people.

10. When you find what you’re looking for offer it a job

• I’ve seen entire companies staff up with sub standard employees simply because their interview process, although designed to make sure they hired the very best, turned the best and brightest off because they moved to slowly or were too cumbersome in their processes.

The job market is turning again (especially in my home country of Australia) and we are still in the midst of a 30 year labour shortage first predicted by McKinsey Consulting in 1997.  It will once again become (if it hasn’t already where you live) a candidate’s market.  These interview tips will help you recruit the best and brightest, but there is no substitute for practice.  Many good recruiters will train individual managers as well as whole teams free of charge (after all, it’s in their best interest to do so).  If you are currently not working with an recruiter you trust or think is doing a good job then find yourself a good “Staff Retention Strategist”.  It just so happens I know a good one I could refer you too.  :)

Happy talent hunting!

For more strategies on attracting and retaining critical people please join me for my free webinar.

How Job Descriptions are Ruining the World (or at least the workplace).

During the last 16 years I’ve worked with thousands of companies.  I’ve seen what great companies do to keep their staff and I’ve seen (and made a lot of money from as a recruiter) what companies do to drive staff away. 

I now back my own experience up with scientific research and advise companies on what they can do to retain their staff.  For a PDF of my new Keynote Presentation and Training Series click here.

One of the key principals and what I spend a great deal of time working with clients on is employee autonomy.  Daniel Pink talks a lot about this in Drive, Seth Godin in Linchpin and Marcus Buckingham in his management classic First Break all the Rules. 

What is employee autonomy?  Here’s what it is NOT!  A client of mine recently told me about a new policy in her company designed to increase recycling.  Now, the inner environmentalist in me absolutely loves this idea.  More recycling!  That’s a good thing, right? 

Then I heard about how there were doing it.  They decided to take all of the rubbish bins away from under individual desks.  You were allowed to have a cardboard recycling bin for paper, but not a rubbish bin.  Apparently too many people were simply throwing the paper into the rubbish and not taking the time to discriminate between the two receptacles under their desk. 

They are now being forced, like naughty children, to get up and go to the back of the room to throw their rubbish away.

Has this policy worked?  Shockingly no (irony intended).  Predictably people are now lining the cardboard recycling bins with plastic and turning them into rubbish bins.  One, particularly renegade individual simply throws her trash on the floor behind her - apple cores and all - and leaves it to the cleaners to pick up.  I kid you not - I couldn’t make this stuff up!

Employees like to be given objectives, not told how to do something.  Tell them why recycling is important, don’t take away their freedom to easily discard their half eaten lunch.

This is why job descriptions are ruining the workplace, if not the world.  Not the documents themselves, mind you - although in the United States from where I originally hail they are almost non-existent. 

Job descriptions are necessary.  The Gallup research done over 20 years with over 2 million people clearly showed that the happiest, most engaged employees are ones that had clearly defined roles.

This begs the question, what does “clearly defined” actually mean?  And this is where most job descriptions go horribly wrong.  They can get so detailed, so prescriptive, that one of two things happen.  Either they become so ambiguous that no one can tell what the role is actually responsible for.  Or, they completely take out all of the creativity and autonomy in the role. 

Daniel Pink gives case study after case study in his book Drive about how companies that give employees autonomy over their task (what they do), their time (when they do it) and their team (who they do it with) beat their competition time and time again.

The way most job descriptions are written takes this autonomy away.  Not only is this not productive, it can be downright destructive as employees metaphorically throw their apple cores over their shoulder.
So next time you get ready to write job description remember to clearly define the objectives of the role.  The outcomes, end results, lines of authority and stakeholder responsibilities. 

Then instead of telling them HOW to do the role, hire the right person for the job and let them do it  the way they see fit.  Not only will you beat your competition, you will have happier, more productive and more engaged employees.  And you will never again here those immortal words, “but that’s not in my job description!”

Kim Seeling Smith speaks, trains and coaches on Staff Retention and Career Management issues after having spent 15 years as a recruiter studying the differences between those companies that are extremely successful in keeping their critical people and those that consistently battle staff turnover.   www.MyCriticalPath.com

An astounding 1/3 of Aussie workers are planning to change jobs. What are you doing to retain your staff?

 

Depending upon which survey you read: The Hay Group or Drake International, an astounding 25 - 33% of Australian workers are planning to change jobs with 50 - 71% of workers saying they are dis-satisfied in their current role.  

With the cost of replacement being anywhere from 50 - 150% of an employee's salary it's much more cost effective to keep the ones you have!

But how do you actually do that?   There is a lot in the press these days in Australia around employee retention and there are a lot of theories on the best ways to retain staff.  In my opinion most of them are flawed. 

They are flawed because, on one hand they take the easy way out.  Yet on the other, they make the issue more complex than it needs to be.

Retaining good employees is hard work - especially in today’s environment - and yet the concepts behind it are actually very simple. 

How do they take the easy way out?  It’s common wisdom that one of the best ways to retain staff is to adjust pay and benefits. 

Now, I’m not saying that you should not increase pay or adjust benefits.  Indeed, as I wrote  in my last newsletter, The Australian Business Review just reported on the new survey by the Australian Institute of Managers which cited that "at least 90 per cent of large companies expect a review of wages for some employees during the next year, compared to 73.6 per cent in salary increases paid in 2009/10."

Speaking to both individuals and companies on a daily basis, I know there are a lot of firms out there that have not increased pay in 1 - 2 years.  Either they could not afford to do so or their overseas parent restricted them from doing so.  So in many cases a pay rise is definitely in order.

But in my experience over 15 years as a recruiter, this is a temporary fix.  Over 90% of people who are unhappy will leave within 6 - 12 months once convinced to stay for a pay rise.  So, at best companies simply buy time by increasing wages as a retention tool.

How do common retention theories over complicate matters?  It’s been my experience that frustrated employees leave for just a handful of reasons.  And that satisfied employees will endure long hours, low pay and less than ideal working conditions because they are so passionate about what they are doing that these just become minor inconveniences. 

What are those handful of reasons?  Interestingly enough, I’ve just read a classic management book for the first time which supports what I saw during my recruitment career and articulates them more succinctly that I’d been able to do in the past. 

First Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham resulted from the Gallup Organisation’s 20 year research project into excellence in the workplace.  They interviewed literally millions of employees and thousands of managers to determine patterns of excellence.  They came up with 12 questions that accurately measures the “strength of a workplace.” This, in turn leeds to better engagement, stronger customer service and ultimately bigger profits.

They contend, and I agree, that of the 12 questions, the first 6 are the most relevant where it comes to employee retention. 

These 6 questions are the following:

• Do I know what is expected of me at work?
• Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
• At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
• In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
• Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
• Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

These questions are deceptively simple.  Many, if not most employers would give these questions a cursory glance and say, “but of course my employees have all of those.”  The truth of this statement though, can only be measured in your retention rate.  If you are losing employees, or suspect they are looking I can almost guarantee that the employees would answer no to 1 or all of the above.

And whether or not you are losing staff I urge you to look deeper.

This is why retaining good staff is hard work.  Companies, more precisely individual managers, need to look at these questions, really look at these questions.  More appropriately, they need to engage their staff and find out how they feel and then be prepared to hear the answers (some of which they won’t like) and to address the issues.  This process doesn’t have to cost money, but may involve a bit of loosened control, autonomy and different management styles.  This is where things become complicated.

Over the next few weeks I will be delving into these questions in more detail.

And, forgive me for being self serving here, but I believe one of the brilliant things about The Critical Path to Career Management is that it’s a great framework to use to address these questions and a great system to use to supply some, not all but certainly some, of what employees need to answer a resounding YES to all 6 of the above. 

So, what’s the first step?  Engage with your employees.  Find out where they want to go within a 3 - 5 year time frame  (questions 1, 5, & 6) and then help them “Mind the Gap” (questions 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6).

Bottom line, you must engage with your employees for better employee engagement.



Austrailian Institute of Management's New Survey: Aussie Employers Better Act Fast to Retain Staff

The Australian Business Review just reported on a new survey by the Australian Institute of Managers.  It cited that "at least 90 per cent of large companies expect a review of wages for some employees during the next year, compared to 73.6 per cent in salary increases paid in 2009/10.

Also, around half of large firms are predicting a boost to permanent staff numbers in 2009/10, up from 39.6 per cent the previous year, while 12.5 per cent of firms expect to cut permanent workers.

Around a third (36.9 per cent) of large companies said they had trouble in finding skilled workers despite the rate of unemployment rising to a high of 5.8 per cent in the middle of 2009."

No surprise to companies that are hiring.  I speak with employers daily and they are all saying the same thing.  Good staff is hard to find.  End of story. 

Now, anyone who has taken a basic marketing course knows the 80 / 20 rule.  80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customers.  Well the same holds true with staff.  80% of your productivity comes from 20% of your staff.  Your key people. 

Why then are employers simply willing to let key people go?  Most companies that I worked with throughout my 15 year recruitment career did not even have a system to identify key people, let alone retain them.  Sure, you know who your superstars are.  But key people don't always have to be super stars!  A great receptionist for example can make or break deal, but are rarely identified as a key person.

And in the last 16 years (including my last year as a Career / Executive Coach and Trainer) I saw many, many companies give lip service to retention and very few actually focus on it.  Most of the time the line managers think that it's HR's job and whilst HR may be focusing on retention, the real people responsible for it are the line managers.  People don't leave companies, they leave managers.  So, whilst HR can implement great programs they will be woefully inadequate unless the management team is proactive in addressing these issues.

I've recently started work with two companies who are recognising and addressing this.  I've been working with Ernst & Young's Women in Leadership group and Planwell Technology's senior management group.  The focus is very different but the results are the same. 

I'm teaching EY's group how to manage their careers effectively and reignite their professional passion.  Why does this aid in retention?  Because I firmly believe that most people change jobs because they are looking for a company or a role they can be more passionate about.  Many times that's the wrong answer.  Because what's missing is not the external stimulus to inspire passion (another job), but the internal muse to bring passion to your current job.  This is one of the main reasons people derail their careers.  They become like Don Quixote chasing windmills and sometimes they run right off the cliff in the process.  I'll be talking more about this next week when I review Seth Godin's brilliant new book, Linchpin.

My work with Planwell (a fantastic IT services company) is very different.  I'm helping them look at their existing retention programs (yes, they actually have them...despite not having an HR department) and advising them on ways to make them better.  What fun and fascinating work! 

The ABR ends their article by saying, "With the skills shortage tipped to worsen, employers need to move sooner rather than later to lock in their best and brightest in those sectors most susceptible to skills shortages,'' Mr Wakeley said.

I whole heartedly agree.  In the war for talent he with the best wins!