Work/LIfe Balance

You can't help but to have heard this term before. The tech industry is showing both sides of this cultural spectrum, with Netflix offering unlimited maternity time-off for both the mother and father on one side and Amazon pushing their associates to their limits on the other. Work-Live-Play complexes are sprouting up everywhere.

The operative word here is "balance". Managing a company strictly by data eliminates humanity. Too much flexibility and productivity can suffer. Every humans' needs are different. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, management is responsible to learn what motivates their associates. So how do you create the perfect balance, when no two people are the same?

The basic factors:

• Data - In business you must have measurements, financial and productivity
• Competition - I believe that a certain level of competition is healthy among associates, as well as "constructive" conflict. This country was founded on free enterprise and has thrived on competition
• Family or social life outside of work
• Health - Physical, mental and financial

What's the magic formula for work/life balance? I don't think anyone has developed it, nor do I believe it exists. How can it exist, with so many factors? If I took the time to dig very deep, I could probably write a Doctorial treatise on the subject. This would take years of research on a constantly changing target, as society evolves and companies come and go. Not only are no two people the same; no two companies are the same.

The question that needs to be asked, when choosing a company culture, is, "How much does the company own you." You can state what a miserable workplace exists at Amazon, but they were just rated the most valuable retail company over Walmart. That doesn't mean you should work there. As a company, you may decide your most valuable assets, hopefully after your customers, are your associates.

Companies will continue to push associates. Associates will continue to push back. This is how change works.

Start the New Year with Knowledge

In a recent conversation with a couple line associates, it came to my attention that many managers have no experience managing people. I commented about education and thought maybe they don’t teach management in college. The response I received was “they do in business school.”

Personally, I don’t have a business degree, but my very first college class was management. I have been managing people my entire career. One possibility is the proliferation of MBA graduates has caused the mindset you must have this degree to be a manager. Let me tell you here and now, managers exist in all industries! And most don’t have business degrees. Unfortunately, with or without a business degree there are many bad managers. I firmly believe management of people is an innate skill, either you have it or you don’t. People with marginal people skills can be coached. There is no dearth of management training books, seminars, or courses? 

So why are there so many poor managers? There is a plethora of answers and I can not begin to cover them all. Here are just a few I’ve learned while consulting:

• Haphazardly promoted into management, because the associate was good in their previous position (Peter Principle, of course many managers didn’t learn it)
• Education credentials in their expertise, but without people skills
• Sychophants
• Great sales people
• Age discrimination - the company wanted young managers
• Nepotism or favortism

How can this situation improve, as it is detrimental to productivity, company culture health and creates higher associate turnover? 

• Like the 12 step program, the higher level managers must recognize the problem. To do this they must have an open-door policy or mechanism to hear from the lower ranks. The 360 program is a good tool for this.
• Upper level management must be in touch with operations and human resources
• Provide management training and feedback
• Be bold enough to make manager changes
• When hiring, look for management courses, experience or people skills on the résumé
• Recognize people management skills can come from any industry

If you’re a job seeker or looking to grow in your career, look for ways to develop your management skills. I learned many of my techniques from excellent senior managers. I picked what I saw was effective and ineffective ways to motivate people. The most effective tool, I’ve experienced, is a mentor. A mentor does not have to be within your company. Stay in touch with your mentor frequently to review observed and your own people management techniques.

Start the year off with new skills and knowledge.

Work and Fun

A poor company culture can not be solved by the HR department planning and executing a bowling day or an Office Olympics picnic. Creating fun is relative to the associate’s perception of the company, and more importantly, to their job. I’m not stating these actives are not fun, but they can have little influence on associate motivation. The concept is great, as it shows the company, on a global scale, they appreciate and reward those who contribute to their success.

This blog post is about drilling down to the individual associate. I see too many times where upper and middle management are oblivious to their direct reports feelings. Yes, I used the word “feelings”. Associates are human beings and possess emotions. The greatest of these at work is appreciation and appreciation is displayed by recognition and recognition leads to motivation and motivation leads to productivity. You get the picture.

My question to today’s managers, many of whom are young and/or first time managers, is “Are you in touch with your reports feelings about their job?” This leads to further review:

• How do you communicate? If you believe knowledge is power, do you share information or believe you need to use it to protect your own position?
• Do you disseminate timely performance factors, positive or negative?
• How often do you meet with your reports, individually and collectively?
• Do you know their significant other’s name?
• Do you know their birthday, without HR reminding you? Studies show that a person’s birthday is one of their most valued days.
• Are you consistently learning to be a better manager?
• If you manage managers, are you equipping them to improve their people skills?

HR should augment a positive company culture. Managers must be tuned to individual associate motivation, which varies person-to-person. If your feel your job is not fun, then no corporate event will change it.

There are managers out there that should not be managers. Just because you are skilled at your given vocation, doesn’t mean you can manage people with or without these same skill sets. Do management schools still teach the Peter Principle? I have seen managers with only one report. Where this exists in my company structure influence, I eliminate this arrangement. Supervising one person is a poor situation. This creates a conundrum for the manager-associate relationship to either be friends or enemies. A worse case is when it’s a “working” manager scenario. You both have the same function, but one is privileged and only associate animosity can result. Unfortunately, this is more common than you may realize.

One last thought. Corporate sponsored events should take place during the workday. People have their work life and their personal life. Making an evening or weekend event, will impose “force company socialization.” It devalues the company’s goal to show appreciation. People may, and do have, work friends, but let them decide when to socialize outside the workplace. This is not the company’s role.

What are your motivation techniques?

How to Start 2014

Two of my key subject matters are leadership and hiring. The start of the New Year is the best time to review these strategies. Here is a recent article from The Wall Street Journal that hits the nail on the head.

The Most Important Leadership Trait You Shun

This subject matter is one that I stress in my consulting – honesty. Unfortunately, I have experienced too much where this in not a known practice, especially in a competitive work environment. Associates, managers and leaders are frequently to scared to admit, much less hire, someone with more knowledge than their own. These companies survive for some time, but eventually this culture erodes productivity. The result is loss of clients and worse loss of the business.

My experience has also proved companies who embrace this honest culture thrive, just as this article conveys.

This situation is so prevalent, I experienced it on New Year's day. A sycophant style associate sent an email blast stating the work he accomplished to all levels of the organization. His goal, I presume, was to let the world know he was in the office on the Holiday in hopes of recognition and advance his career in the long run. I'm not involved with this company, so I don't know if the culture will accommodate his goals. Experience will prove danger to the company's well being, if they do. I feel sorry for his family that did not get to enjoy New Year's day with him.

If you're in a hiring position, I hope you will admire a candidate that may not know everything and admits it. Today's job descriptions include everything from strategy to execution for one person. Weigh your preferences, by applying percentages to each trait and hire the candidate that has the experience on the higher attributes.

If you're a leader, admit your weaknesses and surround yourself with those whose augment your shortcomings.

Try this honesty practice wherever you are in the company hierarchy. Trust me, honesty is the best policy.

Smart Hiring (Somebody Gets It)

This was the title of one of my posts in April 2009, without the parenthetical addition shown today. That blog emphasized the job role (blending) and leadership to build an effective structure and team. I followed up with "Hire the Best", identifying over-qualified candidates as a hiring benefit.

After four years, the world of hiring is finally showing improvements. I have just signed onto a company providing production, process and business expertise. Their selection process involved a panel interview; five candidates and seven company members. I entered the foray at the last minute, due to overcoming the initial over-qualified perception.

Sidebar: 

There are several articles touting the benefits of hiring older people, including Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Inc. A Forbes article last fall compares young verse old(er) entrepreneur's advantages.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/ageism_n_1881619.html

http://www.inc.com/eric-v-holtzclaw/5-ways-older-workers-benefit-a-business.html

http://bostinno.com/2013/02/18/age-discrimination-startups-why-older-employees-deserve-a-chance/#ss__298652_227579_0__ss

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2012/09/03/do-older-or-younger-entrepreneurs-have-the-greater-advantage/

This selection format was new to me, but I liked it. You get a brief brain break to formulate the question's answer, as the other candidates respond, except when you're first on the rotation. This beats the rapid fire questions one-on-one (of course, this style is appropriate, if the position requires quick thinking and response skill sets). You also know the interview ends, when the last person on the panel asks their question.

After the panel interview, the company team immediately meets to select those worthy of returning for individual interviews and a screening test.

Two days later, I received a call to have lunch with the company president. During lunch, we discussed my motives, intentions and deliverables. He offered me the position on the spot, without further steps in the process.

Why this works:

• The playing field was level between candidates
• The playing field was level on the company side
• Time was efficient -  no long hours with individuals or return trips (see "Are You Smart Enough Not to be Stupid, my last blog post)
• The company gave me the opportunity one-on-one with the president to clarify my goals and motives, rather than be dismissed

Most importantly, they recognized the value, abilities and contributions beyond their current needs.

The question today - Where do you stand in your best hiring practices? You might be missing out on the best candidate, using preconceived, or worse, antiquated beliefs.

Are You Smart Enough Not to be Stupid?

Seriously, ponder this question, just don't think it may sound silly.

I spent enough hours with a company to equal a full day's work. They touted a company culture of promoting from within and being listed as one of the Best Companies to Work for. I don't know who comes up with these awards, what criteria is used or who even cares, but here's what I learned after meeting with seven mid-level managers.

1. Two of the seven openly admitted to have been given responsibilities they have no background or skill sets to perform – at all.
2. A different pair of managers conveyed through the conversation, they hated their jobs. Even for an outsider meeting with them, they made me uncomfortable.
3. Five of the managers had the same job title and I can only presume the same responsibilities.
4. The company has a horizontal structure, when most successful companies today have gone vertical. This causes job position redundancies.
5. They shared how the company was reducing workforce and had a travel freeze to contain costs.
6. None of these managers were empowered decision makers, compounding all the previous points.
7. The managers were all women. Before you judge me as a sexist, I mention it only as a statistic. It seemed an odd ratio: 0 men to 7 women. Those who read my blog and/or know me, know I believe a successful structure/organization requires diversity of all types.

Are you smart enough not to be stupid? By these managers own revelation, the company is in trouble, despite being a "Best Company to work for". Their culture and structure doesn't work. I believe the company is clueless to the reality of their own workforce culture, an antiquated organizational structure and resting on their awards and derived maxims, i.e. we only promote from within the company. Pride in any part of human culture is fatal. Replace pride with stupidity and the result is the same.

Author's note: This is a very large national company, with offices in every major and medium-size U.S. city.

The Golden Rule

Does anyone remember The Golden Rule? I think you have to be over 50, as I learned it in elementary school. Now our schools are not allowed to teach morality in the public system.

It's a very simple rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. It is universal across all cultures and religions. Wikipedia explains it well in their article and references every culture, since the beginning of civilization. It is in the Bible several times, old and new testaments.

The concept appears to be lost in the 21st Century. Just contact customer service in any industry, whether it's a bank, ISP, retail store, manufacturer, etc. and you will not experience the Golden Rule. 

Example One:

I contacted Comcast three times, via email, over the holidays, because my cable internet dropped to pre dial-up speeds. I used email, because I wanted a written record of their responses. (Yes, it took minutes to upload an email, but I was stubborn).  Although the written responses were polite, they never addressed my issue and were clearly  "cut-and-paste" stock answers from some type of company approved response list. Each response took 24 hours. None of the disconnected paragraphs addressed my issue or even came close to a resolution. They also appeared to be written by someone possessing ESL (English as a Second Language). I finally capitulated and called them.

Example Two:

A recruiter called me regarding a company's contract position. I suspect I would not have received the call, unless they felt my qualifications matched their need. I returned the call several times. Each time a different person answered the phone and stated, the recruiter had just step out. They forwarded me to a general voicemail system that didn't even identify the mailbox recipient. You would think I was an ex-wife calling, with this treatment, rather than a qualified candidate.  Also, the company initiated the contact.

If you believe in the Golden Rule, remember it is reciprocal.

Given this is the start of a new year, I appeal to everyone to reinstate this simple life maxim. I believe, the company that adapts the Golden Rule first . . . .wins!

Thinking Outside the Box

This is not just a cliché or esoteric business strategy, it's a practice.

If you read my blogs, it is fairly clear, I'm all about change. Here are two situations where "outside-the-box" thinking was successful when applied to hiring.

Maintaining my philosophy, "If the people grow, the company will grow," I needed a manager who could apply this principle. It took quite a bit of time and I actually when through two previous hires, before landing someone with the right blend of qualifications.

Did he come from the marketing/advertising industry? No. I hired a professor. A person with all the industry skill sets and the added punch of knowing how to convey this knowledge. He could also motivate. He built on the staff's current strengths and taught them new skills. On the management team, he brought a broad perspective.
It worked.

Next, I needed a Business Manager. A prevalent practice of mine, when building organizational structures.

Did she come from the marketing/advertising industry? No. I hired a financial analyst from the banking industry. I needed a number cruncher. She brought not only accounting skills, but helped me set up productivity metrics. On the management team, she brought an outside-the-industry perspective. It worked.

This philosophy can be applied in any position. Don't look for the candidate that matches every detailed bullet point in the job description. If you do find such a person, you will get what you don't need–change or new thinking. Look for skill sets. Skill sets that can be applied to your real needs. These skill sets are referred as – transferable.

Examine your job postings. Do they represent functional duties or skill sets? If you require help determining your needs or examining this subject matter, hire a consultant (like me). Consultants bring an unbiased "out-your-box" viewpoint, as well as their broad experiences.