Recruiting, Acquiring and KEEPING upper echelon employees begins with…

Most companies are striving to get the best employees and keep them as they know this is integral to their success and growth. Competition is steep as the number of “A Players” seems to be dwindling by the day. The consolation? Not many have mastered this art, so making an effort goes a long way!

As usual, let’s start at the beginning…

How do you attract “A players” in the first place?

One of the most innovative and effective ways is by creating interesting and fun videos to tempt great employees and leaders to your company. I have seen this succefully done by companies like Zappos and MindVakkey, it has the top employees coming to them to apply and vy for positions!

But how do we accomplish this for our company when it isn’t young and hip or when we don’t have a fun business because  we sell widgets!

IF your perspective is open and willing, then you can accomplish the goal of painting a picture that is appealing for prospective employees. NOW, let me preface this with this admonition, IF your company only paints the picture as being a good, fair and fun company to work for but it is riddled with a different culture totally, then even if you are successful in recruiting top employees, they will shortly find out the reality and move on to a company that better suits them. SOOOO, this is only the first step to having an employee team of  upper echelon employees.

Alright, so now back tot he video idea…

ANY subject can be fun and interesting if you have the right perspective. You may not have this perspective, so you might want to hire someone to make this or even better, delegate it to some of your employees. Ah! Here’s an idea: Have a contest for different departments to make each a video for recruiting. They can talk about how it is to work there or about events that you hold, whatever. But, then you can have a viewing party and vote for the best video. Make a day out of it!

Don’t believe ANY subject can be funny? Would you think it is possible to be funny when delivering the “speech” all airlines must give before takeoff, “There are four exits…” etc.?

Thin again. Check out this video by Virgin Airlines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyygn8HFTCo&NR=1

Have a recruiting video already? Post a link here, we would love to see it and learn from your example.

To your continued success,

C

 

 

Your Laziest Employees’ Impact on the Rest of the Employee Team… is WORSE Than You Think!

In a study of 158 students, a test was designed to see how conscientious and motivated they were, and then they were sorted into 33 teams.

Each team was given a case study to work on, and was told that each team member would receive the same grade based on how well they did.

Benjamin Walker, a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales’ Australian School of Business, found that “the person who contributes the least has a huge impact. Even if the rest of the team is pulling their weight, they won’t be able to compensate for that member.”  That single lazy person ended up with the most responsibility for team failure or success.

What about irresponsible people? Do they have the same affect? No, Walker ran tests to see if recklessness affected team performance, but found that the group mentality overrode the few impulsive people–in a way that it couldn’t do with lazy folks.

So, will you allow a lazy person to erode everyone else’s potential success?

Or will you step forward to make a small change that could drastically affect the entire company’s success?

C

How to know how your employees REALY feel about you:

They WILL NOT tell you! Probably EVER! Even on exit interviews, people do not tell the truth as they generally are worried about getting a good referral from the company. Hence, the question is raised “How DO you know?”

Bnet has FOUR signs to read in order to find out:

How do you know what they really think? Very rarely will people tell you directly. So you have to be adept at reading their behavior–and your own. Here are four signs:

1. They often argue with you

This is a good sign. People do not argue if they don’t care. Workplace arguments are healthy because it means people are invested in outcomes.

If you haven’t had an underling push back in the last week, then you have staffers who are under-invested. They don’t care. You’ve ticked them off. They have decided that you aren’t worth their time.

The best thing you can do to remedy this situation is to show people you care about their opinion. How? By thanking them for their suggestions, admitting you’re wrong and changing your path. Do it now, before it’s too late and no one is ever willing to tell you you’re wrong.

2. You haven’t had to apologize in a while
If you don’t say you’re sorry once a week at work, then you’re not honest about your mistakes. And people are sick of it. You shouldn’t wait until some epic mistake–you’ve run over a child or poisoned a stray cat–until you apologize. Apologize for the for small, everyday mistakes as well. It’s a sign of respect and caring to say you’re sorry. Which is why you can be pretty sure your employees hate you if you don’t apologize regularly.

Start now to fix things. But remember that body language and tone matters. You can’t fake an apology and make it matter. A fake apology actually aggravates the situation.

So manage in your heart, first, to honestly believe you should have done better. And whatever you do, don’t say, “I’m sorry but–”  An apology doesn’t have a follow-up clause. It doesn’t have a summation.

The most powerful thing to say after “I’m sorry”? Nothing.

3. You’re good at the details

Guess what? Management is not about details; it’s about people. You have to love people to be a good manager and trust those people to be good with details because they are conscientious, capable people who care about their work. If you are caring about details more than people, then you are treating people as if they are not capable, and then, of course, they will perform that way.

It’s easy to be incompetent when that’s what the boss expects. But look out, because
people who perform poorly feel bad about their work. And if they feel bad about their work, they probably resent you for that.

So here’s a suggestion: Trust people. Put faith in them. Manage people in a way that allows them to take care of details. If you don’t like how they manage details, fire them. But it does no one good for you to do the details for the people you manage.

4. You think you can be a better manager

If you think you could improve, you’re probably right. If you think you’re doing just fine, you’re probably wrong.  This research comes from Tiziana Casciarofrom Rotman School of Management. Casciaro says that people who are focused on improving a given trait at work can almost always make good progress.

Also, if you think you can improve, you display the type of optimism that is contagious. Because optimism (and pessimism) are contagious and the manager sets the tone for the team. An optimistic team will like you even if you’re having a bad day – or month. A pessimistic team will think you stink, even if you’ve been putting in a decent performance as a manager for years. Perception of your team is what matters. But maybe you already know that.

If you do, you’re probably already a manager people like.

How to get your team (or anyone) to pay attention or care AT ALL! Seth Godin chimes in…

Want to talk to your team? Write a memo? Communicate a change? Want them to read your newsletter or blog?

Why not write NAKED. I have said this for years, communicate with clarity and with raw realness or don’t do it at all.

Seth Godin weighs in today too from his blog:

Writing Naked

Here are Orwell’s rules, edited:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. You don’t need cliches.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. Avoid long words.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. Write in the now.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. When in doubt, say it clearly.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Better to be interesting than to follow these rules.

The reason business writing is horrible is that people are afraid.

Afraid to say what they mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Afraid to be misunderstood, to be accused of saying what they didn’t mean, because they might be criticized for it.

Orwell was on the right track. Just say it. Say it clearly. Say it now. Say it without fear of being criticized and say it without being boring.

If the goal is no feedback, then say nothing. Don’t write the memo.

If the goal is to communicate, then say what you mean.

My best tip is this: buy a cheap digital recorder. Say what you want to say, as if the person you seek to persuade is standing there, listening. Then type that up. Simplify. Send.

So, how will this change what you write today?

C

7 Ways You Make Your Employees Miserable

7 Ways You Make Your Employees Miserable!
Employees should be motivated to perform by their managers, not in spite of their managers. As we discussed in 10 Things That Good Bosses Do, a good manager provides employees with:

* Direction, tools, and training they need to do their job effectively.
* A challenging, engaging, and rewarding work environment.
* Freedom from management politics and other assorted BS.

Notice there’s nothing in there that reads, “Make everyone’s job harder by acting like a self-important, egotistical, micromanaging control freak.” That’s because that’s not what good managers do. That’s what dysfunctional managers do.

It’s not even a rare occurrence. In my management and consulting experience, it’s entirely too common. And here’s the thing that’s going to @#!*% off a lot of people. It’s really common in the middle management ranks.

That’s because, unlike senior executives, middle managers haven’t yet “arrived,” so proving themselves is first and foremost on their minds and they’re not always sensitive to who they step on in the process of getting there. In other words, their own needs and wants come ahead of the group.

I know that sounds harsh, but who among you is beyond the need for improvement? That’s right, nobody. And guess what? If getting ahead and “making it” is your top priority, you’ll get there a lot faster by taking your job and your responsibility seriously. And that means not doing these:

7 Ways Managers Make Employee’s Jobs Harder:

1. Give cryptic or incomplete direction and expect people to read your mind. You’re in a hurry because your time is so important – more important than anyone else’s – which of course gives you a license to tell people half of what they need to know and then beat them up when they guess wrong on the rest.
2. Stay in your comfort zone and don’t push the envelope. When you sign up for high-risk and high-visibility projects or stick your neck out for your group, it clears the way for all your people to grow and shine with everyone watching. High priority stuff gets attention, resources, and raises, too.
3. Control or limit information flow. “Always go through me,” “don’t cc him,” “you don’t have a need to know that,” “You’ll find out when I think it’s time” – classic micromanaging and controlling behavior that reduces employee effectiveness.
4. Let your employees take the heat when you should be accountable. This is inexcusable for the simple reason that your people are your responsibility. When they succeed, it reflects well on you. And when they fail or screw up, that should reflect poorly on you. You were hired and you’re paid to be held accountable, not to be scarce when management is beating up on your people.
5. Be a coward when it comes to delivering bad news and criticism. One of the most challenging but important management functions is to spend time explaining and teaching people how they can improve and delivering bad news that affects them. I know nobody wants to be the “bad guy,” but when you’re tough and straightforward, you’re actually being the “good guy.”
6. Ask for stuff people have already given you. This is a classic sign of dysfunctional management. What you’re really saying is that, because you’re so much more valuable than everyone else, it’s more productive for them to do something twice than for you to look for it once. What a load of crap.
7. Let everyone walk all over you. If you’re a wimpy doormat, then more assertive and aggressive peers will more effectively sell their ideas and get budget and resources for their programs and people. If you don’t fight for your people, it’s all downhill – not just for you, for everyone in your group.

From Bnet: read more here  http://ow.ly/5p5hy

The #1 stress of work and the #1 time killer!

In a Bnet post, the data is clear: over 80% of email requires clarification because it’s so poorly written. That’s almost two hours a day and roughly $1.2 trillion in wages a year that are wasted mismanaging email.

How do we fix this?

Tell employees to keep it simple. “Summarize and use bullet points,” he says. “Make it clear what you want the email to accomplish by putting the action requested by your reader right up front.” They’re small adjustments that can have a huge impact on efficiency.

So, what will you do differently starting today?

C

Manage Without Micromanaging

I have worked with many on the balance between managing and micromanaging. If you manage people, then you have dealt and maybe even wrestled with this yourself.

Some feel they should let people totally make their own mistakes and figure it all out in order not to “micromanage” and then others do micromanage and then they fool themselves into believe that they aren’t.

You may say, “How important is not to micromanage?”

The issue is that you tear into your employee longevity when you micromanage.  The Washington Business Journal reiterated last month the number one reason employees leave a company is because of an issue with their direct manager.

Often, it is due to micromanaging or lack of leadership from their manager.

So, how do we know what balanced management looks like? How do we achieve it?

The Harvard Business Review give a great plan for this. I think this is a fantastic plan for how to begin to be a master delegator!

Start by expecting your people to use Prep-Do-Review themselves in their work. Not only will it make them more effective, but it will provide a way for you to become involved in their work as appropriate for the person and the situation.

This is the way it works:

Prep: Start by previewing people’s plans with them and suggesting changes, if necessary. You do this by asking crucial questions. What are you going to do? Why — for what purpose? How will you do it? How can you use this to make progress on our goals and plans? Who should be involved or kept informed? How can this be used to help you learn and get better? What if your assumptions are wrong or the unexpected happens? This is how you move your group’s purpose, plans, and work forward, how you coachand develop others, how you delegate more confidently, how you assure yourself that someone is well prepared and ready to act on her own.

Do: Based on what you learned in the Prep stage, you can decide whether and how to be involved in the doing of the activity. Working with a novice, you may want to perform the activity yourself while the person observes. Next, you may want to monitor periodically as the person does the activity and then give them feedback afterward. Thereafter, you probably don’t need to be present at all — the Prep and Review stages are where you’ll be involved.

Review: Great managers make post-action review a regular practice for themselves and their people. You can make it the focus of a one-on-one after an activity has been completed. Or it can be part of periodic meetings with each of your people or a standard procedure you go through in the updates your people provide at staff meetings. Be sure to model what you expect when you describe something you did — Here’s what we learned. Next time we’ll do it this way.

Remember to do a review regardless of the outcome of an action — failure or success. We are much more likely to reflect on our failures. Too often, we don’t take time to learn from our accomplishments and never really understand the keys to our success and what lessons we can take forward.

Most of your managerial interactions with people will occur in the Prep and Review stages. Only with someone inexperienced or in situations of high stakes and high risk will you, or should you, be involved in the actual performance of a task.

Used this way consistently and consciously, Prep-Do-Review becomes a powerful management tool that will improve how you manage your people. By giving you ways to be involved without directly intruding as your people do their work, it will make your interactions with them richer, improve outcomes, help people learn, and make you a better delegator.

If you operate this way as a boss consistently, you’ll find certain core management tasks become easier and more systematic. It will let you delegate more intelligently, based on both a person’s skill and experience level and on the situation. It will help you coach people more effectively; indeed, it will help you turn many tasks into learning experiences. And it will let you use your time more effectively by helping you determine when you do and don’t need to be involved.

With very experienced people, and especially with routine tasks, you needn’t be involved in either Prep or Do, but as a boss you never completely let go of the Review stage. You may not review outcomes after every task, but ongoing performance review is something you’ll never give up entirely.

If you think about it, Prep-Do-Review is the fundamental cycle of activities by which effective bosses manage — through a perpetual loop of prep-do-review-prep-do-review. By using it to become more mindful and deliberate in all you do, it will help you convert mundane workaday activities into management activities. It will help you make progress through the daily work. And it’s the way you guide your people, produce results, and help them learn without inserting yourself unnecessarily into what they do. It’s not the solution to every management challenge, but it’s a powerful approach and the closest thing to a management secret that we know.

So, how will you implement this?

When?

I would love to hear about it… and keep you accountable to it!

To your continued success,

C

 

References:

Harvard Business Review, how-to-get-involved-without-micromanaging

Washington Business Review, Why Your Best Employees Quit

Why haven’t you launched that new project? Why are you holding back? Why haven’t you made it to the next level? BECAUSE OF YOUR Lies!

It seems lately, many of my clients are holding back on launching FULLY their culture initiatives with their employee teams. They aren’t moving past the planning stage and getting to the REAL implementation.

What’s holding them back?

What is REALLY going on?

And here this morning I read a post by Jonathan Mead, founder of Illuminatedmind.net.

He talks about what stops so many from BE-ing who they truly can be, everyday, today, showing up, fully engaged and bounding forward.

What is it? FEAR!

I wrote something similar to this post before in this blog. Years ago, I wrote a book, with a chapter on FEAR. There I have strategies of how to break through fear and bound past it to the life you always have wanted.

The first five people to comment and request it, I will send you a copy of my book for free, so that you too can put your fears in their place!

Till then, enjoy, learn from and open yourself to the post below from Jonothan.

Imagine, who would you be without fear?

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Whatever you fear, you must face.” It’s good advice, no doubt. But why should we, really, face our fears? It’s not just because our fears hold us back, which they do.

It’s because our fears are lies. I’m not talking about real fear based on our instinct to survive; the primal force that keeps us from running into a lion’s den or jumping off the cliff. The fake fears are the ones that live inside our heads. The imaginary ones that exist “in here,” not “out there.”

These are the fears that stop us from going to the next level in our careers – whether it’s speaking, writing a book, or doing a bigger version of what we’re doing now.

We fear that people will find us out; that we’re inadequate or incompetent. We’re afraid we may screw it up for good. What these really are, are just imagined possibilities.

Our egos want to protect the “perfect image” of ourselves – the ones that never make mistakes or fail. The ones who always get praise and rewards. So it discourages us from taking risks.

This starts to feel icky and restrictive quickly.

We start living a fear-based life, taking less and less risks, and start to feel more claustrophobic.

The only real risk is playing it safe, following a template. Repeating the same boring routine day in and day out. That is what’s really risky because we’re not living at all. We’re confined by imaginary fears that can only be destroyed by acting even though we’re afraid. Our fears don’t live up to the hype. They’re all talk, no game.

Once you make a commitment to facing your fears, the lie is exposed. In the shadows of the mind, our fears run rampant. This is a natural fact and even the most successful people feel it. Claiming these “imagined” fears as truth though, is a choice.

We can choose to realize these fears are fake and not allow them to confine us. You can shine a light on those dark spaces and realize that they’re nothing more than shadow puppets conjured up by our imagination. They’re only real as long as you believe them. Test your assumptions about your fears. The longer you spend guessing the more you’ll be afraid.

Fear comes from uncertainty, not knowing what will happen. So challenge your fears. Put your hypothesis to the test and stop allowing fear to waste your time.

Really, who would you be without fear?

C