Would You Hire Them Again?

When I talk to the Supervisors, Managers and Executives who make hiring decisions, I usually start out asking “How many of you have can claim a 100% success rate with the people you’ve hired?” People tend to look around, embarrassed that they are not raising their hand, only to laugh when they realize that no one has raised their hand!
Hiring is tricky business and there are lots of tips, processes, strategies, and skills I can suggested for increasing the success rate. But without a crystal ball, the chance of getting up near 100% success only increases with the fewer hires you make! The truth is that even with the best of intentions and armed with solid and proven strategies and skills, jobs shift and things change. Hires made today may not have the lasting power we’d like.

First ask “Why did I hire them?” You may discover that while you saw the evidence for potential, you didn’t capitalize on it. The opportunities for encouragement were missed and chances to provide development were insufficient. They may have started out great, but talent waned when more was asked of them. Perhaps the job changed focus but their motivation didn’t.

Then ask “Would I hire them again?” and if the answer is ‘yes’ than do what you can to recapture the potential before they take it to a competitor. Talk to employees you want to retain about development opportunities and then follow through. If you want your employees to invest their energy in your organization, your organziation better invest some energy in them.

It’s true that there is a school of thought that believes that pouring too much training into employees may educate them for other companies. Younger employees tend to job hop if they can’t be promoted quickly and your firm may not have career ladders with lots of rungs. But not developing your human resources leaves your company at a distinct disadvantage and people tend to stay when they are being developed. They leave for a host of reasons, but getting training and development isn’t one of them.

Generational Power

I recently drafted a program description for a multigenerational workforce presentation. The Client returned it with their desired modifications, something I invite my Clients to do. 

As a Boomer,  I didn’t want to promote much skill development in the short amount of time we would have together. However, the program was geared to mostly Gen Ys and they would be more eager to come if there was a promise of acquiring behavior change.

With my experience in realistic outcome descriptions, I kept the learning objectives realistic: they would learn, discuss and understand. The Client had included one that assured them that they would leave with the power to transform their organizations.

I laughed and knew I would need to choose my wording carefully. I asked my Client if they were sure they wanted to put this as a learning objective, creating such a lofty expectation.

The response was pure Y – "I think we should let them know they have the power!" I looked at my computer screen for a while, re-reading the response.

I wonder if I’ll be able to use this example with them so they can see how differently the generations view how we communicate and interact with one another. Will they see the humor or wonder what’s so funny? Will they think I’m underestimating them or myself?

As I wondered how best to reply  - I recalled thinking that my teachers and early bosses had no idea what my potential was or what I might accomplish. I remember learning the hard way where some of my limits lay, and also learing where parameters for success would expand or vanish.

My repsonse was that it looked fine with the modifications. Let the sign up begin!

The program description (it's our now) will appeal to the audience. The program description doesn’t just describes what’s likely – it indicates what’s possible.

Customer Service Always Starts With You

I recently spent a long weekend in Toronto. Described to me by a good friend as “a New York City run by the Swiss,” I found it to be much like I remembered from my trip there 30 years ago: clean, safe, interesting, international and friendly.


While trying to grab a metro/subway trip south, we were confused by the signs and the directions. Unwilling to get into the system only to find we had made a mistake at 10:00 pm – we found a man who was working on one of the doors into the underground system and asked him if this stop, would in fact, get us to our desired location. He told us it would and then, standing up. said "Let me help you."

He walked us back down to the entrance, then unlocked the gate, letting us in (Without paying!!!). He walked us down one flight of stairs, across the platform to another flight of stairs, then walked us up to the second platform. He explained that it’s easy to get confused because the station was a stop for both the north-south train and the east-west train. We gratefully thanked him and were on our way.

Since returning home, I’ve told the story many times. It is evidence to me that Toronto deserves its reputation. The reaction I get form people is "That would never happen here!” And it makes me wonder why couldn’t it happen here?

Everyone has a role to play in customer service and the creation of a reputation. The person (CEO, Executive, Manager, Supervisor, Administrative Assistant, line-staff employee, contract worker, person on the shop floor, janitorial staff member, Customer Service representative, security guard, cashier, sales person, teacher, nurse – I could go on but you get the idea) who really understands reputation -the ‘old’ word for brand - knows that every interaction is an opportunity to reflect well or poorly on their firm/city/self.

I don’t always get the feeling that an organization’s motto is a living credo. I'm not awlays left with the impression that people are acting in support of that motto with every interaction.

• If people are the most important resource, is there no money for skill development?

• If professional development is critical to attracting or retaining talent, are there opportunities for growth, mentoring and feedback?

• If everyone’s input is valued, are senior level folks ensconced with each other and removed from the rest of the workforce?

• If integrating home/work more effectively is the goal, are some managers allowed to obstruct the effort and the opportunities?

• If inclusion is the message, do women, minorities, or the disabled feel welcome and valued?

Toronto is a big city with a lot going on and it IS a friendly place. The people I interacted with were helpful and nice. The streets and subway are clean. Everyone has a part in it’s’ reputation and success.


How different is that from where you live and work? What can YOU do about that? And I don't mean tellsomeone else to do, I mean actually DO!?

STEM the Tide of Talent Lost

I don’t know how much press Jenny Jones’s article entitled Closing the Gender Gap in the July issue of Civil Engineering received, but I want to do my part. As I read through her examination of the new report about the critical factors that keep women from pursuing and succeeding in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), it rang too true.


I won’t summarize the article for you here - it’s too good and too significant to summarize. (http://civil-engineering.asce.org/link/ce/2010/jul/62?s=0). It sure got me thinking about how much work there is to do on the part of girls, women, parents, schools, media, teachers, professors, companies, bosses – the Gender Gap may be closing but it’s by inches, not leaps.

We have such a need today for people to go into and excel in the STEM fields. But I read and learned that if you don’t think you can learn, you probably won’t try. If your girl mind-set is fixed and you believe you don’t have the chops to master math or chemistry, then you don’t think practice will help. The power of positive expectations can move you forward, but the power of negative expectations may have you running for the classroom door.

By the time girls have thought about their potential, they get hit with the stereotypes about girls and femininity. Test results are gender neutral but teachers and parents may not be. While boys are girls are about equal in math and science ability, boys have better spatial relation/visualization skills – comes from all that time with blocks, and Lego’s and Connects and Erector Sets. I spent a lot of extra time creating structures (rather than learning arithmetic) using Cuisenaire Rods, which may explain why I did so well in math, until –

I ran into a math teacher who didn’t like me; I didn’t like the teacher; the teacher wasn’t a very good teacher and I cut a lot of classes. How do I know it wasn’t me? I passed with flying colors when I took it from a terrific teacher in summer school. Women may come to enjoy STEM classes over time, whereas men often have an intense interest and ability. If you are a teacher, who are you going to gravitate to and encourage? My money is on the student who already loves what you loves and is easier to teach because of their interest. It’s EASY to teach people who want to learn. It’s harder when you have to figure out how to motivate.

Even findings from female faculty members indicate that it’s tough being a STEM woman. I cringed reading about the study that found that women in “masculine” (STEM) fields were considered EITHER likable or competent, but not both! In spite of tests that prove that this is not the case, the assumption persists. How many times have women gotten the message, either overtly or covertly, that you can’t be pretty and smart (or pretty and funny, pretty and overweight). There is a lack of female role models and mentors and many women report a lack of support when trying to raiase a child while on the tenure track.

It’s not all doom and gloom. There are folks who are getting the word out that girls and women who have an interest in the STEM fields should have equal access to them. Teachers are learning about how to motivate ALL students. Parents are learning about how to advocate for their children in the classroom and helping their kids learn how to be advocates for themselves. Organizations are getting that integrating home and work are important to ALL employees, not just the female ones.

Granted, I opted out of STEM classes as soon as I could. I loved English class and the Arts too, and think I made a pretty good choice for my interests, talents, and skills when I obtained my Masters Degree in Counseling. But it makes me wonder what ELSE I could have done, and how things might have been different, had I thought success was possible in Math and Science.

You Don't Really Love Me - I'm Leaving!

I occasionally joke in training programs when the topic of motivation comes up, that being married does not motivate people to stay married. Many folks (OK, more men than women, but that’s just been my experience; yours may differ) think that marrying someone is the best indication of “I love you” that there is. Once accomplished, it doesn’t really have to be said again.

When I say that out loud, program participants and audiences laugh. But there is also some recognition that perhaps they have not done enough to make their partner feel loved. Today’s Managers and Executives are beginning to notice that providing employment is not the same things as motivating your people. And if you don’t show them that you ‘love’ them – as the economy improves, they will leave.

It doesn’t have to be that way. While you can’t undo the months of neglect and challenge while everyone was holding on with their fingernails, you CAN do some things that matter – and matter right now:

• Know What They Want – Don’t guess about what you think they want or assume they are like you and want what you want. Ask them what they would find motivating. And while you are at it – ask them what de-motivates them. While you can’t promise anyone a job that is free of unhappiness, you can at least know what hurdles may be placed in their way.

• Stop the Buck – It’s not HR, or the Board of Directors, or the compensation committee, or the CEO (unless that’s you!) who is in charge of retaining your employees – it’s you! Most studies indicate that allegiance (as well as disloyalty) for employees lies with their manager. YOU are the one in charge of keeping your good employees.

• Get Out of Their Way – Most employees are eager to build a positive future with the organizations they work for but if you are not helping them crate that attractive future you may be standing in their way and obstructing them from opportunities. They aren’t interested in tryin to change you – they’ll simply leave.

• Inclusion – Do you respect your employees and make them feel welcome or do your prejudices get in the way. Everyone can make occasional prejudgments about others (parents won’t stay late; women avoid conflict; people in their 20’s can’t relate to customers in their 60’s) but if it stops you from valuing the human resources who report to you, they probably feel that.

• Go to Grow – If employees think that there is only a small chance for them to grow professionally, whether it is in terms of a paycheck, a title, skill development. or responsibility, they will leave. You lose the investment of time and money, the potential they could have made in the future and you might have provided the competition with an advantage.

• Or Else – If you make your employees choose between work and home, it creates stress and resentment. While it often can come down to a difficult choice, as adults, it’s theirs to make. Punishing them for not choosing as you want or as you would makes you act like a punishing parent, and it may cause them to act like kids.

The economy is not improving in leaps and bounds and those of us who have been hanging on may need to continue to hang on. Don’t forget to hang on to your employees too.

How Good of a Partner Are You?

Mid-Level managers may not set strategy and vision nor are they just learning how to delegate, motivate and influence. Strong managers at this level are strong internal partners. They understand the benefits of internal collaboration. They understand that partnerships don't simply happen because everyone works for the same organization. Organizational charts are nice but they have little to do with how peope actually work together or get along with one another. Working alongside oone another is hardly a guarantee that you will develop a good partnership.

Not only are there techniques that are required to enhance a partnership, but they must be practiced, and honed to increase the benefit of peer collaboration.

TIPS

• Control Your Controlling – Being a partner requires give and take. There is no ‘boss.’ Resist the urge to direct which is a popular pitfall for managers. Watch for clues that other people are feeling pushed around. Ask open-ended questions – and they stop talking and listen to the answer.

• Socialize - To manage is to be social. The more time you spend together, the more natural partnering will feel. The more you know someone, the more likely you will develop trust. AND - the more they get to know you, the more likely they will see you as trustworthy. It's a two way street. Since good communication is an essential part of strong partnerships, all of the skills involved need to be cultivated as well. You are more likely to partner with people you know well so whether you are outgoing or shy, collegial relationships are the building blocks for internal partnerships. Schmoozing pays off. (As long as you don't come off as a phoney.)

• Patch the Past – Your past follows you around and if you have had previous relationship issues you need to resolve them and put them behind you in order to develop a good foundation for the present and the future. While not everyone wants to improve relationships, you should try. If you have tried everything and the past issues can not (or will not) be resolved, try to work with others if possible.

• Mom Would Be Proud – Mom used to say (MY mom anyway) “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. “ Never speak badly about your peers to others. It reflects poorly on you when you do it and can burn needed bridges within your firm. You can disagree – but communicate it directly to the person you don’t agree with.

• Own It – Don’t pass the buck. No one likes to be blamed for problems and shifting the blame won’t win you any fans.

• Share Credit – Success in partnerships comes from collaboration so everyone gets the credit. Success is always a joint effort. If everyone feels part of the success, it can create positive energy going forward.

• Know Their Desire – Good partners understands needs, goals, and concerns of the people with whom they work on a regular basis. What keeps them up at night? What are their strengths and areas for development? What frustrates them? What do you expect from them? What do they expect from you (and your department)?

As a peer and an internal resource if you can become an advocate for your colleagues, you can add value in their pursuit for results. Don’t doubt for one minute that being a valuable internal partner doesn't reflect well on you and your employees. You can extend the reach of your employees and create powerful alliances that serve the organization.

I Don't Speak Jargon Well

I had a great meeting today with a colleague. We met at a Starbucks that was situated half way between where he was off to next and where I was off to next. We were referred to each other by a connection who thought it made sense for us to meet.

"Tell me what you do." I suggested. “I’ve been to your web site, and I have an understanding of your firm, but help me understand your role a little better.”

After mentioning something about ‘value added,’ and ‘passion’ in air-quotes, we both laughed. I told my new pal that he was only allowed three jargon buzz words and after that ------- well, I wasn't sure, but three seemed to be all either of us wanted to admit to using.

Since we both deal in communication skills training and modeling, it made sense to try and behave accordingly. If we can’t figure out what each other really does, it’s unlikely we’ll be helping each other much.

It’s hard to know if its technology or all the Gen-Xer and Gen-Y’s in the workplace (although we were sitting across from each other and both Baby Boomers) but too much jargon in communication is simply weak communication. I don’t know what all the terms mean, but when other use them with such ease - I feel as if I should.

I asked a few people if they knew what the term ‘social enterprise’ was because the person who used the term assured me that everyone else did. Yet I couldn’t find anyone who knew the term. I am not sure what a ‘resilient organization’ is but I’m betting people want to work in one. ‘High performance’ is probably better than regular performance. Things need to be ‘fully integrated’ but I’m unclear about what we are integrating with what. Another firm promotes their ‘real time functionality’ which I guess means that whatever they sell - it works when you want to use it.

Dilbert is alive and well and everywhere!! Simple and clear phrases are almost comically unprofessional. Jargon sure makes you sound important. And it’s everywhere.

But if you are speaking to have your audience understand you and your message, why use words that confuse them? Simple works. But if you don’t have clarity about what you do, the service you provide or the product you sell, you can muddy the word with jargon and overused overly complicated phrases that keep your customers and colleagues in the dark as well.

Speaking and writing clearly and concisely are skills that can be learned. Communicating something that is complex in simple and direct language is incredibly helpful. It translates the mysterious into the accessible.

Most of us learned that we could ‘dress up’ an essay question in school by throwing in a lot of information that wasn’t relevant. Few teachers were fooled, however, but a flimsy excuse for not knowing the answer to the question.