As you can see, it’s been a while since I last posted a news item.  As with other blogs, my reasons are legitimate.  I’ve been too busy.  Or, said another way, my priority for posting is lower than my priority for taking care of all of the other things that require my attention in running TPC HR.  As noted above, Lynette and I have been working hard at transitioning clients and providing the very best service we can.  I’ve always been one who works best when I have a project plan in front of me.  So, whether it’s “Getting Things Done”, the Pomodoro Technique, or some other method, the lesson learned is that we’ve got to have a project plan during transitions and in daily administration for clients.

I’ll update you on our progress.  And, hopefully, find time to do so on a regular basis!

• Federal and State legal considerations.
• The importance of having a policy for employment references and what it should contain.
• What type of information can you use and what should you stay away from.
• Practical tips for giving employment references.
• Best practices for getting and tracking employment reference information.

Date:     Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Time:     11:00AM to Noon CDT

Register: Click here

I’m always fascinated at studies that show how paying someone for something they enjoy doing actually demotivates him or her.  Does that mean that we shouldn’t pay people just because they enjoy their work?  Of course not.  People work to live and make a life.  Pay can also be a very important status issue for people.  It’s a way to know where you stand.  But, whenever someone has approached me and said that they’d be happy if only they were paid more, I always know that increasing the wage or salary may very likely not result in the intended consequence.

That’s why this last item for retention focuses on “recognition.”  Yes, pay is a form of recognition.  But, recognition is so much more than that.  So, what I’m referring to is the every day recognition that people should be receiving.  Recognition that is tailored to each person’s personality.  That means that supervisors have to know and understand what is important to each person in his/her department.  How do you find out?  You ask each employee.  Is that awkward?  Maybe.  But not if it’s a mode of operation in the department.  Supervisors should know that a pat on the back will do wonders for one person, a public display of gratitude will stir up others, a coffee gift card will motivate another, etc.

How often should a person be recognized?  Well, that reminds me of the old saying, “I love you and until you hear otherwise just believe it’s so.”  That is not a successful approach outside of work and we shouldn’t expect it to be successful at work either.  Studies show that people need to be recognized on average at least once per week to keep them engaged.  Think about it.  Once per week.  How well is your organization doing on that?

Organizations should also create a culture of recognition in which not only the supervisors are doing the recognizing.  Co-workers should be recognizing each other in meaningful ways.  Having a strong culture is so important to most people.  We want to work at organizations where we feel recognized and supported.  So, if my co-worker is recognizing me with a pat on the back or by letting others know I’m really coming through for him/her, it strengthens the community within the company, which strengthens the engagement levels.

Particularly in a difficult economy, recognition is more important than ever to retain and engage valued employees.  Less focus on formal rewards and more on building meaningful, customized recognition will appeal to individuals and keep them pumped up.  We might not otherwise consider it, but small, more frequent displays of appreciation will go miles further than the occasional big bash.  The recognition doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.  It just has to occur more frequently, be sincere and tailored to each person in a way that has meaning for them.

Effective Performance Management

If you have followed the first two keys, your organization should be poised to effectively manage performance.  If you are creating the culture you want AND you are treating employees as your most important asset, the natural outcome will be to provide quality feedback in nurturing those assets.

Effective performance management starts with the organization’s strategies.  From there, each individual should have specific goals aligned with those strategies.  These goals should be measurable, relevant, attainable and time-bound.  The value of cascading the goals throughout the organization is that each individual can see where they fit in and how what they do helps the organization achieve the strategically important things that will take it to the next level.

One thing that is common with performance management is the reliance of “the system.”  Giving feedback becomes a once-a-year thing (that is typically demanded by another department as a paperwork exercise).  So, to combat that, an effective system will require quality conversations occurring throughout the year.  These dialogues should be constructive and support the goals the individual has established.  Finally, recent surveys have shown that organizations are increasingly incorporating competencies into their review systems.  I find this a very healthy move; away from traits (attendance, quality, teamwork, etc.) toward competencies (those things that make our organization different and unique).

Personalized Benefits/Policies

Let’s face it.  One size has not fit all for quite some time.  Organizations have to find ways to meet the individual needs of employees, especially those they can least afford to lose.  People don’t go the extra mile for health, base pay or standard benefits.  They go the extra mile when they feel like they’re being treated and recognized for their efforts as individuals.  So, in order to retain employees in a rebounding economy, organizations need to provide meaningful individualized learning and development opportunities, work-life balance options and recognition/rewards that inspire them.

In many organizations, policies are established and set in stone.  I’m all for consistency… when you are consistently doing something right and you are getting the results you should.  In HR, you usually hear “consistency” uttered in the same sentence as “fairness.”  To me, fairness is the real measuring stick when it comes to managing employees.  If there are exceptions, are you being fair (not necessarily consistent)?  Can you show why you are deviating from an established precedent due to a specific set of circumstances?

It is easy to just say “these are the rules and you have to live with them.”  Even when doing so doesn’t make sense in retaining those key employees.  So, I believe that there are no sacred cows.  Organizations need to be open to creating flexible working relationships, sabbaticals and extra PTO on occasion.  Further, benefits should be personalized and the bureaucracy associated with using them should be reduced or eliminated.  Consider why an Employee Self Service portal may make sense and also examine your motivation for putting it in.  If it’s only so HR doesn’t have to enter employee information, you’re doing it for the wrong reason.  (Refer to the wonderfully warm feeling you get when you realize that your phone call is directed to an Interactive Voice Response system… “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand, please say that again.”  Who are those systems benefiting?).  Organizations should be reducing or eliminating barriers to performance and ridding itself of bureaucracy for a number of reasons including keeping employees engaged and assured that the organization cares for them as individuals.

We’ve all run into organizations that have posted somewhere on their walls “people are our most important asset.”  Unfortunately, it is the rare organization that actually can show that their behavior backs up their words.  It eventually becomes a very sad running joke in the organization.

To me, treating employees as your most important asset really starts with engaging employees.  There has been much written over the past several years about employee engagement. Recent studies have conflicting messages regarding the status of employee engagement in today’s tough times.  Gallup’s research indicates no real change in engagement levels since the economy has been struggling.  Hewitt reports that employee engagement is at the lowest level it has been in the last 15 years.  And, Sibson Consulting reports that engagement in 2009 was actually up versus 2006.  So, there’s no definitive answer to whether engagement is improving, diminishing or staying the same.

Much of the past research shows a correlation between engagement and bottom line results.  Whether it be shareholder return, growth statistics, customer satisfaction, turnover costs, absenteeism costs, safety incidents, etc., there is little dispute that organizations with engaged employees are also more profitable or more effective.  Purists have argued that there has been no research showing a causal link between employee engagement and business results.  That is, until now.  Gallup researchers working with the University of Iowa have demonstrated longitudinal research showing that engaged employees cause high retention rates, better financial performance and better customer loyalty.  This relationship was strong versus the relationships going the other way.  In other words, having better financial performance was not shown to have a strong causal relationship with improved employee engagement.

If other studies can confirm this research, it should give organizations a mandate to really treat employees as their most important asset because doing so will give the organization a better chance at the results it wants.  And, in tougher economic times, it is that much more important to do so because you can’t rebuild trust overnight.  So, when the chips are down, that’s the time to invest in strengthening your relationships at work.

When times get tough, companies tend to let the worries about today obscure the good times that tomorrow may eventually bring.  They treat employees as tools rather than as people.  If you have to lay someone off, you should treat that person with as much dignity as possible.  If not for the people being laid off, but also for those left to pick up the slack left by your decision to create the vacancy.  You can’t dress up the extra work as job enrichment.  So, not only are those employees scared, but they are resentful if you don’t show you care about them as people.  Further, many times the stress causes managers to create a siege mentality.  They hole themselves in their offices while the information vacuum is filled with the worst imaginable scenarios.  Managers need to be excited about the future regardless of the troubles in the immediate future.

So how do you create the culture you want?  Here are some suggestions to start:

• Create and live your vision.
• Remove barriers, obstacles and inhibitors to great work.
• Clearly communicate your expectations.
• Communicate constantly
• Treat each employee as a valuable resource.
• Ensure fairness in your practices and procedures.
• Bring fun into the workplace.

Start with these things and you will be well on your way to creating a winning culture, even when the odds seemed stacked against you.  And, keep in mind, these activities will pay huge dividends when the economy picks up.

“The war for talent is not over – it’s just been in hibernation.”

Carl Camden, President, Kelly Services

According to Kelly’s Global Workforce Index (2010), due to the economic downturn, 27% of survey respondents are reportedly more loyal to their company than before.  On its face, that would seem a good thing, right?  Well, no.  This stat just reflects how much fear there is in the workplace.  Employees are afraid to leave for grass that is really not greener… right now.  Per the quote above, once things pick up, those individuals who can’t afford to retire will be in a better position to do so, employees who have had promotional opportunities blocked will be in a better position to take their talents elsewhere and your best employees are the best candidates to make a move.

In fact, according to a Leadership IQ study, 47% of high performers are actively seeking another job, but only 18% of low performers are.  The employees you can least afford to lose are the ones who are likely to find employment elsewhere.  If you want to keep your best, you had better give them reasons to stay beyond pay and benefits.

As we should all be aware, people leave organizations for a variety of reasons, but not typically because of pay.  People leave due to lack of career growth, poor communication, lack of recognition, poor senior leadership, excessive workload, etc.  These are all things that are magnified during a downturn.

In the next post, we’ll cover the first of the five action items for retaining employees during turbulent economic times.

So, I’ll do a series of posts over the next week  or so that cover the main agenda items.  In this post, I’ll just lay the groundwork for the real content of the seminar.

My position is that specifically in a down economy, how you treat employees gets put under the microscope.  Sure, people are afraid to change jobs – not knowing if the grass is greener.  But sooner or later things are going to improve and where will that leave those organizations that didn’t focus on those employees they can least afford to lose?

Organizations can get away with more mistakes when times are good than when times are tough.  The margin for error is much slimmer.  We’ll cover that part in the next post.  Then the subsequent five posts will address each of the five agenda items, the five things I wanted participants to take away from the session.  Those are:

1. Creating the culture you want
2. Treating employees as assets (no, really, TREATING them like it)
3. Effectively managing performance
4. Adding flexibility to your work rules and benefits
5. Celebrating wins and localizing recognition

The next post will set up the five items.  I’ll address the status of the war for talent, the effects the recession has had on turnover and on pay, the reasons employees choose to leave and the challenge of keeping all of the balls in the air at once.

The first prerequisite is knowledge.  Each team member needs to know what each individual is responsible for.  That means I have to understand what I’m expected to deliver.  And, it means I need to understand what each team member is responsible for.  We have to establish a common understanding of each role.

After that baseline is covered (whether it be through job descriptions, regular conversations, etc.) then we have to be willing to (or more strongly “will”) hold ourselves and each other accountable.  The team needs to establish a culture of trust.  Each member has to trust the other member.  This also means that each member has to be trustworthy.  There is a “vulnerability” with building trust.  That means risk… sticking your neck out, stepping into the abyss.  If you’ve read his book, invulnerability and lack of trust are at the top of Lencioni’s list of dysfunctions of a team.  When you have a trusting environment, you will develop the ability and willingness to have crucial conversations and to use good judgment in what to bring up as an issue.

There are more factors to building accountability, but the group stopped with “building a supportive environment in which each member’s success is the measure of success.”  Each member needs to really care for the success of the others.  Key elements here include empathy and understanding.  Along with those elements, members have to like their fellow teammates and share their success stories with others.

This is not meant to be a totally comprehensive list of items, but if a team could live and breathe these conditions, they would likely be very effective, particularly in being accountable.  If you have any thoughts, please feel free to share.