The concept, the barriers, and the application:
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Being Flexible To Employee Needs Takes Great Management
17 Mar
I just returned from working with my co-author Leigh Branham at an event where we judged employers on how “family friendly” they were. The event allowed us to review employee survey data on the topic and interview leaders and employees of participating companies.
One employer particularly impressed me with their willingness to be flexible when it came to allowing employees to attend to family needs. There was little resistence to reasonable requests to time off, even at the last moment. I was told a story of how a valued employee was given a day off before a big customer event the next day when the business would likely be quite busy– the manager didn’t seem to even break a sweat about the matter. As you might expect, employees were genuinely appreciative of the committment of the management, and little was reported in terms of employees taking advantage or “gaming”– most employees were grateful for the kindness and returned the consideration with increased productivity and retention.
That’s all fine and well, but what really struck me was how much effort had gone into the results I was observing. The ability to be flexible was the outcome of years of great management. A few observations:
- The ability of management to be flexible to employee requests required that many employees had been cross-trained for different roles in the business.
- Employee turnover was very low. You can cross-train employees more effectively in a stable workforce.
- The philosophy of the leadership in this business was to trust employees. If there were performance problems those would certainly be addressed, but giving trust to employees brought trust back many-fold.
Some managers may like the idea of being more family-friendly and have a desire in accommodating the personal needs of those whom they manage. To effectively implement a concept may require years of carefully designed management– time to get to work.
“Using Integrity to Repair Trust”
8 Feb
That was the headline of an excellent article in my hometown newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald. The article reported on a conference called “Aiming Higher”, sponsored by the Greater Omaha (Nebraska, USA) Business Ethics Alliance. The conference brought community leaders and students together to discuss this topic. The article quotes Creighton University professor Beverly Kracher as to why a conference like this is important:
“Everybody seems to lack trust in business as a whole,” Kracher said. “One of the ways to repair that trust is for the public to have good examples. These examples are so powerful they help us all learn.”
This topic of business ethics is particularly important to me this weekend, and I just learned that someone I care about deeply has been affected by the Bernard Madoff scandal. My heart just sank at this news. That sad story has now become quite personal. I am even more upset that his actions have affected how all of us view business and leadership.
Trust in our leaders in many quarters, sadly, has eroded. The hope, from my point of view, is that not all is lost. Our studies of highly engaged workplaces shows that employers with outstanding engagement survey results still present high “Trust In Senior Leaders” ratings. Truth- telling, employee engagement and success in business go hand-in-hand. I think it incumbent on those of who are passionate about great workplaces to continue open dialogue about this topic. The scars of Madoff will not easily be healed– it’s up to us to make that happen.
For excerpts from the Omaha World-Herald of interviews from leaders who participated in this event, Click Here. The full interviews, along with additional information on this topic, can be found at the Business Ethics Alliance web site.
Salary Freeze or RIF? Another View
8 FebI recently responded to a question from an executive in the insurance industry about whether a salary freeze or a reduction-in-force was the best way to reduce costs while maintaining employee morale and engagement. I’d like to offer the perspective of someone who looks at this question primarily through the lens of my research and consulting experiences, which leads me to conclude it may have less to do with which choice and everything to do with how leaders going about it.
I spent 12 years with a global consulting firm that assisted employers with force reductions. I’ve seen that done extremely well, where both departing employees and those remaining are treated professionally and with dignity. The communication was open and honest, senior leadership was front and center to answer questions and get feedback, and there was a specific plan that was well coordinated that helped remaining employees move forward in a productive way. For those terminated employees there were decent benefits offered–severance payments, benefits continuation, preference for re-hiring, outplacement services– which sent a message that the leadership of the company truly cared about these folks and wanted to help their transition go as smoothly as possible. (For more information about outplacement services you might find this New York Times article of interest.) In those cases I’ve talked to all parties involved and heard very positive things about the employer in spite of the RIF, feelings that often led to employees wanting to return and solid productivity for those on-the-job.
On the other hand, I’ve witnessed horrible “RIF train wrecks”, where communication was terrible, rumors were rampant, senior leadership was hiding, and there was no plan to move the company forward confidently– disaster for everyone.
I think the same can be said for salary freezes. I’ve worked with companies where that has worked well, and others where the results are less than positive. I’m familiar with one company that has been frequently awarded a slot on the “Great Places to Work” list that Fortune magazine publishes every year, and stayed on the list one year when their business hit hard times and they were forced into both a salary and hiring freeze.
The common denominator for successful outcomes? Great leadership, of course, leadership that has built over time a positive, engaging culture. It’s been my experience that how a company will go about this is just as important as what they do, and effective senior leaders can make a big difference in determining whether a freeze or RIF is successful. If that leadership has developed a culture of trust and confidence they can more easily deal with many challenges such as a difficult decision such as this.
Your take-away from this rant? I won’t presume to tell any company what the best choice is from a financial perspective. But I can tell you that how you act, how you lead, how you communicate, how to vision-cast– all these things will make all the difference in the world regarding this any many other important issues in these difficult economic times.
Start ups don’t have to worry about this human capital stuff, right? Wrong.
7 Feb
You’re a fledgling, but promising, start-up. The patents for your sassy new widget have been approved. Your carefully crafted business plan has attracted outside investment. You’ve never had to hire and manage a staff before, but how hard can that be– the heavy lifting of getting this business off the ground and on your way to the big IPO pay day is just a matter of time, right? If that’s what you’re thinking, I encourage you to reconsider your position– the success of your new venture may depend on it.
Mark Waltzoni has several outstanding posts on this question at his site Building Sustainable Ventures. One hits this question head on:
The human capital side of the investment equation has traditionally received less emphasis during the due dilligence process, except for quantative analysis of benefit plans, pension obligations, and salary costs.
I believe that determining the full value of any investment benefits from a review of the organization’s talent pipeline, ability to access external talent, potential flight risks; and leadership team gaps that could swiftly erode an organizations’ ability execute against their strategic objectives, and current human capital performance such as turnover rates, staffing metrics, employee engagement indicators, and who and when ot offer retention, development, or separation agreements.
I spoke to the Executive Director of a large angel investing organization recently and he told me that in his experience early stage companies rarely failed due to poor technology or financing, but rather a leadership team whose talent, knowledge, and execution gaps doomed it’s ability to scale to the next milestone.
In the course of reviewing business plans over the years I’ve seen too many founders ignore this advice– always to their detriment. I should note that the research database my colleague Leigh Branham and I are studying for our book Lucky To Work Here contains over 10,000 employers, a third of which are small businesses. Our studies again confirm that engaged employees make a difference in all enterprises– big and small, public and private, profit and non-profit.
Business Advice From Those Who Have Survived Tough Times
3 FebIn yesterday’s New York Times author Paul B. Brown presents advice from business owners who have survived past economic downturns. Here’s the counsel from one leader:
1. Continue marketing. “Being consistently visible demonstrates to both existing and potential customers that you are stable and in for the long haul.”
2. “Take advantage of the trickle-down effect in hiring great talent. Unfortunately, there are many people out of work right now. But the larger talent pool means opportunities for small businesses that do have the means to bring on new employees.”
3. Give back to the community. It is “a great way to keep employee morale strong during hard times, stay busy when business is slow, and get your name out by donating time. Aside from all that, it’s the right thing to do.”
In an earlier post about a potential Silver Lining I mentioned that from a talent perspective this could be a time when companies will be able to hire individuals who may not have been on the market a few months ago. I encourage any leader to consider the advice in this column– there will be opportunities out there for those who are willing to see them.
Engagement and the Economic Crisis– Part 2
27 JanI attended a luncheon today in my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where the keynote speaker was a prominent leader in our economic development activity. The speaker laid out some of the challenges facing our economy, for which we have our share.
But he also discussed a number of activities and businesses’ successes that were positive for Omaha. He indicated that although many employers were cutting jobs, he knew of others that were expanding. In one case he mentioned a company that was planning to hire over 100 new employees that would have an average starting salary of over $80,000, which for my neck of the woods is pretty good money.
I mention this story not to sing the praises of my home , (although I am proud to be in the same town as “The Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett). I call this out because it is a good reminder that although we are facing challenges we should continue to look for positive things that are happening around us. We may find at our company, for example, that in spite of slower sales that we may have a customer that is increasing orders with us. We need to look for these successes to not only celebrate them but analyze whether there are opportunities for us to build on those successes.
- What can we learn from these “victories”?
- Can we apply what we’ve learned in other ways?
- Are there similar customers out there who could be won if they knew we were being successful with someone like them?
- And in regards to employee engagement, can we deploy our best talent to go after these opportunities?
In the midst of crisis, let us continue to look for bright spots. Where are yours?
“Just The Hired Help”
25 Jan
A friend related this story of his former place of work. Although he made good money and was asked to be involved in some cool things with the company owners, this was not a business that had a reputation as being employer-of-choice.
One night he was returning home from a nice dinner at a community event the company sponsored, and told his wife he thought this was pretty special they had been invited to the gala. His wife paused for a moment and said: “Yea, this was a nice night. But you know about this family. Don’t ever forget Rod that you’re just the hired help.”
Not long after that he found out the truth of this statement as he left the firm, frustrated that he wasn’t supported and provided opportunities to grow where it really counted– on the job. He’s now a recognized leader with a competitor, who was delighted to acquire his services.
If you’re a leader, is that what your employees might say about you? What is it about your approach to working with them that makes them feel this way? What could you do in the next week to turn that around? In this challenging times we can’t afford to have our employees feel they’re “just the hired help”.
Engaging Employees– More Important Than Ever
17 Jan
I know our current economic situation is difficult. But let’s not make that an excuse to stop doing what we should as leaders—developing and mentoring! The comment below comes from an executive at a company that has been recognized for their outstanding engagement:
There is a spirit of teamwork (here) – more so than any other company I have worked at before and people are looked to for specialties so there is a way to stand out. As a executive, I know that we are constantly trying to develop and mentor anyone at more junior levels and teach them to manage as well.
May I be so bold to say that this may be the best time to focus our efforts on development, particularly with our best and brightest? I’m sure this executive is worried about the future of her business, but she still feels confident that the culture she and the rest of her executive team has created will help them get through these bumpy times. I think she’s right, don’t you?
Mark Hirschfeld 