The 4th. Day

For the majority of employees and management, the first full day back to work in 2010 was January 4th. For many this was a mini cultural shock. Over the past couple of weeks working days have been a little different for almost everyone.

For some, in say the retail sector, the days have been both long and hectic. Many hours were spent restocking shelves and/or cleaning them up from the total disruption caused by the previous day’s shoppers. For many of these folks there were few “holiday” days. Even those few days were not in succession but spaced out.

For others in say the manufacturing sector, the last couple of weeks have been a combination of regular activities along with activities to coordinate shut down for one; two or more successive days. Some may have had to work as part of a skeleton staff maintaining equipment functions; furnaces; etc.

Still others in the corporate and administrative sectors have had a different experience over the past few weeks. Perhaps it was days of leaving a bit early, say noon on the 24th. or perhaps noon to about three p.m. on the 31st. It may have been a case where significant projects were put on hold for a variety of reasons.

Academics had yet another set of experiences over the past few weeks. Students were not attending regular classes. Some academics were totally free from responsibilities during this period. Others were kept busy with getting everything ready for the next semester or completing of reports on successes during the last semester.

Regardless of the sector you belong to, the fourth day of January for the majority of us marked the first full day back to the activity we left behind just a short time ago. If history is any indicator, the majority, if not 100% of the tasks performed will be done exactly as they were before this short hiatus.

However, perhaps we need to look no further than the common phrase exchanged just the past 4 – 5 days: HAPPY NEW YEAR. This should tell us something. It is a “NEW YEAR”. This is an excellent time to try out something new. To look at our circumstances in a new way. To look at our jobs and our daily activities in a new way.

Many made new years resolutions to lose weight; be more active; be more involved with our family; etc. However, did you make a new years resolution to be more productive, more efficient, and more effective in what you do for a living? If not, why not?

Think of this as your opportunity to start both a new year and a new century with a new perspective. With a new plan for success. With a new level of enthusiasm. The time to do something about it is now, while the year is still new.

Right Development

Key to keeping the right people in your organization engaged is to ensure they are given the proper training and development to perform their function. Unfortunately, in many organizations, training and development are seen as cost items. In truth, training and development should be considered an investment. The return on investment realized for effective development of personnel can often outstrip that of any other single investment an organization can make.

Like any other investment, because it involves use of assets of the organization, investment in development of staff needs to be carefully planned, evaluated and made at the appropriate time. To do otherwise is to set in place a self fulfilling prophecy that training is money that does not generate a financial return. The development of staff should be viewed as a process. Like any process it should be structured in such a way as to create an environment and culture for success.

While it may seem appropriate to address perceived needs, this very fact is more often than not the cause statements such as: “training is just a waste of time and money”. Why, because scarce resources were used to train before truly identifying the root cause of the problem.

Professional training and facilitation consultants can be invaluable in understanding the difference between perceived and actual needs.

Right Performance Management

All too often the performance management system is viewed by management as a tool to catch employees doing something wrong. On the other hand, a system of catching people doing things right has proven to be the best model for a successful performance management system.

Target tracking links objectives, activities and resources required with due dates to manage employee efforts toward accomplishment of short term, mid term and long term objectives. It is recommended that the maximum number of objectives per employee be no more than five.

Of course the rewards and recognition program of any organization must be represent the rewards wanted and desired by employees. As a general rule employees will owrk harder towards what they are rewarded for and then only if the reward come soon after the activity and is consistent with what the employees observe others receiving for similar efforts.

I get into this entire concept of making sure you have the right performance management system in place in much greater detail in Chapter 6 of my recent book There Has To Be A Better Way.

The Right People Processes

In the life of any given organization, regardless of its size or level of business success, there is a natural ebb and flow of personnel. This process requires firms to acquire new people. Just a few of the needs are to:
• support business growth or expansion;
• replace employees who have left for a variety of reasons both of their
choice and at the request of the organization itself;
• acquire new skills to support a restructuring or reorganization.

Identifying the right people for the organization is significant start to a positive relationship for both parties. However, having the right people processes in place for after the hiring process is critical to both the retaining and leading of any team. Employee relationships like any other aspects of a successful organization follow a process. Consider it a three phase process.
• Phase one is the documentation of a new employee.
• Phase two is a program to orient him/her to the job / organization.
• Phase three deals with ensuring he/she is properly managed and coached
during employment.

One way to develop a consistent and defendable documentation process is to use a template.

In life there is no option of making a second first impression. Likewise, making sure that the new employee is properly oriented should not be left to chance. Every organization should have in place a structured consistent orientation process.

Ensuring that employees are properly managed and coached is the third component in the people management process.

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 5 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email to betterway@newmanlearning.com.

The Right People

With growth a business needs to seek out the right people to support that growth. This adds a complexity to the management role which only increases with the prosperity of the organization.

It becomes a bit of “good news – bad news” scenario. The good news is that business has increased enough to require an expansion in staff. The bad news is that if the wrong people are selected they can slow or even halt progress.

Many firms still hire or promote by position title. The identified need is for a manager; supervisor; coordinator; etc. Accordingly, that is the position advertised both internally or externally. Unfortunately specific job requirements for these positions can vary significantly from firm to firm. As a result, applicants may not be the individuals really needed in the position. In selecting the right people it is critical that there first be a clear understanding of what that person is specifically going to be asked to do.

There is also the need to ask the question “how will the employee be behaving in that position, as part of the organization?” Not an easy question to be sure, but definitely worth answering.

One solution to the dilemma is to describe clearly and in specific observable terms exactly what the person hired or promoted needs to do. With that description in hand the position title and job level be clearly determined. You may find it is totally diffent than you had originally thought.

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 4 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email to betterway@newmanlearning.com.

The Right Culture

The culture of a business is often overlooked by leaders. Or if considered at all is thought to be of little consequence. After all, as long as the clients are happy and buying, business is great, right? However, the very question of how successful we will be and for how long lay in our business culture.

According to The Conference Board of Canada – Learning and Development Outlook 2005 report, “Only about a quarter of organizations (28%) believe that risk taking is actively encouraged and supported. Likewise, only 30% feel that failures are constructively discussed.”

This response reflects the lack of an innovative and learning culture in the majority of Canadian organizations. Unless employees are comfortable adapting a different approach to their tasks, they will always do just what they have always done. Unfortunately, with the rapid advance of both technology and competition, “what they have always done” is not good enough. The sales rep who continues to rely on mail for contact with customers will soon be outpaced by the rep using on-line social networks and the internet for connections.

To help determine whether an organization encourages reasoned risk taking, look to the answers to two questions:

• When was the last time an employee presented an improvement to what they do or how they do it?
• Are employees aware of how to document, measure and improve their work processes?

Based on the answer to these two questions, it is possible to identify whether or not the organization has a continuous improvement culture. With a no to either question, the need to change has been identified.

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 3 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email to betterway@newmanlearning.com.

Doing the Right Things

How often have you heard someone say, “I seem to be busier these days but don’t seem to get as much done.” Perhaps this is because the person has identified their measure of success as activities. Many of us do exactly that. We look at what we did today, I.e. made 20 phone calls; answered 35 e-mails; wrote 5 letters; and on and on. It was a busy day. Lots of activities. The question, however, is what were the results achieved?

It is critical to determine up front what measure will be used to determine success. The adage “if you can measure it you can manage it” has never been truer than in today’s fast paced business environment. Measurement is the only way to know whether we’re winning or losing in any given situation. The other option is to have no idea about how we are doing. Which would you prefer?

All too often employees, even ourselves, are asked to perform tasks for the sake of activity. For example, how often is a weekly, monthly activity report that merely gets filed when received, been asked for?
People have, for one reason or another, fallen into the trap of always doing what has always been done. To quote Einstein, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

I get into this concept ever further in Chapter 2 of There Has To Be A Better Way. Request your copy as a comment or send me an email.