NFL and Social Responsibility

Like many organizations the NFL is involved and leads many great initiatives and certainly appear to have social responsibility as a priority for their organization.  They are involved with an array of foundations, charities and fundraising events to help communities throughout the United States.

Perhaps the biggest opportunity for social responsibility is right underneath their nose.  In week 13 of the NFL season Jevon Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs committed suicide after shooting and killing his girlfriend.  This tragically left their young daughter without a mother and father.  In week 14 Josh Brent of the Dallas Cowboys was in a motor vehicle accident that killed his teammate and best friend.  He was the driver of the vehicle and at the time of the crash was under the influence of alcohol.  The NFL has a history of players (employees) having various social and emotional incidents.  Another unfortunate death occurred in 2009 when Cincinnati Bengal receiver Chris Henry fell out of the back of a truck during a domestic dispute.  Like any other organization they have many outstanding citizens as well.  These two recent incidents certainly cannot be identified as a trend but I have a hard time believing that these are the only two individuals in the NFL who may have benefited from more accountability, leadership and team/NFL support. 

The NFL does not have to go far to look for social responsibility opportunities.  They have an opportunity to help their employees become responsible citizens within their respective organizations and communities.  Focusing on the employee rather than a program can potentially have a greater ripple effect when compared to other initiatives they run.  Although they may help raise large sums of money for different initiatives they could have also potentially saved 2 lives. 

The NFL does offer programs to support its players.  The actually offer an extensive array of support systems for rookies and veterans  The NFL currently has various programs in place to support incoming players as they transition from University to the NFL.  These include: 

- Support services at the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl All Star Games 

- Presentation at the NFL Scouting Combine
- Rookie Symposium

Once a player is in the league the support services continue with programs such as:

- Rookie Success Program
- Former Player Ambassador Groups
- Emergency Counseling
- Various Counseling Services 

Obvious they have an extensive support system in place that is offered to all players.  I believe a possible addition to their current plan should include identifying rookie players who may be considered higher risk.  They can identify those incoming rookies based upon their history in university and high school.  If they notice a trend in behavior they can monitor and support that player beyond what they offer everyone else.  

NFL leadership needs to take serious look at its current support programs and assess their effectiveness.  In addition to this assessment they need to begin identifying players who are high risk.  It is much easier to be proactive rather than reactive when dealing with the lives of employees, family and friends.

  

Born to Lead

Are leaders born or made?

Since I was a child I always seemed to hold leadership roles whether it was as a captain of an athletic team or acting as the lead with a school project.  Participating in athletics requires technical skills and leading a school project requires having a vision, delegating tasks and planning.  So in a sense both of these circumstances are more management related rather than leadership oriented. 

Once I entered the workforce after university I knew that I wanted to lead in some type of capacity.  So being a leader in my organization and entrepreneur today is not a surprise to me.  Although I feel I was meant to lead from a young age my work experience and education in this area has helped significantly.  I now have the capacity to lead on a much higher level and the opportunity to achieve meaningful outcomes.  So I believe I had the foundations to potentially become a great leader however the experiences and knowledge I gained along the way determined the quality to which I can lead.  If it wasn’t for the experience and knowledge would I be comfortable leading and believing I can do more?

 The answer is no, so to answer the question of “Are leaders born or made?” I believe we are born or adopt at a very young age the necessary leadership traits such as intelligence, drive, motivation, honesty, integrity and self-confidence but will seek out what we have to in order to become great leaders within our respective organizations.   

Do you believe leaders are born or adopt the necessary leadership traits at a young age?

Decision-Making Hierarchy "Are you on the bottom?"

In my last post I discussed delegation and the performance of tasks as part of the decision making hierarchy.  I started with delegation first because it is the most often hardest part of the decision making hierarchy.

Assigning tasks is the first step in the decision making hierarchy with any organization.  Two key elements to assigning tasks are responsibility, which is the duty to perform the assigned task and authority, the power to make the decisions necessary to complete the task.  Organizations often do not have problems assigning responsibilities to their employees; however they are often reluctant to give authority.  This can cause inconsistency which may result in the inability to make quick decisions or provide timely solutions.

The responsibility of performing tasks and authority to make decisions varies depending on organizational structure.  For example, in a centralized organization such as McDonalds’ top management retains the right to make most decisions, and top management must approve lower-level decisions before they can be implemented.  With McDonalds operating such a vast number of franchises their centralized organizational approach allows for standard procedures to be maintained at all locations.  However, when decisions are needed to be made in regards to marketing, staffing and other key elements to the franchise approval must come first from upper level management.

Contrary to the centralized organization model a decentralized organization allows lower and mid-level managers to make significant decisions.  This structure allows companies to be more responsive in their environments and breaks the company down into more manageable parts where they have a greater deal of authority with making decisions for their respective units.   This structure can work quite well if the right staff in place.  It allows managers and business unit teams to be innovative when thinking of their product or service and how to improve upon it.  With a decentralized model the company is much more dependent on its people rather than a centralized organization where all decision making is driven by top management. 

Whether or not centralized is better than decentralized I dont know if that can be determined because a lot depends on the organization's structure and culture.  However, I would personally rather be part of a decentralized organiztion which I am.  The ability to be innovative and have the ability to make decisions for our project appeals greatly to me.

“Is your company a centralized or decentralized organization and does it work well for you?”

    

4 Ways to Improve Delegation

As a manager you may sometimes feel overwhelmed with workloads and timelines.  You are responsible for assigning tasks, ensuring tasks are performed and your ability to make swift decisions may be limited by your organizational structure.  These are all processes of the decision-making hierarchy in your organization.  In this post we will look at the “Performing Tasks” process as this area tends to give managers the most difficulty as delegation is required and is most often the hardest to master. 

The decision-making hierarchy in your organization should run smoothly.  However, trouble often occurs when communication between managers and subordinates in regards to delegation and accountability is not clearly defined.  Delegation begins when a manager assigns a task to a subordinate.  Accountability falls to the subordinate, who must then complete the task.

Common Management Characteristic Flaws

Often the managers are not comfortable or confident when delegating to others.  These managers often exhibit several characteristics:

1)     They assume that employees can never do anything as well as they can

2)     They fear that their subordinates will “show the manager up” in front of others by doing a superb job

3)      They want to control everything

4)     They fail to do long-range planning because they are bogged down in day-to-day operations

5)     Are in the dark about industry trends and competitive products because they are too involved in day-to-day operations

Solutions to Common Management Characteristic Flaws

While managers may not display all these characteristics certainly all of us can relate to a few of these over our careers.  Below are some solutions to these common manager characteristic flaws:

1)     Managers should recognize that they cannot do everything themselves

2)     If subordinates cannot do a job, they should be trained so that they can assume more responsibility

3)     Managers should recognize that if a subordinate performs well, it reflects favourably on that employee’s manager

4 Strategies to Improve Delegation

So when you and your team take on the next project consider these 4 strategies to improve delegation.

1)     Decide on the nature of the work to be done

2)     Match the job with the skills of subordinates

3)     Make sure the person chosen understands the objectives he or she is supposed to achieve

4)     Make sure subordinates have the time and training necessary to do the task

What is your most common challenge when delegating work to your team?

Resource: Business, Seventh Canadian Addition, 2011, Pearson Education, Inc.

   

Canadian Entrepreneurship on the Rise

Canadian Press. “Over-50 crows drives up business startups.” Sept. 26, 2012, Hamilton Spectator

According to a new report from CIBC authored by economist Benjamin Tal more than half a million Canadians said they had begun their own business over the past two years, this accounts for 15% of Canada’s labour force, a record number.  The paper reports that unlike the early 1990s and 2008 when recession and layoffs drove people to self employment this increase is a product of people voluntary leaving their jobs for entrepreneurship.

The paper suggests that half of these startups will fail within five years.  These new entrepreneurs are males accounting for almost 70% of all new startups.  Although the majority of startups are male, female lead startups have shown to stay in business longer on average.    

Benjamin Tal reports that several factors are driving this increase in self employment.  He reports these being.

-          Being over 50 (this age group represents 30% of all new start ups)

-          Technology such as the internet make the process easier

-          Outsourcing of corporations to smaller firms

-          Influx of immigrants

Tal reports that older Canadians are more likely to start their own firm because…

-          Work experience

-          Useful contacts

-          Financial means

The report finds that regardless of age and gender the new businesses in the past two years are generally more educated than the average population and are also more educated than previous entrepreneurs.

Question: As a small business owner are you finding success in todays market place  globally/domestically or both?

Link: http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/806015--more-canadians-abandoning-traditional-work-report

Driving Employee Motivation and Engagement

The Hamilton Spectator produces a comprehensive business section 1x per month which includes a section called "The Academic and The Practitioner” In this section they propose a question and someone from the academic world gives their opinion and someone from the business world gives an opinion. 

In the latest edition the question that is asked is "Can you suggest some programs to help motivate and reward staff? Is an official recognition program even helpful?

The Academic
For improving an individual employee's motivation the Academic discusses the obvious reward systems of fair compensation based upon performance.  She also believes it is important to emphasis lifelong learning to employees by creating opportunities to do so with tuition subsidies and training programs. She also goes on to mention that employees are motivated if they have a sense of belonging.

The Practitioner
Motivating people is the responsibility of leaders in the organization according to the Practitioner. She goes on to discuss how regular and consistent feedback to your team is important in order to achieve this.  She discusses how feedback needs to be random and is most effective when it is specific and describes the impact of the behavior on the project, client, team, etc. 

My thoughts…
Companies are realizing the importance of creating a positive work environment which offers unique benefits that recruits and retains top talent.  According to a recent poll of local employees some of these top benefits include an employee fitness centre, onsite daycare and a nap room.

As leader the organization I work for I believe giving regular feedback is important as this allows open communication between me and my team.  I often hear stories of employees who feel like their supervisor’s do not recognize their efforts and contributions to the team.  Giving feedback does not have to take significant amount of time in fact it should be simple gesture of appreciation.  Today there are several technologies that allow for instant feedback and recognition even if employees are working remotely. 

To help know what feedback to give I use a quick questionnaire with my employee which helps me assess their motivational needs.  This questionnaire is based around the McClelland's Human Motivation Theory, which suggests that there are 3 dominant motivators. 

I also believe an engaged employee is a motivated employee.  If you give employees responsibility and the opportunity to be invested in a certain project you are more likely to achieve your desired outcomes which will help contribute to the organizations success.

Below is a link to an overview of the McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/human-motivation-theory.htm

How do you motivate your employees or how are you motivated as an employee?

Leading a "Community"

By no means do I feel I have an understanding of US or foreign politics and would not do well in any political debate with my peers.  However, I do feel I can do a decent job of leading various teams and working within a group.  I understand what is required to lead and be successful.  The Republican Convention has started to get me thinking of what it takes to be a great leader in a community.

 The Republican Convention in Florida is a reminder of how quickly November is approaching.  At this time America will be choosing their leader for the next 4 years.  Both gentleman are well educated, have various experiences in business and government.  On paper either one would seem like a decent choice.  However, even the best candidates on paper do not prove to be inspirational leaders who inspire greatness and action.  I am sure this is the case in many work places.  Those who have extensive backgrounds in education with exceptional technical skills may not translate to great managers/supervisors.    

Whether your organization is small or large even as big as 300 million people I believe the leaders need to create a sense of community.  By definition community is a unified body of individuals.  With this we may be part of several communities in our daily lives.  We are part of our communities in which we live in, where we work, various organizations we belong to, etc.  Based upon what I saw at the Republican Convention they are on the wrong path to creating a "community" and I don’t expect anything less from the upcoming Democratic Convention. 

By creating a sense of “community" in your organization you will create engaged followers who work towards a common goal.  Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors will influence your followers to drive towards your organizational goals.  As a leader of a "community" you need to understand the residents/employees from the lowest level workers to the executive team.  You need to be able to inspire everyone in your community and let them know that their existence on the team is crucial to the "community’s" success. 

Here are 3 ways to create a sense of “community” within your organization.

1)      Hold each employee responsible to the organization’s success

-          This will demonstrate that you trust every member of your team which will increase employee engagement dramatically

2)       Don’t try to lead on your own

-          Empower others by identifying exceptional leaders within your organization and give them the responsibility of forming specific committees that align with the organization’s mission and vision

3)      Share      

-          Include your employees in monthly, quarterly and yearly reports.  Even go beyond this and use social media to update employees on the developments of various projects and individual successes    

In what ways do you create a sense of “community” within your organization?

Creating "Present" Employees

I have discussed being "present" in earlier posts and thought I would give you an example of a time when I had to deal with a team member who was not being what I considered "present" when working with a client.

I work as a fitness coordinator for an employee wellness company.  Part of the services we offer includes personal training which is highly used and regarded as an excellent benefit to the employees because of the quality of service they get.  We have been able to accomplish such great service because we continuously attempt to make every appointment an extraordinary experience for our members. 

When my team is on the floor working with clients I should hear them giving feedback both corrective and positive.  This feedback should be specific to the client’s technique and also provide encouragement and motivation allowing them to push beyond their normal limits.  We build great relationships between the members and training staff because of our attentiveness and high level of engagement with each individual.

However, I had one co-op student who had yet to adapt our culture of customer service excellence.  The student seemed disengaged at times when working with the members.  At one point the employee was on their phone while conducting a training session. 

I needed to step in and correct this individual’s behaviour as it clearly did not meet our expectations in regards to customer service and member experience.  Instead of directly correcting this individual I decided I would first tell a story because everyone is able to connect with stories.  This is the email I sent to all my staff in regards to being “present”

Happy Friday Everyone,

I wanted to share something with everyone as it will help us when communicating with each other as well as when working with clients/members.  I recently finished a great book called Fish, written by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen.  I highly recommend it as it is a quick read and can help anyone with personal and workplace relationships. 

In the book it talks about being present which is essentially being fully engaged in your work or conversation with someone.  After reading about this I questioned myself “am I fully present at work or when talking to my wife” and the answer was “no” not all the time.  I know there have been times when I was talking to a co-worker or member over the phone and I was reading my emails, so was I fully engaged in the current moment and giving it the respect it truly deserved? Answer is “no”

This is a minor example but something I personally want to change.  This leads me into something more important which is being fully present with clients when we are teaching a class or on the floor conducting a personal training session.  I have seen personal trainers at large commercial facilities training clients and these trainers are looking at their phone or talking to coworkers and are totally ignoring the customer.  This client was a paying customer and this was the service she was getting? I thought “You have to be kidding me” This person was not present and focused on the customer they were internally focused.  Being a great trainer does not necessarily mean having extraordinary technical skills, but rather devoting full attention to your client and giving the respect and attention they deserve.  This will help build a relationship that will foster confidence and trust. 

Below are examples of what I would consider being “present” with a client.

Giving corrective feedback

Giving reinforcing/positive feedback

Asking questions in regards to intensity

Providing Motivation

Making sure the client can transition into the next exercise without delay

Below are examples of what I would consider not being “present” with a client.

On the cell phone

Talking to other staff members

Not knowing which exercise is next in the program

Not knowing where the client is in regards to reps

So going forward I would like to do the following items as a team to be more “present” with each other as well as members/clients

Leave cell phones in the office/never have them on the floor with you

Avoid reading emails when talking to co-workers or members

Provide corrective & positive feedback when teaching and training

When conducting meetings close the door

So please ask yourself this question are you being present with clients, classes, co-workers and family?  I did this and it has changed the way I work, talk to my wife and family.  It’s not a ground breaking idea just something everyone tends to take for granted which is being “present”

If you have made it down to this point in the email without talking to someone over the phone thank you for being present!

If you have any ideas on how to be more present please don’t hesitate to share!

What approach would have you taken to correct this individuals behaviour?

Relevant Example of Emotional Intelligence (EI)

I like to provide real life experiences that are related to the topics covered in my blog. I had a recent customer service experience with a Koodo Mobile Representative who demonstrated a high level emotional intelligence (EI) when dealing with my request.

After a few months of putting off getting a new phone my wife finally convinced me it was time to do so.  I was using an old Samsung Flip Phone which was working perfectly fine but obviously did not have the abilities of the new smart phones.  In order to switch plans and get a new phone we went to a Telus Retail Store at one of our local malls.  Our experience at Telus was great I picked a new phone, switched plans and did all the things necessary to complete the transaction.  Then there was the final item which was transferring my old contacts to my new phone.  I did not have with me what was required to do so therefore the Telus representative suggested I go down to the Koodo Retail Kiosk and get the required permission from them so Telus could access my contacts through Koodo.  I thought no problem.  Well the kiosk was very busy but when I arrived at the Kiosk I was greeted by a friendly smile who asked “How may I help?”  I told the representative what I needed and they said “no problem, all I need from you is ID.”  This would have not been a problem if the account was not under my wife’s name.  The Koodo representative could obviously tell I was frustrated based upon my tone of voice and other non verbal ques.  I went back to get my wife who was at the Telus Store so she could get the required information from Koodo to complete the contact transfer.  When we returned to the Koodo Kiosk it was still busy but the Koodo Representative who had helped me earlier attended to us immediately and had all the required paperwork printed off ready for us.    

This employee has a high EI based upon the Mayer & Salovey Model where emotional intelligence is described as the ability to perceive, express, understand and regulate emotions.  Not only does she have this ability but she also has the ability to act quickly to make decisions to help resolve problems which is part of emotional intelligence. 

If you are a manager/ leader in your workplace and customer service is a key performance objective please talk to your teams about EI and offer resources and support to help them improve in this area.  Providing great customer service requires employees to perceive, express, understand and regulate emotions.  Once they have done this they need to act in a timely manner to the customer’s request.  By enabling your employees to be customer service all stars you will develop & maintain  loyal customer group.      

  

Emotional Intelligence-Salovey & Mayer Model

Many supervisors achieve their management position because they have shown great technical skill or/and have significant experience working within a company.  As these are characteristics you would like to see in a manager the success of someone in a management role goes beyond technical skills and experience.  There are numerous other attributes that an individual needs to be an effective manager.  One of these other attributes is emotional intelligence which is a set of skills that enable a person to skillfully manage interactions with others where emotion is involved.


From the above definition I think it is fair to say that in order to be a great manager or leader a certain level of emotional intelligence needs to be held in order to run an effective team.  Become a better leader and manager by knowing the different models of emotional intelligence and how yours.


Below is the first post of 4 on emotional intelligence.  In this post I will review the model developed by Peter Salovey and Jack Mayer.  


Salovey and Mayer’s model

Three main models of emotional intelligence exist.  Lets first start with with the men who coined the term "emotional intelligence.  Peter Salovey and Jack Mayer created the term "emotional intelligence" a.k.a "EQ" to describe a specific set of abilities that can be used when faced with a situation involving confrontation or disagreement.  They best described emotional intelligence as:

"The ability to to perceive emotion, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional meanings and to reflectively regulate emotions in ways that promote emotional and intellectual growth"

These gentleman believed that emotional intelligence was a cognitive ability and is composed of two areas: experimental (ability to perceive, respond, and manipulate emotional information without necessarily understanding it)  and strategic (ability to understand and manage emotions without necessarily perceiving feelings well or fully experiencing them)

From here these two areas are broken down into four branches.  The first branch is emotional perception, which is the ability to be self-aware of emotions and to express emotions and emotional needs accurately to others.  It also includes the ability to distinguish between honest and dishonest emotion.  The second branch, emotional assimilation is the ability to distinguish among the different emotions one is feeling and to identify those that are influencing their thought processes.  The third branch, emotional understanding, is the ability to understand complex emotions (such as feeling two emotions at once) and the ability to recognize transitions from one to the other. Lastly, the fourth branch, emotion management, is the ability to connect or disconnect from an emotion depending on its usefulness in a given situation.

To test your emotional intelligence take the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test to see where you stand and where your strengths and areas of growth lie.  In my next post I will review Dr. Reuven Bar-On model of emotional intelligence.


References:

A Review of the Emotional Intelligence Literature and Implications for Corrections, Yvonne Stys & Shelley L. Brown, Research Branch Correctional Service of Canada
Mohawk College's Performance Management Participant Guide

Goal Setting Process

In an earlier post I had discussed the S.M.A.R.T acronym for goal setting.  Using this acronym will help make sure that your goals are specific, measurable. achievable, relevant and have a time frame.  Now I will go into greater depth and discuss the goal setting process.

Step 1: Determine the Purpose
Goals are achievement oriented so the first thing to do is determine the achievement that is targeted.  The choices fall into two categories.
     Goals that have a direct relationship with a business objective
     Goals that are related to an employee's personal development

Goals that have a direct relationship with a business objective will be a extrinsic measure as the outcome is determined by someone other than the employee.  So specific measurable targets will be set for the employee that align with the business objectives and if achieved can result in financial rewards.   For goals that are related on achievement of a personal objectives it is expected that the employee will demonstrate new or increased competence with his/her behaviors.  Intrinsically driven goals are harder to measure as its more subjective rather than an objective measure.


Step 2: Developed a Detailed Outline
This is the step when you would use the S.M.A.R.T acronym to start developing goals.  Remember to get employee input during this process as this will gain their commitment and loyalty in achieving the goals.

Step 3: Communicate to the Employee: Plan the Meeting to Set Goals 
The purpose of the meeting is to review the goals with the employee and give them the opportunity to comment.  Given them advance notice of the meeting and the goals to be reviewed will allow them to think about their goals and prepare ahead of time.  If the employee is not included in the goal setting process than they may be less committed to the goals which could lead to less drive.  


Step 4: Meet with the Employee


One of the most important steps in the goal setting process is gaining employee commitment to the established goals.  Without their input to the development of goals they will not have the drive necessary to achieve them because they may feel that they are unrealistic based upon being achievable or/and time frame.

Step 5: Record the Final Agreement 
Recording the agreed upon goals is important to avoid any misunderstanding in the future.  It also serves as a reference point when developing goals in the future.  Lastly, when it comes time for their performance review the goals can be used to measure the employee's performance objectively, which will be needed when deciding compensation.

Good luck with these guidelines and I hope they are of use when setting goals for your employees.

The Evolution of the Motivation Theory

As managers we can prepare our employees the best we can by articulating goals and objectives.  However, this will not do you nay good if the employee is not motivated.  If we look at what motivation is it is the forces within a person that drives direction, intensity and persistence to accomplish "voluntary" behavior.  It is no secret how important motivation is and the views on motivation have grown and developed over time much like anything else.  Below is a look back at some earlier motivational theories.

In the 1800's a concept called "scientific management" was developed by an American engineer by the name of Frederick Taylor.  The belief with this system was that the best way to accomplish a job should be determined so it can be repeated by all employees who do that job.  So this theory assumed that there was only one way to complete the job as fast as possible and therefore all employees needed to follow the same protocol.  

In the 1960's a gentleman by the name of Douglas McGregor created two theories on motivation.  First, he created Theory X, which suggests that people are prone to being lazy and cannot be trusted to work hard unless under direct supervision.  He later came of with another theory that went against his first opinion on motivation.  With this theory he called it Theory Y and it suggested under the right conditions people are are willing to work hard, accept responsibility and can be self directed to meet workplace expectations.  

Abraham Maslow suggested that people were motivated to behave in response to satisfying hierarchy of needs.

     Physiological needs 

     The need for safety and security

     The need for love and belonging

     The need for self-esteem

     The need for self-actualization 

Maslow's Theory helps explain what drives behavior however has been criticized because of the assumptions that the needs follow a specific hierarchy.   

The Expectancy Theory created by Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management, assumes that people make conscious choices based upon expected outcomes.  These choices are impacted by knowledge, skill, experience and personality.  The intrinsic and extrinsic rewards associated with particular choices also shapes the employee's decision.

The importance of motivation has been known for a long time however it took time to find out how best to use motivation to engage and maximize their performance.  If you have selected the right person, set expectations and have created a motivating environment you will have an engaged employee who is committed to the organization.     

As managers we have to trust that our team are the right fit for their roles and that we have made expectations clear for each employee.  It is our responsibility as managers to ensure we create a motivating environment where the employee is able to align their internal drives with the expectations of the organization. 

  

Is Your Company's Performance Management System Broken?

I am sure the majority of companies have some sort of performance management process in place.  So typically  its not do you have a system in place but is your system effective.  To find this answer lets first look at what is a performance management system.

A Performance Management System provides structure and processes to the activities and interactions between a supervisor and an employee.  Which relates to the achievement of goals and expectations.  Below are examples of what makes for an effective and productive performance management system.
     Employee Input/self-assessment
     Completed on a regular basis
     Performance tied into reward system
     Manager Buy In
     Relevant to employee's job responsibilities

To help see if your company's performance management system is adequate ask yourself the following questions.
    Are employee's performance improving on a regular basis?
    Do employee's talents and skills match their role in the organization?
    Are employees engaged?
    Is the training employees receive preparing them for their responsibilities?
    Is employee performance related to compensation and recognition?

I hope this offers you the frame work to get started and start shaping your company's Performance Management System if it needs fixing.

"Whatever you are, be a good one" - Abraham Lincoln


   


   

Goal Setting

As a manager you are responsible for developing your employees and helping them strive towards reaching their full potential.  A major part of this development process is goal setting.  When goal setting their are several models that you can use to ensure that the goals are practical for your employees growth.  In this blog I will talk about the acronym S.M.A.R.T., which, is a simple and effective way to approach goal setting.  You can use this method in the following way:

Specific- Goals need to be specific.  Establishing specific development goals can be hard but think of the desired behavior and how it can be measured.  I find setting ranges rather than specific targets because a employee may fall just short of a specific target and view it as a failure.  However, by setting reasonable ranges you can ensure the employee builds confidence and succeeds when they attain it.  For example, you you want an employee to meet a specific sales target of 8% you can set a range of 6-12% is their goal.  

Measurable- If your employees goals are not measurable it can cause disagreements and resentment come performance review time.  Setting a general goal of "increasing sales" will not be very motivating to the employee nor will it significantly support company objectives.  So ask yourself  "Can I measure how much or how little the employee met the stated personal objective?" If the answer is "no" than its time to start reviewing goals and setting new ones.  

Achievable- Goals need to be reasonable but challenging.  However, if unrealistic goals are set the employee will feel like they have been set up for failure and will unlikely try to achieve the desired outcomes.  This is where setting ranges can be helpful as they allow you flexibility in the goal where if they are slightly below the expected outcome the employee does not feel bad and get discouraged.  

Relevant- Goals need to support the company's/project's objective.  Ensuring both management and the employee are familiar with the business model will help with creating relevant goals. 

Time Framed- Setting goals with a reasonable time frame will provide clarity to the goal for the employee.  Setting a specific target date will help hold the employee accountable and provide a little positive pressure.  

Remember goals are important for employee growth.  Disregarding goals will only make your employees stagnant and will lead to a workplace culture of mediocre.

Good luck and get to it!        

  

Identifying Competencies for High Performance

In my last post I discussed putting together a job description that included accountabilities and competencies.  I thought I would focus this post on competencies as these are the things needed for success in a role. 

Competency can be defined as: “any knowledge, skill, trait, motive, attitude, value or other personal characteristic that is essential to perform the job and that differentiates superior from solid performance.

Competencies for each position in your workplace will vary based upon the nature of the tasks, duties and expected behaviors.

Below is a sample list of competencies: (highlighted in bold are key competencies for managers)

Ability to learn

Achievement, accountability & drive for results

Adaptability/flexibility

Business Acumen

Communication

Creativity and Innovation

Critical Thinking

Customer Focus

Initiative 

Judgment & Decision Making   

Leadership

People Management

Planning & Organization

Process Improvement

Project Management

Self Control

Strategic Thinking & Vision

Teamwork/Relationship Building

Competencies are important because they provide the framework for what is needed to be successful.  They describe the “soft skills” required by the employee in order to achieve a superior performance.  As managers we can use competencies to our advantage when hiring.  An opening at your company will bring in candidates with similar job experiences and technical skills. Competencies can be used to identify which candidates will ultimately be the best fit for the company and in doing so will help improve employee retention and performance.  

The above list of competencies are just a few that can be used please review your workplace job profiles and see if competencies are part of the job description, if not getting moving to make it happen!

Developing Effective Job Descriptions

At times I like to view job postings on an array of employment websites to see how they are structured and if they give a clear description of the role and expectations.  I often find them to be lengthy, wordy and the description and expectations get loss in the posting.  Having a clear, detailed and simple job description will go a long way in ensuring that you get the right person for the job.  Below I will review the 3 key components of a job description.

3 key components of a job description
1) Why are you doing it? (summary profile)
2) What is expected (duties)
3) How to meet competencies

Knowing what accountabilities and competencies are will help ensure you have a well structured job description


Accountabilities 
- key responsibilities outlined in that job
- "buckets" that each task/duty fit into


Competency 
- is the behavior needed in order to perform the job
- e.g. critical thinking, people management


A simple way to remember accountabilities and competency is, This is what you have to do (accountabilities) this is what you need to do it (competencies)

Good Luck and Happy Job Posting!

Gaining Manager Buy In for Performance Reviews

As I mentioned in an earlier post annual performance reviews can sometimes be viewed more as a chore and a mandate from HR.  So if you want your company’s performance review to mean more than just a 20 minute sit down with a manager you need buy in from the top down.  If your managers do not buy-into your company’s performance review system neither will the rest of the employee work force, which can lead to poor employee engagement. 

Managers who do not believe in the annual performance review usually do so because of the following items. 

1)     Irrelevant to business objectives

2)     Time consuming and confusing

3)     Lack of training

4)     Past Experiences

5)     Lack of action after review process

These are all reasonable reasons to frown upon the performance review.  However, solutions do exist for these issues..    

If a manager is going through the review process and is consistently checking off the not applicable (N/A) check box then the employee’s performance review system needs to be reevaluated.  Changes need to occur in order to meet the company’s business objectives or so that its relevant to their current position with the company.

I have heard of performance reviews being15-20 pages in length which is crazy it can take that much paperwork to figure out whether or not the employee is meeting expectations.  The length and process alone makes people avoid performance reviews managers and employees alike.  Making the performance review system lean,efficient, and accurate must be priorities in gaining employee buy-in. 

Many managers may not have the confidence or training to conduct performance reviews with their team members, which can result in negative feelings towards the process.  Providing your managers with the necessary training or resources to become confident in their performance management skills will enable them to conduct effective performance reviews. 

If you already have an adequate performance review system in place but do not have a willing manager then it does not matter how great of a system it is if they are not accepting of it.  Their unwillingness to accept the performance management system may be due to a prior experience with a supervisor who did not buy-in with system.  Educating them on the benefits of the performance review system and how it can help them run a more productive team can help gain their support and acceptance.

The best performance reviews can only make the employee better if action is taken once the review is completed.  If employees are recognized for outstanding work they completed during the year they are more likely to continue with these habits as they are happy that their efforts have not gone unrecognized.  If an employee is lacking competencies required for their position a plan needs to be put in place in order to make sure the employee receives the required training.  Employees will recognize that you are committed to them through providing them with various development opportunities.  They will motivated to use their new training in order to help contribute to the companies objectives. 

Performance Management Process

Many workplaces despise the annual performance review and see it as a chore rather than an opportunity to improve their team.  These feelings stem from comprehensive reviews that are time consuming, confusing and at times seem irrelevant to the business objectives.  If this is your company’s culture and feelings toward annual reviews a much needed performance review system overhaul is needed!

First, we need to look at what is performance management and how it relates to the annual performance review.  As a manager we are responsible for helping employees achieve goals and expectations through the development of a positive relationship and work environment that will allow the person to perform to the best of their abilities.  Performance management and your annual review is not an event but rather an ongoing process.

Some common issues that exist with problematic performance management systems include…

Lack of management buy-in

Performance objectives are set w/out employee input/feedback

Employees are unaware of expectations

Outcome/follow up from appraisal is never taken

If these issues exist with your current performance management system a much needed overhaul of your system is needed!

In coming posts I will review solutions for these common issues and help you begin running an efficient and productive team based around sound performance management principles.  

Resource Recommendation

Once in a while I will provide you with a book that I recommend because I have found it useful and valuable to use.  So my hope is it can have the same effect for you!

The Trainer in You! 

Its a title of a great book I have used within the last 6 months to help me design and deliver dynamic workshops specifically with Powerpoint.  Here is a brief overview of what the book is about.

Do you want to...
- Motivate adults with ease using an 8-step training cycle
- Take any topic and turn it into a high-impact workshop
- Discover more than 75 proven training techniques

These are only a few things you will take away from the book which can be applied beyond presentations and into everyday work situations such as meetings or team building exercises.

So check it out!

Title: The Trainer in You, How to Design & Deliver Dynamic Workshops
Author:  Hugh Phillips