First Things FIrst

One of Steven Covey's comments that I like best is that "you have to keep first things first".  What I find is that most people struggle with what that looks like.  Deadlines are similar, importance is ill-defined, and the result is that we have a tendency to just do what we can, without working on most critical tasks first.  

Here are some tips:

1. Start by making sure each task has a deadline.  If you are given one by someone else, then use that.  If not, then set a deadline, one that is realistic, and work within that boundary.
2. Now, look at all the factors that make up importance.  Some of the most common are: who asked, who is affected, the impact of the project, cost, safety, how many are impacted, relevance to mission, and so on, based on your job and your company's mission.
3. Using these qualifiers, give the task/project a rank, on a 1 - 10 scale. 
4. Now, by using the deadline and the importance ranking, you can make an educated decision on what comes first.

Do they sometimes still look the same?  Sure.  It's time to go ask the stakeholder or your manager what is most important.  Tip- don't do that without a thorough examination yourself.

The largest generation, and the difficulties therewith...

If you are a Millenial, or work with, manage or deal with a Millenial, you probably have noticed a disconnect.  Here is a video that will help.  It is worth the watch.
Simon Sinek on Millenials

Ethics in the Workplace

Unethical behavior is one of the largest factors in poor morale in the workplace today. Coworkers and supervisors observe unethical behaviors, and then the offender loses trust and credibility. One of the biggest problems with understanding ethics is the difference of perception of right and wrong, at the core of our ethical belief system.

We grow up in an environment that creates our core value system. Add to that faith beliefs, social modeling, and life experience, and ethics becomes a moving target to understand and implement.

Improving ethics in the workplace environment is based on communication and role modeling. The first level of communication involves training, where employees are helped to understand what the core values of the organization are, why they matter, and what the behavioral expectations are. Without training and the reinforcement of modeling, most people will simply make their own decisions based on their own individual values, not necessarily in line with those of the company they work for. It is up to management  to decide what the core values of the organization are, then to communicate those values to the masses, setting very clear expectations of what ethical behavior looks like, what the impact of these actions are, and what the consequences of violation are.

That's a start-it's a plan. The second step is the communication of that plan to every employee, bottom-to-top, with examples of what great behaviors look like.

The third step is to monitor and evaluate, like should be done with any behavior or policy, to make sure everyone follows the same set of rules. Consistency of application of policy is essential to the success of the program.

People making ethical decisions are more productive, less stressed, and more focused on what it takes to make a business successful.

Interviewing and Selecting the Right Candidate

A client asked me to do a session on interviewing recently, and they asked me to emphasize the selection of the right candidate.  What a request!  One of the most difficult tasks a manager has is hiring the absolute best employees.  Who is it?  What do I do? Am I going to hire the one where the best they ever were is the interview?

First of all, realize that there are factors that will always keep you from making the perfect choice. For one, you don't always know if the candidate is accurately representing their skills or experience- maybe they have just learned how to convince you.  

How do you know they have the right work ethic, or the right fit for your team?  You don't...but you can do some things to getting closer to making the right decision:
1. Prepare well.  Update your job description, by clearly defining the job and its requirements.  Talk to someone you consider really good at the job you're hiring for, and ask them what they would consider a great employee to work beside.
2. Don't be afraid to ask tough questions.  When they tell you they can perform a task, ask them a specific question about how it is done.  
3. Don't be overwhelmed by their charisma.  Sure, it is great to be sitting across from someone that appears perfect- grooming, communication, style, resume- but remember, that can all be formulated to influence you to hire them.
4. Ask soft skills questions about handling customers and difficult situations, or problem-solving scenario questions.
5. Have a second interview in a casual environment, like lunch, to see how they act when they let their guard down - and most will.  People tend to become their true selves when they eat.
6. Prepare a set of standardized questions that you ask of everyone, so that your impressions have a baseline.

It is hard work to hire the right employees.  Taking the time to prepare will save you management hours and dollars down the road.

Good Luck!

There's a new generation in town...

We've talked for a long time now about the 4 generations:
Traditionalists, before WWII
Baby Boomers, their kids
Gen Xers, the Baby Boomers' lost children
and now the Millenials, those born after 1978.

Look out, here come the Gen Z kids, born after 1995, lots of initiative, green-thinking, gender neutral, ultra smart, talented, world-changers.

Get the job...

It is possible, in our economic times, that you are one of the many that are in-between jobs.  Competition can be fierce, and being the 'one' is not always easy.

If you want to be chosen over several other candidates, you have to be different in some way.  Your skills may be similar, your experience may be similar, and there may be other static factors that equate you with the population.  What do?

First, realize that attitude is everything.  Hiring managers look not only for someone that fits the job itself, but the team as well.  Your attitude toward work, life, and even them helps them evaluate the psychological 'fit' for the team.  If they have a stable, coherent team in place, one of their major fears is that they will hire someone radically different, that will disrupt the group.  Your attitude of 'can-do', flexibility, learning aptitude, and your overall sense of work ethic will go a long way towards causing you to look better than the field.

Assess yourself...why should they hire me?  What do I have to offer that sets me apart? Do I smile enough? Do I speak to their personality? Do I radiate confidence without arrogance? 

Would I hire me?

Someone is always watching...

Realize it or not, someone is always watching what you do and what you say, and from that, they develop their perception of who you are, what you stand for, and how good you are as a leader. Great leaders know this. 

In their book "The Leadership Challenge", Kouzes and Pozner identified the 'Five Exemplary Characteristics of Great Leaders', and find through their research that these define the best leaders.

1. Model the way - great leaders are the role model they need to be.  Knowing the impact they make on others that watch and interact with them daily, they use their example to influence.
2. Inspire a shared vision - great leaders know what the organizational vision is, and what their part of that vision looks like.  Then, they make sure that others are just as aware, through communication and the use of the example they portray.
3. Challenge - great leaders challenge at several levels: they challenge themselves to be their best; they challenge others to achieve and succeed; they challenge the process itself, looking at everything they do to make sure it is the best, most innovative, most effective process.
4. Enable others to act - great leaders know that micro management of employees is the worst morale destroyer and de-motivator that exists in the workplace.  Give someone an assignment, the right tools, the right resources, and guidance, and then get out of the way.  Let them do their job, so that they can see their own accomplishments and value.  Don't devalue them by treating them like they know nothing.
5. Encourage the heart - the catalyst to the characteristics is the caring.  great leaders care about whether or not individuals and teams succeed, and not just because it make them look good.  The caring is genuine, heart-felt, real.

If you look closely at what you do, how you act, how you supervise, you will quickly realize how these characteristics are an integral part of all that you do.  Pay attention!  Be the leader you can be.

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Are all employees the same?

Nay, nay!  Employee attitudes, skills, and work ethics vary, but most fall in one of three categories: 
1. Over achievers. 5 - 10% of the workforce are usually those that are internally driven- they'll run over you to do their job. If they need help, they'll ask, if they need resources, they'll find them, if they need training, they'll get it. You can trust them to get the job done. Unfortunately, what we do is overload them, letting them be the 'go-to's', and burning them out, or moving them to category 2. 
2. High Maintenance. 10 - 20% of most workforces are those that are very new, so somewhat confused, burned out because they've lost passion for the job, lost...because they are, or just not any good. This group will take 40 - 60% of your management time. 
3. the Rest. The balance of the group are those individuals that you can depend on. They are always there, on time, working. You trust them. They are the core of the force. Yet, because the other groups need 70 - 80% of your time, they get left out, ignored, left alone when they need coaching, mentoring, supporting, connecting. 

 You must make adequate time for every employee - they all have their specific needs - if you want a cohesive, successful, effective team. Manage your time well, delegate well, stay aware.

(click on pic to enlarge)

What do effective employee goals look like?

So, you have goals that you set for your employee production, and you run your report, discovering that only about 15% of them achieved the goal.  Have you been successful, have they?  Good question.  There are several factors that control whether or not employees can meet goals:

• Do they have the ability?
• Do they have the tools and resources?
• Are the goals realistic? 

If workers have the ability and the tools and resources they need, yet still don't meet the objective, the last factor, realistic goals, plays the biggest part in their success.  If 75% of your employees aren't reaching the goal, odds are the goals are too high, unreachable.  What happens then?  Frustration.  Failure.  Apathy...yes, apathy. Many will think, "if I'm going to get in trouble anyway, why try?" This attitude will become a disease in your organization, and many will fail, and become ineffective employees.  In an ideal environment, 80% will reach reasonable goals, 10% will excel, and 10% will fail no matter what.  Setting goals a very small increment beyond normal production is OK, provided rewards are given for reaching the goals.  People respond best to being recognized for doing their jobs, and being appreciated for doing their jobs well. The saying is, "what's rewarded gets repeated".  

Set specific, realistic, relevant, achievable goals for and with your people, and they will reward you by reaching them and beyond.

Three Questions One Should Ask

If you are concerned about your own success, or the success of someone you manage, there are three questions that really speak to the core:

1. Am I doing the job I am supposed to do?  -An employee is hired to do a specific type of job, and should have the knowledge, skills and experience to do so.

2. Am I doing the job to the best of my ability?  -It is unreasonable to expect the '110%' we often hear of, but quite reasonable to expect someone to give it their absolute best


3. Am I doing the job as well or better than someone else could?  -Work is not competition, but as we assess ourselves and others, using standards help us understand

Formula for failure with employees

no incentive for greatness + no consequences for poorness = no motivation-ness

Employees are stimulated and challenged when they know they will be recognized for a job well done.  They also desparately need to know when they miss the mark, so they can improve.  Fail to do either or both of these, and you set yourself and them up for failure.

Team vs. Individual Accountability

We know that building and leading teams of people is what causes companies to be successful.  How we do that is sometimes very difficult.  I recently saw an example of a manager trying to manage a situation by addressing the issue inappropriately with the whole team, instead of the violators.  

Scenario:  
Fifty or so employees in a warehouse situation, with assigned break times.  A small percentage of the group was taking advantage of the times, leaving early and returning late, as some will.  In the morning meeting, the manager shouts to the group, "we know you are leaving early and returning late from breaks, so just know that we can tell."  

How do the 80% that are responsible, leaving and returning on time, feel about being 'lumped in' with the offenders?  Won't this affect morale?  If the group is addressed as if they are all violators, how many will feel that if they are considered wrong, they'll just be wrong?  By monitoring activity, then addressing only the employees breaking the rules, accountability is supported, and enhanced.  Then, anyone thinking about taking 'wrong steps' will think twice, knowing they'll be confronted.  And, what if we then also took the time to tell the group that follows protocol that we appreciate their compliance? -...They'll work even harder to be great.

Think about it...

Blog update today

Check out my new video on customer service, new fee structure and brochure. 

Thanks!

...learn something everyday, or stagnate.

We will never forget...

12 years ago, tragedy. Use the memory to fuel better life.
 Images here: 

Motivation...

Motivating employees is one of the biggest challenges faced in business today.  Money and fear don't last long, what do you do?  It has been shown that the best influence on people is the use of two characteristics: recognition and appreciation.  

• Recognize that I do my job, don't ignore me or take me for granted. 
• Appreciate me when I excel, now, not later. 

Find reasons to say 'thank you' to your people, on a regular basis.  Human beings crave approval...give it to them...as much as you give negative feedback.

Employee Engagement for Success

A word that is being used a lot in business training now is 'Engagement'. What does that mean? An employee that is engaged:

• is intellectually and emotionally committed to the organization and its goals 
• is loyal to the organization
• takes initiative 
• exceeds expectations 

How engaged are the employees you serve? Polls show that as much as 60% of employees in many corporation today are less than committed to the company where they work. Lack of engagement causes a disconnect between 'want to' and 'have to'...increasing management difficulties, reducing output, creating dissatisfied customers, failure to reach organizational goals, and the loss, mentally or physically, of great employees. 

What do? 

• ask them what motivates them, what they need. Some need more flexibility of time, others more challenging work, many the ability to be involved in the decisions that affect their jobs. 
• learn better communication skills, so that you can clearly help them understand the relevance of their position 
• involve them in day to day operations, allowing them to decide how things are done. 

The involved, aware, valued employee becomes more engaged, and loyal, and committed to the vision.

Perspectives...

Starbucks has a 'blond' blend now, that is smooth...in the airport this morning, I walk up to the Starbucks counter and I say,"I'll have a tall blond and a short brunette." The north African immigrant looks at me with a lost look, and says,"I'm sorry?". We don't all have the same perspective... (the girl behind the counter was smiling and laughing quietly...)

Eat mor chikin...

Chik-fil-A has taken a lot of heat for their stand on homosexuality and same sex marriage.  Some have labeled them 'haters' and 'intolerant'.  I suggest to you that they are following the tenets of what made our country famous...the right to your opinion and beliefs.  Good for them, that they stand up for what they believe in.  More Americans should do that, instead of blaming others for their position.  We are each given the right of choice by our God and our country.  Use it...

Support Chik-fil-A by eating there today!

Let's save America!

It's up to us...tell your congressman to fix the debt...or get fired.