Wednesday, August 31, 2011
True or False: Most Employees want to do a good job every day.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
We'd love to hear your thoughts.....
What if Employees Reviewed Their Managers?
Over the years I have written a lot of performance reviews,
received a number of reviews, and read a lot of reviews written about my
clients. Performance reviews can provide valuable feedback to an employee, identifying
areas for development, supporting the employee’s strengths, and positioning the
employee for future growth. Of course, some performance reviews are better than
others. For every well written, informative employee review there is one with a
poorly written, unclear message that is full of grammatical errors, misspelled
words, and improper syntax all targeting the employee’s poor communication
skills.
Or, the review might point out the lack of customer focus in the employee’s daily work, which might be meaningful if the author of the review was not well known for routinely mocking customer requests.
I could go on but I think the message is clear. In some cases the manager writing the review may not be the best person to comment on the employee’s skills. It might be because they are unqualified to comment, or it might be that the skills required are not actually being modeled by the manager. In either case, the result might be a review that is somewhat less than helpful to the employee.
But this scenario made me wonder what would happen if we allowed employees to routinely provide performance reviews to their manager. Obviously the employees would not be qualified to rate their managers in all categories, but they could certainly provide valuable insights into key indicators like “matching employee talents and skills to job requirements”, “creates a motivating environment”, and “managing the workload”.
By providing feedback to their managers on these key categories, employees could help their managers uncover the blind spots that are holding them back in their career. It would also provide a mechanism for feedback to management that is clearly lacking in today’s business world.
Imagine how those managers who today routinely abuse employees might behave differently if they knew that these same employees would be providing input that would be reviewed by their boss. Managers who routinely make rash, arbitrary decisions might be inclined to rethink their behavior knowing that these decisions would be readily reviewed.
A few companies today use 360° reviews to get input from their managers. This does provide a mechanism for employees to provide valuable feedback to the company. But most companies who perform these reviews do them only once every couple of years and they lack a clear mechanism for follow through.
So let’s ask the question: For all levels of the organization should the employees be allowed to provide input into their manager’s reviews? What do you see as the pros and cons of allowing such input?
I’ll be interested in reading your thoughts.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Or, the review might point out the lack of customer focus in the employee’s daily work, which might be meaningful if the author of the review was not well known for routinely mocking customer requests.
I could go on but I think the message is clear. In some cases the manager writing the review may not be the best person to comment on the employee’s skills. It might be because they are unqualified to comment, or it might be that the skills required are not actually being modeled by the manager. In either case, the result might be a review that is somewhat less than helpful to the employee.
But this scenario made me wonder what would happen if we allowed employees to routinely provide performance reviews to their manager. Obviously the employees would not be qualified to rate their managers in all categories, but they could certainly provide valuable insights into key indicators like “matching employee talents and skills to job requirements”, “creates a motivating environment”, and “managing the workload”.
By providing feedback to their managers on these key categories, employees could help their managers uncover the blind spots that are holding them back in their career. It would also provide a mechanism for feedback to management that is clearly lacking in today’s business world.
Imagine how those managers who today routinely abuse employees might behave differently if they knew that these same employees would be providing input that would be reviewed by their boss. Managers who routinely make rash, arbitrary decisions might be inclined to rethink their behavior knowing that these decisions would be readily reviewed.
A few companies today use 360° reviews to get input from their managers. This does provide a mechanism for employees to provide valuable feedback to the company. But most companies who perform these reviews do them only once every couple of years and they lack a clear mechanism for follow through.
So let’s ask the question: For all levels of the organization should the employees be allowed to provide input into their manager’s reviews? What do you see as the pros and cons of allowing such input?
I’ll be interested in reading your thoughts.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Fallacy of Performance Appraisals: Birds Gotta Swim and Fish Gotta Sing!
During a recent radio interview I was asked about the tendency in the business world to focus on employees’ weaknesses rather than their strengths. This, of course, led to a discussion about Performance Appraisals and what their real purpose is. Most major companies today provide their employees with an annual review of their performance through a formal “Performance Review” process. This process generally involves a manager completing a highly detailed and often subjective document about each employee’s performance and display of “skills” that supposedly relate to their jobs. These forms are quite generic and the managers often receive little, if any, training as to how these reviews will actually enhance employees’ skills. The “Performance Review” is then based off of this form and, often, consists of a short discussion on what an employee has done well followed by a lengthy and well documented review of “opportunity areas” or “areas of potential development” for the employees.
The Performance Appraisal process is certainly a well intentioned one that often seems to fall short of its intended mark. Instead of helping employees grow and prosper in an organization, they often sidetrack employees from making great progress by focusing on perceived weaknesses and ignoring the employee’s strengths. This leads to an intense focus on an area where little progress can be made and ignores the employee’s greatest area of potential growth.
In this discussion I began to think of that old adage “Birds gotta sing and fish gotta swim”. I started to wonder what would happen if the animal kingdom performed Performance Appraisals the way the business world did. Picture the lion, the king of the jungle calling in the Nightingale for its annual performance appraisal.
“Overall you’ve had a pretty good year, Ms. Nightingale. Your songs are well known and appreciated by a vast audience. But, if you want to get ahead in the animal kingdom we’re going to need to spend some time on some of your other skills. For example, your hunting consists of a few small bugs and some worms. You need to think bigger. Over the next year, focus on taking down a monkey or two. That should help build your strength as a hunter and position you for future growth. Oh, and I’ve assigned the Sea Bass to help you with your aquatic skills. Learning to swim should really round you out.”
Does that sound a little silly to you? It might. But in reality, it is no sillier than taking a good accountant with no desire for leadership and assigning them the lead on some inter-departmental task force with the idea of developing their untapped skills. It’s one thing if the accountant has a desire to move up the chain and wants to stretch in new directions. It’s quite another thing if they don’t.
I once worked for an executive who was absolutely brilliant. He was a visionary with a creative mind and that rare ability to take widely disparate topics and find how they might mesh together.
But he couldn’t spell.
He couldn’t spell to save his life.
Fortunately, he was older and missed most of our well-intended but highly ineffective process of focusing on people’s weaknesses. Otherwise, I fear that his brilliance might have been overlooked and his weakness in spelling might have sidetracked his entire career.
Birds don’t have to swim to be the best bird possible. Nor do fish have to learn to sing. Before you sit down for your next set of Performance Appraisals identify whatever it is that your employees do well and figure out how to build those skills and make them more beneficial to the team.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
The Performance Appraisal process is certainly a well intentioned one that often seems to fall short of its intended mark. Instead of helping employees grow and prosper in an organization, they often sidetrack employees from making great progress by focusing on perceived weaknesses and ignoring the employee’s strengths. This leads to an intense focus on an area where little progress can be made and ignores the employee’s greatest area of potential growth.
In this discussion I began to think of that old adage “Birds gotta sing and fish gotta swim”. I started to wonder what would happen if the animal kingdom performed Performance Appraisals the way the business world did. Picture the lion, the king of the jungle calling in the Nightingale for its annual performance appraisal.
“Overall you’ve had a pretty good year, Ms. Nightingale. Your songs are well known and appreciated by a vast audience. But, if you want to get ahead in the animal kingdom we’re going to need to spend some time on some of your other skills. For example, your hunting consists of a few small bugs and some worms. You need to think bigger. Over the next year, focus on taking down a monkey or two. That should help build your strength as a hunter and position you for future growth. Oh, and I’ve assigned the Sea Bass to help you with your aquatic skills. Learning to swim should really round you out.”
Does that sound a little silly to you? It might. But in reality, it is no sillier than taking a good accountant with no desire for leadership and assigning them the lead on some inter-departmental task force with the idea of developing their untapped skills. It’s one thing if the accountant has a desire to move up the chain and wants to stretch in new directions. It’s quite another thing if they don’t.
I once worked for an executive who was absolutely brilliant. He was a visionary with a creative mind and that rare ability to take widely disparate topics and find how they might mesh together.
But he couldn’t spell.
He couldn’t spell to save his life.
Fortunately, he was older and missed most of our well-intended but highly ineffective process of focusing on people’s weaknesses. Otherwise, I fear that his brilliance might have been overlooked and his weakness in spelling might have sidetracked his entire career.
Birds don’t have to swim to be the best bird possible. Nor do fish have to learn to sing. Before you sit down for your next set of Performance Appraisals identify whatever it is that your employees do well and figure out how to build those skills and make them more beneficial to the team.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Top 5 Myths of Leadership
There are whole libraries full of books on leadership, as
well as countless magazine articles and an increasing number of blog articles. Many
of these mediums contain exactly the same message or messages, but in some
rather unique ways. Some try and identify THE most important aspect of
leadership, while others talk about the various components of leadership and
how all are critically important. With all that has been written about
leadership you would assume that most leaders, especially new leaders, would
quickly come to grasp the fundamentals required to lead their teams. None the
less, myths about leadership not only exist, but appear to be growing. Perhaps
this is because companies have laid off experienced managers and replaced them
with younger, less experienced managers in a misguided attempt to save money. Or
perhaps it is a lack of good role models in leadership that fosters the myths. But
in any event, myths and misconceptions about leadership abound.
Below are 5 myths about leadership that I experience most often as a coach. These top 5 do not come from a scientific survey with thousands of responses, but from my personal experience. See if these myths match up with the things that you experience most often.
1. Management is the same as leadership
Below are 5 myths about leadership that I experience most often as a coach. These top 5 do not come from a scientific survey with thousands of responses, but from my personal experience. See if these myths match up with the things that you experience most often.
1. Management is the same as leadership
Too many people (myself included)
have a tendency to interchange the terms management and leadership. The result
is that we are unable to distinguish between one’s ability to manage a process and
their ability to lead people. Managing a process requires the intelligence and
logic to understand the process, identify the shortcomings, and hopefully
resolve them. The results are easily identifiable and measurable. Leading
people, on the other hand, requires an ability to identify and communicate
fuzzy concepts like vision and values, a willingness to live in the gray area
of human values, and an understanding of the illogical nature of human beings.
These concepts could not be more
different, yet the confusion remains.
2. Leadership cannot be learned
We often hear about someone’s
natural leadership abilities and how someone has been a leader their entire
life. Likewise, we associate certain personality traits with leadership and
believe that the lack of these traits means a lack of leadership abilities. The
reality is that some people ARE natural leaders. The skills required to
influence people come quite naturally to them. But the key here is that
leadership is not a talent, it’s a skill. And, like any skill, it can be learned.
It may not be easy for some people to learn and implement the skills of
leadership, but it is not impossible. With the right guidance and assistance, any
person can become a leader.
3. Leadership means controlling and manipulating others
Leadership is about influencing
others and having them want to do the things you need them to do. Leaders have
the ability to appeal to their followers and create a desire to achieve the
common goals. It is about creating an environment of motivation and passion for
the followers. Leaders create a feeling of openness and belonging. On the other
hand, some people believe that leading is about making someone do what they
don’t want to do. They use threats and intimidation to get things done. They
believe that using their “power” is leading. But forcing someone to do
something against their will is not leadership or motivation, it’s coercion. And
coercion is not leadership.
4. The leader is always the smartest person in the room
There is no question that leaders
tend to be intelligent people. And certainly there are times when the leader IS
the smartest person in the room. But, a real leader understands their own
limitations and focuses on the goals and vision of the organization. They
realize that they don’t have all of the answers. And, in doing so, they
routinely surround themselves with the smartest people they can find, listen to
them, and meld those ideas in with their own. The only way that the leaders are
the smartest people in the room is in the realization that they are NOT the
smartest people in the room.
5. Titles create leaders
This may be the most common myth of
leadership. And, this myth is common at all levels of the organization. But
whether the title is “Team Leader” or “Sr. Vice President”, leadership cannot
be bestowed through a title. The reason is quite simple. For someone to be a
leader, they must have followers. And, while a Sr. Vice President might have
staff below them, there is no guarantee that the staff is actually following
the leader. If you want to identify the leader in any organization, simply
check and see who the team turns to and who they listen to. That is your
leader, regardless of their title.
There you have my “Top 5 Myths of Leadership”. I would
certainly be interested in hearing your thoughts about the myths that you most
commonly see.
I hope that you enjoyed this
article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity
and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of
training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments
allows us to create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until
next time.....
Dave
Meyer
ECI
Learning Systems, LLC
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Where Does Engagement Come From?
Employee engagement can be a funny thing. Like motivation, you can’t cause someone else to get engaged in their job, but you can create an atmosphere that encourages and fosters engagement. Without buy-in from above, engagement rarely happens. But true employee engagement in a “make it or break it” form comes from the employee themselves and from their immediate managers.
Numerous studies on employee engagement reveal what the employees want and expect from both their managers and from the job itself. And, while employees have grown more and more cynical about their jobs over the last 20 years, they really don’t want to be that way. Like a person who has had their heart broken in love too many times, they’ve become cautious and tainted, reserving judgment about their feelings until they are sure they won’t be hurt again. Convince them that your desire for engagement is real and lasting and they will buy in. But first, you have to know what they want and be willing to demonstrate that you believe in it also.
What do employees want from their managers?
Managers who take this approach with their employees are creating an environment that is conducive to employee engagement. When employees recognize this they become more open to the idea of getting engaged in their work. But there are additional factors that employees want from their job as well.
What do employees want from their jobs?
As you can see, these lists are neither long nor complicated. Creating an engaging environment is not difficult but really requires some rather basic people skills that should be part of any new manager’s repertoire. Unfortunately, since most new managers receive little or no training, these basic skills are often lacking.
Ask yourself if your employees are engaged or have they all checked out? If they’ve checked out, find out why. Which of these basic elements is missing from your organization? Creating an engaged organization does not require massive amounts of time and/or money. All you really have to do is show your employees that you care.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Numerous studies on employee engagement reveal what the employees want and expect from both their managers and from the job itself. And, while employees have grown more and more cynical about their jobs over the last 20 years, they really don’t want to be that way. Like a person who has had their heart broken in love too many times, they’ve become cautious and tainted, reserving judgment about their feelings until they are sure they won’t be hurt again. Convince them that your desire for engagement is real and lasting and they will buy in. But first, you have to know what they want and be willing to demonstrate that you believe in it also.
What do employees want from their managers?
- A relationship that goes beyond meeting the goals and objectives. Show the employees that you care about them.
- Knowledge about the organization and where it’s headed. Let the employees know how their work supports the big picture.
- Human skills. Most studies show that human and relationship skills are more important than technical skills.
- Assistance in developing their career plans and help in meeting those objectives.
Managers who take this approach with their employees are creating an environment that is conducive to employee engagement. When employees recognize this they become more open to the idea of getting engaged in their work. But there are additional factors that employees want from their job as well.
What do employees want from their jobs?
- The ability to utilize their own talents and skills on the job. And don’t forget, just because someone does something well does not mean they enjoy it.
- The opportunity to be involved and give input. Nothing is as frustrating to your employees as having their ideas not heard, or heard but not truly appreciated.
- The opportunity to learn and grow, both personally and professionally.
- Clear expectations about what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. This goes beyond the concept of departmental goals and objectives and relates to both day to day clarity and knowing how the work fits the long term goals of the organization.
As you can see, these lists are neither long nor complicated. Creating an engaging environment is not difficult but really requires some rather basic people skills that should be part of any new manager’s repertoire. Unfortunately, since most new managers receive little or no training, these basic skills are often lacking.
Ask yourself if your employees are engaged or have they all checked out? If they’ve checked out, find out why. Which of these basic elements is missing from your organization? Creating an engaged organization does not require massive amounts of time and/or money. All you really have to do is show your employees that you care.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
What is two-way communication?
“Outstanding Leaders Appeal to the Hearts of their Followers, not their Minds.” ~ Source Unknown
Ask any organization about their internal communications and they will point to their intranet website, used to communicate key initiatives to their employees. They’ll talk about the quarterly CEO updates, where the top executives go “live” and stream their inspirational leadership across the company. And they’ll point to their ongoing newsletter from HR executives that brings all of the employees up to date on the latest and greatest “Human Resource” initiatives.
What is missing from these communication methods is obvious. These are one-way communication vehicles, not two-way. And, even if that quarterly CEO update includes a phone line for employees to call in on or a message function to pose questions electronically, you are still only engaging a small percentage of your employees. True two-way communication is not possible through push mediums alone.
More importantly, the key component of any real two-way communication is the clear indication that both parties are listening to each other. In all of the methods discussed above, the message is “communicated” out, but there is nothing to indicate that any message is welcomed back or that the “communicator” has any intention of truly listening.
The problem is obvious from both sides of the equation. From the executive side, how can you possibly listen to 500 - 50,000 employees with a variety of diverse ideas and thoughts? After all, even the best intentioned employees are likely to have some ideas that are so totally impractical it can be difficult not to laugh out loud. From the employee side, regardless of how you might be encouraged to communicate, do you really believe the CEO is going to listen to you?
The answer to this challenge is not nearly as difficult as it might at first seem because the employees don’t need to talk with the CEO one on one to be heard. Nor do the top executives need to react to every message sent their way. In fact, many companies have “solved” this problem through some type of formal survey process. They commission an Organizational Survey to get input from across the company. When the survey is complete, they review the results to understand the organizational concerns. They may even take action on some of those major concerns … maybe… But if they do, those actions are sometimes not obvious to the employees. As far as the employees are concerned they’ve been asked for their input, and they’ve been ignored.
Is it any wonder that most employees don’t take Organizational Surveys seriously?
Organizational Surveys can serve as a vehicle for two-way communication, but only if the employees KNOW that their responses are being taken seriously. In simple terms that means:
So, is that it? If I do the things mentioned in the last several blogs will I have an engaged organization?
Unfortunately, there’s still more to it. By doing the things listed you have opened the door for engagement, but as of yet, no one has walked through that door. A big part of employee engagement comes from lower levels of the organization and even from the employees themselves.
We’ll discuss some of those ideas next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Ask any organization about their internal communications and they will point to their intranet website, used to communicate key initiatives to their employees. They’ll talk about the quarterly CEO updates, where the top executives go “live” and stream their inspirational leadership across the company. And they’ll point to their ongoing newsletter from HR executives that brings all of the employees up to date on the latest and greatest “Human Resource” initiatives.
What is missing from these communication methods is obvious. These are one-way communication vehicles, not two-way. And, even if that quarterly CEO update includes a phone line for employees to call in on or a message function to pose questions electronically, you are still only engaging a small percentage of your employees. True two-way communication is not possible through push mediums alone.
More importantly, the key component of any real two-way communication is the clear indication that both parties are listening to each other. In all of the methods discussed above, the message is “communicated” out, but there is nothing to indicate that any message is welcomed back or that the “communicator” has any intention of truly listening.
The problem is obvious from both sides of the equation. From the executive side, how can you possibly listen to 500 - 50,000 employees with a variety of diverse ideas and thoughts? After all, even the best intentioned employees are likely to have some ideas that are so totally impractical it can be difficult not to laugh out loud. From the employee side, regardless of how you might be encouraged to communicate, do you really believe the CEO is going to listen to you?
The answer to this challenge is not nearly as difficult as it might at first seem because the employees don’t need to talk with the CEO one on one to be heard. Nor do the top executives need to react to every message sent their way. In fact, many companies have “solved” this problem through some type of formal survey process. They commission an Organizational Survey to get input from across the company. When the survey is complete, they review the results to understand the organizational concerns. They may even take action on some of those major concerns … maybe… But if they do, those actions are sometimes not obvious to the employees. As far as the employees are concerned they’ve been asked for their input, and they’ve been ignored.
Is it any wonder that most employees don’t take Organizational Surveys seriously?
Organizational Surveys can serve as a vehicle for two-way communication, but only if the employees KNOW that their responses are being taken seriously. In simple terms that means:
- Publish the results of the survey. And not just the good parts; but the bad parts and the not-so-bad parts as well. In other words, management must be willing to “open their kimono” and share everything with the employees.
- Actions resulting from the survey must be visible across the organization and tied directly back to the survey itself. In other words, don’t just announce a “reorganization”. Instead, be honest and announce that it is being done in response to the survey.
- It can’t be a “one and done” arrangement. Provide regular progress reports on what is being done based on the survey and don’t let it slip away into history.
- Measure again. At regular intervals, possibly every 2 years, repeat the survey to look for improvement or areas of decline. And, again, be honest as to why the survey is being done and be willing to share the results again as well.
So, is that it? If I do the things mentioned in the last several blogs will I have an engaged organization?
Unfortunately, there’s still more to it. By doing the things listed you have opened the door for engagement, but as of yet, no one has walked through that door. A big part of employee engagement comes from lower levels of the organization and even from the employees themselves.
We’ll discuss some of those ideas next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)