Refer » Performance Management

What Motivates Us

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:41:15 +0000

The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us At Work and at Home

You can decide for yourself whether or not this is surprising to you.

If you’ve come across motivation-hygiene theory, some of the ideas of Buckminster Fuller, or intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, some of the concepts will be somewhat familiar; but the video comes at this from the perspective of economics, rather than psychology.

The presentation also illustrates how higher pay actually leads to a reduction in performance. And that bad things can result from this.

I have some personal opinions about remuneration which includes a high proportion of performance-related pay, precisely because of the short-termism I have witnessed in some such circumstances. But take a look and make up your own mind.

The video presentation walks through these concepts in a fun and clear way, and I’m sure you’ll find it well worth the 10½ minutes it takes to watch.

Enjoy!

Is Your Management Causing Employee Issues and Slow Business Growth?

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:33:32 +0000

Could your management team be creating unnecessary employee issues that are leading to:

Low employee engagement
Low employee morale
Poor productivity
Poor customer service
The need for voluminous policy and procedure manuals to ensure that the manager follows the rules, and
High turnover

While not so comfortable to ask, and even more challenging to be accountable for, here are 7 key questions to help you determine if your management is causing the above common concerns:

1. Does every member of your management team know (internalize) the company’s Mission/Purpose and Vision (ideal future state)?
2. Can every member of your management team describe the company Values, (that is, the key ways in which you go about your work, such as excellence in customer service, innovation, teamwork, respect…)? And, can every member of the management team give some examples of how the company values are demonstrated on a day-to-day basis?
3. Do you have a succession plan – that is, an approach for and/or development of high potential/successor candidates?
4. Do new people promoted to or hired for a management position clearly demonstrate the company values?
5. Do you have an effective way to transition new managers into their positions (or do you just assume the transition will happen)?
6. And, do you remove poor and ineffective managers quickly?

If you said “NO” to any of the questions above then you likely have employee issues as a result of your management problems.

When Addressing Employee Issues, Ensure You Have Sound Management First

How can you improve your business when you have employee issues and conflicts getting in your way of running an effective, productive and efficient organization? First, change your approach and take a macro view. That is, understand that often, employee issues are symptoms of inconsistent or failing management.
Your strongest assets and your key resources are your employees. (Yes, even stronger than your brand. Brand creates awareness and a promise. But it’s the employees that deliver on that promise.) And, while painful to acknowledge, it is the most talented employees that leave first.

If you want to improve your business, you must start with your managers. These are the people who are the direct link to your front line employees. These managers include:

. Department managers
. Assistant managers
. Shift supervisors
. Store managers
. Team leaders

Yet unfortunately, the role and impact of the direct supervisors are often overlooked when senior management or business owners contemplate improvement questions such as:

. How can we improve morale?
. What’s a good compensation system?
. How can we recruit and retain better employees?
. How do we improve our customer service?

Simply stated, as long as you do not deal with supervisor/manager competency and impact, you cannot effectively deal with any of the questions raised above. It’s like trying to come up with a model to explain how our solar system works using the earth as the center of the system. It just won’t work, no matter how hard you try. Replace the earth with the sun and it works beautifully. Money spent to improve the effects of management is wasted unless it’s spent to address poor management first.

Five Required Steps to Identifying and Addressing the Issue of Poor Management

1) First, get senior executives to function as an aligned team and to translate this manager’s to promote (by demonstration not lip service) the stated values of the business. Remember, employees watch their leadership team for cues on how to behave and how to manage. They look to managers to see what’s acceptable and what is not!

2) Carefully select employees for management positions. This means you need to have a succession plan that incorporates a management development plan for high potential candidates.

3) Support the transition from employee to manager. Not all newly promoted managers will be ready for their new role. In fact, in many organizations, it’s possible that most aren’t yet ready for prime time but are needed there. (A good coach or mentor can be very valuable in these situations.)

4) Define the standard of performance required of all your managers. Provide needed support to help your managers understand your standards and meet them. If they don’t (or won’t) after suitable support and development, replace them. Understand that “what you permit you promote”. Tolerating poor managers and poor manager behavior is the same as condoning it. And that is the way employees will perceive it.

5) Then, insure your managers/supervisors are responsible for performance management and instilling employee accountability using these four fundamentals with their employees:

A. Clarifying expectations of their role individually and within context to the larger organization
B. Providing adequate training and development for them to do their job (identify and address skills, knowledge and resource gaps)
C. Provide consistent feedback on their performance, expressly positive/ recognition based, and of course, addressing concerns or deficiencies (in which case you start over at A, though focusing on the concern/issue and what is needed/expected…)
D. And, be consistent with upholding consequences. Similar to tolerating poor managers, unwilling or persistent underperforming employees will quickly compromise your overall results.

Service excellence, cost-effective performance and innovation, start with engaged employees. And employees leave their organizations most often because of a bad boss and a poor-working relationship. If you believe that your employees are not engaged to the extent you want them to be, don’t start with employee remediation efforts. Start first, with the leaders and the managers. If employees don’t have a good boss and working experience with them, save your money; as nothing else will work, at least for very long. It may be the most difficult place to start, but it will be the most effective for long-term ROI…

Article Source: http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com | http://business-management.bestmanagementarticles.com

About the Author: Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica are management consultants with more than 50+ years of combined experience in helping organizations improve their business performance simply by improving the leadership effectiveness of top management. Now, get their “Self-Sabotage in Business White Paper” at: http://www.kubicalaforestconsulting.com/resources.php and uncover the common, subtle ways your management team is harming your overall business performance.

When Cupid Strikes at Work

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:35:00 +0000

Given that most of our time is spent at work and the fact that we’re social beings, it’s inevitable that we establish social relationships which may well end up in romance.

The question to be asked is, when Cupid shoots his arrow in your direction do you need to duck and dive to prevent your employer from growling at you or can you get weak at the knees, giggle a little and embrace the relationship with your boss sitting back and giving you the thumbs up?

What exactly are the reasons for employers either embracing or pooh-poohing employees who succumb to that delightful, irresistible emotion called love?

According to an article published in “People Management” magazine (pg 18), 11 Feb 2010 entitled “A Match made in Heaven or Hell” Tim Smedley offers the following answers:

The employer has one of two choices. Firstly, to enforce policy banning relationships within the workplace solely to protect the organisation from being subject to breech of confidentiality within various departments or divisions, accusations of favouritism and a host of other complicated management and HR issues.

The second option is to take a more relaxed approach to a very natural emotion and to give people the space to be themselves while at the same time respecting the values and boundaries within the organisation.

Smedley points out that there is a place for the implementation of policies banning relationships. Examples of this would be where romantic liaisons compromise the ethical barriers between traders and analysts giving one the leverage to influence the others decision. Another example would be the enforcement of policy when employees engage in the work environment in countries and cultures which forbid relationships outside of marriage.

Generally speaking though, organisations that do enforce policy banning relationships do so because of the numerous problems caused as a result of relationships in the workplace. Such an instance may be a boss who is in relationship with a subordinate. This relationship tends to fuel accusations of favouritism and can damage the morale of other employees which leads to gossip, lack of trust etc.

A particularly difficult situation is when one partner works in HR and is exposed to various confidential complications within the workplace yet can not share any of this information with his or her partner. Preventing such complications arising in the workplace may seem like the answer to the employer hence the ban, however, human beings will be human beings and will generally take the relationship under cover which brings a whole new set of deceptive complications.

In his article, Smedley quotes employment lawyer Roger Byard, of Cripps Harries Hall, as saying: “Any employment tribunal asked to consider the lawfulness of such a policy would be highly likely to find it in breach of the right to a private life, protected by Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998”. He goes on to say that having a no-relationship policy would not provide protection against claims arising out of relationship breakdown such as issues of harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Byard advice to the employer is to steer away from prescriptive policies which suppress human nature. He suggests that employers take a mature approach to the relationship recognising that relationships will naturally form within the working environment.

Perhaps having a few balloons, some red roses and a broad smile on a love struck employees face is not so bad and may go a long way to cheering the office up.

How Your Stress Management Skills Affects Your Earning Potential

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Dr. Paul Lanthois

Technorati Tags: Stress at work, Productivity, performance management, Motivation, Career progression

As I came back from the business meeting, my wife noticed the glazed and drained look upon my face. “How did the business meeting go?” she asked with a knowingly grin upon her face for she had seen that look on me before.

“No wonder the guy’s business is struggling.” I replied.
“Why is that?”
“What was meant to be a meeting on how to boost his business, ended up with him going on about how his wife has left him and how his business partner has left him. When I offered some suggestions and strategies to improve them, he would just come up with reasons why it wouldn’t work. It was as if he just wanted to complain and wasn’t open to any help.”

I’m sure you all know people like that or have had to endure such draining meetings like I did. The way they choose to manage stress may make them feel better but it is often at the expense of those around them.

But recent research is showing that such stress management methods are not only draining for other people but are also draining on their wallet. A study of the lives of 268 Harvard Sophomores for 70 years found that the way that you coped with stress had a definite impact on your income potential.

They assessed the participants’ ability to manage stress as either mature or immature. Displays of these skills were regarded as having mature stress management skills:

Suppression (patience and stoicism)
Altruism (doing unto others as you wish to be done for yourself)
Anticipation (allowing painful emotions coming to mind before the actual event)

Immature stress management skills were shown to be:

Externalising blame
Complaining but not accepting help
Acting out emotions (e.g. throwing a tantrum)

These immature ways of coping with stress often make the offending feel better at the time but often generate unhappy working environments and relationships. The research shows that ranting and raving doesn’t pay.

According to this 70 year study, people who were shown to have mature stress management skills earned 233% more the subjects shown to have immature stress management skills.

So if you ever notice yourself bitching about how the Global financial Crisis is to blame for your woes, you may want to go and look at the real cause in the mirror. You then may want to tell that person in the mirror that it is time to grow up.

This study puts paid to the old adage, “Nice guys finish last.” It shows that being pleasant to work with and associate with is one of the key ingredients to a successful career and business.

Article Source: http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com | http://leadership.bestmanagementarticles.com | About the Author: Dr. Lanthois is the director of the Work Life Balance Foundation (www.WorkLifeBalanceFoundation.com ) offering health, stress relief and work life balance programs designed specifically to boost morale and productivity in the workplace.

Should You Care if Your Employees Love You?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:55:00 +0000

As human beings, we have a natural tendency to want to be loved. But what happens when your desire to be loved interferes with your ability to lead?

People who gravitate toward leadership roles tend to be charismatic. They work hard at keeping their audiences captivated and enjoy the adoration they receive from their followers. This is all fine and good, until their desire to be liked, or even loved, begins to cloud their judgment. Here are some examples of how this can play out:

Colleagues rather than subordinates.

In their quest to be liked, leaders drop their guards and become more informal with their employees than they should be. An example of this is when a leader joins his staff at Happy Hour. There is nothing wrong with sharing a beer with the team. However, things can quickly get out of hand when one beer leads to a six-pack. Before you know it, managers are sharing drinking stories from their college days. Throw in a few shots of tequila, and all bets are off.

To effectively lead, your followers must have a high regard for you. Sure, they may look up to you all evening, but will they still respect you in the morning?

Communicating versus commiserating

It is lonely at the top. There are few people who you can confide in regarding your hopes and fears. It can happen to the best of leaders – eventually they stop communicating and start commiserating with their executive team and sometimes with staff.

In these trying times, your team is looking for a leader. Someone who they are confident will be able to steer their ship through these choppy waters. The last thing they need to hear is a leader expressing doubt. If you find that you need a sounding board, consider hiring an executive coach or joining an association. Then be sure you return to the business of communicating the information employees need to hear, so when you turn around, you actually have people following you.

Are you doing too much for your employees?

Are you constantly picking up the slack for members of your team who are not cutting it? When doing so, do you take the time to explain how they can improve their performance? Or do you simply decide it is easier to do things yourself to avoid more conflict?

Conflict fuels improved performance and innovation. It can also strengthen relationships when both parties have an opportunity to have their say. Think about your own personal relationships – do you have more respect and adoration for those who are willing to call you on your actions, or for those that avoid conflict?

It is nice to be loved, but as a leader, it is more important to be respected.

Article Source: http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com | http://leadership.bestmanagementarticles.com

About the Author: Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Click here to read her new blog on Generation Integration http://generationintegration.typepad.com/matuson/. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or Roberta@yourhrexperts.com.

A Wise Adviser

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:22:23 +0000

An outsider acting as a mentor may be able to see what the owner of a company cannot, writes Alicia Clegg on the FT website.

And companies across the spectrum can benefit from this impartial advice. Whether it’s a start-up enterprise looking for investors, a family business in transition, a successful firm looking to go global or a struggling company needing to refocus, outside advice is often the best way forward.

But once a business decides that it could benefit from mentoring, it then has to opt for the right kind of mentor. For there are as many mentoring styles as there are businesses that could benefit from being mentored.

Keith Miller, an experienced entrepreneur who turned to a mentor as his company embarked on overseas expansion, tells Alicia that mentors are hard to pigeon hole. He says: “Mentors, grey-haired daddies, coaches, non-executives: call them what you will. Like everything, it’s finding the right people that matters – but if you do, they add a tonne of value.”

As Alicia writes, the right mentoring style depends on the personalities involved and the life stage of the business.

A mentor will not come into the picture with all the solutions and call the shots. Rather, as Robert Garvey, professor of mentoring and coaching at Sheffield Hallam University, is quoted in the article: “A good mentor challenges you to be critical and pushes you to think things through. At different times a mentor can also be a listener, a counsellor and someone who offers you access to their networks.”

A good mentor will force you to ask challenging questions and come up with the right solutions yourself. As Mr Miller says in the article: “Mentoring isn’t telling people what to do. It’s helping them discover what needs to be done so they can make decisions for themselves.”

Alicia takes the example of managing director Matthew Jones, who wanted to take his father’s bespoke picture-framing operation to the next stage. With all his big plans, however, tension arose when other family members involved in the business felt they were not being included in his ideas.

Mr Jones hired a mentor and they worked with Mr Jones’ father to set up a form of corporate governance to allow Mr Jones the room to act operationally while confirming the rights of the other family members to agree budgets and core strategy.

And as Mr Jones concedes in the article: “Being mentored has helped me confront issues in the business and in myself that I needed to confront.”

But how impartial should an outside adviser be? Alicia considers the prospect of mentors who put their own money into the business and the growing trend to appoint mentors as non-executive directors.

Former Dragons’ Den investor Doug Richard is quoted as believing the best mentors contribute their own capital equity as well as their experience, after all “there’s nothing more aligning than putting your money at risk,” he says.

But But David Clutterbuck, a founder of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, warns of a conflict of interest, especially with mentors as directors. He points out that “non-executives are responsible to the business”, while a mentor is “responsible to the entrepreneur”.

Either way, Alicia argues, what is not in doubt is that an outside adviser can add a whole lot of value to your business.

Read the full article at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95699644-3706-11dd-bc1c-
0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1#