Employee Life Cycle: opportunities to transmit culture

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Suzi

Pre-service (attachment)

Vacancy: New job is added; employee resigns or employee is dismissed
Job Analysis: job design/review, establishing qualifications, selecting source
Recruitment: Sourcing and advertising
Selection: Application, screening, interview, offer, acceptance
On-boarding: Policies, HR paperwork, receive corporate culture materials
Employee orientation: culture orientation, job shadowing, practice

Early service (engagement)

Benefits: Employee signs up for benefits and begins receiving EBT, perquisites
Contribution: Employee begins contributing in the real job
Coworker relations: Ongoing interactions with co-workers at all levels
Employee guidance: supervision, evaluation, engagement,

2-year mark is the greatest threat of turnover (retention)

Medium service (seasoning)

Experience building: training and development, re-licensing, credentialing, re-qualifying
Giving back: helping to train less seasoned coworkers

Long service (adaptation and flexibility)

Employee re-contributing: retraining, lateral transfers, promotions
Cutting back and giving back: part time and flexible assignments as employees “semi” retire but continue contributing and mentoring less seasoned coworkers

(c) Copyright BCSPublishing 2012

Ten Things Employees Want from Work

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Suzi

What do employees want most?

Employee satisfaction is something most companies say they want. Few actually set a specific goal to measure or increase satisfaction. The ironic thing is that the more satisfied your employee group is the better they will perform. Good performance means goals are met, productivity is higher and employees are happier. All good things.

If you want your workplace to appeal to quality employees and perhaps be less hospitable to those with destructive tendencies, pay attention to this list. Studies over time have identified some variation of the following 10 employee satisfaction themes which appeal most to good performers.

1. Interesting work content

This means interesting to employees, not what you think is interesting. Companies must pay attention to job design and assemble jobs in a meaningful way. It’s obvious that repetitive, boring tasks are less interesting though they might lead technically, to high productivity. Modern job design principles can strike a balance between employee needs and productivity. Finally, negotiating interesting projects and goals each year adds variety to the normal job duties. Recruitment plays an important role in job interest. Not everyone loves what they do. It’s certainly lucky when you fit the perfect candidate to every job. A good fit is when the skills and approach of the candidate matches the skills and approach required by the position. The better the fit, the more likely the employee will find value and interest in the assignment.

2. Advancement opportunities

This is pretty straightforward. Promotions needn’t be a huge leap to the next level of management. It can be advancing to the position of trainer – perhaps someone who orients new department staff. There are many ways to carve out additional or more complicated duties for those who show capacity. But when opportunity presents itself, those with the qualifications should be considered for supervisory posts or movement to the next management level. The better you can outline what employees have to do to advance, the happier they will be.

3. Fair compensation

Compensation fairness in the eyes of employees is primarily external competitiveness – what employees think or know other companies are paying. During tough economic times, however, a living wage at the lower levels is also needed for employees to feel their wages are fair. Appropriate salary levels are driven by balancing four factors: the market, what the company can afford to pay, job duties and internal equity. Finally, reasonable employees want to see that the best performers get opportunities for additional pay and that folks doing the same work get relatively similar pay. Just fair, not perfect.

4. Opportunities for enriched assignments

Enriched assignments involve a seat on a company-wide committee, planning a company outing or working on a project that exposes employees to people and processes in other departments. Good performers enjoy making a broader contribution and being a part of a new venture or project. They also enjoy meeting new people and learning about things outside their own department. While employees enjoy this, it also develops them and makes them more valuable employees.

5. Strong leadership

This is where owners and senior leadership staff often fail. Employees appreciate when management decisions are clear, decisive and based upon a set of principles like:company goals, ethics, fairness and respect. When one employee intimidates management into giving them something they don’t deserve, coworkers will take notice. I’ve listened to employees explain that even though something didn’t go their way they can respect a decision based upon a worthy goal of program sustainability or long-term company survival. In addition, they trust that management won’t get drawn into unfair decisions that serve the unreasonable requests of one particular employee. They see that management has courage and clear thinking that will sustain the organization over time. When leaders adhere to principles and apply them consistently the best employees will be satisfied. Selfish or egocentric employees will fail attempts to skew decisions toward their personal needs.

6. To be heard by management

High performers want to feel that their ideas and concerns are taken seriously. They have good ideas and observations. They’ve performed well for the company so the company should take a minute to hear them out. It’s okay if you can’t resolve a problem for business reasons. They’ll understand that. Employees want to know that you understand and value what they’ve said. This includes less stellar performers as well. No matter how annoying a particular employee may be, it really pays to listen respectfully to their concerns, investigate issues and change things when warranted. Every employee, including poor performers have thoughts and perspectives that can be valuable and deserve to feel heard. Human respect has no exceptions.

When you treat someone disrespectfully, even someone other employees find annoying, employees will notice. You are running the business and they expect you to have more patience.Two common mistakes vex both managers and employees. One is that management listens, makes a decision and then the complaining employee refuses to move on. They then bug the heck out of everyone by staying stuck on the issue. One good hearing is enough and then they should be told respectfully and firmly that the matter is closed. Management needs to prevent these folks from harassing coworkers about their ongoing issue. The other mistake is from the opposite angle – writing difficult employees off and failing to listen to anything they have to say. They can go on and on about irrelevant information and then, there it is, a disclosure of significant wrong-doing or a brilliant idea for saving money. As a consultant brought in to deal with difficult employees I am often amazed at how an employee has been completely marginalized within a company. You’d be surprised how often these employees are treated disrespectfully but yet they are still at work. It is more cruel to leave these employees on the job while all around them see them has having no credibility, than it is to respectfully help them find another assignment.

7. High, consistent work standards

Studies have shown that quality employees prefer to work in an organization that lays out performance and conduct standards and consistently reinforces them – through performance evaluations, coaching, supervision and structure. Employees think it’s fair when those whose work approach is successful and helpful to others get promoted and those who repeatedly demonstrate poor work approach are encouraged to move on. Leaders afraid to apply discipline end up creating significant damage to an otherwise productive workplace – as one employee’s approach disrupts others without consequence. Some owners have no idea how destructive this is and how much respect for them is lost when they apply performance consequences equitably.

8. An employer with integrity/character

Studies have repeatedly shown that employees working for companies with a code of integrity and a sense of social responsibility to the community, employees and vulnerable populations are more satisfied and higher performing. Emphasizing lawfulness, ethics and fairness is very appealing to the most talented employees. When a company puts secular/profit goals ahead of ethics you’ll fill jobs but these candidates will be individuals comfortable with that sort of atmosphere. Think: News of the World. The most capable and high character employees will move on.

10. Freedom to make decisions that will help reach company goals

This is a very successful and important strategy. When done well, employees become more satisfied overnight. Decision-making begins at the top (owner) and trickles down. Every position, including clerical staff have a body of problems and issues they can decide when and how to resolve. Organizations with a decentralized decision-making style promote more meaningful decisions at lower levels. Companies with centralized control have a more difficult time defining meaningful decisions for those at the lower levels. In any event, it pays to clarify and point out what decisions each position can make and which ones you wish for them to analyze and recommend to the next level up. Employees care more about knowing what issues you want them to exercise discretion over as much or more than they want to make big decisions. Uncertainty is one of the greatest sources of employee stress.

No one company or organization does all ten things perfectly. Pick out which of these areas you can easily fix and prioritize the others for improvement over time.

When Institutions put Secular Goals Ahead of Everything Else

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Suzi

Not all institutions and corporations are evil. Many do an excellent job of balancing ambitious secular goals with a socially responsible approach. These examples are less likely to be sensationalized in the popular press, however. I found some examples on the website Socialbrite.org. They singled out Molson Coors, Tyson Foods, and Haagen-Dazs as companies that do well while balancing social goals. There are others. These companies enjoy financial success and public support while managing to treat employees, customers and the general public with respect.

When the formal structure includes a code of ethics, honesty and integrity and those in power behave consistently with this code, the achievement of business goals is more likely to be balanced with social responsibility. Social responsibility might mean respect for employees, customers and the general public; stewardship of the environment; or safety for vulnerable groups – children, elderly and disabled folks.

Instant news and the transparency of America’s legal system are airing some organizations’ dirty laundry, however. We’ve seen recent examples of what happens when a company or public agency puts secular goals ahead of all else. The secular goal might be winning or sustaining a winning team, protecting one person’s power, getting a gossip scoop or putting profits ahead of employee and customer health.

When a less-than-ethical workplace culture aligns with an organization’s strong push toward secular goals the result can be an atmosphere in which wrong-doing is overlooked or even rewarded.

When the formal structure does not include a code of ethics and the secular goal is compelling, leadership may support decisions and people who further the goals and ignore or silence those who challenge them. In this dynamic, those involved most closely with the secular goal have power (perhaps the athletics staff at Penn State) and may actually become more powerful than the formal power hierarchy. Strong college athletics means recognition, endowment donations and more potential students.

Following this line of thinking, a college athletics department could use everyone’s desire for winning to create an atmosphere where folks hesitate to speak up for fear of offending those with the real power. They may also fear more overt retaliation or being discredited. This power can be so strong that it might make employees question what they saw with their own eyes. It might also lead them to think that the right place to report it is the athletics leadership or college security instead of community law enforcement. When this kind of dynamic takes place in a public agency of college and when it involves children it is an extreme violation of the public trust.

The former Schenectady, New York’s school maintenance chief was able to commit serious crimes against fellow employees with impunity because he held great power. Steve Raucci created an all-powerful position for himself as both management and union chief in the city’s maintenance department. This inappropriate dual power position allowed him to control a wide range of employees. He could use his power to punish those who questioned him (punishments ranged from marginalization and public berating to vandalism and attempted bombings!), and to favor those who towed the party line.

Here’s a list of what seems to be a pattern of values miss-steps:

The Catholic Church seemed to have wanted to protect the church’s reputation and it’s financial assets more than it wanted to protect children. Molestation was covered up; victims were discredited; allegations were administratively ignored. Much of the funding for the church’s activities comes from well-meaning Catholic families.

Boston Globe Spotlight

Steve Raucci’s power apparently inoculated him from the consequences of his intimidation, abuse and crimes against Schenectady school employees. Union leadership spoke up repeatedly about the inappropriate dual role and employee “enemies” were ignored or victimized by vandalism and attempted bombings. Aside from the employee fears this dynamic caused, this corrupt campaign of power was carried out with public funds.

NPR’s Petty Tyrant

Penn State’s athletics department and college administration appears to have protected the athletics program and covered up or ignored sexual allegations against one of the coaches. Employees ignored what they saw; employees went to athletics leadership instead of the police; victim allegations were mishandled. Other allegations of misconduct by athletes in the program went unpunished and the executive in charge of disciplining students apparently quit over it. As a public university, activities are funded with public money.

Penn State Grand Jury Report

News of the world wanted gossip scoops so badly that crimes committed to get them were apparently worth the potential risk. Cellphones were hacked; victims were paid off; management denies it knew about any of it.

Washington Post on News of the World

Tonawanda Coke’s Buffalo, NY plant continued to pollute the soil and water in the surrounding area with benzene. This created a blue haze that allegedly led to increased cancer rates. Victims complaints were ignored for years.

NPR on Tonawanda

How Workplace Culture Effects Business Success

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Suzi

How workplace culture affects business success

Companies succeed in the short run just by having good products, even with unethical practices and abusive employee behavior. The problem is, things change. A competitor comes into the market offering your products but has better workplace conditions. Now your employees want to work there. Or, one of your employees becomes disgruntled over how they are treated by an abusive employee or supervisor and decides to hire an attorney. You settle with them to avoid having your poor management practices publicized $10,000 to 50,000 from the bottom line. Another change scenario is that you begin to hire generation X and Y employees. They will quickly tire of your poor practices. When word gets around that you pay little attention to this Gen X and Gen Y will not apply. Finally, if you operate without a code of ethics or values your workplace is driven by supervisor and employee personal values. Add aggressive goals and tactics and you have News of the World and ENRON.

Best workplace culture example

Well known examples where a sustained company culture has clearly served financial success are Google, Zappos and Netflix. Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh tells of both the company hiring practices aimed at finding candidates who fit with the company values and a new employee orientation process that quickly identifies workers who are a poor fit. In a key-note at this year’s SHRM annual conference that Company culture is the “number one priority.” His most recent blog post says it all Your Culture Is Your Brand.

Zappos has cultivated standards for workplace atmosphere that support staff efforts towards company goals, encouraged the atmosphere with company mechanisms (meetings, communication, compensation and performance evaluation), controlled that new employees coming in fit well with the desired culture and then, when employees demonstrate that they don’t fit well, they are moved out of the organization. The theory is that employees working there thrive in the culture. They are happy, satisfied and fulfilled. As HR folks say, less bad turnover, only good turnover.

It’s in the literature

There are a number of excellent books on the subject of Culture – discussing what it is; how to get it; and why it supports success. Here’s just what I have on my own bookshelf:

1964 (Blake & Mouton) The Managerial Grid that urged managers to focus on both people and results – used to acculturate me at UNUM in the mid 70s;

1982 (Peters & Waterman) In Search of Excellence in which the principles of “Back to the Basics” reinforces the simultaneous priorities that must be balanced;

2001 (Collins) Good to Great describing the “culture of discipline” in order to avoid creativity-killing bureaucracy;

2001 (Ashby & Pell) Embracing Excellence chapter two: The “qualities and characteristics of a great corporate culture;”

2002 Hesselbein & Johnston) On High Performance Organizations in which the authors discuss the power of mindfulness, a passion for the business and strategic generosity;

2011 (Rhoades) Built on Values: success stories of three companies who had purposeful workplace culture and values;

It’s what employees want and need to be healthy and productive at work

Happy, satisfied employees are less distracted and more focused on company goals. It happens that the characteristics employees find supportive, collectively represent the kind of environment in which company financial goals are more likely to be met. This would be where employees are treated with respect; given clear direction about their work; compensated fairly, etc. Finally, why in the world would anyone choose to create or work in a company where everyone is burned out, unhappy and disrespectful to each other? It stands to reason that employees who feel a passion for their work; who are rewarded for both results and demonstrating company values; and treated respectfully by supervisors and co-workers would reach a higher level of functioning.

Good employees want goals to meet and welcome being held accountable. Further, they want others to be held to an equitable standard. Nothing irritates employees more than watching poor performers hanging around, making mistakes, failing to plan and generally making more work for others with no apparent consequences. Thoughtful, respectful feedback to employees by capable supervisors greatly increase the chances that most employees are performing at their highest functioning level.

Unrealized, disorganized or person-centered culture

When the company’s culture is not unified/strong or it’s tied too closely to one leader’s own style the workplace can be buffeted by CEO or COO turnover. Companies who don’t pay attention to defining a desired culture end up depending too much upon the personal style and philosophy of a particular person. When this leader leaves and a new leader comes on board, the values and philosophies of the new leader challenges long-standing company assumptions. A period of confusion commences. Employees are distracted trying to understand the new landscape. And again, employees are not necessarily focused on the bottom line. A strong, positive and institutionalized workplace culture can help an organization weather many storms, including the loss of a beloved leader or changes in the external environment because strong positive culture takes on a power and force of its own.

One of today’s growing employee relations issues is stress. Workplace characteristics of lean staffing, financial pressure and high demands result in employee fatigue and stress. These in turn cause absenteeism (missing work) and presenteeism (workers present but not mentally at work). Rates of depression (or rates of its diagnosis) among employees are on the rise. Interestingly, employees report inattentive and poor quality management at work as a key reason for both stress and eventually leaving their position. These problems develop over time and the only way to reverse this is to assess your culture and decide to do things differently – culture improvement project.

Honesty, Ethics and Integrity

A discussion of ethics and integrity is important enough to mention it more than once. Most superb, financially successful companies who are well-respected in their community, the U.S. or the world promote honesty, integrity or lawfulness as one of their core values. Without a stated value which is reinforced by company structures, it is difficult to get large numbers of employees to approach their work consistently with these values. Most experts feel that it was the absence of this particular set of values that sunk ENRON and pulled its accounting firm, employees and the local economy down with it. It also sent a few folks to jail.

Next steps

After realizing that you have no stated culture or workplace brand attention turns to articulating a desired brand. This starts with understanding what your good performers want and need. Recruitment, Workplace Branding and Employee Satisfaction

HR Talent Alignment and Positive Culture = Cooperative Gain

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Suzi

Cooperative gain is a phrase I heard once used in a scientific context and adapted to Human Resource management here .

Cooperative gain

This is what happens when company goals and values are shared by employees, supervisors and owners. Job design and employee activities are aligned for working productively and respectfully toward company success. The “gain” is that company goals are achieved and employees enjoy their work. It feels like a good place to work. Issues are dealt with swiftly and decisively. Employees who work there want to be there. Employees weigh in on company decisions. They feel heard and owners make sound, thoughtful decisions.

Uncooperative gain

This is when the company has low or modest profits and overall financial results even though employee activities are not particularly aligned with company goals. Company needs are met to some degree but employees are disengaged. In this case, the company has either an incredible product/service with steady demand or employees are relatively powerless. It may also be that employees are not the “most important” asset – manufacturing or other heaving equipment and materials with little human intervention. The modest company gains may not be sustainable because employee negativity and lack of alignment will eventually bring about a failure to adapt to market changes. In addition, employee apathy or even sabotage is more likely here with the potential to curtail forward progress.

Cooperative loss

This is where employees and the company are aligned in activities and values but the company experiences financial or market share losses. It may be that owners are not savvy or strategic and haven’t recruited the right talent. Or it could be a result of unexpected market change; sudden loss of key personnel; competitor breakthroughs; patent expiration or other factors outside employee control. Unforeseen changes in federal policies or applicable regulations may also produce this situation.

Uncooperative loss

This is where the company is suffering losses because employee engagement is lacking. The company’s failure to enlist employees in organizing to support company goals results in disorganized corporate culture, unclear values or values which do not include integrity, professionalism or respect. Perhaps employees are distracted from their work by chaotic employee relationships, fear, intimidation and toxic employee bullying. Maybe the company has never stated its concept of the ideal culture. Recruitment and performance evaluations fail to consider employee commitment to the values and results required to achieve financial goals. Left unattended, this sort of environment results in ongoing difficulties, acquisitions and sometimes, in company failure.

Positive Culture and the HR “Rule of Thirds”

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Suzi

Unless you have been unusually successful managing your workplace culture (more on this below), there are some general rules that can help you when planning changes, improvements or just plain communicating company decisions to your employees. Not all your employees think alike.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is used in political campaigns in order to tailor messages to undecided voters. Campaign managers assume that some will support the candidate no matter what he/she does, some would never vote for the candidate and some might vote for the candidate but it will take some convincing.

At any given time your employee base is made up of three general groups with a range of attitudes about you, their employer. Approximately one-third of your employees like the company, appreciate the job and work to achieve company quality and results goals (champions). Approximately one-third do not like the company, do not enjoy their work and may not be all that hard-working (negatives). Finally, one-third are neutral, and can be swayed by their employee peers (undecideds). If you take the time to survey employees you will be able to pinpoint more exact numbers but you get the general idea. Competent human resource professionals spend a lot of time talking with employees and since negatives tend to complain, HR folks generally know who they are. Another way to identify negatives is when implementing change. Even if they don’t speak up to owners, they will speak up to their peers.

How to use this information

This information is key to creating a positive work culture overall. Highly successful and efficient companies spend more time cultivating relationships with champions and undecideds and less time trying to convince negatives to like the company. I always watch with frustration when my client companies agonize over the picky, negative opinions offered publicly by disgruntled employees. You can’t please everyone so why beat yourself up over criticism that may have little or no real value? Spend time working to reward the “positives” and engage the “undecideds.”

When making changes/improvements

Knowing your employee groups when changing company processes is essential. If you have a great idea for improving a work process and the positives love it, it’s probably a good idea. If the positives have concerns or critique, it probably needs work. Negatives tend to complain about any change particularly if it means working differently. As mentioned above, when you communicate something new negatives will let you know that you can’t count on them to work harder/smarter. Listen carefully and think about how you manage employee performance and attitude. When negatives move from just talk into negative actions, it is time to look at your performance evaluation process. Do you include an accountability for promoting a positive company image or perhaps something about not interfering with company improvements? If not, you may want to refine your performance management tools.

Who is negative and who is just picky?

Negatives may simply be glass-half-empty people or they may be negative because of some interaction with management that didn’t go their way. In any event, they speak up about what they don’t like. As mentioned above, address their attitudes and actions through the performance evaluation process. You should be careful, however, not to dismiss every negative comment as irrelevant. If you have positives who are perfectionists you will find that their natural process is to analyze processes for weaknesses. They make great editors and would be good “early testers” when you want to test out new ideas. Harnessing this energy to improve company processes is smart.

360 degree culture management

When a company embarks on a comprehensive workplace culture improvement initiative, it will be helpful to know the exact proportions of the company’s “thirds” and not just a general estimate. How you might improve workplace culture overall is beyond the scope of this piece but it would clearly involve an agreed upon set of values and strategies to see that employees work within those values every day. Recruitment and performance evaluation systems should be bringing “positives” into the company and rewarding them when they operate in a way that foster’s company goal achievement. It would involve mechanisms to improve poor performance and poor attitudes that negatively impact the work of others. Finally, it would include company leaders and employees who model/live by the company’s stated values.

Hire and reward more positives; convert undecideds into positives; curtail the complaining and unproductive behavior of negatives;” and when necessary, move negatives out of the company all together.