photo by phineas h
Interviewing is hard enough.
But, last week I had a great meeting with a forward-thinking, culturally aware Corporate Development officer. He was touting the benefits of re-interviewing.
Put simply, it’s the company taking an active interest in the employee’s career development.
It’s something he does every 4-6 months. And its purpose is to probe into whether people are getting what they need out of their job. Whether they are heading in the right direction. Whether there is anything that is preventing them from fully engaging in their job.
The cynic will say that it’s the company trying to extract more blood from the turnip. And there is some of that. But ultimately, the employment relationship is just that…a relationship. You have to give in order to get.
By inserting himself into the individual’s career management process, he learns what they want out of the job and can help deliver upon that. How else does the company know what buttons to push in order to properly motivate? (Hint: money isn’t usually it.)
To illustrate he told me the story of someone in the Corporate Development realm (aka HR) who really wanted to be an accountant. She had been taking classes at night and had recently completed her certification. While there wasn’t a position open, he was able to get her involved in projects with the AP/AR groups.
She was still expected to fulfill her duties in the HR space, but she eagerly took on the additional work because it was what she really wanted to do and because the company (and one individual in particular) was willing to take the time to understand what she needed to get.
A role may not open up and she may have to leave in six-months in order to find full-time accounting work. But the alternative was losing her outright now and getting less out of her while she ’secretly’ sought a new job.
It was an important arrow in his quiver to be able to better understand his team. And a practice that motivates and engages his team. If people are a good fit with your company’s values then moving them to a different seat on the bus is a no-brainer. It builds goodwill and the sense of reciprocity fiercely kicks in. These people become far more likely to go the extra mile that will make a difference to your business.
He made a few additional points that are worth sharing:
Do you do something similar? What works/doesn’t?
photo by AMagill
Neil Davidson at Red Gate Software had a great post the other day on their new approach to compensating salespeople. In sum, they’ve stopped assuming salespeople are only motivated by money and have begun compensating them like everyone else.
Not only has this cut down on the time it takes to manage the process, but it has eliminated unintended, but perverse, incentives and helped to align their sales team with the rest of organization.
As Neil’s post mentions, fear is not a good motivator. And as I noted a few weeks ago, neither are extrinsic rewards.
Sales people aren’t all that different from everyone else in your organization in that they have values which motivate them and they have professional goals they want to achieve.
In many cases, the exorbitant rewards that come with the ‘eat what you kill’ mentality are a stand-in for something else. Recognition. Though they work outside of the company’s walls more than others they want to be a part of a team and be recognized for doing a great job.
With apologies to Adam Smith, that is human nature.
We’ve boiled recognition down to money because it’s the easiest thing to do. Rarely is it not valued. But it’s typically not what is most valued.
When rewards (for anyone) come in the form of legal tender then you’re bound to lose them to a higher bidder when one inevitably comes along. You wind up attracting mercenaries when you really want people who are dedicated, engaged and work well with others.
So let’s stop taking shortcuts to motivate our employees. Money is nice, but most people just want to know that they are being fairly compensated and that when they do a good job that they will be recognized in a way that is meaningful to them.
It’s a lot cheaper and a lot more effective to try to identify people’s goals and then align the rewards to help meet them.
While I don’t know if Red Gate’s approach will work, I’d like to believe it will. It just feels right. I would love to read a follow up post on how this works out in another several months once the existing sales pipeline has been turned over.
What are you thoughts? Will it work?
photo by laffy4k
After reading another comment by a seasoned HR professional on a LinkedIn group that blindly valued ‘diversity,’ I felt the need to explore the topic.
Too often our discussions on diversity in the workplace are rooted in the obvious. Our analysis is literally skin deep and from there we draw conclusions that because one is [select a color] and/or [select a gender] they must have different life experiences and think about things differently. Our teams would, therefore, be better if they were a part of them.
Stereotyping isn’t the best way to improve team performance.
While I’m a big believer in bringing together people with different expertise, I also believe you need to have a foundation upon which everyone implicitly agrees to build. People must have enough in common so that they’re willing to explore their differences.
Being able to productively dissent requires one to a) listen, b) be able to communicate in a way that gets considered and c) have the trust of the majority that you’re still working toward the greater goal.
It’s imperative then that we assemble people who have similar values and who communicate in a similar fashion.
What to accomplish and how to accomplish it are grounded in values. If we don’t share similar values then we’ll fail to agree on these fundamental starting point for any team. Likewise, you and I aren’t suddenly going to have a “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” moment if what you’re saying has no chance of getting heard because of the way it’s being said.
Evolving an idea requires both sides to be willing to move off their original position (this is different than compromising). You have to be willing to consider that you’re not 100% right. But if you don’t trust the person with the alternative approach then you’re likelihood to move from your position is slim. Sharing some common values makes it easier for us to trust one another because we can relate to what motivates the thinking. We disassociate ourselves from the conversation and begin implicitly agreeing that the ‘best answer’ revolves around satisfying the values we share.
America’s current health care debate is an unfortunate illustration of this. For the most part, both sides are a bunch of entitled white guys. About as homogeneous a group as you’ll ever find. Surely, they’d be highly susceptible to group think, right? Instead they’re guilty of not thinking. There is no willingness to move the ball down the field because their value systems are so incredibly divergent and the way they talk past each other fails to find the ears of those on the ‘opposing’ side.
I’m not advocating that we hire and assemble homogeneous teams by any means. But I am pushing for us to consider each person individually in terms of how they think and how they communicate to establish whether they have enough in common with our existing team to make a difference.
We have a long way to go to establish equality in the workplace, but valuing diversity simply by trying to assemble the 64-pack of Crayolas isn’t going to do anyone any favors.
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This is a can of worms. Please feel free to disagree in the comments, but do so respectfully (that’s one of my values).
photo by pattyequalsawesome
Sometimes you run across derivatives of the same idea from multiple sources and it gets you to stop and listen.
Two recent examples have come from Netflix and Miles Davis.
Ultimately, it’s about how best to maintain a leadership position by enabling those around you to explore new boundaries. Leading and corralling rather than managing.
Netflix has posted a rather lengthy, but worthwhile slide show about their culture and how they work. They put it best by asking their managers to provide ‘context, not control’ (slides 76 - 84). In essence, describe where you want to go, not how you want to get there.
And The Miles Davis Story (as relayed by a friend) explored Miles’ proclivity to assemble talented musicians, set the mood for the evening and then walk around the stage as they do their thing. His job was to capture each individual’s wandering explorations and create something cohesive out of it. Sometimes it worked brilliantly. Often it didn’t. But his purpose was to create something that hadn’t been felt before. To do that you have to be willing to try things that don’t pan out.
It takes a unique type of person to be able to lead in this manner.
It’s no wonder that people who are at the top of their game are attracted by this environment. If you’re looking to set the direction for your industry then it’s a leadership style worth considering.
photo by mrpattersonsir
Work is draining. For many, rare are the days when we leave the office feeling energized.
As a manager you have to recognize that people are going through this. Chances are you are too. But change has to start somewhere.
Sure, technically your job is to make sure the ball is being advanced down the field. But if your team is too exhausted (or detached) to run the plays how far is the ball going to move?
Your real job is to make deposits into the emotional bank so that when the inevitable time comes when the team needs to hunker down and everything has gone sideways that people are present, engaged and have the persistence to get through the rough patches.
From the employees perspective, they have gone out of their way to make the relationship work. They started in their role excited and ready to roll up their sleeves and make a real difference. But every slight along the way has made a withdrawal on their emotional involvement with you, the team and with the company.
It all adds up and you may be responsible for making many of those emotional withdrawals. If you expect them to dig in then you need to exert the energy to refill that account.
Focus on your people. Feed them the projects that keep them energized. Recognize they’re all different and build those relationships accordingly. People do want to be treated differently. They’re not all the same and not universally motivated by the same things.
Start today. Hold one on ones that don’t focus on tasks but rather the individual. The work will still get done.
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