You have heard the tale since childhood, and if you heeded it, you learned one of the greatest business strategies while you were still in the nursery. The Tortoise and the Hare have a race, and even though the hare is a much faster animal, the steadiness of the tortoise prevails and he crosses the finish line first.
This principle was exemplified in the life of NCAA basketball coach and lecturer John Wooden, winner of ten national championships, who counted among his favorite maxims, "Be quick, but don't hurry." He was known for putting his most consistent players into the game.
Consistency is a trait that is easy to find among the success stories of all varieties. Michelangelo painted the ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine chapel with it. The Pilgrims survived where other settlements had failed because of it. Edison found an improved light bulb filament with it. Lincoln ended the Civil War with it. Walt Disney built an entertainment empire with it.
Since consistency and dependability are essential for building a base of repeat customers, keeping an even-keeled workplace is important for your bottom line. For that reason alone there is a need to train your employees to be consistent. But perhaps an even better reason is that maintaining a steady workplace environment will eliminate a lot of employee drama. In Aesop's fable, the Hare boasted of never having lost a race and the Tortoise was ridiculed for being slow-moving. The verbal hype may not have directly affected the outcome, but it did create an unpleasant atmosphere at the starting line.
The Character Training Institute, Inc., in their book, Achieving True Success, offers a list of "I will's" that promote consistency.
I will...
• make the most of my spare time
• keep trying until I succeed
• keep my work area neat
• complete all that I am expected to do
• keep my word
• be careful what I promise
• pull my share of the load
Putting these into practice will greatly reduce the gyration of workplace highs and lows. When everyone is keeping their word and pulling their share of the load, then you begin to see that the race is not between your employees; they are all running on the same relay team. The race is against your business competitors, and you will consistently emerge as the victorious tortoise.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
A Dozen Axioms to Ease the Daily Grind
The word axiom comes from a Greek word that encompasses the ideas of deeming worthy, being in balance, and having value. These may sound cliché, but why reinvent the wheel when they are tried and true?
1. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. – Colin Powell
2. Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
3. I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. – Frances Willard
4. The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. – Thomas Edison
5. The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist. – Harold Wilkins
6. Every business is built on friendship. – J. C. Penney
7. See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little. – Pope John XXIII
8. Where you find quality, you will find a craftsman, not a quality-control expert. – Robert Brault
9. Drive thy business or it will drive thee. – Benjamin Franklin
10. Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. – Japanese proverb
11. Judge not according to appearances, but judge according to equity. – Jewish Proverb
12. When you own your own business, you only have to work half a day. You can do anything you want with the other twelve hours. – Anonymous
1. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. – Colin Powell
2. Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
3. I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. – Frances Willard
4. The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. – Thomas Edison
5. The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist. – Harold Wilkins
6. Every business is built on friendship. – J. C. Penney
7. See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little. – Pope John XXIII
8. Where you find quality, you will find a craftsman, not a quality-control expert. – Robert Brault
9. Drive thy business or it will drive thee. – Benjamin Franklin
10. Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. – Japanese proverb
11. Judge not according to appearances, but judge according to equity. – Jewish Proverb
12. When you own your own business, you only have to work half a day. You can do anything you want with the other twelve hours. – Anonymous
Monday, June 21, 2010
Don't Get Locked to the Lectern!
Did you know that in most western countries, the public education system of the last century was modeled on the Prussian education system that was originally intended to create a servile labor force that rewarded conformity among the masses and empowered only a handful of elite? The boring lecture-style of teaching dulled critical thinking skills and produced a compliant worker-class of mediocre intellect, smart enough to perform the task, but not challenged enough to rise above it.
America's deep roots of rugged individualism and Yankee ingenuity ameliorated some of the effects, but such a factory system of education has still left its mark. Many believe the compulsory Prussian system of education has weakened competition and restricted the ability to innovate. You may not be able to resolve the entrenched woes of the education system, but you don't have to repeat some of its more grievous errors in your business. Does your training make engaged employees, or servile laborers?
Employee training ought to do more than impart knowledge, it ought to motivate as well. Learning ought to be a stimulating adventure, not boring or seemingly pointless to the student. It your current system for employee training isn't working, then scrap it. If your employees think a workshop is a 'been-there done-that' time waster, it probably will be.
If it is time to take another look at employee training, consider some of these approaches:
Timely Instruction – Business trends are fluid, sometimes volatile, and they don't wait for the annual training day on your calendar. In so far as possible, stay flexible and train as the need arises. People are more engaged in learning when they see a need for it.
Substance over Style – Your employees won't be happily hoodwinked by snazzy gimmickry if the nuts and bolts are not there to back it up. For example, if a lecture is ineffective to begin with, adding PowerPoint color and graphics won't improve it. That can actually be even less intellectually effective because you don't even have to think to make your own notes!
Hands-On Opportunities – Used car salesmen know the motivational value of a test drive. Likewise, 3D learning experiences are more motivational than having a concept explained to you by a spokesperson who dresses better than you do. Let your employees experience hands-on mentoring.
Delight-led Learning – some of your employees may have natural talents and proclivities that are better suited for a different department. Perhaps a mediocre employee who is stuck in a cubicle all day would flourish as your delivery driver when they are out and about meeting customers.
Don't make your employees endure boring, mind-numbing training sessions when they can be inspired with liberating learning experiences.
America's deep roots of rugged individualism and Yankee ingenuity ameliorated some of the effects, but such a factory system of education has still left its mark. Many believe the compulsory Prussian system of education has weakened competition and restricted the ability to innovate. You may not be able to resolve the entrenched woes of the education system, but you don't have to repeat some of its more grievous errors in your business. Does your training make engaged employees, or servile laborers?
Employee training ought to do more than impart knowledge, it ought to motivate as well. Learning ought to be a stimulating adventure, not boring or seemingly pointless to the student. It your current system for employee training isn't working, then scrap it. If your employees think a workshop is a 'been-there done-that' time waster, it probably will be.
If it is time to take another look at employee training, consider some of these approaches:
Timely Instruction – Business trends are fluid, sometimes volatile, and they don't wait for the annual training day on your calendar. In so far as possible, stay flexible and train as the need arises. People are more engaged in learning when they see a need for it.
Substance over Style – Your employees won't be happily hoodwinked by snazzy gimmickry if the nuts and bolts are not there to back it up. For example, if a lecture is ineffective to begin with, adding PowerPoint color and graphics won't improve it. That can actually be even less intellectually effective because you don't even have to think to make your own notes!
Hands-On Opportunities – Used car salesmen know the motivational value of a test drive. Likewise, 3D learning experiences are more motivational than having a concept explained to you by a spokesperson who dresses better than you do. Let your employees experience hands-on mentoring.
Delight-led Learning – some of your employees may have natural talents and proclivities that are better suited for a different department. Perhaps a mediocre employee who is stuck in a cubicle all day would flourish as your delivery driver when they are out and about meeting customers.
Don't make your employees endure boring, mind-numbing training sessions when they can be inspired with liberating learning experiences.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Why Do You Care?
Why do you care? Seriously, do you have an ulterior motive? Is it because of what is in it for you?
One of the bedrock philosophies of capitalism is that humans are essentially selfish and self-serving creatures, and that the 'trick' to good business is to manipulate a situation so that it is in someone's best interest to pay you for a good or service. For all the glorious rhetoric of having a "fulfilling" career, at the end of the day, most of your employees are there only because it is in your best interest to pay them,
If you want your business to be run on nobler principles, then you will have to sow something greater than just a paycheck into the lives of your employees. You will have to sow the seeds for a relationship if you want to reap loyalty, enthusiasm, and commitment. You may run a high tech service-based business, but you cannot escape one aspect of the old agrarian economy: The prerequisite for a harvest is the sowing of the seed.
On the surface, it seems counter intuitive that if you want more corn, you must first go stick what little corn you do have in the ground and leave it there a while, but that is how it works. It can seem equally counter intuitive that if you want your employees to buy into your vision for the company, you must first listen to them, but that is fundamentally how building relationships work.
It is a leadership thing. In deed, President Kennedy tapped into this very concept in his Inaugural Address. Just change his word "country" to "company" and see how it flies. "Ask not what your company can do for you - ask what you can do for your company." The next paragraph is not quoted as often, but it goes, "ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you." This was a speech designed to build a relationship with the citizenry, and it illustrates motivational leadership in getting people "on board" with the vision.
Taking the time to build mutually beneficial relationships with your employees means that you work for them as much as they work for you. And yes, caring is a little bit selfish in both directions; they will come to see that buying in to your company vision will help them too.
One of the bedrock philosophies of capitalism is that humans are essentially selfish and self-serving creatures, and that the 'trick' to good business is to manipulate a situation so that it is in someone's best interest to pay you for a good or service. For all the glorious rhetoric of having a "fulfilling" career, at the end of the day, most of your employees are there only because it is in your best interest to pay them,
If you want your business to be run on nobler principles, then you will have to sow something greater than just a paycheck into the lives of your employees. You will have to sow the seeds for a relationship if you want to reap loyalty, enthusiasm, and commitment. You may run a high tech service-based business, but you cannot escape one aspect of the old agrarian economy: The prerequisite for a harvest is the sowing of the seed.
On the surface, it seems counter intuitive that if you want more corn, you must first go stick what little corn you do have in the ground and leave it there a while, but that is how it works. It can seem equally counter intuitive that if you want your employees to buy into your vision for the company, you must first listen to them, but that is fundamentally how building relationships work.
It is a leadership thing. In deed, President Kennedy tapped into this very concept in his Inaugural Address. Just change his word "country" to "company" and see how it flies. "Ask not what your company can do for you - ask what you can do for your company." The next paragraph is not quoted as often, but it goes, "ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you." This was a speech designed to build a relationship with the citizenry, and it illustrates motivational leadership in getting people "on board" with the vision.
Taking the time to build mutually beneficial relationships with your employees means that you work for them as much as they work for you. And yes, caring is a little bit selfish in both directions; they will come to see that buying in to your company vision will help them too.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Using Variable Incentives
When you hear "Variable Incentive," do you think "Sales Department?" In the past, variable incentives have often been reserved for commissioned salespeople. Employers used them because it reduced the risk of having to pay for little or no results. At the same time, well structured incentives would motivate the salesman to make a little extra effort.
For the past couple years, most employees placed more importance on financial stability and preferred the predictability of a steady base pay. But as the economy moves ahead in the early stages of recovery, employers may find a win-win situation by adding a new twist to the old concept of offering variable incentives.
The big differences this time around are that variable incentives certainly don't have to be limited to sales departments, and they don't always have to be paid in the form of dollars. Every department has departmental goals. Providing incentives to reach those goals can improve retention rates and heighten employee motivation.
Offering variable incentives has been used effectively since ancient times. It may have had a different label then, but the idea behind rewarding each person according to what he has done capitalizes on human nature: Incentives become their own motivators. Variable incentives harness this trait in a way that allows an employer to use his payroll dollars more effectively.
How is that done in practical terms? You begin by identifying goals that you want to encourage. A PEO can often help with this. Some examples might be company-wide bonuses for profitability, on-time attendance awards, completion of extra training, meeting personal goals determined during evaluations, client satisfaction, on-schedule meeting of deadlines, or any other goal that is important to your business. Because many of these goals overlap, an employee can benefit from multiple incentives. The end result is expectant, motivated employees.
For the past couple years, most employees placed more importance on financial stability and preferred the predictability of a steady base pay. But as the economy moves ahead in the early stages of recovery, employers may find a win-win situation by adding a new twist to the old concept of offering variable incentives.
The big differences this time around are that variable incentives certainly don't have to be limited to sales departments, and they don't always have to be paid in the form of dollars. Every department has departmental goals. Providing incentives to reach those goals can improve retention rates and heighten employee motivation.
Offering variable incentives has been used effectively since ancient times. It may have had a different label then, but the idea behind rewarding each person according to what he has done capitalizes on human nature: Incentives become their own motivators. Variable incentives harness this trait in a way that allows an employer to use his payroll dollars more effectively.
How is that done in practical terms? You begin by identifying goals that you want to encourage. A PEO can often help with this. Some examples might be company-wide bonuses for profitability, on-time attendance awards, completion of extra training, meeting personal goals determined during evaluations, client satisfaction, on-schedule meeting of deadlines, or any other goal that is important to your business. Because many of these goals overlap, an employee can benefit from multiple incentives. The end result is expectant, motivated employees.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Is it Time to Fire Your Performance Appraisal System?
You probably have heard of the Law of Unintended Consequences. A classic example is seen in the early days of forestry management. When the US Forest Service was created in 1905, so much emphasis was put on the suppression of forest fires that biodiversity began to decrease due to fewer young forest habitats, species like lodgepole pine in the Rockies and long leaf pine in the South, both of which require intense heat for germination, became at risk, competition increased the stress on existing trees, and a build-up of debris in the forest's understory made fires more ferocious when they did break out. For three-quarters of a century, the "fix" was actually causing more problems than it solved.
Using old-style employee Performance Appraisal Systems can sometimes be like that. In an attempt to manage personnel more effectively, some workers lose their motivation, while the employees who believe they can do better elsewhere start to leave. If employees view performance appraisals as more office politics, then the unintended consequences of increased dissatisfaction and dropping retention rates are sure to follow.
It is in situations like this that using a PEO can be especially effective. When they act as your Human Resources department, they can conduct appropriate evaluations that minimize the politicking and will not disenfranchise your staff.
If your employee evaluation system still has all the inbred dread of a high school report card, then it is time to update and innovate. Your company's true benefit of an annual performance evaluation is not so much about knowing if an employee is doing what he is supposed to be doing—it should not take an annual evaluation to know that, as it is about learning if you are meeting the leadership and training needs of your employees.
An evaluation ought to be able to identify what management needs to do to improve, not inflict another round of regulation, as happened in the Forest Service. For years, scientific research that recognized fire as essential to ecosystems was ignored because of an ill-fitting congressional policy. Using a PEO can help your company avoid that kind of management mistake.
An annual Performance Appraisal is a check-up to see if the consequences of your management policies are the consequences that you intended. Are you realizing better retention rates and higher levels of employee motivation? Are you managing your office ecosystem to produce a thriving community of employees?
Using old-style employee Performance Appraisal Systems can sometimes be like that. In an attempt to manage personnel more effectively, some workers lose their motivation, while the employees who believe they can do better elsewhere start to leave. If employees view performance appraisals as more office politics, then the unintended consequences of increased dissatisfaction and dropping retention rates are sure to follow.
It is in situations like this that using a PEO can be especially effective. When they act as your Human Resources department, they can conduct appropriate evaluations that minimize the politicking and will not disenfranchise your staff.
If your employee evaluation system still has all the inbred dread of a high school report card, then it is time to update and innovate. Your company's true benefit of an annual performance evaluation is not so much about knowing if an employee is doing what he is supposed to be doing—it should not take an annual evaluation to know that, as it is about learning if you are meeting the leadership and training needs of your employees.
An evaluation ought to be able to identify what management needs to do to improve, not inflict another round of regulation, as happened in the Forest Service. For years, scientific research that recognized fire as essential to ecosystems was ignored because of an ill-fitting congressional policy. Using a PEO can help your company avoid that kind of management mistake.
An annual Performance Appraisal is a check-up to see if the consequences of your management policies are the consequences that you intended. Are you realizing better retention rates and higher levels of employee motivation? Are you managing your office ecosystem to produce a thriving community of employees?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Are You Blaming the Problem or the Symptom?
Have you ever thought that it would be wonderful if you could just pay to make all your stress go away? Getting rid of all your stress may be too good to be true, but achieving a drastic reduction in the stress of managing employee problems can be a reality.
A professional employer organization (PEO) can serve as a Human Resources department for small to mid-size companies. Consider this example:
You've just seen the numbers and first-quarter sales are down. You'd been inching along an upward recovery curve for the past two quarters and were looking for a 3% increase. You got your 3%, but it was in the wrong direction. It had a minus sign in front! Do you blame it on sales? Or do you have an HR department that can get involved with the solution?
The HR response:
What is the weak link in the sales chain, the lead, the pitch, or the close? Look at process.
Was there a shift in customer needs? Look at communication.
Has the sales team changed? Look at training.
Is our product falling short? Look at product development.
What feedback is the sales team getting from customers? Look at communication.
Is the sales team keeping up with business evolution and changes in competition? Look at retraining.
HR determines that the chief reason for the drop in sales is that you are taking longer to fill and ship orders than your competition. But HR isn't done yet.
The step-two HR response:
What are the weak points and snags in the current shipping process?
Can we find a better freight company or strike a better deal with our current one?
Can we streamline the paperwork and still keep our accuracy?
In this case, the gut reaction to blame sales would have been wrong. It was an administrative problem with a complex cause involving both communication and process. By having a PEO take the Human Resources approach to analyzing business problems, corrections could be made sooner and another business quarter wasn't wasted trying to fix sales when a time lag in shipping was the main problem.
A professional employer organization (PEO) can serve as a Human Resources department for small to mid-size companies. Consider this example:
You've just seen the numbers and first-quarter sales are down. You'd been inching along an upward recovery curve for the past two quarters and were looking for a 3% increase. You got your 3%, but it was in the wrong direction. It had a minus sign in front! Do you blame it on sales? Or do you have an HR department that can get involved with the solution?
The HR response:
What is the weak link in the sales chain, the lead, the pitch, or the close? Look at process.
Was there a shift in customer needs? Look at communication.
Has the sales team changed? Look at training.
Is our product falling short? Look at product development.
What feedback is the sales team getting from customers? Look at communication.
Is the sales team keeping up with business evolution and changes in competition? Look at retraining.
HR determines that the chief reason for the drop in sales is that you are taking longer to fill and ship orders than your competition. But HR isn't done yet.
The step-two HR response:
What are the weak points and snags in the current shipping process?
Can we find a better freight company or strike a better deal with our current one?
Can we streamline the paperwork and still keep our accuracy?
In this case, the gut reaction to blame sales would have been wrong. It was an administrative problem with a complex cause involving both communication and process. By having a PEO take the Human Resources approach to analyzing business problems, corrections could be made sooner and another business quarter wasn't wasted trying to fix sales when a time lag in shipping was the main problem.
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