By Richard | Contented Cows

Does every performance get a standing ovation?

No Comments 18 July 2010

A few weeks ago, I attended a performance of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “Oklahoma!”, performed by a professional touring company, at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. It wasn’t West End (Britain’s Broadway), but it was close. Very close.

At the end of the show, the audience showed its intense appreciation for the outstanding performance with thunderous and sustained applause. From a seated position. The cast took their bows. The audience kept clapping, and hooting, and whistling, and shouting. And sitting.

As a big fan of musical theatre, and the father of a musical theatre major, I’ve been to lots of shows. In my experience, in the United States, unless a performance is embarrassingly lousy, it gets a standing ovation, deserved or not. Once in a while, after a truly remarkable performance, the standing O is spontaneous, immediate, and unanimous. More often, it starts with a few enthusiastic supporters, then those who think “Yeah, that was really good. I guess I’ll stand like these other people,” and finally a more reluctant group who stand so they don’t look like soreheads.

I belong to a professional association whose annual conventions (the last 19 of which I have attended) feature some of the best professional speakers in the world. Many of them have deserved a standing ovation; virtually all of them have received one. More than once, I’ve asked a friend sitting – er, standing, nearby, “Did you really think that was all that great?” to be answered, “Not really, but I think we should be supportive of each other, so I always stand at the end.”

I respectfully, and supportively, disagree.

Standing ovations, like the top rating on a performance evaluation, should be reserved for those performances that are truly distinguished in their excellence. When everybody gets a “5”, “Outstanding”, or “Consistently Exceeds Expectations”, it cheapens the feedback meant to be imparted by an evaluation.

I’m all for positive feedback. But I’m even more in favor of accurate feedback. Become known as a straight shooter. When someone’s got room for improvement, let them know, then help them get the rest of the way. We’re doing no favors when we tell people they’ve reached the summit, when the summit is actually just a few yards away. Reserve the standing ovations for those performances that are truly in a singular place at the top.

Richard Hadden (twitter at http://twitter.com/ContentedCows) is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and Bill are the authors of the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk, and the followup Contented Cows MOOve Faster. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

Leadership, Motivation, by Richard

Contented Cows on Real Recognition Radio

No Comments 28 June 2010

When: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 1:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time

What: Real Recognition Radio with Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown will feature Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden, talking about how good leaders get people to put more OOMPH! into their work.

Roy Saunderson, founder of Recognition Management Institute and S. Max Brown host Real Recognition Radio Tuesdays at 10 Eastern. These guys understand the value of recognition in getting the most, willingly, from people at work.

Tune in and listen to the show, on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, at 1:00pm Eastern Daylight Time, then bookmark their site, to listen each week.

Leadership, Motivation, by Richard

Everybody needs a safe zone

No Comments 27 May 2010

While I’ve visited lots of places prone to seismic activity, I’ve never actually experienced an earthquake. Not even a tremor. I’m not complaining. And only when I think about things like January’s horrific quake in Haiti, or my upcoming trip to San Francisco do I even give earthquakes much thought.

And so on my recent trip to Lima, Peru, to speak for the Human Capital Forum, I was a little creeped out when I began to see the ubiquitous sign designating safe areas in case of “sismos”, Spanish for earthquakes. Now, Peruvians don’t play at earthquakes. Their most recent bad one, in 2007, killed more than 500 people. And the history of Lima, Peru’s capital, is more or less defined by any given event’s relation to the earthquake of this year or that year. And so I’m not sure I entirely believe the little green signs’ claim that the area around it happens to be safe, if the ground decides to yawn real big. Nevertheless, had the shaking started, I’d have been the first one to the green sign.

The sign, “Safe zone, in case of earthquakes” made me think, “Does the workplace have “safe zones”, someplace people can go, not when literal earthquakes strike, but when they feel the ground beneath their feet is wobbly, or that the walls around their lives are crumbling?”

Maslow, the Heirarchy of Needs guy, who knew more than he ever imagined about employee engagement, thought safety was pretty important. Right up there with basic survival needs. One thing that’s been reinforced in the economic earthquakes and tremors of the last couple of years is that fear paralyzes. Fear leads to preoccupation. And preoccupation and engagement are mutually exclusive.

In your outfit, where do people go when they don’t feel safe? From a workplace bully, or a boss that doesn’t quite “get” the zero tolerance thing on harrassment? Or harrassment notwithstanding, where can a person who respects the chain of command go when the next link up is the problem? Where’s the safe zone when you’re not sure your job’s going to be around, since nobody ever tells you anything about how the company’s doing?

Is there someone you can go to when you’ve lost the way on your career path? How about when things outside of work have gone haywire?

People need a safe zone. Whether it’s a human resources department doing what a human resources department should be doing, or a well-functioning employee assistance program and referral network, a good alternative dispute resolution process, or just someone who cares enough to listen, people need someone, someplace where they can “touch base” and know they’re going to be OK.

Looking for a way to get more out of your work experience? Create, or better yet, be, a safe zone.

Management, by Richard

They’re Not Dead Yet

No Comments 14 May 2010

Janey Cutler, an 80-year-old great-grandmother from Wishaw, Scotland, is getting nearly as much press in the U.K. as the new Prime Minister, David Cameron, after her astonishing performance earlier this month on “Britain’s Got Talent”. The comparison to fellow Scotswoman Susan Boyle, last year’s phenom from the show, is inevitable, if not entirely spot-on. Still, Janey stole the show, as well as the hearts of most of the million-plus who’ve watch her magnificent rendition of “No Regrets” on YouTube since her episode aired.

Meanwhile, in the states, 88-year-old Betty White has suddenly become more popular than at any other time in her long career, thanks to a Snickers candy bar commercial that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl, and culminating (so far) in last Saturday’s much-hyped hosting of “Saturday Night Live”.

Whether or not you find either or both of these octogenarians entertaining is beside the point of this blog post. Here are some things I think are the point:

Both women are clearly talented. And clearly old.
They’ve each garnered tremendous support from people whose hearts have been lightened not only by their respective performances, but by their willingness to step into (or back into, in Betty’s case) the spotlight. Janey’s singing, and her comments afterward (if you can understand them – I can – I’m married to a Scot) have evoked both laughter and tears (tears of support) from many. I can only imagine the number of times the phrase “you go, girl” has been uttered in the last few weeks, on both sides of the Atlantic.
These two have highlighted the important realization that, though they’re of mature years, they’re not, to quote Monty Python, “dead yet”.

If you’re in a position to hire, or lead, employees, you’re undoubtedly noticing that the over-60-set is not, in fact, moving out of the way like so many were predicting they would not so long ago. You’re getting more applications from them, and you’re being challenged to lead, manage, and motivate them to work with all their Discretionary Effort. Some thoughts:

Don’t underestimate older workers. They’re a force to be reckoned with. And led, and encouraged, and developed. Yes, I said developed. Just as they’re not dead yet, they’re also not done growing and learning.
Don’t stick them all in the same box. There’s as much diversity among them as there is in any generational cohort.
Capitalize on what they bring to the job, that younger workers don’t. Experience, perspective, institutional history, and much more.
Keep performance standards high. To do otherwise perpetrates an injustice on everyone – the older workers, younger workers, your customers, and your shareholders. Janey Cutler and Betty White have shown us they can keep up with the best of ‘em.

Leadership, by Richard

Workplace Tradition

No Comments 15 April 2010

Tonight I will do something I haven’t done in more than 25 years: perform in a stage musical. It’s opening night of my son’s high school production of “Fiddler on the Roof”, the story of a Jewish family in Tsarist Russia. My son has been honored with the lead role of Tevye, a dairyman, who knows something about Contented Cows, and who’s getting some hard lessons in adapting to change. The cast includes not only students, but faculty, alumni, and parents, including my wife and me, who are background villagers.

In the opening number, “Tradition”, Tevye tells the audience of the struggles of living in their challenging environment, and asks, under such difficult conditions, “How do we keep our balance? That, I can tell you in one word: Tradition!” Without tradition, he says, their lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof.

While it pales greatly in comparison to the life-and-death struggles of Tevye’s people a century ago, the modern workplace can be about as shaky as a rooftop fiddler as well. So, how do you keep your balance? Tradition can help.

Even though we’re all probably over-connected electronically these days, most people are under-connected to the people, mission, customers, values, and yes, traditions of the place they spend 8+ hours a day working. And yet, with all the changes in the workplace over the last decade or so, among the things that have not changed, is people’s need for connectedness.

Traditions connect us to the past, a place where, as long as we don’t dwell there too long, we can find some useful elements for success. They also help create some of the best of the future. Some thoughts on tradition at your workplace:

Don’t underestimate the value of tradition. People need something they can count on. Today’s workplace doesn’t offer much in that department.
Don’t assume that you, as the manager, know what traditions are important to the people you work with, and which ones aren’t. Ask. Observe. Listen.
Traditions that connect somehow to your organization’s mission serve lots of purposes: they’re a visible manifestation of the mission, and as such, are easier to sell to those who need to be sold.
Encourage traditions that connect people together, rather than those that separate and divide them. The Executive Washroom is a relic of a tradition that doesn’t do anybody much good, including the executives. An annual celebration of the year’s good work, among people who actually know each other (as opposed to a mass gathering of everyone who happens to be on the payroll) can be a good tradition that strengthens the bonds necessary to do good work.
In an interview in our first book, Contented Cows Give Better Milk, Betty Kahn, who was at the time, head of Communications at Crate and Barrel, put it beautifully when she told me “We do a lot of group eating.” There’s something about breaking bread (or at least a few coffee mugs) together that binds our souls. And at the risk of sounding all new age here, bound souls do better work than do unbound ones.
Sometime in the next week, consider sunsetting a tradition that doesn’t help people, and therefore the business.
Wanna leave a valuable mark on your organization? One that endures long after your physical tenure? Start a new practice that fortifies the connections among people, and between people and their work. Don’t force it, but if the practice fills a need, it could become, over time, a tradition, and one of your most important legacies.

Featured, Leadership, Motivation, by Richard

Stop Being Ordinary!

No Comments 31 March 2010

Have you seen the YouTube video of the Thomson Airways (a UK carrier) safety video? If not, click on it (above), take 3 and a half minutes to look at it, then keep reading.

Sure, it’s cute. The kids are really good. Adorable. And the creative team that put it together is brilliant. But what makes it work is that it’s anything but ordinary. Thomson passengers actually watch the thing, and I have to believe that retention of the material is off the charts compared to the forgettable safety videos on almost every other airline.

Anybody can do ordinary. As leaders, we’ve really got to do better than that.

Ordinary is having a need to meticulously account for every day, hour, and minute someone is “at work”, whatever “at work” means anymore. Extraordinary is what they do at Netflix. Check out what they call their “Freedom and Responsibility Culture“. No, it won’t work everywhere, but it sure seems to work for Netflix. And it sure isn’t ordinary.

Ordinary is treating everyone consistently. Extraordinary is being fair with everyone, but rewarding WOW work and commitment with WOW rewards.

Ordinary is giving everyone who does a good job a gold star, whether they happen to like gold stars or not. Extraordinary is learning what your workers’ dreams are, and finding a way to link their dreams to the success of your enterprise.

Ordinary is sympathizing with a team member when they’re going through a hard time. Extraordinary is parting with some of your own cold hard cash, or other resources, to help a worker out – someone who needs it, and who deserves it.

Ordinary is buying the corporate line that “we can’t afford any training right now until things, you know, get a little better.” Extraordinary is finding creative ways to support workers’ development needs.

Ordinary is playing it safe. Examples: you fail to give someone really difficult feedback because it’ll be really unpleasant for both of you; you keep someone on the payroll who has ceased to earn his or her place there, because, well, it’s just easier; you hire the acceptable candidate who’s going to be easy to get through HR, rather than the best one, whom you may have to do battle for. (Please – no nastygrams from my HR friends, of whom there are many. I’m just sayin’…).

While I’m castigating ordinary, I’m not advocating weird or bizarre. Or illegal, or unethical. But I am saying that if you, as a leader, or as an organization, want to get people really engaged, to stand out, get noticed, make a real difference, you gotta leave ordinary behind.

Kinda like Alice and company…

Leadership, by Richard

Workplace Trends Revisited

1 Comment 29 March 2010

This week I was going through old stuff I had saved on my computer (somebody told me I should do that in the spring, and, at long last, it looks like spring may have finally come to Florida.) One of the more interesting finds was a list of the “Top Ten Workplace Trends of 2006″, as identified by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

To be honest, they hit the nail on the proverbial head with much of their prognostication (with a few notable, and glaring exceptions). And yet, four years later, what hits me right between the eyes is the clear fact that the list was written with absolutely no foreknowledge of the economic cataclysm that was lurking just off the calendar, and that came ashore just two short years later.

Here’s the list:

1. Rising health care costs.

2. Increased use of outsourcing (offshoring) of jobs to other countries.

3. Threat of increased healthcare/medical costs on the economic competitiveness of the United States.

4. Increased demand for work/life balance.

5. Retirement of large numbers of baby boomers around the same time.

6. New attitudes toward aging and retirement as baby boomers reach retirement age.

7. Rise in the number of people without health insurance.

8. Increase in identity theft.

9. Work intensification as employers try to increase productivity with fewer employees.

10. Vulnerability.

OK – right off the bat, we’ve got 3 of the 10 trends dealing with healthcare. And they were right on target with all 3. The game changed last week. Whether for better or worse remains to be seen. But there’s no question that they were right on this one. That healthcare would become, to paraphrase Joe Biden, a “big deal”.

But look at all the stuff about retiring baby boomers. What retiring baby boomers? Of course, back in blissful ‘06, we didn’t know (though maybe we should have?) that our 401(k)’s were headed for shriveldom, and that the unemployment rate was gonna be up there where our 401(k) returns used to be…in the good old days.

I thought it interesting that the list included the two seemingly oxymoronic trends of work intensification and increased demand for work/life balance. The battle rages on, but work intensification is winning. The balance thing has taken a back seat to being lucky enough to have work in the first place. Sad, but true.

But in addition to the economic meltdown and complete flip-flop in the labor supply and demand relationship, here’s what else the ‘06 list missed, and in a big way:

The disintegration (well-earned) of trust in leaders (at work and elsewhere).
Continued and growing dis-connectedness between workers and the institutions they “appear” to be working for. People simply don’t identify with their “employer” to the degree they once did. Maybe with their profession, their career; but not their employer.
Continued and growing need for connectedness to something, as manifested by the whole social media phenomenon.
The coming (and now already here) dearth in leadership development efforts by employers, in large part due to the unforeseen recession.

These trends, and others, help form the basis for the new book we’re working on, along with our friend and colleague Meredith Kimbell, entitled Rebooting Leadership. Look for it this summer.

Meanwhile, what trends do you foresee in the workplace in the next, say, five years? Leave us a comment with at least two serious workplace trends that you see, or expect to see, and we’ll put you on a list to receive a free copy of Rebooting Leadership when it comes out.

Thanks!

Motivation, by Bill, by Richard

Harvey MacKay’s Got a New Book

No Comments 25 March 2010

We all know someone who’s looking for work or has stayed in a career that doesn’t fuel his or her work life. Harvey Mackay, the #1 New York Times Best Selling Author has just come out with a new book titled Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You. He thinks it’s his best work in two decades since Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, a lifetime business classic…and we agree!

In fact, Harvey’s so confident in this book he personally guarantees that if you buy this book, and do what it says, if you don’t have a job in six months he’ll give you your money back!

The book captures Harvey’s pragmatic, yet humorous style and shares easy to apply methods to:

· Rebuild personal confidence in the face of rejection

· Create a daily “recovery” program and job search plan

· Take advantage of the way firms and recruiters make hiring decisions

· Use state-of-the art networking strategies

· Learn the best questions to ask in interviews

A recent review by the prestigious Library Journal Review says:

“….this is a very useful book. The short chapters with descriptive titles make it easy to navigate, and Mackay offers tips—from changing your attitude to getting hired—both for those currently employed but wishing to position themselves better in their current companies and for those who are out of work. Highly recommended for job seekers and career changers at all experience levels.”

P.S. Go directly to www.harveymackay.com/jobsecrets or buy the book from a bookseller and visit the www.harveymackay.com/job secrets site with the book in hand.

Here’s where you can buy the book online (click on the link to go directly to Harvey’s book at the bookseller’s site):

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Amazon

800-CEO-READ

Indie booksellers

We think you’ll personally enjoy it and hope you’ll pass this offer along to a friend who needs a dose of Harvey Mackay’s clever wisdom and secrets to jumpstart their career and the economy.

Featured, Leadership, Management, by Richard

Give service employees some backup

No Comments 19 March 2010

So far in 2010, 26 people have been arrested for making violent threats to customer service call center employees at JEA, the electric utility that serves Jacksonville, Florida. Beyond rude, more than testy, these calls are threatening. I’ve heard a few examples broadcast on the local news. They’re pretty scary.

There is as much defense for these whack jobs as there is for Congress slipping student loan legislation into the health care bill, which is to say, none…zero…nada. I don’t care how bad the utility’s service is (it sometimes is), how outrageously high people’s bills are (they are), or how frustrated the customers may be. You can’t call up the electric company and threaten to come down there and drown their employees in the Saint Johns River.

HOWEVER… the fact that so many people have, in less than three months, crossed the line from righteous indignation to criminal behavior…is the predictable outcome of a flawed policy.

The Policy: if a customer asks to speak to a supervisor, that customer is told that a supervisor will call them back within 24 hours. In one of the recorded calls broadcast on TV, when the customer objected and demanded to speak to a supervisor immediately, he was told, “I’m sorry. There is no supervisor available.”

(buzzing sound) WRONG ANSWER!

Some pretty basic rules of management, leadership, and common sense are being violated here:
1. Customers don’t care about your policy. They want to be helped.
2. Good leaders, in well-run organizations avoid, whenever possible, putting employees in the direct line of fire of angry customers, especially with no backup. Putting employees – who had nothing to do with the boneheaded policy – on the front line, to suffer the slings and arrows of outraged customers – without reasonable support (hint: a 24-hour callback is not reasonable support) indicates a weakness in leadership. Did a group of JEA executives actually sit around a conference table and say, “Let’s not allow our reps to connect upset customers to a supervisor. That should make things better for everyone – our customers and our employees.” No. Instead they took what seemed, at the time, to be the easy way out. And now they have employees who pray their customers don’t find out where they live.
3. People – whether customers or employees – need a viable process for appealing legitimate complaints to a higher authority. Fail to provide a sympathetic ear, and, on the customer side, you get threats – occasionally rising to a criminal level. And on the employee side, you get unions. But that’s a subject for another day.

Management, by Richard

The latest faulty hiring filter: bad credit

No Comments 04 March 2010

You finally get approval to fill that long-vacant position – the opening that has taken your team to the brink of burnout. You spend nights and weekends reviewing the pile of applicants, and narrow it down to someone who looks like a superstar. They’ve got the experience, the education, the specialized certifications, terrific references, and, most important of all – they’re an exceptionally good fit for your company and your team.

But, and this is a big but – they’ve got a bad credit score. So HR tells you no. You can’t hire them.

There are lots of good reasons not to hire someone. Usually – bad credit alone isn’t one of them. And yet, it’s become the reason du jour, in the eyes of many, to disqualify an otherwise highly qualified person to do a job they’re particularly well suited for. And it makes us wonder (although not for very long, really) if some employers might be taking undue advantage of the current imbalance in the labor supply/demand ratio.

A March 2 Associated Press article by Kathleen Miller says, “Sixty percent of employers recently surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management [SHRM] said they run credit checks on at least some job applicants, compared with 42 percent in a somewhat similar survey in 2006.”

I get the arguments: People with money woes are more tempted to steal from their employer. Bad financial decisions mean bad judgment at work. (Try telling someone “You’ve made too many bad spouse choices, so we’re not hiring you.” See how far that gets you with the judge.) SHRM likes to point to a study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners that found that the two most common red flags for employees who commit workplace fraud are 1. living beyond their means, and 2. having difficulty meeting financial obligations. Well, no duh. They needed a study to figure that out?

And the counter from the social humanitarian everybody-deserves-a-job bunch is “how can you get out of debt if no one will give you a job?” It’s as if they think employers are somehow obligated to put people on their payrolls to pay some social duty.

And employers who use the practice will point out that it’s perfectly legal (which it is, in most US states), and besides, you can’t run a credit check without the applicant’s permission. Yeah, right. Like the applicant who refuses permission has any hope of being hired.

The real problem with giving too much weight to a job applicant’s credit score is that, in too many cases, it’s simply a faulty filter. OK – I’m not a complete idiot. For most bank jobs, jobs in accounting and finance, those who handle money, C-level positions, and those with greater opportunity to commit fraud – employers have an obligation to be duly diligent in bettering their odds against would-be miscreants. But for the vast majority of jobs that fall outside that realm, credit score is no better a predictor of (honest) job success than are race, gender, marital status, religion, or national origin. And didn’t we outlaw that a long time ago?

Did somebody say outlaw?

Yep. As in so many cases, when organizations (or individuals) can’t be relied upon to behave like grown-ups on their own, the law steps in. Wisconsin, South Carolina, Oregon, and thirteen other states are currently considering bans on most pre-employment credit checks.

What to do?

Employers:

Beware of using faulty filters…like credit checks, and other sieves that let can let bad hires in, and keep good ones out.
Start looking at hiring quality for what it is: a competitive issue. These days, the company with the best talent wins. So what if the best talent went through a messy divorce that trashed her credit, or was eaten alive by medical bills from his child’s serious chronic illness? The one with the best talent still wins. This stuff’s too important to rely on arbitrary standards.
Realize that hiring is one of the most important jobs any manager does. And one of the hardest. It may sound attractive to relegate the hard work of hiring to automated resume scanners, exams and assessments, and credit checks, but in the end, there’s no substitute for taking a hard look at the things that really matter, going eyeball-to-eyeball with the prospect, using judgment and your powers of discernment, and making a well-informed decision.
If you do check credit, and find something of concern, on someone you think would be good in the job, give them a chance to explain. And then listen.

Applicants:

As if you needed one more reason to maintain a clean credit record, this is one.
Unless pre-employment credit checks are prohibited where you live, be prepared for the scrutiny. Just as you would if showing your home to a prospective buyer, tidy up your credit record before you put your career on the market.
Know your credit score, and examine your credit record. If there’s an error, U.S. residents can visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website to learn step-by-step how to dispute and correct the error.
This issue underscores the value of investing in networking, long before you may need it. Chances are, if the prospective employer has some history with you, or valued connection to you, your credit score may matter a whole lot less.

Happy hunting…on both sides.

****************************

Older Entries »

Does every performance get a standing ovation?

Contented Cows on Real Recognition Radio

Everybody needs a safe zone

They’re Not Dead Yet

Workplace Tradition

Stop Being Ordinary!

Workplace Trends Revisited

Harvey MacKay’s Got a New Book

Give service employees some backup

The latest faulty hiring filter: bad credit

SHOP OUR ONLINE STORE

ABOUT US

GET BLOG FEED BY E-MAIL

OUR BOOKS

SHARE THIS SITE

ContentedCows on Twitter

Blogroll

Contact Richard

Contact Bill