Do Disengaged Employees Impact Engaged Employees?

It's no secret that people in organizations have an impact on those around them...both positively and negatively. According to Gallup, 72% of US workers are not engaged in their work. To what extent the exact level of disengagement might be, we can't say for sure, but any material level of disengagement will affect overall results.

And, also according to Gallup, 18% of disengaged employees actually undermine the success of fellow employees....18%! So what we have here is a group of employees who who are disengaged at some level who intentionally or unintentionally wreak enough havoc among other employees that the actual impact of disengagement is much bigger than one might imagine.

Here are a few ways that could happen:

- The disengaged employees talk disparagingly enough about the company or management on a regular basis that the engaged employee starts to have doubts and becomes somewhat less engaged.
- The disengaged employee's work is sub par and/or the level of productivity is so low that other employees become irritated and blame management for allowing it or causing it to happen.
- The engaged employee's work is dependent on work performed by the disengaged employee and productivity/output of the engaged employee suffers.
- The engaged employee intentionally disrupts or sabotages the work of the engaged employee.

The bottom line is that engagement, while perhaps an overused term, is a real issue in most organizations. It's important to have a plan to minimize disengagement and to "manage out" those individuals who have a negative impact on those around them. Is that plan in place in your organization?

What Feeds Cultural Differentiation

One of the overused and yet most important words used in the world of business is differentiation. There is a lot of chatter about how best to differentiate a business.

The focus tends to be on things like product features, pricing, service, and other common differentiating variables. But what many seem to not recognize is the importance of overall culture in the differentiation process.

For example, suppose a company has identified customer service as its most critical differentiating variable. That's great, but it begs some questions. How will we use customer service to differentiate us from the competition? Can our people deliver a differentiated level of service consistently? Are we really providing better service than our competition or are we just kidding ourselves? These are but a few of the legitimate questions that should be asked.

Another overused word, but perhaps even more important than differentiation is culture. For any organization to achieve and sustain differentiation, there has to be a focus on its very foundation, or culture. When we think about culture, we think in terms of "habitual organizational behavior". So we believe that how a company "behaves" day in and out can create a differentiating variable not generally thought about in the true sense of differentiation.

But how does corporate culture impact differentiation? The easiest answer lies in the belief that the evolution and achievement of a culture of excellence provides a strong foundation to achieve differentiation and can, in and of itself, provide some degree of recognizable differentiation. But how? By having in place a culture that focuses on excellence in all aspects of the business, it makes it easier to isolate and take advantage of true differentiating variables.

Let's take our example of customer service discussed above. So many businesses will tell you they provide better service than their competitors. But do they really? In most cases, it's nothing more than lip service. In a culture of excellence...one that has as its foundation habitual excellent organizational behavior...customer service would be a focal point and would be relationship-oriented, urgent in nature, responsive, and truly superior to that delivered by competitors (and likely most other businesses).

Here are a few things that feed into a culture that creates a foundation upon which differentiation can take place:

- A sense of urgency about serving customers at a very high level.
- The sharing of a common goal of excellence across the organization.
- High performing employees who understand that external relationship development is important to success.
- An understanding that everyone is accountable for results.
- A shared passion for delivering the highest quality product and/or service.
- Employees who care; who want to excel; who want the business to be highly successful; who work well together; who put their own personal agendas behind organizational goals and agendas and who clearly understand that the business can set itself apart from its competition.
- Having a plan in place that is focused on gaining a competitive advantage in various areas and that is effectively implemented and one that clearly defines and communicates the important goals of the business.

It's not easy to create a culture that allows for differentiation. And that's why it creates opportunities for those who can. Most organizations nibble around the edges of trying to get there, but can't create the whole package, so to speak. Those that do are usually very successful and are great places to work.

Can You Become a Better Strategic Thinker?

Thinking strategically doesn't always come easy for most of us. Or we get sidetracked by all of the operational stuff that comes up on a daily basis and we get away from looking at our businesses or work units from a strategic perspective.

So we offer a few things you can do to help ensure that some level of strategic thinking is in place on a consistent basis:

1.Remember that the foundation for a sound strategic plan is goals. They provide direction and focus and well as a basis for finding alternative ways of achieving them. Never lose sight of your goals.

2. Forget about "the way it's always been done". Think about how things could be and/or should be. Get outside your comfort zone!

3. Practice creative thinking. Tell yourself that no idea is too crazy. Generate as many ideas as possible. As an example, take one of your products or services and list all of the possible ways it could be marketed remembering that anything goes. Force yourself to be creative and think "outside the box".

4. Analyze and process data and information in an unbiased manner. Good long-term strategies are developed around good information and sound logical reasoning. Take the time to gather good data/information, but don't get caught up in over-analyzing things.

5. Look outside the operating environment. Learn to look at customers and markets available to you. Get externally focused. Understand your markets well and think about how new approaches might make sense.

6. Think in strategic terms rather than task-oriented terms. For example, suppose a goal is to grow revenues at an annual rate of 9%. This sets off all kinds of task-oriented thinking; staff needs, promotional materials, space planning, etc. Think more in terms of alternative strategies for growing the business....new ways to penetrate existing markets with a new product for example.

7. Become a thinker. Take time to sit back and clear your mind of details and just think. Think less about details and more about your goals and how to achieve them. Step back and think big picture on a regular basis. Find quiet time to do it. Thought can be the most productive form of work.

8. Generate as many ideas as possible. Quantity will often breed quality. Also, some ideas can come together to form very effective strategies.

Is it Just a Bad Day or is it Everyday?

Everybody has the occasional bad day at work. What often starts as a problem or irritant outside the office can get carried over to work. Or what looks like a promising day turns sour because of one or more work related issues.

But what about the employee who just seems to be in a bad mood or negative frame of mind most or all of the time? What's their excuse?

Employees who come to work on a frequent basis in a bad mood or with a negative outlook have an impact on the organization in a number of ways, not the least of which is the way they affect co-workers or bosses. These employees are often referred to as having a bad attitude. An employee with a truly bad attitude can create unnecessary tension and "noise" within a work unit to the extent that productivity is reduced.

Be careful though in characterizing an employee as having a bad attitude. It's important to focus on the behavior of the employee. A person with a bad attitude tends to respond negatively to many things within the workplace. This response is the behavior that results from having what many call a bad attitude and is what needs to be focused on when coaching the employee.

Focus on the behaviors exhibited by the employee rather than simply talking about a bad attitude. Employees need to understand how their specific behaviors affect those around them and the organization in general.

Telling an employee that he or she has a bad attitude likely won't resonate with them. In fact, because they are generally negative anyway they will take it as unfair criticism without basis. That's why it is even more important to pinpoint their behaviors and how they are affecting the team.

On performance reviews, this can be especially important. For the various competencies the employee is being measured against, point out the behaviors that support the lower ratings that are likely to be found on the review. Because an employee who is intent on being a negative influence may well be "managed out" of the organization, being as specific as possible on reviews and other ongoing feedback is critical.

The importance of documenting the behaviors that provide evidence of the bad attitude can't be overstated. Let's face it, if an employee brings an attitude to work that leads to negative responses to many situations, there is a good chance that he or she will create issues if and when they are terminated. Documentation of behaviors help cover a managers backside and may even help the employee recognize that a behavioral change is in order.

Keep attitude and behavior separated and focus on changing behavior. While you may not see the results you expect, you will be doing what is necessary to move the employee forward or out.

A Pee Wee Herman "Listening Culture"

Sometimes managers just talk too much. Our mantra is listen more, talk less. Employees who believe they are being heard with resulting changes or tweaks to how things are run are generally the most satisfied in their jobs. They feel empowered and they feel they are a part of the process. Those who don't feel they can share ideas, concerns and frustrations freely with their managers tend to feel isolated and constrained.

It isn't uncommon for employees to feel that they aren't being heard. Listening to employees is a great way to get far greater buy-in from employees. What are their frustrations? What ideas do they have for improving things? Are there things the manager isn't aware of that could help in addressing a number of performance and morale issues?

A critical point here is that you want to avoid listening just to listen. Employees will quickly sniff out the manager who is insincere about asking employees to sound off. They will wonder what is up. Why is the manager suddenly asking for input when it rarely, if ever, happened before? If a manager is going to be a good listener, it's important to actively listen and then use feedback from employees to move things forward and improve things.

A trap to avoid is believing everything you hear. The feedback from employees can range anywhere from completely accurate to complete rubbish. Over some period of time, astute managers form opinions about what is really happening by listening to all employees and piecing things together. Good listeners are active listeners and they ask good questions that will draw out important information and help sort out the inaccuracies.

Creating a listening culture takes some time. Building trust is probably the most crucial element of the process. Employees have to feel they can trust managers to keep confidential information they share and to use that information in a positive and productive way. When managers blab and misuse the information, there can be no traction toward a culture of active and productive listening.

Does your organization have a "listening culture"? If so, what does it look like? Is is embedded in such a way that the feedback from employees feels natural and not contrived? Do employees more often than not bring forward good ideas and offer solutions rather than just problems? Are employees comfortable sharing information? Take a look around and see what you find.

Self-Awareness as a Competency

We've all seen it haven't we? That employee with good intellect that just seems to irritate people and continually struggle to gain acceptance within the organization.

It's not uncommon to find employees who have had plenty of good coaching, training and help for whatever reason just flat out self-destruct right before our eyes. These are employees who have the brains and skills to do the job, but just can't get along with others or are in some way more than slightly disruptive to their team.

Let's face it, just being smart in no way translates into being a good employee. One relatively recent study by Leadership IQ found that 46% of new hires failed within the first 18 months of being hired. That statistic is certainly organization-dependent, but with a number that high across so many organizations involved in the study it illustrates that being a good employee is harder than it may seem.

Some of these employees are even great at the technical part of their jobs. But in terms of fitting in, they're a mess. So on the one hand we have a great worker, and on the other hand a terrible co-worker. I have a friend who calls employees with excellent technical skills, but lousy interpersonal skills 'organizational terrorists'. Of course, that doesn't mean they are a threat to fellow employees. It simply means they can be very disruptive of their work surroundings and more than just a little frustrating to their fellow employees.

Over the years, we come to learn that people really do come in all sorts of personality packages. Based on my experience dealing with these types of employees, it seems to boil down to very often a substantial to complete lack of self-awareness. In other words, they just do not understand how they are behaving and how much their behavior is impacting others. Unfortunately in a lot of cases these employees can't be coached to become enough more self-aware to save them from eventually having to leave the organization.

One such employee that I once had the "pleasure" of managing looked at me during a coaching session and said "I just can't help it that I'm so rude and annoying." And you know what, she was probably right. Those tendencies were so deeply ingrained into her personality that no matter how much I coached her, she could only get along with others for so long before she slipped back into those old habits and figuratively speaking ripped someone's head off. Needless to say, she was terminated. The sad part of that story is that she was also one of the very best technical employees I've ever employed.

But there are opportunities to coach self-awareness and to make self-awareness a key competency in your performance reviews. Everyone in the organization needs to understand the importance of being self-aware and display behaviors that reflect self-awareness.

Think about your employees for a minute or two and mentally rank them on a scale of 1to 5 (5 being highest) in terms of how self-aware you think they are. You might be surprised at how many of the employees need to work on their self-awareness skills.

Learn and Understand Front Line Jobs

Have you ever had a manager request or assign you a task and want it done in a time frame that was simply not realistic? This probably happened because they did not understand your job and day-to-day tasks. This generally leads to mistakes, stress and unrealistic expectations.

The more a manager knows about the day-to-day operations of your business, the easier it will be to make informed decisions. Spend some time working side-by-side with your front line employees to gain a better understanding of what they go through each day and to get a better feel for the processes they undertake. This knowledge will help when focusing on process refinement and when making operational decisions. Also, you will gain the perspective of your customers and have an opportunity to identify problems with customer service.

Establish Productivity Standards

Because productivity has such a profound impact on profits, there must be some way of measuring performance. Setting productivity standards for a particular job is important. Whether it be processing payables or picking orders in the warehouse or some other job, it is possible to establish minimum standards in terms of output. These standards become expectations for your employees. Also, incentives can be established for performance above the minimum performance level. In order to establish standards it is essential that you understand what it takes to do the job and what a reasonable work pace is. Setting unrealistically high or low standards can be detrimental to productivity and/or morale. It is also imperative that employees are held accountable on meeting these productivity standards which can be done through performance reviews.

An Introduction To Building Effective Teams

A manager's role has changed dramatically over the past 10 to 15 years. This change stems from the realization that old management techniques and styles are no longer effective given the changes taking place in peoples' attitudes about work. Today's employees are in tune with what other companies are doing in terms of empowering employees and establishing teams to solve problems, refine processes, plan and make decisions about how particular segments of the business will be managed and other facets of managing the organization. The manager of the 90's and beyond will need to be an effective builder of teams whether the team is his/her work unit or specialized teams formed to plan, refine processes, solve problems or carry out some other task.

-Old management styles or techniques tended to be more controlling and dictatorial. The management styles and techniques that fit in today's business climate will need to be much more facilitating in nature.
-Managers cannot see themselves as the sole source for decision making although they will probably be the final authority in most decisions.
-A facilitating management style includes coaching, encouraging, listening and teaching.
-This is clearly the preferred style in today's business climate.
-Interpersonal skills are very important to this process. Effective team building starts with effective communication and facilitation. Many people who have risen through the ranks have been more task-focused than people/goal-focused. Making the transition can be difficult, if not impossible, for some people.
-A controlling leadership style generally has adverse effects on a team's communication effectiveness and morale. Remember that, in general, high morale = high productivity.
-Subordinates of a controlling manager tend to be motivated by fear. While in the short-run, employees motivated by fear might produce well, they are often reluctant to express opinions that they perceive run counter to the manager's and/or will attempt to hide problems. Upward communinication diminishes and the information being shared becomes less accurate and less meaningful. In fact, team members will tend to select communicaton that heads off punishment since they are part of a punitive environment.
-Power struggles, back-biting, excessive conformity, diminished creativity, withdrawal and other negative results can occur under the leadership of a controlling manager.
-Controlling and facilitating leaders view authority differently. A controlling leader views it as power and usually will not share it. A facilitating leader looks at authority as something to be shared and used in a manner that will help empower the team.

Exercise

The following chart illustrates the difference in leadership styles. If a manager/supervisor placed an "x" along each attribute continuum to best describe his/her style, an overall picture of leadership style would emerge. Take a few minutes to place an "x" along each continuum. Example: if you feel you tend to sell decisions or ideas to subordinates more so than tell them what the decision is, you would place an "x" closer to the "Selling" end of the continuum. The "x" can fall anywhere along the continuum.
Selling____________________________________________Telling
Diplomatic_________________________________________Direct
Gentle____________________________________________Harsh
Laid Back_________________________________________Demanding
Loose____________________________________________Controlling
Patient___________________________________________ Impatient
Long Fuse________________________________________Short Fuse
Social____________________________________________Private
Soft Spoken_______________________________________Loud

Do your "x"s tend to be more to the right or more to the left? If they tend to lie more to the left, your style is more facilitative. If they tend to lie more to the right, your style is more dictatorial. A word of caution is appropriate at this point. Being too far to the left is just as dangerous as being too far to the right. A style that tends significantly to the left indicates that you could be too "soft" in your approach to managing people. There simply are times when being direct is important, for example. But it is how being direct is delivered that counts. Knowing what kind of style you present in the workplace is critical to effective team building. This exercise is intended to help you think about what type of style you bring to managing people.

-Facilitating leaders generally produce better results because their team members are empowered. They will tend ot use creativity and brainstorming to improve and perform at higher levels. They tend to become thinkers. Controlling leaders tend to suppress independent thought and creativity.
-Almost without exception members of a team led by someone with a facilitating style will be more likely to support decisions (buy into them) and work harder to carry them out. Why?
-Because they were involved in the process in some manner.
-Does this mean that employees are involved in every aspect of every decision? Absolutely not. But when appropriate, the team is engaged by the manager to provide input and assist in planning and making certain decisions. -Because responsibility for implementing decisions is often shared, the talents and knowledge of all team members tend to be more fully utilized.
-Conversely, teams led by more controlling styles tend to work against the leader because they want to have input, but the manager is unwilling to relinquish enough or any authority.
-Your goal is to increase productivity and performance through enhanced employee satisfaction.

There are four keys to effective team building:

1. Lead with a clear purpose. The goals of the organization must be clear to all employees since these drive the focus of the various work units. But employees of any work unit or team must know why they are doing what they are doing. Therefore, each team must have well defined, actionable goals and expectations. In developing these goals and expectations, it is appropriate that team members have input into their development. These goals and expectations must be written and distributedto all team members. Here is an example of team gaols for a warehouse and shipping team:

Goal 1 - Maintain at least a 95% customer service level.
Goal 2 - Achieve on time shipments 98% of the time.
Goal 3 - Achieve outstanding customer service ratings from our shipping surveys.
Goal 4 - Process and ship all orders received by 1:00 p.m. by no later than 4:00 p.m.

In short you need to develop a focus for the team. Communicating expectations for the team in terms of cooperation and teamwork is equally important. Here are some examples:

-Be a team player. No one individual is more important than another. We have common goals and you are expected to be a part of a team. Remember, big team, little me.
-Be highly responsive to fellow employees. When they request something from you, provide a time when you will get back to them if you can't provide it immediately. Get back to them as promised even if you don't have the information requested to let them know you are still working on it. Customer service starts with each other.
-Never become confrontational or defensive with a fellow employee. Put your ego away and have a strong spirit of cooperation.Disagreement can be healthy but do so in a professional, respectful manner.
-Hold all employees in high regard and show respect for all employees. Pettiness will not be tolerated. We are a team and will work as a team. Healthy exchanges of ideas and viewpoints are welcomed. But, do not put down fellow employees or talk behind their backs. These examples point out the importance of establishing clear expectations about how team members should interact and work together.

2. Empower the team. Ask more than tell and listen more than talk. This is a good rule to remember. Employees should feel as if their opinions matter. Ask for input. Charge the team with proposing solutions. Resist having the last word in every situation. Hold regular team meetings that are designed to create an open forum for idea generation and input to decision making. In general, get the team involved with the decision making process as appropriate. Reinforce good ideas and successes through sincere and well timed praise. Praise as soon after the event as possible. Be specific. One word of caution; false praise will cause any praise to lose its effectiveness.

It is critical that team members feel as if their input is being heard. To ask for input and constantly ignore it is a prescription for discontent among employees. When appropriate, get employees involved with decision making and allow them to help make decisions. It is important to let employees know that their opinions are important and they will be involved in many decisions. However, they will not have input to all decisions. Some decisions have timing, confidentiality or other factors associated with them that preclude managers from asking for input. Employees need to understand that up front.

3. Build consensus. In building consensus, the leader helps the team move toward general agreement. This does not mean that all employees will agree with a particular decision. That simply won't happen very often. Disagreement is natural in a team setting. Your job is to direct the process so that these disagreements are positive, but open and honest. Get all issues on the table. Continually probe for additional input until you feel most or all of the issues have been brought forward. Allow employees to express their opinion, but keep the discussions on track if you are in a group meeting. Keep the conversation focused and moving. Stress the desired outcomes and results. Focus on team and company goals in helping to bring focus to decision making.

4. Direct the process. To be effective in directing the team and its efforts, you will need to give clear direction, intervene as necessary to resolve conflicts and to keep the team focused on goals, suggest alternatives if they haven't been presented and in general provide the steering mechanism for the team. You provide the rudder to the ship. Your job is to direct the process toward consensus and buy in. Let employees know that no idea is a bad idea. Encourage open and honest communication. Integrating many personality types into a team environment can be challenging, but certainly not impossible. Remember that you are dealing with people. Your job is to observe very carefully how the various personalities on your team play off of one another.

-Hiring decisions are critical to building an effective team. Ask yourself when hiring anyone if that individual will "fit" with the rest of your team. While that individual might have good experience, they might not have a personality that fits well with the rest of your team. This is a crucial factor in building a team. To hire someone with strong skills, but who otherwise would be a poor fit personality-wise is a mistake. What is gained in good skills is lost in the person't inability to help perpetuate a high morale, high cooperation environment.
-When you have an employee who is a barrier to effective team work, you must deal with that employee and clearly communicate the issues.
-Because people are involved, there will always be conflicts in organizations. Handle conflicts carefully. Don't stir up trouble that might not exist. When you intervene understand that you are not a referee. You are a facilitator in helping to resolve conflict. Listen to both sides of the issue first and put biases you might have about the employees aside. You might be tempted to side with one employee over another because of past history or personal feelings. Don't!

Exercise

1. What, if any, "symptoms" have you observed within your organization or team that might indicate that your people are not operating as a cohesive team?

2. If you don't already have team-oriented expectations and goals, write down at least three possible expectations and three possible goals for your team.

3. How can you more effectively bring your employees into the decision making process?

Hiring In a Tight Labor Market

In a strong economy, current and prospective employees have a broader range of employment opportunities. This means that the always challenging job of finding good people becomes even more challenging. It's important, however, that you not compromise your requirements for top notch people. Once you begin to allow your organization to fill positions with marginal people, you have started the performance erosion process. Try to stay focused on the fact that the success of your business is highly dependent upon the number of high performers you bring in and keep in your organization.

The basis for hiring high performers is found in an organization's ability to keep them. If a business can create an environment that is stimulating, rewarding, positive and even fun, good employees are less tempted to leave. Most bright people are astute enough to understand that the grass really isn't always greener elsewhere.

Here are a few thoughts on hiring in a tight labor market:

-As mentioned, the fewer high performers you lose translates into a less urgent need to hire more except in the case of accelerated business growth. Refer to Business Problem: High Employee Turnover to learn more about reducing employee turnover in your organization. A significant issue as it relates to hiring people in any type of labor market is the reputation your organization has as an employer. Word about the kind of company they work for travels quickly from current employees to outsiders. It doesn't take long for a company's reputation to become tarnished by current and former employees who are disgruntled about the way they are/were treated. When a company has a very solid reputation as an employer and it is known as an organization that cares about its employees, prospective employees will be more proactive in seeking employment there. When an organization has a bad reputation as an employer, the chances of hiring and/or retaining high performers are slim. This issue is very often overlooked as a reason why a company can't seem to attract good employees.

-Look at who's in charge of your hiring efforts. If you have a Human Resources department, do those involved in hiring understand the process? Are they aggressive in identifying strong candidates? If managers or supervisors are responsible for finding people, are they skilled in promoting the organization to prospective employees? Are they taking enough time to do justice to the hiring process? Is there laziness in the hiring process?

-Placing ads in newspapers can be a futile effort in a tight labor market. The likelihood of attracting more than a few potential high performers is not good. And the likelihood of hiring one of them can be even more remote. If you are going to place ads, place them in newpapers or magazines that provide some chance of attracting quailified candidates. The most important thing in placing ads is to be as specific as possible about the requirements for the job. If you are unclear about the specific requirements, you run the risk of attracting fewer qualified candidates and a host of unqualified candidates. Spend a little extra money to buy a larger ad in order to have enough space to promote your organization and to furnish the specific position requirements.

-Be aggressive and creative. Most organizations lament their inability to attract good candidates, but they are strictly using traditional methods such as newspaper ads to find them. Using your contacts, put out the word to as many people as possible that you are looking for a particular type of individual. Don't be afraid to ask them if they know anyone matching what you are looking for. Ask aquaintances and friends if they had former employees who were excellent employees matching your requirements. If they have someone in mind, find out where they are now and don't be afraid to contact them either by phone, mail or email. Attend as many business functions as possible. Remember that you are always on the lookout for prospective employees even when you don't have an immediate need. When you meet someone who seems to possess the qualities and background you deem important in your employees keep their business card and make a note on the back of it about your impressions of the individual. Keep these cards in a separate location specifically for prospective candidates. When you are shopping, make note of employees such as receptionists or sales clerks who seem to have the skills you are looking for. Don't be afraid to plant a seed about future employment. The point here is that you need to keep your eyes open constantly for prospective employees. We all run into them every day, but fail to make the connection that they could well be working for us.

-Use head hunting and search firms carefully. Many are nothing more than resume handlers and don't carefully screen candidates for "fit" to your jobs. There are some, however, that do a good job of matching candidates to employers and positions. Ask your friends and aquaintances if they have used search firms. If so who do they recommend you use and who should you stay away from. Keep in mind that you will pay a healthy fee when using a search firm. If you are using a firm for the first time, negotiate a lower first time trial use fee and let the firm know if they do a good job you will use them again.

Identifying and hiring qualified high performing employees is one of the most difficult tasks of the business world. Employers simply have to be aggressive in their efforts to locate good people. Look at your current hiring practices and modify them to become more efficient and more aggressive in locating good candidates. But, be selective in who you hire. Even in a tight labor market you are better off leaving a position open than filling it with a marginal employee.

Don't Make Pricing Concessions Too Quickly

If your business is one where sales reps or others have latitude in negotiating price with customers, establish floors for gross profit and train them to negotiate effectively. The problem with leaving pricing decisions to sales people is the fact that they want the sale. Unfortunately, their exuberance for making the sale often leads to unacceptable gross profits.

The idea of "leaving money on the table" for no good reason should be alarming to any business. But it is very common for those responsible for pricing products and services to underprice them such that significant money is essentially lost in the process. The biggest culprit in the process is a desire to make the quick sale. By taking a little extra time to sell value and advantage to the customer and by holding a little firmer in the negotiating process, gross profits on individual sales will move upward. Sales people and others need to be trained in the art of negotiation. They need to understand when to hold and when to fold, so to speak. They need to understand how to sell value and advantage and create a perception of "price worthiness" in the customer's mind. And they need to understand how to incrementally inch prices down in the process rather than taking big leaps. There need to be firm guidelines about gross profit and/or pricing as well. Without any guidelines or limits, some sales reps could essentially be giving product away.

Training Won't Always Help

Employees that are miscast for their jobs will rarely be able to turn around their performance. Trying to make these employees perform consistently at acceptable levels will be like trying to drive a square peg into a round hole. All the training in the world will probably not help enough to make him/her perform sufficiently.

Training is an absolute necessity for people who are appropriately placed into jobs they can perform. The sad truth is that too many employees are hired into jobs they stand little or no chance of being successful in. With these employees, spending a lot of time and money on training is simply a futile effort. Many managers will try to "force" the employee to fit the job because they don't want to admit they made a bad hire. It's preferable to admit to bad hires as opposed to pouring money into training them. We all make them from time to time. The intent, however, is to minimize the number of employees hired who can't do the jobs they are hired for.

Employees are rarely a perfect fit for the positions hired for. The degree to which an employee "fits" the position will determine degree of success. It also helps determine the amount of training required to enhance the job fit. However, an employee that is a poor fit to begin with generally can't be trained to be a good fit. Employees who are initially a good fit to a position by meeting acceptable standards for a particular job relative to ability, interests and personality can often be coached and trained to higher levels of performance within that position.

The point of this Business Brief is to help managers and owners understand and accept the fact that some employees simply can't be trained to become adequate to high performers in the jobs they currently hold. If an employee doesn't have the ability to perform appropriately in a particular job, don't waste money and time training him/her. Take the appropriate measures to terminate the employee or move them into a position they can perform well in.

Learn Front Line Jobs

The more you know about the operations of your business, the easier it will be to make informed decisions. Spend some time working side-by-side with your front line employees to gain a better understanding of what they go through each day and to get a better feel for the processes they undertake. This knowledge will help when focusing on process refinement and when making operational decisions. Also, you will gain the perspective of your customers and have an opportunity to identify problems with customer service.

Keep It Simple

For some unknown reason, business people continually try to make things more complicated and complex than they need to. When it comes right down to it, business is not all that complicated. A business exists to make a profit. To do so, a company must offer a product or service that has appeal within a market or set of markets, it must hire good people, it must market its product or service effectively, it must control expenses and it must provide high levels of customer service.

But something happens in many businesses along the path to success (or failure). The people responsible for running the business begin to make their lives and others' lives difficult by adding levels of complexity that often don't need to exist. Most of this is a result of poor planning and implementation and a lack of adequate management skills.

In every facet of a business, it is wise to constantly think in terms of how things can be kept simple. Processes should be as simple as possible. When processes become unduly complex, communication breaks down, mistakes occur and customer service suffers. Communication should be kept very simple as well. The more words that are used in communicating, the greater the chance of miscommunicating. It is important to provide enough details to clearly communicate what it is you want to get across, but do so in a concise, straightforward manner.

When dealing with problems whether they are operational in nature or related to employees, avoid the tendency to make more out of the problem than is really there. In other words, stay away from making things appear worse than they are. Taking a "sky is falling" approach to problems simply encourages havoc and chaos that often clouds the ability to resolve the problem. It is important to stay calm, think rationally and positively and to remain optimistic. Work through the issues methodically and work toward a solution. Effective managers are adept at keeping their emotions in check and not allowing negativity to creep into their thinking.

Using common sense in resolving business issues is critical. Most business issues and challenges can be dealt with by using simple common sense and keeping things in the proper perspective. Managers who possess a high level of common sense tend to be more successful because they apply sound reasoning and logic to getting things done. Those who try to apply a lot of theory to getting things done often find it difficult to move beyond the theory and into practice. In other words they tend to get caught up in deriving complex models for getting things done when a relatively simple approach would suffice.

We often refer to blocking and tackling when it comes to business success. Blocking and tackling represents the fundamental business practices that must be in place to be successful. We also break businesses down into four fundamentally simple, but broad categories:
1) people
2) strategy
3) processes
4) culture

We believe that managers must deal with these four variables effectively to create a successful business and create value in the business. This approach also allows businesses to focus on four relatively straightforward areas and encourages simplicity in planning and management. Knowing that these four variables must be affected to be successful is a big first step in getting to a simple, logical approach to managing a business. Why? Because it brings focus to what needs to be dealt with.

Sure there are a number of sub-variables within each of these broader categories, but most businesses fail to compartmentalize their businesses in a way that makes sense. Management should look at these four variables and begin by asking these simple questions:
1) do we have the right people in the right jobs?
2) do we have the right strategies defined?
3) are our processes as simple and efficient as possible?
4) do we have a high morale, customer-driven culture?

In most organizations, the answer will be "no" to one or more of these questions if management is willing to be honest and objective in assessing the situation. A "no" answer is a call to action. A simple, but well defined plan of attack needs to be assembled to deal with deficiencies that might exist.

Maintaining simplicity in business whenever possible is important. Is your approach logical and based on common sense? Are your daily processes and procedures simple and efficient? If not, take a look at how you might simplify your business and, therefore, your life.

Don't Use "Empowerment" As An Excuse Not To Manage

The term "empowerment" is thrown around a lot in business circles. It is intended to convey a transfer of decision making authority to lower levels within the organization. However, too many managers use it to hide behind and not manage their people. They believe that they are empowering their people by leaving them alone for the most part. But accountability must remain in place even with some degree of decision making authority being conveyed to lower levels withing the business. Without accountability for performance, empowerment does nothing more than create a very loose environment in which little gets accomplished.Thursday March 1, 2001.

Think With Your Head, Not Your Heart

It is often difficult to discipline an employee that we like. Some employees have a way of making their way into a manager's heart which can make the manager's job difficult when it comes time to deal with problems surrounding that employee. A manager certainly must show compassion and concern for employees' welfare and development. But there is a significant difference between compassion and concern and allowing problems to slide.

When it comes to employee issues, try to think with your head rather than your heart. Thinking logically through an issue as opposed to allowing emotions to drive one's thinking is critical to making good decisions in terms of employee issues.

When you are faced with an issue involving an employee, try very hard to forget about whether you like or dislike that employee. When emotion is allowed to creep into employee issues, inconsistency in how problems are resolved can set in. A mature manager is able to establish a positive relationship with employees without jeapordizing the ability to be assertive and direct and coach and counsel employees in dealing with performance or attitude problems.

Some employees are adept at getting close to people and know which buttons to push to get their way. Others are much less people-oriented and don't tend to develop a strong relationship with their supervisors. This is simply human nature and everyone has a different personality profile. To hold an employee's inability to make a manager feel good about them against the employee is immature and unprofessional. Because an employee is outgoing and knows how to "play the game" should never be a reason to favor one employee over another.

Base decisions and attitudes about employees on performance, not on whether or not you like them. If an employee has a positive attitude and is a high performer, but hasn't endeared him/herself to a manager, is it fair to treat that employee differently than someone who has the ability to get close to people? Certainly not.

Are you getting too close to certain employees. Do you treat people consistently? Do you let emotion play into your perception of an employee's performance?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, step back and rethink your approach to dealing with employees. Try to establish consistency in how you treat employees. Deal with performance or other problems without emotion and think with your head, not your heart.

Managers' Self-Assessment Questionnaire

In assessing a manager's ability to manage people, we believe it is important for a manager or supervisor to step back and look introspectively at their ability to direct the efforts of others as well as think about the environment they operate within. The following brief questionnaire is for your use in carrying out this type of self-assessment. Please respond to each question as honestly and objectively as possible in order to provide yourself with an accurate reflection of your situation.

1. I believe that I am an effective manager. True or False

2. My employees would say that I am an effective manager. True or False

3. I feel comfortable in my role of managing people. True or False

4. My ego does not get in the way of making sound, logical decisions. True or False

5. I am a good leader of people. True or False

6. My people are high performers. True or False

7. I have confidence in my people to meet my expectations of them. True or False

8. I have confidence in my own abilities. True or False

9. I understand what is expected of me. True or False

10. My people understand clearly what is expected of them. True or False

11. There is a cohesive, team-oriented atmosphere in my company, department or work unit.
True or False

12. I deal with problem situations and employees in an expedient manner and don't ignore them. True or False

13. My attitude is positive. True or False

14. I am a good communicator. True or False
15. I set an appropriate example for my employees. True or False

16. I establish clear expectations for all of my people. True or False

17. My people feel good about working for me. True or False

18. My people regularly come forward with ideas, problems or suggestions. True or False

19. I would rather deal with people than numbers or things. True or False

20. I look forward to coming to work in the morning. True or False

21. I am effective in coaching my people to higher levels of performance. True or False

22. I would describe my management style in the following way:

23. My biggest day-to-day challenge is:

24. These are my concerns about my people in terms of their ability to meet my expectations:

25. My strengths and weaknesses as a manager are:

26. I feel that I need to improve in the following areas in order to become a better manager:

27. I would describe the culture in my work unit in the following way:

28. My three biggest frustrations as a manager are:

29. My people would describe me as:

30. I currently hold my people accountable for meeting expectations in the following manner:

31. If I could define my ideal job, it would be:

32. The one thing I enjoy most about my job is:

33. The one thing I enjoy least about my job is:

34. My personal goals for the next year are:

35. My personal goals for the next five years are:

Avoid Hair Trigger Hiring

When there are problems in a particular area of your business, make every attempt to determine the causes of the problem before hiring additional full-time permanent employees to deal with the problem. In other words, don't automatically assume that the problem is too few people. For example, suppose a distribution company is constantly dealing with backlogs and delays in shipments. The first reaction is probably to hire more people to pick and bundle orders. But is the problem one of too few people or is it a process problem? Before hiring the additional order pickers, it is much more prudent to closely examine the process and make it as efficient and accurate as possible. And ask yourself if there are marginally performing employees currently involved in the process that need to be dealt with? To hire more people without fully understanding where the problems lie will simply reduce your bottom line. But a natural reaction when process problems or backlogs occur is to hire more people. Try to avoid hiring additional people right away unless you are certain that the process in question is as efficient as possible and that the employees involved in the process are performing up to expectations. Never hire another employee to compensate for marginal employees. Deal with the marginal employees and either expect them to elevate their productivity or terminate them and hire high performers. Don't hesitate to hire additional employees when necessary, but first ask yourself if it truly is necessary.

Avoid Duel Reporting Relationships

Put yourself in the shoes of your employees. Would you want to be subjected to having two or more bosses? Some organizations do, in fact, have an ill-conceived organizational structure that calls for an employee to report to more than one supervisor.

Since this situation nearly always creates confusion, conflict and indecision, it is wise to avoid it completely. An employee might have responsibility across two or more functional areas. But does that mean the employee must take direction from more than one supervisor? Rarely. It is vital that employees work closely with one supervisor to set expectations and goals, take direction and receive feedback about performance. When more than one supervisor is involved, the employee is subject to the potential for far too many mixed messages.

Because management styles can vary widely, the employee is subject to differing approaches. Supervisors who are expected to manage the same employee can become frustrated, angry and possessive leading to potential conflict with the other supervisor(s).

Look for situations in your organization where there are formal or informal duel reporting relationships. Work closely with the supervisors involved to resolve the reporting relationship. Many times employees are taking direction from more than one supervisor without the formally designated supervisor being aware of it. The employee continues to take direction often out of fear or confusion about who he/she reports to.

Clearly define the organizational structure for each work unit in your business. Keep the structure as simple and easy to administer as possible. Once completed, communicate it very carefully and completely to all employees. Supervisors and employees must understand who reports to whom.

If, for some odd reason, an employee must report to more than one supervisor, it is essential that the supervisors work together closely to define each of their roles in the relationship with the employee and to break down responsibilities. This is often best accomplished with the supervisors' manager involved. Once the details are worked out, they should be communicated clearly to the employee.