“I hope business is slow today” is a constant theme that is present in many organizations. This theme is about individuals, employee, and managers who do not understand or fully realize the importance and value they provide the organization and work they do. These are the people that come into work today, do their job, and collect a pay check. These are the people that truly hope business is slow today through a misunderstood notation that being slow benefits them. Yet the irony of the situation is if business were slow every day, it is likely the organization who provides their paycheck would cease to exist.
If you pay attention to the world of work, you will observe that this them is quite prevalent. It is likely it exists among employees in your own organization (if you haven’t seen it already). It is likely present with your clients, the vendors who serve you, and even at your favorite lunch spot. You don’t have to look hard or far to find those people who truly hope that business is slow today.
Generally speaking, these people aren’t bad people, free loaders, or poor hires. The fact is many of them fail to see or have not been given the full picture of how they help the organization and why they matter. Leaders and managers must be on the look-out for people who hope business is slow, and make an effort to help motivate these individuals and help them understand how important they are to the organization. Couple this with frequent coaching (formal and informal) and a creating a culture of feedback, and you’ll soon find your employee are engage to have a productive day at work with a focus on the bottom line.
My daughter is preparing to run her third marathon this fall. A person preparing for a marathon – or any race for that matter – must make the necessary efforts and sacrifices in order to cross the finish line. I have observed some of her sacrifices and am impressed by her dedication in getting up earlier, spending time pounding the pavement to her get her mileage in, and monitoring the amounts and the types of food she puts into her body for necessary fuel. She makes all of these commitments just so she can say she finished the race.
I get enjoyment in cycling. One phenomenon I have observed in myself is that I become more dedicated in my riding when I use an odometer. As I use this tool to track time, speed, distance, calories burned, and even my heart rate, I am inspired to push a little harder and a little longer.
Why is someone willing to put so much time, so much energy, and so much effort into an accomplishment they are not being compensated for – finishing that marathon, completing the miles on the biking course, etc.? In many cases, individuals actually pay for just the opportunity to be involved in the activity – the entrance fee, the cost of the bike, and so on. There are six key factors to making someone motivated in to sacrifice.
1. The initiative must be well-defined and have a definite opportunity for all that are affected
2. There needs to be a well-prepared strategy that includes implementation plans and appropriate resources
3. There must have been effective communication plan so all stakeholders understand the “what,” “how,” and “why” of the initiative
4. There needs to be buy-in (personal ownership) from all, along with appropriate incentives
5. An aggressive action and sustainability plan should be put in place
6. There must be a feedback mechanism for measuring results
While all these steps are critical; the last step provides the most significant internal motivator for people to be push a bit harder, to make a commitment to keep going when the environment seems against them. The goal must be one put forth the necessary efforts. Oddly enough, the goal a person is willing to makes sacrifices to achieve must be one that he or she has actively participated in setting. It also must be a goal that can be monitored and attained by following a measurement tool that can arouse a sense of accomplishment and triumph.
When was the last time you asked an employee what motivates him or her? When was the last time you concentrated on and made reference to the positive effects an employee has in the organization? Do you have a measurement system in place that team members can tangibly see positive effects?
Here is the payoff for you, the employer. When your employees are empowered, are involved in an effective measuring system, the likelihood of your organization achieving its goals – or even exceeding them – is astounding. Not only will you see your employees committed to your success, you will see an increase in accountability and productivity all of which adds significantly to your bottom line. The focus then is on leadership that gets results and not just on managing people.
What motivates you to do a marathon, or cycle, or tackle the big things in life? Add to our 6 point bullet list.
This past weekend I toured the world’s largest strip mine operation. I continually heard the word “produce” repeated over and over again. I was told how much ore is “produced” each day at the mine (150,000 tons). I learned about the stages of refining to “produce” ore that is 98% pure. This particular mine touts that they have “produced” more copper ore than any other mine in history (18.1 million tons). The word “produce” was repeatedly continually began to resonate with me.
The word “Produce” is derived from the Latin word pro (forward) + ducere (to lead – more at tow [or to draw, to pull]). If you look at the dictionary, produce is defined as:
To bring forth
To yield
To bear
To draw out
To cause to happen
Producers vs. Non-Producers
Whether you work in a mine, department, or a small team, there is a critical need to yield, to bring forth, to bear results. In other words, to produce results.
In business today, there is a need to differentiate the producers from the non-producers. It is not about digging up a bunch of HR disciplinary and performance issues and staff changes, but like a mine measuring the volume of ore per truck load, people also need a measurement of effectiveness to determine if they are being effective producers. If they’re not producing, they need identify what efforts they need to shift or determine what measurements will assist them in identifying what “producing” is for them.
Organizations everywhere spend significant amounts of time and effort on the wrong things, such as tactical meetings. That’s not to say these items shouldn’t be done, but this significant amount of time and effort doesn’t produce value added results.
The mine is a successful operation because the people understand they must produce results. If individuals don’t understand how to maximize the value they bring, it is imperative for management to sit down and help them discover and identify how to measure what they are producing. You must have a results based leadership mindset.
Why We Need to Make Non-Producers Produce:
We all know what happens to non-producers. At an organization level, you are killed by the competition, stock price drops, companies go bankrupt and are sold off, or become a target for corporate raiders. Regardless of the outcome, it’s not good. However, if a culture of “producing” can be established in an organization, it will have a direct and quantifiable impact on the bottom line.
Start improving your bottom line and overall success today by asking yourself and your employee, “are we producing results?”
“When performance is measured, performance improves; when performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” –Thomas S. Monson
While working in the publishing industry Thomas S. Monson discovered that when workers were kept in the dark about their job performance they frequently became average performers, and for some workers less than average. But when workers were provided timely, relevant, and easy to understand information about their performance, many became superior performers.
As Marshall Sashkin explained in his book Performance Appraisal, annual performance appraisals can actually be a disincentive or de-motivator, rather than the panacea they are often held up to be. Sashkin observed that when workers’ performance is only “reported back” annually, they often become suspicious and distrustful of the entire measurement and reporting system. In a private conversation Sashkin once observed, “A manager would be better off with no appraisal than only an annual appraisal, because from a performance perspective being in the dark might be preferable than being surprised, shocked, disappointed, or even angry.”
Monson’s quote has been used for decades to explain why workers become more motivated when they are told how well they are performing. The trick in management is finding appropriate methods to not only measure, but also “report back” employee performance. Regrettably, left to their own devices, far too many managers give either vague or critical feedback on workers’ performance. And when the majority of feedback workers receive is unsupportive, untimely, unspecific, and uncalled for, the result can be poor performance at the best, or trouble performance at the worst.
Formal evaluations, such as performance appraisals, often measure job positions in subjective terms, such as, “Meets Job Requirements.” In today’s business climate do you really want an employee who merely meets expectations, or do you want an employee who smashes beyond “Meets” and consistently hits homeruns?
One of the reasons why annual performance appraisals can create more angst among employees than motivation is the subjective nature of the categories in which employees are measured. Workers’ performance must be thought of as scorekeeping, not as a measurement. We measure something to see what is wrong; we keep a scorecard to track what is correct. When employee performance is tracked with a scorecard that visually displays what went correct, the employee can connect his or her behavior with what is needed to win. By contrast, when employee performance is measured to find what went wrong, the employee may or may not be able to connect behavior with results.
Creating a scorecard system to “report back” performance must include ten essential characteristics.
1. The employee must have psychological ownership of his or her scorecards. People believe and trust what they own, not necessarily what is imposed upon them.
2. Scorecards must be based on specific measurable results for which that employee is paid. Traditional job descriptions are constructed with generalities that don’t include specific measurable results.
3. Scorecards must be posted near the employee’s work area. Scorecards place bottom line performance at front of mind awareness, not something that is discussed infrequently, or even annually.
4. Scorecards must be updated by the employee every day, or at the least every week. Scoreboards in stadiums are updated each time the score changes; likewise, scorecards must be updated as frequently as is practical.
5. Scorecards must include an agreed upon performance line. The performance line tells the employee how he or she is doing against an agreed upon standard.
6. Scorecards must include an agreed upon goal line. The goal line tells the employee when superior performance has been achieved and celebration is deserved.
7. Scorecards must include a way for the employee to compare his or her performance against past performance. An employee must be able to see in a glance how he or she is doing now verses yesterday, last week, or last month.
8. When a scorecard shows performance below a performance line, an action plan must be connected to the scorecard. An action plan is necessary for performance below the performance line, and it is optional when performance is above the line.
9. The employee’s coach must pay attention to scorecards and give daily, or at the least weekly, feedback and coaching. Scorecards must become the reason for coaching: supportive coaching for good performance, and corrective coaching for substandard performance.
10. The employee must feel a sense of celebration when his or her scorecard performance exceeds the goal. A goal achieved is worthy of celebration by the employee, coach, and possibly the entire team.
“When performance is measured [with effective individual scorecards], performance improves [because they become an incredibly strong motivational force]; when performance is reported back [through scorecards that adhere to the ten principles described above], performance accelerates. [Employees tap into discretionary performance when they believe their performance is being scored fairly and will make a difference].”
Developing and testing new business simulations at CMOE is always a lot of fun. It’s a time when the CMOE staff gets free lunches, prizes, and the opportunity to meet countless new people we ask to join us. So in addition to creating or reworking our products, we create a culture of fun.
This past week I was assigned to pick up the food for a volunteer test group. I went to get Pizza and as I was standing at the payment counter, I noticed a computer screen on this wall. In big, black, block print, it read “LEADERBOARD.” I was immediately excited to see this. As I was waiting for my order to be finished, I was trying to identify what was being tracked by the “leaderboard” and how it worked. It was obvious that the leaderboard was networked with other stores and I quickly noticed that the store I was purchasing from was second from the bottom. This piqued my interest further. I decided to speak with the manager to understand how it worked.
Me: I noticed your leaderboard on the wall; it looks interesting. It appears to be tracking certain success factors and percentages. Do you get rewarded when you hit certain levels of performance? The reason I ask is I work for an organization where we use effective management, measurements, and scorecards to drive bottom line profitability.
Manager: Yeah, it tracks just about everything in the store from the time a phone call was placed to the time the order leaves the store for delivery. Corporate can pull up data on just about anything in the store.
Me: It doesn’t sound like you believe it’s a good thing by the way you are speaking. Do you get recognized or rewarded for hitting certain levels of performance?
Manager: No, it basically indicates what you have to do as a minimum to keep from getting fired.
The manager continued to explain that this tracking system was to help employees have higher levels of customer service, reduced mistakes, and shorten production times, among many other things. While those are great focus areas, I was emotionally deflated by the way he explained it. This employee was telling me that the “Leaderboard,” this scorekeeping system, was the worst thing about his job.
If organizations are to succeed against strong competition and have higher levels of profitability, measurement cannot build fear and negativity into employees. Driving bottom line performance with the right measurement will engage people and get people excited and committed to push performance levels. By using our piles of data, managers can help employees sort out measurements that drive individual results.
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Are you a sports fan? Have you ever been part of a game where competition was very high, where emotions are running high and you can feel the palpable tension in the air? Maybe you were even more excited than the players and became one of those crazy fans sitting in the stands! Regardless of whether you were a player or a fan at this type of event, the word “scoreboard” should be familiar to you. Sometimes this term is used to “trash talk,” coming at a point in the game when a player on the losing team makes a great play or scores point, but not enough to put their team in the lead. Someone rooting for the losing team might say something about how great the play was, to which the fan or player for the opposing team might simply say “scoreboard.” What does it mean? It’s simple: While the losing team may have made one great play, it simply is not enough to take the lead in the game. The scoreboard is where the results of the performance are shown, indicating how well the team members are playing and whether they are actually accomplishing their goals. It is the tool that measures who is winning and, ultimately, who won!
Competition, Winning, and Business
Your company probably has its own corporate scoreboard, but do you know where it is? If not, ask around and see if you can find it. Company scoreboards will manifest themselves in how the company shows its stakeholders the business’ earnings. Businesses need to make a profit. Companies that don’t make a profit won’t stick around, so, making a profit is a focal point for all for profit organizations. What about at the individual level? Individual performance is also measured in this way, but rather than a scoreboard, some companies use and individual “score card.” A scorecard shows how and in what ways each individual is accountable for performance that increases the bottom line. Scorecards drive results and have a tremendous impact on the bottom line and help people become more engaged in competing for “wins” at both the personal and organizational level. Asking individual members of the organization to develop a scorecard to visibly show and track performance will inspire better performance across the company and make positive changes in the following ways:
1. Hold people accountable for what they do while at work and how they contribute to the bottom line profits.
2. Help individuals see that they earn a pay check for authentic achievement, not for mindless activity.
3. Help individuals understand how each person contributes in their role to the organization’s overall profitability.
Scorecards will drive bottom-line results and create bottom-line leadership as individual contributors think more deeply about their own unique areas of the business. Keeping score of their successes on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly) can help people feel more energetic at work and increase their interest in organizational success over the long term. In your next weekly meeting ask everyone this simple question: Did you win or lose this week? Followed this question with, “What were you responsible for in terms of helping our company grow and be more profitable?” Using scorecards, asking questions, and engaging the entire workforce is powerful stuff, critical to the organization’s performance.
Working in teams and across functions can often be complex and challenging. If you’re like most teams, you have certain processes that you are supposed to follow (guidelines, operating rules, specific forms to be utilized, etc.) When attending to these, how often do you encounter a process that is broken, doesn’t work, or seems to be pointless? Maybe your organization has processes that work most of the time? The bigger question is what do you do when you encounter troubled processes? How often do you attempt to fix broken processes? Do you ever try to diagnose what could make a process more effective?
To be part of a high performing team, it is important to constantly evaluate processes to determine if they are working, effective, and worthwhile. Effective processes help us to be efficient, reliable for our customers (internal and external), and minimizes the likelihood of a problem occurring.
In 2003, a US Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 crashed at an air show in Idaho. The pilot ejected from his aircraft and aside from the crashed fighter jet, there was no other damage. As unfortunate as this story is, I think it is an excellent example of taking the opportunity to improve processes. Take a look at the video from both inside and outside the cock pit.
After investigating the crash, it was determined that the pilot had incorrectly calculated his altitude as if he were at Nellis Air Force Base (where the Thunderbirds are stationed). The investigation board looking into the crash determined that “other factors” such as the pilots need to calculate MSL (Mean Sea Level) altitude to the AGL (Above Ground Level) altitude contributed to the errors resulting in the crash.
As a result of the pilots error and “other factors,” the Air Force determined that the processes around the calculation of altitude and “Split S” exercise needed to be fixed. And fix they did. Thunderbird pilots must now call out the MSL altitude at air shows. When they execute the Split S maneuver, they must climb an additional 1,000 feet to prevent and minimize the danger of altitude miscalculation from occurring again.
While the pilot only suffered minor injuries and a $20 million aircraft was lost, an improvement in a process was gained. While we may never know the future value or full impact in improving processes, it helps take a high performing team to the next level. Call it Continuous Process Improvement.
Suggested Tip:
Next time a process, action, or project in your team doesn’t go quite as planned, don’t be complacent. You don’t have to be the team leader seeking to improve team development. Step up as a team member and ask the following questions:
What went wrong?
Why did it go wrong?
Is it a problem or one time goof?
How can we prevent this from happening again?
Maybe there is nothing needs to be done after your analysis, but at least you’ve asked the questions to be sure.
All my life exercise and sports have been a huge part of who I am. As I got older and entered into the “real” world of work, family, and other responsibilities, I soon found myself in a position I had previously not known. I was 30 pounds overweight. It got me before I even noticed it was coming.
One day I heard an expert talking about exercise, the benefits of physical activity and the regret of doing nothing at all. He brought up the point that in many decisions we make in life, we can either discipline ourselves to do what we know we need to, or regret later doing nothing. One thing I know, “discipline weighs ounces”, “regret weight pounds”! I had to make a change.
I immediately set some goals for myself, and after three months I had lost 20 pounds. I was feeling great. Better yet, it was noticeable to others. One friend asked, “What are you doing? You have lost a lot of weight and are looking good. What diet are you on?” My reply was, “I am on the GOAL diet.” He looked at me confused and so I explained to him that I set goals for myself and then worked to achieve my goals.
By the look on his face, I think he was expecting a different answer. He went on to tell me that he had a goal of losing 25 pounds in 6 months, but he’s had that goal for 2 years. His biggest frustration was, “Why Can’t I Achieve My Goals?” I thought about the question for a while and here are three things you should ask yourself if you are struggling to achieve goals.
Are your goals written down and reviewed daily? This is vital to your success in achieving goals. The old saying is, “Goals not written are just wishes.” Reviewing your goals on a daily basis will keep you focused and keep the Goal in mind every day.
Is your Main Goal divided into “Mini-Goals”? My friend’s goal was to lose 25 pounds in 6 months. That was it. He didn’t have monthly, weekly, daily goals. Now that doesn’t mean divide the 25 pounds by 6 months to get your monthly goal and then divide that by 4 for your weekly goal. That would be the same goal. You need goals for specific actions that will help you achieve your Main Goal. In this example, a good weekly goal would be, to exercise 4 times this week. A good daily goal would be, to not have any sweets today. All these “Mini-Goals” keep you on track in reaching your Main Goal.
Did you share your goal with someone else? There is something to be said about accountability. If we are only accountable to ourselves, it is too easy to justify a sub-par effort. Just knowing that someone is going to ask how we are doing, gives us more motivation to succeed.
Setting goals are important in all aspects of our lives. Used correctly, goals help to keep us on track and motivated to work hard and achieve what is most important in our lives. Used incorrectly, goals can hinder both our short-term and long-term success. As in the example with my friend, he had the goal for 2 years. Because he was not able to achieve that goal, he felt inadequate and unable to ever make the change. Therefore, he stopped trying. It is important to set our goals to be realistic and achievable (with some good effort). Then ask ourselves those 3 questions to make sure we are on the path to successful goal setting. If you Prefer Rules: 1. Write it down 2. Divide into Mini Goals 3. Create accountability.
The Decorator Crab is found in various parts of the ocean, and has a lot to teach us about the way the workplace can affect performance. As all living things have predators of sorts, the Decorator Crab survives and avoids its predators by camouflaging or blending into its environment. This crab will collect items found in its habitat, such as corals, anemones, sponges, and various algae, and attach them to their shell using a hook appendage. Their collection will eventually grow attached and permanently change the look of the crab. When I began thinking about how this species relates to the workplace, I had two totally separate insights that I think are valuable lessons. As such, this blog will be presented in Part One: Finding a Positive Work Environment, and Part Two: Standing Out at Work.
Part Two: Standing Out at Work
There are employees in the work environment who, like this crab, act in a survival mode. They are worried about being laid-off or given extra assignments and responsibilities, and don’t want to challenge the status quo. They too, try to blend in and act in fear of change or challenge. I’m sure you can think of someone just like this right now! The downside of this scenario is they are quickly passed up when opportunities arise. Literally, the chances float right by! What every work environment, and organization for that matter, needs is people who are willing to stick it out through hard times, get noticed, and take risks. While the Decorator Crab can only win from blending in, we can only lose.
A terrible disease is plaguing society, a disease that in my own medical terms I call “A Common Case Of Untold, Never-ending, Truth Avoidance Behaviors, In Large Increments To You.” If you take all of the bold letters and put them together it spells ACCOUNTABILITY. Okay, it’s a bit of a stretch.
Society has become too good at the “blame game.” There is an innate behavior in most people called the “Self-Serving Bias.” This means that when things go well, I should get all the credit, but when things go wrong, I am going to point the finger and blame everyone and everything else for the failure. Take for example the person who spills hot coffee on her lap and is burned by the incident. This incident happened while the person was driving a car and talking on the cell phone all at the same time. We have all heard how this individual then decided that it was not her own fault for the burns she suffered, but put the blame to the company that sold the coffee for making it too hot. In fact, the person even sued the company for a large sum of money.
This type of mentality is very prevalent in our society and it carries into the workplace. How many “C-level” leaders of big companies have we seen fudging financial reports so that under their leadership the company appears to be “prosperous?” We have seen people be able to hide from accountability for a while, but it eventually catches up and destroys a leader, or maybe an entire company. Whether the source is focused on financial gains, or an ego of being the “perfect” leader, placing blame doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we get back to being accountable.
It is time for a change back to the old traditional roots of individual responsibility and integrity. We can’t run from it forever, so why do it now. I would venture to say that we have all found that when leaders in our lives have taken responsibility for an action, a project, or even a small assignment that went bad, that we now held them in higher regard and developed a greater respect for that person. The ability to hold up the mirror and accept mistakes when they are made, takes courage and confidence. This behavior is what we desire in all our leaders, not to mention a little bit of humility and the ability to hold up the mirror and be honest about one’s own self.
If leaders today want accountability from the organization, then they too need to demonstrate it. But why stop there; shouldn’t we be accountable to coworkers, our organizations, and ourselves? The concept of leading by example is still the most foundational and fundamental way to influence others. Being able to say, “Do what I do vs. Do what I Say” is profoundly more powerful than anything else when it comes to getting others to work hard, work smart, and work ethically.
“I hope business is slow today” is a constant theme that is present in many organizations. This theme is about individuals, employee, and managers who do not understand or fully realize the importance and value they provide the organization and work they do. These are the people that come into work today, do their job, and collect a pay check. These are the people that truly hope business is slow today through a misunderstood notation that being slow benefits them. Yet the irony of the situation is if business were slow every day, it is likely the organization who provides their paycheck would cease to exist.
My daughter is preparing to run her third marathon this fall. A person preparing for a marathon – or any race for that matter – must make the necessary efforts and sacrifices in order to cross the finish line. I have observed some of her sacrifices and am impressed by her dedication in getting up earlier, spending time pounding the pavement to her get her mileage in, and monitoring the amounts and the types of food she puts into her body for necessary fuel. She makes all of these commitments just so she can say she finished the race.
This past weekend I toured the world’s largest strip mine operation. I continually heard the word “produce” repeated over and over again. I was told how much ore is “produced” each day at the mine (150,000 tons). I learned about the stages of refining to “produce” ore that is 98% pure. This particular mine touts that they have “produced” more copper ore than any other mine in history (18.1 million tons). The word “produce” was repeatedly continually began to resonate with me.
Why We Need to Make Non-Producers Produce:
As Marshall Sashkin explained in his book Performance Appraisal, annual performance appraisals can actually be a disincentive or de-motivator, rather than the panacea they are often held up to be. Sashkin observed that when workers’ performance is only “reported back” annually, they often become suspicious and distrustful of the entire measurement and reporting system. In a private conversation Sashkin once observed, “A manager would be better off with no appraisal than only an annual appraisal, because from a performance perspective being in the dark might be preferable than being surprised, shocked, disappointed, or even angry.”
Me: I noticed your leaderboard on the wall; it looks interesting. It appears to be tracking certain success factors and percentages. Do you get rewarded when you hit certain levels of performance? The reason I ask is I work for an organization where we use effective management, measurements, and scorecards to drive bottom line profitability.
is used to “trash talk,” coming at a point in the game when a player on the losing team makes a great play or scores point, but not enough to put their team in the lead. Someone rooting for the losing team might say something about how great the play was, to which the fan or player for the opposing team might simply say “scoreboard.” What does it mean? It’s simple: While the losing team may have made one great play, it simply is not enough to take the lead in the game. The scoreboard is where the results of the performance are shown, indicating how well the team members are playing and whether they are actually accomplishing their goals. It is the tool that measures who is winning and, ultimately, who won!
The Decorator Crab is found in various parts of the ocean, and has a lot to teach us about the way the workplace can affect performance. As all living things have predators of sorts, the Decorator Crab survives and avoids its predators by camouflaging or blending into its environment. This crab will collect items found in its habitat, such as corals, anemones, sponges, and various algae, and attach them to their shell using a hook appendage. Their collection will eventually grow attached and permanently change the look of the crab. When I began thinking about how this species relates to the workplace, I had two totally separate insights that I think are valuable lessons. As such, this blog will be presented in Part One: Finding a Positive Work Environment, and Part Two: Standing Out at Work.
Society has become too good at the “blame game.” There is an innate behavior in most people called the “Self-Serving Bias.” This means that when things go well, I should get all the credit, but when things go wrong, I am going to point the finger and blame everyone and everything else for the failure. Take for example the person who spills hot coffee on her lap and is burned by the incident. This incident happened while the person was driving a car and talking on the cell phone all at the same time. We have all heard how this individual then decided that it was not her own fault for the burns she suffered, but put the blame to the company that sold the coffee for making it too hot. In fact, the person even sued the company for a large sum of money.
