How engaged are you with your job?

A young man (traditional story) and a young woman meet and fall in love.  They spend their days just being together and spending time discussing their hopes and dreams.  They talk of the future and where they will live, what they will name their children and how many they will have.  The days rush by in a blur and time is of no consequence. 

Have you ever had a job like that?  A job that challenges and motivates you?  A job that makes you look at the wider world and think - I'm in the right place for me right now.

So how can we get those who work for us to approach their jobs in the same way?

• Purpose.

   When a newly engaged couple go out in public they pretty much have one thing on their mind.  The best for each other.  So how do we develop purpose in our people?  We define the purpose for our businesses and work units.  We thensell that vision to others and let them decide whether or not they want to engage with it.
• Responsibility.  The jobs I have always enjoyed best are ones where I have been given the opportunity to stretch my wings and make decisions.  Key decisions.  Not just lame decisions but real key decisions.  Get your people to be part of teams and projects that will expand their view and think more of not only their job but themselves as well.
• Accountability.  Couples with responsibility comes accountability.  Responsibility without accountability is like giving the keys for a ferrari to a learner driver.  When used correctly accountability will enable the people to whom you have given responsibility to have finish times and be able to move on to further projects.  In this way you create a seamless cycle.  What you do need to be aware of is making sure that there are further projects for your staff to progress onto as well...

To be honest there is no secret recipe or fail proof method for getting people to engage in the workplace.  The best thing you can do is allow people to grow themselves within the roles and responsibilities that you give them.

(Source: flickr.com/josummers)

 

Presentations That Work

Today I'm working our stand at a local expo.  And guess what?  It's going great!  What are we doing right?  We have a very simple stand set up over an area approximately 3m deep by 6m wide.  This is enormous for an expo but we have bought extra space because we need it.

The space at first glance appears to be a bit bare but it's about the customer experience and interaction that counts.  We have products that are simple to expain, people can put their hands on them and interact with them, and they are everyday products or items that people have just never thought about. 

The way it works - we get at most 2 minutes with every person that walks past. Thats 120 seconds max. So what we do is give the people something to put their hands on straight away and gain their interest. No standing around waiting in qqeues - just cut to the chase and sell what you've got.

So this year we have - a microscope for looking in, a laser sight for measuring heights, wooden kiwi's to give away and a grass meter (that measures grass depth.)  All of these take no more than 60 seconds to explain or to get peoples attention.  That leaves us with 60 seconds to sell our product (in this case education) before the people turn off, get bored or move on.
Short, sharp and simple.  Effective.

Leadership Lessons - From TED

This is a great video and while there are lessons given by the presenter, here a few more bits that I would like to add to the conversation -

• Taking the initiative is important. Somebody has to get started - right? The first mover see's an opportunity and grabs it. Completely unaware or without thinking about the outcomes or opportunities the situation provides he runs on instinct and it works.
• Recreating the first time never quite has the same spontaneity or freedom of choice to it. But the second time allows for better organization, co-operation and consistency.
• The first person always takes the risk to get started - but those who follow are better able to improve the product.
• The first person will always remember being the first person but may not receive the same credit he thinks he may deserve.
• Unless - the first guy is able to repeat his success on multiple occasions and to improve the style and outcomes of his offering.

Being first is cool very cool but through waiting and watching - you can improve and grow upon the successes of others.

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lerdobi/422218584/)

Human Capital Management

PeopleStreme.com have made this awesome video and posted it onto You Tube.  I have put it here and will add my contribution further down the page.

What value do you place on your work?  What value is placed on you?  Do you rate yourself or not?

Conversely - What value do you place on others work?  What value do you place on others?  How do you measure that value and is that measure relevant or accurate?

Here are a few facts of life as far as organisation's go -

• Size matters.  The bigger the organisation the less they know about you.  What happens is the more layers in an organisation the more removed you will be from the central services.
• Front Line Managers matter! The relationship between you and your direct manager is always the most important relationship you will have.  This is true if you are the cleaner all the way through to if you are a Director of the Board.  You must work with your boss!
• The HR Department matters!  Admitted in most organisations the only time you most people will interact with HR is when they are hired or if they are fired.  But it doesn't have to be that way!  Go out of yur way to meet the staff and make sure they remember who you are (for the right reasons of course).  It pays to make friends and keep them for as long as you can.
• The skills and abilities of your staff matter!  Update them!  Watch your staff.  Learn from them.  Be open to having your staff tell you where they think what sklls they need to work on and develop.  If you disagree you can help steer them in a better direction.  Create an audit or questionaire to work through at appraisal time to help lead and guide your discussions about where peoples skills are at.
• Coaching matters!  The best time to coach someone is when they are reflecting and considering their performance.  If your manager doesn'tdo this for you - tell them or look for another manager.

PunkRockHR posted a great piece on employee engagement a few days ago which ties in nicely with this post.  Head over there and check it out - WARNING: it will provoke a response.

People who are paid to do work will do a better job when they feel valued, understood and have the freedom to do what they have to in a way that makes sense to them (while adding value to the organisation).

KPI's for improved performance

Setting Key Performance Indicators and Targets for those who report to you works. Through having a discussion with the person you can define goals and targets for them to reach over a certain period of time.

KPI's are generally used for two things - ironing out small areas of inefficiency or business growth.

I like to set no more than 4 targets for my reports. Any less that and they become too easy, any more than that and the chances of being able to achieve them reduce exponentially according to the increase in targets listed.

Another thing I like to do is set a mixture of soft and hard targets. That is some targets are based on physical actions and outcomes, whereas soft targets deal with relationships and things that can't be measured physically.

Ongoing feedback and communication is vital and important but doesn't provide the necessary formal layout that an appraisal and KPI does. By defining goals and targets (and reviewing them quarterly) you can empower your reports to achieve more.

Communication Skills

Simon and Marie from ijump posted about their experience with technology and communication.

They both started with the same scenario from which they devised a question to ask the public.

Simple enough - what do you want in a bank?

Simon asked the question using a very direct and simple form. "What do you want in a bank?"

Marie asked the question providing some context - "I'm with some executives and they want to know what you want in a bank?"

What was the difference - context.

The first question has no urgency, empowerment for the answerer or potential for results. It sounds more like a muse than a direct question to it's audience. Hence that is the way that persons responded.

The second question says - I'm here with someone who has the power and potential to make changes based on your opinion. Tell me what you think - I'll let them know - let's change something. Result - a bunch of answers in a very short space of time.

How does this affect the work relationship?

• What questions do you ask?
• How do you ask them?
• Do you provide context and a sense of urgency?
• If someone answers - will anything change?
  

"If you wish to converse with me, define your terms". Voltaire.

Customer Service - Thanks

I was filling up with petrol on the weekend when I noticed a small sign of the pump. It said -

"Thank you for choosing Gull".

Thanking your customers for choosing you is a very small show of appreciation but can mean a lot to others. Saying thanks may be the difference between them choosing to use or communicate with you or not.

When was the last time you thanked your customers? Try these examples - in education - thank your students; at work - thank your employees; at home - thank your wife and kids.

I hadn't noticed the little sign on the petrol pump before, but when I did notice I thought to myself - "I will come here again". I would like to congratulate the person whose idea that was - because it is a good one!

Organisational Culture

Nevin Danielson published his manifesto on Change This:

"Flow, Flee or Fight: Declare Yourself For Change In Your Organization".

Here is an excerpt - “It’s time for a shake-up. This one won’t happen because your boss decides it’s time. It will happen because you and your peers decide it’s time. Rather than relying on organizations to see what's in their long-term best interest, individuals are in a better position to instigate change. It will feel uncomfortable. You’ll be labeled a heretic. As solace, you’ll have the knowledge that you’re right.”

Nevin's basic message is built on the "fight" or "flight" premise. However he also expands it into "flow". Interestingly Nevin advocates for employees to begin to tell their bosses that the current systems don't work and need improving.

Empower the employee - build the business. It's that simple.

Performance Appraisals

It is important that employees get feedback on how they are doing. Performance appraisals are an effective way for people to understand where they are at in terms of reaching, completing and executing -

• Organisational goals
• Business unit goals, and also
• Their own personal goals.

Here are a few pointers for managers to think about when carrying out an appraisal -

1. Prepare.
2. Make time.
3. Shut out distractions and interruptions.
4. Listen, listen, listen.
5. Have some open questions ready preapared.
6. Make the time constructive.
7. Criticism can be hard to swallow - so be careful how you present it.