Maximizing the Human Potential

Back to Basics

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andrew shaffer consulting back to basicsIt seems that we are finally getting through this pandemic and shutdown period. Things seem to be slowly re-opening. I see more people outside. There is talk about sports coming back and I FINALLY got a haircut! This has been an adjustment period for most of us and although things are not quite back to normal, there is a sense that things are trending that way. I am certainly looking forward to that! Now, it’s time to get back to basics.

Just a reminder, if you are looking for helpful tips, strategies, or help thriving as we get through the recovery, I encourage you to check out the Thrive Performance Group Virtual Lunch and Learn Series.  There are a wide variety of topics and experts that are there to help.

Back to Basics

There is no doubt these last few weeks have been tough on your business. Even if you were an essential business, chances are you saw a decrease in revenue and profits. Productivity probably dropped as employees were juggling working from home, helping kids with schoolwork, and caring for friends and loved ones. As you try to rebuild, or at least accelerate through the second half of the year, it is a good time to review some of your fundamentals. Just like an athlete returning from the off-season who goes to training camp to get in “game shape”, your company and employees might need to get back in prime condition.  Here are some things to think about when communicating with employees who are coming back to work.

Why

Why does your company exist? A company with a good “why” brings people together. When you understand your companies why, you can really focus on who your clients are. I know that sounds simple, but we are talking about getting back to basics. Often, in the heat of battle (or survival) people can often forget why they do what they do. The focus becomes surviving, which is inward, versus on helping clients and customers, which is outward. Your clients and customers want to know you are focused on them. Keeping your “why” front and center in your employee’s minds, will help them focus on growing your business and accelerate your recovery.

What

What do your clients need? This is different than what do you want to sell your clients and customers. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if there is not a need, you aren’t going to be very successful. Here it is important to understand what your clients need TODAY, which will keep the lights on in the short term, but also what do your clients need twelve or twenty-four months from now? How is the market going to change?  How has it changed because of quarantine?  To really understand what your clients and customers need, I recommend talking to them. Listen to them. Understand them. Then find a solution YOU can provide.

How

How will you deliver your products and services now? One thing that is certain, being stuck at home has changed the way people meet, shop, and buy goods. I personally think that virtual meetings and home delivery is where we were going in the future, but the pandemic had definitely accelerated the curve. We will NOT go back to business the way it was. Sure, we will start meeting in the office again, and will have events to go to, but things won’t fully go back to the way it was early this year. Traveling for business may be replaced with more virtual meetings and working from home will become more common. This is my prediction.  How is this going to change how you satisfy your client’s needs?

This Month’s Challenge

As the economy starts to re-open, take some time to meet with your teams to get back to basics. Communicate the Why, What and How of your business. Help remind your employees (and customers) of these fundamentals and you should see a strong second half of the year.

You are not in this alone, we’re here to help.  We can help you come up with strategies, execution, processes, tools, or whatever help you need, we’re here.

As always, if you need help, please contact us to learn how we can help!

I encourage you to check out the Thrive Performance Group and join the discussions Tuesday afternoons.

Employee Engagement in Times of Change

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employee engagement in times of change andrew shaffer consultingThis pandemic has changed the way we do business now and in the future. We’ve learned new terms like social distancing, and many of us are spending more time with our families than we ever had in the past. It certainly is unprecedented times. I want you to know that I am here to help you in any way that I can during these times of change.

If you are looking for help, be sure to check out the Thrive Performance Group Webinars and discussions we are hosting on a weekly basis. Information can be found here: https://thriveperformancegroup.com/. In the meantime, don’t panic. Stay safe, stay well, and we’ll get through this.

This month I am going to talk about Employee Engagement in Times of Change. Why? Because your employees are probably scared, concerned, and maybe overwhelmed. Now is the time to show your support for your employees and strengthen the loyalty they have for you.

Employee Engagement in Times of Change

I appreciate you taking time to read this today. This blog is going to be short and to the point. One of the biggest challenges your teams are going to face is how to stay engaged and motivated in the middle of all this uncertainty. You need your employees to stay engaged, motivated and most of all productive as you navigate your way through an ever-changing economic landscape.

As your employees are transitioning to a remote workplace, you must remember that your employees will have to adapt to a completely new work environment. It’s not as easy as logging in from home. Habits change, communication among colleagues change, stimulus changes, and there are more distractions.

In addition to getting work done, your employees are probably dealing with kids being home from school and concerned the health and safety of their family and friends. On top of that, they may be worried about their job security and even if they will be paid.

These are heavy concerns.

Relationships

The key to keeping employees engaged and motivated with all these concerns, uncertainty, and looming changes is to establish deep trust and respect. Hopefully you’ve already been doing this prior to the pandemic. It is extremely important now that you continue to build the relationship, and even strengthen it if you can.

Trust and Respect is all about RELATIONSHIPS. While your employees are working remotely it is important that you and your leadership team speak to your direct reports on a regular basis, daily if possible. When speaking to your teams, try to show GENUINE compassion and understanding for their concerns. Here are some tips:

  • Listen to your employees and to their fears and concerns.
  • Appreciate their perspective
  • Offer help and advice where you can.

This might take some time on your part, but it goes a long way to building and maintaining trust and respect.

Sharing News

Communicate and communicate often. Everyday on the news there seems to be more bad news and uncertainty. Just watching the stock market shows that there is not only uncertainty, but a lot of volatility. Companies are closing and unemployment is on the rise. Your teams know this and probably worry about it. Now is when it is important to share news, even if it’s changing. The absence of a message from you will cause your teams to assume the worse. Communicate often and follow these principles:

  • Share what you KNOW
  • Share what you DON’T KNOW
  • Share what you THINK
  • Don’t confuse them

Virtual Communication

Virtual communication offers unique challenges. Mostly because the non-verbal cues are almost nonexistent. Email, text, and instant messages all leave interpretation to the reader. The best advice I can offer here is:

  • Be concise
  • Be precise
  • Drive Action

 This Week’s Challenge

You have enough challenges right now; you don’t need another from me. I encourage you to check out the Thrive Performance Group and join the discussions Tuesday afternoons.

As always, if you need help, please contact us to learn how we can help!

Maximizing Loyalty

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andrew shaffer consulting maximizing loyaltyLast week I attended a discussion on attracting and retaining employees. One interesting fact is with unemployment at historically low numbers it is harder and harder for companies to attract and retain valuable employees. This has undoubtedly caused a paradigm shift in employee’s attitudes and behaviors. As opposed to the recession of almost 10 years ago, where people were happy to have a job, employees now think that the company is lucky to have employees. In order for you to compete for employees, keep them loyal and maximize productivity you have to offer something that others cannot replicate. Today I am going to share with you how you can create a competitive edge by attracting and retaining your ideal employees by maximizing loyalty.

Maximizing Loyalty

I once heard an Air Force Colonel saying he wanted to give his warfighters an unfair advantage in combat. He wasn’t looking for a competitive fight, he wanted to have all the advantages. That makes sense when people’s lives are at stake. How does that relate to how you run your company? Well, lives are at stake. Maybe not life or death, but your employees depend on you to provide for their livelihood.

Attracting and retaining the highest quality employees will certainly help you get a competitive edge, right? Think of all you can get done if everyone was on board and as dedicated as you. If they just “got it”. Competitive benefits and competitive pay are necessary, and are the price to admission. The challenge is they can be copied by your competitors. Today I am going to share how you can create a competitive edge by attracting and retaining your ideal employees.

Why

Simon Sinek has made a name for him self by encouraging people to “Start With Why?”  Why? Because a good “Why” resonates. Think about it, how many foundations have been started by someone after a loved one was impacted by a devastating disease? How many companies were started to solve a common problem?

Your employees have a reason for working for you. When I talk to employees, I hear a wide range of reasons why employee work at a company.

  • It’s a paycheck
  • I believe in the mission
  • the hours a great
  • they treat me well
  • I’m just waiting for retirement.

Why do your employees work for you? Is it because they believe in the company (good) or because they haven’t found another job yet (bad)? Either way getting to understand why your company exists, and why your employees choose to work for you can go a long way in attracting and retaining valuable employees.

Values

As I look back over my career, I think the biggest influence that impacted my decision to change jobs (and eventually get into consulting) was because my values didn’t align with my company. Now, that isn’t to say that the companies I worked for were immoral or had poor values – not at all. They just didn’t align with my values.

Most companies have a list of core values. I bet you can tell me your companies core values, and they are most likely displayed proudly on your website or careers page. The challenge is, do you always live your core values? Your core values are there to guide your decisions, and how you conduct your business. If you have a core value of people first, and you make decisions that seem to put profit or shareholder above your people are you living your core values?

Motivators

I know you don’t have time to be a cheer leader and give your teams pep talks every day to get them motivated to do their job? Actually, it isn’t necessarily your job to motivate them. Well, not directly. You can, however, create an environment or condition that helps motivate your employees. It’s all about getting the right people in the right seats.

Let’s say you have an employee that is naturally creative and thinks big picture. Is this person likely to be motivated by looking at spreadsheets? Probably not. On the other hand, if you an employee that really liked to get into the details of your business accounting, do you think this person would be good a developing marketing material? Again, probably not. Finding motivators of your employees will help you see dramatic improvements on productivity, retention, and profits. (check out this video)

This Week’s Challenge

Give yourself a competitive edge by evaluating your companies why, values and motivating loyalty. These things make your company unique and give you a competitive advantage. If you need help, please contact us to learn how we can help!

Changing Management

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andrew shaffer consulting flexibility and controlDid you enjoy the game yesterday? Last week I talked about Flexibility and Control. As I was watching the Superbowl yesterday, I realize we were witnessing the balance of flexibility and control firsthand. For each play, the quarterback has a few plays he’ll call in the huddle. This is the control. When he gets to the line, he surveys the defense, and then has the flexibility to call an audible (change the play) based on the conditions he sees. Additionally, coaches start the game with a specific game plan, but will often adjust based on what is working and what isn’t. The next thing you’ll see in the NFL is a bunch of coaching changes as some coaches are fired, others promoted. This week’s blog discusses changing management and what that means in your company.

Changing Management

I once worked with a group of mid-level professionals that were frustrated with what they perceived as rotating management. Every few years, they would have new managers and they felt the inconsistencies was hurting their career. I mean, I get it. Just when they thought they knew what was expected someone else comes in with new ideas, new direction, and a new focus. This is challenging. They wanted to know why managers in their company rotated every two to three years, and why is this a good thing (or is it)?

Different Skills

In my above example, as that company was evolving and maturing, there were different needs. Even if you take a long-term project, there are different skills needed when planning, executing, and closing out a project. One person might not be good at all three phases, therefore different people are needed to ensure continuing success.

As a company progresses, there are different leadership skills needed along the way. For example, when a company is in its infancy, leadership must be quick and responsive. Your processes and procedures (if you even have them) are not optimized. Everyone on your team probably wears several hats, from sales to manufacturing, to maybe even financing and cleaning the shop. When the company matures, and you start hiring more. Then with more people you have to set job descriptions, procedures and processes to maintain consistency and predictability.

Career Progression

Rotating management also helps with career progression. I once worked with a manager that had basically been doing the same job for about fifteen years. He was probably about fifteen years from retirement, so my projection is he was going to keep doing the same thing for the next fifteen years. Eventually he’d see his colleagues move up the ranks, become peers, and eventually get promoted up the ladder. Why?

Well, he found himself in a niche, something where he provided value, and where he was comfortable and secure. He never took on new challenges (just variations of the same challenge) and didn’t develop new skills. He had a very narrow focus and struggled to see the “big picture”. As a result, there was no career progression, no advancement, and he wasn’t providing greater value to the company. His pay eventually maxed out, and he was destined to spend most of his career doing the same job. Job rotations are essential to updating, honing and developing new skills and perspective to grow in your own career.

Fresh Perspective

One of the big reasons for rotating management (or hiring a consultant) is to get a fresh perspective on existing problems. Often, leaders get so stuck in their paradigms they just can’t see how to get out of their own way. One of my favorite assignments was taking over a department that was struggling to find the success they had seen for decades. I brought with me a different paradigm, new ideas and was able to help them start to regain the success they were accustomed to having.

Rotating management, or bringing in new management, who isn’t immersed in your culture, will bring in a different perspective on your problems. Often there could be a natural resistance to that change, but when you can overcome that resistance progress happens.

This Week’s Challenge

How does your company make sure your leadership has the skills for where your company is, and where it is going? If you need help identifying what skills are needed, please contact us to learn how we can help!

Flexibility and Control

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andrew shaffer consulting flexibility and controlIn almost every job I’ve ever had or project I’ve ever undertaken there always something that didn’t go as planned. We spend hundreds of man hours coming up with a plan, trying to think of every thing that has to happen along the way. We brainstorm risks and put together mitigation plans to minimize the chances or impact if it happens. As they say, a battle plan is only good until it sees battle. In order to be successful, you should have the right mix of flexibility and control within your company. Today’s discussion will help you understand some of the natural conflicts between flexibility and control in your business and why they are necessary.

Flexibility and Control

You probably wish you could control everything in your organization. I mean why not? The more control you have over processes and procedures the more predictable your results, right? I have worked with numerous companies that are very proud of their processes, and display banners with different process certifications. They brag about it on their websites and capability statements.

Processes give you confidence in repeatable and predictable results. Here is the thing, your process also can provide repeatable and predictable mistakes. I have seen this, and the response is always the same: “But, I followed the process.” So, the solution is to add a new process.  Sooner or later, there is only process and no flexibility. Like Henry Ford said about the Model T, “you can have it in any color you want, as long as it’s black.” All control and no flexibility. Let’s look at some ways this occurs in your company.

Veteran vs. New Hire

How many times has a company, maybe even yours, hired someone from the outside to bring in a fresh perspective? This person comes in, with a bunch of ideas from his/her previous experience. After six months to a year, all those fresh perspectives are gone, and the person you hired to change things has fallen into the trap of “this is how it’s done here.”

I have worked with several companies, especially small to mid-size companies, where there is a distinct dichotomy in their employee base. Often you have an employee base that started with the company and has been there since the beginning. However, as they reach retirement age, new employees must be hired to fill the jobs. This isn’t always a generational thing, but it can be. You many have veterans at your company that have been there fifteen to twenty years, and another group maybe three to five years.

The veterans in your company typically lean to the control side of the spectrum. They have their ways of doing things, they follow their process and they get predictable results. That is why you have them working for you. However, when you bring in new people, they are generally lean more towards the flexible side of the spectrum. They are flexible because they don’t know your culture, your company habits, and they aren’t as set in their ways. They begin to question everything, and maybe even offer alternatives.

Solution

The fresh perspective that your new employees bring can help you add flexibility into your business. This does NOT mean that you change everything you have been doing. There has to be a balance. Your veteran employees helped you become the success you are right now. They understand the processes, and know how to get results.

I have been the new guy in this scenario. I worked with a team of veterans that had their process down pat. The trouble was, because they kept doing what they knew, they kept perpetuating the same mistakes. At first when I offered suggestions, I was dismissed because I was new and didn’t know enough about what they did. After all, they had decades of experience and I didn’t. Which is another way of saying they didn’t trust me. It wasn’t personal. They just didn’t trust that I had the background to make suggestions.

My solution, as the new guy was to understand the process, what they were doing, and why. I found that they had evolved (or devolved if you will) over the years cutting process to cut costs. Taking the time to understand their process and their history, added credibility to my suggestions. I was able to build trust because I wasn’t just telling them all the things they were doing wrong. As a result, I was able to offer a few suggestions to improve the process, without a complete overhaul, and the typical mistakes they had been experiencing became a thing of the past.

This Week’s Challenge

Do you have the right balance of flexibility and control? Do you have a culture that allows for new ideas from outsiders? If you need help creating this balance or culture, please contact us to learn how we can help!

Slowing Down to Speed Up

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Andrew Shaffer consulting slowing down to speed upI once had a mentor tell me that I needed to slow down to speed up. Now that sounds like an oxymoron, right? Something like hurry up and wait. He was right, I was trying to do too much all at once, and as a result I couldn’t do anything. I was just being pulled in too many directions to focus and concentrate on anything.  Over the years I have noticed a lot of people that could benefit from slowing down to speed up. Are you one?

Slowing Down to Speed Up

As a business leader you are not accustomed to going slow. By nature, you are a person that likes to take on a challenge and get things done. If anything, your success has made you take on even more and more risks, so you can grow your business. I have met many business owners like this, but the trouble is the end up taking on one too many things and it drags them down. Often, you try to expand your product line or enter a new market only to find that you can no longer sell like you used to and your profits are eroding. You might even find yourself in danger of losing your business. Why does this happen and what can YOU do about it?

Core Competencies

What are the core competencies of your business? I started my business to help companies transform cultures to improve employee performance, productivity and profits. Because I help with developing cultures and I work with business leaders, I am often asked if I do 1:1 coaching. I usually decline the 1:1 coaching, because that isn’t my core competency.

Business leaders, especially when they start seeing success, will often seek what else they can do to expand their company. When they get past their core competencies, they struggle, and the money and energy needed to expand their market place drains their resources and their core business begins to suffer.  I see this all the time on The Profit (which is one of my favorite shows). Stick with your core competency and expand from there. Taking on too much will spread your energy too thin and often lead to disaster.

Focus

What is even more dangerous than straying outside your core competency is changing direction once you’ve started an initiative. You sit down with your colleagues and decide that this year you are going to accomplish a certain goal. You had a great idea for a market expansion or new product line. However, before you finish your initial initiative, you find another good idea to pursue, so you shift focus. As a result, nothing gets done.

My friend Ross Foca, founder of the Power 6 Group, consults clients on the Entrepreneur Operating System (EOS) and advises his clients to focus on just a few things each quarter. He calls them rocks. This extra focus helps his clients accomplish more than they had in the past and gives them the flexibility to shift focus after the quarter ends.  Remember, if your idea was a good idea, it’s worth following through.

This Week’s Challenge

By nature, entrepreneurs are always looking for the next thing. You see a need and you’re eager to solve it. After starting a successful business, it’s natural to think you can resolve anything.  Put a system in place for making these types of decisions. The system shouldn’t be dependent on one individual (usually the founder) but include a team with several functions represented.  Once a decision is made, it is also important to follow through. If you don’t you run the risk of nothing being done.

To learn more about how to improve the chances of successful decision making and implementation please contact us to learn how we can help!

Employer of Choice

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andrew shaffer consulting employer of choiceLast week I had the opportunity to sit in on a discussion about the 2020 economic forecast. While the information presented showed a relatively good forecast there were some statistics that I think business owners should be concerned about, there are just not enough available people to fill the demand for workers! What does this mean for your company? How do you become the employer of choice for the limited supply of employees?

Employer of Choice

Last week while I was listening to an economist talk about his 2020 projections, he said something that kind of caught me off guard. I had written about economic forecasts before, but he mentioned that business are actually CLOSING because they can’t find enough workers! Most business owners prefer the problem of too much work versus not enough work, but if it puts you out of business what is the difference? In a tight labor market (for both skilled an unskilled workers) your competition will eventually try to hire YOUR employees. What are you doing to keep your best employees, and maintain your competitive edge?

Productivity

I was recently contacted by the HR director of a local company. She was looking for some help with new employee training and was looking for some resources. The turnover rate at her company was so high that she was spending most of her time recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding that she had very little time to devote to training, let alone her other job responsibilities. This isn’t a unique situation either. I know many HR consultants that are expanding their practices because many in-house HR representatives are just overloaded. Every hour that your HR department is focused on hiring and replacing staff, is an hour they aren’t focused on their other job responsibilities. Are you spending energy on unnecessary turnover?

Costs

The costs of replacing staff can also be a silent killer. There isn’t generally an expense line item that highlights costs of hiring. I just wrote about how unnecessary hiring is a time drain for your HR department, but how does it impact cost. There are studies out there that say that to replace skilled workers it could cost about 150% of their salary. I speculate that cost can grow even higher, as it is going to take longer and longer to find talented people to replace those that leave. Aside from the costs, there are lost productivity, potential damage to your reputation and customer satisfaction. What is unnecessary turnover costing your company, and how do you actively prevent it?

Some Help

This may sound like common sense, but I can tell you that it isn’t common practice: Pay attention to your employees! Without employees, your business cannot survive. Without thriving employees, your business cannot thrive. I know that in the hectic, ever changing world we live in, that taking time from your busy day to talk to your team sounds like an overwhelming burden, but I can tell you that the time investment will pay off.

Would you rather spend an hour a month developing talent, ensuring your team is motivated and loyal, or hire anther HR person for recruiting and developing talent? Do you want to keep your best performers, and even your average performers, or see them work for your competition? Spend some time understanding WHO your employees are, and developing them around their capabilities and desires, and you will become the employer of choice!

This Week’s Challenge

Make a commitment to learn more about your employees, what motivates them and what challenges them. Spending a few minutes a week talking to them about their needs will pay huge dividends. Andrew Shaffer Consulting offers a low-cost assessment to help you understand your employees and can get you on the fast track to becoming the employer of choice! Ask us how!

Accelerate Your Growth

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andrew shaffer consulting accelerate your growthNow that the Holidays are behind us and we are facing the first full week of the new year, how do you feel about 2020? I know that is a trick question. Will it be better than 2019? This year my blogs and newsletters are going to be focused on addressing problems that you have. As I meet with business owners, and hear about common struggles, I will share what I learn with you. I want to help you make 2020 a breakout year for you and your business. Today, let’s talk about how to accelerate your growth.

Accelerate Your Growth

At the end of last year (2019) I talked to a surprising number of business owners that didn’t see their businesses improve from 2018. Revenue and profits were just about the same year to year. One of the reasons I found this surprising is because I met with a few business owners that said their business was booming with huge year to year returns. I found the contrast odd, and often it was within the same industries. So, what is the difference?

Performance

Employee performance underpins everything a company accomplishes. There is no doubt that the better your employees perform, the better the company performs. Absenteeism, turnover and a lack of wiliness to change all hurt performance. These problems are typically caused by low employee engagement, although the root cause of low engagement will different for everyone.

Typically, I see companies take a team approach to employee engagement, instead of making it about the employee. Companies will bring in experts in team building to conduct workshops or have social events so “everyone can get to know each other”. Teambuilding is not engagement. Engaged teams do perform better as a team, but teambuilding doesn’t build engagement.

To improve employee performance, I recommend that you:

  • Make sure you have the right people in the right jobs based on desire, capabilities and aptitude.
  • Find those employees that might be toxic to your culture and deal with them appropriately. It will show strong leadership on your part.
  • Improve communication with your employees. Understand what motivates them and discuss assignments in ways that get them excited.

Decisions

I once sat in a staff meeting where my boss was sharing a new initiative from our executive. He unilaterally decided he wasn’t going to implement the new initiative because he thought it was the “flavor of the month.” Although he set a poor example, (if he didn’t listen to his boss, why should I listen to him?) he was right. The initiative was never implemented, and there were no consequences. Now, how effective do you think that executive is going to be? Do you think there was going to be any positive impact? Probably not.

In most companies, things don’t happen just because the boss says go make it happen. Sure, something might happen, but people don’t generally respond favorably to a direct order. “Because I said so” is not a recommended management technique. If you want to make sure your decisions are implemented, you need to engage your employees. The most effective way to do this, is to have a system in place where your employees (the ones implementing your ideas) have some input into the decision and how it will be implemented. When decisions are made, explain why a certain decision was made. Keep in mind to use different communications styles so your message is received.

Development

Develop your employees. Help them build the skills necessary to perform at a high level. I have had a lot of discussion recently about how to do this, so I am going to share some guidelines.

Create development plans to help your employees develop skills for this job and the next. Development plans should be based on company objectives. For example, if you are implementing a new technology or going after a new product line. Create a training program that will have the most lasting impact. Consider using instructor lead, online, or on the job training. Consider how the person will be involved, a manager might not need the same type of training as a technician responsible for doing the work.

Employee development should be designed to develop new skills the company needs to take the organization into the future. If you cannot draw a straight line from the training to the business objective, you should consider if your training is necessary.

This Week’s Challenge

If your performance in 2019 was less than impressive, or if you want to make sure that 2020 is a breakout year, start with employee performance. Get your team motivated, engaged, and excited about what this year has to offer. Employee engagement isn’t about making people happy, it’s about driving business forward and ultimately, you will accelerate your growth.

If you need help, or would like to learn more about how to drive performance, productivity and profits, please reach out to me. I’ll be happy to help!

Reward Performance

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As the end of the year is approaching, many of the business leaders I talk to are SUPER busy. They are in the final stages of closing out 2019, planning for 2020, employee reviews, compensation plans and merit increases. That’s a lot! Because often times merit and compensation are tied to performance and performance reviews, I thought I’d address some of the conversations I’ve been having to help you think through how you will reward performance.

Reward Performance

Over the last few weeks I have talked to many business leaders who were working through their bonus/merit increase plans. In most cases the business owner was struggling to make sure that the reward system actually rewarded the behaviors they wanted to see in their employees. This week let’s look at some of the intangibles that should be considered in your plan for rewarding performance.

Quantity or Quality

One of the most obvious paradoxes is the quantity or quality metrics. Many businesses, especially in a production atmosphere, have metrics on how many widgets get produced over a given period of time. One business leader was discussing the challenge he was facing. He had an individual that was a high performer. His production outpaced everyone in the factory. However, he also had the highest quality defects.

When there were quality issues, it often cost the company money, or at the very least their reputation took a hit. On the other hand, he had some “solid” performers. The solid performers didn’t perform as well, and maybe even struggled to meet quotas. However, their quality was superb. They might do 80% of the production but had almost zero defects.  Do you reward the high performer with the occasional defect or the sold performer that missed quotas but has an eye toward quality?

80/20 Rule

They say that 20% of your employees will take up 80% of your time. Another business leader was discussing her project managers. She had one project manager that she wasn’t sure how to reward. The manager had an excellent track record for completing projects on time and within budget. Who doesn’t want a project manager like that? However, the project manager was afraid of making mistakes and needed a lot of “hand holding” from her managers distracting them from their other responsibilities (and project managers).

On the other hand, there were other project managers, that would struggle on a project from time to time. When this happened, the manager would learn from the mistake and perform better next time. Who gets rewarded, the manager that had a good track record, but consumed her managers time, or the project manager that required less support but made the occasional mistake?

Attitude

Lastly, there is the manager that had some “brilliant” people on their team. They had some specialized skills that few in the company had, and because of that gave them a competitive advantage. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? They are brilliant and give a competitive advantage, they deserve to be compensated! However, they thought they were irreplaceable and therefore were arrogant. They refused to take direction or follow process and difficult to work with. They completed work because of their “brilliance” but it was often over budget because of the lack of process and taking direction.

There were other employees that didn’t necessarily have the “brilliance” but were coachable, easy to work with and took direction. They produced consistent results and their performance improved year over year because of their coachability.  Who do you reward, the arrogant team that is difficult to work but give you a competitive edge, or the solid performers that are coachable and constantly improving?

This Week’s Challenge

When you are developing a compensation or reward system, make sure it is rewarding the behaviors you think are important. I always went out of my way to reward those that took time to coach and mentor others, creating the next generation high performers. If you need help developing a system that properly incentivizes and rewards your employees contact us, we can help!

If you need help, or would like to learn more about how to retain your top performers, please reach out to me. I’ll be happy to help!

Decision Making

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andrew shaffer consulting decision makingMany business leaders I speak to express frustrations with their team’s inability to change behaviors. The executive team will make decisions or create a new strategy only to have the employees resist. This can be extremely frustrating at best, and kill your business at worse. There are many things that go into good decision making, and ensuring that decisions are actually followed through. Today I am going to challenge you to review your decision making process. Could your process be impeding your ability to get things done?

Decision Making

One of the fundamental duties of leaders and managers in any organization is decision-making. Leaders and managers make decisions every day from prioritizing and assigning tasks to how to implement a new strategy. The decision-making process in every company is different and unique to its own culture. Decisions could be made by the owner/CEO, or by a board or committee.

It doesn’t matter how decisions are made in your company there are real consequences to your employees with each decision, although some decisions have a bigger impact than others. In my experience your decision making process can have the greatest impact on employee retention and productivity. Here are some things you can do to make sure your decisions don’t have a negative effect on your company.

Communicate

I was in a meeting with a dozen or so employees at a company as they were learning about a new corporate policy regarding their benefits. The Human Resources department put together a detailed Power Point presentation to clearly explain the changes and the impacts to the employees. Human Resources representatives were at each presentation to answer any questions that the employees might have. They were well versed on the details of the new program, however they never adequately communicated why the decision to change the benefits was made. What was the rationale behind the decision? As a result, the employees assumed that it was made to appease shareholders at the extent of the employees. Was that the case? I don’t know. Does it matter? No, that was the perception and perception rules. I can tell you that the employees did not feel VALUED after that meeting.

Seek Input

In today’s social media driven world of comments and likes people express their opinions on almost everything. This culture of sharing opinions flows over into the workplace as well. Employees like to have some say in the decision-making process. They like to have their voices heard. In large organizations it is challenging or unreasonable to expect that everyone has their opinions heard.

However, their voices usually can and should be represented in the decision making process. Employees and management alike could have a “seat at the table” for decision making. This does NOT mean that you have to implement every decision from all stakeholders. It does mean that all viewpoints are considered in the process. Then when decisions are made the concerns expressed by all decision makers should be addressed when communicating the decision. Letting people know that they were heard and part of the process increases engagement, and helps improve retention and productivity among your teams.

Executing

I have observed meetings where senior executives (or even front-line managers) have made decisions, but never executed the decision. What a waste of time and energy! Why were they not executed? It could be a wide variety of things from feeling excluded the process, not understanding why or how to implement the decision or just thinking the decision was stupid (managers don’t understand how work gets done). Whenever a decision is made, someone has to implement or execute the decision. Allowing everyone to be represented in the process, communicating the why behind the decision, and adding accountability helps ensure that your decisions are executed and you get the results you are looking for.

This Week’s Challenge

How are decisions made in your company? Are your decisions having the impact you want them to have?  Do you need help setting up a decision-making process that is inclusive, and achieves the desired outcomes?  We can help.

If you need help, or would like to learn more about how to retain your top performers,  please reach out to me. I’ll be happy to help!