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information
and resources to help you build and retain a high-performance company
Volume 1 |
Issue 24 | December 2008
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FROM JIM SIRBASKU’S DESK
How to Fly Safely Through Turbulence
CEOs
these days must feel as if they are piloting
a plane upside down and backwards through
the perfect storm, where all things that can
go wrong, do. Following the storm, comes a
brief period of misleading calm before the
chaos begins again. Everyone on board gets
a wild, somersaulting ride and fears what
lies ahead. For some organizations, holding
on for dear life is all they can do to
survive.
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In today’s economy, surviving the storm has become an
organization’s main priority. The uncertainty that
makes quick changes necessary means organizations must
rely on their well-trained employees to carry
them through. Strong workers who come to work each day
with enthusiasm, focus and creativity make for trusty
copilots during times of economic turbulence. They can
help navigate above, below or around obstacles while
offering solutions that no one else has thought of to
help calm everyone aboard.
But, as leaders prevail upon key players to do more with
less manpower and fewer resources, we cannot just
distribute assignments and walk away hoping they will
figure out what to do. Keeping the company steady
through tough times requires commitment from the top to
stay on course. Now is not the time to abandon goals,
ignore the problems, or adopt an “every person for
himself” attitude.
Remember, nothing is more crucial than hiring competent
people and helping them develop the skills necessary to
help pilot the plane. Making sure your employees have
the talent, skill and knowledge to make it through the
storm is more important than ever. Here are some key
things to do– in good times and bad.
- If you are not operating under a hiring
freeze, count your blessings. Then treat
every new hire as if he or she might be your last.
Be sure managers take the important steps of
recruiting potential candidates that fit the
position and your company. Insist on tools that
help recruiters ask the right questions during the
job interview and help them make decisions based on
science instead of guesswork.
- Train new workers well, and do not
neglect the old guard – the stalwarts who choose to
stay with you even when the going gets rough.
Even in a good economy, everyone needs
training. Specific training and everyday coaching
helps retain workers and makes sure they are ready
for current and future challenges. In a down
economy, some might covet the training budget with
an eye toward making the bottom line look
healthier. Repeat this mantra: short-term pain,
long-term gain.
- Do not assume anything about your
employees. Know them better than they know
themselves. New tools are available to tell you
exactly who is working for you – their competencies,
their weaknesses and their goals. Do not decide
that you can apply the same management style to
everyone and get the same results. A multitude of
different faces greet you when you walk into the
department. They are likely to include four
different generations, both genders, and different
races and ethnicities. In the global marketplace,
you will find variations even within identifiable
groups. It is imperative that you learn what skills
your employees have, the skills they are capable of
acquiring and what it takes to keep them motivated.
- Check the pulse of your key leaders.
Are they engaged? A recent study reveals that more
than half of senior executives possess “less than
ideal emotional connection and alignment” to their
organizations. Are any of these your co-pilots? If
so, re-coaching, and moving around employees is
likely in your future, if you want to be assured of
a future.
- Have a plan and use it. Do not
fear adjusting it as necessary. Traveling through
turbulence is much smoother and less alarming if you
carefully map out your flight plan before you
proceed, tweak the course as needed, and make sure
you have a team of willing and able employees to
make the necessary in-flight changes.
Now, buckle your seatbelts and prepare for takeoff.
We may have a bumpy ride ahead.
Jim Sirbasku, CEO
Profiles International
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Test Your Knowledge about
Workday Attitudes
Employers, how much do you know about your employees?
Test your knowledge here. Circle an answer
for each question. Answers appear below each
set of questions:
1. What is the most important factor keeping
your employees in their jobs right now?
a. Pay and health insurance
b. Satisfaction with work
c. Job security
d. Satisfaction with co-workers
2. What do employees want most from their
jobs?
a. Feeling valued
b. Less stress
c. Being part of a team
d. Shared vision and values
3. What percentage of employees say they plan
to stay in their job for the next year?
a. 50 percent
b. 20 percent
c. 80 percent
d. 60 percent
4. Half of employees are satisfied with the
number of hours they work.
True
False
5. More than half of employees believe this
is a good time to take on extra work on the job.
True
False
ANSWERS courtesy of
Randstad's World of Work Survey 2008
1. c; 2. a, 3. d 4. True; 5. True (in fact, 68
percent of employees believe this)
Employees, how well do you know your manager? Test
your knowledge here. Circle an answer
for each question:
1. What percentage of employers plan to stay
in their jobs the next 12 months?
a. 65 percent
b. 75 percent
c. 60 percent
d. 45 percent
2. Which one of these things are employers
most satisfied with at work?
a. Compensation
b. Flexible hours
c. Amount of work
d. Opportunity to learn new things
3. Employers believe fair compensation of
employees is more important to employees than surveys
indicate.
True
False
4. Employees and employers are equally
satisfied with the number of hours they work.
True
False
ANSWERS for 1, 2 and 4,
courtesy of Randstad's World of Work Survey 2008;
answers for 3, courtesy of salary.com
1. a; 2 d. 3. True; 4. True |
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'One Foot out the Door':
Strong Medicine for What Ails Us
Where did we go wrong?
That's the question Judith M.
Bardwick asks and answers in,
One Foot Out the Door: How to Combat
the Psychological Recession that's
Alienating Employees and Hurting
American Business.
But, unlike so many writers who point
out flaws in human behavior and psyche,
Bardwick offers help. Perhaps this is
why so many take her words as
constructive criticism and why One
Foot Out the Door earned a coveted
award from Library Journal as a
Best Business Book for 2007.
So what is a psychological recession
anyway, and why should organizations
care? In Bardwick's view, the two words
describe an "emotional state in which
people feel extremely vulnerable to
economic hardship." This brings about a
"dour view" of both current times and
the future and "reinforces…perception of
the world as a risky place in which they
have little or no control." This anxiety
plus the feeling of worker powerlessness
are a "poisonous mix," the author notes.
Managers should care because if
workers expect the worst, they don't
perform well. And if workers are not
performing, the pressure on an
organization's financial health can be
devastating – as in companies where only
25 percent of workers are engaged in
their jobs. Could that be your business?
The Gallup Poll says that is
American business.
Bardwick uses both history and
research to present the facts of how the
economic climate used to be, how it is
today and what brought us here. She
points out how costly it can be to
support bad management. For managers who
care, she provides the steps to
regaining success. One key to the
kingdom is getting rid of the fear that
makes for a toxic business climate
today. No small task, but crucial to an
organization's survival. Others are:
- Customizing working conditions
and rewards for individual employees
(virtually banishing
"one-size-fits-all" solutions)
- Hiring people whose competencies
and priorities best fit the
organization
Bardwick also authored
Danger in the Comfort Zone
and Psychology of Women.
Based in California, she is a speaker,
consultant, researcher, and writer on
psychological aspects of people at work.
"A Psychological Recession is not
just an idea; it is a real phenomenon
with real consequences, all of them
bad," Dr. Bardwick says. "When people
are scared and depressed for a long
time, despair and fear replace
confidence and optimism. In the larger
economic picture, it is really dangerous
that a psychological recession
characterizes most people's views and
moods when two-thirds of our gross
domestic product is based on consumer
spending, which is profoundly affected
by consumer confidence."
ABOUT THE BOOK
One Foot Out the Door:
How to Combat
the Psychological Recession that's
Alienating Employees and Hurting
American Business
Author: Judith M. Bardwick
240 pages
Publisher: AMACOM
ISBN-13: 978-0814480588 |
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Nothing so conclusively
proves a man's ability
to lead others as what
he does from day to day
to lead himself.
--Thomas J. Watson
The
roots of education are
bitter, but the fruit is
sweet.
--Aristotle |
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“The relationship with your
boss is a partnership. It takes effort to build
the relationship and nurture it. You have to
communicate well, avoid confrontations and
resolve differences in a positive way.” – Jane
Boucher, consultant
“Treat people as if they were
what they ought to be, and you will help them
become what they are capable of becoming.” –
Goethe, poet, playwright, philosopher
"Do not let what you cannot
do interfere with what you can do" – John
Wooden, coach
“Nothing so conclusively
proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he
does from day to day to lead himself.” – Thomas
J. Watson, scientist
“A company is only as good as
the people it keeps.” – Mary Kay Ash, cosmetics
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Ending a Vicious Cycle,
Reaching Nirvana with Profiles WorkForce Compatibility™
"By working faithfully eight hours a day
you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day."
-- Robert Frost
The eloquent American poet's words have a ring of truth to
them – but they provide only one view of the
boss's job. There are perspectives aplenty, and one in
particular does not rely on the chief spending 12 or more hours
every day toiling at work. It is this: The boss's goal instead
is to develop employees so that everyone enjoys a
productive, enjoyable and fulfilling workplace.
Let's pay a visit to an imaginary workplace. We will call it
The Nirvana Company. Imagine a boss at Nirvana focusing energy
and expertise on the quality of his or her relationships
with employees. This boss would know, for example, whether an
employee's decision-making style matched her own fast-paced
method, or whether the worker preferred to ponder situations a
while before making decisions. The boss would learn how best to
manage that worker to get his very best decisions and the
highest productivity. There's more – the boss would do this for
every employee in the organization.
Does this scenario seem too good to be true? It doesn't have
to be. In fact, Profiles offers an assessment that not
only helps the boss work on relationships – it helps employees
do the same thing.
Workplaces do exist in which supervisors and their direct
reports know each other's work styles and use that knowledge to
their own and the organization's advantage. And studies show
that such managers and employees are highly productive and
engaged. The reverse is also true: Managers who are out
of step with employees often cause low productivity, low morale
and high turnover. In fact, more people leave
bosses than they do jobs.
The Profiles assessment that takes on this issue is Profiles
WorkForce Compatibility™, and it combines insight into the
characteristics that affect the boss-employee relationship with
information on how unique individuals can best work together.
The strength of Profiles WorkForce Compatibility™ lies in two
key areas: What it measures and what it provides as a result of
its measurements. First, the measurements: Profiles WorkForce
Compatibility™ examines seven important characteristics
that define the relationship between an employee and the
manager: self-assurance, self-reliance,
conformity, optimism,
decisiveness, objectivity and
approach to learning. Once these are measured and
analyzed for both boss and worker, each receives a report. The
manager's report provides a detailed description of the
differences between the two on each characteristic, as well as a
"best-practice" working style for both the manager and the
employee. A "Working Together" section gives ideas for
managing this unique employee and a "Next Steps"
section offers detailed instructions on how to proceed.
The Employee Report shows the worker his or her similarities
to and differences from the boss, with ideas for making the work
relationship smoother.
In short, Profiles WorkForce Compatibility™ helps both
manager and employee to:
- Communicate better
- Spot conflicts before they occur
- Successfully resolve problems that pop
up
This assessment is neither magic nor a fairy tale – nor does
it support the view of Robert Frost expressed above. It does
require hard work and a commitment to rely more on facts than
assumptions. But its strength is in its personalization
of management strategy. The one-size-fits-all approach
to management is out the window – good riddance.
Bosses who are ready to put their busy workdays to better use
should call Profiles International at (254) 751-1644 and start
enjoying more pleasant, productive workdays.
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Celebrating Job Fit at John
Henry Foster Co.
Editor's Note: The John Henry Foster Company is
a full-line fluid power distributor in St. Louis, Mo.,
founded in 1944. It deals in sales and service of
pneumatic and hydraulic equipment. Bob Gau is
CEO.
Here, Denise Meyerotto, in human resources, talks
about the company's use of ProfileXT®.
Q. Why did you start using ProfileXT®?
When interviewing candidates for our job openings, we
needed a reliable method of determining who would best
fit in a given position. We decided to use the ProfileXT®
assessment as a pre-employment screening tool.
Q. In what ways has ProfileXT® benefited the
John Henry Foster Co.?
Because each job receives a benchmark, the ProfileXT®
shows a job-match percentage for each candidate’s fit
within a position. This is a great advantage that aids
us in making the right hiring decisions.
Q. What are your results thus far with
ProfileXT®?
Since we began using it, we have had success with all of
the candidates we have hired. It has helped us identify
candidates that will fit the job. We have avoided bad
hiring decisions.
Q. What are its strongest features?
Not only is the ProfileXT® easy to administer, almost
anyone can determine the results easily. It is extremely
helpful. We have never been disappointed by the
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