Denisoff Consulting Group

Keep Your Employees Engaged During the Economic Downturn

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:17:52 +0000

The current economic downturn has been going on for a while and many indicators suggest that it will continue for quite a bit longer. This is depressing even to type out. It has been a long haul for sure. I have seen firsthand companies responding to this reality with important measures including layoffs and/or reductions in pay. This can weigh heavy both on employees and managers alike.

And as a manager, even during these times, you are to set the tone being both grounded and optimistic with your direct reports.

A major part of your role is to keep the troops engaged, productive and connected. The temptation for a lot of managers is to either ignore the situation or to add to the negative anxiety, neither of which is acceptable for a great leader.

Employees these days are pretty sophisticated at all levels from blue color to the young professional. The pervasiveness of the 24/7 news cycle, internet, twitter, blogs etc. keeps employees tuned in to the reality of things. A manager must not only acknowledge this but leverage it. Employees understand the tough times, and most understand even things like pay freezes or reductions in pay. But as a manager you still must keep the employees engaged and working effectively. This means keep doing what you are supposed to be doing in terms of coaching, giving feedback, and interacting with your team.

This also means keep the Performance Management schedule. Not that long ago I witnessed a company that stopped doing any Performance Reviews or Yearly Goal Setting with their employees. Their rationale was because they were afraid if they did the employees might expect a raise and the company was not in a position to accommodate that. I mean how demoralizing is that, not only are the employees not going to get any raises but they now were going to be deprived from credible feedback, career development and basic concern. This, not the lack of raise, is what will truly disengage employees.

In an article from HR Executive online, http://www.hreonline.com , coming out on September 2nd, a survey of over 800 HR executives found that the top three things keeping these executives up at night are

1-Keeping Employees Engaged and Productive

2- Retaining Key Talent

3- Developing leaders

The reality is an employee’s manager has the most influence on those above issues. So do not shy away from talking honestly about the current economic situation and the impact on the company with them. But most importantly keep up paying attention and investing efforts into your reports. Done well you will strengthen your bond with them, keep them from leaving or giving up and will develop them to meet the needs of the company’s future.

“Let me know what you think, but think before you let me know.”

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:14:45 +0000

We all have heard the timeless saying “Think before you speak.” And it is a good one to heed especially in our jobs. It however has become more difficult through the past years to take the time to think things through as the pace of work has increased almost beyond comprehension. Additionally, I believe along with this increased speed of business, the drama factor in some organizations has also increased. (And you know how I feel about drama.) Some of the comments that come out of people’s mouths amaze me. And these people are smart and bright but not only miss opportunities to add real value but start to diminish their credibility with non-intelligent responses.

Great leaders always are grounded and continuously build up their Emotional Intelligence so they can respond effectively in intense times. Whether an introvert or extrovert or a person who prefers tasks or people, great leaders stay in the moment and activate their brilliance and thinking capacity.

The reality is, every time you speak you will either add or take away from your credibility.

Smart leaders always think before they speak. They read the audience, they craft the message in such a way that it will be appropriately received and they bring in actual business analysis to the discussion. Like I always say, ask yourself “How does the topic at hand the impact the business.”

Many organizations these days understand the importance for getting ideas and feedback from all of their constituents. Executives and managers are much more adept at getting others’ ‘take on things’ and tapping into diverse perspectives. So you should always be prepared to speak. Unfortunately, I have been getting this comment from a good number of folks as of late, “He/She caught me off guard.” If you are a great leader you should never (all right almost never) be caught off guard. High performers always bring their “A-game.”

I just heard one of the best quotes of the year from a very fine CEO. Mike Seyle, CEO of the World-Class International Architectural Design firm Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo, was commenting on his expectations of his executive team and senior leadership. He is really great at getting the best thinking and ideas from his people. From these different perspectives he has a tremendous way of synthesizing them into a robust and actionable plan. But for this approach to work, his staff must bring thoughtful and logical perspectives to the table. He pushes his people to really think things through on many levels so they can put forth their best ideas. Or as Mike simply puts it

“Let me know what you think, but think before you let me know.”

Well said, well said.

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 4: Reaching Out

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:59:00 +0000

As was said earlier in this series, it can be hard for managers to get candid and honest feedback. The bigger your title, the less of a chance people will volunteer feedback to you, especially tough feedback.

Great leaders set the stage early with the people they work with–their boss, peers and direct reports– so they can get a constant flow of feedback. Hopefully your boss is giving you balanced, candid, and timely feedback. But with your peers and direct reports you have to take the initiative. Develop an agreement early with the folks that you work with that you are open and want, or actually require, their feedback and that they will never hurt themselves if the feedback is given in the spirit of helping and in a timely manner. Make this clear over and over until they get the point. Generally people will test the water with a few lighter items until they can feel comfortable with coming to you on the harder things.

But if you ever overreact, get angry or deflect, just know that you just closed off the feedback faucet.

Periodically a manager should ask each direct report: “What can I do better to support your success?’ or “What do you need from me to be more effective?” And when you do this, please do so in a neutral area like a conference room or even at the lunch table. Do not do this behind your desk as the desk can create a barrier to an open conversation. Be insistent on these questions and do not settle for milk-toast responses. Get the good stuff!

It is amazing to me how many managers think that asking these questions will show weakness or incompetence. This is simply not true. You are successful when they are successful, so by giving them what they need to be effective increases their chance of success. This is what leaders are supposed to do. And if they do not come through you can feel good about doing your part in setting them up to win.

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 3: The 360 Feedback Report

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:32:23 +0000

An amazingly effective way to get feedback as a leader is by participating in a 360 Feedback process. As most of you may know this is a formal process by which to gather feedback in a safe and anonymous environment from a variety of perspectives all around you, hence the term 360 from a 360 degree look. Feedback is solicited from your boss, your peers, and your direct reports. Often leaders can also solicit feedback from vendors or suppliers.

The key is to get perceptions from people who know you well in terms of your leadership skills and style, communication, and other core leadership competencies.

I often ask participants in the process if they want to include their spouse in the list of respondents. I usually get a chuckle and an ‘are you serious?” (And yes I am.)

The feedback is collected either through interviews or with an electronic survey. All of the respondent’s feedback is kept anonymous. The only exception is that the boss’ feedback is not. The rationale to this is that if your boss cannot be open and direct with you than we have big trouble. There is a proper process of how to receive the feedback and turn it into an action plan. Please look for my upcoming whitepaper in the autumn that will cover the steps and methodology to an effective 360 Feedback process.

In the great majority of my executive coaching assignments I use the 360 process at some point. Generally it is done earlier in the coaching relationship. It is a very powerful process.

For most leaders they know what is coming with usually one or two surprises in their blind spot. For other leaders, it can be a big time reality check.

Either way it is an awesome experience to fine tune or if necessary overhaul different aspects of your leadership ability. Whether the feedback is fully accurate or just a firmly held perception the leader still must respond to it in the best way possible.

It is akin to someone telling you that you have a piece off broccoli in your teeth right before you take the stage to give your big keynote presentation. It feels a little uncomfortable when you are told but you are very grateful that you now know and can make things right. If you have never taken part in the 360 Feedback process it may be time so I invite you to investigate further. For those who have already participated in the process I recommend to my clients that they should participate in the process at least every 2-3 years.

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 2

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:31:58 +0000

Great leaders are constantly looking for feedback. And they are smart enough to realize that they have to take the initiative to get it. If you wait for it to come to you, you will wait a while and if it finally shows up it probably will not be good news because it might be something that has been festering unbeknownst to you and has just come to a head.

Leaders must constantly gather feedback. Think about playing in a football game and not being able to look at the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the game. It just would not work. People like feedback and the continuously flow of critical information regarding their performance. When I played footballer I relied on many facets of feedback, some formal some informal. I looked to the scoreboard, the chains, the comments (sometimes yelling) from the coach, the signals from the referee and the banter between my teammates. Some of it was technical, some of it was motivation but all of it together helped me play better and make on-the-spot corrections.

How will you gather feedback today?

The next blog will begin the discussion of obtaining feedback informally from your key stakeholders. And remember this, all feedback is just feedback. What makes it good or bad is what you decide to do with it. The only caveat to this is that feedback becomes bad when you receive it too late or it is given with a bad heart.

Guest Blogged on Carol Roth—How To Motivate Employees

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:32:19 +0000

Just wanted to let you know that I provided a guest blog at CarolRoth.com this week. The subject focused on the best strategies to motivate employees. You will see more than 80 tips to get your employees motivated. Check it out at: http://www.carolroth.com/unsolicited-business-advice/?p=2022

Getting Feedback for Leaders
Part 2

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 1

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:02:37 +0000

Feedback, as they say, is the breakfast of champions. As leaders, it is critical to get feedback from a variety of sources both formally and informally. Feedback keeps you grounded, provides opportunities for improvement and also endears people to you as a leader.

The funny thing about feedback is that the higher you get promoted in a company the less credible feedback you get, particularly from your reports or from folks ‘beneath’ you. It is the old scenario of who is going to tell the emperor that he is wearing no cloths.

And let’s be real honest, you know you have “made it” in your career when you tell a really bad joke and people are compelled to laugh at it no matter how terrible it is.

And although this might seem flattering, it really opens you up to having potential blind spots not only in your leadership but in employees willing to tell you the truth on how the business is going.

We will focus our attention on how leaders can get robust and helpful feedback over the next few blog posts. Without good feedback you will either miss an opportunity to improve your leadership capacity or be oblivious to something that you really need to know about in the organization.

Strategy Development Tips

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:19:18 +0000

I am just getting back from London after facilitating a three-day strategy session with one of my client’s Board. Thankfully, it was an exceptional meeting and the seemingly large amount of work and tough decisions that had to be tackled were completed well, even with an element of grace.

So today I wanted to reflect on what made the session go so well. The fact is that there were a lot or reasons including the quality of the Board members and much of the pre-work that went into the event. But beyond that I just want to share a few salient seemingly random items that really helped in the facilitation of the session.

First, we started off the meeting with a commitment to Shoshin, or what the Zen Buddhists refer to as the ‘Beginners Mind’ that is to say, a stripping of preconceived conceptions and positions to a true attitude of openness and eagerness to explore. This approach although sounding warm and fuzzy really opened up the intellectual pursuit of analyzing the market with fresh eyes and being open to the solutions that would help the organization embrace the new territories ahead.. This was critical as so many times executives think they are innovative or charting a new course when all they are really doing is rearranging things or putting band-aids on top of band-aids never questioning the paradigm in which they are operating.

This openness helped the group have better dialogue and robust conversations. And although we used a variety of tools and models to help process the multitude of information, I also observed as key was that the tools were secondary to the quality of the conversation and analysis. Strategy-making teams often turn the SWOT analysis or the Hedgehog model into ends in themselves as opposed to tools of focus and evaluation.

And I cannot forget a small item that had significant impact on the quality of the retreat. It is something that comes up a lot these days. How many times in conversations do you hear “it is just a matter of semantics?” This is especially true when it comes to people’s definitions of terms like Mission and Vision. It can get really confusing with terms such as Strategy, Strategic Plan, Strategic Imperatives, Strategic Direction, Strategic Objectives, Strategic enter word of your choice here. So in a preemptive move we came to agreement on what those terms meant to this team. This helped to shed the many wasteful conversations than would have been had. In addition to the definitions we were very clear about what the horizon line was for each term, i.e. 1 year, 2.5 years or 10 years and beyond. This activity anchored the fruitful conversations to come.

After all was said and done with the new strategic imperatives, we had actually one more question to ask that would help us uncover the glue that was needed for the execution: “Where is the hope and excitement in this plan?” It is very important to grasp this and build it into the works. Without answering this question, the organizational execution becomes harder as there must be a compelling reason for the follow through.

Brand and Strategy

Become a Problem Solver to Your Boss, Not a Problem Bringer

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:08:55 +0000

Not that long ago I was coaching a Vice President that was really struggling with her relationship with the CEO of the company. On the surface it was hard to see what was at the core of the problem. The VP was smart, a hard worker, and eager to please the CEO by producing great results. She also had a very likable personality that seemed to compliment the personality of the CEO.

But there was tension mounting and the CEO was getting impatient with the VP. Even when I had discussions with him he seemed to be losing faith with this person. I was a bit perplexed. When speaking with the CEO I found that he couldn’t quite articulate his frustrations.

But taking a deeper look into the situation it became obvious as to what was at the heart of the matter. The VP, in an effort to support and inform the CEO, was actually bringing more stress and work to him. You see, she kept on identifying challenges and opportunities in the organization, that if embraced would have positive significant impact on the company. It was her intention to include the CEO in the new revelations and possibilities. She wanted to ensure that he was informed so she came to him with these areas of improvement or with great ideas that could really help the performance of the company. Overall she was showing deference to his role by bringing this first to his attention without making any decisions without him.

But here was the problem. The CEO, just like any other manager in work place today, carries the weigh of the world on their shoulders. (CEO’s in some ways feel it more as the success of the company ultimately lies with them.) Leaders are juggling many balls and just like this VP, probably does not have enough time during the day to do everything that needs to be done is the best manner possible. So when the VP was coming to the CEO with these great ideas, the CEO probably did not hear “I have identified an item that if we take it on will produce great benefits but I did not want to make a move without your insights and permission.” Most likely the CEO heard, “Here, I have another problem for you to solve and add to you 70 juggling balls.”

You have probably worked with a manager that has told you to “Come to me with solutions not just problems.” And I do think that this is a good start. It doesn’t take that much talent to point out problems but it does take talent to generate solutions. But of course you have to balance this approach with the reality that you should not make significant decisions without your manager’s blessing, in this case it was the CEO’s blessing. The correct method then is more thoughtful than an either-or approach. You probably should not be deciding willy-nilly on things nor should you be afraid to make any moves without your manager’s approval. If that was the case your manager probably would not need you in that position.

So you must first then determine ahead of time what decisions you will make unilaterally and what decisions you will make in concert with your manager. Generally, decisions that impact a large scope of the business will probably need to be discussed with your boss. And in regards to this situation we are speaking about where you find an opportunity or identify a barrier to success, it most likely requires a discussion with your manager. But it is how you bring the issue to your manager that matters. I would recommend you bring it to him or her well framed, thought through, with a variety of solutions with the one you recommend and why you came to this conclusion. Done well, you are not bringing another problem to be solved but rather you are bringing a solution to the manager that solves a problem for them. Do you see how valuable of a resource you become if you approach the situation like this? In the example today the VP became a solutions provider and problem solver to the CEO by bringing easy to grasp analysis and recommendations for his review. Soon again she became a well trusted resource and influential leader in the organization.

Brand and Strategy

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:19:45 +0000

Over the past ten years much of my work has focused on developing and executing strategy. It has been intense as those years have spanned the best in economic times and now the most challenging.

During this time it has seemed like the much of the chatter at the strategy retreats, visioning sessions and business planning meetings has focused on Brand. And as I reflect on this the idea I realize that talk of Brand, Branding, Brand Strength has reached a fever pitch. Non-business types talk about Brand, contenders on the Celebrity Apprentice speak about Brand consistency and relevance and even my 70 year old mother and retired school administrative assistant has used the term. There has been on onslaught of new books on the subject and sports and entertainment celebrities hire teams to develop their personal Brand. I myself made sure I got educated and became a relative expert on the subject to best serve my clients. And I think this is a good thing as Brand is so very important to every organization.

But I do propose that there has been a good number of companies and people who potentially became too myopic on the Brand conversation and neglected equally important aspects of the business including contingency planning for a downturn, talent management and plain old business planning. Some organizations even neglected the personal one-on-one relationship building with clients. This has been especially true with B2B companies. I believe that there was a ‘relaxing’ of effort in building strong personal relationships because there was so much focus on Brand and maybe even a hope that the Brand reputation was substitute or create a virtual relationship with the client. Which of course it does not.

Now, hear me clearly, I am a huge believer in Brand and it is critically important to organizations! I live it, I teach it, and I consult about it. However, Brand is not sufficient in itself and must be complimented by the other business disciplines especially building personal relationships. In order for businesses to be successful in this highly competitive world market place they must put effort and expertise in all areas of the business disciplines.

Strategy Development Tips

Denisoff Consulting Group

Keep Your Employees Engaged During the Economic Downturn

Other Posts

“Let me know what you think, but think before you let me know.”

Other Posts

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 4: Reaching Out

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Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 3: The 360 Feedback Report

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Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 2

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Guest Blogged on Carol Roth—How To Motivate Employees

Related Posts

Getting Feedback for Leaders Part 1

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Strategy Development Tips

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Become a Problem Solver to Your Boss, Not a Problem Bringer

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Brand and Strategy

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