Top Producer
By Joan Lloyd

Dear Joan:
I work in the HIM Dept. (Health Information Management, formerly known as medical records) in a hospital. Most of our employees, medical transcriptionists, work for salary plus incentive pay, and some work at home and some in the office.
I have an employee who is one of our top producers - quantity and quality-wise - but she also is the biggest distraction in our office. (read more...)

How to Present Formal Recognition That Makes Their Day!
By Cindy Ventrice

A director in a network marketing company competes for the President's Circle Award. After a year of hard work he wins. He is the top sales producer for his region! At the annual conference, the president of the company presents him with a plaque. When he returns to his seat and looks at the plaque, he discovers that his name has been misspelled. (read more...)

101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work: Tip #12
By John Putzier

GIMME THREE WORDS
Finding and recruiting the best and the brightest talent has become as much an art as a science. That's why you have to do more than just sell yourself and your company. This is especially true with entry level and younger recruits, who place great emphasis on the quality of their non-work life, their peers and other so-called intangibles. (read more...)

Top Producer (^ top)
By Joan Lloyd

Dear Joan:
I work in the HIM Dept. (Health Information Management, formerly known as medical records) in a hospital. Most of our employees, medical transcriptionists, work for salary plus incentive pay, and some work at home and some in the office.

I have an employee who is one of our top producers - quantity and quality-wise - but she also is the biggest distraction in our office. She is loud, constantly interrupts other workers, and has the attitude of being the office know-it-all. She has been talked to about her behavior but the behavior goes back to the same thing after a day or two.

She has even been offered a home position but turned it down. My co-supervisor is a personal friend of this employee and thinks the whole thing is funny and never disciplines this employee because "she is the best we have". This is frustrating because this troublesome employee plays this card with me. I have no recourse or support. How can I get my point across without losing this employee?

Answer:
Your situation illustrates why "co-supervisors" don't work. It's the same reason "50/50" partnerships are so problematic. No one has the ultimate authority to make a decision, so there is gridlock and frustration.

First of all, being a personal friend is a serious conflict of interest for your fellow supervisor. It is blinding her to the action that needs to be taken. In addition, she is setting herself up for charges of favoritism, or worse.

Secondly, while this employee's quality and quantity are good, it does not give her a free "Stay Out of Jail" card. If she is disrupting others and interfering with their productivity and morale, she is causing a problem and should be asked to curb her behavior.

You will not have any success confronting this behavior until your fellow supervisor supports you, and it's apparent that you aren't getting anywhere now. I recommend that you have an honest, heart-to-heart meeting with your fellow supervisor and spell out the damage this employee is causing.

Ask for her to support the actions you wish to take. Then talk to the employee with your co-supervisor present. The other supervisor doesn't have to say much but her presence will reinforce what you are telling the employee. Make it clear to the co-supervisor that if and when this employee attempts to test the expectations (and she will) that you will step in again, and begin to impose more restrictions on her.

Explain to the co-supervisor that you don't wish to involve your manager but unless this can be resolved between the two of you, you see no other alternative. She will probably think you are being too harsh on her friend. As a result, it's important to be ready with examples of how disruptive the employee has been, the complaints you have received, the negative interactions you have observed and the negative impact on productivity she has caused.

If you can't come up with examples of the things I've listed above, then you will have a weak argument and will probably not convince your co-supervisor to support your plan. In other words, make sure this situation warrants a discussion with this employee. If you overreact and confront a good employee about behavior that is minor, you will alienate her, as well as your fellow supervisor.

I would recommend only fighting the battles that are crucial. For example, if she wants to be the office "know-it-all," it will cause others to dislike her but it may not have much impact on their productivity. However, when it comes to talking loudly and constantly interrupting their work flow, you have a solid reason for wanting that behavior changed.

If your co-supervisor stone-walls you, go to your boss and explain what is taking place. Ask him or her to advise you about an approach to take. If your boss backs away from this conflict, it will be clear that you aren't going to get much support for this, or any other similar situation. In that case, I'd use my experience to apply for a different supervisory job-one that will be all yours.

How to Present Formal Recognition That Makes Their Day! (^ top)
By Cindy Ventrice

A director in a network marketing company competes for the President's Circle Award. After a year of hard work he wins. He is the top sales producer for his region! At the annual conference, the president of the company presents him with a plaque. When he returns to his seat and looks at the plaque, he discovers that his name has been misspelled.

When a woman's husband becomes top salesman, his company sends her a gigantic gift basket with a note of congratulations. What the company doesn't know is that the woman resents the many overtime hours with no days off that it has taken her husband to make top salesman. The fruit basket is a reminder of all the hours he has spent away from the family.

A manager of a Fortune 500 company is called into his VP's office where the VP yells at him for ten minutes straight. When the VP is finished and the manager is heading out the door, the VP says, "Oh by the way, here is your ten-year anniversary pin. Congratulations."

Employees have told me dozens of recognition horror stories. One of the lessons I have taken away from their stories is that formal recognition that makes someone's day requires preparation, planning, and the best intentions.

At some point, you will probably be called upon to present formal recognition: a service, peer-nominated, or performance award. Assuming that you think recognition is important and that you would never tag it on as an afterthought, what can you do to make the award meaningful and memorable?

Do your homework
A formal award presentation requires some research. At the most fundamental level, if you don't know how to spell or pronounce the recipient's name, you will ruin any recognition value the award has. To make an award really meaningful, you have to dig a little deeper and answer a few key questions. What do you know about the employee? Can you describe why they are receiving the award? Can you provide details that will give the award substance?

Consider what they value
Many times the award is pre-selected. If you have some say in the selection make sure the award is something the employee will value. An overworked employee whose family time has been compromised for the past few months would probably prefer an afternoon off and a gift certificate for a family dinner rather than a giant fruit basket.

Tell a great story
People love to hear a great story. A public award ceremony is the perfect venue for spinning a yarn with the recipient as the hero. Talk about the significance of the award and the values it represents. Tell how the recipient embodies those values. Is there a story behind how the recipient was chosen? Can anyone else add to the telling of the story? Whenever possible create drama.

Years ago I received an award. I didn't know ahead of time that I had been selected. The person making the presentation began by reading the criteria for the award; consistent concern for customers, high level of product knowledge, and a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure excellence in customer service. Then, she read a lengthy client quote. At one point the quote became so specific I recognized the client and realized I was the winner. It was a very special moment.

Fifteen years later the award still has significance for me. I know what the company valued and know someone put a considerable amount of effort into verifying that I had met their standards. The finely crafted presentation made the award meaningful.

101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work: Tip #12 (^ top)
By John Putzier

GIMME THREE WORDS
Finding and recruiting the best and the brightest talent has become as much an art as a science. That's why you have to do more than just sell yourself and your company. This is especially true with entry level and younger recruits, who place great emphasis on the quality of their non-work life, their peers and other so-called intangibles.

One of the first things a company should do before developing a mission statement, guiding principles or core values statement is to poll its people. You may want to believe that yours is a progressive, trusting, caring and responsive organization, but writing it down in a document doesn't make it so. Find out first.

You need not create a long, sophisticated survey. Just ask everyone to write down three words that would describe whatever it is you are trying to define, such as your culture, your core values, your human resource philosophy, your management style, and so on. In fact, by limiting their responses to only three words, it forces people to prioritize and identify the most prevalent and powerful descriptors.

For example, in one of my programs about how to attract and retain high-performers, I ask attendees to write down three words that describe their recruitment process from the perspective of the person being recruited. Some of the words I have heard are slow, structured, inflexible, bureaucratic, difficult, and so on.

Then I ask them if these are the kinds of words they would like people to use to describe their organization's culture, and the answer is obviously "No!" Good or bad, your recruitment process communicates your culture to outsiders; and if it is slow, overly-structured, inflexible and bureaucratic, they are going to assume that your company is also slow, overly-structured, inflexible and bureaucratic and you are not going to attract people who prefer to function in an entrepreneurial or high-performance environment.

Once you have compiled all of the lists of descriptors, look for the most commonly repeated words and look for common themes. This will tell you what the "shared values" are in your organization. Then, share them with everyone. The good and the bad.

A large, Fortune 100 former employer of mine conducted a similar perception survey, and the #1 overriding value expressed was integrity. Everyone knew it and felt it, but few people knew that everyone else knew it and felt it. Once this common response was shared with everyone, it served to reinforce everyone's pride and confidence in working for a company with a culture of integrity, and even became a tagline for the corporate logo.

The results from this simple perception survey can be used in numerous ways, including a shared values statement, development of new initiatives for change, and even as an orientation tool for new employees. In a small group setting, it can be the basis for further discussions and to identify strengths and weaknesses as part of a strategic planning effort. In any event, whether you do it in writing, which allows for anonymity, or in a workshop setting, which sparks discussion, it is a wonderfully simple yet powerful exercise.

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