Don't Forget The Thanks

By Bob Nelson

Your employees are stressed.  In fact, recent surveys suggest that many of them consider their job either "very" or "extremely" stressful. And 25% cite it as the Number One stressor in their lives today (National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health).
(read more...)

To Help Others Develop, Start With Yourself
Great leaders encourage leadership development by openly developing themselves

By Marshall Goldsmith

Listen to what General Mills CEO Steve Sanger recently told 90 of his colleagues: "As you all know, last year my team told me that I needed to do a better job of coaching my direct reports. I just reviewed my 360-degree feedback. (read more...)

Kicks: Get Some
All work and No Play Will Chase Your Talent Away

By Bev Kaye

What’s your philosophy about fun at work? Do you believe in it? Have it? Support it? Make it happen? Discourage it? Check out your own beliefs and assumptions about fun at work. Then consider the possibility of creating and supporting kicks in the workplace as one way to keep your best people.(read more...)

Don't Forget The Thanks (^ top)

By Bob Nelson

Your employees are stressed.  In fact, recent surveys suggest that many of them consider their job either "very" or "extremely" stressful. And 25% cite it as the Number One stressor in their lives today (National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health).

Add to this stress the fact that traditional incentives (such as salary increases) are down, and other benefits such as 401K plans and healthcare coverage are being diminished --- and it’s no wonder employees feel somewhat or completely dissatisfied with their jobs today. What’s the result? An amazing 83% of employees indicate they plan to look for a new job as the economy improves (Society for Human Resource Management), including 32% of "top performing" employees (USA Today/Sibson Consulting).

No organization can afford to lose its top performers, but what can you do to keep them as times improve?  Better yet, what can you do to help focus and motivate the efforts of your employees in ways that help create the focused success you're after?  Surprisingly, quite a lot.

It's Never Too Late to Start Treating Employees Right

The irony of the undercurrent of stress and distress in the workplace today is it doesn't take that much to make a difference with your employees --- that is, to show you care about them. Thanking them for their efforts is a start. Being open and honest about your relationship and hopes for the future would be nice as well. Asking them how you can help them be more successful in their job might also surprise them, as would the question "Do you have any ideas for how things could be improved around here?"

In other words, be real. Be honest. And be open. Give them information they need to better do their job, involve them in decisions -- especially those that affect them, and identify ways to help them learn and grow in their current position. Consider giving them more autonomy and flexibility in their working hours. And if you do ask their opinion, be receptive. Remember, an open door policy doesn't do much for a closed mind.

Granted, if you've been Attila the Hun over the last few years, most employees aren't going to forget and forgive that easily. But in the end everyone wants to work in a job they can be excited about, making a contribution and being part of something larger than themselves. So they very well might welcome your efforts and give you and the job yet another chance.

To Help Others Develop, Start with Yourself (^ top)
Great leaders encourage leadership development by openly developing themselves.

By Marshall Goldsmith
From: FastCompany, Issue 80, Page 100


Listen to what General Mills CEO Steve Sanger recently told 90 of his colleagues: "As you all know, last year my team told me that I needed to do a better job of coaching my direct reports. I just reviewed my 360-degree feedback. I have been working on becoming a better coach for the past year or so. I'm still not doing quite as well as I want, but I'm getting a lot better. My coworkers have been helping me improve. Another thing that I feel good about is the fact that my scores on 'effectively responds to feedback' are so high this year."

While listening to Steve speak so openly to coworkers about his efforts to develop himself as a leader, I realized how much the world has changed. Twenty years ago, few CEOs received feedback from their colleagues. Even fewer candidly discussed that feedback and their personal developmental plans. Today, many of the world's most respected chief executives are setting a positive example by opening up, striving continually to develop themselves as leaders. In fact, organizations that do the best job of cranking out leaders tend to have CEOs like Steve Sanger who are directly and actively involved in leadership development. That has certainly been my experience. This has also been confirmed by a recently completed research project led by Marc Effron at Hewitt Associates, one of the largest HR consulting firms. Hewitt and Chief Executive magazine put General Mills on their latest list of the top-20 companies for leaders, among such familiar names as IBM and General Electric.

Hewitt found that these organizations tend to more actively manage their talent. They put lots of focus on identifying high-potential people, better differentiate compensation, serve up the right kinds of development opportunities, and closely watch turnover. But crucial to all these efforts were CEO support and involvement.

No question, one of the best ways top executives can get their leaders to improve is to work on improving themselves. Leading by example can mean a lot more than leading by public-relations hype.

Michael Dell, whose company made the Hewitt list, is a perfect example. As one of the most successful leaders in business history, he could easily have an attitude that says, "I am Michael Dell and you aren't! I don't really need to work on developing myself." Michael, however, has the opposite approach. He has done an amazing job of sincerely discussing his personal challenges with leaders across the company. He is a living case study from whom everyone at Dell is learning. His leadership example makes it hard for any leader to act arrogant or to communicate that he or she has nothing to improve upon.

Johnson & Johnson, tied for first on the top-20 list, has successfully involved its executives in leadership development. Its CEOs, formerly Ralph Larsen and now Bill Weldon, and top executive team regularly participate in a variety of leadership-building activities. Having a dialogue with the CEO about his business challenges and developmental needs makes it a lot easier for employees to discuss their own business challenges and developmental needs.

Executive candor can even help turn around a troubled company. Consider Northrop Grumman, the aerospace defense contractor. CEO Kent Kresa inherited a company that had a poor reputation for integrity, a battered stock price, and an unfortunate reputation as one of the least-admired companies in its industry. His leadership team reversed the company's poor image and engineered an amazing turnaround – ultimately becoming the Forbes’ most-admired company. From the beginning of the process, Kent led by example. He communicated clear expectations for ethics, values, and behavior. He made sure that he was evaluated by the same standards that he set for everyone else. He consistently reached out to coworkers. He didn't just work to develop his leaders--he created an environment in which the company's leaders were working to develop him.

Unfortunately, in the same way that CEO support and involvement can help companies nurture leaders, CEO arrogance can have the opposite effect. When the boss acts like a little god and tells everyone else they need to improve, that behavior can be copied at every level of management. Every level then points out how the level below it needs to change. The end result: No one gets much better.

The principle of leadership development by personal example doesn't apply just to CEOs. It applies to all levels of management. All good leaders want their people to grow and develop on the job. Who knows? If we work hard to improve ourselves, we might even encourage the people around us to do the same thing.

Marshall Goldsmith (Marshall@MarshallGoldsmith.com ) is corporate America's preeminent executive coach and founder of Marshall Goldsmith Partners.

Copyright © 2004 Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing. All rights reserved.
Fast Company, 375 Lexington Avenue., New York , NY 10017

Kicks: Get Some (^ top)
All work and No Play Will Chase Your Talent Away

By: Bev Kaye

What’s your philosophy about fun at work? Do you believe in it? Have it? Support it? Make it happen? Discourage it? Check out your own beliefs and assumptions about fun at work. Then consider the possibility of creating and supporting kicks in the workplace as one way to keep your best people.

Myths That Create a Fun-Free Zone

Unfortunately the workplace is a “fun-free” zone in many organizations. In a study of the emerging workforce, workers graded their bosses on the degree to which they supported or allowed fun at work. The average grade was a measly C+. If you’re one of those C+ bosses, why is that? Some of your concerns may be based on one or more fun myths about kicks in the workplace.

Check which of these myths you tend to believe in:

Myth #1 – Professionalism and fun are incompatible.

Myth #2 – You need toys and money to have fun.

Myth #3 – Fun means laughter.

Myth #4 – You have to plan for fun.

Myth #5 – Fun time at work will compromise our results.

Now, think back to the last time you had fun at work. Where, when, how did it happen? Your own experience with fun can no doubt help debunk the fun myths.

Debunking the Fun Myths

Myth #1 – Professionalism and fun are incompatible.

Most concerns about having fun in a serious workplace are actually concerns about inappropriate humor, loud behavior, or poor timing. If your employees’ timing is off or their behavior is embarrassing or disruptive, give them feedback, just as you would about any other of their behaviors. There are many appropriate ways to get some kicks in even the most buttoned-up workplace.

Myth #2 – You need toys and money to have fun.

Some of the most fun times at work involve neither toys nor money. Consider these examples that others shared with us:

“ I simply liked the day-to-day laughter -- mostly about small things.”

“We decorated my boss’s office for his birthday. We used five bags of confetti from the shredding machine.”

“I enjoy verbal sparring with my brainy, funny colleagues.”

“Our team had a huge project, a tight deadline and we had to work all night. I wouldn’t want to do that often, but we had a good time -- even laughs in the middle of the night -- and a thrill when we finished the project.”

Myth #3 – Fun means laughter.

While fun often involves smiles and laughter, people can have fun at work without laughing or getting silly. An intriguing project and collaboration with wonderful teammates can truly be fun. Work that is meaningful and makes a difference can be fun. Building something new can be fun.

Myth #4 – You have to plan for fun.

Planned fun makes sense sometimes. The employee softball team requires planning, as does an occasional employee picnic or the annual holiday party. But a lot of fun in the workplace just happens. It is spontaneous and unplanned.

Myth #5 – Fun time at work will compromise our results.

Research verifies that fun-loving environments are actually more productive than their humor-free counterparts. A break, complete with laughter, can re-energize your employees and ready them for the next concentrated effort. The secret to allowing fun at work is to be crystal clear with your employees about their performance goals. Co-create those goals with your employees and make them measurable and specific.

To Do

• Let fun happen. Don’t squelch it.
• Support your employees’ efforts to create some kicks for themselves --- yes, even during work!
• Help fun to happen by getting involved and have fun with your employees. The fun will energize, motivate and keep them on your team!

*********************************************
JobDig provides eTreat every week as a free service to you.
Click here if you wish to unsubscribe. If you have comments or suggestions, please email: editor@jobdig.com