Of course not every business has a great year, every year. The reality of growth is that is rarely a nice straight line. So when things aren't going as well as you expected, what are the things that really matter?
It’s getting closer to Christmas, your family is organising the traditional get together, your social calendar is full, but perhaps your mind keeps coming back to the latest cash-flow forecast. You know the feeling when the outlook doesn't look as bright, and the numbers aren't healthy. That bloody Christmas cheer just seems to be mocking you! The first thing to remember is that things always seem to work out for you. However, it can be helpful to be deliberate about where to focus your attention, and your people and your brand are, ultimately, what really matters. Your People When working within a great work culture, people have a knack of banding together when things are tough, particularly your best people. When we feel appreciated for what we do, when we’re given the autonomy (trust) to do our best, and when we feel supported, we pay that back tenfold. We’ve heard people say that your people are your best asset. We know what people mean when they say that, but we are very uncomfortable about calling people an asset because an asset is just a financial instrument; something of value that you own. When business gets a little tougher, this thinking can lead managers astray. Unfortunately, when business gets tough, some managers – and we’ve seen it happen – panic and look at their employees as a cost to be managed. To the employees, it looks and feels like they're being blamed. These managers become aggressive if someone leaves, yet they instruct their people to inform on their colleagues if they’re not happy or they’re unproductive, and they look for opportunities to cut "head count" in a 'me versus them' response. This approach always results in the best people leaving first, as the workplace becomes a toxic environment. In fact, the people who stay are those who are prepared to undermine their colleagues and facilitate the toxic culture for fear of losing their job. This is not the workplace that encourages willing contribution, ownership thinking, or a collaborative approach to business challenges. It is a spiral downwards, to stagnant growth and entrapment by financial pressures that never seem to go away. Yuk. Is there a better way? The most effective leaders, really appreciate that they do not, in any way, shape, or form, own their employees. Those leaders acknowledge that their people, particularly the best people, can choose to stay or choose to go. Those leaders therefore choose to engage their people in the challenge, and seek their ideas and suggestions for business improvement. They see employment as a relationship first and a contract second, and it changes how they approach challenging situations. It’s very good business sense to understand what drives willing and inspired contribution. Getting to know and apply the principles of engaging leadership, allows your people to support you in the best way, especially when times become tough. They’ll have your back if they feel you have theirs, and vice-versa. We only need to look at the approach employed by the US company, Southwest Airlines during the GFC in 2008. Many airlines were facing bankruptcy and most adopted the mindset of employees being a cost to be managed. Southwest adopted a different strategy; of putting their people first. They continued to pay their people well, and they built on their reputation for fostering employee commitment. They increased communications to get feedback from their people about how the company could improve, and set about implementing many of the suggestions. This strategy lead Southwest Airlines to increased productivity and employee retention. It created stronger brand identification as relaxed and fun, and passengers were attracted to them by their business culture. They didn't just survive, they thrived. Your Brand We could very easily just say “refer to 1 above", as your people, your business culture, and your brand, are so entwined. Your brand is not just what you say it is, it’s not just what your logo looks like, and it’s not just your tag line. Your brand is actually what happens when people interact with your business, especially if you are in a service business. Oh wait, aren't all businesses service businesses? Your brand is how people feel when they interact with your team. Your people are what make the difference between success and failure, because they, and you, are the ones who will deliver your brand. Therefore, when times are tough, it’s more important than ever before to encourage inspired contribution. The H Factor was built on this belief: We believe that everyone has the right, and innate capability, to create the extraordinary. We’re all about helping you and your team create a resilient business culture that enables your business to thrive.
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We've talked before about how many HR processes are broken, and we've seen technology companies now come and put many of those broken processes into online systems. This isn't new, large corporate organisations have been using expensive software systems for many years now.
So, who is questioning whether the process actually produces desirable outcomes? It's one thing to bring increased automation and more efficient data collection to a business process, but what if that business process is flawed in the first place and actually creates disengagement, fuels employee turnover, and results in inconsistent leadership approaches in the organisation that employ it? That's the problem with a lot of HR technology, and the annual performance appraisal is a classic example. The email from HR advising that the yearly performance review is due has been sent to everyone! Sullen faces glance around the office, knowing looks are shared as the realisation hits that we’ve all received this notice at the same time. Yes, we’ve all read the blunt words from HR stating “here’s the link to your on-line form where you can rate yourself from 1 to 5 in each category. Once you’ve completed the form, notification will be sent to your supervisor and he/she will then complete their rating of your performance”. Oh joy - not! We’re all now picturing how that conversation is likely to go; we’re remembering the last time when we wasted hours debating the difference between being rated a 3 instead of a 4 and left feeling exhausted, un-appreciated, and wondering why we’re still here. Worse we know our manager will never rate anyone a 5, but the other managers are more generous in their rating approach. This is the perfect example of the tech driving the process instead of any desired outcome. Ticking boxes and scoring is never going to replace a powerful, engaging conversation. Then there's recruitment, where technology companies have just taken an antiquated and broken HR process, put it on-line, and monetised the job advertising platform. Basically people either put their existing CV into an online platform to more easily apply for jobs, or they have to go to a company website to upload the same data from their CV into the companies template. Great, the techies have taken the postal service out of the process, but the rest of the employee selection process looks exactly the same as it did when H Agent 002 had hair (and that's quite a long time ago)! These systems have done little to really help businesses get the best candidates and absolutely nothing to help great candidates stand out. The process is still based on the notion that the aim in recruitment is about dismissing unsuitable candidates, when actually great candidates are hard to get, so the recruitment process would be far more valuable to businesses if it could act as the organisation’s magnet to attract the best candidates to join them. We believe that technology should be used as a tool to effectively assist businesses with their systems; including their HR systems. We need to review the process though, and those systems need to be based on natural human behaviours and engagement, rather than based purely on compliance, an adversarial view of the employment relationship, and discouraging meaningful interactions between people. Of course business systems should also be affordable. It was with this philosophy in mind that we developed and built the on-line H Factor system. We researched the best practices in employee engagement, motivation, and team leadership. We spent the time to look into the things that actually determine how well people can perform at work. We then developed a process based on those best practices and systemised it in an online tool so that HR can genuinely add value to the organisations that implement it. The H Factor provides:
Especially in small businesses, we know that inefficient and ineffective business processes are a huge drain on resources and energy. Rather than making a broken process more efficient and therefore making it even less effective, we decided to review the process and build a system that would genuinely help businesses and the people in them. We know the irony of us emailing this, however we think there is an important issue that needs to be addressed in nearly every workplace.
Change Agents, we need to initiate a chat in our workplaces about email. It has become the most over-used form of communication and it is to the detriment of our productivity and working relationships. We get emails from our colleagues, our clients, our suppliers, and even our workplace systems. We send emails about losing our stapler, important client meetings, big company announcements, and project updates. They all go into our inbox as though they are equal. All emails are equal, but some are more equal than others. It really is like Animal Farm as we try to organise, prioritise, and keep up with the constant bombardment and move from one email distraction to the next. It would be possible for many of us to work entirely from our inbox for the whole day. Some people may even go home after their day in their inbox actually believing they have achieved something. Some people even think they have done something, because they sent an email about it. Email is the lazy communicators best friend, and we have all fallen into the laziness trap from time-to-time. We may fall into the trap when we email rather than pick up the phone, when we send a group email rather than organise a meeting, when we email because we are not prepared to listen, or especially when we email because we are scared to have the face to face conversation. They're not funky, trendy, or hip like the latest technology, but our ears and mouth remain the best apps for human-to-human communication. Let's call it the 'human' app. We can even incorporate our eyes into the 'human' app as well, and then we add a whole level of 3D communication that email can't come remotely close to in terms of effectively sending and receiving complex messages. There are some important things we should consider before we choose our method of communication:
Email is a great tool when:
So that's the good part of email. Of course, sometimes email is useful beyond these situations, but if email has become your go-to method for most of your communication with your colleagues then you may be in danger of falling into the lazy communicator trap. 7 Signs that you have definitely fallen into the lazy communicator trap with your colleagues are when:
Email has the advantage of being instant, but it is very difficult to communicate the nuance of emotion in writing, and because it is instant, it can be sent and received right at the emotional peak, when we are most likely not our best selves. As other tools are coming into our workplaces to complement our email systems, such as instant messaging and group chats, then it is important that we don't let these bad habits just migrate to the new platforms. Setting and documenting the standards in team communication is an important part of establishing a productive workplace culture. We help our clients develop their communications policies and provide team training on how and when to use the various approaches (including email, instant messaging, face-to-face conversation, team meetings, and social media) in team communication. Finally, please remember that you can avoid adding to the email scourge. If you receive an email where the response would be better handled by phone or face to face conversation, then don't hit reply. Remember the 'human' app. Start the conversation, build the relationship, and demonstrate the value of effective voice communication. Work’s starting to go into Christmas mode, the party invites are flooding in, and you’re having thoughts of next year. People are feeling buoyed, they’re planning social events, and they’re thinking of their holidays.
What better time of year for planning?! When your people are riding high on the festive season, why not take advantage of that high and the usual lull in activity and plan a strategy getaway. December or January? Well probably January is best; people have a feeling of renewal, so that’s probably a good time to talk about your business renewal as well. Our recommendation would be to make an event of it. Why not get away from the office for a couple of days to somewhere nice, get your people focused on moving business forward, and at the same time it gives people the opportunity to connect with each other in a more social setting. So, how do you approach this? Well start your planning right now; don’t leave it any longer or it will likely fall between the cracks of too much food and drink in the coming weeks! SEVEN STEPS TO STRATEGIC PLANNING
It's wonderfully contagious, and it's highly addictive. We crave it. It is the feeling of inspiration. It creates energy, focus, and action. It builds resilience and determination. It encourages collaboration and teamwork. It generates invention, creativity, and learning. It ultimately creates that sense of achievement we all desire from our work. It is that moment you decided to start your business, when you decided that you were ready, and that it was time to take action. So imagine that moment instilled in your team, and it being their ongoing inspiration to grow your business with you. To do it, you have to ignore a lot of the things that you have read, experienced, or been advised about HR. In many larger organisations, the experience of working with HR is very much like the experience of working with purchasing or contracts management. The corporate approach to HR especially does not work in small businesses. Actually, we'd argue it doesn't work particularly well in large ones either. It's usually overly focused on reducing risk rather than nurturing inspiration. The corporate approach doesn't address any of the aspects of creating a great place to work. As a small business owner, especially with a small team where every person can have a big impact, it is far more helpful to have the emphasis on inspiring contribution, ownership thinking, and accountability. We're certainly not suggesting that risks should be ignored, just that it needs some perspective. Excessive focus on compliance with tasks and nurturing inspiration sit at opposite ends of a spectrum. It needs a balance, and when you get it wrong then accountability drifts too far towards the manager. The typical corporate HR could be described as the 'purchasing' approach. THE 'PURCHASING' APPROACH TO HR The HR function in most large organisations actually looks very similar to the contracts and purchasing function. Managers go to HR to source a 'resource'. HR find a bunch of candidates, some interviews are done, and someone is chosen. Then HR do up a contract and establish the rules for managing the 'resource' to ensure compliance with the contract. It's just like engaging a supplier, only without the purchase order. If you look closely though, the task-based job description is kind of the HR version of the purchase order. The performance review is the contract management part - making sure the 'resource' is complying with the contract specifications. So much for employee engagement and loyalty then, and any accountability by the 'resource' arising from this process is purely accidental. Why would they risk going 'above and beyond'? Focusing on compliance does not create accountability. It usually creates compliance to the bare minimum needed for people to keep their job. In so doing it leaves all of the accountability with you, the manager. When things don't go to plan it is you who will have to stand up, it is you that looks to take the corrective action, and it is you who is left to complete the tasks that needed to be done. People become 'resources' to be managed. There is nothing inspiring in this - for anyone! This process does not encourage invention, creativity, or learning. In fact, it may well discourage them because the person engaged in this process, who is being managed, is more likely to want to ensure they comply with the job description, even when they believe the tasks in it are not the best thing for the business. We've worked with a local manager in a large multi-national organisation who recognised this. He engaged us to help him build his team and instil an approach for nurturing their growth. The company's HR approach, based on compliance rather than relationships, was actually a barrier to achieving collaboration, teamwork, entrepreneurship, and accountability. A different approach is needed, and thankfully there is one. A relationship approach shifts the focus towards achievement and accountability.
The relationship approach starts with having mutual clarity of the outcomes that need to be achieved. Alignment takes place when the team members themselves can establish and agree the tasks that will deliver the desired outcomes. Accountability is the willing agreement between team members and managers on what achieving the outcomes will look like, and the participation in an ongoing and meaningful conversation about performance. Then the manager can give guidance as different situations arise and there can be a genuine dialogue based on a common desire to achieve the outcomes. When things don't go to plan, the manager can guide their team on the corrective actions. The team can accept the accountability as it has already been established and agreed on what performance will look like. This approach is more natural and effective than the purchasing approach. Especially as a small business owner, where the business is connected to their personality, this approach builds the relationships in the business that allow you to grow your brand. It is less time consuming, and enables more meaningful conversations with your team about their contribution to the business. It inspires. We built a system for instilling this HR approach. We created it because we saw the lost opportunity that occurs when small business apply the purchasing approach to building their teams. When small business owners are able to share their inspiration, it is contagious for their team. It is the foundation for ownership thinking and in creating the willingness for your people to put their own reputations on the line to help grow your business. |
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November 2021
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