Comments (0)

I’m not going to talk about how holding your employees back is “evil.” I’m only going to talk about how doing so is irrational, both for you and your firm.

So, why would any manager hold an employee back?  To come to their defense on this, many managers do it unconsciously.  Cultivating an employee’s career is actually a very active process.  You have to make sure he always has challenging work to do, that you praise him for jobs well done to bigger-wigs and that you give him constructive feedback when he does something wrong so that he can learn and grow from it.  By not caring about whether your employee is challenged, not acknowledging his contributions and achievements and simply letting mistakes slide, you’re holding him back even though you may not mean to.  That being said, there are unfortunately people who do it consciously.  Some managers do not want to shift good performers out of their chain of command because they want to be the ones who benefit from their work.  Some managers do not want to promote superstars because they are under the impression that by promoting people from beneath to the same level (or possibly above), they are putting their own position in jeopardy.

Whether you are holding a good employee back by accident or on purpose, it’s only a matter of time before this starts to back fire.  As a boss, you’re expected, both by your managers and subordinates, to be a mentor to those who work for you.  If an employee, after performing well on a consistent basis and taking active steps to make that known to you, sees that you aren’t showing concern over or are standing purposely in the way of her best interests, she will do one of three things.

1. Put up with the abuse but make sure everyone knows it. This is usually done by non-confrontational people.  Unless it gets really terrible, these employees will continue to perform (though not nearly as well as before) and continue to put up with your neglect just so they can say, “see, look what I have to deal with” or “my boss is worse than anyone’s.”  Obviously, you have no idea who could be on the receiving end of the complaining and even if it may not be someone with direct control over your job, your reputation will undoubtedly suffer.  Additionally, your firm is losing the potential maximum output of this employee.  If she feels like her good work is not getting rewarded (or is even being punished), she’s not going to be willing to continue it.  Therefore, both you and your firm lose.
2. Side-step you or go over your head to be noticed by someone else in the firm. This is usually done by people who cannot imagine continuing to work with their own boss but overall love and respect their company.  The first thing your boss will do when your employee comes to him and asks about “positions elsewhere” in the firm is ask her why she’s thinking about this and if she’s discussed this with you.  That will put her in an awkward position but ultimately signal to your boss that you’re the reason for the transfer.  That’s obviously not good for you.  The other possibility is she makes a new contact with another manager on your level and arranges a transfer.  This could potentially be good for the firm, but it’s still bad for you (because the transfer will again highlight that you could not take full advantage or give enough credit to a worthy employee).
3. Just leave.  This is usually done by employees who are either too fed up with everything to bother looking within the company or were simply unable to find alternate arrangements internally.  Your group will lose a great performer and your company will lose a valuable asset.  Lose, lose.

How to fix it:

First, assess yourself.   Do you actually have your employees’ best interests in mind?  If not, why?  Do you have control issues?  Are you afraid that by increasing someone else’s value you are decreasing your own?  If so, all these feelings lie with your own insecurity.  You need to understand that 9 times out of 10, you will be rewarded for consistently grooming and promoting top performers in the company.  GE’s rotational program became a hatchery for the company’s leadership team and it’s the primary reason the firm attracts so much young talent.

Second, make an effort to help.  You should be discussing your employees’ career goals on a regular basis.  Try to think about what you can do to develop your team at least once a week (once a day if your job allows).  If you can’t come up with helpful things you can do, ask your employees.  I’m sure they’d tell you to volunteer them for some project or give them certain type of work to do.   Regardless of whether your actions get them their desired promotions or career path changes, making an effort is half the battle.  Eventually, if you continue to work together to develop one another, both of you will win from the arrangement.

Comments (3)

Silicon Alley Insider today mentioned a Nielsen study about America’s TV watching habits across multiple platforms (TV sets, mobile phones, the web).  It was not that surprising to me to find that, in general, many of us watch way too much TV, but I can’t decide whether I’m surprised or not to learn that 44% of online video content is watched at work.  The more I repeat it to myself, the more I lean towards not surprised.  When you consider the daily amount of time that an average person spends at work as opposed to awake at home, I’m actually surprised the percentage is not higher.

It is curious to me, however, how employers will react to this statistic.  I have a number of friends who work for companies that either block content sites like YouTube or block all non-essential web usage (except for maybe an hour at lunch).  I understand the [flawed] logic in doing so: companies believe that blocking sites like YouTube will prevent employees from wasting company time surfing the web, keep them from being distracted,  and make them more productive.  However, anyone that has exchanged a series of 40 emails or 2 hours of instant messages with the employees of those firms can attest to the fact that blocking content will never accomplish those goals.

Why?  It’s because no matter what you do, people who do not want to work will find ways of distracting themselves (and usually others).   If it’s not YouTube, it’ll be cnn.com.  If not cnn.com, it’ll be a chain email.  If not an email, it’ll be office gossip.  If blocking content is how you aim to keep people motivated, you’re doing it wrong.

This brings me to another important point.  Blocking various degrees of the internet from your employees sends them a really bad message.  It says that you don’t trust them.  You don’t trust them to motivate themselves and to get their work done.  It says that you know better what they should and should not be doing during the work day.  This action of censorship is akin to parents implementing TV parental control.  Do you really want to treat your employees like children and do you think they’d respond well to being treated as such?

Additionally, just because people watch a couple of YouTube videos, doesn’t mean they’re slacking.  While it’s possible that some people may spend obscene amounts of time on these types of sites, most people will just watch one or two quick videos and return to work.  In fact, I would argue that getting a mental break from something you’ve been looking at for hours is actually a good thing and may make you more productive when you return to it.

However, if you feel the need to block YouTube, it’s probably a sign that you have much bigger problems:

• You have a problem with employee engagement.  Many people who watch YouTube clips at work do so for the sake of a brief intermission.  However, the people who spend extended time on the web do so either because the work is not engaging and they’re bored or because it’s frustrating and they don’t want to deal with it.  If it was absorbing and/or fluid, or your employees got a feeling of deep satisfaction in doing it, they wouldn’t need to find escape in the annals of the interwebs.  It is worthwhile to evaluate the work flow and responsibilities of employees that you believe to be doing the extensive web-surfing.  While it’s possible you will unearth that there are just slackers, it’s more likely that you’ll find something you can fix.
• You have a problem with time allocation.  It’s possible that you’re not keeping your employees busy enough.  I know from personal experience that when I have a ton of work to do, I unplug from everything (I don’t even return any emails that don’t say “URGENT” until what I have to finish is actually finished).  Extensive web browsing could be a sign that your employees are under-utilized.
• You have a problem with performance evaluation. For most positions that I can think of, it shouldn’t matter what you do as long as you get your work done, done on time, and done well.  Most of the time, you shouldn’t be evaluating an employee’s time management skills but their accomplishments (or lack thereof).  You should reprimand an under-performer for under-performing, not for watching YouTube.  Alternatively, then, does it matter whether other employees do some browsing during the day if they’re still able to perform and/or over-perform?  People generally browse the web during the day with full knowledge that it means they will have to stay later to finish their work.

Firms should therefore think hard before applying censorship.  There are amazingly successful companies out there that do not block anything and some that do.  Again, it’s important to not react to the TV-watching statistics in a moral way (“browsing during company time is BAD!”) but in a rational and analytical way.

Comments (0)

There are things that many of us have been raised to believe, one of which being that if you work hard, you will progress in your career.  Of course, those of us who have worked in the corporate world know that is usually no longer enough (women are especially guilty of this).  Yes, it’s important to work hard and work well but what good does it do if no one notices?  (If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?)

That is why working hard is only Step#1.  Step#2 is making sure it’s seen.  Some people, because of the nature of their jobs and positions, have less control over that than others.  Most people who feel like they are not being appropriately recognized for good performance are usually those with the kind of work higher-ups don’t regularly see.  I’ve already touched upon how important it is to not only stick to your predefined job specs, but I want to specify what kind of additional work you want to take on – the visible kind.

Some tips on getting yourself some visible work:

• Make sure that all your required work is done and done perfectly.  Your first priority should always be to complete the work you’ve been assigned.  That is what you’ll initially be judged on and it is a prerequisite for getting more or better work.  You need to be able to make sure that you can answer “Yes” to the question “Well, is your other stuff done?” that I will guarantee management will ask.  Not having those ducks in order will really hurt you in your advancement attempts otherwise.  It might seem as if you think you’re too good for the job you’ve been given and are just a ladder jumper.
• Start by offering to help your direct manager. Your boss has the power to either be your biggest cheerleader or your cruelest executioner.  Offering your services to your manager therefore accomplishes many things: it earns you his/her favor, it shows you to be a “team player” and always willing to help, and it definitely prevents backlash you’d get for “going over his/her head” if you were to skip your manager and go higher up in search of more work.
• Ask for macro projects that management has wanted to get done but has not been able to do due to capacity. The key word in that sentence is “macro.”  The results of big-picture projects are paid more attention to and are more visible to bigger wigs than nitty-gritty projects.  Therefore, do not volunteer to sort 3 years worth of sales data that will be used by someone else in a presentation you won’t be a part of, but definitely volunteer to analyze and present on which business units are the most profitable and why.  There are always at least one or two non-essential-but-would-be-great-to-accomplish projects managers have been asked to complete by their managers but for which they just have not had the time.  Again, though, make sure that you don’t become senior management’s data crunching monkey.

Frequently encountered problems and how to turn those obstacles into opportunities:

• You have too much work and therefore no capacity for taking on more.  This happens all too often, especially now when employees are doubling up on duties to absorb the personnel cutbacks caused by the economy.  There are 2 ways of possibly dealing with it.  First, if you’re able, stay an extra hour once in a while to get additional work done.  It sucks, but the payoffs may be worth it.  Second, it might be worthwhile for you to reassess your process and see if you can automate any of it to free up more time.  You can even use this as an opportunity to take on a project to make your functions more efficient, something management will most likely very much appreciate.
• Your manager is a work- and/or credit-hog and thereby never lets go of anything. Your manager is just as concerned about visibility as you are.  Unfortunately, there are still managers who do not realize that you are an extension of them (at work) and that having you do more sophisticated tasks makes them look better and frees them up to do even more advanced work.  If that is the case, and you’ve tried and failed at getting your manager to let go of meaningful work, it’s fair to go elsewhere.  I would start by asking other managers (perhaps in other departments) who are on the same level as your own manager.  Tell them you have capacity that cannot be utilized in your group and you’ve always wanted to learn about [insert what they do].  This automatically gains you visibility outside your group because that manager will know, even if he doesn’t have work for you now, that he should come to you when he needs help.
• All you’re given is more busy work.  You’re elated to hear that there are in fact 3 projects that your manager would love your help with.  Unfortunately, they all involve filtering accounting entries and dropping in some calculation columns.  Unless you’re obsessed with 3-line Excel formulas, this is definitely not what you want to be doing.  There are a couple of ways to handle this.  If you have a really strong and candid relationship with your manager, you can say that, honestly, you were hoping for something a little more challenging than what you’re currently doing.  However, most of the time, I’d say to do it once.  Just once.  Again, you want to come across as helpful and so if this is what really needs to be done, do it as a favor.  However, if you’re being given BS work again, it’s totally legit to say, “You know, I’ve already done something similar, Project X, and I would really love to do something more challenging.  I think I could add the most value to something that requires me to be more analytical.”  You earn credibility by saying this and management will see that, because you have helped them with not-so-fun projects in the past, you’re not just doing it for you (but not sucking up either).

I would love to hear peoples’ experiences with the process of trying to make themselves visible.  The above are just a few thoughts and I’m sure others have additional great advice.

Comments (0)

One area to which the “Golden Rule” does not apply is communication.  You should never talk with people the way you want to be talked with; you should always communicate with others the way they want to be communicated with.

Just like everyone has a different work style, everyone has a different method of communication with which he or she is most comfortable with.  Each of us has a method at which we’re most reachable by, are most responsive to and feel less awkward with.  Some people hate the facelessness of emails, some don’t have Twitter accounts, some would be more inclined to reach out to a stranger electronically, and some feel tongue-tied in person.  If you want to create or foster a positive relationship with people, it is important to address and deal with them via a method through which they feel they’re at their best.  If you approach someone out of his element, chances are they are not going to be willing to communicate with you, regardless of how useful that communication may be to both parties.

People make faux-pas along those lines all the time.

• Cold calling people who are selective call-returners
• Sending urgent emails to co-workers who don’t have smart phones (and who are not tied to their desks/computers).
• Texting friends who do not have text-messaging plans (and thereby forcing them to cough up $0.50 per text in addition to annoying them).  There are some good business communication tips here.
• “Dropping by” someplace where a senior manager might be to casually mention a proposal you’re working on
• Sending formal emails pointing out mistakes or misconducts to an employee who clearly told you to come to him if you had any issues with his work product

Each of those methods (cold calling , text messaging) are in and of themselves neither good nor bad.  However, when paired with the wrong person on the other end, they could be devastating to your relationships and your goals.  Cold calling someone who doesn’t return calls or pick up the phone will obviously not get you the sale.  Pointing out mistakes via email might give the recipient employee a sense of being a bit attacked as opposed to a desire to fix the errors and move on.

Just as you cater the content of your speech to the individual (hopefully), so you must cater the medium.  While it might be that the recipient’s preferred method of communication is not your preferred method, take it as an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and get comfortable with another medium.  Incidentally, that is how many shy people acquire their networking skills.

Comments (0)

There is a common misconception in many firms that you must provide your employees with training relevant only to their current position or function.  While, of course, you want to give your people all the tools they need to excel at their present role (because most of the time the benefit to you outweighs the cost of training), providing them only with current-role development may be shortsighted.

When you provide current-job-specific training, you are creating employees who are silos.  They may become expert in their current job but that will be all they know.  That being said, there are definitely industries and job roles in which this outcome is desired by parties on both sides of the table.  However, in most cases and in most industries, seeing only as far as your nose is a detriment.  To stay competitive and become successful in today’s business world, people have to be both expert in their field and well-rounded in their business as a whole (or alternatively have well-rounded knowledge of more than one field).  The Economic and Social Research Council in the UK has conducted many studies on the topic, and states in a results publication, “This research shows that although professionals, almost by definition, have a detailed knowledge of some specific field, they can only prosper in the modern world if they regard this knowledge as a basis on which to build, not a canonical body of wisdom that will last them for life.”

This is why beyond-present-role training becomes crucial.  However, you, the employer, should not look at providing such training as a favor to your employees.  The primary benefits still go to you:

• Employees who are well versed in more than one aspect of your business can provide more creative solutions.  Once they know how they fit into the bigger picture and they have a holistic understanding of what is important to your business as a whole, they will be more apt to make cost reduction, process acceleration and other suggestions.
• Employees who feel like you are helping develop their career are more likely to stay. In my experience, people will leave dead end jobs.  This is especially true for those with limited experience (such as recent college graduates) because they do not want to do the same thing for the rest of their lives.  Unless they have exposure to other business areas, they will not even be qualified to move within their current firm.  That’s why when you provide true career development training, employees feel like they are actually learning things that make them more valuable and hence are less likely to pass up that opportunity by going elsewhere.

Meaningful career development training can be horizontal or vertical.  Horizontal development means providing training to an employee that increases the breadth of his skills.  If you have a staff full of software engineers programming PHP and Apache, throw in a course of iPhone App development.  Yes, it’s going to be a great time for them, but you never know when your company is going to throw away the Blackberry in lieu of the iPhone and wouldn’t some developers who knew how to work it be useful then?  Development training, in this case, allows for longer term flexibility and responsiveness.  Vertical development means giving your accountants some training in investor relations or tax accounting, so that they can understand how their work impacts the end users.  Maybe one of those accountants, through this training, realizes he is, after all, a people person and is much better at talking to investors than crunching numbers.  Perhaps another will take on a project to revamp the accounting reports to make them more investor-friendly.  Both cases would improve the utilization of your employees’ talents.

Cost is always a concern.  Providing training to people who might soon leave is always a concern. However, as more and more learning happens after the classroom, job development is becoming almost an expectation (particularly in large firms).  There are alternatives to hiring expensive outside consultants to come teach.  A firm can pay for some credits at a local college, rotate people among departments or have employees shadow management for extended periods of time.  As for employees bailing, there are a billion reasons why they might.  With career development training, you can at least eliminate one.