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I’m teaching myself how to program.  A colleague of mine, who has been programming for decades, comes over and asks me how it’s going.  I try to (naively) show off how much I’ve learned by demonstrating a script I wrote, which abruptly fails as soon as I run it.

“Hmm,” I say, and try to step through the code to see if I can catch what I did wrong.

My colleague immediately start throwing his hands on my screen and telling me I’ve probably made a mistake here, here and/or here.

“I know,” I admit. “That is why I’m trying to figure out where exactly I’ve made it.”

“WHY?” He yells. “Just type these characters after this line right here [hand in front of my face, on the screen]: ‘E’, ‘R’, ‘R’ –”

“Wait a second. Why am I doing this? What am I writing?”

“An error output code! Why would you possibly waste your time looking for the error when the script can just tell you what it is??” He was getting visibly agitated…

“Well,” I try naively to defend myself, “I want to test myself on whether or not I remember the syntax well enough to see the error by myself.”

“That’s stupid.”

“…Well then, I’m stupid.  …Was there something else you needed?”

Being an expert means that you are used to dealing with very complex issues, not silly ones.  That is why experts take all measures to fix those silly issues in as easy a manner as possible (so they can go back to focusing on the big ones).  As a result, they see other people’s focus on those small problems as a total waste of time (as it is, for them).  However, as a novice at something, trying to do things manually is sometimes the best way to learn, and relying on the easy way out is a last resort (for when deadlines are approaching and your solution is not…).

Therefore, experts/experienced professionals, don’t invalidate the learning process of the peons.  You may actually shortchange their progress.  Let us struggle a little bit with it, because if we struggle and come out on top, we’ll know immeasurably more about the problem and the system than had we just taken a cop out.

If you want to help, ask if you can be helpful first.  Some people may feel embarrassed about not understanding something and may not want to admit it or ask for advice (just yet.  If this is carrying on too long, kindly insist on helping).  Those who do will probably proactively approach you.

And, just so you know, just because we don’t (or can’t) do it your way initially, doesn’t mean we’re stupid.

Also, using that word to describe us makes us want to plan your eminent demise… so…

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Everyone pretty much agrees that there aren’t enough women leaders in the business world and there is a never-ending argument as to why.  Many companies, colleges, and organizations, in a well-meaning effort to attempt to resolve this problem, hold a fair number of “Women in Business” events each year.  The goal is to create a supportive and inclusive environment for women to discuss, open up, and share their struggles, tips and accomplishments.

Whenever I get an email to attend one of these events, I promptly delete it.  If any of the planners of these functions would actually ask any of the women who are the target of such events, we would resoundingly say in unison that we hate them and are actually a little embarrassed by them.

Why?

Women’s conferences only segregate women further

I thought the whole point was to make the business world indiscriminate — to say that women are no different or special or deserving of any extra attention than men.  Unfortunately, that is the very opposite of a what a Women in Business conference does.  It’s very existence says that women need their own separate event – to be segregated – because we’re different in some way.

One of the largest examples of this is the fact that the most widely-used discussion topic at women’s conferences are work-life balance.  Can you picture a man-only conference (if there are such things) discussing this? Probably not.  Though work-life balance is indeed a huge issue, it should be a huge issue for family women and men, but the fact that only women still discuss it unfortunately makes it a women-only problem.   Furthermore, it continues the stereotype and actually hinders women in getting a fair break in the workplace.  Most employers who are hesitant about hiring young women are hesitant for that particular reason – they expect that women won’t be able to work as long of hours or will have to quit unexpectedly in order to have a family.

Therefore, if you insist on holding women-only conferences, have them be about either common problems in a field of interest or dissemination of information critical to success in business.  The value is then that women can get access to the same information and participate in the same activities as men do, which would actually help level the playing field, but do it perhaps in a more welcoming environment.

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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.

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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.

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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.