Lack of motivation main cause for attrition

Published on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008

It has been noticed that most managers are good at their work – i.e., they consistently achieve their targets, supervise employees efficiently, assess performance and provide feedback as well as training opportunities.

Yet, alas they are still not able to motivate employees enough to stay with the organisation. Employee turnover is no laughing matter as losing high-performing talent leads to spiralling HR costs of hiring, training and placing candidates. Not to mention productivity losses galore. And the onus falls on the manager, as an old adage goes, “Employees don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses!”

Well, the heart of the matter is that only if a manager can engage his staff, will they be motivated to work harder, build commitment and be loyal. In short, they will no longer leave at the drop of the proverbial hat! But, actually motivating employees to stay is a tough proposition. Let’s take a look at some of the key factors that will aid retention:

Hire right – Effective retention begins with proper hiring policies. If you can select the right employees who will fit in with the job and company culture, they are more likely to stay.

Healthy relationship – Building a positive relationship with your subordinates is pivotal. For this, you should be fair, decisive, competent and respectful in your dealings with the staff. Make efforts to support them, solve their problems, build team spirit and earn their trust.

Personal equations - Take the time to sit down and individually talk to your employees. Get to know them by finding out what matters to them, what they like, value, need or lack and provide the same.

Open communication – Employees always want to know what is happening in the organisation and why. You should inform them about the ‘big picture’ visions, goals, strategies and developments. Meet regularly to provide crucial information and answer their questions. Also, be highly visible and accessible always – not just when there is a problem.

On the work front – Make it a point to provide meaningful work, challenging tasks and reachable goals and the employees will be hard-put to leave the job. You should display confidence in the abilities of your staff and delegate important tasks well. Along with this, also empower them with requisite responsibility, authority and autonomy.

Give employees clear direction and lucid reasoning for their work. Explain how their daily tasks are critical to the company’s operations and success. Providing adequate career development and growth opportunities will also make them less likely to leave.

Recognise – An efficient manager is one who takes the time and effort to recognise employees’ activities, efforts and accomplishments. Display consistency in both applauding and rewarding talent. Look for the positives and don’t let the smallest opportunity go by. Only when employees know that their hard work will be noticed and appreciated, will they be motivated enough to stay.

Employee involvement – Employees also want to feel involved in the processes and decisions of the company, especially those that affect their jobs. Soliciting their input and ideas will further involve them in the company activities.

Look within – Employee retention calls for leadership motivation, potential and integrity on your part. You should be able to meet the expectations and aspirations of your staff.

Also, be enthusiastic about your own job, only then will the infectious fervour spread to the employees. Above all, learn to treat your employees well and genuinely care about them. It is bound to show!

Apart from this, you can get employees hooked on to the job with above-average salaries, choice of attractive incentives, flexible work options and promoting work/life balance.

Last but not the least; always remember that different people want different things. Some employees may be motivated by money or benefits, some by recognition and rewards, still others by effective feedback or training opportunities.

The motivation is never the same. The trick is to understand what each individual wants and provide accordingly. If still unsure, the best thing you can do is ask employees outright and they will be more than willing to enlighten you!

PAYAL CHANANIA

Lack of motivation main cause for attrition

Published on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008

It has been noticed that most managers are good at their work – i.e., they consistently achieve their targets, supervise employees efficiently, assess performance and provide feedback as well as training opportunities.

Yet, alas they are still not able to motivate employees enough to stay with the organisation. Employee turnover is no laughing matter as losing high-performing talent leads to spiralling HR costs of hiring, training and placing candidates. Not to mention productivity losses galore. And the onus falls on the manager, as an old adage goes, “Employees don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses!”

Well, the heart of the matter is that only if a manager can engage his staff, will they be motivated to work harder, build commitment and be loyal. In short, they will no longer leave at the drop of the proverbial hat! But, actually motivating employees to stay is a tough proposition. Let’s take a look at some of the key factors that will aid retention:

Hire right – Effective retention begins with proper hiring policies. If you can select the right employees who will fit in with the job and company culture, they are more likely to stay.

Healthy relationship – Building a positive relationship with your subordinates is pivotal. For this, you should be fair, decisive, competent and respectful in your dealings with the staff. Make efforts to support them, solve their problems, build team spirit and earn their trust.

Personal equations - Take the time to sit down and individually talk to your employees. Get to know them by finding out what matters to them, what they like, value, need or lack and provide the same.

Open communication – Employees always want to know what is happening in the organisation and why. You should inform them about the ‘big picture’ visions, goals, strategies and developments. Meet regularly to provide crucial information and answer their questions. Also, be highly visible and accessible always – not just when there is a problem.

On the work front – Make it a point to provide meaningful work, challenging tasks and reachable goals and the employees will be hard-put to leave the job. You should display confidence in the abilities of your staff and delegate important tasks well. Along with this, also empower them with requisite responsibility, authority and autonomy.

Give employees clear direction and lucid reasoning for their work. Explain how their daily tasks are critical to the company’s operations and success. Providing adequate career development and growth opportunities will also make them less likely to leave.

Recognise – An efficient manager is one who takes the time and effort to recognise employees’ activities, efforts and accomplishments. Display consistency in both applauding and rewarding talent. Look for the positives and don’t let the smallest opportunity go by. Only when employees know that their hard work will be noticed and appreciated, will they be motivated enough to stay.

Employee involvement – Employees also want to feel involved in the processes and decisions of the company, especially those that affect their jobs. Soliciting their input and ideas will further involve them in the company activities.

Look within – Employee retention calls for leadership motivation, potential and integrity on your part. You should be able to meet the expectations and aspirations of your staff.

Also, be enthusiastic about your own job, only then will the infectious fervour spread to the employees. Above all, learn to treat your employees well and genuinely care about them. It is bound to show!

Apart from this, you can get employees hooked on to the job with above-average salaries, choice of attractive incentives, flexible work options and promoting work/life balance.

Last but not the least; always remember that different people want different things. Some employees may be motivated by money or benefits, some by recognition and rewards, still others by effective feedback or training opportunities.

The motivation is never the same. The trick is to understand what each individual wants and provide accordingly. If still unsure, the best thing you can do is ask employees outright and they will be more than willing to enlighten you!

PAYAL CHANANIA

Facilitate smooth transition when training your replacement

Published on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008

More often than not, companies ask departing employees to train their replacement before leaving. The knowledge transfer is a common practice so as to facilitate a seamless transition. Generally, your notice period will overlap with the new employee’s joining. This is the time when you can train him to take over your job.

Handing over the baton

Begin the process with a friendly and pleasant conversation. Ask questions to acquaint yourself with the new employee’s background, expertise and experience. Adopt a courteous and professional attitude as you go about showing him the ropes.

Be helpful and cooperative so that he can operate more effectively and succeed in the new job. Following is a list of the basic things that you should guide your replacement about:

• The company policy, procedures, rules

• Key responsibilities, authority, work standards to be maintained

• Documents to outline tasks that he will need to complete

• Directions on how to proceed with the projects that you were working on

• Employees he should report to, those who can guide him further

• Contact lists of vendors, customers

Apart from this, you should introduce him to co-workers, subordinates and superiors. Try to bring him up to speed by providing inside information that may not be crucial but is still relevant to getting the job done. This could be anything from team dynamics to even a particular manager’s leadership style.

Be patient and considerate as you explain procedures and break him into the job. Customise your training efforts based on his personality, current skill set and experience. Try to stretch his abilities by assigning small, educative tasks and provide feedback. You can even say that he can call you for further assistance or information after you have left the job.

In short, educate him about whatever he needs to know to be successful in the job. Do not hold anything back. As a top consultant highlights, “Employees should pass along everything they perceive as necessary for a ‘base capability’ to do the job. If you are unsure if something is important, it probably is!” Do pass along all possible helpful information, but be careful not to jeopardise your own reputation in the process.

There is a likelihood that you may feel insecure if your replacement is able to do ‘your’ job as well as you, if not better.

Do away with the hard feelings and never try to intentionally make it hard for him. Show that you are genuinely interested in helping him learn the ropes. You will be surprised, but the seemingly tedious process may actually become enjoyable!

On a different note

You may still be enthusiastic about training your replacement if you have been promoted, are voluntarily leaving for a better job or even retiring. Or, at times you may have to train a successor in keeping with the company’s succession plans. This replacement can fill in for you during emergencies and even be primed to assume your responsibilities as you move ahead in your career.

But what if you are leaving under adverse circumstances? Companies have been known to unceremoniously fire employees and then actually have the audacity to ask them to train the new employee. Some even threaten to hold back severance pay and other benefits to browbeat departing employees into acquiescing.

The anger and humiliation may tempt you to inadequately train or even mislead your replacement. But experts advise that it is better to make a clean break and walk away from the job immediately rather than play such petty games.

On the other hand, if you agree to do the needful, do not appear negative or bitter to the new employee. Nor should you taint his opinion by badmouthing the job, company, manager or anything else.

Do a good job of it so that you do not burn your bridges. The management may be impressed by your contribution and give you positive references/recommendations for the new job.

A note of caution- its time to watch your back if your manager asks you to train a replacement out of the blue. It’s a warning sign that you will soon be getting your walking papers!

PAYAL CHANANIA

Self-appraisals must lead to performance development

Published on Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008

Performance management has taken a new turn with self-appraisals. Here, employees evaluate their own performance, which forms the basis for their final assessment.This technique effectively balances out the managerial appraisal, apart from encouraging employee participation and commitment. But, self-reviews are also littered with pitfalls, as the questions do not always generate honest responses. Also, as Harold Fethe, an organisation consultant points out, “When sel f-assessments are compared with either supervisory assessments or peer assessments, research has not shown any straightforward correlations.” Therefore, it is vital to develop structured and consistent self-evaluation questionnaires.

To get reliable input

The first step is to decide the ‘competencies’ or ‘rating factors’ that will be used to evaluate performance. This is based on what the company values and how it decides who is doing a good job. Some sample competencies can range from problem solving, decision-making, teamwork and results, to even something as simple as ‘completes paperwork on time’. This will form the criteria that should be addressed in the appraisal questions. But, do ensure that the standards tie-in with the job description and what the employee actually does on the job!

You can either ask the staff to complete the same form as their managers (probably printed on a different coloured paper). Or, create a customised survey for self-assessment where the employees have to respond to isolated categories.

The questionnaire format will depend on the industry type, organisational structure, company culture and total number of employees. In big companies, you may also need to design separate forms for different clusters of employees based on their hierarchy/skill/education levels or designations/responsibilities.

The form should seek relevant information about:

• Perceived strengths/weaknesses, achievements, areas of greatest development potential

• Areas where the employee went wrong, has problems or requires improvement

• Areas in which greater experience/training/assistance is desired

• Aspects of the work that an employee likes/dislikes

• Additional projects/tasks an employee would like to work on

• Changes or suitable action that would help improve performance

• Immediate goals as well as long-term aspirations

• Other suggestions or recommendations

In addition to the above, self-appraisal forms can also ask about:

• Top job priorities, duties and responsibilities as the employee understands them

• Elements of the job that he finds interesting/difficult

• Factors that impacted his performance

• Tasks or projects that were not successful

• How supervisors/co-workers can help employee

The self-review can have a combination of open-ended questions and Yes/No or multiple-choice answers. Always provide the option of ‘Don’t know’ or ‘Refuse to answer’. It can also ask employees to rank certain factors as say, 1-5 or rate themselves as ‘Exceeds expectations’, ‘Meets expectations’ or ‘Below expectations’.

Supporting statements for various evaluations in the form of concrete illustrations and specific examples can be asked for. This will compel them to think carefully and can also catch out boasts or lies.

Industry experts suggest that the concerned manager should meet with the employee prior to the self-appraisal and guide him on how he should rate himself. They can even go over a sample form together to gain better clarity. This will help the employee to feel comfortable and not threatened by the evaluation.

You can also establish a due date for submitting the self-review, if needed. The methods of evaluation can be factor comparison, forced choice, distribution or weightage.

After asking the employees how they view their own performance and analysing the data, do follow-up by discussing suggestions, setting corresponding goals and working on them. For this you have to be open-minded, receptive and willing to work out a performance development plan.

Watch out

All said and done, managers should still keep in mind that all employees cannot remain objective and a bias is likely to creep in. They may either be unable to unflinchingly point out their mistakes or fear negative action. Then again, while many employees tend to inflate their own ratings, some may even be modest about their achievements or hesitate to take due credit. It is essential to compare employees’ personal perceptions of performance with results of evaluation by a superior.

Therefore, self-reviews have limited functionality and cannot be used as a standalone system of performance assessment. It serves as a starting point, which should be integrated, with other methods to arrive at a balanced evaluation.

PAYAL CHANANIA

Let not intimidation halt your conversation

Published on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008

Conversations happen on a daily basis – at home, in social settings and in the workplace. At work, you may be trying to make a point, share an idea, connect with a colleague, support your boss or educate an employee.

But, some manipulative individuals regularly mouth challenging words and offensive comments that create a tense atmosphere. At times, they even resort to blaming others needlessly or calling them names.

As expected, things go downhill from there. The bullying either intimidates others into agreement or simply shuts down the dialogue mid-way.

Think about it. Doesn’t it often happen that you are trying to communicate something, but you either don’t get heard at all or are constantly marginalised by one or two aggressive people?

It’s a fact that we tend to get defensive in the face of hostile attacks. Just one needling comment like, ‘You never told me that’ or ‘You didn’t give me the information I needed’ and we give in, become silent or simply leave.

But, such dysfunctional manipulations obviously interfere with real conversations and can get stifling after a while. After all, how long can you tolerate feeling stuck or belittled? The underlying resentment will emerge sooner or later, and can even destroy relationships.

Push right buttons

The key to keeping the dialogue moving is to first recognise the sly intentions and tactics. Understand that the aggression is only a calculated ploy to deflect/impede the conversation or to avoid giving a commitment.

You should not play into the manipulator’s hands by reacting as expected. Do not keep quiet or let the conversation shut down without reaching a conclusion. This is possible only when you don’t take the verbal attacks personally and can control your emotions.

Instead of silently backing away, you should undertake a broad and skilful inquiry into the situation. Ask open, meaningful and purposeful questions like:

‘What is your intention?’

‘What do you mean exactly?’

‘If I understand you correctly, you are saying that…’

‘What is the significance of this?’

‘What leads you to conclude that?’

‘What’s important to you about this?’

‘Have you considered…?’

‘What would you rather talk about?’

Or even a direct, ‘Are you trying to shut down the conversation?’

For example, if you make a statement in a discussion and another person responds, “Oh, you are not one of those people, are you?” Take care that you do not fall for the gambit by getting defensive or taking it lying down.

You should avoid the knee-jerk emotional reactions and deal with the situation in a mature manner. You have to play the person at his own game by probing into his viewpoint, priorities and values. As writer, Jamie Walters suggests, “Just how you choose to inquire depends on the particular conversation, and just how deeply you want to move in to dialogue. The more important the stakes, the more beneficial it might be to see the dialogue through to a greater understanding.”

Counter the interruption skilfully so that the manipulator is forced to respond. You should not be critical, condescending or interrogative; just show that you are exploring his underlying motive and what he is actually trying to accomplish.

Caught off-guard, he will have no choice but to admit his bias or real intentions. You should calmly stand back and listen to his needs, fears and logic. Carefully studying his body language will also enable you to understand the unspoken intentions.

Ensure that you have a positive attitude that is open to different perspectives or viewpoints. Only then can you to work towards a workable solution and also, slowly guide the conversation back towards its original purpose.

Thus, an attitude of affirmative inquiry will help you to both lay accountability and maximise effectiveness in meetings, discussions and even general conversations.

This is vital for healthy, productive and successful communication. It eases the tense barriers and facilitates better working relationships.

To sum up, in the words of a top philosopher, “Dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world!”

Payal Chanania

Diversity-building must be firm objective of hiring managers

Published on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

With the hullabaloo surrounding a diverse workforce, many organisations are scrambling to jump on to the ‘diversity’ bandwagon. In the scuttle to have a wide variety of people (ranging from age, gender and religion to race, ethnicity and nationality) on their payrolls, they also incorporate ‘diversity-building’ in their corporate goals and objectives.

Simply wanting to change the composition of the workforce does not actually get hiring managers to recruit diverse candidates. Recruiters are predominantly focussed on hiring the best people for the job and ‘diversity hiring’ becomes just another extra prerequisite on their already overloaded plate of requirements. The hard work and hassles of meeting diversity requirements becomes tough leading to disjointed efforts and little success.

Companies that are genuinely interested in developing a diverse workforce should adopt new managerial strategies:

Educate hiring managers about the true benefits of having a diverse set of employees. Show them that it is not just a ‘politically correct’ stance, but the efforts will actually lead to meaningful results by building a more innovative, productive and healthier work environment.

Provide cross-cultural sensitivity training so that recruiters can combat their prejudicial hiring practices, stereotyped preconceptions and discriminations of any sort. The diversity knowledge will also help them to understand the differences in background and learn how to review the qualifications/requirements of diverse candidates.

Then again, hiring managers tend to hire people like themselves. They should be able to let go of these subconscious biases and adopt a broad view that is flexible and open to change. Only then can they look beyond ‘those like us’ and hire ‘different’ people.

Hiring managers often recruit from the same sources and ask themselves ‘Where are the diverse candidates?’ The management should provide tools and processes for accessing a broader candidate pool, like advertising in publications/media that reach a wider demographic, or inviting foreign applicants.

They can also conduct campus recruitments in different states, target conferences and job fairs and reach out to universities with more diverse student bodies. Or, offer internships and mentoring programmes to multicultural people who can later be absorbed into the workforce.

• Encourage diversity hiring not just for entry-level jobs, but also for middle and upper management levels.

• Make quality hiring a substantial component of assessing recruiters’ performance.

• Tie incentives, recognition and rewards to sustained efforts at hiring for diversity.

While the organisation should establish diversity goals and create a campaign geared towards recruiting diverse employees, the focus should not be merely on ‘hitting the numbers’. Think – can the company afford to hire few women just to balance a completely male staff, take on a few middle-aged employees to offset a predominantly young workforce or recruit foreigners just to mix a few ‘alien’ faces among the locals? Instead, persuade them to hire the best-qualified candidates, but also seek out and be open to recruiting a mixed bag of people.

Companies should make efforts to foster a corporate culture that supports and values diversity, and is open to accepting and respecting differences in an inclusive environment.

Apart from the diversity recruitment objectives, legitimate efforts should be made to assist, mentor, reward, promote and retain the employees. As a top consultant urges, “Employers should adopt a strategic diversity management process that focusses not only on hiring but also fosters an environment that attracts, retains and maximises the productivity and contribution of a diverse workforce!”

PAYAL CHANANIA

Be bold, step out of comfort zone for a rewarding career

Published on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

It’s a classic case of the comfort of the known vs. the fear of the unknown and no prizes for guessing what wins the battle hands down.

It is obviously the former which makes us prefer to stay in the same house/area, take the same route to work and do the job in the same way every day.

Who knows - what type of people will be there in a new locality?

How much more traffic will we encounter on the new route ? What if we fail when trying new things on the job?

It is this same sense of security that keeps us from leaving an unsatisfactory job and makes us fall into a rut.

‘Dangerous’ zone

At work it may often happen that you slip into a comfortable routine of doing the same old things in the way that you have always done them. Obviously, there are no risks or threats amidst the soothing familiarity of known people, places, actions, habits and work styles. You are always in control, know what is going to happen next and can even do your work with your eyes closed.

Things cannot continue like this indefinitely. Over time, the mundane chores can trap you into taking your work for granted. Not only is there no scope for career growth, but you will also tend to slack off and performance will slowly decline.

As one writer points out, “Even the most successful habits eventually lose their usefulness as events change the world and fresh responses are called for. Yet we cling on to them long after their benefit has gone. Past strategies are bound to fail sometime. Letting them become automatic habits that take the controls is a sure road to self-inflicted harm.”The boredom and drone of the daily grind is a warning sign that your career has plateaued and that you are becoming habituated to a self-satisfied complacency.

Still surprisingly, you may become so entrenched in the supposedly warm feeling of familiarity that you not only like being in the ‘comfort zone’, you actually crave it!

Breaking out

The only way to achieve your life’s goals, success and ‘real’ satisfaction is to regularly step out of the comfort zone. But, by now the mental conditioning of security may be so ingrained that you panic at the very thought of change.

So, you have to first convince yourself that though the challenge of getting out of your comfort zone is quite forbidding, it can and should be done. It requires great courage and determination to regularly push against the boundaries of familiarity. All it boils down to is a conscious decision to leave and stay out of your comfort zone.

Here are a few tips on the same:

• Build a proactive and open-minded attitude.

• Never ever shy away from change or doing things differently.

• Always look to experiment with new work.

• Try to learn new things, pursue new opportunities and explore uncharted paths.

• Seek out new and creative ideas that will stimulate your interest.

• Be willing to take risks.

• Set new goals that will expand your potential

• Slowly, work yourself towards letting go of ‘tried and tested’ habits and welcoming new responses.

It is possible that as you attempt to venture out of your comfort zone, you will feel quite anxious and helpless. It is true that you are bound to make mistakes and even fail occasionally. But, do not let this abounding fear make you go back into the comfort zone.

Roll up your sleeves and force yourself to let go off your need for security. Strive to take unfamiliar circumstances and behaviours in your stride. As you slowly succeed in facing the anxiety and discomfort head on, you will start feeling empowered, energised and powerful.

This will rekindle the fire in the job and make you feel passionate about your work all over again. So, forge ahead and out of your comfort zone, as there is always room for growth. And, if not, then maybe its time to find a new job, my friend!

To sum up in the words of Bob Parson, America’s celebrated entrepreneur, “The important thing to remember here is that if you are going to accomplish anything of any significance, you absolutely have to take a chance. That means that you have got to get out of your comfort zone!”

PAYAL CHANANIA