Over at the HRCapitalist blog, Kris Dunn asked the question, “Why Don’t We Coach Employees More Than We Do?” This is a great question and to quote Dunn, “confrontation sucks.”
Another great question in the HR blog roll today, “What are you holding on to??” This one offered by Steve Brown in his blog, Everyday People. Browne shares a story about a company’s eight page dress code policy filled with all the things that employees can’t wear. Instead of providing guidance, employees are given pages of hard to follow rules.
So what would be your response to a few employees coming to work dressed inappropriately? Or how to you handle other policy or performance concerns? In most cases, drafting and posting an eight page policy isn’t easier than having a conversation with the employees in question. So, why does it still seem to be a common HR and management response?
Dunn is right; confrontation sucks. In my opinion, coaching should never be about confrontation. And when it is, it doesn’t happen. Instead you get an eight page policy about dress codes. The eight page policy makes you feel good about addressing the problem.
But did you change the behavior? Have you complained recently about no one reading policies anyway? If so, why would throw out another policy as the solution?
Address the issue. Be the change the you want to see. Start to remodel your culture where feedback isn’t confrontation.
Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.
Communicating on the Internet allows you to be part of a community and along with that stems network etiquette rules. Corresponding, writing, or having a conversation on the Internet is no different from having a face-to-face conversation with someone, except that your dialogue takes place over a network. Because a conversation takes place over a network, the standard conversational etiquette rules have been expanded to Netiquette rules.
Some basic ‘Do Not’ guidelines are:
Do not be rude via the Internet nor email. There are a number of communication avenues, i.e., posts, Facebook, Twitter, etc. No matter which method is used, people should be cordial and respectful to whom they are writing. Would you be happy if someone sent you a critical or cutting remark? As the saying goes, ‘If you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything’.
Do not pass on other people’s information. No one is allowed to pass on a person’s information without the approval of the individual. This is a crucial rule to commit to memory especially if you are thinking of passing someone’s personal information. This could lead to a serious offense, so do not even consider it.
Do not use all capitals when writing as its connotation implies yelling. Bear in mind that the reader cannot see your face and can easily misinterpret its meaning. Appending an emoticon to the capital letters to imply a tease could even be misconstrued as a sarcastic remark. So pay attention to the use of capital letters and only use them for, e.g., acronyms.
Do not change someone else’s words. What a person writes belongs to them. Do not change someone’s content to be spiteful, harmful, or hurtful.
Do not send chain letters nor inappropriate links. Not everyone enjoys receiving chain letters. This will just annoy the receiver. If you send someone a chain letter and they respond to you with a ‘please do not send’, then respect their wishes and do not send anymore.
Do not send spam. Spam is any unwanted email. Set your email options to forward all spam email to either a spam or trash folder where they can all be deleted without any harmful effects.
Do not spread private chats nor conversations. This is a malicious offense. The conversation you have with someone is private and should remain as private unless they say it is ok to pass the conversation to others. Not following this rule can be damaging and libelous.
Do not continuously send chat messages to someone who does not reply. Seeing someone on chat doesn’t mean you have to speak with them. Be respectful- if someone does not reply on chat, then they are probably busy.
Do not send out an email to everyone (i.e., co-workers and managers ) and do not click Reply to All if only one person needs to be the recipient. This is especially true if the other people are not involved with the subject matter. This will only displease fellow associates as they probably receive more emails than they want on a daily basis.
The key rules to remember are to be responsible and respectful. You are accountable for your actions as well as for what you write, so make note of the ‘Do Not’ rules.
Good start, bad finish for TSA’s crisis management
If you haven’t heard about the latest TSA debacle, the basics are that 24-year-old Olajide Oluwaseun was able to penetrate airport security at New York’s JFK International, including federal checkpoints, and board a Virgin America flight to LAX using an expired boarding pass belonging to somebody else. Although he was caught by Virgin staff in the air, he was not detained at his destination, and only days later was caught again attempting to board a Delta flight bound for Atlanta, at which point he was arrested by the FBI.
Obviously, it’s embarrassing for the TSA to have it once again be proven that its much-touted security checkpoints can be breached with little more than expired boarding passes with no ID to match, but the organization actually came a hair’s width from completing a solid crisis management move before committing a major no-no.
Lucien G. Canton did a great job of describing the situation in a post on his “Canton on Emergency Management” blog:
One could blog for several days on all the things that went wrong but I’m always more interested in how organizations respond to mistakes than in the mistake itself. In this case, TSA freely admits that “…TSA did not properly authenticate the passenger’s documentation.” They further promise, “…disciplinary action is being considered for the security officers involved and all appropriate actions will be taken.”
Accepting responsibility for your mistake and promising corrective action is always a good crisis communication move. However, TSA then proceeds to blow it by trying to minimize the problem by saying, “…it’s important to note that this individual received the same thorough physical screening as other passengers, including being screened by advanced imaging technology…” In other words, “we screwed up but it didn’t really matter.”
That’s the last message you want to send to a wary and sensitive public.
Now, think of this situation in terms of your own business. Would you be ready to respond if you woke up to publicly humiliating information about your company printed on the front page of the Los Angeles Times?
The best way to defend is to be prepared, so get that crisis response planning in gear.
——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-
As a customer service manager, I am called upon to train others on the subject. In my search for continuous learning, I happen to run across an article by Pivot Point Solutions, based on President Obama’s Executive Order to improve customer service. What a lot of people don’t know is that, although the Executive Order is important, the government is so big that implementing that order can take years. Think of it more as a somewhat grandiose statement made by the CEO that the company is going through a transformation of some kind as a response to the economy. Same thing–different words.
What a lot of people don't know is that, although the Executive Order is important, the government is so big that implementing that order can take years.
Although the anonymous author of the article was taking a few potshots at the political system and saw this customer service plan as something business has been trying to implement for years, I saw it as an opportunity to look at what others think is impossible and look hard at those choices. It also might surprise the author to learn that many agencies involved have already implemented such reforms before the order came out. In fact, when the order came out, I looked to see where I could annotate that we were already doing this and make note of things we needed to explore further.
Admittedly, government is not really a business, but in many ways it should operate like one.
The bottom line for the article is that meaningful change cannot be made by Executive Order unless there is sweeping reform. I believe it can–just not across the board or all at once. The article’s biggest argument is that we can’t make this change “department-wide.” I think the author means Administration-wide.
It doesn’t hurt to take a leap in the other direction and say, it can work–that we are crossing organizational lines by having an Administration directive, which may not be enough in the business world. There will be other areas we cannot change as easily as in the business world either, but it should not stop us from trying to change. Admittedly government is not really a business, but in many ways it should operate like one. Business simply wants to:
Reduce Costs
Improve Revenues
Improve Satisfaction and Retention
Perhaps the business model fits better than we think.
Improving revenues does not fit our mold exactly; however, reducing costs and improving satisfaction and retention is right up there. That is an improvement of revenue of sorts. Perhaps the business model fits better than we think.
Find those areas that will work, perhaps there is an ideal customer service plan that incorporates the President’s Executive Order.
The author of the article says, “Improving customer service in the federal government will require sweeping changes across the government…”
Across any large organization, change is difficult, and “sweeping changes” even harder to make happen, but we can focus on our own organization (one agency), and achieve the same goals. Remember, other agencies can follow, but let’s focus on us first and establish a best practice. Although changes are often stated across the entire spectrum, smaller organization can take on the ideas and implement them if they stay focused on the outcome, or the intended benefit we plan to deliver.
Trained people do not give the misleading answer; they do not give the wrong impression; they do not blame others; they do not pass the buck.
The article refers to getting rid of redundancies here, which I take to mean those processes that are repeated at various levels, adding time and frustration to our customer expectations.
Simplification is always the first task; simplify the process. Put it in as few hands as possible. Oversimplification may be the result, but you can always add to it later.
Train people to think the same way about customer service. There are reasons certain protocols are followed, and why people not involved with customer problems directly are not involved at resolving them except at a distance. Trained people do not give the misleading answer; they do not give the wrong impression; they do not blame others; they do not pass the buck.
In business, you would offer meaningful incentive; however, we have built-in incentives. Some in the government actually want change–especially those in customer service. There are always those who dislike or fear any kind of change; but they exist in any organization. Change occurs with every election–with every new Administration. Unlike some circumstances where change is normally feared, in the government environment it is expected, and changes made with leadership support will only result in rewarded efforts for positive customer service results, to include morale boosts and career incentives.
In customer service, consistency is a necessary component. Spread across local, state and federal levels we are confusing the issue. Already many of our customers do not know the system, we have changed the system in their eyes; we have given them a place to complain.
We can be empathetic, but beyond that, it is really not our jobs. We can listen and provide customers comfort since most states have automated systems and it is difficult to get through.
Granted, some state laws and regulations are the result of federal laws that have been passed and initiatives that have been issued to make the Nation's program run smoothly.
If they get through to us, they have, in fact, jumped to the head of the line to nowhere. We know the emotional issues and maybe that is the focus of another article, but for now, I want to point out that implied structure puts us in a position of authority over the states in an area we don’t belong—the customer’s perception is that they have succeeded in going over the head of the state. However, it is the state that implements the program and makes decisions based on state laws. Granted, some state laws and regulations are the result of federal laws that have been passed and initiatives that have been issued to make the Nation’s program run smoothly.
It still makes sense to customers and simplifies things to have a central authority for complaints, but that isn’t the way the system works. Even if the levels of training or staff grades vary, the basic training and process could be the same.
Ultimately states have the final say on the answer to any situation that comes from a complaint because the federal government cannot be involved in individual cases.
Ultimately states have the final say on the answer to any situation that comes from a complaint because the federal government cannot be involved in individual cases. A complaint might involve another federal agency to which we will gladly refer a client, but the final decision rests with the state or local office that took action against or on behalf of the client/customer. By the way, the clients really belong to the state. To the feds those clients are inquirers only—customers, if you like.
Sometimes it isn’t a lack of training but the perception of need for a particular service like customer service that causes it to be neglected. The lack of training only exacerbates the problem.
Customer service is one of those areas that affects the company or government agency more than anyone can see. With so many workers staying in their safe little areas, customer service is easy to neglect. With technology it’s easy to forget until you need it again. When people tire of dealing with machines–and we complain about that every time we call the phone or cable company–just not when it affects our own bottom line.
Of all places where training can help the most, the emphasis on customer service is highly placed because it affects the company’s image, reputation and more. It depends on extremely fluent communication. Language. Words. Tone. Attitude. Empathy. Initiative. Creativity. Difficult topics to train at best, and we think customer service is easy. Try training someone with a bad attitude to represent the company the way you want them to.
Enough of my challenge with words today. As always, you are entitled to share your opinion at anytime. More of my words on this and other topics can be found on my website. For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.
Leading your company had better not be like herding cats.
How do you get everyone moving in the same direction, like a finely tuned machine?
1 – Ensure your folks know the direction. Sounds simple, but often this isn’t the case. We give our employees the mushroom treatment..
2. Ensure the message on the company direction is relevant to your folks. You don’t want them daydreaming through this discussion. Make it real. Give examples. Give examples that involve your folks, the functions. Make it a discussion. Get everyone involved.
3. Set individual goals based on each person’s key role in delivering value. Make those goals the primary ones. Have the informal discussions to get your folks to buy into their role. You want passionate people when it comes to delivering customer value.
4. Create and refine systems that support delivering the value. Do Six Sigma FEMA analyses to understand the critical risk points, and address them. Foolproof the system.
5. Listen to customer feedback, and ensure team members are aware of it. The value to the customers may be shifting, and the company needs to change to address it. Market research, customer visits help to gain customer insight here.
6. Have fun with your team. Take some time to socialize, play bingo, bowl or just enjoy a BBQ. The team works hard, and friendships go a long way on a stressful day.
As always, let me know what works for you, or where you need some advice.
Jason Novosel, Novo Horizons Management Training, our guest blogger gave me a quote this morning: “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” (George Horace Lorimer).
I thought this would be a good day to look south to my Australian colleague for his answers on training and development.
Jason has over a decade of experience in education, training and assessment. His experience also includes over 5 years in management within both private and state schools in Queensland, Australia and 3 years in intensive interaction with the business community to provide facilities and services linked to education. He also has a background in legal services and has delivered specialist education and training in Legal Services, including document preparation, court registry procedure, contract law and civil law (litigation, documentation and procedure). Leadership and management training are his fields of expertise. He has a background in high level sport and upholds the importance of team building, which sport generates.
Here’s Jason:
“He (Federer) doesn’t seem to suffer a great deal from injury like other players….”
“As a person who enjoys watching and participating in a wide variety of sports, I was watching Federer play a match in the 2011 French Tennis Open. He was doing quite well against his opponent. The ‘FedExpress’ is always being challenged by Nadal and Djokovic for supremacy, but I still really enjoy his style of play – so smooth and classic. The commentators were commenting on exactly the same thing and one mentioned Federer’s training regime. It was to the effect of “Federer must be doing something right with his training and preparation. “He doesn’t seem to suffer a great deal from injury like other players….”. Think about how this statement relates to your organisation. When competing, do you think a champion like Federer would willingly participate in any activity or training that does not benefit his own game? What kinds of “injuries” could your organisation suffer if it did not offer proper and relevant training opportunities to employees?
“Any sports champion will attest to training being a must when it comes to success. When a player prepares correctly they are less likely to suffer injury and defeat. Match practice is one important aspect for sure, but if an athlete doesn’t train effectively to sharpen skills (both physical and mental) they are not as successful. Natural talent only takes an athlete so far. Of course, upsets can always occur. We cannot predict those, but by being prepared beforehand the tennis player can minimise the effect of upsets.
Organisations that do not, and individuals who do not engage in active, relevant training are just not as effective.
“The same practice is true for your role as a manager offering training to employees – or for employees seeking out their own training opportunities. Quite some time should be dedicated to discussing the training needs of team members. In order for an organisation to offer effective training and professional development for their employees that organisation must know what skills and talent already exist there.
“Relevant training and professional development opportunities are vital ingredients for building successful teams and competent individuals within those teams. Organisations and individuals who do not engage in active, relevant training are just not as effective. Here’s why training and professional development are important:
Both build confidence – They often affirms the practices that already exist within a team. This builds a person’s confidence and facilitates trust in their own abilities. Trust and confidence within a team and for a team’s leader are cornerstones to building an effective unit. Confident and competent staff are better able to handle challenges and actively seek responsibility.
Both introduce new knowledge – It is necessary for innovation and continuous improvement that a team is exposed to new ways of doing things. This allows for more effective problem-solving and can eliminate the danger of boredom and the feeling of falling into the rut of daily routine.
Both are investments in the organisation’s future – Retention rates of staff are raised with investment in training and professional development. Staff feel they are a valued asset of the organisation and understand the global significance of their roles within the organisation. Productivity tends to increase and the reputation of the organisation benefits in the wider market.
Both tend to be contagious – Once a group has attended an entertaining and engaging conference, seminar or internal training session, the enthusiasm tends to spread to other departments as colleagues discuss and recommend what they have been exposed to.
Both can take a wide variety of forms – Different people respond to different stimulus and have different ways of learning. Training and professional development can be accessed through many avenues, providing the choice necessary to best suit the organisation’s objectives in providing these opportunities. Sometimes the most simple and inexpensive team meeting, if handled in the correct way, can yield unexpected results!
Recruitment firms are actively targeting jobs including project management, logistics and supervisory roles.
“In the current economic climate of decline and gradual recovery many governments are dedicating funds to assist with the training and professional development of the workforce – especially in industries where there is a skills shortage.
“In my own state in Australia the government is offering $50 million each year to Skills Queensland, an industry-led statutory authority, and grants of up to $2 million.
“There are also rich veins to be tapped in the mining sector – both in skilled labour and professional positions. Recruitment firms are actively targeting jobs including project management, logistics and supervisory roles.
“The advice of these agencies to those wishing to make a shift to a different industry is to do some research into the skills needed and then get some training.
“Whether you represent an organisation or are an individual learner: explore the possibilities in training and professional development, support initiatives, listen to the needs of team members, link training and professional development to your team’s/organisation’s goals and objectives…and it’ll be GAME, SET, MATCH!”
Jason has the right idea and makes some good points. (These are my comments below.)
Many times that talent is right under our noses and we fail to see it. Some employees will seek out training opportunities–especially if they know what’s good for them, but generally management has to give them the nudge. A positive nudge works best. Better than “you’ll lose your job if you don’t do the training.” I don’t know about business folk “Down Under,” but Americans are notoriously for thinking “what’s in it for me?” If there is an incentive for the training, they are more likely to take it. If it won’t make a difference, then they may not bother?
Many times that talent is right under our noses and we fail to see it.
Business management should know that training makes an employee more efficient if he or she uses that training. That much is obvious, but mostly it seems until human resources or the union rep tells them, management would rather not be bothered. What this usually means is that the training gets the “required” emphasis. Training sends out a letter, saying an employee must have a training plan (mandatory by such and such time) and if they want training reimbursed they must fill out all the necessary paperwork.
Oh, and you better know what you want or need because no one is going to help you there. Meaning no one is going to tell you what you need to further or enhance your career. Ironically, everyone seems too busy to take care of its most important resource–its people, and its best resource: trained people.
Employees have a tough choice, but the Office helps them in a negative way by mandating training, and not really supporting the effort. Training that is forced upon employees is not usually well-regarded. Employees know that training takes them away from the work they are expected to do on any given day. If they don’t get that work done, their present job is in jeopardy (especially in this economy)–let alone their efficiency is affected.
Should someone get credit for training on his or her evaluation. It has the potential to improve performance–especially if it is new information. Promoting the idea of training as a part of an evaluation says management is paying attention and giving credit where it is due.
We pay more for the qualifications a person brings to the job so why not here, where we are adding to the qualifications? As an employee, I’m too busy doing my job to worry about what the company doesn’t seem too worried about. So it doesn’t work. Few take the time to do a thorough job on the training–if they can get away with not doing it, they will.
Training is a must, but it’s not always obvious in the business scheme. It’s like a battery that doesn’t have enough juice to start the car. If the car starts, you don’t know you need a new battery. If the business seems to be working, everything is fine–until you have a problem. People not showing up for work, a lot of sick calls, jobs not getting done, sloppy work, lost customers, etc., then you start thinking I need help. Training is the first place management looks. Unfortunately, as you know, sometimes the problems have progressed too far for training to be the solution, and, of course, not all problems that occur can be resolved by training. But sometimes training can prevent problems by maintaining a high performing, highly motivated workforce.
I happen to think a proactive approach with the people who work for you is always better. It was probably the one thing I liked about the military; in spite of what you see in the movies, my leaders always looked after us–and that made us more willing to follow them.
Management consultants say it is morale. Morale experts say proper looking after your people, making them feel wanted, needed and useful makes them happy and efficient workers. Gee, if I had only thought of that sooner. A little sarcasm…
For more information on management training and professional development in Jason’s Australia, check out his website. Look for him on Facebook and Twitter: @Novohorizons.
I, too, have a website where you can find items I have written. For more information on my peculiar take on training, check out my best selling The Cave Man Guide To Training and Development, and for a look at a world that truly needs a reality check, see my novel about the near future, Harry’s Reality! Meanwhile, Happy Training.
Everybody wants to be on the side of the angels. And while angel investors aren’t divine, many social enterprises labor under the mistaken assumption that they represent a ready source of capital. Unfortunately, very few social enterprises secure financing this way, and frankly, even if you could get such funds, in most cases they’re not all that desirable anyway. Here’s why:
I just finished reading the book Love For No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love by Marci Shimoff. She interviewed 100 amazing people she referred to as Love Luminaries. These are people who are the “leading lights or love celebrities” who are living love in the world. So many of their stories in this book inspired me, so I thought that I would select this stellar group of people as a whole to highlight for L because they are living their lives and integrating their spirituality in all parts of it.
So many religious traditions point to love as the highest path of life. Not just any kind of love, but unconditional love to all. We all know how incredible we feel when we choose the path of love in our lives whether at work, home or in the community at large. However, sometimes love isn’t always the easiest path to choose, especially when you are dealing with difficult situations – the demanding boss, the ungrateful spouse, the demanding child, the forgetful friend, the negative family member, etc… However it is when we choose love and put love to work is when we illuminate the way with our light.
There were many memorable examples of these Love Luminaries in her book, which I highly recommend, I’ll just share with you my favorite, Johnny Barnes. Johnny is an elderly man in Bermuda who doesn’t have a website, business or book (unlike most of the ones she interviewed), but he does have a BIG heart, great humility and a strong purpose.
For almost 30 years he spent “a quarter of his waking hours” spreading love on a busy street corner in Hamilton, Bermuda. I don’t know about you, but I’ve only experienced people on the streets either begging or performing for money. Not Johnny. His sole and soul purpose is to greet people through waves, greetings, shakes, hugs – spreading love to all who cross his way. He doesn’t get paid for this, but we all know that he’ll get paid for the love he spread in eternity.
According to Johnny, “You see, I love people, and I love telling them that I love them. I consider it my personal mission in life to spread joy and love whenever, wherever and however I can.”
He started doing this when we was working fulltime, showing up ½ hour before his job for 30 years. Then he started to do this “street corner of love” fulltime as his retirement five days a week. He says that God gives us all something to do, “That’s six hours of spreading love every morning. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.”
I was so moved that this is how he is choosing to spend his 27 years in retirement so far – spreading love when many choose to not work at all. He didn’t retire to a warm place (already lives in one) so he could have more leisure time. He choose to retire not with a more selfish-type of leisure lifestyle that many people believe they deserve when they retire (and do) to living a life of selfless love and service.
The city put a statue of him in his honor on the street corner so his love continues to spread to all when he’s not around. That’s a long-standing, golden type of love that I aspire to! I’ll close with the closing words of Johnny in his story.
“The way I see it, this world was made for love. When the good Lord wakes me up mornings, puts a song in my heart, joy in my soul, and a smile on my face, I just have to give it away!”
Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most. She started Project GratOtude, a movement to increase gratitude in people’s lives.
An email asked: “What advice is there for new nonprofits without a funding history? So many groups with a lot of potential just don’t know where to begin.”
=============
The biggest mistake most new NPOs make is the assumption/belief that, because they want to do wonderful things, everyone (read: gov’t, corporations, foundations and “rich people”) will want to give them money.
The fact is that an NPO must prove itself — prove it can do what it says it can, prove it can be fiscally responsible, prove it is actually needed — before gov’t, corps and fndns will be willing to invest in it.
Of course (he says with tongue-in-cheek), that leaves rich people, and all new NPOs think that Bill Gates is going to send them a check — all they’ll have to do is write him a letter, then watch the mail.
Hey, don’t hold your breath on that one.
A major factor for getting money from rich people is having access to those people. If you have personal relationships with the wealthy, then it’ll be easy for you to pick up the phone and make an appointment to go see your “friend” and ask for that big check. The same if you know someone who has those connections and can/will do that for you.
Failing all that, it comes down to the hard realization that, if you don’t know someone with an “in,” you must rely on the tried and true methods for obtaining that initial funding.
If you can’t rely on outsiders (the gov’t, corps, fndns and the wealthy), it’s up to the insiders to make it happen.
For each new non-profit, the specifics may be different, but the general circumstances are pretty much the same. There must be an understanding that if the people who created the new organization can’t/won’t give of their own resources (to the extent they can) then why would anyone else want to … why should anyone else??.
Once that is understood, the founders of that new NPO must take an inventory — who of the people that they know might come to care (as much as you do) about the reasons why the NPO was created … and eventually want to support that organization.
There must also be an evaluation of how those founders and the people with whom they have relationships can begin to make a difference. This step is often best accomplished with some expert guidance.
Many new NPOs bring in someone to speak with their leadership, to educate them as to the processes and procedures that are, typically, most effective, and to help them determine what might be most effective for them. Founders of many new NPOs also attend seminars/workshops designed to educate new NPO leaders.
Bottom line for a new NPO is — to paraphrase, “Only when you’ve helped yourself will others be willing to help you.” PROVE you’re worthy, and future funding will be a lot more likely.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program?
Contact Hank at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, he’ll be pleased to answer your questions.
I spent July 4th with my brother – an oil man his whole career. Over the weekend I got a lesson in hydrocarbon geology that seems useful for leaders.
Geology of Talent
It turns out that gas and oil doesn’t sit underground in huge lakes waiting to be pumped out. Who knew? I thought: dead trees and vegetation, eons of new soil and rock, pools of oil and gas, “sip” it out with an oil rig. Instead, there are “lakes” of porous rock which hold the oil like a sponge, stuck under a layer of impervious rock that won’t let it move. Only when a fracture occurs, or a well is drilled, does the oil “flow” – always following the path of least resistance down a pressure gradient.
Like gas and oil, the business news is full of talent pool crises and shrinking reserves. But, what can you do about it? Do you make a Deepwater Horizon play and bring in external executive teams at high cost and unknown risk? Or is there another way to bring talent to the surface?
As a leader you have an identified pool of talent in your organization along with a reservoir of untapped talent, waiting to be “fracked” and brought to the surface. Typically, we think of talent “pools” as organizational lakes of capacity that are continuously sucked upwards when we need new energy in marketing, innovation in R&D, or to fill a power gap in finance. But what if the accessible pool is actually low hanging fruit – talent (oil) that has already found its way to the surface through the semi-permeable layers of organizational culture, old-boy’s networks, and annual reviews.
Fracking the Organization
As I now understand it, having only completed oil exploration 101, one resolution to the dilemma of stuck oil is to drill a horizontal shaft off of the vertical well so it passes through the porous oil reservoir. Then you “frack” the rock and let the oil flow to you so you can pump it vertically to the surface. Ignoring all the political and ecological arguments for the moment, can this provide business leaders with a technique for adding value to their company?
Back to your organization, what upcoming project (ready to be assigned to an identified high-potential) can you use to frack your organization? You need a project that drills through the established talent development process (the impermeable layer) and tunnels horizontally across the deeper layers of the organization and into the reservoir of talented people who can’t get promoted because “there is nowhere to go”. The low pressure solution for them is to flow out of your organization and into another one. Use your project to frack the talent reservoir – look for those attracted to the challenge, fresh faces hungry for the chance to contribute. Let those who show up strut their stuff, provide them with personal mentoring, ask for input and ideas, and listen. See who shows up, then give them the ball and let them run. Make your project low pressure enough to encourage flow toward you, this way you won’t attract just the highly competitive, frustrated, or jaded folks already hammering on the glass ceiling. A couple of projects a year and your Talent Well will keep the Talent Pool full.
Tips for Fracking
Look for Know-Why: It is easy to find organizational know-how, can you find those that know-why? People that know-why better anticipate and respond to challenges and opportunities. They are quicker to understand the context of the situation and identify who can contribute to the solution. Individuals who know-why use the golden circle and act from purpose, aligning how and what to why.
Find hidden networks: Once you identify your reservoir of talent ask those who come forth who they know, who they talk to, and who they seek advice from. These patterns of local interaction show you the size of your reservoir and give you clues where to frack it with the next project. Try to establish a community of practice that supports the flow of your Talent Well.
Train leaders already in the Talent Pool: What better way to promote a culture of leadership than to let acknowledged leaders identify and develop those below them? As future leaders they need to grapple with the frustration of those trapped in an organizational stratum that appears to have no upside. Learning to lean into tough decisions, navigate uncertainty, and inspire others will help their career as well as that of others. Coach them to maintain the Talent Well and your pools of reserves will never run dry.
We Value Your Privacy We use cookies to better serve our customers through site functionality and user personalization.
We and our partners store and/or access information on a device, such as cookies and process personal data. This includes unique identifiers and standard information sent by a device for personalized ads and content, ad and content measurement, and audience insights.
With your permission, we and our partners may use precise geolocation data and identification through device scanning. You may click to consent to our processing as described above. Alternatively, you may click to refuse to consent or access more detailed information. You may also change your preferences before consenting.
Please note that some processing of your personal data may not require your consent, but you have a right to object to such processing. Your preferences will apply to this website only. You can change your preferences at any time by returning to this site or by visiting our privacy policy.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
I’m okay with functional and analytical cookies for website functionality. I agree to the use of cookies under these circumstances:
Will be used if you visit Managementhelp.org
Are necessary for the proper functioning of the website
Enable you to use the site securely
Do not collect personal information that’s not needed for personalization
Help us detect any bugs and improve our website
Collect anonymous information about your visits to our website
Are never used for remarketing
I’m okay with the functional and analytical cookies for marketing purposes and not for website functionality.
Are used to monitor the performance of marketing campaigns
Enable us to compare performance across our marketing campaigns
Are used for individual targeting
Can be used for retargeting on other partner platforms
Enable a more personalized experience
