Adrian Gostick

A guest post from the brilliant Randy Hain of executive search firm Bell Oaks.

My children are a constant source of wisdom and clarity for me.  Our sons are nine and 12 and keenly interested in what’s going on in the world.  We share openly and candidly the current state of politics, the economy and world news in a way they will understand.  Recently, my wife and I were discussing the family finances and how to cut our budget in these lean times when our younger son, Ryan, came up to me and asked if we could throw the baseball outside.  I let him know what we were doing, discussed the recession as we had many times before and explained that we were trying to spend less money as a family.  He looked at me for a minute, said okay, and walked away to do something else.  He came back 30 minutes later with a question which was wonderfully simple and clarifying:  “Dad, is the recession over yet?” 

His priceless and timely question really made me think.  It dawned on me that my wife and I have been carrying the recession around with us for months like a nagging cough that won’t go away.  I decided at that moment to stop living in the recession and start being the guy who is working out of the recession.   Showing my angst and stress is just making my hair fall out faster and accomplishing very little that I would consider productive.   My attitude and actions need to reflect the hope I truly feel that better times are ahead.  

Although I now have the inspiration of my son’s wisdom to guide me, surviving in business during these challenging economic times can often be a tough thing to accept.  How are you coping?  Surviving often means delaying or canceling important projects, laying off great people, reducing employee benefits, thinking about only today when we should be thinking about 10 years from now.  Expense cutting becomes the dominant thought and paper clips and pens start to take on some magical value as if buying fewer office supplies will somehow restore lost profitability.  All of the above is reality and is probably going on in your company.

I don’t care much for the concept of merely surviving.  In my 20+ years of professional life, I have done plenty of surviving and have been through recessions before.  You can’t cost cut your way to sustainable profitability. Yet so many organizations are slashing budgets and shedding jobs by the thousands that panic has set in and it appears obvious that we have a confidence epidemic on our hands.  Don’t get me wrong, prudent management of expenses and justified attrition are part of running a business.  But, so is intentional and strategic growth.

If you will indulge me, I invite you to look at the current recession as a game of chicken.  The economy, with all its challenges, is barreling right towards you.  Will you blink?  Will you move out of the way?  Or, will you have the courage to stand your ground, embrace the economy and look for ways to “win” in this economic climate?  Everybody else is running so why not buck the trend and transform your mindset from surviving to winning? 

While not a trained economist, I do have broad experience in corporate leadership roles. I have led an executive search firm for several years and speak to senior business executives every day.  My clients and extended network are a treasure trove of information and insights, and much of what I am sharing comes from my company’s experiences and theirs.

At the bottom of the agenda I give my team during our weekly staff meetings, I often write the phrase “Make Your Own Reality.”  It is a bit clichéd perhaps, but it cuts to the heart of what I am asking all of us to consider: either let the recession put you out of business or find a way to win.  If you are in a leadership role, look at your team very strategically and ask yourself these 10 important questions:

• What do my clients need right now that I can provide?
• Do I have the right people in the right jobs?
• Can I “win” with this team and achieve our goals?
• Do I need new talented people and where will I find them?
• Do we have the right compensation plan in place to incentivize superior performance?
• How would I describe my team’s morale?
• Are we thinking outside the box?
• Can we develop alternative revenue streams?
• What is our vision?
• Am I providing positive leadership?

We are buried every day in an avalanche of bad economic news delivered by the media, so there is little opportunity to escape an overwhelming sense of dread.  But, if we simply resign ourselves to accepting all that we hear and don’t work diligently to help our companies grow, we will be out of business in six months.  The only viable catalyst to making your business win in this economy is our people -- they are our greatest resource.   Employees have a clear obligation to perform well and meet their goals, but employers have the responsibility to treat people with dignity, professionalism and respect as well.  You can’t sell a single product or service in the world without a human being playing a significant role, so let’s embrace, encourage, inspire, motivate and lead our greatest resource to growing our way out of this mess.  In the immortal words of Tim Robbin’s character in The Shawshank Redemption, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

As I continue to ponder Ryan’s innocent question, it occurs to me that we would benefit from looking at the world through the eyes of our children.  Before they become exposed to the ugly side of life, kids have an innocence and a clarity of thought that always makes me smile and occasionally makes me think.  I have a pile of work problems to deal with when I get to my office tomorrow, but I can’t wait to get home to play outside with my sons…and seek their advice.

 Randy Hain is Managing Partner and a Shareholder of Bell Oaks, a nationally-recognized executive search firm. He has an established  track record of leading successful searches and building teams in diverse industries and functional specializations ranging from  individual contributors to C-level leadership. Randy has also played the lead role in hiring, training and developing one of the most  successful search consultant teams in the industry, and has earned a reputation as a values-based leader who invests heavily in his  colleagues, candidates and clients. Randy’s deep sense of community is reflected in his work and that of the Partners of Bell Oaks. He may be reached at rhain@belloaks.com.

We get the stick from the “hard-knocks” managers sometimes, as they feel that recognition is a fluffy business practice—that’s it’s only a nicety that doesn’t drive bottom-line results. And although massive studies support our claims that recognition is a true performance accelerant, we still get the occasional backlash.

In fact, one manager confronted us after a presentation to explain that being “assertive” was more important than being “appreciative” as a manager. When we pointed out that the "assertive" idea isn’t supported by the data, the fellow said, “Are you trying to tell me that being assertive is a bad quality for a boss to posses?”

As we explained, a certain level of assertiveness is actually healthy, and a recent paper released by Daniel Ames and Francis Flynn of Columbia University supports this idea. However, the authors suggest that their research proves that too high a level of assertiveness hinders working relationships, while too low a level limits goal achievement.

So some assertiveness is good. But the bigger problem is this: many managers use their assertiveness for their own gain, and not that of their team. This is where employee recognition factors in.

A positively assertive manager takes care of his/her people. Recognition from this type of manager not only shows employees that the manager appreciates them, but also shows that the manager has got their back (being assertive means protecting them from being swallowed-up by the big bad corporate abyss).

Recognition also shows that you—the manager—have your eyes focused on the team’s goals and each individual’s goals. After all, we'd never recommend recognizing your people for trivial things (Hey, great scarf, really goes well with your eyes), but rather for outstanding performance toward a goal that aligns with the organizational mission.

So, is being assertive an ugly word? No. Be assertive by recognizing your people, and you’ll find that yourself perceived by your team as a great manager—maybe even the best manager they’ve ever had.

As if we all haven’t chewed on the economic woes enough, it seems there is a bright side—cash-strapped companies are realizing that recognition can have a bigger impact on engagement than even financial incentives.

A recent McKinsey Quarterly survey offers some proof for companies that might be short on cash, but also hesitant that recognition won’t have the same impact as financial rewards. The report shows that respondents, “view three noncash motivators—praise from immediate managers, leadership attention, and a chance to lead projects or task forces—as no less or even more effective motivators than the three highest-rated financial incentives: cash bonuses, increased base pay, and stock or stock options.”

These nonfinancial motivators prove that people want to feel appreciated—and they want it so much that they value it like, or more than, money.

And yet, here’s the rub. McKinsey survey results revealed:

• Over the past year, 70 percent of organizations have adjusted their reward-and-motivation programs
• However, only 27 percent adjusted their programs to increase employee motivation
• The majority (60 percent) adjusted their reward programs to reduce costs!

Yikes. Here we find one of the most respected consulting firms in the world showing that companies should be doing more recognition in tough times, and the majority of companies are actually reducing these programs? Why?

Survey respondents most frequently cited executives’ lack of understanding of true employee motivators. Because executives themselves are influenced most by cash, “Managers see motivation (for everyone) in terms of the size of the compensation,” said one respondent from the financial services industry. Another reason for this disconnect, McKinsey argues, is that nonfinancial rewards do “require more time and commitment from senior managers.” In other words, cash bonuses are easy to offer, but personalized recognition and other engagement strategies require thought. And yet the report finds that managers who fail to show this type of caring create “a highly damaging void that saps employee engagement.”

Concludes the report: “A talent strategy that emphasizes the frequent use of the right nonfinancial motivators would benefit most companies in bleak times and fair. By acting now, they could exit the downturn stronger than they entered it.”
 

Photo Credit: trp0

I’ve been fascinated by something lately: How can you spot a phony business person?

Chances are you know someone who’s phony, someone you just don’t trust, and yet other people seem to think the person is just dandy. “Isn’t he nice,” they’ll say, and you think, “That guy, you’ve got to be kidding, he’s so plastic he was probably made by Rubbermaid. Why can’t they see it?”

I knew someone like this, a guy who would smile and say nice things to your face, but then talk badly about you to others in the organization. A growing number of people saw through the nice act and steered clear of the guy, some admitting that they even went the other way in the hallway if they saw him coming; but some pretty smart people thought he was nice as could be. Why didn’t they see it?

Actually, according to research, some of us are better at spotting phonies than others.

Psychologists say those who have been burned are more likely to spot people with fake emotions. According to researchers from Miami University, those who have recently experienced rejection and who feel socially isolated are much more likely to spot “fake” facial expressions than people who feel socially accepted.

Here’s another thought from ethicist Joe Badarraco of Harvard Business School: His work reasons that early man had a much better sense of identifying phonies than modern man, since his life depended on knowing who was out to get him. Today, many people living comfortable lives have lost that ability (which is probably good). Missing a phony here and there might cost us a bit of money or embarrassment now and then, but it’s usually not life threatening, so why be wary all the time?

So what does this say about those of us who are good at picking out phonies? Pretty much that we are social misfits who are in touch with our early man. Great.

For the rest of you, here are a few tips:

But first, a bit of warning: Realize that it usually takes time to find out if a person is not who they claim to be. So-called “clues,” such as a person who avoids eye-contact for instance, are extremely unreliable. Certain cultures and personality types avoid eye-contact, shift their gaze, pause in conversation, fidget, and do many of the other so-called “tells” of the dishonest, yet they may still be very trustworthy people. In contrast, some liars get very good at holding eye contact, speaking confidently, and so on.

So forget the quick clues. Instead think about a few of these tips to help you tell is someone is phony:

1. They seem to enjoy it when others fail
2. You have heard them talk badly about others and wonder what they say about you behind your back
3. You wouldn’t call on this person in an emergency
4. Others are also suspicious of this person’s motives
5. They don’t do what they say they will do
6. They smile, but the look in their eyes doesn’t match
7. They worry about themselves in just about every decision
8. When you think about it, you just think the person isn’t nice

Photo Credit: Johnny Blue

Great companies invest in people says our friend Dave Ulrich and his wife Wendy in their new book The Why of Work. The Ulrich’s point to some startling statistics on employee engagement:

• ‘Best companies to work for’ with a higher percentage of engaged employees saw a 6.8 percent annual stock appreciation versus 1 percent for the average firm in the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008.
• Only 13 percent of disengaged employees would recommend their company’s products versus 78 percent of engaged employees.
• Disengaged employees are 10 times more likely to leave within a year.

In this excellent book, the authors show that when we find meaning in our work, we find meaning in our life. “Employees who find meaning are more satisfied, engaged and productive,” they say.

So how do we help our employees find this meaning? According to the Ulrich’s, here are just three (of seven) things great organizations do to help employees find meaning at work:

• Build on individual’s strengths and capabilities that strengthen others
• Have purposes that sustain social and fiscal responsibility and align individual motivation
• Take work relationships beyond high-performing to high-relating

We’ll have more to say on that last point—creating team esprit de corps—in our new book, The Orange Revolution, due out this September.