Brian Gareau Engaging High Performance Blog

Invest Now – Don’t Get Caught Short On Talent

6/20/2013

A June 2013 CNNMoney.com headline – “Home Builders Struggling to Find Workers” caught my attention. Given that millions of people are unemployed in the U.S. and the importance of the housing market to our overall economy, I was hooked and read on. The article highlighted findings from a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey which showed nearly 50% of its members had fallen behind on finishing projects – 15% turned down jobs – and 9% lost or canceled sales. The simple reason given for these disturbing results was many home builders could not find enough workers to keep up with demand! Some home builders have even been forced to ‘poach’ workers from competitive job sites to meet their needs.

This trend is not unique to the U.S. housing industry. We have 3-4 million unfilled jobs in the U.S. as well as 3-times as many people unemployed. Deloitte calls it a ‘Talent Paradox’. Currently U.S. unemployment remains high, voluntary turnover is low, but employers are facing talent shortages. The shortages are across the board including technicians, skilled trades, sales reps, engineers, and laborers.

Don’t get caught short on engaged talent and create unnecessary product/service delays, customer satisfaction issues, and lost business. Here are some key questions and areas I help my clients to proactively discuss, debate, and ultimately address.

As the economy and your industry rebounds, will your organization’s--

ongoing efforts trying to do more with less people allow you to retain needed talent? (Research indicates up to 2/3rds of employees may be ready to ‘bail’ current employers.)
current workforce be strong company advocates to attract future talent?
business culture be unique and different to balance competitive C+B?
high potential employees be easily ‘poached’ by other organizations?
employees eligible for ‘early’ retirement leave but ultimately work somewhere else?
employee engagement (commitment, effort, and loyalty) enable your organization to quickly respond to new opportunities?

Securing a strong future of organizational high performance requires making wise investment choices. One critical set of choices to make involves human capital and talent. What current investments should your organization be making ‘now’ to attract, develop, engage, and retain talent in the future? Don’t get caught short!

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“42” - Lessons on Diversity & Inclusion

4/18/2013

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My wife and I went to see the movie “42” – the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. It centers on Robinson’s first years in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the tremendous challenges he faced as the first African American player. In Robinson’s rookie year, 1947, there were 399 white players and himself in MLB. His story and the movie were absolutely inspiring!

The movie contained many valuable lessons on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). Here are just a few:

Broaden your definition of diversity. For nearly 50 years MLB thought it had diversity. It had players from different ethnic backgrounds – from different states – with different skill sets – playing different positions – with different physiques. But, Brooklyn Dodger GM, Branch Rickey, challenged and broadened the definition to include race. Many organizations today also have very limited definitions of diversity with only things that can be easily measured. What other important “differences” would enhance your organization’s workforce, brand, culture, and overall performance?
Increasing diversity does not mean inclusion. When Robinson put on the Brooklyn Dodger uniform his team had a new level of diversity but it was far from inclusive. In fact, many of his teammates started a petition to refuse to play with an African American on their team. Robinson sat by himself on the bench and even waited to shower until all his teammates were done. He was ‘on’ the team but not ‘included in’ the team. How many of your employees feel that way?
Make simple, but powerful behavior changes. In the movie “42” Robinson did not feel part of the team until simple behaviors changed: like an encouraging word after a tough at-bat; a congratulatory hand shake; a smile, laugh, or joke between teammates; or teammates defending you after being hit in the head by a pitch. Simply put – actions spoke louder than words. What simple behaviors make your employees feel included? Excluded?
Establish new tolerance levels of behavior. There is a shocking scene in “42”, early in Robinson’s rookie year, with Philadelphia Phillies manager - Ben Chapman. Each time Robinson came up to bat, Chapman emerged from the dugout and overtly berated and made vicious racial slurs. The umpires, coaches, players, sport writers, and fans all heard and saw the brutal attack. Initially they did nothing – they tolerated it. But, ultimately the Baseball Commissioner and National League President both warned Chapman that the racial ‘baiting’ must stop. He complied. New tolerance levels of behavior were established. What behaviors in your organization need to move from simple compliance to true commitment?
Let talent on the field do the talking. Jackie Robinson showed tremendous restraint by not reacting to the endless prejudices and attacks. He won over teammates and fans and silenced critics with his play on the field. Sometimes well intended diversity and inclusion initiatives inadvertently ‘force’ or ‘push through’ individuals who have not yet shown their talent on the field. Is your organization facing any resistance to D&I because some employees want to first see successful play on the business field?

“42” has a wonderful tag line - “In a game divided by color, he made us see greatness.” Leverage these important lessons in your D&I efforts to engage high performance. Be great!

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The Power of a Simple Gift

4/5/2013

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Our family participates in an international relief program called “Operation Christmas Child” each year. The concept of this program is very simple – fill a shoe box or similar sized plastic container with school supplies, hygiene products, small toys, and a personal note for a child of the age you choose. The boxes are then distributed around the world at Christmas time to children whose life has been haunted by poverty, disaster, disease, or war. Since 1993, over 100 million shoe boxes have been handed out in more than 150 countries and territories. This program has been described as “the power of a simple gift”.

Each of us has a simple, but very powerful gift that cannot be placed in a box – our time. Time always seems in short supply – some are controlled by it – others fight against it. Time has been described as “the cruelest teacher, because first she gives the test, then teaches the lesson.”

Consider how you use your gift, as you reflect on the five time reminders below:

The perceived way leaders spend time, money, and resources is a significant factor in how organizational culture is embedded and becomes a norm (Edgar Schein).
The classic question, “what do you want – quality or quantity?” applies with our use of time. Ideally, we want both. For example, we believe discussing personal development and career interests, and reviewing performance in a quality manner only ‘once a year’ is not dedicating enough time. We prefer a higher frequency to go along with quality because it makes us feel valued and important.
Time must be allocated for both input and output. If the time you spend with people is predominantly downloading, dumping, sharing personal opinions, and trying to convince others to change, then you have overloaded your output phase. Asking questions, listening, and reflecting on others’ thoughts and ideas is critical input and time needed to be effective.
Time is a critical element to developing and sustaining positive relationships. It is important to initiate the use of time versus always just reacting to a request for time. Think how you feel and your relationship when someone initiates contact with you versus simply reacts to your email, text message, phone call, or meeting request.
Technology and automation are intended to give us more time. In reality, they simply give us new ways to squeeze more into the 86,400 seconds of each day. One of the hardest things to do with time – is to stop ‘spending it’ on activities that do not align with your personal or business goals. Everything can’t be a priority!

Operation Christmas Child is a powerful, simple gift ... Bottom line, your time is too! The choices we make on how we spend our time explicitly show others what and who are our most important priorities. These choices create our life and our legacy.

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An Investment or Expense?

2/5/2013

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A colleague of mine recently challenged us with the question – are engagement surveys necessary? He went on to say, “there has been a lot of time, effort and resources spent on measuring and evaluating engagement.” Here was my response with a few additional details.

In my opinion engagement surveys are not necessary --- “IF”: a) your organization has created a culture where there is on-going formal and informal listening and responding to employee opinions and concerns (last I knew Southwest Airlines did not do formal all employee surveys); b) your business metrics are all excellent. Please remember both the people “related” metrics (recruiting, acceptance rate, attrition, attendance, safety, etc.) and people “enabled” metrics (quality, customer service, cost, innovation, etc.); c) your organization consistently handles change well; and d) leaders truly believe they consistently a getting the maximum commitment, effort, and loyalty from the workforce.

Also, I do not believe measuring and evaluating employee engagement has to consume lots of resources. Survey length can be very short. All data can be captured electronically. Reports can be minimized. Detailed analysis can be replaced with genuine feedback sessions with employees. Organizations are in the driver’s seat and make these choices with their employee opinion strategy. But, effective employee engagement surveys must always include timely feedback, action planning, and execution of the action plan.

Furthermore, there are many informal ways to keep your finger on the employee engagement “pulse”. For example, pay attention to behavior patterns (arriving right at start of shift and leaving exactly at end of shift; physically attending meeting but not paying attention or participating; volunteering; etc.) and watch what they wear and carry (are employees willingly wearing and carrying your logo and brand items?).

Finally, business leaders I know want objective information to help make tough decisions on where to prioritize time, money, and resources. Leaders want to invest where they will make the biggest returns. An effectively designed and executed engagement strategy, survey, and follow-up process can help do just that.

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No Luxury or Fad

1/4/2013

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On January 9, The Conference Board announced findings from its’ CEO Challenge 2013 – a survey of CEO’s, presidents, and chairmen from over 700 companies worldwide.

The leading challenge named was: human capital — how best to develop, engage, manage, and retain talent. The Conference Board concluded, “In an environment of slow economic growth and limited opportunity for double digit business expansion, continuous improvement of internal capabilities is no luxury or fad. It’s a prerequisite for organizational survival.”

For many years, companies have focused on Talent Management. The focus has been on three foundational elements – attract, develop, and retain. I believe they missed a critical ‘integration ingredient’ to maximize performance – Employee Engagement. Let me illustrate.

If an organization wants to attract the best talent, then engagement is critical. It’s not the engagement of the potential new hire but the engagement of the existing workforce. When current workers commitment, effort, and loyalty (engagement) is low, then they are not great advocates to potential new hires. The defining moment is when a potential new hire asks an existing employee – “how is working in this organization”? High engagement increases the chances of a favorable response. People want to join organizations that others thrive in.
If an organization wants to develop the best talent, then critical people processes like performance management, career development, and succession planning must be a leadership priority and executed with excellence. These “develop” processes are also critical in engagement. Employees want to improve themselves and their resume – for advancement either inside or outside your organization.
According to a survey by AMA Enterprise, a division of American Management Association, one in three employers expect turnover to rise at their organization in 2013. Not all turnover is a bad thing. Keeping disengaged employees who just show up – put in minimal effort - are restless and distracted – do not represent your products and services well to customers – is not the answer. Your objective is to retain engaged employees. Their skills, experience, and company “know how” will give your organization a competitive edge.

Increase and improve your internal capabilities by successfully integrating employee engagement into your efforts to attract, develop, and retain talent. It will help you crack the code to Human Capital Excellence!

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Follow The Recipe

8/8/2012

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Following tested and proven recipes for employee engagement works – so why do so many leaders try short-cuts, substituting ingredients, and or rushing through steps? Many times when we don’t follow the engagement recipe – the desired results (commitment, effort, and loyalty) just don’t happen and performance suffers.

It reminds me of learning to make ginger cookies with my Gram V. nearly 50 years ago. Gram made the best ginger cookies. They were round in shape and rolled out – not “dropped” or shaped like “people”. Each had white sugar sprinkled on top and with a cold glass of milk could “fix” almost any problem I encountered.

Gram was a stickler and reminded me to “always follow the recipe - step by step- and your ginger cookies will turn out great”. In my early “apprentice” ginger cookie baking days, I had great intentions but sometimes my actions didn’t match. For example, a couple of times I did things out of sequence and ultimately added more work. Sometimes I didn’t measure the way Gram taught me and the cookies tasted very “different” – yes, I quickly learned teaspoon versus tablespoon made a BIG difference. More than once I forgot an ingredient because I didn’t use the recipe card – I thought I just knew what to do. One time I accidentally used baking powder instead of baking soda because I was preoccupied with something else. Another time I wanted to go out and play so I secretly raised the oven temperature 100 degrees – yup the cookies were dried out and many burned! But each time I kept my promise and took the time to follow the recipe and process – Gram’s ginger cookies always came out the way I expected – delicious and very satisfying (to both the baker and cookie eater).

Research has proven time and time again that world-class engagement requires some key ingredients including showing genuine interest in the individual; dialoguing through two-way communication; giving and accepting feedback on performance; counseling on careers; and showing appreciation. If you short-cut, substitute, or rush through these interactions (not transactions) then both the leader and his/her employees may not be fully engaged. Your ultimate performance and results may reflect this too.

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Forward>>

Invest Now – Don’t Get Caught Short On Talent

“42” - Lessons on Diversity & Inclusion

The Power of a Simple Gift

An Investment or Expense?

No Luxury or Fad

Follow The Recipe

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