Talk Is Cheap, but the Right Interview Questions Are Priceless
- Flag any background or employment gaps,
- Highlight insufficient or inconsistent responses for further follow-up, and
- Note likes/dislikes, reasons for leaving previous jobs, and future plans.
- Age and birth date, except to ensure your state’s minimum employment age requirements,
- Citizenship and country of birth, though you may ask about legal eligibility to work in the United States,
- Disabilities and illnesses, except, in some cases, to confirm the candidate’s abilities to perform essential job functions, and
- Arrest record, though you may be able to ask about a criminal conviction if legally relevant to the position.
Please and thank you – Office Etiquette
Do You Care for Your Tone?
Do You Care for Your Tone?
Reviewing Your Organizational Culture
“I don’t care for your tone!” Most of us probably heard this scolding utterance at least once from an adult when we were kids. Now that you’re a grown-up in a leadership role, one hopes you don’t hear it too often. But what about your organization’s tone? Do you care for it?
More specifically, we’re referring to organizational culture. In a nutshell, this is the tone (and style) of your work environment as created by the values of your organization and the behaviors of its employees. Every workplace has one and, every so often, it’s good to reflect on both the good and the bad.
It matters, increasingly
Organizational culture can be a contentious topic. Some may question the importance of focusing on a “meta” topic like this when there are so many other competitive challenges to an organization. Yet there are signs that, increasingly, culture matters to both management and staff.
For instance, in the 2012 report Culture in the Workplace from consultancy Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees stated a belief that a distinct workplace culture is important to business success. The report also found a correlation between workers who believe their organizations have a “clearly articulated and lived culture” and those who report being “happy at work.”
Another reason organizational culture is important nowadays is the constant need for innovation. Few, if any, organizations can survive in the 21st Century without innovating in some way — even if it’s just gradually tweaking their products or services to keep up with customers’ wants and needs.
Another recent consultancy study, the 2012 Insigniam Corporate Culture Report, found that a substantial number of executives, 47%, pointed to their organization’s culture as the biggest roadblock to innovation. Is your tone holding you back from that next “aha!” moment?
4 sides: A framework
As you might expect, getting your arms around something as intangible as organizational culture isn’t easy. One way to make it a little more manageable is to approach it under the following four-sided framework:
1. Management to management. Every organization’s values and much of its behavior begin with management. When managers work well together and appear at ease in one another’s company, employees pick up on this and will likely be more relaxed and confident themselves.
In contrast, constant bickering in the corner offices, highly noticeable power struggles and heavy turnover will cause staff to feel uneasy and may give them the tacit go-ahead to behave similarly. This can have a crushing effect on productivity and morale.
2. Management to staff. Look at how each manager deals with his or her respective departments. (You may already be doing this during your annual review process.) Managers who are on good terms with their employees and can speak to them in a relaxed, friendly and frank manner are probably contributing to a positive culture.
Meanwhile, regular conflicts or even just an excessive degree of coldness can have a chilling effect on culture. Also dangerous are managers who isolate themselves from their staffs. In these situations, a culture can deteriorate into a free-for-all, “anything goes” environment where everyone is on a different page and too little is getting done.
3. Staff to staff. How do your employees get along with each other? Are things fairly peaceful at the moment or are you seeing an alarming rise in conflicts or turnover? Are social events well attended or are staff members starting to withdraw?
These are all important questions to ask. When it comes to employees, organizational culture can be a bit like the thermostat in your home. Sometimes you have to turn it up to warm things up and get people talking and interacting. Other times, you have to cool the environment down a little to keep people focused and productive.
4. Staff to customers. Don’t forget about the ultimate end-result of your culture! That is, how does it affect your clients or customers? A fun, free-wheeling, informal culture can draw a certain clientele but confuse or frustrate another. Then again, a tense work environment can rub off on customers, who may find themselves dealing with brusque or defensive employees.
Finding the right balance means going back up to the executive level and reviewing the values of the organization and its approach to doing business. You may need to tighten up your culture if “the party has gotten out of hand.” But you could also need to reassure staff that you trust their judgment and give them the freedom to interact with customers according to their own styles.
Productive solutions
As you review your organizational culture, try to pinpoint specific problems. Use careful language to describe them. Doing so will make it easier for you and your management team to devise productive solutions.
When you’re ready to apply those solutions, be sure to clearly explain your efforts to staff and get their buy-in. Culture change rarely, if ever, works when a distant, vague command comes down from the executive suite and employees are simply expected to fall in line.
Help is available!
Need some help? Performance Dimensions Group is dedicated to optimizing your organization’s productivity by helping you attract, engage, develop, align and retain top-performing employees. And a big part of doing so is fully understanding organizational culture — and targeting ways to improve it. You can contact us here.
Building a High-Performance Culture: Raise It Up or Tear It Down?
Leader’s Toolkit
Building a High-Performance Culture: Raise It Up or Tear It Down?
“A culture is made — or destroyed — by its articulate voices.” ~ Ayn Rand
As the new year turns from spring to summer, it’s time to start thinking about the house you’ve built over and around your organization. Specifically, we want to help you envision your organizational leaders as “cultural architects.” As a leader, it’s your job to create and sustain culture in an organization. Yet shaping the culture can, at times, be a heavy burden to carry.
Your organization’s culture is the foundation upon which your results sit. A weak, dysfunctional or misaligned culture will usually yield poor results. A strong, high-functioning, well-aligned culture, on the other hand, will typically bind people together to produce amazing results.
Organizational culture is generally defined as the values, beliefs, symbols and norms people follow in the execution of an organization’s day-to-day business transactions. It shows up in behaviors that are considered acceptable and unacceptable — behaviors that begin and end with the attitudes and actions of leadership.
6 phases of construction
So, as leaders, you can choose to either build a high-performance culture or allow a variety of destructive forces to tear down your culture. If we look at the raising up of an effective culture as a construction project, here are six phases of the job that you’ll need to complete:
1. Goal setting: The building plans. Every construction project begins with a plan, right? In the same vein, leaders must set specific goals to drive success and point people in the right direction. Goals can be thought of as the overall plan for what needs to be accomplished during a given period in order to achieve key organizational objectives.
To ensure buy-in and line-of-sight, be sure to allow employees plenty of input in establishing their own short- and long-term goals. In addition, ensure objectives are put in writing using the “SMART” criteria (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-bound), prioritized and regularly evaluated.
2. Expectation setting: The pre-project meeting. Before most construction projects, the contractor sits down with his project manager and workers and goes over the building plans. Why? Because putting something down on paper isn’t enough — expectations must be established. Clarify items such as:
- The roles employees will play in each given project,
- Specific behavioral expectations (what’s acceptable/unacceptable),
- What resources are available and where to find them,
- How the work/project is important to the organization, and
- How to communicate about progress, changes and obstacles.
Clear expectations are as important as the goals you set. In fact, research has shown that a lack of clear expectations is often the root cause of poor performance. Expectations can be thought of as the “means” or how one achieves his or her goals. Expectations set the boundaries of behavior so people can “play big” and “play fair” as they work to achieve their goals.
3. Continuous feedback and coaching: “The barking foreman.” When many of us think of a construction project in progress, we might think of workers clambering about a half-built structure, pounding hammers and carrying different building elements. But we may also picture a foreman or project manager walking around, barking orders to the hardworking crew.
Now the barking part isn’t advisable in most work environments. But your busy workers do need effective systems in place for determining whether they’re making progress and meeting stated goals and expectations. A few ideas might be:
- Simple scorecards to denote “gains,” “wins” and “losses” toward an outcome,
- Budgets and profit and loss statements for financially related activities,
- Customer feedback forms for customer-facing employees, and
- Weekly, monthly or quarterly production data for suitable employees.
Other key factors are verbal feedback and an open, two-way dialogue.
Leaders must create a feedback-rich environment where employees know where they stand. Course-correction feedback (when an employee has drifted too far from the goal) and acknowledgment and praise (for progress and momentum in achieving the goal) are equally important. In fact, studies have shown that a 5:1 ratio of positive interactions/feedback to negative promotes the most effective self-development and performance.
In short, communication is critical to creating and maintaining a high-performance culture. Leaders are visible, caring individuals who provide “state of the organization” information regularly and don’t shield employees from bad news. They share expectations, provide feedback and acknowledge strengths. High-performing cultures manage to strike a balance of both quality and quantity of information communicated.
4. Development: Raising the roof. As a construction project nears its finish, the roof — either literally or figuratively — is raised. The property is being developed into something new, useful and exciting.
So should it be with employees. Leaders need to create and execute an ongoing process to develop staff members in their areas of strength and interest. The best managers/leaders find ways to make every day a “development day” for their people. Specific ideas include:
- Stretch projects or strategic assignments,
- Discussing development areas during 1:1 meetings,
- Providing current and future job-related training opportunities,
- Succession planning,
- Internal advancement ideas, and
- General career planning.
Leaders have these and many other methods at their disposal to grow, shape and engage employees while improving organizational performance.
5. Performance appraisals: The punch list. At the very end of a project, most contractors must complete a “punch list.” This is an itemized document reflecting precisely what needs to be finished to truly complete the project. Similarly, performance appraisals provide a summary at the end of a given term that lets employees know how well they’re meeting expectations and progressing toward their goals.
In terms of driving performance, however, an annual appraisal is your least effective tool. People want to know how they’re doing in the here and now, yet such appraisals focus largely on the past.
Performance comprises both results (what) and behavior (how). So, to do an appraisal right, you need to address both the “what” and the “how.” Set up appraisals on regular cycles and, of course, follow the golden rule: There should be no surprises! Always step in immediately when problems arise — don’t wait until the next appraisal.
6. Recognition and reward: Celebrating completion. The successful end of a construction project is generally referred to as “completion.” It’s something that contractors strive to reach efficiently and profitably. And, at least for large projects, they often celebrate when they get there successfully.
Encouragement and celebration in every organization are critical. Leaders must recognize progress as well as accomplishment of a goal, so employees know they’re on the right track and will keep striving for success. Recognition doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, what distinguishes recognition from rewards is the use of “I” words that create “intrinsic” rewards, which tend to last longer and be more meaningful to employees than monetary or “extrinsic” rewards. Intrinsic rewards include things such as:
- Assignments of more interesting work,
- Involvement in key projects or decisions,
- Opportunities to work independently, and
- Sharing information.
Another good approach might be to share success stories during staff meetings or events or in company e-mails or a newsletter (if you have one). Oral or written praise delivered in this manner can serve as a real morale booster to recipients.
Whereas recognition tends to be intangible, rewards are generally tangible. They include statues, company merchandise or plaques. Of course, rewards may also be financial — such as spot bonuses, merit raises or other monetary incentives. Remember, the more timely the recognition/reward is given, the stronger the connection to performance.
The demolition crew
We’ve listed above the six phases of building a positive culture. But what about the behaviors that can tear one down? These are just as important to identify when trying to make productive changes to your organization. As you endeavor to raise up your organization’s culture, watch out for the demolition crew:
Flawed character. Dishonesty, intentionally poor communication and blame can sabotage any culture.
Fear. Organizations that refuse to take any risks and that avoid problems and tough decisions typically don’t get far.
Unchecked power. If leaders have or need complete control over others, a culture won’t thrive. Employees will feel that collaboration is pointless.
Arrogance. Anyone with too much pride, who is unable to admit mistakes, ask for help or recognize the value of others, is more than likely a liability. These individuals can poison even the best-intentioned culture.
Ineffective coaches. At the end of every season, no matter what the sport, a number of coaches (or, in baseball, managers) are usually fired. Most of these individuals may not have been bad employees, per se. But, in their employers’ opinions, they failed to develop a winning environment for their players. This dilemma can apply to any type of organization — which doesn’t necessarily mean you should fire a bad coach, but he or she may need additional training or, in worst cases, reassignment.
You are the architect
Leaders play a key role in the process of creating a positive, high-performing culture. You are, in fact, the architect. Your behavior, attitude, language or jargon, style of dress, decision-making process, everyday work practices and strategic direction create the cultural blueprint for not only your employees, but also clients, suppliers and anyone else who comes in contact with your organization.
Thus, as a leader and architect, you’ve got to recognize the boundary lines of your existing culture, align your strategies accordingly and always be on the lookout for ways to improve it. For help assessing your culture, determining whether your leadership style/habits are aligned with your organization’s strategic objectives, and targeting effective improvements for the future, please contact us.
LEAD, GROW, INSPIRE: Rousing Quotes To Get Your Staff Rolling
- “If you show people the problems, and you show people the solutions, they will be moved to act.” ∼ Bill Gates
- “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” ∼ George Patton
- “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” ∼ Jack Welch
- “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” ∼ John Maxwell
- “A man watches his pear tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe fruit at length falls into his lap.” ∼ Abraham Lincoln
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ∼ Mark Twain
- “Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.” ∼ Theodore Roosevelt
- “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” ∼ Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ∼ John Quincy Adams
- “LEAD with heart and authenticity; GROW a little every day; INSPIRE the best in yourself and others.” ∼ Lynda Silsbee, Performance Dimensions Group
Spark Your Team on Staff Appreciation Day This Year
No Cost
- Write a personal thank-you note (or at least send an e-mail).
- Give employees a longer lunch break for the day.
- Create weekly or monthly awards to recognize those whose actions go unnoticed.
- Acknowledge specific staff members in status reports.
- Support “flex-friendly” schedules.
- Give note cards to every team and have members write positive messages to each other.
- Pay every employee a personal visit and practice nonverbal positive behavior cues, such as smiling.
- Celebrate birthdays in new and imaginative ways.
- Produce your own virtual recognition awards using e-mail blasts or e-cards.
- Bake a cake, cupcakes, cookies, pie, gluten-free muffins … well, you get the idea — everyone loves food!
- Please top performers with a prime parking spot.
Minimal Cost
- Find out each employee’s hobby and buy an appropriate gift.
- Distribute restaurant gift cards.
- Give the gift of wellness: Offer up a spa day.
- Provide weekly team breakfasts.
- Have $5 coffee cards ready to give away.
- Inscribe your favorite book with a thank-you note and give it to a team member who you know will enjoy it.
- Hold a surprise pizza party.
- Hand out cards with movie tickets.
- Set up barbeques in the parking lot and have a cookout.
- Enhance employees’ vacation time by giving them $100 before they leave.
When Spring Cleaning Goes Wrong
Warm bodies abound: Finding the right fit
Now hold on, you might say, the economy remains in slow recovery mode. If we do unintentionally lose a few, we can get them right back. There’s still a line of able-skilled applicants around the block, right? Not necessarily. A Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey of 601 small business owners conducted in January of this year found that 53% of respondents had difficulty finding the right employees — and 24% stated that this challenge had hurt their businesses. So, while you may be able to find the proverbial “warm bodies,” you could have a tough time replacing employees who:- Specialize in the skill sets you need,
- Know the ins and outs of your company already, and
- Mesh well with your existing culture and workforce.