The Career Encouragement Blog

Can't do" or "Won't do"?

It is frustrating and de-motivating to work with employees who aren't doing their job.  Believe it or not, most under-performing employees are also frustrated and de-motivated.  Management thinking in the 90's was that job satisfaction would lead to high performance so the management emphasis was on perks and rewards that would help employees be happy and engaged. More recently, there is a growing body of research to show that job satisfaction follows high performance.  Therefore managers who want to have satisfied employees need to focus on helping employees perform well. 

There are generally two reasons why employees do not perform well at work:

1. Can't do.  This occurs when the objectives are not clear to the employee and/or she does not have the requisite skills or resources to do the assigned tasks.  It could also be because she doesn't have the necessary support or sponsorship from key leaders to accomplish the task.
2. Won't do.  This occurs when an employee lacks motivation and fails to take personal accountability for accomplishing her work. 

The first order of business for a Manager who is dealing with an underperforming employee is to sort out whether it is a "can't do" or a "won't do" situation.  "Can't do's" are addressed through clarification of objectives, skills training, and/or adding resources. If the employee is working hard but none of these approaches work and she still cannot do the job, reassignment may be necessary. 

"Won't do's" are addressed through performance management - clarifying goals, monitoring activities weekly or even daily, tracking progress, and managing "up or out."  This is the scenario every manager hates.  Not surprisingly, employees hate it too.

In my experience, most situations of low performance are of the "can't do" variety.  These situations are time consuming, but they are the stuff that real management is made of.  Helping a "can't do" employee move to a "can do" is an incredibly satisfying management experience, it's good for the company, and it lifts morale all around.

I need your advice!

I need some advice.  I got a phone call from a colleague  - Barb - who is an HR Manager at a 200 person consulting firm.  She wanted some advice.  It seems one of the Administrative Assistants at the firm had come into her office with a complaint -we'll call her Leah.  Leah was upset because one of the Directors she reported to apparently had a habit of "scratching himself" whenever he was standing by her desk talking to her.  Leah wanted to know if she could report him for sexual harassment.

Barb wanted to know two things:

1. First, is this really an HR issue?
2. Second, if it is, what should she do?

Folks, I must admit, I am a bit stumped by this one.  Is this an HR issue, or is it a communication issue between two co-workers?  Because there is a power differential involved (he is the boss) I believe Leah does need to be guaranteed that there is a confidential and safe place she can raise the issue.  HR tends to be that place.  So if HR takes it on, how do we go about it?  Is this sexual harassment?  Does the Director simply have a mindless habit that he does regardless of who he is with?  Or is his scratching targeted towards Leah?  How would I find that out? 

What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

On blogging holiday until next week.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Great Career Advice

Pamela Slim has a post called An Open letter to Employees.  She gives 5 useful and encouraging tips for enjoying  your career and life more:

1. Don't pretend your job is secure.
2. Pat attention to who you go to lunch with.
3. Always have a plan B, C, and D.
4. Don't think of your job as a paycheck, think of it as a learning opportunity.
5. Take responsibility for yourself.

I especially like point #3.  She says:

"You are what you eat, say and who you hang out with.  If you want your life to grow in a positive direction, surround yourself with people who are eager to learn, problem-solve and support each other.  I don't mean you can never complain - just don't get stuck whining all the time."

Well said!  Read the entire posting here. 

10 Things You Shouldn't Do at Work

Here's a fun article on 10 Things You Shouldn't Do at Work.  I agree with all of them except #4 - calling in sick when you are healthy.  My personal opinion is that if your company offers sick days and you are a typically healthy person who never uses them up, it's okay to take the occasional "mental health day" to recharge your batteries. 

I'm not talking about shift work where if you don't show, someone else is forced to work a mandatory double. And I'm not talking about an hourly admin job where your co-workers get lashed to the telephone all day if you don't come in and do your part.  I'm talking about corporate jobs in the knowledge economy where our work output is in the form of deliverables vs. hours. 

Those of us who work in these environments have all had occasion to work with people who show up at work "no matter what" and make a point of letting others know they never miss a day.  The problem with this attitude is that it prizes face time over accomplishments and can limit creativity as a result.   To them I say:  "Most of us wish that you would miss a day once in awhile!  Take a break, recharge your batteries...come back happier! 

I know managers who have suggested that certain employees take a mental health day - they aren't impressed with their suggestion is ignored.  So if you've been feeling uber-stressed lately, and you haven't taken a sick day all year, and/or your boss and co-workers have been giving you subtle (and not so subtle) hints that you need to ramp down a bit, you haven't taken a sick day all year, why not do yourself and your co-workers a favor and take a mental health day?

Why You Shouldn't Be Colorblind

Carmen van Kerckhove has a great post on Why You Shouldn't Be Colorblind.  She takes on the prevalent middle management myth that to say "Oh I don't even notice people's race" demonstrates that you have great respect for diversity.

Why is this a myth?  First, because it's a lie.  We all notice the physical characteristics of the people we work with.  Second, to say we don't notice physical characteristics in some way renders these people invisible to us.  How respectful is that?

So how should we view racial differences?  Carmen says:

"Here’s the thing. Noticing a person’s race doesn’t make you racist. What does make you racist is if you make assumptions about that person’s intellectual, physical, or emotional characteristics based on the race you think the person is."

  Read the rest of the post here. 

Job Search Rule #27 - Treat a Phone Interview like a "REAL" Interview

There's no doubt that in order to do well in business, you need to have good telephone skills.  These skills are especially important when you have a phone interview with a potential employer.  I do a lot of phone interviews and I'm surprised at how many candidates treat our time together like a casual social chat.  In reality, phone interviews are screening tools HR folks and Hiring Managers use to save time. 

If I have 10 resumes that look promising, I need to weed out at least 6 or 7 of them.  There is no way I can ask hiring managers to do 10 face to face interviews.  This is where a 20-30 minute phone conversation comes into play.  20 minutes isn't a lot of time to make a favorable impression, so here are some things to think about:

#1 - When possible, prepare for the phone interview!  Some HR reps like to catch people by surprise for a phone interview and see how candidates respond on the fly.  That's a valid approach, and certainly gives us some information about a candidate.  Personally, I like to call or e-mail candidates and schedule the phone interview for 2 days out.  This way I know a candidate has had opportunity to prepare, and I can assess her interest level by how prepared she is. For example, the first question I will usually ask is, "Have you seen our website."  A candidate who has had two days to prepare and hasn't looked at the website, suddenly seems a lot less promising to me.

#2 - Give concise answers.  Most interviews have a set of standard questions they will be asking all candidates for the position. This way they can compare across candidates to pick the strongest ones. I take detailed noted to help me remember candidates, but if an answers takes too long to come to a conclusion I usually scribble "wandered" and wait for the candidate to pause so I can ask the next question. If your answer wanders, it is difficult to make comparisons, and you may end up in the "no go" pile as a result.  Listen closely to the question and give as concise an answer as possible.

#3 - Be direct on basic issues.  A phone interview benefits both you and the employer because it gives you a chance to see if you are a match on some very basic issues before investing the time and energy in a face to face meeting.  Some issues recruiters may want to clarify with you are your career goals, salary expectations and reporting structure.  For example, depending on how a company is structured, HR may report directly to the CEO, or it could report to Finance.  I know that many HR pros prefer not to report through Finance.  So if I was filling an HR job that reported to a CFO, I would clarify up front what a candidate's feelings are on that so we could save time for both of us if it just wouldn't work. 

#4 - To quote Preacher Don in the movie Rebound, "Put a little pep in it!"  The interviewer cannot see your gestures or facial expressions on the phone, so she is reliant on your words and tone of voice to convey meaning.  You'd be surprised at how many people have flat monotone voices on the phone.  It makes a world of difference to how you come across as a professional if you put a smile and some energy in your voice. If you aren't sure how you sound on the phone, call your own voice mail and leave yourself some practice answers, then go back and listen to them to see how you sound. 

Brazen Careerist had a great posting on 5 Ways to Do Better in a Phone Interview.  I love her advice!  She suggests that you:

1. Attend to your surroundings.
2. Dress for the part.
3. Stand up.
4. Prepare for the most obvious questions.
5. Don't forget to close.

Read the entire posting here. 

Bottom line:  Interviewers want to like you.  If you do well on the phone interview, they will be doing PR for you before you ever come in for the face-to-face interview - i.e, "I'm really excited for you to meet John.  He was great on the phone - articulate, really got our key business issues, pleasant to talk with.  I really think you're going to like him."  Who wouldn't want to have a set up like that before meeting the potential boss? 

Humor for Friday...

The next time you get a rejection letter from a hoped-for employer, just send them the following:

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for your letter of [date of the rejection letter]. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me employment at this time. This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite [Name of the Company]'s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time. Therefore, I will initiate employment with your firm immediately. I look forward to working with you.

Best of luck in rejecting future candidates.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Show me the money!

Ann Bares over at Compensation Force writes about the Growing Employee-Employer Disconnect on Compensation.  She notes that the workforce today is more savvy and demanding about compensation policies and practices, and a "because I said so" approach to doling out comp just won't cut it anymore.  She advises organizations (i.e, HR Reps and Managers):

"[we have] an employee population that is more inclined to challenge and/or disbelieve an employer's pay data, practices and policies than in the past.  We - as HR and reward professionals - need to appreciate and be prepared to respond to this challenge, and I think one of the best tools is transparency.  I'm not talking about necessarily sharing everyone's personal compensation information with everyone else, but rather openly sharing how the pay program is built, where the data used to build it comes from, how it is designed to operate, and what its philosophical underpinnings are meant to be.  And - certainly - I think individual employees should fully understand how the program applies to them (i.e., their salary range, etc.).

I love this advice because it advocates that both organizations and individuals have a responsibility to be savvy and transparent in the comp arena.  If an organization is "secretive" about pay practices, and employees are focused on personal financial desires rather than trying to connect to the marketplace, it's a recipe for disaster in the relationship.  But if both are focused on market data and the demand for particular skill sets, they can have a productive conversation about results and rewards.

Just imagine what we could create together in the workforce if companies were transparent in their pay practices and employees had clear, reasonable, and business-savvy salary expectations!

Job Search Rule #26 - Don't Tell Me Why You Got Laid-off

Last week I interviewed John.  During our conversation I found out that he was only on the market because he had been laid off from his last position. That's okay.  These things happen.

I also found out (despite my best intentions to steer him differently) that John had really loved his last position, that he would never have left on his own, that he missed his last position, and that it had been ideal for him with his unique set of skills.  These factoids were all wrapped up in a long rambling story about the industry and company events that had led management to make the decisions to do layoffs.

Whew! 

What I couldn't seem to get at was why he was interested in the job that he had applied for and how his skills were going to benefit my company.  He was very qualified for the job, but he landed in the "no go" pile anyway. 

I have some colleagues who prefer not to hire candidates who have been laid off from their prior position on the theory that the low performers are put on the layoff list first.  I've managed enough workforce reductions in the past decade to know that perfectly good employees land on the layoff lists for reasons beyond their control.  So I'm not adverse to interviewing them - if anything, I am empathetic to their plight and secretly hoping they'll do well in the interview.

However, I do look for evidence that the candidate is the kind of person who can handle adversity, bounce back, and move on.  Therefore, I am very sensitive to how people handle questions like "What has you looking for a new career opportunity at this time?"  And I definitely tend to pass on cover letters that start with the phrase that "Only an unexpected layoff has me looking for a new position at this time..." 

As a recruiter or hiring manager, I am interested in four primary things:

1. Can you DO the job at hand (i.e., do you have the skills and experiences)?
2. Do you WANT to do this job?
3. Can you BUILD PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS with my employees and clients?
4. Are we a MATCH in terms of culture and work style?

Notice that none of these areas require a job seeker to go into a lengthy discussion of how much he loved his past job and how and why management made layoff decisions.  The only way to get back into the workforce is to focus on the work you can and will do in the future. 

Bottom line:  If you are only on the market due to a layoff, let go of the past and focus on what your potential employer is looking for and how you can meet those needs.