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March 2009 Archives
Developing stronger relationships with your current or former customers, employers or clients can lead to growth opportunities and possible future employment opportunities.
Throughout my life, I've been blessed with relationships with people that have lasted a lifetime. In 1997 I met people who to this day I still have working relationships with, although we work at different companies. One of my colleagues at college was visiting Disney in 1997 when we first met. Many of his students were down on the Walt Disney World College Program and he was there to meet some of the managers who were managing his students.
After speaking for a bit, we developed a dialogue that has lasted several years. When I mentioned that I wanted to get into teaching someday, he was the first person I thought of to get in touch with. Armed with my resume and with my training with Disney, Gap, and Apple, I interviewed with a colleague of his for my first job as an adjunct instructor. This led to a full-time position a year later.
Sometimes we get caught up in right now vs. letting a relationship grow; what keeps relationships strong with people like this is the contact we have with them that is beyond just the times when we need something.
Q: In a class we talked about an executive from Vodafone who discarded his executive suite and now works everyday with the other employees. My question is this, is it really such a wise move for him to be with his staff everyday? Wouldn't the lines start being blurred between him being a boss and just another worker? I understand he wants to keep a good perception of his work environment but I think it could be just as effective if maybe once a week or once a month spend a day with his staff. Not to mention, can you really get as much work done as an executive without your own space?
Can you really getting a clear perception of your staff's work environment if your seeing it everyday? Wouldn't it be more effective if you saw it with more of an objective opinion more rarely?
A: While certainly keeping yourself in the middle of an operation can keep you on the pulse of what is going on, you don't want to get yourself into borderline micromanagement. The example you mention regarding Vodafone certainly is one where it appears to be a best practice for this operation.
I'd personally rather see someone spend more time with their staff but maintain a separate office. However, if being more accessible is important, perhaps this strategy of symbolic presence will demonstrate enough to encourage people that you really are an approachable leader.
Effective leaders know how to leave the details to the people through proper delegation, while still maintaining a pulse on the future of the business through reflection and escaping the day-to-day business from time to time.
Q: What are some of the intended consequences of applying behavior modification based on the growing problem of absenteeism and excessive sick leave?
A: Behavior modification is meant to be used to reward people for what they do well and to punish those or coach those who do not.
In the case of absenteeism and excessive sick leave, one could take a positive approach and award those with perfect or near perfect attendance with incentives such as extra days off, non-monetary or monetary bonuses.
To combat those behaviors that a leader wants to eliminate (lateness, frequent absences), employers can develop progressive disciplinary systems based on frequency and reasoning.
One of the practices I employ in the classroom is to allow excused absences when students notify me in writing or via phone call before class begins. Certainly, there are valid reasons for absenteeism. This semester, however, I have also employed a strategy by which if a student misses class without prior notice, they lose points off their grade, and if they do so twice, they fail the course. This has resulted in better attendance, better communication between me and the students, and the expectation that there is a dialogue about any reason the student must miss class.
This same type of method can be applied in the workplace (and I have seen it used effectively). Someone who doesn't call and doesn't show is treated much more severely that someone who calls 2 hours ahead of time, the night before, or alerts management further in advance than these rules dictate.
When it comes down to it, the effectiveness of behavior modification can vary between individuals and the group as a whole, but it can certainly set the tone in your department about how people should respect each others time, as well as the businesses.
I've been blessed to have the opportunity to be on both sides of the interview table on several occasions. Early in my career, I had opportunities to hear from the very best in my companies share with me their experiences in interviewing, and tips they had for me to make me comfortable (and hopefully effective) in interviewing for new roles.
Some of the best advice I have received included the following:
Don't sound too polished or rehearsed - go in knowing your stuff, but when questions are asked, give it time to breathe before you answer. If you sound too rehearsed, it can come off as cockiness or unnatural
Make them feel like you belong - one of the most successful interviews I had was with a team of four managers (the GM, my eventual boss, and two of my eventual peers). I went in thinking I already had the job, but not showing it. How I did this was to really turn the interview into a conversation with people I felt I already knew. I ended the interview by saying "Thank you all so much for your time, and I really look forward to the possibility of us working together."
Be comfortable asking THEM questions - when you go the extra mile and ask people about why they work where they do, you can certainly again find ways to get them to consider you. If there is someone interviewing you who has been there longer than you, ask them " (insert name), tell me what has inspired you to stay here for the past (number) years."
Showing "Bridled enthusiasm" - being too eager for an interview again can come across as overconfidence, or the perception that you need the job vs wanting the job. Certainly express your passion for what you do, but maybe consider toning it down a bit so you don't seem like you need this job or else.
One best practice I saw employed at a retail business was to give employees voluntary overtime on a regular basis rather than hire an additional full-time employee. It enabled the store to keep two or three employees happy. These employees didn't want to have to go out and get a second job, so by offering them regular overtime each week, they were able to fill an entire line of shifts with these people rather than spending the money on the benefits and training of a new employee during peak periods.
Many businesses I see seem hesistant to run overtime, but in the end, in some places, it may make more sense to operate like I mention above rather than hire somebody who you may not need in non-peak periods.
Likewise, you don't want to run into an "undertime" situation where you run your staff so thin that you work your managers excessively and have them doing upwards of 60 hours a week on salary while also performing hourly duties.
Undertime to me is any time over the expected management commitment that involves managers working more than a 40-45 hour workweek and/or take on responsibilities that should go to the staff.
Coming from someone who has worked some undertime in my time, I find that the leaders who end up working overtime end up exascerbating the problem of understaffing. They take on roles that are more suited to their subordinates, and take away from the bigger picture issues that leaders must address.
Prior to landing my first job in the hospitality industry (and prior to starting my Bachelor's degree program at UMass), I decided it probably would be a good idea to get out and get my feet wet in the industry before I started a degree program I might not be interested in. I took a road trip to Mystic, CT and stopped in unannounced at 22 different hotels, filling out applications at each. Every place I visited, I also asked if I could say hello to one of the managers to introduce myself. In some cases, the manager wasn't there; in others, they said they wouldn't meet with me on the spot, and in a few places I did get to meet the manager. From this trip, I ended up getting 9 interviews and 3 job offers within 2 weeks. I remembered this experience when one of my soon-to-be grads asked about what to do to find a job right now at a hotel front desk. I told her about this experience, and how even back the I knew the best way to get in the door was literally to walk in the door without responding to an ad.
My encouragement to her was to check out places that she'd like to work and either stop in or ask for an informational interview. This would lead to getting to know key players in the field and possibly open up doors that may not quite be open yet.
I'm looking forward to hearing soon that she went to 22 hotels, interviewed at 9, and got 3 job offers just like me.
Q: Why do you think that managers hire unqualified people? Example - you have 3 candidates for the same job; one who is older and very qualified, one who is qualified, and one with no experience and knows nothing about the job. But the one who is unexperienced and knows nothing about the job gets the job. Why?
A: It depends on the situation.
Salary demands could be at play here; perhaps the two candidates who are qualified priced themselves out of the running.
Another way to look at it could be that the employer wants to bring in someone with a fresh perspective that can be trained the way the company wants them to be trained, rather than someone with experience who may or not be set in their ways.
Many successful companies will bring in people from other industries rather than from other firms in the same industry because they want people who aren't already of the mindset of another company in the same field. Southwest wouldn't hire people who worked for other airlines for just this reason; you don't always want to bring someone's preconceived notions of how things are done in another company.
Q: W hy would an individual accept a position in a company where he does not meet all the qualifications knowing this position level requires extremely high levels of accuracy, and proficiency, knowing that the job generates high levels of stress for the employee?
A: It comes down to the SKA's and the PIP's. My HR professor at UMass, Dr. Fernsten, instilled this in us from day one. You should hire people based on PIP's, not SKA's, if you feel they can do the job with proper training.
What are PIP's? They are Personality, Interests and Preferences. These are the natural fiber of someone, and are often less malleable than SKA's - Skills, Knowledge and Abilities. Hiring people to fit your organization, who love your organization, and have the personality and interest to join that organization is so important; if they have the right character, you can often train them to do ANYTHING.
I recall a position I took back in 2005 working for a consulting company. The initial call was for someone to fix and maintain their computers and to update their website. At the time, I had little or no experience with websites, but I had good business sense, was getting my MBA, and wanted to work for this company. They brought me in for my PIP's, not by SKA's. I still work for them, and one of the comments from them was that I really didn't know a lot about websites when I started with them, but I demonstrated interest, and they found me to be trustworthy and had the right personality for the work.
Q: What are some key things that you can do to make your resume stand out
when applying for jobs via the internet?
A: Here are a few suggestions that I have found have worked for me and others.
THE BASICS
1. Bulleted lists of responsibilities under each job are a must. Long, drawn out paragraphs rarely catch the readers eye.
2. Font size of 12 (10 if you really need to get everything onto 1 page
3. No fancy fonts or italics
4. Proper verb tenses. If you are in a current job, make sure your verbs are action verbs. (ex. Performing vs, performed)
THE BELLS AND WHISTLES
1. Have a section indicating the specific courses you took at each school you attended. Tailor this to each job you apply for.
2. List a section of activities and clubs; showing a well-rounded background other than just work is important.
To see a format that has worked for me since 1993, you can view a PDF of my resume at the link below.
"I don't know how long it's been going on, I don't know how long the colors were changing to gray..." from Michelle Branch's "This Way"
Sometimes it hits us by surprise when a layoff comes, or when a change in our responsibilities comes along. In the economic climate of today, it is easy to be hit by surprise, but it is so important to remain confident and positive that something better may come along, or that the change came for a reason.
I believe in the concept of planned obsolescence. The concept of lifetime employment is a thing of the past for many. Doing things at your job to help plan your own "demise" can open you up to a whole new world of possibilities.
Recently, I let go of one of my side businesses because it no longer supported my goals and dreams (and just as importantly did not support the expense to keep it going). It has now freed up my time to focus on my teaching, my writing, and all the things that generate profit and possibility.
In a prior role, I had the responsibility to take over the labor schedules for 4 departments and be the sole contributor to the process. I was taken out of the operation to do the work of 4 people. Upon having a few months to really look at the process deeply, I realized that by using technology and good systems, I could still perform the job but also go back to the operation.
If I had been less confident in my abilities, and less confident that I'd still have a job, I might not have done what I did. But I knew in my heart of hearts that it was the right thing to do.
Likewise, I recently had a friend tell me that her company was going through layoffs. She knew how efficient she could be by working from home, and offered to take a pay cut in exchange for working from home and being available 4 days a week instead of 5. She now has the ability to get her business going and work on other assignments that 5th day.
Think about how you can plan to "fire" yourself; you may find it helps prepare yourself in the event someone decides to let you go first.
Q: Suppose that you had a very creative member of your team. They're constantly coming up with excellent ideas that should be brought up at meetings. However, this persons etiquette isn't the best. Would you let others voice their ideas and keep them out of the meetings and in the background, or would you try to help them with their manners so that they can be taken seriously from a group of higher-ups?
A: Although ideally we'd hope everyone would contribute to meetings and respect each other's opinions, sometimes some voices become louder than others. Rather than have this person removed from the meeting, I suggest taking them aside prior to your next meeting and express some of the feelings you have about the situation.
It sounds to me like this person is a valuable contributor to the team, but maybe just needs a little charm school or perhaps just some clarity on how to carry themselves in a meeting.
One word of caution - be careful in your approach. Sometimes I've experienced situations where if someone is approached about their attitude in an accusatory way, they can take it the wrong way. Give them kudos for their contributions, and then talk about the issues.
Q: I am currently working with a small corporation and have been given the responsibility in training supervisors. The supervisors are very different in their backgrounds; some with extensive work experience in a leadership role and some very new to the responsibilities. In seeing the differences in their personalities and leadership abilities I have specialized the training sessions for each supervisor. At this point I am working on having each supervisor focus on their strengths and weaknesses, core values and short-term/ long-term goals with the company. My real challenge is keeping them all positive and motivated to improve personally and professionally, modeling this for the employees working with them. What successes have you found that would help in this situation?
A: I have found what is successful in working with new managers coming on board has been a multi-faceted approach.
1. Lining them up with a mentor in the operation to supplement the work you are doing with them.
2. Focus on growing their strengths, which will often eliminate most if not all weaknesses. For their weaknesses, use those opportunities to find ways that these managers can find those same weaknesses as strenghts in others to fill in the gaps.
3. Encouraging the new leaders to develop processes that seem natural when it comes to adapting to the culture of the organization as well as its employees. One of the things that has worked well for me in the past is to have regular informal and formal meetings with staff members to encourage free discussion.
Q: I'm having a tough time figuring out who to use as a reference for me resume, as I am graduating soon and have limited work experience. Who should I use and who should I approach? A: A professor who you have had several classes with, a former employer you got along with well, or a mentor/manager at your current location (preferably someone you directly report to or who may consider you for promotion.
Many ask whether or not to put references on a resume. I've seen many instances where people put "References Available Upon Request". If you are going to use valuable real estate on your resume by putting in the words "References Available Upon Request", you might as well put the references there.
I once reached out to a fellow colleague in retail at the time to see how things were going with hiring. She commented that she was having a real tough time filling some full-time positions.
I threw a hypothetical at her, and stated "I am available 24 hours a day 6 days a week, will you hire me?"
She asked me what day I was unavailable, to which I replied "Sunday."
She said she couldn't hire me.
This made me realize one of the major problems facing retail then and now; sometimes being so inflexible with someone who is so flexible leads to labor shortages and losing someone worth hiring.
Don't be so inflexible with your staff (or so inflexible as a potential employee) that you can't find a way to make something like this work!
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