Rest and Rejuvenation

There is a commercial playing now that shows kids playing and chatting to each other. One says, “Can you believe that American workers don’t use their paid vacation days—did you hear me, I said PAID vacation days!”

I think the ad is for Mastercard and they’d like us to use their card on vacation but whatever the motivation for the commercial, I am pleased they are pointing out such a huge issue in the US and it really makes me wonder why people don’t take time off.

I’ve heard people say they don’t use their paid time off because they worry the job won’t be there when they get back or that while they are away, their boss will notice mistakes they’ve made that might have gone unnoticed if they’d been on the job.  How sad is that?

As I write this, I am sitting the in the Tulleries Gardens outside the Louvre in Paris. It is a spectacular Monday with bright blue skies and all around me are flowers in bloom.  Children are playing while parents and nannies chat nearby.  I am sitting in a café sipping a coffee.  My mind is clear because I am totally relaxed and I am not focused on the usual “to do” lists that drive my workday at home.  Today I have no deliverables, phone calls to make or book chapters to write—I am free to think and to create.

We all have experiences that feed our souls and open our hearts.  What does it for me is being in a place with beautiful artworks or listening to music.  In Paris, that means spending time on the 5^th floor of the Musee d’Orsay with the Impressionists or attending a concert in the stunningly beautiful Sainte Chapell surrounded by the most incredible stained glass windows listening to Vivaldi.  My spirits sore, my mind is free and I am renewed.

I am not suggesting that everyone needs to take a long vacation or go to Paris —I am suggesting that we all need to step out of our routine and get some rest.  I find I am most creative when I am not tired and not focused on the daily routine.  A weekend away is enough most of the year but from time to time, it is worth it to take a week or two to really unwind.

Rest and rejuvenation go hand in hand for me.  What do you do to unwind?  Are you taking time off to allow your body to rest and your spirit to rejuvenate? Take those vacation days and see what it does for you and your career!

Carrots Dressed as Sticks

A few years back The Economist published an interesting article entitled:  “Carrots Dressed as Sticks.”  This article still provides an important lesson for today’s workplace.

Tanjim Hossain of the University of Toronto and John List of the University of Chicago conducted a study that focused on the hypothesis that the value people attach to objects is affected by what they already have; people seem to hate losing something already in their possession more than gaining something equivalent that is not currently theirs.

The study was conducted in a Chinese electronics factory.  The managers in this factory were interested in exploring ways to make their bonus plans more effective.  Instead of focusing on the amounts of the bonuses, Hossain and List instead decided to concentrate on the wording of the letter informing workers of the details of the bonus plan.

One group of workers was told at the beginning of the week that they would receive a bonus of 80 yuan ($12) at the end of the week if they met a certain production target.  A second group was told they had “provisionally” been awarded the same bonus, but they would “lose” it if they did not reach their target.

The different ways of describing the bonus actually amount to the same thing.  However, the hypothesis of the study was that the second way of describing the bonus would work better.  The workers would think of the provisional bonus as “already theirs,” and work harder to prevent it from being taken away.  This is exactly what Hossain and List found.  The fear of loss was a better motivator than the prospect of gain.

Would we find the same results everywhere?  Possibly, but probably not.  What motivates employees is often surprising and unpredictable.  There is no one answer.  Every organization is different, every work situation is different, and every individual is different.

Employers would do well to remember this.  It is easy to mistakenly assume that we know what the key motivators are for our staff.  The best organizations don’t assume—they listen.  They take the time to understand their workforce.  By doing this, they are in a better position to understand what their employees truly value—and what makes them want to stay.

What motivates the people that work in your organization?  There won’t be one answer.  That’s the challenge—and the beauty—of human motivation.

Thanks to John White for this week’s post.   John is the principal of JD White & Associates an HR consulting firm that focuses on Compensation and Benefits, HR Effectiveness and Compliance, Professional Development and Communication.

Fifty Shades of Office Romance

I shuddered as the phone rang once again. Busy days are the norm in Human Resources, but this one was turning out to be impossible. As soon as I put down the phone, it rang again.

"Maryanne, this is Pete from the Detroit office. I've got Mark, our division president, here with me. We've got a sticky situation we want to talk to you about before we take any action. It seems that two of our senior leaders were spotted Saturday night having what appeared to be a romantic dinner together. An employee from another department spotted them across the restaurant, though they didn't appear to see her. She observed them holding hands during dinner and they kissed at the door."

As we continued to talk and they answered my questions, I found out that:

·       She reports to him.

·       Both are married, although she is in the process of a divorce, and he may be separated from his wife, but that is not clear.

·       They are both valued contributors.

·       He heads up a significant line of business, and she's responsible for a key project within that business line.

During the discussion, Mark asked if they could be disciplined for violating company policy and I responded, “What company policy are they violating?  We don’t prohibit dating – we only address family members in reporting relationships.”  We’d given this a great deal of thought when creating out policies.  We didn’t have the time or the desire to monitor personal relationships, and we trusted that our employees were adults and would act accordingly.

Pete exclaimed, “But what about our ethics policy?  They’re both married!”

 “Pete, we’re not in the business of regulating personal morality.  Let’s look at the issues here.  We’ve had one observation outside the workplace, and up until that time there was no indication that they were in a relationship.  In fact, you were both surprised about it.  There’s been nothing about the relationship that’s been an issue at work until now.  What’s changed is that there is now a perception of a problem – that she may be receiving preferential treatment from him because of their reporting relationship and their personal friendship.”

“Have you considered making them part of the solution?” I asked.  “Surely they’ve given this some thought and are aware that their personal relationship will have an impact at work on some level.”

“That’s good thinking, Maryanne,” said Mark.  “I was blindsided by the news and may have jumped to conclusions.   Now that I think about it, we may be able to move her project to another line of business.”  Pete liked that solution and pointed out that if she were moved into a lesser role it could look like a disciplinary action and be perceived as discriminatory on our part – her job’s impacted, his isn’t – showing preferential treatment to him. 

We agreed that Mark and Pete would meet with the couple together and let them know they'd been seen out together. They'd talk about the perception this creates and the problems that result from the perception, while reinforcing that they were both valued members of the leadership team. They'd ask the couple for their thoughts and brainstorm potential solutions. We agreed that no immediate action had to or would be taken until all of the options were thoroughly explored, and that they would follow up with me once the discussion had taken place.

As I took off my headset and took a deep breath to clear my head, I thought, "It's never black and white when you're dealing with people. There are always at least fifty shades of grey!"

Maryanne Robertson, SPHR

Chief HR Officer

P.S. Who is Maryanne Robertson, and why is she writing this blog? Stay tuned in the coming months to learn more!

Teaching, Not Telling

The cashier at the grocery store had a name badge on and it indicated she was a trainee.  She didn't know the code for one of our produce items and she had to call the manager over.  Waiting for the manager, she was apologizing profusely.  "No worries," I told her. "Everyone has been new on the job at some time."

The manager came over, gave her the code, but continued to stand there, looking over her shoulder and critiquing her every move. "When you scan the items, do it this way. Put the bags on the rack like this, it's easier to pack them that way, and it's faster."  It went on and on and poor trainee was just getting more nervous and flustered.   Talk about a helicopter manager!  "She's doing fine," I told Manager.  “We're in no hurry."  The store wasn't that busy. 

Manager finally backed off and left trainee to do her job.  Trainee continued to apologize – profusely.  I flashed her a warm smile and reminded her that it was a good time to practice and learn while things were slow.  I also assured her that she'd find her stride and her own routine for scanning and packing.  Accuracy first, speed will come.  This was a teachable moment, but her teacher (Manager) was telling, not teaching.

A good coach is like a good teacher – someone who explains and engages in a way that is nonthreatening and helpful.  A good teacher allows the student to find his or her own way, so the student (or Trainee in this case) feels good about herself. 

Every manager and leader needs to understand that coaching is a process that enables learning and development allowing staff to improve performance or meet goals.  What struck me in this situation was that the new trainee wasn’t struggling with her performance, she just didn’t have all the codes committed to memory yet.  This wasn’t an unusual situation.  Good coaching skills giving feedback in an effective manner.  This includes working on one thing at a time.  If you try to address too many things all at once, the employee can become overwhelmed.  This is exactly what happened to the trainee.

A good coach lets the person being coached find his or her own way.  Clearly, this is not what Manager was doing.  She was telling – pointing out actions that she perceived to be mistakes (or not the best way of doing things) rather than pointing out successes.   I couldn’t help but wonder if my accolades about Trainee’s performance fell on deaf ears!

Manager’s often must (and should) give feedback to staff members.  Feedback should acknowledge positive performance as well as areas for improvement.  If improvement is required, make a request for change – “If you’re having difficulty with price checks and scanning while bagging the articles, please ask for help and we’ll send someone over to bag the items.” Manager in this case, was directing Trainee to “Do it my way!”

Good coaching skills will make you a good teacher.  When you teach, you:

·       Build confidence and trust

·       Increase employee engagement and retention

·       Develop people, letting them know they matter

·       Let people know you value their contributions and skills

Aren’t these outcomes we all want for our organizations?