- Contacts you have made
- Specialized but transferable knowledge you have gained
- Industry reputation you have built
- Using a proprietary in-house application
- Learning skills that are only applicable in your current company
Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security
Dr Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull wrote an interesting book entitled The Peter Principle (in 1969). The basic premise is that employees are promoted as long as they work competently. This cycle eventually leads to a promotion above their “level of competence”.
Interestingly, we have seen Peter’s corollary “in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out their duties”. The concept of managing upward is the science of managing your incompetent boss to limit possible damage.
If you have spent any amount of time in the business world, you have undoubtedly met a manager whose promotion can only be explained by this theory. As a manager, you have to take a step back and try to find a way to minimize the impact of these “useless people” in your organization.
The most humane approach I have seen is to ensure a person has the required skills and habits before promoting them to the higher position.
In the most extreme case, a company may implement an “up or out” policy in which each employee has a given amount of time to move up the chain of command, otherwise they are fired to allow subordinates (potentially more qualified) to move up.
Real world logic would dictate that your position should be somewhere in the middle. Document the requirements for any senior position and identify the required, nice to have and not required skills. Ensure that all of your potential candidates have or are close to obtaining the required skills. As for the nice to have, you will have to work at educating and coaching the candidate until they achieve mastery of these.
The other potential scenario is that the person is already in a senior position. First you should have a periodic 360 degree performance review which anonymously takes into account feedback from subordinates, peers, superiors and customers. This is a great way to ensure you are being provided an accurate picture of the person. If weaknesses are identified, determine if they can be remedied through education or coaching. Does the person have the propensity to improve and meet the requirements? If not, either demote the person or lay them off. Ultimately it is management’s fault for promoting the employee to their level of incompetence and measures should be implemented to prevent it from occurring again.
The old management mantra says “Reward the good and punish the bad”. The fact is most of you have limited time and often have to prioritize tasks. So which one would you prioritize?
The pre-eminent academic paper on the topic is called “Bad is stronger than good” and can be read here : http://www.csom.umn.edu/Assets/71516.pdf
They methodically walk you through the research and clearly demonstrate that negative information, experiences and people are far more impactful than positive ones.
The ideal situation is where you reward and accentuate the positive and get rid of the negative. The real world being less than perfect, if you had to chose one, go with the latter. In my previous article, I spoke about my time at GE and how they methodically got rid of the bottom 10% of their employees annually [during my time there]. This was their way of purging the system.
Researchers Felps and Mitchell define negative people as “those who don't do their fair share of the work, who are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or who bully or attack others.” They found that “a single "toxic" or negative team member can be the catalyst for downward spirals in organizations.” - http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=30464
Felps and Mitchell warn that one bad apple can spoil the barrel but caution not to lump “out of the box” thinkers into the negative pile. Sometimes they can rock the boat but this is done for the benefit of the organization and not because of bad intentions.
Different researches come to different impact results, but all are negative. Whether you read the one that says one bad employee impacts the others 5 times more than a positive employee or the one that claims a bad employee can sap team productivity by 30-40%, the common denominator of these results is to get rid of the bad.
I advocate coaching employees and if you feel you can turn him/her around then give it a shot but don’t waste too much time. The more time you waste, the bigger that person’s impact on your team.
One thing is clear, you must have a zero-tolerance policy towards these “bad apples”. Try to weed them out during the interview and if they somehow weasel their way into one of you teams, quickly show them the door.
Note: My series on conversational hypnosis is not yet complete but I decided to change the topic a little to ensure I cater to my different readers.
I have spent the better part of the last 10 years managing larger organizations with international footprints. The allure of cheaper labour costs has been too strong to ignore for most organizations. For most, this is a new experience and most are ill-equipped to handle the cultural changes that come with this type of expansion.
In my previous article about Conversational Hypnosis, I emphasized the importance of belief. It colors your perception of the world and how you react to it. Culture is a key driver to belief. If culture defines part of your belief and belief defines your actions/reactions then it is safe to assume that it plays a key role in how employees manage their business dealings.
Understanding belief and culture
I won’t rehash my discussion about belief here (I strongly recommend you read my previous articles about Conversational Hypnosis). I do want to stress how important it is to understand different belief systems and to think about how they are impacted by culture. In its simplest form, culture is how a group of people socialises their citizens. It defines how members of this group interact with each other, how they interact with outsiders, how they handle challenges and what they hold dear.
Most organizations I join are not equipped to handle the challenges of international, differing cultures. Some simply don’t know how to handle it and others don’t realize its importance. Let me be crystal clear, if you want to run an efficient and optimized international operation, you must understand how to manage the different international cultures you are embedded with (in the countries you operate in).
An example to clearly illustrate cultural difference can be seen between the American work ethic and that of an area of France called Nice. I once managed a team split between both regions and the differences were striking. In North America, many of us define ourselves by our jobs, our corporate rank, our salary and the quality of work we produce. My team in Nice saw work as a necessary evil. They produced quality work but without the feeling of great urgency. Many Americans live to work whereas my Niceois employees worked to live. Take a minute to think about how these different mindsets created by culture affect their work? How would each of these groups handle work packages? How would you manage each of these different groups? How would you motivate them?
30,000-foot Overview
I do want to share with you some of the very high level issues to consider when thinking about international culture. These cultural particularities should be the basis of every international decision and plan. Think about them when planing meetings/trips, understanding the role of management, reception of corporate rules, the role of headquarters, etc.
The Rules of engagement
In North America, we run our organizations on rules and restrictions. We want rules to avoid creating dangerous precedents or allowing a person to make a decision that can jeopardize the business.
In many parts of the world, their first priority is the inter-personal relationship. Their decisions are always analysed to ensure it protects and nurtures these relationships [even if it means ignoring some of the rules.]
This is a situation when even a mid-level compromise approach may not be optimal. The ideal outcome is a synergistic approach which protects both beliefs.
I, the individual will be victorious
From my very first day at my very first job, I had an insatiable drive to outperform. Most North Americans see the business world as them against the machine. Everything is structured to measure the individual, coach the individual, reward the individual or punish the individual.
Imagine the shock when you realize not all cultures share this value. Whereas in North America we see policy and procedure as a mechanism to help the individual, some cultures believe the individual is there to help the group.
As a manager, learn the techniques for building efficient teams. Identify the strengths of each of your team members and leverage these strengths to build the best team possible. Then, determine how the team can help the career development of its members (either internally or leveraging other teams in the organization).
Unemotional management
Does emotion have a place in business? My experience says no. For the longest time, I learned and believed that business is business. I was told not to take it personally and that business decisions should be made without emotion.
Some cultures privilege just the opposite. They believe that emotions have a place in business and actually encourage it.
Read my previous articles about “Conversational Hypnosis” and “How to build Rapport”. Of particular interest to this discussion are the mechanisms of non-verbal communication. I won’t discuss it here (since it was already covered in great length) but be cognisant that it plays a crucial role as most of the communication we do is non-verbal and this is how we share emotions.
I first fell victim to this when I was negotiating a billion dollar plus deal and realized my “opponents” had a different rule-book about emotions in the workplace. Whereas I had the proverbial poker face, they were freely expressing their inner most emotions and beliefs to me. At first I thought they were nuts. Why were they giving me this insight. Didn’t they know I would use it to crush them? Until I understood how to handle this, we were at a stalemate. Only when my local staff explained this cultural difference were we able to make real progress and close the deal.
There is no magic formula here. Know that this difference exists and think about how you will handle it in your particular situation.
Activity Management
Do you see time as a sequence of events where the previous action affects the next one in line? Or do you see the past and the future as as related and inextricably linked?
This may seem like a strange question but religious influence can be seen here. In Christian-influenced culture, we often see the former. We break down our calendar years as Before Christ and After Christ. Cause and effect. A series of actions which influence each other in a series leading to a given endpoint.
Other cultures see the past and the present as inextricably linked. Think of Buddhism. Everything simultaneously impacts each other. The past impacts the future and the future impacts the past (one way to make sense of this is to liken it to the concept of reincarnation or continuous flow of energy). They do not see the past as affecting the future but as everything affecting everything else at the same time, which inevitably molds their present.
Esoteric theory aside, this cultural facet influences how people see and execute work tasks. The former prefer to do work linearly (one at a time) while the later take a more multi-task (simultaneous) approach.
Hierarchy or bust
I mentioned in one of the previous sections that the new North American management mantra is to flatten the organization as much as possible. Managers have an open door policy and every employee (regardless of position or rank) is encouraged to contribute and can talk to anyone else. In most organizations, the janitor can book a meeting with the CEO.
Conversely, many cultures have an absolute adherence to corporate rank. They see the chain of command as absolute and would never consider “breaching” this unwritten rule.
Understand how your target region reacts to hierarchy. If you are managing a group that adhered to the latter belief and you organize an all hands on deck town hall, what kind of interaction do you think you’ll get? In North America, it is now common for senior executives to meet the employees directly in town hall style meetings (where managers are specifically excluded). This is seen as a way to improve corporate communication. This would backfire in some regions of the world.
A customer called me in because they had transferred their help desk services to India and was disappointed with its performance. Management was “frustrated because the help desk seemed unable to perform some key functions which were appropriately performed when it was onshore.”
They knew little about Indian culture and unfortunately didn’t care to learn about it. In this particular case, the employees believed that hierarchical placement in the organization was important. They did not feel it was their place to challenge their management to let them know that they were missing “key tools to do their job”. They attempted to the the best they could with what they had, which obviously frustrated their management and lead to harsh actions (layoffs which lead to lower morale; a belief that the head office did not care about the group, etc). The solution was simple. I simply walked through the requirements and ensured the agents had the required tools. I spent time with them to fine-tune everything and in a matter of 3-4 months, the situation had become a polar opposite. They went from not performing to being the models of efficiency and dedication. The only tool I used was an awareness of the cultural difference.
Preparing your team for international assignments
If you have read this entry until here, you have some interest in the cultural differences and may be asking yourself how to properly prepare your team to tackle this challenge. There is no magic formula that works for everyone but some helpful ideas (that my international customers have used) include:
Recommended Reading
Hall, Edward T. "The Silent Language in Overseas Business." - http://hbr.org/1960/05/the-silent-language-in-overseas-business/ar/1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11762028/The-Silent-Language-in-Overseas-Business
Hofstede, Geert H. “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: - http://www.amazon.com/Cultures-Organizations-Software-Mind-Intercultural/dp/0070293074
Kroeber, A.L., and Clyde Kluckhohn. “Culture; A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions” http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0313246858/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&condition=all
Trompenaars, Alfons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business - http://www.amazon.ca/Riding-Waves-Culture-Understanding-Diversity/dp/0786311258/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290439928&sr=8-1
Even in the best economic times hiring a mid-to senior-level employee is an expensive proposition. Because the process is usually fairly lengthy, the hiring manager will be extra careful to ensure that they scrutinize every candidate in minute detail so that they make the best possible selection. They do not want to spend the time “getting the candidate hired” only to realize they may have made a bad decision.
There is another option. Companies need to identify best-of-breed employees without necessarily making any commitments and there are qualified candidates in the market that are willing to accept temporary work assignments.
This is also beneficial for the candidate, since it allows him or her to get back into the working environment polishing their skill set and expanding their network of contacts.
In order for this model to actually work, the rules of engagement need to be properly documented and explained ahead of time (for both the employee and hiring manager). The employee needs to understand how he or she will be judged, and under what conditions he or she may be converted to full-time. How long will the trial period last? How will success be determined? What is the process if the candidate is to be retained?
The flipside of this arrangement is also that the employee may not meet your expectations and therefore may not be converted to full-time. This process should also be predetermined. In the event that the candidate does not meet the requirements, how will they be notified?
This is one of those situations where not only the candidate but also the hiring manager needs to take a leap of faith. As a manager, you may be asking yourself if the candidate is accepting this position because they are interested or simply until they find a better opportunity. Ordinarily, many managers would be reluctant to even interview a candidate that has not worked for prolonged periods of time, however this is not a normal situation. Many qualified and hard-working individuals have been made redundant. This will be an important realization to accept quickly.
The candidate on the other hand, needs to accept the fact that this may or may not turn into a permanent position. If the candidate has been unemployed for an extended period of time, they may realize that their skills are not as sharp but that these types of opportunities help them get back on the saddle.
WORD OF WARNING
Because of the nature of the Internet, I am not sure where you are reading this from. Each jurisdiction has its own employment rules, and you should consult your legal and HR departments to determine if this model is right for you.