HRCleanUp

Coaching the Uncoachable by Guest Blogger Bobby Pruitt

Bobby Pruitt is my collegue and all-around great guy at Profiles International.  He is Vice President for Enterprise Solutions at can be reached via email at bobby.pruitt@profilesmail.com. 

Coach the Uncoachable
...What happens if they just don’t get it??

By a show of hands, who has ever coached the uncoachable... come on, be loud n’ proud! It's can also be referred to as:

• The immovable force
• Who made that hiring decision, HR?
• The 80/20 rule or some variation of the 80/20 rule...

Or most widely referred to as...

… a waste of my time!!!

As "fair" and equally grounded as we typically say that we are, there's no getting around it -- some of our team members can “appear” to be a waste of “our” valuable time (said as if we are sharing the only unique asset we have complete control over), Having said that, we typically stop doing it the second we make the realization that the “light’s on, but nobody is home”!
To quote one of my favorite lines in a movie (Tombstone): “It’s like playin cards with my brother’s kids”!

Perhaps they were mis-recruited/mis-hired to begin with; perhaps they were promoted well past their ability to effectively lead others just like themselves; perhaps they simply don't want to do what's required; or perhaps we are totally wrong about them all together... I don't know nor would I spend a ton of time analyzing the "why." The "what," is "I'm spending my time for no return, when I could be spending it on someone else for a recognizable value."

Not really much of a choice, is it? On the other hand, it might be our choice all together.
“They” say (They=Consultant somewhere...) that we spend 80% of our time on those things that deliver us 20% of our total goal. I would argue that, when discussing employee performance, motivation, and one-on-one development or coaching, that figure is much closer to 90%.
So, be honest with yourself: How much time do you spend with your Top Performers... your top 5-10%? Don’t consider face-time, drinks after work, or breakfast get-togethers. I'm talking about working with that A-player, investing your personal time and expertise, and making sure that the "A's" receive more emphasis than the "C's."

Yes, we should do an appropriate amount of development for those employees who don't quite "get it," but seem to have the ability, activity and the "potential" to grow significantly with some well-thought out development. But be critical, wary, and skeptical; you should be prepare to “cut the cord” the moment you realize you are repeating yourself, notice issues of ethics or integrity, or that the employee's "light" just hasn't "turned on."

Remember, development equals the sum of all of its parts (coaching, training, appropriate responsibilities) – and is a vital part of growing our future leaders. But they must bring a few things to the table that you simply cannot "train in..." You can't train them to have a work ethic, for example. They must bring that with them when hired. You cannot train them to be honest and ethical -- someone well before you influenced that beyond repair. You should look at Attitude, Activity, and then Skill before you are able to dismiss a “perceived” marginal performer.

As a coach-manager, your attitude toward making a person successful will make up 80% of their success or failure.  ARE YOU PREPARED TO CARRY THAT WEIGHT ON YOUR SHOULDERS? If you understand this concept, you “have skin in the game”! You can look for the good and increase the number of positive encounters. Before you know what is hitting you, you will be embracing the concept of the “Performance Preview*” This Kum-Ba-Yah world is filled with

1. Company initiatives aligning with individual team members goals
2. Open communication
3. Results exceeding expectations

On the flip side, you also eliminate those “mis-recruits and mis-hires” by pointing them in the right direction (and sometimes that direction is right out the door).

*Wall Street Journal article: Get Rid of the Performance Review by Dr. Samuel A. Culbert

Emily Post

On Sunday mornings, I can often be found watching CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.  There is something about the cadence and in-depth nature of the show that I find relaxing and interesting at the same time.  This morning, they did an in-depth story on Emily Post.  When is the last time you actually thought about Emily Post?

Perhaps it is time for many of us to revisit Emily Post.  As Generation Y moves firmly into the workplace, many of us have noticed their sheer lack of anything  that looks or feels like etiquette.  For us Gen X'ers, we've taken our cues from the Boomers before us.  And while I think the Gen Y'ers have the most to learn, I think that almost all of us could use a refresher.

We're all so busy and it often just doesn't seem to matter.  Why bother to write a thank you note?  Why even bother to wrap the gift?  I recently read a blog post by a recruiter who was telling people that is showed desperation if you sent a Thank You note after an interview. 

Geez...what is this world coming to?

As you whirl through this holiday season, meeting and greeting, think about the "Thank You".  Stop by the store and buy some cards.   And pick up some stamps, too.   It will only take you a few minutes to write up a three sentence expression of thanks.  Keep the cards (and the stamps!), not at home, but right there in your desk drawer.  Use them throughout the year whenever you feel moved. 

You'll be surprised at how "Thank You" will become a part of your regular routine.

Do Your Employees Dream?

People give up their discretionary time for a dream--not a strategy or a spreadsheet.

What have you done to help people fulfill their dreams?

Simplicity Is The Key

Our lives are complex.  Our workplaces are even more complex.  I don't think that anyone has it simple any more.  However, as organizational leaders it is our job to help our people find the simplicity on the other side of the complexity.

How do we do that?

Having a solid change management plan in place for any type of organizational initiative is a critical and thinking through how you make it as simple as possible is a critical piece of thinking that often falls by the wayside.  

A while back, I read an article about organizational change and the focus was a large regional medical center in the Syracuse area that had fallen on hard times.  In other words, it had gone from first to worst.  Staff was unmotivated, the place was dirty, and people were choosing other hospitals in the area to get their care.  Research was at a standstill and the hospital was sinking into desperate financial straits.

So what did leadership do?  Well, they turned the problems over to the middle managers to solve.

A huge task.  But, one that quickly became simplified.  How?  The team was talking about what their hospital's standard of care was going to be.  Someone spoke up and said that "if it isn't good enough for my momma, then it isn't good enough".  That became the standard of care--is it good enough for you momma?  

Simple.  That's what I'm talkin' about!

Cap-ability

What are you doing to develop capability within your team?  Within your department?  Within your organization?   It sounds like an daunting task but it is so important for the long term success of you as a manager and your company as a whole.  

What is the formula for developing capability?  I'll share it with you:

Knowledge + Skills x Talent = Capability

Here is what you must do if you are going to develop capability?

• Assignments that exercise talents
• Share your knowledge 
• Train for skills 
• Target critical experiences 
• Have an annual plan 
• Implement quarterly check steps  

In our current marketplace, you may be thinking that you can't afford to develop people right now--just the opposite is true.  You need all of your people operating to their fullest potential.  You can't afford to have anyone who is just along for the ride. 

Performance Reviews--Ewww!

Samuel Culbert had a great article appear in the Wall Street Journal the other day titled Get Rid of Performance Reviews!  I couldn't agree more--and many of my students agree with me.

Last week, we were talking about Integrated Talent Management systems.  An ITM is all things talent management--it includes applicant tracking, performance management, succession planning, etc.  When we got to the performance management portion of the lecture, we ended up having a great discussion about the trials and tribulations of the performance management system (and it didn't seem to matter if the "system" was in Excel or in a great web based performance management system).  The students all lamented about the same things:

1. It makes me, and HR in general, feel like the organizational "nag"
2. We have to force managers to complete review
3. Everyone hates the process
4. No one is learning anything--in fact, most managers turn in the ratings so they can process the merit increase before they write the review!

Perhaps it really is time to change the methodology for performance reviews.  As Generation Y and the Millennials come into the workplace regular feedback and performance discussions are critical--how will we meet their needs without a performance management system?

When we do leadership development work with organizations at Profiles International, we focus on coaching and on 360 assessments.  Leader know thyself.  Manager, know your people and play to their strengths and develop their weaknesses.  Easier said than done but many companies out there are trying and we're anxious to help more make a real impact on their people--and their bottom lines.

October 16th is National Boss’ Day!

Looking back over 50 years, of National Boss’ Day, workers everywhere may notice that one thing has remained constant: The big money is concentrated a the top, and the bigs are mostly men. As for the talent? Well, we have nothing controversial to say. After all, we’re up for promotion. Right, boss? --from Clay Dillow, Fast Company, October 2008

Here are some fun facts to go along with National Boss’ Day:

• More than 11 million people are employed in management occupations. 40% are women but of the Fortune 500, only 12 companies have female CEOs
• Women hold 15% of all board seats at Fortune 500 firms
• Of the 6,000 plue NYSE and Nasdag-listed U.S. companies, 98 were run by CEOs under the age of forty—however, just one, Julie Smolyansky, the CEO of Lifeway Foods, is a woman
• Companies with at least three women on their board averaged a 16.7% return—45% better than the typical company
• 11% of the CEOs at S&) 500s hold Ivy League undergrad degrees. The most common alma maters? Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Wisconsin—each of which produced 12 chief executives
• Hallmark increased its line of National Boss’ Day cards by 90% is 2007

Retreat? What a treat!

As a manager of people, I have always been a big advocate of the off-site retreat. I would always hear other manager’s (and a few participants) bemoan the off-site retreat. I, however, always found it to be a valuable experience. In this month’s Fast Company Letter from the Editor, Robert Sofian discussed the power of the “off-site” as a tool for innovation.

…we were taken “out of our every0day routines because he wanted to encourage open discussion. As Emory University professor Gregory Berns writes in “Rewiring the Creative Mind”, on page 51, our brains are biologically engineered to engage in repetitive thinking. To generate new ideas, we need to force our synapses to behave differently. Unplanned encounters and new environments are the best way s to jolt our neurons into finding novel pathways”.

Well said…and a good argument for the off-site.

What makes for a good off-site? Well, for one, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Some of the most effective off-sites are conducted in someone’s living room or outdoor deck if the weather is nice. One of the most effective off-site meetings I ever attended occurred on my co-worker Anna’s back deck at her home in Palo Alto. It didn’t’ hurt that Anna is an amazing cook and we ate well but it was, truly, one of the most productive days I ever had professionally. The opportunity to get out of the pressure cooker that was our Internet start-up was fuel for the creative brain and a bit of rest from the transactional work of the routine.

I am often amazed at how rarely the off-site is conducted. Think about what the collective brain power of your staff could achieve if only given some time, creative space, and permission to think and talk and dream. Yes, dream. Let them imagine a better way to work. A better way to interact. A better way to balance.

Take your staff on a retreat. If your budget is $0.00 and everyone is local then invite them to your living room and make homemade soup and sandwiches. They will love you for it. And who knows what will happen or transpire and who might be inspired. If your team is distributed, then the off-site becomes a bit more of a logistical challenge but, in my opinion, even a more critical event. Having face-to-face time vs. ear-to-phone time is an important part of relationship building and a part of creating a solid team. It is hard to rely solely on a voice. It is much better if you’ve seen the voice and know a bit about its personal life. Retreats and off-site meetings can go a long way in building collaborative climates.

If your team is new, consider doing some teambuilding exercises. Not the hokey ones that you’ve done a thousand times but something more meaningful. One of my favorites is called “Lifeline”. Each person has 15 minutes to take you from birth to today. Telling about significant (and a few trivial) events that occurred along the way you’ll learn a lot and are bound to have some fun. Other tools, like assessments, can help the team understand each other better and work together with better understanding of the strengths that each person brings to the table.

And, as a manager, if your manager asks you about the documented results from the day, let her know that you don’t know yet. You’ll see what some creative thinking will produce and you’ll get back to her. Or, better yet, invite her to kick back and enjoy the fun and get to know your team better.

When It's Time to Change, You've Got to Rearrange

Did the Brady Bunch singing "When It's Time To Change, You Have to Rearrange" fly through your head when you read the title?  If it didn't, you and download it from iTunes.  Change is hard.  Change is good.  When my company hosted our Managing High Velocity Change conference  a few weeks ago I personally didn't realize how much I need to change.  Daily routines become habits and old habits die hard.  That is why change is hard and doesn't come easy.  Just ask a smoker.

So, what does this have to do with HR?  The answer:  Everything.

HR has a unique opportunity to be the change we want to see in our organizations.  When we say "oh, we can't do that" or "did you fill out the form and route it through six layers of approval" we know we have change indicator.  As we become more and more strategic and less and less tactical we must step back and see the wider picture.  That wider picture include a true business analysis of where we are today and where we need to go.

• We must RECOGNIZE the need to change.
• We must DEVELOP the plan to change
• We must EXECUTE the plan

It sounds so simple.  Especially when you see it in sound bite form.  But it is really really really hard to do. I recently read that CEOs spend almost 20% of each day making sure that the changes they have implemented are actually happening.  If the CEO is spending 20%, I'm guessing we need to spend at least double that.  Coaching, mentoring, and being the champion of the change.  It is exhausting.  It is lonely.  But, trust yourself.  Trust (but inspect) your team.  Trust in the change.

It will be worth it in the end.

You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!

Last week, my friend Gretchen Neels's invited me to attend her Total Image Management seminar.  I was flattered to be invited since Gretchen and I have never had the opportunity to meet in person--although we had become good phone friends.   Plus, it was at the Boston College Club downtown and breakfast was included.  So, I figured that I couldn't lose.   Great views and free breakfast--a winning combination in my book!

I got myself up at the crack of dawn and headed downtown with no expectations whatsoever.  However, the minute I arrived, I knew that I was going to enjoy myself.  The other people in the room were interesting, the view was spectacular, and the coffee--although not Starbucks--was good.  Since I didn't know the total plan for the morning I was pleased when Gretchen went over it and I was excited about the content:

• Your personal image--what you wear says a lot about you
• Your emotional intelligence--how you respond to the people around you
• Your position of power--effective networking

We had three hours to complete the lofty agenda--we could have used another hour there was so much great information.  Here are a few things that I learned and I'll share them with you. 

1. Your clothing from 5 years ago doesn't work today--you should update your wardrobe regularly with good quality clothing from a higher end store.   The old adage, "dress for the job you want" is alive and well in 2008.
2. You can use personal ques from others to guide your behavior.  Take the time to notice what the other person is wearing, how they position themselves in the room, and who they are talking to. 
3. Your personal image is your first impression on others.  When is the last time you thought about it?

Finally, Gretchen shared this quote with us and I'll share it with you.  It is as true today as it was in the 1600's:

Good Clothes Open All Doors

Thomas Fuller, 1608-1661, English Church Historian

Interested in Gretchen's Seminar or in coaching from Gretchen?  Check out Neels & Company