photo by orphanjones
Scott Adams of Dilbert fame brings us some insight into how he would improve employee satisfaction.
I’ve been meaning to post this for some time so you may have already encountered it. Regardless, it’s worthy of a chuckle as you coast into the holidays and think about how you’ll get everyone to walk back through the door come January 4th.
He concludes his post with the following advice:
“…the best way to make your employees feel a false sense of job satisfaction is to somehow convince them that there are much better jobs elsewhere. For example, you could subscribe all employees to entrepreneur magazines that are full of stories about people who left their unsatisfying jobs to become zillionaires. If you instill the false belief that better careers are obtainable, cognitive dissonance will cause the employees that have high self-esteem to believe they must enjoy their current jobs.”
Best of luck in 2010!
photo by mrpattersonsir
Work is draining. For many, rare are the days when we leave the office feeling energized.
As a manager you have to recognize that people are going through this. Chances are you are too. But change has to start somewhere.
Sure, technically your job is to make sure the ball is being advanced down the field. But if your team is too exhausted (or detached) to run the plays how far is the ball going to move?
Your real job is to make deposits into the emotional bank so that when the inevitable time comes when the team needs to hunker down and everything has gone sideways that people are present, engaged and have the persistence to get through the rough patches.
From the employees perspective, they have gone out of their way to make the relationship work. They started in their role excited and ready to roll up their sleeves and make a real difference. But every slight along the way has made a withdrawal on their emotional involvement with you, the team and with the company.
It all adds up and you may be responsible for making many of those emotional withdrawals. If you expect them to dig in then you need to exert the energy to refill that account.
Focus on your people. Feed them the projects that keep them energized. Recognize they’re all different and build those relationships accordingly. People do want to be treated differently. They’re not all the same and not universally motivated by the same things.
Start today. Hold one on ones that don’t focus on tasks but rather the individual. The work will still get done.
From the Amazing Mind of Jessica Hagy
Your job description is the bare minimum required to do your job. It’s a suggested starting point not a prescriptive action plan.
Seeing that Venn diagram reminded me that I’ve never been more frustrated than when I felt constrained in my ability to make a difference. When I failed it was because I succumbed to the thinking that ‘this is how things are done’ and allowed myself to be defined by my title, job description or the perception of others.
A couple off-the-cuff thoughts on what I was doing differently during the times I was successful:
These aren’t universal, of course. And there will be work environments in which this is easier to do than others.
But, the bottom line is that to make yourself invaluable you have to do more than check the boxes. Be proactive in defining your role. It certainly makes the game easier to win.
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For more intelligently funny truisms in diagram, graph and equation form, check out ThisIsIndexed.
photo by annadriel
A recent Towers Perrin post reveals a conversation the author had with former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Football is known for its gruff, abrupt, in-your-face style of ‘leadership,’ but Tony Dungy was far from that. He succinctly states his philosophy to leading and getting the best from his players three points (from the post):
- His parents were both teachers and they believed that it was their responsibility to make every student an “A” student. But not every student learns the same way, so you have to tailor your style to each individual to bring out the best in them.
- You have to make each player on the team understand that the good of the team is greater than that of any individual, and that you can only be successful as a team.
- You have to earn your players’ trust — this is foundational to the first two. They have to trust that your coaching and advice is what is best for them and for the collective team.
I like this for several reasons:
First, if your leadership style is inflexible and you see people as cogs in the wheel then you dramatically limit the field of potential individuals who could excel in the job. Finding good people is hard, why should we further constrain ourselves?
Secondly, you are limited by the boundaries of your own imagination and thought process. If you only know one way to go about things then you won’t be open-minded to new, potentially better approaches.
Further, by acknowledging that people are unique you are connecting with them on a very personal level. In order to motivate you have to know them. That connection is usually a two-way street. By taking the time to understand someone you’re proving you care about them. Reciprocation is then difficult not to grant. You wind up getting a lot more effort in return.
Finally, you don’t want your people to compete with each other too much. That devolves into a race to the bottom. It is far easier to push another down than it is to lift oneself up. Putting the team first means that you won’t reward pushing others down in order to shine.
A job description recently landed in my inbox. It was a unique opportunity! (Naturally.) Followed by a lengthy description of the product being built and the initial customers. All of which is fine, but let’s pretend it’s a cocktail party.
The guy that just sidled up to you loves himself. He can’t stop talking about his new jacket. It’s so unique, so expensive, so sought after. He barely stops to acknowledge that you are there. He may ask you a question or two but they’re likely leading questions that get him onto a topic he wants to talk about again. How long before you excuse yourself to ‘get another drink?’
photo by dandy_fsj
So it goes with job descriptions. We’re selling, selling, selling. But we’re really damn boring. In our efforts to differentiate ourselves with words we wind up sounding exactly like everyone else.
Instead, think a little deeper about the skills and values you want the person to have. Then write the job description so it has the same attributes.
Need analytical skills? Throw in a Sudoku.
Want someone who values creativity? Include a brain teaser.
There is no rule that says our job descriptions have to put the reader to sleep. If you truly want someone with a sense of humor have them send you a creative headline to a funny picture when they submit a resume.
There is more to a job than the skills we bring. We’ll wind up spending more time with the new hire than we will with our spouses. It’s important that we choose well. Listing skills gets us so far, but finding the people that mesh well with the existing team and processes is vital.
But, garbage in, garbage out. Have your applicant pool self-select based on how you’ve written the job description. I don’t mean by saying that you are looking for ‘5-7 years experience doing XYZ.’ That’s never followed. I mean by actually putting your values and requirements into the job description itself. Just like elementary school English - show, don’t tell.
If you’re looking for an example of a great job description, check out this one for a burger joint in New Zealand called Murder Burger.
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