During my training on mid-year performance conversations for managers and supervisors at the City of Richland, WA, the City Manager Cindy Johnson made a brief appearance.  Ms. Johnson has been using a structured, focused strategic planning process to guide the City Council and the staff toward big outcomes and a new organizational culture.  She is making tremendous progress. During the training she told the group that it’s easy to lose sight of the contributions we each make to the bigger picture.  Amidst budget cuts and shifting City Council priorities, individual employees sometimes forget that their daily work is contributing to a better community.

To prove her point, she distributed an index card that she called “Ten for 2010.”  The card listed ten projects, community events, and organizational changes that reflect some of this year’s planned accomplishments.  A few of the items on the list were already completed.  She briefly mentioned each item and acknowledged individuals in the room who had contributed or supported each effort.  There was something on the list that reflected almost everyone’s work. 

The accomplishments included a redesign of the City’s website, progress made towards public works projects, and an upgrade to the City’s emergency communications system.  There was also something “new” on the list for everyone, illustrating that while each employee makes a significant contribution, they often do not know the collective result.

City Manager Johnson seized an opportunity to reinforce the contributions of each staff member through this simple exercise.  She also plans to take the “Ten for 2010” card to Rotary meetings and other community events.  She’ll make sure each Councilperson has copies that they can distribute too.

“Ten for 2010” is one little tool that can bring a patch of smooth air to your organization, even if you are facing turbulence. 

What are your “Ten for 2010?”

Clear expectations and outcomes, regular feedback, and praise and recognition are all no-cost tools that must be employed if an organization expects to thrive and prosper in this time of few resources.  In fact, Bersin and Associates recently released a study that reveals that performance management is now at the top of organization’s priority lists.  Forty-two percent of organizations have consistent, enterprise-wide practices for performance management. Another 29 percent have a process that is used by most groups throughout the organization.  However, that leaves up to 30 percent of organizations with inconsistent or informal performance management practices. 

This is troubling because the research also shows that organizations with defined performance management practices have experienced less downsizing, lower turnover among high performers, and, in for-profit organizations,  twice the revenue per employee as organizations with informal or inconsistent practices. 

The moral of the story is that if you are looking to do more with less (more productivity with fewer employees) it makes sense to look first to your organization’s performance management practices.  Are the expectations for employee performance clear?  Is feedback and coaching offered on a regular basis?  Do employees clearly understand how their contributions add value to the enterprise?  Are managers and supervisors confidently guiding the performance of each individual?

 A few tweaks, a renewed focus, or a little training might be all that your organization needs to reap the benefits of a strong performance culture. What is your performance management system doing for your organization?

In these challenging economic times, we need to look for ways to let employees know that they are valued more than ever. Here are ten no-cost ideas to try:

1.  Invite an employee to join you. You can convey your value for a team member by inviting them to join you at important client meetings or higher level team meetings. By exposing them to a new group and new discussions, the employee gains a new perspective and you have a chance to show them off to others.

2. Spend some time together. Good old fashioned dialogue can go a long way when the conversation is with a boss who is busy. Once a week take 15 minutes to chat with an employee you haven’t spent much time with lately. Ask open ended questions and show your interest. Use their name. Your attention is worth gold.

3. Start a Red Plate routine. Find a plate (or basket or bucket) and fill it with something yummy. This could be homemade cookies, candy, or healthier treats. At a staff meeting, give the plate to the one person who had a great week. Tell them publicly why you appreciate what they did. Tell them that their job is to watch their peers over the next week and be prepared to present the plate, refilled of course, to a teammate who excelled that week. The plate will continue to be passed from team member to team member and the recognition becomes the responsibility of the group and not just the responsibility of the manager. You can substitute the red plate for a stuffed animal, a fun trophy, or other item of interest. One group that I work with uses a very unattractive statue of John Wayne–but it means so much to win the little guy!

4. Duh…say thanks. In a recent survey sixty-three percent of employees ranked “a pat on the back” as a meaningful incentive. Saying thank you and meaning it is easy to do and can earn extensive goodwill. Call the employee to your office and just say thanks for a specific thing they’ve done. Nothing else should be the topic of the conversation.

5. Post a Note. Write a quick thank you on a Post-It or other informal piece of paper and leave it on the employee’s chair or on their desk. Be sure to write it in your own handwriting and be specific about what the employee did to receive your recognition.

6. It’s in the Name. When an employee creates a new form, process, approach, or other creative idea, name it after them. At staff meetings, in emails, and casual discussion, refer to the innovation as “Steve’s form,” “Judy’s process,” or “Jenna’s tool.”

7. You’re a Lifesaver. When an employee does something that really makes a difference for you or for the team, give them a pack of LifeSavers candies. Make sure you combine the gesture with a note or comment about what the employee did to save your life and why it’s important to you.

8. Ring the Bell. When a team member does something of note or when a customer expresses thanks for someone’s work, ring a bell for the whole team to hear. Follow the ring with a quick announcement to the team about the person’s accomplishment.

9. Ask Them. Meet with each employee individually and tell them that they are a valuable part of the team. Ask them what they would like to do in the course of their work that would be new, different, enriching, and/or exciting. Then, do what is possible to give the employee an opportunity to pursue this interest.

10. Listen. We all need to know that what we have to say is important to someone. Each day, focus your attention on an employee conversation with the sole purpose of just listening to what they have to say. Enter the conversation with curiosity about how they view the world and how that viewpoint can enrich the team.

Recognition doesn’t have to be costly and it can go a long way to establishing a culture that is supportive, innovative, and productive.
What are you doing to engage and motivate employees in these difficult times? I’d love to hear!

Continuing with the Conference’s theme of leadership development, the next session was conducted by Professor Beverly Alimo-Metcalf of Bradford University.  Her topic was “The Public Sector Skills Challenge for the Next Decade.”  The themes of her presentation were about the motivation and development of leaders and how government agencies can organize themselves better to motivate and manage change.  Similarly to day one, there were a series of break out sessions held in two workstreams.  I attended sessions on aligning organization development and business requirements to respond to the changing public sector delivery landscape and creativity and skills development master class.  The master class session was very interesting as it purpose was to teach participants how to use story telling to further the change and development in your organization. 

The last speaker of the day was Richard Gerver, former lead education advisor to Tony Blair.  Richard was an incredibly engaging and passionate speaker.  He spoke on the topic of creativity and innovation in human development.  His command of the stage and passionate delivery was a perfect bookend to Dr. Dennis Kimbro’s opening session.  Mr. Gerver challenged the delegates to take risks and get out of our comfort zone.  He took the full 90 minutes for his presentation, and I can speak for everyone in the room that we would have listened for another 90 minutes. 

The evening concluded with the PPMA Annual Recruitment Awards and Gala Dinner.  This black tie event (yes, I did say black tie…) is hard to describe.  It is a formal awards evening with music, master of ceremonies, and video presentations.  The awards portion was hosted by British author and comedienne Sandi Toksvig.  Her clever humor was hysterically funny.  Fortunately she only poked fun at Americans a few times.  The purpose of the gala dinner is to recognize excellence in 17 categories related to recruitment advertising.  The overall winner of recruitment work of the year was the British Antarctic Survey, who ran a series of print, television, and on-line employment advertisements.

I know that this experience has not fully sunk in yet, but I want to thank all the wonderful people at PPMA that I have met over the past 3 days.  Particular thanks needs to be given to PPMA Executive Director John Tonks and PPMA President Dean Shoesmith.  They both went over and above to make me feel welcome at this conference.

I also want to thank IPMA-HR, Executive Director Neil Reichenburg, and IPMA-HR President Maggie Whelan for granting me this opportunity.  I was glad that I was able to share this experience with Maggie who travelled to the conference with her husband Tom.

Looking back, I am so glad that I approached Dean Shoesmith 2 years ago in Las Vegas to discuss his experiences with shared services.  To quote Dennis Kimbro, “Sometimes its risky not to take a risk.”

See you back in the States.

Bill

Dean’s speech set up the keynote speaker, Dr. Dennis Kimbro quite nicely.  I have had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Kimbro speak at previous IPMA-HR events, and again he did not disappoint.  For over one hour, Dr. Kimbro held the audience’s attention with his passionate oratory.  He covered the topic of developing leadership skills for the future.  Some of the highlights of his speech included stories about successful athletes, executives, politicians, and activists.  He identified characteristics that most, if not all of these individuals had in common.  They included the willingness to dream big dreams, the refusal to fail, and the commitment to life-long learning.  He concluded with the statement “Sometimes it is risky not to take a risk”. 

After Dr. Kimbro’s speech, the conference then separated into two different work-streams.  Sessions that I attended included a discussion of leadership requirements for implemented the shared service model of human resources management; leadership and innovation; and getting the most from your workforce.  The program portion of the day ended with an engaging presentation on employee engagement (sorry, I couldn’t help my self with that one!!) by Professor Katie Truss from the Kingston Business School.  She discussed the findings of her recently published Harvard Business Journal article.

After a break, the evening program began with the Annual Dinner and PPMA Awards.  The awards portion of the evening was a combination of the academy awards and a pep rally.  The were seven awards given out including the Innovation in HR Award, the HR Transformation Award, and the Region of the Year award that was won by the Northeast Region.  Having been adopted by them as an honorary Northeasterner (I am from Massachusetts!!), I can attest to their spirit and excitement about winning this award.

Closing the evening with my new friends, I cannot be more humbled by the way that this organization and its membership have welcomed me to their conference and their country.  If today was any indication, I know that tomorrow will be even more amazing.

Bill

This morning is the PPMA Annual General Meeting.  Dean Shoesmith is being installed as the new PPMA President.  I have met Dean on a couple of occasions back in the United States and I know that he will do a terrific job as PPMA President.  Following Dean’s opening speech, Dr. Dennis Kimbro will be speaking on the topic of building effective leaders for the future. 

Bill

I want to thank IPMA-HR and PPMA for granting me the unbelievable opportunity.

All the best,

Bill Cole

Frame the question with sideboards.

Sideboards are the parameters that frame an issue. They are the “givens.” Sideboards are the assumptions you have already made that are non-negotiable. In most situations, there is background information that must be considered before a conversation can progress. Those are the sideboards. Usually there are limitations (time, money, resources, etc.) that must be noted when you are exploring options. Those are the sideboards.

The challenge is to state the sideboards clearly before asking a question that involves the employee in finding the solution. Here are some examples of sideboards in action:

Given our current budget situation…which of our projects is the highest priority?

Assuming we will meet our end of the year objectives, what additional tasks should we pursue?

Knowing that our relationship with this client is tenuous, what options do we have for satisfying this order?

Given the restrictions placed upon us in the regulations, what alternatives should be considered?

As a manager, you can establish parameters that will help employees find workable, effective, and successful solutions to issues and challenges. Considering the challenges public sector agencies are facing today, it is critical that we define the parameters of the issue before asking for input.  Think about the sideboards.

Some interesting points in the debate have emerged including:

• The need to control the cost of providing health insurance as a fiscal matter is imperative;
• The need to provide access to quality health care to all citizens;
• The fact that health care expenditures consumes almost 17% of GDP
• Despite the huge expenditures on health care as compared to other developed, industrial nations, we are no healthier than our counterparts

Regardless of your views of the various proposals, curiously missing from the national debate is one essential factor – that is, we need to do a better job of taking responsibility for our own health. It seems neither political party is willing to engage in a national discussion and framing future policies along the lines of creating constructive incentives for Americans to change their own personal behavior. Many citizens have fallen into the trap of believing that medical research and science offers cures for our collective failings to take responsibility for making healthy lifestyle choices.

As human resource professionals, we have tried to take a leadership role in our agencies to educate and provide positive incentives to employees to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. Simple programs such as an at work weight reduction program, a lunch-time walking club and getting rid of the sugar laden sodas and candy in the vending machines can have a positive impact on the health of employees. A few employers I know of implemented more aggressive programs that offer compensation and rewards to employees to become and stay fit – some of those programs however, have run up against discrimination laws and have been scrapped.

The point is that we as public agency HR professionals have an important role to play in the national debate about our health care system.

In my next blog, I will share with you my recent personal experience with our current health care system.