8 hours & a lunch

a little trick the geese know (to build a stronger network)

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose” - Tennessee Williams

At ‘In Over Your Head’, Julien challenges us to be the leader of our networks towards better achievement.  He doesn’t just challenge us, he says it’s our duty. 

And I couldn’t agree more.  I’ve mentioned before that like attracts like and how we can use this as information to determine where we are in our lives and in our businesses.

Like Attracts Like 

Creative people like creative people. Intelligent people like talking to other intelligent people.  Those who are religious tend to have friends and family who are also religious.  Successful people tend to hang out with other successful people.  

People who are concerned with health and working out?  You got it.  They tend to hang out with people who are concerned with health and working out.

You Say You Want A Revolution

One key to stepping up your game, in your life or in your business, is exactly the thing that Julien suggests.  It’s finding people who already have what it is you want.  This is the model used in everything from recovery programs to Weight Watchers.  And it works.  

Stepping up can be difficult, and messy.  In fact, statistics show that even steak-eating major corporate players who have a heart attack are unlikely to make lifestyle changes that will prevent a second event.  Nine out of ten people who do make these changes are unlikely to maintain them years later.  25% of people who have a heart attack don’t fill their prescriptions and 62% remain at high risk for a second heart attack, largely due to ‘lifestyle factors’.

So Dr. Dean Ornish created a ground-breaking program that resulted in 8 out of 10 of these same types of patients making rigorous lifestyle changes and maintaining them.  How’d they do it?  He pairs them up with others who had similar lifestyles prior to their attack, but who have made and maintained these changes.  

You can apply this to any change you’d like to see, whether it’s lifestyle changes or playing a bigger game in your business.  It works.  

A Little Trick That The Geese Know

What?  Geese?  Yeah.  Julien mentions geese and the way they fly in a V-formation.  They do this to create an uplift so that the entire formation gets more flying range. 

But here’s something else they do.  As Julien points out, the lead goose endures greater wind resistance, just as we do when we step up and lead our networks to bigger and better things.  But when the lead goose gets tired, it shifts back into the formation and another goose takes the lead.  The formation shifts and changes.  Sometimes the goose leads, sometimes the goose follows and encourages the new lead goose to keep up their speed by honking from behind.

So after you’ve stepped up, challenged yourself to lead your network, take a look around and see whose turn it is to develop their own skills and take the lead while you support and encourage from within the formation.  

Before you know it, you’ll not only see the changes you’re desiring in your own life, your whole network will be growing stronger and gaining speed.

Where are the areas where you can lead your network to bigger, better things?

And who can you encourage to step up in their own lives today?

All the best!

deb

  

P.S. Give 10.  Pay it forward & pass it on.  Help thousands of kids today.  (Thanks to all of those who have been so generous this far.  Let's keep it going!  With everyone pulling together and doing their small part, we can get this thing done!)

mastering the obvious

Tom Peters wrote about an article a couple of days ago in the Boston Globe called "Luck Inc., the 7 secrets of really really lucky companies".  (Bob Sutton wrote about it as well.)  

There was one particular comment in the article that stuck with me.  It just wouldn't leave me alone. At the end of the article, it reads:

"There's value in mastering the obvious," he says. "If Jim Collins's impact is to get people to do stuff that they know they should do already - facing the hard truths or being selfless or whatever - I certainly don't think that's a bad thing."

"Mastering the obvious."  

I had quite the reaction to that statement.  And "get(ting) people to do stuff that they know they should do already".  I couldn’t get that phrase out of my head, despite the assertion that it's not "a bad thing." 

The longer I mulled it over, I realized that this statement got to me because I often feel like I'm talking about just that -- what should be obvious.  

It's something that I struggle with, feeling like I'm stating the obvious.  (Which then taps into bigger questions for me about what I have to offer.  But that's my stuff, right?)

But then I’ll work with someone, or an organization, and say, "Try this....and this...and this..."  And, when they see results and thank me, I realize something.  Which brings me to my first point about 'the obvious'.

1)  What's obvious to you, might not be obvious to me.  

Calling something 'obvious' assumes that we all have the same level of knowledge and experience.  Leaders have all levels of education, all levels of experience.  What seems obvious to me, with a background in learning & development, often isn’t obvious to someone with a background in engineering.  Many things, including our perceptions and assumptions, effect what seems obvious to one person versus another.  

2)  Sometimes we forget the 'obvious'.  

We get busy. And sometimes, we forget the basics.  We forget the obvious.  Sometimes, we simply need to be reminded.  For example, being there, being seen, and being in touch with the ‘front lines’ is a concept that appears in many business philosophies.  Tom Peters called it MBWA (management by walking around), the Toyota Production System calls it ‘genchi genbutsu’, Jim Kilts talks about the importance of doing this.  And yet, leaders often get pulled into putting out fires or their focus changes, and they forget.  Maybe it’s a good thing that this obvious concept appears over and over again, if only to serve as a reminder.

3)  If it's obvious, why isn't everyone doing it?  Having just written about how leaders are sending the message that they don't care to their employees, writing over and over again about how to handle layoffs but seeing it handled badly, it seems everyone isn't doing the obvious. 

Another case in point:  how many times have we heard that much of what we're experiencing in corporate America right now is due to short-term thinking.  I've heard several respected business leaders make this point.  (You probably have too.)  And yet, we're watching as organizations continue to exhibit short-term thinking in response to the recession.

There are times I believe that this, again, comes back to life experience.  At one time, I believed ‘management by walking around‘ was obvious and all leaders in all organizations did this.  I believed that until I worked in, or with, organizations where the leaders didn’t do this one basic thing.  (In other words, while some things that even I write here might seem obvious at times, even to me....I write them because either I have known leaders who don’t do these things, or my friends & clients have had these experiences.)  

4)  Seeking out ways to continuously improve is one of the marks of a great leader.  Whether it’s being reminded of basics, or finding new ideas that can be integrated into a company’s culture to make it better, good leaders read these books in an effort to improve, which in and of itself denotes humility and a willingness to learn - two good qualities for leadership.  

They don’t read these books as a magic formula for success.  They have the ability to discern whether something is obvious or whether it will work well in their business or not.  If they’re a really good leader, they’ll seek out the ‘best-of-the-best’, even outside their industry to look for new and better ways to do things.  

It seems that reading ‘success literature’ might not be a terrible thing after all, since we all seem to be at different points on the road to obvious.  But that’s obvious, right?

All the best!

deb

to leaders: your people know you don’t care (what your employees won’t say to your face)

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a group of co-workers who gathered to talk about the current state of their company and their employment.  

OK.  Sorry.  I was trying to soften the blow, but that just isn’t going to work.  

The truth is that it wasn’t once upon a time, it was last week.

And it wasn’t far, far away.  It was right down the street.

A group of co-workers gathered to talk about the current state of their company and their employment.  None of them, it turns out, were very happy.  

This particular group of co-workers are the people you did not layoff.  Yes.  That’s right.  These are the people you thought were too valuable to let go.  They’re loyal, hard-working, committed.  They’re the ones who come up with solutions on their own and - once given the green light - implement those ideas for you.   These people want to be supportive and encouraging, even of you specifically.  These people want to love your company and give their all, to contribute to it’s success.  These people mentor others.  They are your natural leaders.  These, quite simply, are your ‘A-players.’

And guess what? They don't look forward to going in to work. 

They're feeling trapped because they have to keep their job....for now.  

Worse than that, they're actively unhappy.

And the part you might be surprised to hear?  

All but one are already planning to leave at some point in the next year.  

And that last guy?  He’s wavering.

And do you know what is causing these people to think about leaving?  You.

That’s right.  It’s you.

While your star players are taking on additional work and trying to help each other figure it all out, after watching their friends be mercilessly discarded ‘due to the economy’, they’ve been watching your behavior ever so much more closely.  

And what are they seeing?  They’re seeing you come and go as if nothing has happened.  They’re watching you buy the new car and run off to play golf in the afternoon.  They’re watching members of senior management play the political game and suddenly start ‘getting along’ with the ones they used to hate.  They’re watching you go to the latest, posh restaurants and share drinks and cigars.  They’re paying attention to the fact that you don’t care what is going on in the company right now.  You made your cuts.  And now it’s back to life as usual.  

Or, you think it is.  

You think it is because you don’t understand.

I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with buying a new car these days.  (Please!  Go forth!  Stimulate the economy!)  It’s the fact that at the same time, you’re not paying attention to those who work for you.  You show a cavalier disregard for those who have been left behind.  Your arrogance and lack of humility is causing anger to bubble beneath the surface of everyone who works for you.  People are not willing to follow you anymore due to your  inability to admit that your leadership had anything to do with the current state of your company.  They aren’t willing to follow you anymore because of your lack of awareness of the impact of those mistakes.  Your lack of empathy for your employees who are pulling together and trying to pull your company through difficult times is.....well....think about it.  Would YOU work for someone like that?

And the question is:  what are you going to do about it?

Will you continue living in a state of self-importance and denial?  Will you go on refusing to invest time and energy into helping your people improve - and helping them improve their processes - so they can do their jobs better and easier?  Will you insist on indulging in the short-term thinking and continuing to run your business as you ran it ‘before’ and expect anything different?

Your people are going to leave you.  They blame you, rightfully so.  

And they don’t see you changing or doing anything about it.  

And by the time they tell you that they’re leaving?  It’ll be too late.  

They will tell you as they’re walking out the door.  

So.....what are you going to do about it? 

All the best!

deb

resiliency & managing change when times are a'changin'

"The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom--as something they thought was almost a necessity. It's as if at that moment the iron entered their soul; that moment created the resilience that leaders need."  (Warren G. Bennis)

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently who is, as we all are, feeling the effects of the recession.  My friend was in such a state of -- panic.  There was so much anxiety there you could feel it as he walked into the room.  You could see the stress and tension he was holding in his body.  Most of this fear and anxiety stemmed from his job.

He talked about fear of more layoffs.  He talked about how everyone was fighting and bickering with each other.  He talked about how everyone was stressed from the additional workload they were all taking on after the last layoffs.  He talked about management being disconnected.  (Yep.  They laid people off and then just went about things as they always did.  No training.  No assistance in dealing with the massive amounts of change they were dealing with.  Nothing.)

So I started talking him through it.  See, I've moved a lot.  And been through a lot.  So much, in fact, that Dr. Dad took to referring to me as "Maggie, the cat" (a fond reference to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'....but also, he says, because I always land on my feet.)  I've been complimented on my resilience so often that, quite honestly, it ticks me off when I hear it now.  (Essentially, in my mind, people are telling me that something else has happened that I'm having to 'be resilient about.'  Grrrrr.)

So I started talking to my friend.  

For one thing, he was watching and listening to entirely too much news.  That's guaranteed to keep you freaked out.  And you don't want to be freaked out.   No one makes good decisions or functions well when they're freaked out.

For another, the feeling of being overwhelmed was keeping him continually anxious and nervous.  

And that is definitely something that has to be managed.  To move forward, it's important to get a sense of perspective.  Take a step back.  Take a breath.  Break things down into small, manageable pieces, and let go of things you can't control. 

And find ways to help manage the stress that are healthy.  Talk to friends.  Watch a comedy that makes you roll on the floor with laughter.  Take a yoga class.  Take that woodworking class.  Go take some pictures.  Cook.  Whatever hobby you have that calms and centers you, now is the time to be making some time for that.

And know that change is a process and there are stages you will go through.  Also, trust that this process, if handled correctly, can be the thing that leads you to a greater and more fulfilled life.  It might make you better at what you do.  You'll experience growth.  It might suck right now, but it is possible to work through these things and use them as a way to move your life forward.

If you're a leader in your organization, and especially if you've laid part of your workforce off, you need to be finding ways to help your employees deal with the changes and the anxiety and worry that they're facing.  You'd be surprised how even the strongest among us are experiencing these fears right now.  If you truly care about your people, as you've been saying you do for years, this would be a good way to show it.

If you let people flounder and work from a place of stress and fear and anxiety?  You're not going to get their best.  And right now, you need their best.  So help them.  Teach them the skills it takes to go from not only managing the changes and just surviving them right now......but to learning how to create changes creatively and use them to make themselves (and your business) better.

All the best!

deb

more on the memo to CFO's saying 'don't trust HR'

So, we're all writing about this article Kris Dunn pointed to at CFO.com called "Memo to CFOs:  Don't Trust HR", right?(And I talked about his assertion about HR out of hiring yesterday.)  But who is Richard Beatty, who gave the speech?

Well, Richard Beatty is a professor at Rutgers (his Vita can be found here).

He and the co-authors of "The Differentiated Workforce" wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review in December 2005 called "'A' Players or 'A' Positions" that lays out much of what it seems might have been presented at the speech and covered in the CFO article.  

One thing I found interesting is that Beatty mentions the same customer service survey in both, but in the CFO article concludes:

Usually in such a situation, HR professionals try to figure out what the top performers are doing right, then train the others accordingly. That is faulty thinking, insisted Beatty, who asserted that selection is a more powerful predictor of performance than training.

However, in the article he co-wrote for HBR, the conclusion from the same survey is that 'intensive training' or 'more careful screening' would result in company performance improving 'tremendously'.   

So ultimately, I agree with Gautam Ghosh that "the article is flawed is that the professor of HR obviously is mixing up things or choosing his arguments in front of an audience that takes his pronouncements as face value."  And that we're looking at someone angling for some consulting work.  

But, you HR folks out there might find that HBR article interesting anyway.

All the best!

deb

cut HR out of hiring

So, when Kris Dunn first posted about this article, I pretty much ignored the article.  For one thing, I'm out...doing my own thing now.  

For another thing, I generally agree with the "I Hate HR" articles and the fact that many, many HR people don't speak in numbers, the language of business.

It's true.  There are a lot of bad HR people out there.  Just like there are a lot of bad marketing people and bad R&D people and bad financial pros.

But there are good ones too.

And since I have so many friends still slaving away in corporate America in the HR world who are good at what they do, I can't help but respond.  (I'm only linking to one because there's just not enough room to link to you all. Forgive me.)

Today, I want to talk about this quote:

Beatty said that it is most important to think outside the HR department box when it comes to filling the strategic positions that create the bulk of a company's value. To that end, he suggested that companies might be better off appointing someone from outside the HR department to manage strategic talent. He pointed to Precision Castparts Corp., a $7 billion machine-parts manufacturer, as one company that has bypassed HR in several situations. For one, it reassigned an operations executive who ran a third of the company's 150 plants to take control of scouting for and retaining strategic talent.

Such tactics are warranted because while "the language of organizations is numbers, HR isn't very good at data analytics," Beatty said. "They don't think like business people. Many of them entered human resources because they wanted to help people, which I'm all for, but I'm also for building winning organizations."

It's the CFO's job to make sure that the work of analyzing and, as necessary, reconstituting the work force gets done by someone qualified to do the job, added Beatty, and there has never been more at stake than there is now.

"The labor market is in a position to provide you with better talent than you have ever had," said Beatty, co-author of the new book, The Differentiated Workforce. "If you don't emerge from this market with better talent in the roles that really make a difference, I don't think you're trying."

That's an overgeneralization, don't you think?  OK.  I'll concede that a lot of HR people out there don't think like business people.  But there are plenty that do.  

As for cutting HR out of the hiring process, is this guy serious?  

1)  How many HR pros do you know who don't involve the appropriate level of management or at least 12 other people in the hiring process?  I'm sure there are some HR people who do it alone out there.  But I don't know any.

The last sales guy I saw hired?  He interviewed with everyone.  He talked to everyone from the GM to the engineering guys to the President of the company.  And they all agreed on giving him an offer.  

2)  How do you identify what levels you cut HR out of?  Who are the 'strategic people'?  The C-levels only? Middle management?  Because, you know, the people at Precision Castparts who make the parts?  Surely, they don't matter.  Nor do those people in the call center example used earlier in the article.  Maybe HR could just hire those people.

3)  Do you know why the HR pro had to sit in on the interviews while that sales guy was talking to 12 different people?  Because the managers and others interviewing him were very likely to ask questions they can't legally ask.  Yep.  I'm sure HR would love for managers and supervisors to be trained to a level where that sort of thing doesn't happen.  But that would require training, and you don't like training either.  (Not to mention that those numbers you like so much? HR is there to keep those numbers from going out to lawyers and payouts from lawsuits due to discriminatory hiring practices.)

4)  And who are these guys hiring out on their own?  Their college buddies?  Or, okay, let's give them the benefit of the doubt.  Let's say they're talking to someone else in their field who they know who has been at the top of their game for years.  

The last guy I saw like that?  Was about to get a big payout due to a company closing down and really only wanted someplace to rest his weary head for three to four years before retiring.  But these guys were so in awe of him that they couldn't see that.  

5)  Finding stellar talent sometimes has to do with the pond you're fishing in.  An operations manager once moved from a big city in one part of the country to a small town in another part of the country.  He started demanding that HR do better hiring.  He'd rant and rave about how poor a job HR was doing. 

What he didn't understand was that the talent pool in his new home was different.  He had the best talent in the area.  Well, he had the best talent he was willing to pay for.  Which brings me to my final point.....

6)  Are CFO's going to pay for hiring those strategic, key, highly educated, well-experienced people?  Because the last time I checked, it seemed like CFO's are mostly telling their HR pros to do the dirty work of laying people off.  Or worse, laying people off and rehiring at lower pay levels.  What about the talent that's walking out the door right now?  

There are, typically, a lot of areas where HR could cut back.  For that to happen, though, the management at these companies have to get better at managing people.  Which, by the way, doesn't all come down to numbers.  

All the best!

deb

P.S.  What Kris had to say about hiring strictly on the letters after someone's name and missing out on 'bootstrapped pros'?  He's dead on.  (Then again, Kris usually is.)

P.S.  More on what the article had to say about training coming soon.

unethical behavior - what will people do to keep a job?

Amanda at MWW sent me a link to this recent Time article called "Lie, Cheat, Flirt. What People Will Do to Keep a Job"

Of 1200 respondents, the article states:

13% of the survey respondents said they would outright lie or exaggerate to keep their jobs — even though such behavior is forbidden by many companies' ethics policies. About 2% said they would take credit for someone else's work or flirt with the boss to get ahead, and 4% would lie about having common interests with their boss to deepen their bond with a superior.

I think those numbers are a little low, quite frankly.  (Then again, 2% are the number of people surveyed willing to be honest about their answers.  And 'kissing butt' and playing politics is nothing new in corporate America. Right?)

The article attributes these 'startling numbers' to the recession and people's fears about losing their jobs.  

People probably are more willing to go to lengths they probably wouldn't have gone to a year or two ago to keep their job, and deepening economic fears can continue to have this type of negative effect on our working population.

However, I'm not so sure that those same 1200 people, if interviewed a couple of years ago, wouldn't have responded the same way.  So I don't find the numbers necessarily 'startling' and wouldn't get up in arms over such a survey.

Still, many companies think that a recession means that there are plenty of people out looking for jobs, and they can let up on concerns about talent management or how they treat their people.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  A recession means that there is less margin for error in your business.  A recession means it's more important than ever to get it right.

If you don't?  If you use the recession as a fear-based motivator for your employees?  If you keep dangling the threat of layoffs in from of them?  Not only will your stressed-out workforce resort more and more to the types of behaviors listed in the survey, but they'll eventually leave.  Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow.  Maybe not until the recession is over and the economy has improved.  But soon, and for the rest of their lives.

Short-term thinking is one of the things that lead us into this mess.  Long-term strategies are still necessary, including when it comes to your workforce.  

All the best!

deb

P.S.  If you're one of those who has been laid off, or are concerned, see my series on layoffs that can be found in the sidebar under 'popular posts'.

If you're a leader in a business laying people off, see my posts onthinking twice about doing what we always do in a recession or theperils of short-term thinking -- or at least how to lay people off the right way -- as well as my training programs that you can use to help your business going forward,.

when faking it is a bad idea

Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist wrote about "Confidence and the Ability to Fake It", including a portion of an article from Time about how your boss might be faking competence.

It does take a certain amount of moxie to start a business or to rise to the top.  And we've all either worked for or known people who we wonder how they got where they are.  And how did they get there?  Confidence, surely, is key.  But it can be a danger too.

When confidence and incompetence combine with either a misguided "know-it-all" attitude or a selfish attitude where the individual cares only about their position, serious consequences can result.

Case in point:  As some friends of mine were at an event a couple of weeks ago, one friend announced that her place of employment was opening up a new marketing division.  To be clear, marketing is completely unrelated to anything this business has done before.  It made absolutely no sense to any of us.  Most had a first response of, "What?!?"  

But many of us know this small business owner (we'll call him Paul)....and we know him well.  We knew that Paul figured if 'other idiots' can do it, he can do it better.  And we've seen him do this before.  He'll start new divisions, gung-ho with the possibilities for new revenue streams.  A year later, those divisions will be gone or he'll decide to drop that additional staff and let his existing staff take on the new responsibilities as well.  (One senior member of his team now oversees no less than three areas, not all of which are related.)  

Finally, the discussion turned to what Paul has done right.  He must do something right, right?  After all, he's been in business for 12 years.  He's one of the best sales people you've ever seen in your life.  He's one of the most determined people you've ever seen in your life.  While many of his decisions don't make sense to the rest of us, he makes things work that many of us -- quite frankly -- couldn't.

But what about the decisions that clearly don't make sense to anyone else?  The ones that end up keeping his company in constant chaos?  The ones that keep his turnover numbers high?  How much money has been wasted on these programs and new divisions and new ideas?  Where would he be if he slowed down?  Took a long-term view?  Where would he be if he allowed dissension in the ranks?

Because that's one thing that is absolutely not allowed in this particular company - no questioning of the executive decision allowed.  Nope.

Or another example:  Someone at the very top echelons of a corporation who has been promoted time and time again, mostly by virtue of length of service, who is now at a level where they don't have the skills or the knowledge to truly do their job effectively?

They are still faking it.  And they're great at the corporate politics game.  But too often, these people also can't abide any second-guessing of the decisions they make.  It's more important that they hold on to their own position, and that no blame comes their way.  It's mostly about them appearing to do the job well rather than actually doing the job.

These people will rarely look at where they are in their business or for better ways to do things (after all, they're supposed to know it all and be perfect, right?)

And sure.  Paul may have experienced continued success through sheer force of will.  But where will this all lead him 10 years from now?  What long-reaching impact do the decisions that those faking it have on an organization?

What if they were willing to hear from others?  Acknowledged problems and began to go about actually solving them rather than being first concerned with appearing perfect?  

Toyota builds a culture where problem solving is encouraged, which means you have to acknowledge there are problems to begin with.  People who know that they don't know everything and don't pretend to, people who acknowledge that things are never perfect, and have the humility to gain additional knowledge or bring others with skills outside their own into the mix -- those are the types of people you can develop into strong leaders for the future.  

Of course, that all has to start with the person at the top.

Faking it?  There's something to be said for having the confidence to move forward when you don't have all the answers in hand or know exactly what to expect.  But taken too far?  The same attribute can have far-reaching consequences that won't be discovered in your company for some time to come.

All the best!

deb

P.S.  Toyota builds acknowledging problems, development of leaders, and gaining concensus into their culture.  To learn more about how the Toyota Production System can lead to more stability in your business, click here.

wake up call

According to the latest report from ADP, the private sector lost more jobs in December than in ten years.  We're in a recession.  I know there are people who want to tell you that by just ignoring that we're in a recession and going on anyway is the way to avoid the fears that accompany that fact.  But that's not the best way to go.  

Things have changed.  The economy has changed.  And whether you're an individual who has been laid off, or are a business owner looking at where to go next, it's all about how you respond.  Don't ignore the facts.  Don't bury your head in the sand.  Instead, look at this as a wake up call.  What will you do?

Will you be a company (or a leader) that does what most companies always do in times like these?  Will you just cut people or certain programs because that's how you've reacted in the past?  (Or worse, will you do that because that's what everyone else has done?)  

Or will you see this as a wake up call and take a hard look at every area of your business (or life) and take the long-term view?  We know the economy will come back eventually.  Estimates on how long this will last depend on which economists you listen to.  The question is - will you do the things now that will separate you from your competition, both now and in the long-run?

There are a lot of things about the changing economy you can't control.  But you can control your response.  And you can be one of those exceptional leaders who take a different approach and lead your company to the head of the pack -- now and in the future.   Don't react the way everyone reacts and do things just because that's the way it's always been done.  Do things differently, and get better results.

All the best!

deb

P.S.  If you're one of those who has been laid off, see my series on layoffs here, here and here

If you're a leader in a business laying people off, see my post on how to lay people off the right way -- and my program on managing change in your organization going forward.  

  

how to lay people off the right way

In a recent post, Guy Kawasaki pointed to his article on “the Art of Laying People Off.”  Of course, we all hope you never have to use this advice, but he has compiled a great list of how to do it, if needed.

He points to leadership and the need to take responsibility.  Don’t blame the economy.  Don’t try to make it sound like your management team, your CEO, your President, haven’t been making decisions that helped get your company to this place.  Communicate.  Communicate clearly.  And take responsibility.  

In fact, if you’re a leader in your company, you should be doing this already.  I know of one manager who admits that his style is to frighten people.  Yep.  He rather enjoys using fear as a motivational tool.  Do you have a manager like that?  Maybe she’s sitting in your management meetings agreeing with your chosen strategy.  But then she’s going back to her people and fueling the rumor-mill fires saying things like, “I don’t know.  It’s tough out there.  We’re going to try not to lay anyone off.  But we’ll have to see how it goes.”  

Don’t let that happen.  While that manager might believe this is motivational, when people are worried about losing their jobs, their productivity plummets.  They don’t look for new ways of doing things in a changing economy, they just walk around with white-knuckles doing what they can and keeping their head down.  Plus, they start to share what they’ve heard and the conjecture about when the inevitable layoffs are going to happen.  

This would also be the time when your key players, the people you wouldn’t layoff until you closed the doors (the ones with the choices) will probably start putting feelers out there to see what other opportunities might be available to them.  If you wait too long and you aren’t communicating, you could end up losing ‘the good ones.’ 

One point Guy makes has to do with severance pay.  Saying you have to cut costs while paying out big severance packages doesn’t make much sense to me either.  Except that not providing a severance package to people you’re laying off through no fault of their own (and poor management decisions), seems a bit inhumane.  Pay the severance.  Find the money elsewhere to pay the severance.  Maybe your CEO could give up the golden parachute, and pay the severance.  Maybe your entire management team could take a salary cut and pay the severance.  You could cut your fleet of cars you provide to management and sales and pay the severance.  

Oh.  And you could cut out the parties.  Seriously.  If you haven’t already re-thought those holiday parties, while rumors of people getting laid off are running rampant?   Do it now.  Employees really do get that those parties cost money.  A lot of money.  Talk about sending the wrong message!  

If you are in the unfortunate position of having to make cuts, check out Guy’s article.  Take it to your management team.  And then please try to do it right.  

All the best!

deb

P.S.  If you’re one of those worried being laid off, you can check out tips on dealing with that here, here, and here.  (More to come on that later too.)

P.S.  If you’re facing layoffs in your company or are, as most of us are, having to re-think  the way things have always been done and do them differently -- check out my program on managing change for leaders.  Or  Click here for information on how the Toyota Production System can apply to any business, including yours.