CareerCurve™

As I was perusing discussions on LinkedIn I came across a conversation about whether or not HR should allow hospitalized employees to work from their sick beds.  Once I started thinking about this and reading opinions, I realized that there are many angles to consider when determining what to do.

Simple Logistics:

Can the job be done effectively away from the office?  Does the company have to provide the equipment to make this possible?  Do you allow others in your organization to work remotely?  How much of a burden will be added to the person managing the sick employee?  How long is the anticipated recovery?

Legal Issues:

Are you obligated by the Americans with Disability Act to offer working from the hospital as an option?  This act states that not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of disabled employees is discrimination.  Is it discriminatory if you don’t provide the option if their doctors have approved this plan?

Financial Considerations:

Does your organization offer short or long term disability and sick pay?  If the employee is only able to work (and get paid for) a few hours a day, would he/she become ineligible for these benefits and ultimately suffer financial hardships at a time where he/she is probably racking up additional expenses?  From the company’s point of view, what about the differences between exempt and non-exempt employees?  If the employee is non-exempt you only pay for hours he/she tracks and submits.  Exempt employees will be paid for a full week even he/she is only able to work a few hours.

Physical and Mental Ramifications:

Will this situation prove stressful for the employee and will that end up affecting recovery?  Is working like this something the employee wants or is it something he/she feels is necessary?  On the flip side, could providing the opportunity to work from the hospital assist in the recovery process?  It could give keep him/her a purpose and inspire the employee to stay hopeful thereby taking his/her mind off of being ill.

Answering this question is a challenge and obviously each situation is unique, but if it makes sense there is a definite upside to working toward a solution that accommodates the sick employee.  You are sending an emphatic message that the people in your organization matter and this should improve employee engagement.

If you can look at your smartest employees and see that they are not performing as expected, it is time to ask some questions – of yourself and your organization.

Most smart employees who don’t perform do so because they don’t want to.  So why don’t they want to and what can you do about it?

Does your organization value their employees’ suggestions? 

Are new ideas or processes encouraged, supported and ultimately executed?  Is the company culture inspiring?  For smart employees this is very important.  If they don’t feel they work in an environment that genuinely values their input or if they don’t have the ability to demonstrate what they can bring to the table, why bother going above and beyond?  Maybe it’s time reassess the corporate values and reward employees accordingly.

Do your employees have good managers? 

I posted recently about how people quit managers, not companies.  Do the managers share the vision and values of the organization or are they worried about their own agenda (such as a fear of being overshadowed by their team?)  Do the managers take accountability for the performance of their teams?  Are the managers full of negative feedback, provide lower than expected performance reviews, and exclude their teams in decisions or processes?  All of these will play a role in how a smart employee performs.  Maybe it’s time to take a close look at your management team.

Do you count on the smart ones too much? 

Sometimes it is difficult to get away from but when you have a lot of faith in one employee, don’t you tend to go to them for everything?  How does this affect their ability to perform?  When does he/she just have too much work to do?  A huge workload can be very de-motivating if it becomes too difficult to manage.  Combine that with little feedback and no stated upward mobility path and you’ve got a deadly combination.  Be aware that there is a line between feeling valued and feeling taken advantage of.

Are they really underperforming? 

According to who?  Could it be that your expectations were too high because you recognize how smart they are and you subconsciously expect bigger things from them?  If so, you can focus on inspiring them and they will surpass even your expectations.

As always, the best thing to do is communicate.  Think these things through and before deciding you know what the problem is, make a point to sit down and ask.  It could be that none of the above is true and the employee is going through a rough time personally.  Maybe you can offer solutions that will help, like temporarily letting he/she work from home.  Investing time into the thought process and creating time to talk one on one will go a long way toward a better performance.  Maybe you can’t offer the solution, but exhibiting a concern toward trying can often be just as good.

As I’m driving home from practice with my nine year old she started complaining that one of her coaches was “mean” to her.   He is always telling her things she is doing wrong.  I told her that is a coach’s job and they are supposed to be mean.   I was kind of flippant about it.  But then I realized that this really required a little more conversation because this can be a valuable life lesson for her; one I see plenty of “grown ups” struggling to learn.

I explained that I wanted her to do something that was going to be very hard for her.  I wanted her to go to practice for the next week and pay very close attention to this coach.  I know she feels she is being singled out, but I wanted her to focus on whether she truly IS being singled out.  I told her this would be difficult because she already feels she is, and she may have to be very honest with herself about whether this is really true; and possibly admit that it is not. 

The next week we discussed it again and she admitted that he treated everyone the same.  I was pretty impressed by this admission as I see experienced adults who can’t admit things like this.  I then explained to her that in the majority of cases if someone she respects who is in a position of authority is delivering a consistent message to multiple people, he or she is actually handing her a gift.  The goal is to help her grow and improve and this coach has invested himself in her future. 

I emphasized that a good first reaction is to view it that way, as if someone is handing her a present.  This will help her deal with the emotional piece and really assess the situation from a more objective point of view.  Obviously she is nine and must learn that this will not always be the case (which is why I mentioned this criticism coming from a position of respect and authority and not her friends.)  Eventually, it should be true of everyone who is close to her.

So, what does this have to do with anything?  How does this relate to business? 

Well, managing people is very difficult and many times criticism is not well received.  I am suggesting, without being condescending, that the idea of criticism as a gift should be discussed with your staff.  Have a conversation similar to the one I had with my daughter and set expectations.  If it is explained from the outset that if a criticism is brought up, it will be for the purpose of improving productivity, the employee is a lot more likely to view it in that light. Point out that as a manager, you are investing in the employee’s personal growth and professional career.  Commit to providing feedback both good and bad, fairly and frequently, for the purpose of individual improvement.  But address the role of constructive criticism as a part of this process.

Professor P. M. Forni, co-founder of the Johns Hopkins University Civility Project, advocates powerfully for people to communicate both honestly and humanely. He believes constructive criticism is “a welcome opportunity to learn.” But he also recommends a cautious and careful examination of motives before diving in. “Make sure that your intention is to help with a problem and not to humiliate, manipulate or exact revenge.”

In the workplace, Forni and other researchers emphasize that establishing an environment of positive reinforcement helps create a feedback-friendly climate.  Work done well deserves praise and recognition, but employers, managers and co-workers often overlook the simple step of consistently acknowledging good performance. The desire for approval is a basic human need going back to infancy that we never outgrow. Appreciation and recognition correlate strongly to employee motivation and morale. On the other hand, Forni cites U. S. Department of Labor statistics that show “Feeling unappreciated at work is a leading cause of leaving a job.”

What better way to show appreciation than by investing in an employee’s career and making sure they KNOW this prior to providing feedback?

According to Wikipedia emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill or a self-perceived grand ability to identify, assess, manage and control the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.  Conventional Intelligence refers to IQ or the amount of knowledge one possesses.  

Obviously being bright helps your chance of success at anything you do but in terms of being successful in an HR role, isn’t emotional intelligence even more important?  If you know yourself and understand how you react when you are stressed, under deadline or dealing with a troublesome employee you can then take a step back when the trigger occurs, think things through and react in a way that is positive.  Human Resources seems to be a reactive role more than a proactive role so doesn’t it stand to reason that if you know how to manage your reactions you will be a better manager?  

If you know yourself well enough, you know which triggers occur that cause certain reactions in you.  These reactions then affect how you deal with the people you work with and manage.  Once you know yourself that well, you can recognize and understand others’ emotions.  Then you can manage the emotions of others.  Particularly in HR, I would think this is more important than your IQ or book smarts. 

Recent research shows that emotional intelligence is twice as likely as IQ or knowledge in determining which employees will be high performing.  There are also assessments available to identify the level of intelligence.  Do you currently use emotional intelligence as a factor when hiring team members?  Have you found it to be true that people with a high level of emotional intelligence do perform better for the company?

So I was reading about John Wooden passing away and learning more about him as a coach, a professional speaker and a person.  What a fascinating guy!  I found a site where a couple pages of quotes are listed and it got me thinking about how relevant these quotes are across the board in every area of life.  I thought about how effective it would be to really absorb these both for personal growth as well as professional growth.

Isn’t being a manager essentially the same thing as being a coach?  There is an ultimate goal and the manager’s job is to make sure everyone understands the goal, help get the best performance from each individual member, and combine those performances to achieve the ultimate goal as successfully as possible.  Is there really any difference between basketball and corporate life?  A team is still a team and they function the same way, no matter what the forum.

I think in order to be an effective manager, one needs to think about managing from the point of view of how they can help get the best from their team instead of focusing on what each individual can bring to the table.  If you can focus on how you can be a more effective manager, your team will perform at their highest levels. 

Below are some of my favorite quotes by John Wooden that reflect the type of thinking necessary to be a good manager.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.

Be prepared and be honest.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

Never mistake activity for achievement.

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.

A theme that seems to have developed in my posts is coming through again.  Humility is important and when you want to get people to achieve certain results, start with improving yourself.  John Wooden is a great example of this.  Rest in peace, John.