CONTENTS:
Introduction
Here's how you get a productive workforce:
- Respect their dignity
- Respect their intelligence
- Respect their time
- Respect their money
- THEN demand loyalty and performance
If it's really that simple, why do so many organizations fail so
miserably? Probably because they break most or all of the preceding
five rules.
Right about now you're probably asking "who's this Steve Litt, and what
makes him an authority?"
I'm Steve Litt. I created the
Universal
Troubleshooting Process (UTP). I created and license UTP
courseware,
as well as teaching the UTP onsite. I've written five books on
troubleshooting:
Twenty
Eight Tales of Troubleshooting,
Troubleshooting: Just the Facts,
"Troubleshooting:
Tools, Tips and Techniques",
"Troubleshooting
Techniques of the Successful Technologist", and
"The Manager's Guide to Technical
Troubleshooting".
As a contract software developer since 1984, I've seen many
IT shops -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've seen an
enthusiastic project manager lead a crew into quickly creating best of
breed legal software. At that same shop, I saw new owners move in,
alienate everyone, and then finally chop-shop the company. I've seen a
company with revenues of a half billion dollars per year send their
employees on "treasure hunts" as a "team building exercise".
Fortunately that program of the month died a quick and quiet death
after the first treasure hunt. At that same company I saw a site
manager, overseeing over 50 technologists, lead them to happily and
successfully complete projects the home office said would be impossible.
Much of Human Resources is complex. Government regulation. Selection and
staffing. Compensation and benefits. Dispute resolution.
But developing a motivated and enthusiastic workforce isn't rocket
science. I've seen it done many times. People want to be motivated and
productive, if only they're allowed to. Trouble is, all too many
organizations erect barriers to motivation and productivity. Most of
those barriers stem from violation of one of the following principles:
- Respect their dignity
- Respect their intelligence
- Respect their time
- Respect their money
- THEN demand loyalty and performance
It's not rocket science. Read on...
Respect Their Dignity
Have you ever called your software developers "techies"? Have you
heard them calling you "suits" or "pointy haired bosses"? That stuff
has to stop.
When management calls their technologists "techies", the underlying
message is that technologists are replaceable cogs with little social
acumen and paltry knowledge of or interest in the company or industry.
Once management starts thinking that way, it shows in their treatment
of employees. Software developers should be encouraged to meet with end
users to develop good specs and software, but all too often software
developers are forbidden from meeting end users, for fear they'll commit
a social or business blunder. So instead, the users' software
requirements are filtered through the customer's manager, your
company's salesman, vice president, and project
manager before
getting to your software developer. Is it any wonder the final product
doesn't meet the customer's needs? Is it any wonder that technologists'
morale and productivity is low?
Part of dignity is acceptance. Develop a culture of acceptance,
regardless of age, gender, race or religion. Let them know that bigotry
and sexual harassment are not accepted, nor is general harassment for
any reason. I once saw a group of workers use a scissors to cut off the
tie worn by a co-worker with cerebral palsy. Yeah, they paid him for
the tie, but bullies belong in 4th grade, not in the workplace.
Part of dignity is trust. Develop a culture of trust, not
micromanagement. The employee required to get an OK for every little
subtask will be slow and unenthusiastic. The employee given reasonable
freedom in deciding how to do his or her job can accomplish miracles.
You hired yourr employees to be experts at what they do. Let them do it!
Also, develop a culture of gratitude. When the network administrator
connects the newest regional office with two days notice, his boss
should thank him. The thank you needn't be dramatic -- it just needs to
be sincere. Posters, Tshirts and parties may or may not be helpful,
bonuses probably would be, especially if the job involved work far
beyond normal. However, don't bonus anyone if you can't bonus everyone
who slaved away to get it done. Workers hate it when the boss or the
star gets all
the credit.
Respect Their Intelligence
Point 10 of W. Edwards Deming's 14 points tells us to "eliminate
slogans, exhortations and targets from the workforce." Slogans like
those cutsie posters showing various animals first pulling in different
directions and then in the same direction, with a caption like "it's
easier when we all pull together."
All members of the American workforce graduated fourth grade long ago.
They don't need cartoons to tell them how to behave, and they know
propaganda when they see it. The poster's true meanings are:
- You're not cooperating.
- You don't know you're not cooperating.
If there's a cooperation problem, the cause is probably either an
incentive
problem, a systematic problem, or a staffing problem. Posters won't fix
it.
How many organizations tell their employees "we want you to
be entrepreneurial", all the while limiting raises to 7% even
for
the most productive. Employees know what an entrepeneur is. If the
employee wanted to do all the work, take all the risks, and take all
the money, he'd have his own business. Making an employee work like a
business owner to get a paycheck might be acceptable, especially in
today's economy. Asking him to believe he's being entrepeneurial is a
gross insult to his intelligence.
Lose the touchy-feely programs of the month. No silly team building
exercises. Your employees stopped
going on treasure hunts in grade school. Instead, give the team a real
problem, real authority to solve the problem, and real compensation as
a team when they solve it. They're smart enough to do the rest.
There's no quicker way to ruin morale than to treat the workforce like
they're stupid. No matter how bad the job market, no matter how great
their salaries, from the day their intelligence is disrespected,
they'll be looking elsewhere, and all too soon you'll be breaking in
their replacement.
It's easy to respect their intelligence. It costs nothing. It takes no
extra effort. It requires only changing a habit in the corporate
culture. It's low hanging fruit.
Respect Their Time
The PC-Repairman/Network-Administrator at one of my customers worked 48
consecutive hours to make a deadline for a big project rollout. After
completing the project he
took the next morning off. The bosses scolded him for missing work.
He stuck around for
awhile, but was never really productive for that company again.
Twenty-somethings have social lives, and those social lives are vital
to subsequent marriage and children. Thirty-somethings and
forty-somethings have
children to take care of. Those above fifty have either spouses they
want to (finally) spend some time with, or they have social lives.
Everybody's time is valuable.
Take the salesperson who's told to sell all day and travel all night,
four
days a week, and then show up for work on Friday. The salesperson's
spouse will make him or her quit, or if the salesperson is single, he
or she will be free enough to quit in order to have a social life.
It's tempting sometimes, isn't it. Tempting to have the software
developer deliver backup tapes to the offsite vault after a hard day's
work, instead of paying a courier or secretary. It's tempting to have
the network admin work way into the night installing Windows on desktop
computers rather
than hiring a computer technician to do it.
By heaping ever more tasks on overworked salaried employees instead of hiring new
people to do that additional work, the organization always saves money.
This quarter.
Next quarter might be different. The overworked employee gets angry and
quits, so a less qualified person is hired at a higher salary. If
you're lucky.
Perhaps next quarter the overworked employee burns out, causing a
workers comp claim or maybe even a lawsuit. Other employees see what
happened, and they start looking, even in the worst of job markets.
Time is money, and with a salaried employee it's tempting to get every
last cent out of him or her. It's a false economy. The truly productive
organization respects their employees' time.
Respect Their Money
Pay them according to the value they add. Yes, really. Even if five
years ago you got the employee at a bargain basement rate during a
recession, pay him or her commensurate with the value he or she adds.
For gosh sakes, don't pay him or her less than you pay new hires, just
because "you can". Keeping all those secrets just gets everyone
nervous, and sooner or later the wronged employee finds out. If
he or she is adding value to you, the employee can probably add value
elsewhere -- maybe even at your competitor's organization.
If the employee is expected to use his or her personal car for company
business, compensate enough to cover gas, repairs, wear and tear, and the
added insurance. If they're expected to wear $800.00 suits, pay them
accordingly.
Don't treat employees' personal credit cards as the company's personal
bank. If you can't issue them company credit cards, at least make it
trivially easy for them to fill out expense reports, don't sweat
loss of receipts for small items, and deliver reimbursement checks promptly.
THEN Demand Loyalty and Performance
Once you respect their dignity, intelligence, time and money, good
employees become productive and loyal. If they've been in the workforce
awhile and worked elsewhere, good employees become
very loyal.
Not everyone is cut out to be a good employee. Some people really are
entreneurs and resent being bossed. These people should have their own
business -- they shouldn't be your employee. Some people have a drug or
alcohol problem that sabotages their work. That's their problem and it
shouldn't be yours. Some people feel entitled, and believe that you should
pay them just for putting in the hours, regardless of how little they
accomplish or how many errors they make. They belong in the welfare
line, not in your company. Some people create conflict everywhere they
go, with arguments, sexual harrassment, bigotry, political
backstabbing, or prima donna acts. No matter how good they are at their
actual work, they're a liability to the organization. Let them work for
someone else.
Once you've given your employees the respect and culture to free up
their productivity, the last step is to get rid of the dead wood. It's
hard to work consecutive overnighters when others get a paycheck just
for showing up, or maybe for showing up and making trouble. You're in
Human Resources -- you know the steps to legally get rid of dead wood. More
important, you know how to test and check prospective employees to
minimize the chance of their being dead wood. Don't hire questionable
people. If you're really short of people and can't find additional
suitable people, pay extra money for extra work to your excellent
employees. Or hire contractors you can dump at a moment's notice.
Summary
People want to be treated decently. They want you to respect their
dignity, intelligence, money and time. That's not too much to ask.
Perhaps your competitors lower costs by not respecting money and time.
Let them -- their turnover will cost them a fortune, and you'll be on
top.
Not every employee cuts the mustard, even when given the necessary
respect and resources. Those who don't fit in should be cut loose, for
your organization's sake and for the sake of the other employees.
You're an expert at staffing. Make sure new hires, once respected, will
produce.
Follow this advice, and your workforce will differentiate you from your competition.
Disclaimer
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