by Beth | Nov 13, 2019 | Company Culture, Employee Retention
Michelle Williams has unwittingly become THE spokesperson for the pay gap in Hollywood. She drew attention to this gap in 2018 when the media revealed that she was paid a mere $1,000 for re-shooting scenes in a Ridley Scott movie in comparison to Mark Wahlberg, who made $1.5 million for the same work. In her brilliant speech at the Emmys, Williams stated that “when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value. And where do they put that value? They put it into their work.” (Here is the link to her full speech.)
It seems impossible for one person to make such a large impact in the workplace, particularly in a company or industry culture that has gender or race pay gaps ingrained deeply within. Michelle Williams used her speech as a forum to do just that, and boy was it amazing!
As a female entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to placing people in work that they love and all that entails, I could not agree more. Creating a culture of empowerment, value and equality does in fact change the world. Employees spend a significant amount of their time in the workplace. By creating a place of value, harmony and equality, you promote this not only at work, but in the world beyond. Valued humans spread value in the world, and as a benefit to employers, they become more valuable workers when they are at work.
Be the employer who can proudly say you value your employees and their worth as human beings, regardless of what larger culture may accept or allow.
by Beth | Jun 6, 2019 | Employee Retention, Good Management
I have a very good friend that we will call Charles who works for a huge global company of around 30,000 employees. Charles has worked for this company for 21 years, and recently decided to resign. Charles felt that he had grown all that he could in his current role and has chosen to move on.
He dutifully called the HR department to respectfully give his 2 weeks notice. He was told that in order to resign, he had to go to the company website, find the HR page and click on the link to resign.
Oh, it gets better.
Then, he had 14 days to “change his mind”. All he had to do was to go back to the company website, click on the HR page, find his resignation and click cancel.
In that 2-week period, no human being reached out to him. No one told his team. There was no one to turn his equipment into. He left with zero fanfare. After 21 years.
Please keep in mind that this company will pay $10,000 for any referral that becomes a full-time employee.
And we wonder why our employees aren’t more fully engaged at work. Perhaps it is time to put the “human” back into human resources.
by Beth | Mar 28, 2019 | Employee Hiring, Employee Retention, Firing Employees, Good Management
I received a call from a potential client who had recently fired an under-performing employee. This employee was wreaking havoc on the work culture, missing deadlines, throwing others under the bus in meetings and not taking responsibility for their actions. Firing this employee was exactly the right move to make.
“So, why don’t I feel better?” he asked.
First, if you ever feel good after you have fired someone, you have lost your humanity and must take a long vacation, effective immediately. In other words, I would worry deeply if you DIDN’T feel bad after firing someone. After all, these are people not cogs.
Second, the relationship is over, along with your hopes and dreams for an outstanding performance from the individual. You would not have hired someone that you did not believe could do the job and do it well. When it does not work out as expected, it can feel awful and be perceived as a failure.
Third, you may now be concerned that you have poor judgement and are not skilled at hiring. You begin to think about the time and energy it takes to search for candidates and to wonder if you will ever find the right fit.
There is a way to feel better and restore your confidence.
Ask yourself:
- Did you observe something during the interview process that you knew could have been an issue, but you ignored it?
- Did you give this person an appropriate level of training to be successful in their position?
- Did you give them coaching and council to improve performance with time for course correction?
- Did you let them know, in no uncertain terms, that without improvement they would be fired?
Only through a thorough review process of a poorly performing employee post-employment, from search to departure, can you identify places to improve hiring and retention.
Then after you debrief, I want you to breathe and cut yourself some slack. Everyone has a bad hire occasionally. You did the best you could in that moment. You will do better next time. I believe in you!
by Beth | Nov 15, 2018 | Employee Retention, Firing Employees, Leadership
I had a call from a client who I worked with years ago. We had successfully hired an employee for a very key position in his company. He has called me regularly to share how great of an employee she had become over years. She has been great with his clients, great with her budget, great with the other folks on the team…He could not have been happier.
Then, one day recently, he called to tell me that his “amazing employee” was suddenly dropping the ball. “Beth, I don’t understand it!” he exclaimed. “She is making mistakes on things where in the past she has performed flawlessly! I am actually thinking about firing her because it is so bad.”
Okay. I always advise my clients to first take a big, deep breath when becoming frustrated. Then, I advise them to take another big, deep breath and look at performance issues from various perspectives before firing once high performing employees.
I continued the conversation by asking, “Have you asked her what is going on?”
“Well, no. I haven’t,” he replied.
I encouraged my client to talk to his beloved employee with empathy and compassion to uncover what may be behind her sudden shift in behavior. I suggested he state something like this, “You know, I have noticed that you haven’t been yourself lately. Are you okay?”
As it turns out, she did have some personal trauma happening in her life, discovering someone close to her had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She confessed to feeling like a total wreck. She also expressed that having a conversation with her boss, my client, was really helpful. And while she continued to have a tough go of it for the next several months, but she was able to get help when she needed and turn her performance around.
So, when you see job performance decline in a great employee, before you discipline in any way, check in with their emotional well-being. As a great leader, you will really be glad that you did.
by Beth | Oct 18, 2018 | Employee Hiring, Employee Retention
I spoke at a conference in San Antonio for the Independent Bankers Association of the state of Texas (IBAT). I had the privilege of hearing the CEO, Chris Williston, speak about his 35 years of involvement with the organization as he prepared to exit. He had grown the IBAT into the largest association of independent bankers in the country. It was obvious that he had made great friends in the group and would completely be missed as a leader. His exact quote was, “I have never worked a day in my life.” He then shared how grateful he was for the organization, that he loved the people and the work, and that he wished for all people to have the happiness in their jobs like he did. He was passionate, articulate and humble.
I have thought about that speech on and off for the past week. I realize how rare it is that people feel this way about their job. Why is this so? How is it that Chris, who had “fallen into this job,” was so successful?
Here are a few observations to Chris’ satisfaction:
- There were enough parts of his job that suited him perfectly. He was a natural relationship builder and spent a great deal of his time doing just that: getting to know independent bankers.
- He had enough control in his job that when his constituents needed something done, and it was right for the organization, Chris had the power to get it done.
- Chris had the resources to delegate the work that he disliked to someone else. He could focus on the parts that he loved and passed off the rest.
- He oversaw his own growth and that of the association.
I have so much respect for someone who leaves an organization way better than they found it. Chris Williston is one of those people. Do you empower people in your organization to thrive, contribute and grow? It could be the difference between an unhappy workforce and an happy one.
by Beth | Apr 4, 2018 | Company Culture, Employee Retention
My daughter, Katy was just selected to participate in a Chem-a-thon, a chemistry marathon through her high school. It is a very high honor… sort of.
For those students who are selected, they “get” to drive on a bus for 1 ½ hours to go take a 4-hour standardized test, then drive back to school for another 1 ½ hours in the middle of the hardest year and the most challenging time of year in high school. In addition, they are still held accountable for other tests, papers and group projects that are due before the end of the year. As Katy so eloquently put it, “You want to be chosen. You just don’t want to DO it. AND, I even have to BUY my own t-shirt!”
So, is this reward really a reward?
While I was at a clients’ office this past week, I overheard some employees complaining about being “rewarded” for being chosen to sit on an advisory committee for their boss. Same thing. They wanted to be chosen, but there were so many extra projects that were required, with no extra time to complete them and no extra resources to get the projects completed. One employee sighed “Working all weekend is NOT a reward!”
Rewarding your employees can be so satisfying for both parties. It can dramatically improve morale and it is a great way to create a culture that all parties love. Just make sure that the reward is actually a reward.
And, please, please PLEASE don’t make them buy their own t-shirts!
