07Oct/21

High-Performing Employee Disrupts the Team

October 7, 2021BlogHigh performer, superstarVictoria

He’s a Superstar, but the Team Hates Him

High Performer Screaming and Pointing Finger

Screaming Man Pointing Finger

High-performing employees make our jobs easier but when there’s trouble in their private lives, it can be a problem for everyone on the team, even if the work remains strong. One recent example comes from the National Hockey League.

I love hockey and I look forward to the fall when the chase for Lord Stanley’s cup begins. I have my favorite teams (Go Sharks, Go Caps) and I have teams that need to just go away (Talking to you Las Vegas) but in general, I simply love watching players display grace and athleticism with knives attached to their feet. It never ceases to amaze me. The other thing I love is getting under the hood and thinking about management issues with star athletes and the decisions managers, coaches and players make to keep the team working toward the ultimate goal – the Stanley Cup.

Enter Evander Kane, current left-wing for the San Jose Sharks. It is a well-documented fact that Evander’s life is a mess. that features bankruptcy, a nasty divorce, and several investigations by the NHL. Apparently, he is a distraction in the locker room and his team wants him to go away but no other team wants him. Yes, he has all sorts of “issues”. Yet, he was by far, the most productive player on the team last season. You’re his manager – how do you handle a great individual contributor but a horrible teammate? Welcome to the world of management.

Coming to work when your private life is in turmoil cannot be easy. It’s hard enough to be a consistently high performer when things are going great, so what do you do when your superstar becomes a pariah? Here are some things to think about:

Remember, it’s about their work-life – not their home life

Yes, there’s a problem but you have to understand and stay within the boundaries. Unless there are compulsory legal reporting requirements, I’m sorry to say, the cause is none of your business. You only get to address the effect on the workplace. What do you do when your superstar has a negative effect on morale? You try to find out what has everyone so angry and you stick to the facts: “ Debra, When you do X, Y happens, and it’s causing affecting the team in the following ways”.

You’re not a therapist and unless the employee volunteers the underlying cause, it’s none of your business. You don’t have a right to know the cause, but you do have the right (and the responsibility) to address the performance.

How do you do it?

Come from a place of caring. Show concern not only for the employee and for the team. Ask the employee, “Are you ok? Looks like you’ve got a lot going on and I’m concerned”. If available, remind them of company resources that might help.
Let them know you value their work but part of being a high performer is building strong relationships and they are not meeting expectations in that area.
Address the issue head-on. Be direct. “Your work is great but your relationship with the team is suffering. I need you to do some things differently”.
Be Specific. “Last week you yelled at Joe in the breakroom because you thought he ate your lunch. Remember that we respect everyone here and that includes how we conduct ourselves at all times”
Set clear expectations. “ Again, it’s clear you are going through a hard time and it’s great that you are performing the work at a high level, but you cannot be disrespectful and rude to people. Your relationship “performance” is unacceptable, and I expect immediate and sustained improvement starting now.
Show support. “A big part of my job is to make sure my people get what they need. Let me know how I can help. I value your contribution to the team, and you’ve got my full support”

After the discussion

Immediate Action. Once you’ve had the discussion, the hard work is just beginning. Send the employee a confirming email detailing the conversation. This serves two purposes: (1) It memorializes the content of the discussion should there be any disagreements about what was said, and (2) it serves as a paper trail in the event that disciplinary actions become necessary. If it isn’t in writing, it didn’t happen.
Next Step. Continue to check in with the employee. If you are conducting routine 1:1s (and you should be), use the first minute to ask how things are going, tell your observations, and then move on to routine topics.

31Aug/21

The Great Resignation & Employee Retention

August 31, 2021BlogVictoria

Resignation sticky not reading "I Quit"

The Paradigm Shift

The Great Resignation is upon us. In 1989, Stephen Covey published The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The book helped millions of people improve personal and professional relationships to the tune of more than 25 million copies sold in 40 different languages.

I’ve read the book; I’ve taken the course and one habit that made a huge impact on my life is Habit #5: Seek First to Understand. It’s more important now than ever because these days, people are leaving their jobs at an unheard-of pace. In his article “The Great Resignation is Here, and it’s Real”, Phillip Kane shares this from the Department of Labor: “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, during the months of April, May, and June 2021, a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs.

Money is not Always the Motivation to Stay

Think about it. 11.5 million people! That’s roughly the population of Cuba! People quit their jobs for many reasons, but your job is to make sure that you aren’t one of them. It’s a fact – People join organizations, but they leave managers. This is especially true now because Covid has allowed people to revise their definition of job equity. Money and perks are important, but they’re no longer the primary reason for staying in a job. This is a good thing because burnout is real. I tell my clients it’s important that we work to live – not live to work. It’s my professional way of saying that life is too short to drink bad beer.

Help Them Stay

So, how are you making sure your people work to live and not the other way around? Here are some tips that may help:

CARE – This is where habit #5 comes in. If you don’t understand what your people need, you can’t convince them that you care about them. Adopting a servant leader attitude will let them know that they are your priority.
TRUST – Face it, telecommuting is no longer a perk for your superstars. It is a viable way of doing business and it’s here to stay. If you don’t trust people to do the work, remember habit #5 and find out why. If there’s a performance issue, don’t set policies for everyone; manage the performance. If you find that you believe people won’t work unless you’re watching, it’s time to manage your beliefs. Read my blog for ways to up your trust game.
KNOW YOURSELF – My first rule for good managers. Work to understand why and how you make decisions. This will help you practice habit #5
KNOW YOUR PEOPLE – My second rule for good managers. Yep, habit #5 again.

In a nutshell, successful managing is about building relationships. Create strong, caring relationships and your people may not be part of the Great Resignation.

References:

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Aug. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People.
Kane, Phillip. “The Great Resignation Is Here, and It’s Real.” Inc., 26 Aug. 2021, www.inc.com/phillip-kane/the-great-resignation-is-here-its-real.html.

09Aug/21

“Stay in Your Lane” Only Works for Swimmers

August 9, 2021BlogVictoria

Olympic Swimming pool underwater background.

“Stay in your lane”*

If you’re going for the gold, it’s great advice. If you’re the CEO, I suggest you splash about. I live in Silicon Valley where tech companies change the world faster than I can change my socks. Look around and you’ll find the headquarters of major players from Google to Tesla, from Cisco to Apple. This is where many of the big kids play. It seems like there’s a new startup every minute of every day and therein lies the problem.

Company leaders have the vision and drive to create products that change the world, but do we have the skills to get the absolute best out of our teams? I suggest that most of us don’t because we either can’t or won’t change lanes. We’re familiar with everything in our space and it can be scary to venture out to see what’s really going on. People may find out that we don’t know everything. Guess what? They already know that.

Subject Matter Expertise isn’t Everything

Just because we have the engineering, mechanical or administrative skills to provide the greatest widget or service in the world doesn’t mean we know everything there is to know about running a business. I’m a perfect example. I know a lot about managing people but I’m clueless when it comes to accounting. Like any good CEO, I have “people” to do the things I can’t do. However, like any good manager, I step outside of my lane and attempt to learn or at least understand what my bookkeeper does. I may not understand how to get the information into the accounting software, but I can recognize when something doesn’t look right and start to ask questions. Changing lanes allows us to grow as leaders (increase knowledge and skills), and to excel as managers (build strong relationships).

The Benefits of Changing Views

Leaving the comfort of our safety zone does a couple of things:

Increases understanding of what’s happening under the hood of our business. We can recognize issues and make corrections.
Allows us to connect with the people doing the real work by building relationships. Our teams see us as people and not just as the company
Fosters communication and breaks down silos. If someone suddenly leaves, the work doesn’t come to a grinding halt

I could go on forever with this list, but you get the idea. As managers and leaders, we must understand our business; top to bottom. It doesn’t mean we have to do a deep dive to understand every nuance, but it does mean that we have to take an interest in more than spreadsheets and bottom lines. If you want to build strong teams, swim over to someone else’s lane and see how they do what they do. You just might learn a new stroke or two.

*Special shoutout to the incredible athletes of the 2020 Olympic Games