Archive for the ‘Management’ Category
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Your role as a contemporary manager is ever-changing. Many of the traditional day-to-day tasks have been improved or eliminated by technology, and perhaps in that respect the job of a manager has been simplified. However, the global business environment has created quite a different managerial role. If you read or access any source of daily news, you are bombarded with information about organizations that are dealing with consolidation, mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing. These major strategic decisions are forcing organizations to consolidate technologies and functions, merge culture, and deal with generational diversity issues. As the current workforce continues to change and evolve, all of these directly impact your current role as a manager. As John Naisbett discusses in his recent book High Tech/High Touch: technology and Our Search for Meaning, as a business community we are intoxicated by the power of existing and emerging technology and the perceived impact it has on success. However, these ongoing changes mean you must now be highly skilled in interpersonal communication and human development if you are to get your job done effectively. John Naisbett reminds us that more than ever we need to place as much emphasis on people as we do technology.
In addition to an ever-changing global environment, many people have come to expect and demand much more out of their jobs. They have a different set of expectations for what they should derive from their work. For instance, people are demanding more and more non-monetary rewards from their employers. Research documents individuals are looking toward their work as a major source of fulfillment as it relates to their self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, personal challenge, and involvement. Studies have also shown the average employee tenure is at an all time low, which is a huge indicator that individuals are not getting what they need from their positions. There is a direct correlation between individuals staying or leaving an organization and their relationship with their manager.
The challenges facing managers today include creating an environment, a climate, and a culture where your people can satisfy their personal needs and achieve personal goals while accomplishing organizational results. If the individuals within your organization are not fulfilling their needs, are not made to feel as an important part of the organization, and/or are not committed, work and results will be given a low priority. Your employees will devote only the minimum amount of effort needed to get by or choose to move in another direction.
The basic desire to achieve and accomplish exists within most employees as they want their work to hold meaning. Therefore, you must discover ways to reshape relationships within your organization to create a climate of personal growth and contribution. As a great manager, you must discover new methods to channel the energies of your workforce, new ways to communicate, and new ways to help your people become motivated. We are in an exciting business era, one in which our people knowledge must match up with our technical knowledge!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Posted in Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
When you begin to think of yourself as a successful leader, you realize that there are more demands on your time than you can possibly fill. This is a common problem faced by many leaders. The solution to this challenge is developing a process of effective delegation. However, delegation is an important tool that many leaders hesitate to use, and it has been the downfall of many leaders. The biggest barrier to delegation is overcoming the attitude that you must do it all! It becomes a leader’s curse when you adhere to the adage, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
 Delegation is very different from simply assigning someone a task or project that falls into his or her established job description or requirements. When you delegate, you give someone else one of your job tasks to complete with the authority and control to complete it properly. Delegation is not abdication. You share accountability for the assignment, which is why checkpoints are established to monitor overall progress. Just as the outcomes of your entire department are your responsibility, you are also responsible for the ultimate success of the delegation process.
When delegation is done properly and for the right reasons, it helps foster a climate of trust and creates growth opportunities for your employees. Here are five principles that can help you create an effective delegation process.
- Determine what you will delegate. Effective delegation begins with defining your responsibilities. Write down all of your activities and responsibilities. Review your master list and categorize all of the items into two secondary lists: things you alone must do and things that others could do or help you complete. Anything that falls into the second list presents an opportunity for delegation.
- Choose the right person to delegate the task to. Andrew Carnegie said, “The secret to success lies not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right person to do it.” The key to finding the right person to delegate an assignment to is matching skills and attitude to the task at hand.
- Clarify the desired results. When the results are clear, it allows the employee to use his or her own creativity and resources to accomplish the task. An added benefit of effective delegation is the individual may find a better and more effective way to accomplish the task or achieve the desired results.
- Clearly define the employee’s responsibility and authority as it relates to the delegated task. Clearly communicate the expectation, responsibilities, and timeline. Be sure to ask the employee to share his or her understanding.
- Establish a follow up meeting or touch points. The follow up meetings should be focused on two things—monitoring progress and determining the need for assistance. The number of follow up meetings will vary based on the scope of the task or project and whether the employee is new or a long term member of the department.
Once you have created a solid process for delegation, stick to it, and avoid reverse delegation. At times, a team member may try to dump the delegated task back to you, and you may feel tempted to take it back especially if he or she seems to be struggling. Helping him or her stretch outside his or her comfort zone is all part of a positive growth and development. Use the scheduled follow up meetings to manage the delegation process, provide encouragement, and monitor the results!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: attitude, challenge, delegation, Leaders, resource associates
Posted in Business Management, Leadership, Management | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Depending upon what research study you read, companies in the United States are spending upwards of 134 Billion dollars a year on employee training and development.
However, according to a study on retention in The Journal of Economic Education, the annual rate of retention loss for employee training and development averages between 13 to 23%. In other words, American employers are throwing away between 17 and 30 Billion dollars a year on unused or lost training and development.
In any business environment wasted dollars is bad, and in today’s business environment, eliminating wasted dollars is mission critical. The situation at hand is really a double-edged sword. Companies need to continue to invest in the development of their people (even now) in order to manage brain drain, to engage and motivate younger employees, and to create future leadership and growth initiatives for the organization all the while maximizing every dollar invested. So how can an organization accomplish both objectives simultaneously?
The good news is it can be done, but it does require examining and implementing employee training and development in a different way. It starts with understanding it is not just about the degree to which participants acquire the new knowledge, skill, or attitude, and it is not just about whether the participant attended the actual event. It is more about how the new knowledge, skill, or attitude is applied and how the application can positively impact a business through quantifiable results.
Donald Kirkpatrick is Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin in North America and a past president of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He is best known for creating a highly influential model for training and development evaluation. It is defined by four levels of participant learning.
His first two levels of learning are typically how companies measure the success of their training and development investment. Kirkpatrick defines the first level of learning as reaction. Reaction measures whether participants liked the event and the measurement tool is usually the session critique often referred to as a “smile sheet”—did the participants enjoy and find some value in the time they spent? Kirkpatrick’s second level focuses on participant learning. Did the participants acquire the new and intended knowledge, skill, or attitude? Often at this level pre and post testing is used as a measurement tool. What was the participants’ level of knowledge going into the training or development event, and how much did the level of knowledge increase as a result of completing the event?
Level one and two are important because you cannot move to Kirkpatrick’s level three and four without starting at the beginning. Kirkpatrick’s levels of learning are interconnected, as it is a learning process. However, many companies don’t pursue measurements beyond Level one and two because three and four require detailed goals and actions steps and take time to measure as well as manage.
Kirkpatrick’s Level three is focused on improved behavior. To what degree did participants take the new knowledge, skill, or attitude and apply it to the real world setting of their job, their role, and the goals of their department/company? Changing behaviors takes time, but by allowing time to pass participants have the opportunity to implement the new knowledge, skills, and attitude therefore learning retention and job transferability can indeed be measured—did behaviors change as a result of the new learning? Ideally this measurement is conducted three to six months after the learning event with commitment from not only the participant but their manager, team leader, boss, etc., to follow-up and measure individual application.
Level four focuses on measurable business results. Level three sets the stage and creates the ability to measure results long-term. By allowing time for the participants to actually apply the new knowledge, skill, or attitude and by measuring the improved behavior through individual goals and action steps, looking at improved results through an entire team or department is the next logical step. Here are some examples of achieving level four successes within a team or a department:
- Creating a development/training process focused on improving the knowledge, skill, and attitude of members of a sales team could lead to level four measurements such as increased sales volume, increased customer retention, shortening the sales cycle, and increased profitability—all meaningful results to the success and profitability of an organization.
- Working with any department or company in the area of process improvement could lead to level four improvement such as reduction of defects, errors, rework, time, and improvement of efficiencies. If a company could take their typical three-week order processing system down to 24 hours, the saving of company resources and the financial impact is huge.
In today’s world, positive business results and taking full advantage of every investment is crucial. For future training and development events take the time, make the commitment, and follow through to Kirkpatrick’s level three and four. The business results will be unparalleled to what your organization has experienced in the past.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: development, journal economic education, Kirkpatrick, RAC, Resource Associates Corporation, results, Retention, training, wasted dollars
Posted in Business Management, Management, Retention | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Emotions play an important role in everyday behavior.
 There is no thought, behavior, idea, or attitude that does not have a related emotional counterpart. Often times in the business arena, various forms of emotions are frowned upon. But, the reality is emotions do exist and do impact communications no matter how subtle. As often as it is said emotions do not belong in business, they will always be there. The intent of this information is to alert you to the importance emotions play in our everyday lives, and how a successful leader can create a productive and focused working climate while dealing with the reality of emotions.
As you interact with your staff or team, you begin to build up certain expectations of each other’s behaviors and reactions. In any relationship between two people who have been in continuous interaction over a period of time, certain tolerable limits of emotional communication are established. There are certain ways of saying things which must be slightly altered to fit varying situations. For example, you may not talk to your children the same way you talk to your partner; you may not talk to your superior in the same way that you talk to a team member, and so forth. In some instances, these behavioral responses are simply a matter of courtesy and respect for the other person. In some cases, they stem from a fear of undesirable results.
Constantly avoiding dealing with your feelings can build up a stockpile of pent-up emotions. It can create a festering problem which when it does find expression, exhibits itself in ways that are harmful, hurtful, and destructive to a relationship. This repression and lack of adequate expression is not limited only to negative emotions such as anger but also applies to positive emotions such as love. We must develop a way to widen the tolerable limits of emotional expression, so that the problems associated with restraint and repression are diminished. By understanding human behavior, you will be able to identify emotionally based problems which emerge in the everyday operations of the organization. Effective management demands that you deal with emotions on a rational basis.
The key to managing emotions within your team is the environment. The culture that you create and maintain provides the platform for how you and your team deal with situations when they arise. Throughout most of our lives, we have developed ways to express disappointment, anger, and discontent in somewhat less than honest terms. We have learned, through experience and conditioning, that exhibiting hostility can prove ineffective in solving our problems with others. Instead of confronting situations head on we circumnavigate the stormy waters by using what we have come to believe are more socially acceptable forms of expression. This can be very functional behavior, up to a point, since a continuously abrasive and complaining individual soon finds no one around with whom to become hostile. On the other hand various negative feelings need expression as well. Emotions, if left unexpressed, or if expressed irrationally inhibit progress in improving relationships. Honest, open communication is necessary for a results-oriented working environment. To do so, you must create trust, concern, and a mutual commitment with your people. Some additional ideas when implemented correctly will help create a productive culture.
Create a culture that encourages your staff members to come directly to you and discuss, share, or brainstorm a situation with which they may be dealing. Whether they need an avenue for emotional expression or they are on the receiving end of a distracting situation and want to brainstorm possible solutions, make yourself available.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: climate, emotions, Leadership, Management, negative behavior, Resource Associates Corporation. RAC
Posted in Behavior, Leadership, Management | No Comments »
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