You Get What You Measure

"Results-Driven, Solid ROI, Quantifiable Outcomes"

When these terms are used to describe a leader, the reaction is likely to be very positive. These phrases conjure up images of a successful "producer,” someone who accomplishes goals and gets things done. The individual may contribute greatly to the bottom line of the organization. Who wouldn't want such a person as a company leader? The reality is that many organizations don't - and most shouldn't.

This is bold statement is intended to evoke strong immediate response.  But step back from the surface of the description above and look a bit deeper.  The discussion concerns leaders and a few key qualities are missing from that superstar profile. Absent from the descriptive terms are the soft qualities of a leader, attributes that are more difficult to effectively measure. They include:

1. Compassion: A great leader cares about people. While an overuse of compassion hampers a leader's ability to manage difficult developmental conversations, some degree of caring has to manifest itself in the leader's daily interactions with staff, peers, clients and superiors.  The antonym of compassion is arrogance. That attribute that has toppled many otherwise "successful" individuals.
2. Sense of Team: The workplace is increasingly complex. Matrix work relationships are common in many organizations. Most organizational projects require support from cross-functional experts. Those who cannot operate comfortably and effectively in a team environment will struggle to succeed as leaders.
3. Trust: The single most important attribute that any leader must possess is the ability to win - and retain - the trust of direct reports and others. Trust is the capital that sustains a leader when the inevitable difficult times emerge. Employees will listen, accept and follow a leader through the darkest times if that leader has consistently demonstrated that he or she can be trusted to do what's right for the group as a whole.

The human resources profession is placing increasingly stronger emphasis on human capital metrics; that is, measuring the effectiveness of employee-focused strategies. In many cases, these metrics are also being applied to the evaluation of individual leader effectiveness. Organizations must guard against reliance on a preponderance of bottom-line focused metrics and ensure that balance exists. It is equally, if not more important to gauge the leader's performance on true human-focused competencies such as those listed above.

If the concept seems difficult to accept, consider two recent examples of results-oriented rainmakers who have stirred significant controversy and created chaos in human relationships within their organizations.  Lead actor Charlie Sheen is credited with a major role in the success of the television series, Two and a Half Men. However, his incredibly poor human relations skills caused his employer to terminate his contract. Warner Brothers made the difficult but commendable decision to put people ahead of profits.  So, too did Time, Inc., with the abrupt termination of CEO Jack Griffin after just six months on the job. Griffin's cost-cutting and organizational effectiveness measures may have had potential to contribute significantly to the company's bottom line, but at significant expense to its people.

Metrics and pure-dollar ROI are important, but human outcomes cannot always be fully quantified by statistical measures. Organizations will be well served to ensure that any leader evaluation system includes an effective consideration of the human side of leadership. You will get what you measure.

Leaders are the Keepers of the Culture

It is impossible to understate the importance of leaders to sustaining culture. Leaders are the face of the organization to numerous internal and external constituencies. The larger the organization, the more critical the role of its leaders.

Author and speaker Peg Neuhauser's first and now classic book draws parallels between organizations and tribes.  "Tribal Warfare in Organizations" depicts corporate departmentalization - what many of us have come to call silos - as warring tribes in action.  The organization's leaders, especially its senior leaders, are akin to tribal elders. 

Neuhaser subsequently expanded the concept in a later book, "Corporate Legends and Lore," which emphasizes the power of storytelling as an underpinning of corporate culture. In a tribal environment, the stories are handed down from elders to junior tribe members.

Consider these concepts in tandem. The organization possesses a culture, which is supported or undermined by the "tribal" sub-cultures within departments or divisions.  Every organization has unwritten rules, or stories. These strategies for survival are passed along to new employees, who must quickly learn them in order to meld and ultimately succeed.

The role of the leader includes responsibility to carry out the organization's policies and protocols, set the tone for a specific operating division and guide a group of employees. In many organizations, especially in larger ones, leaders operate with a great deal of independence. Leaders are entrusted with tremendous power, whether or not they or the organization realizes this. 

Leaders set an example that employees follow.  A strong, positive leader encourages company loyalty by nurturing staff and modeling core organizational values.  Less skilled leaders can quickly cause staff to become disengaged by verbalizing displeasure with initiatives, criticizing senior leaders and second-guessing decisions.

There are certain strategies that organizations can deploy to ensure that leaders understand and effectively execute their all-important role in cultural preservation.

1. Assess and evaluate leaders based on key organizational metrics.  If employee engagement is critical to the organization, an engagement metric must be included in the leaders' evaluation and reward system. A bottom-line driven organization should reward leaders, at least in part, on profitability. This strategy-aligned approach to leader rewards supports cultural alignment in an objective and measurable manner.
2. Sharpen the focus on leadership quality.  Some organizations display greater leniency toward leaders than toward their staff-level employees. Leaders often have long tenure and may have deep relationships across the organization. But these factors cannot be allowed to enable a leader's substandard performance.  Leaders who are not performing to standard must be addressed in an "up or out" manner. Performance improves (moves "up") or the leader moves out.
3. Identify and articulate core leadership competencies.  The organization must pinpoint and communicate the qualities and behaviors expected of all leaders.  Appropriately developed competencies will be linked to the organization's culture and provide a common framework within which all leaders can operate.
4. Invest in leadership development.  Good leaders can become great through education, experiential learning and best practice sharing. Organizations with strong cultures consistently invest in leader development, because they understand that sustaining the culture depends largely upon skilled, knowledgeable leaders.

Leaders and tribal elders share a common bond. They model desired behaviors, pass along the stories and sustain the norms of the group.  They are the keepers of culture, empowered with responsibility to preserve the past and nurture the future.

The Wrong Ingredient Can Ruin the Dish

Have you ever set out to make your favorite recipe, only to find you've run out of a key ingredient? If this happens in the middle of preparation, it's tempting to substitute an ingredient that seems similar.  Occasionally it works and once in a great while, if you're lucky, the dish may be improved.  However, changing ingredients without careful aforethought can ruin the dish.

The same is true when it comes to hiring employees. Great workplaces know that a key ingredient in the great place formula is the organization's employees. As organizations grow, the continual challenge is to attract and retain staff who share a true commitment to the organization's values.

It can be difficult to accomplish this. After all, most applicants work hard to project the best image possible. Savvy job seekers study the organization ahead of time, know its values and prepare to respond to interview questions with answers that they believe the organization will appreciate. How can an employer protect its culture and ensure that new hires represent the right ingredients?

1. Understand Cultural Anchors:  These are the key values that support the organization's culture. Cultural anchors are not mission or vision statements. They are single words or small phrases that describe values that differentiate the organization. Cultural anchors are those attributes that can never be sacrificed or compromised. One organization where I have worked is, above all, compassionate.  When faced with difficult times, the organization would always make decisions that placed compassion above all else. Hiring individuals who don't share this key value will, over time, erode the organization's prized culture.
2. Find Employees That Fit:  Vacancies are costly, but the impact of a poor hire ripples through the organization.  The recent case of  Jack Griffin, Time, Inc. CEO illustrates this point. Without casting blame on anyone, it is apparent that Mr. Griffin did not fit the culture. In just six months, a clash of styles escalated into a very difficult and uncomfortable situation for all
3. Involve Many in the Interview Process: Tempting as it may be to expedite the hiring process by involving only a few, there is great benefit derived by gathering opinions and perspectives from a cross-section of current employees. Some organizations go to great lengths to place applicants in real-life situations, so that true behaviors can be accurately assessed.  Not every organization has this luxury, but all can and should ask employees at various levels to participate in the interview process - and value feedback on an equal scale.

A close friend told of trying her hand at an old family meatloaf recipe. She inadvertently used quick oats instead of breadcrumbs.  "It was edible, but it just wasn't the same," she said.  When faced with hiring challenges, you may elect to compromise your tried and true recipe by opting for candidates who don't quite fit your organization's culture. But the outcome may just destroy the "family recipe" that your organization has worked so diligently to preserve.

Best Places to Work and Star Athletes

What do we know about star athletes?  All have the following traits in common:

• A relentless passion to be the best
• Commitment to invest necessary resources to be the best
• A drive to constantly assess and repair any personal shortcomings
• It's not about a single competition - it's an ongoing journey

Organizations desiring to achieve best place to work status can learn valuable lessons from star athletes.  Becoming a best place to work and more importantly, maintaining the status once attained, is a process not a single event. It is a commitment to upholding a specific kind of workplace culture.

Let's examine each of the aforementioned star athlete traits, in the context of best place to work status:

1. A relentless passion to be the best:  The first step to achieve best place status is to examine the underlying motive of company executives.  Is it a drive to win an award or a desire to create an meaningful employment experience? Awards are won and competitions end.  Employees feel the tug of "flavor or the month" programs that have no depth.  A high-value employment experience is woven into the fabric of the culture.  Employees constantly feel the effects, through the actions of caring leaders and a healthy organizational climate.
2. Commitment to invest necessary resources to be the best: Even the best places experience business challenges. During the Great Recession, many best places to work had to make difficult decisions that impacted workers. Best places to work invested the key resources of time, attention and fiscal balance to preserve the business without persecuting the people.
3. A drive to constantly assess and repair any personal shortcomings: Employee needs are not static. Best places to work are constantly examining the organizational climate, assessing what employees value most and working to bridge the gaps between the two. Yesterday's approach to the workforce may not engage today's workers. Best places know this and commit to continuous improvement.
4. It's not about a single competition - it's an ongoing journey: Being named a best place to work feels wonderful. It is validation of hard work and attention to employees. Yet many best companies never enter these competitions. They simply do what's right for employees, because it's the right thing to do. With the proliferation of small or local best place to work competitions, it's possible for many companies to achieve some level of best place status.  But the awards are of secondary importance to those companies that are truly best places to work. Their gold is found in creating and maintaining an exceptional employment experience.

Star athlete status involves hard work and continuous improvement. The same is true of best place to work status.  If you're truly committed to being a best place to work, you'll be embarking on a journey, not just entering a single competition.

The Best Places to Work In America - SAS #1

FORTUNE magazine has released its annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.  No surprise that SAS tops the list for the consecutive second time. SAS has effectively created an environment that artfully blends the critical business imperatives of engaged employees and sustained profitability. The company's approach to its people is an outstanding example of what it takes to be a best place to work.



SAS, #1 Best Place to Work In America

 I had the pleasure of visiting SAS twice during the fall of 2010.  The campus is beautiful and the employees are warm and engaging. What struck me most about SAS is the obvious support for work-life balance. SAS employees work hard and many work long hours. But they do so largely on their terms, with an abundance of employer support. A paramount example is found in the child care centers, which maintain shorter hours than some on-site company child care facilities. Why? In keeping with the commitment to work-life balance, the shorter hours encourage parents to put family first.



Harmony is prevalent throughout the zen-like campus. People are very busy, but the atmosphere exudes calm. Based on the company's financial success, it's obvious that employees are productive, but the frenetic chaos so often found in tech companies seems completely absent.

SAS was a very welcoming place to visit.  Employees exhibited a genuine sense of appreciation to those of us who came to the events on the campus. We were treated as honored guests.  A specific experience during each of my visits will illustrate the point:

1. I was a conference speaker during my first visit to SAS. My usual speaker regimen involves a very early arrival to the conference venue, to assess the layout and ensure that my planned approach to the delivery of the presentation will be effective. In this case, I carried a large box with a number of handouts. Two SAS employees saw me sitting outside the conference venue with my large package. Both went out of their way to locate someone to open the building early, escort me in and help me set up. I knew that these were busy people and I am certain that they had other, more pressing things to do. But at that moment, they saw a guest who needed assistance and that became their most important task.
2. My second visit to SAS was in connection with the Great Place to Work Executive Strategy Network, a group of representatives of the 100 Best Places to Work in America. SAS leaders were invited to join us for the opening event, a lively keynote speech by a well-known author.  Fay Merrideth, an external communications executive for SAS, took the seat next to mine.  We engaged in an enjoyable exchange for some time before the event began. After the event, we traded business cards and agreed to keep in touch. Later that day, Faye sought me out and handed me a gift bag. Inside was a personal note of appreciation with a beautiful T-shirt depicting a North Carolina lighthouse. Faye's gesture made me feel genuinely appreciated and created a tangible, lasting impression of the values that SAS imparts on its employees.

These are the attributes that contribute to a great place to work.  It's not a collection of programs or benefits that are implemented in order to check off boxes on an application. It's a welcoming, trusting culture and a meaningful employment experience. SAS has mastered the recipe for creating a genuinely great place to work.

Congratulations to SAS and every one of its employees on this well-deserved repeat award!

Work at a Great Place

If you have to work, why not work at a great place?

This blog talks about great places - how companies become best places to work and how they stay best places to work. 


Employees of best places to work are happy employees!
Photo by Kat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tyger_lyllie/56688439/ 

  

There are lots of best places to work lists, each with its own criteria.  But the companies that populate these lists all have some common attributes that we'll discuss in detail.

You may be a business owner seeking ideas to transform your company into a best place to work.  Perhaps you don't own a company, but you're a leader in an organization and want to make the workplace the best it can be.  Or you may be a job seeker, trying to figure out how to land a job in a best place to work. 

Regardless of the group in which you fit, you'll find tips, hints, advice and ideas that will apply to your situation. This blog has two simple goals:   

1. To help make every company a little bit better
2. To help every worker just a little bit happier

Thanks for reading this introductory post. There will be lots more to come!