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I really enjoy Dan McCarthy over at Great Leadership; we may not always agree, but he has never wasted my time and I always learn something.

Saturday was no exception and I want to share the survey Dan posted, because I think it’s of major importance whether you are a manager or a worker.

Engagement is high on management’s list of preferred employee attitude, but management seems to have a disconnect when it comes to how to engender it.

Too many managers choose to ignore that the most basic, necessary ingredient in engagement is trust and, for good reason, trust is in short supply these days.

04.14.2010 – A new Maritz® Poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in employee satisfaction research, paints a dire outlook of American workforce attitudes toward employers. Employees’ trust toward their workplace has taken a severe hit, with employees across all industry segments citing a lack of trust in not only senior leaders, but direct managers and co-workers as well.
According to the poll, few (11 percent) employees strongly agree their managers show consistency between their words and actions. In addition, only seven percent of employees strongly agree they trust senior leaders to look out for their best interest, and only seven percent strongly agree they trust their co-workers to do so. Approximately one-fifth of respondents disagree that their company’s leader is completely honest and ethical, and one-quarter of respondents disagree that they trust management to make the right decisions in times of uncertainty. While workplace trust has been dwindling since the Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco scandals of the earlier part of the decade, threats of layoffs and downsizing have only exacerbated the problem.
“In times like these, trust is an especially critical issue. Companies need their best people more than ever to be engaged and productive. But, often, this process starts at the top,” says Rick Garlick, Ph.D., senior director of consulting and strategic implementation, Hospitality Research Group, Maritz Research. “You’ve got to maintain credibility with your workforce as a means of getting them to totally buy in to the mission and vision of your company. Anything less fosters a disengaged workforce that puts self-interest at the top of its list of priorities.”
In cases where management trust was strong, the study found that employees were significantly more committed to working for their companies. More than half of respondents (58 percent) with strong trust in their management were completely satisfied with their job, while only four percent of respondents with weak trust in management cited they were completely satisfied with their job.
The study also revealed:
• Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents with strong trust in management would be happy to spend the rest of their career with their present company. This compares to only seven percent of respondents who have weak trust in management.
• More than half of those surveyed (51 percent) with strong management trust would invest money in their company if they could versus only six percent of those surveyed with weak management trust.
• Only three percent of respondents with weak management trust look forward to coming to work everyday. For those with strong management trust, 50 percent responded they look forward to coming to work everyday.
Which Industry Fares Well? Hospitality Employees and Its Customers
While the survey suggests there is room for improvement across all sectors, the hospitality industry seems to have some advantages over others. For example, hospitality employees (14 percent) are more likely than other industry segments (9 percent) to rate their company as a “fun place to work.” Hospitality sector employees also tend to rate their companies better on customer service-related issues and the impact they make:
• More than one-third (34 percent) completely understand how their work impacts customers’ experiences, compared to only 23 percent in other industries.
• Twenty percent believe they have the authority they need to respond promptly to customer problems and requests, versus just 15 percent of respondents in other industries.
Approximately one-fifth (21 percent) of hospitality respondents believe their customers would rate the service they deliver as excellent, compared to only 14 percent of respondents in other segments.
However, there is room for improvement. Only 15 percent of employees agree that their company has the policies, systems and procedures in place to deliver outstanding customer service.
“With the hospitality industry taking one of the biggest hits due to poor economic conditions and negative perceptions, it is promising that employees feel positive about the connection of their daily work to customer service issues. But, it is still not a rosy picture when it comes to engagement. The results show that a lack of trust runs rampant in this sector as well, which impacts employees’ perceived long term career development opportunities, co-worker relationships, and productivity levels,” says Garlick.
Don’t slash that recognition program
The weak economy forced companies to cut costs across the organization. And, unfortunately, formal recognition programs were frequently sacrificed. More than one-third of respondents (33 percent) cited their company scaled back or eliminated their recognition program in the past year. There is some data, at least from the employees’ perspective, to suggest these cuts have had an impact on the quality of service they deliver to customers. Among employees whose companies kept recognition programs intact, 25 percent strongly agreed their customers would rate their service as excellent. Among those whose companies cut back on their recognition programs or never had one, only 14 percent strongly agreed customers would rate their service as excellent.
“Recognition programs are critical to demonstrating to employees that they are valued and appreciated for the work they perform. It’s an important engagement tool, as it helps to reinforce messages about how people are making an impact,” says Garlick. “This is a wake-up call for management teams that consider employee recognition programs as expendable. Not only do recognition programs positively impact employee engagement levels, they ultimately lead to positive customer service perceptions, which impact the bottom line.”
About Maritz® Poll
Maritz® Poll is a copyrighted poll conducted since 1988 by Maritz Research. Maritz Poll comprises regular surveys on topics related to the automotive, financial services, hospitality, retail, technology, and telecommunications sectors as well as workplace issues. This poll was conducted March 1-5, 2010. The 2,004 respondents were people who were employed full time and drawn from a national e-mail panel. Sampling error for the overall poll is +/-3 percent. Results of the poll may be used in print or broadcast media, provided credit is given to the Maritz Poll and/or Maritz Research.
About Maritz Research
As one of the world’s largest marketing research firms, Maritz Research, a unit of Maritz, helps many of today’s most successful companies improve performance through an actionable understanding of their customers, employees, and channel partners. Founded in 1973, Maritz Research offers a range of strategic and tactical solutions concentrating primarily in the automotive, financial services, hospitality, telecommunications and technology and retail industries. Maritz Research projects are carried out in compliance with the International Standard: ISO 20252:2006 Market, Opinion, and Social Research Standard. Maritz Research is a member of CASRO and official sponsor of the American Marketing Association.

If trust is lacking in your organization don’t go looking for a quick fix.

Trust is the opposite of weight; gaining weight is fast and easy, while losing it is slow and difficult. Trust can be lost in the blink of an eye, while regaining it may never happen.

In conjunction with this read Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs? (don’t skip the comments), a current discussion from Dr. James Heskett, Harvard Business School.

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It’s always nice to have your opinion  reinforced by experts, which is how I feel about this guest post from Sean Conrad. Follow the advice and watch your people soar.

Performance management and performance appraisals are often dreaded by managers and employees alike. They can be perceived as an administrative burden that provides little benefit, and can even be destructive to morale and productivity. But done right, performance appraisals can be a powerful management tool that drives employee performance and engagement.

To make them effective, managers and employees need to view performance management as an ongoing, collaborative process and not a once a year, top down activity where the manager rates the employee’s performance over the previous period and sets goals for the next.

Managers and employees should be encouraged to keep a “performance journal” all year long that captures details on performance highlights and challenges. This makes it easier to write the annual appraisal because it captures details as they happen, not as we recall them later. But more importantly, it helps managers and employees to flag and deal with any issues or challenges early on, before they become big.

Employees should also be invited to complete a self-appraisal to share with their manager before their formal appraisal meeting. The form they use should include all the same sections as their formal appraisal form and even allow them to suggest development activities and goals for the coming period. This helps increase employee engagement in the process and gives them a voice. But it also minimizes “surprises” at review time; it’s a great way to identify differences in perception in advance so they can be dealt with effectively.

Another way we can foster this ongoing dialogue is by scheduling regular “mini review” meetings, where managers and employees touch base, review progress and performance, and make any adjustments necessary. Some companies formalize this with quarterly reviews.

Managers and employees also need to adopt a partnership mindset when it comes to performance management that says: “This is not a test. This is how you and I (manager and employee) work together to ensure your success, and the success of the organization.” Performance, goals and development activities need to be discussed collaboratively. Both parties need to be engaged and committed to each other’s success.

If we change the way we think about and approach performance appraisals and performance management in general, we can reap the significant rewards offered by these valuable activities.

Sean Conrad works and blogs for Halogen Software. He writes about performance appraisals and other talent management topics for the Exploring talent management blog. Further resources can be found in Halogen’s Performance Management Center of Excellence.

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See all mY generation posts here.

Do you ask questions? I ask them constantly. In fact, I drive some of my friends nuts because I’m always asking questions.

In order to ask questions you need to listen makes you think and is a good way to show interest, not just about what was said, but about the person who said it.

As Nancy Willard says, “Sometimes questions are more important than answers.”

Naguib Mahfouz says,“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions,” but I doubt that most my questions show wisdom—just curiosity.

My friends call me a why person (true), which is why I agree so wholeheartedly with Friedrich Nietzsche’s comment, “He who has a why can endure any how.”

There’s an old joke that men won’t ask for directions, but these days I find that a lot of women won’t, either. Maybe that’s what is meant by equality.

As usual, the ancient Chinese offer excellent wisdom regarding questions.

Thousands (millions?) of executives and managers would do well to heed the words of this Chinese proverb, “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever” in combination with these words from Confucius, who said, “Never hesitate to ask a lesser person.” Just think of all the money they would save asking their own people instead of hiring consultants.

That’s all for this week, but come back next week for more about questions.

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It’s Saturday, so grab a cup of your favorite brew, settle back and enjoy some really interesting stuff.

If you are considering a move into management check out this article for, if not answers, direction on what you should consider.

Some people are natural managers. They love to lead, drive performance and contribute to the broader goals of a company. … Yet, management isn’t for everyone. It requires a unique set of skills to get the best performance out of all employees and to juggle a number of tasks all at once.

If you do decide to take the step to management, or it you are already there, Inc. says that leadership has changed and offers you a look at what they thing is needed not.

…the rules of great leadership have changed. So to guide the contemporary leader, Inc. has compiled 13 unconventional and surprisingly effective leadership ideas…

Anytime the talk turns to leadership Steve Jobs is usually mentioned. Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter takes a different look at Jobs—v1 and v2.

…a remarkable leadership phenomenon: a founder who returns after a long pause to rescue the company, bringing a new mindset rather than trying to restore former glory.

Finally, a look at denial, the damage it does and why it happens. And while it’s a giant problem for business, it’s also a problem for individuals.

“Denial has always been a problem,” writes Harvard Business School historian Richard S. Tedlow in a new book, Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face-and What to Do About It. “What is different today is that the cost of denial has become so high. We are living in a less forgiving world than we once did.”

You may also find Tedlow’s view of the role denial played at Toyota of interest.

Have fun!

I am a fan of Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton; I reviewed both The Carrot Principle and The Levity Effect and highly recommend them. The books feel like fast reads, but digesting and using the (unconventional to some) wisdom found in each takes a bit longer.

The Daily Carrot Principle is the size of a desk calendar and offers much of that wisdom in bite-sized pieces by addressing one idea each day of the year, explaining it and providing a short description of the action needed to implement it.

I highly recommend The Daily Carrot Principle for yourself and for a gift—unlike a desk calendar you won’t want to get rid of it any time soon.

Recommendations

Many articles and books have/are being written about the Madoff scandal and dozens of other Ponzi schemes born of loose money and a wholesale ignoring of the old adage, “if it seems too good to be true it probably is.”

The most compelling book I’ve come across regarding Madoff is the inside look from Harry Markopolos detailing the eight years he spent trying to expose him and how the SEC refused to listen. Read this excerpt from How I Got the Goods on Madoff, and Why No One Would Listen to decide if it’s your cup of tea.

The message was practically the same in every one of those 14 meetings: “We have a special relationship with Mr. Madoff. He’s closed to new investors and he takes money only from us.”

When I heard that said the first time I accepted it. When I heard it the second time I began to get suspicious. And when I heard it 14 times in less than two weeks, I knew it was a Ponzi scheme. I didn’t say anything about the fact that I heard the same claim of exclusivity from several other funds. If I had, or if I had tried to warn anyone, they would have responded by dumping on me. Who was I to attack their god?

Another excerpt served up by Bloomberg Business Week offers a fascinating peek into Roger Lowenstein’s new book The End of Wall Street. Not that it is going away, but that its laissez-faire attitude may be.

The crash of 2008 put to rest the intellectual model that inspired, and to a large degree facilitated, the bubble. It spelled the end of the immodest faith in Wall Street’s ability to forecast.

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If you were the boss and 40% of your employees said they were more interested in non-monetary rewards and felt that evaluating them on a single factor for jobs that required multiple skills were unfair would you proceed anyway with merit pay based on a single factor and expect it to be a good motivator?

That is the basic question in the drive for merit performance for teachers.

A March survey of teachers provided an inside look at their thoughts.

Teachers don’t want to see their students judged on the results of one test and they also want their own performances graded on multiple measures.

Most value non-monetary rewards, such as time to collaborate with other teachers and a supportive school leadership, over higher salaries. Only 28 percent felt performance pay would have a strong impact and 30 percent felt performance pay would have no impact at all.

Of course, worker input won’t slow management’s moving forward (rarely has, rarely will)

The biggest problems with merit pay is defining and applying valid measurement of success.

For example, only 6 percent of teachers surveyed said graduating all students with a high school diploma was one of the most important goals of schools and teaching, while 71 percent said one of the most important goals was to prepare all students for careers in the 21st century.

Whereas standardized test are the holy grail of school administrators.

Merit pay has a checkered background whether you are looking for proof that it works or proof that it doesn’t.

The problem isn’t the money, it’s the structure put together to award it.

Keeping it fair means keeping it free from political pull and other forms of favoritism. It means acknowledging that teachers can’t control what is happening to the kids in their classes and finding a way to account for that.

“Your mother and father just got a divorce, your grandfather died, your boyfriend broke up with you: those kinds of life-altering events have an effect on how you do in class that day, through no fault of the teacher whatsoever.” –Debra Gunter, middle school math teacher in Cobb County, Ga.

One survey result was surprising because it actually creates more work for teachers, but it was held by the majority.

A majority of teachers surveyed said they would like to see tougher academic standards and have them be the same in every state, despite the extra work common academic standards could create for them.

This definitely makes sense, especially given the mobility of the US population, but it’s unlikely to ever pass muster with state and local school administrators. It would also be interesting to see how it flies helicopter parents, considering it’s their complaining that has fostered termination of “tough” teachers.

Money has always been the quick fix, used by managers and parents alike, to achieve their desired ends, even though there is no proof that it is effective or sustainable. And there is no reason to think that teachers are any different.

I think that if the structure and standards aren’t improved along with embracing merit pay then success is unlikely.

What do you think?

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Have you ever heard anyone talk about what a great follower they are? Or that they bought a book/took a class/signed up for a seminar on how to follow?

People often talk about ‘supporting’ someone’s agenda, ‘aligning’ themselves with another’s views or that they are ‘in the same camp’, but not that they follow.

Subtly or not, intentionally or not, ‘follower’ indicates a role of lesser value and few people see themselves as of lesser value.

That leaves us with everyone studying/aspiring/jockeying to be a leader. This can actually be amusing as they often accomplish it by using leadership terminology to describe everything they do.

Those who don’t aspire frequently play Monday morning quarterback on leadership roles about which they have no clue and will never fill—not that that stops them. This is especially true regarding roles such as President, whether of a country or a company.

There is no easier way to lead than through 20/20 hindsight and no safer way than critiquing others from the depths of one’s own ignorance.

To make matters worse, these quarterbacks are known to relentlessly argue their contrary point of view and defend it at all costs.

A defense based not on cognitive bias, but as carefully thought out idiocy drawn from the depths of their inexperience.

Think about it and in the future don’t hesitate to follow, just choose whom you follow with care, knowing that who you follow reflects who you are.

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