Video: How To Reduce Pay Raises

Of the people who came to their boss, in an Accenture survey, and asked for a raise, eighty-five percent got a raise of some sort with sixty-three percent getting as much or more than they were expecting. So what does that say? That people are deserving of getting a raise just by asking for it? No. Of course not. It means that there are managers who have no confidence about their ability as a manager and they don't want to look like the bad guy.

Video: Employees Are NOT Created Equal

Employees Are Not Created Equal from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Too much effort is spent in managing people into conformity. The truth is that too many managers want one employee to be just like another employee - one who models the traits and gets the results management likes. It's counterproductive when managers start trying to manage their employees the exact same way. It's worse when they expect each employee's results to be the same.

Why Culture Is More Important Than Strategy

A Bain & Company survey showed 9 out of 10 senior executives believe that the role Corporate Culture plays in an organization is as important as Business Strategy.

I disagree.

I believe the Bain & Company question was flawed therefore giving the appearance that Corporate Culture and Strategy are two different things. They are not. Corporate Culture is the result of Business Strategy and therefore one cannot exist without the other. Any company seeking to separate the two or believing that they are not one in the same will struggle with their Culture and therefore will struggle to find high-performing salespeople, quality managers and top talent throughout their respective organizations.

Corporate Culture IS the strategy.

You don't build a Culture around success: you build success around a Culture.

• With a poor culture, there is little success - maybe accidental success but certainly not consistent.
• You cannot build a top-performing organization with mediocre people and have it sustain for any period.
• If you had a poor Culture and were achieving accidental success, would it matter to you to improve your Culture?
• You won't attract the best people in the industry by creating a mediocre Culture environment.

If the point of the exercise is to be the industry standard to which your competitors are measured, wouldn't you want to assemble the best and the brightest minds in your industry to be able to lead your industry segment?

So now, do you have a plan for building your culture? If you don't have a Strategy for attracting the best and the brightest, improving your current people and eliminating those who don't fit in then you will become just another mediocre organization who can't seem to figure out why your competitor is stealing your best people and why there seems to be so many excuses when times are tough.

Corporate Culture IS the Strategy. All lasting success stems from that.
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Kevin Burns - Management Attitude/Culture Strategist
http://www.kevburns.com

Creator of Filter-Free Fridays™
Creator of the 90-Day System To A Greatness Culture™

Coming Soon Kevin's 8th Book - "Your Attitude Sucks - Finding Your Excellence In A Wasteland of Mediocrity

Subscribe to Kevin's Managing with Attitude Blog by Email

70% of HR Reject Applicants Based On Facebook

70% of HR Directors surveyed say they have rejected job applicants because of questionable activity and photos on social networking sites like Facebook.

As part of Data Privacy Day, Microsoft says it conducted a survey of 2,500 people that included, consumers, HR managers and recruitment professionals in the US, the UK, Germany and France, with the goal of learning more about attitudes toward online reputation and how this information can have real life consequences. The survey found that the top online factors for rejecting a job applicant are unsuitable photos/videos, concerns about a candidate’s lifestyle and inappropriate comments written by the candidate. (Techcrunch.com)

That photo of you and your girlfriends in lewd poses with beers in hand - that video of your drunken escapades at the house party - the use of four-letter words when writing on someone's wall - all good ways to get you rejected by an HR Director.

Do you think you're invisible? People are watching you all the time. But then I said that just two weeks ago.

Clean up your drunken photos. Clean up your lascivious behavior. Clean up your language on-line. People are watching you.

Parents, open your own Facebook accounts and start watching what your kids are up to so that when they complain to you that they didn't get the job, you can show them why they didn't.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
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Where's Service In A Tight Economy?

It's no secret that this recession has hurt many businesses. There are only a handful of businesses who are having, or have had, a banner year over this past 12 months.

That means that more businesses are fighting for fewer dollars from fewer customers in the marketplace.

That last statement begs the question: so if there are more businesses fighting over fewer customers trying to win a larger share of fewer sales, then where is the increased customer service experience you would expect to see in a tight economy?

I'll tell you where it is: it was eliminated (cut) with all of the other so-called "wasteful" programs that organizations felt they could do without as mediocre organizations made cutbacks and sat on hoards of cash hoping to weather the storm. Unfortunately, most organizations think that Service is something to be addressed by only their Customer Service department - when, in fact, Service is an Attitude, not a department

Ironically though, 80% of senior executives have reported they would use this recession to improve their competitive position (Bain & Company Survey 2009). Has your organization done anything about your customer experience over the past year? Hmm, then you must be one of the 20% who aren't doing anything about it (or the other 80% who are simply blowing smoke about re-tooling in a down economy). Service is an Attitude, not a department.

80% of senior executives believe that their companies are delivering an exceptional customer experience (Bain & Company Survey 2005). Only 8% of their customers agree. Why is there so much delusion at the top? Because senior managers believe that by training their Customer Service Department using the same trainers and same training models that churns out the same mediocre service of every other competitor, that somehow it's good enough. "Good enough" is mediocre - not great.

88% of companies view Corporate Culture as important as Strategy for business success (Bain & Company Survey 2009). So why then are 60% of North American workers actively looking for a new job in 2010 (Right Management Work Force Survey 2009)? They're leaving because they feel abandoned by their bosses which creates a terrible corporate culture - the same culture that 88% of companies apparently view as important as Strategy. They work in a culture of "good enough" which obviously isn't good enough to keep their people.

The numbers don't add up. Organizations are becoming so out of touch with their customers that they think they know what is right for their customers and employees but in reality, until you create a two-way dialogue, you will never know. It's arrogant to think you know what is best for people without asking.

There are too many sides not talking to each other - and that makes for a corporate culture that sucks.

The difference between a mediocre culture and a Culture of Greatness is seven distinct Attitudes. Here's a 7-minute video overview of the Attitudes that make organizations "Great."


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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE by Kevin Burns - Corporate Attitude/Culture Strategist

Creator of the 90-Day Strategy to Greatness Culture


Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
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The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel

81% Looking For New Jobs in 2010

When the recession hit, you abandoned your people in favor of saving a few dollars. And that was a big mistake. I warned you several times over this past year to get back to business-as-normal and keep your people trained, talk to them, assure them that their jobs will be OK and to communicate with them about those you had to let go. But you didn't do it as you should have and now, today, proof positive of exactly what I told you would happen if you didn't heed my warning.

Reuters News Service announced today that 60% of workers will be actively looking for new work in 2010 and another 21% are actively networking to see what's out there. Can you do the math? 81% of the North American workforce are looking for another job, another employer and greener pastures.

That means that your financials are going to be hit hard in the re-training and on-boarding budget areas. The money you saved last year in training is going to be spent by three or four times next year. 2010 is going to be expensive for your organization. For the past two years, you've cut your training budgets just to save a few dollars and now you going to pay handsomely to search out, recruit, on-board and train new employees - which will cost you 1.5 times the annual salary for each lost employee (average cost to replace a lost employee).

Right Management, part of Manpower Inc. conducted the survey. "Employees are clearly expressing their pent-up frustration with how they have been treated through the downturn," said Douglas Matthews, president of Right Management, in a statement. "While employers may have taken the necessary steps to streamline operations to remain viable, it appears many employees may have felt neglected in the process," he said. "The result is a disengaged and disgruntled work force."

The collective Attitudes in the workforce are shaky and disillusioned right now. That is going to hit your corporate culture hard over the next 12 months. What are your plans to keep your good people from actively searching? Right now, it's their Attitudes you need to overcome. Change their Attitudes and you can change how hard you get hit by this wave of mass exodus.

Lousy time for "I told you so" but I did: on March 11, 2009 and again on June 26, 2009.

But it's not too late if you do something right away to turn those Attitudes around. I can still help - if you need it. Or, will you ignore this warning too.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
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Time To Audit Management

Half of all employees don't know if they're doing a good job. A recent survey by Leadership IQ reports 51% of employees don't know if they're doing a good job because they don't receive regular feedback from their managers. 21% actually get regular feedback. 27% have sort of an idea but still aren't really sure.

That means 79% of employees are not totally clear on what they're doing and how they're doing. With all of the management books out there, all of the courses, all of the social networking tools for managers and all of the meetings with other managers, 79% of managers still don't understand that they need to regularly communicate with their people? Really?

Managers are claiming that they don't have the time to sit down with every employee and give feedback. But they do have time to train new employees because of high-turnover rates. They do have time to put out fires because their people don't know what they are doing. They do have time to speak to employees if they make a major mistake. But they have no time to say "good job?"

If you can't find the time to let people know how they're doing, then you're not managing. Your job is to manage and it's people that you manage. There is nothing else to manage. You can't manage the economy, your customer spending habits, the weather, delayed deliveries from suppliers. You manage your people. Period.

Remove all of the people in your company and you don't have a company anymore. You have a building with a lot of stuff in it. Without people, there is no company. The people ARE your job. Let's get that straight right now.

These findings raise the question: what are managers filling their days with if they're not communicating with their people? Senior management needs to audit their middle and front-line managers and find out what they are actually doing if they're not interacting with the very people they're supposed to be managing.
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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
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Eye-Opening Survey Results

Perhaps we’ve become deluged with surveys but over the past week I’ve seen some survey results that were interesting enough that I thought I’d pass them along.

American Management Association:
Being kind to employees seems to be the right move for a boss when it comes to boosting performance.
Out of 660 respondents, the findings are as follows:
75% characterized their boss as “kind.”

• 84% of these said they plan to work for their company a long time
• 74% said they look forward to going to work each day
• 70% said they work as hard as they can
• 73% said they believe they can speak candidly with their boss
• 84% said they believe their boss really listens

14% considered their boss a “bully.”

• 47% of these said they plan to work here for a long time
• 32% said they look forward to going to work each day
• 54% said they work as hard as they can
• 42% said they believe they can speak candidly with their boss
• 24% said they believe their boss really listens

11% were neutral

Jobfox.com
Generation Y workers, the youngest of the four generations in the workplace, are not making a great impression on the job.
200 recruiters polled and the findings are as follows:
Who are the Great performers?

• 20% Gen Y
• 58% Gen X
• 63% Boomers
• 25% Traditionalists

Who are the Poor performers?

• 30% Gen Y
• 5% Gen X
• 4% Boomers
• 22% Traditionalists

Human Resource Professionals Association in partnership with retirement lifestyle consultants Life’s Next Step
627 HR pros surveyed and the findings are as follows:
With somewhere between 20% and 40% of the workforce scheduled to retire over the next five years, is your organization prepared for the coming talent shortage?

• 14% are fully prepared
• 60% are somewhat prepared
• 23% are poorly prepared

Hirescores.com
3000 British workers surveyed and the findings are as follows:
Almost half of British workers waste about a third of their workday pretending to be working. Typical time wasted: 2 hours 20 minutes every day.
96% admitted to doing unnecessary tasks to avoid work at some point in their workday.

Attitude Adjustment: We’re in trouble people – unless we all get a serious attitude adjustment soon.

Boss Tip #8 - The Credit Score

Is this column about financial background checks and credit scores? Well, not in the way you might think. This column is about credit scores but not about qualifying for credit as a consumer. It’s about how much credit you give as a boss.

Take a survey of your people and ask them what they want from their work and their boss and you will find this answer in the Top 5 every single time: recognition. People want to be acknowledged for the work they do – not just when they need to be raked over the coals for a screw-up.

People want to be recognized for their contribution, their diligence and the quality of their work. If the only time you talk to your people about the quality of their work is when you dump on them, well then you’re the village idiot aren’t you? Don’t believe me? Just ask your people. No better yet, secretly listen to what they’re saying about you in the coffee room.

Just because you’re the boss, don’t believe for one second that your people are doing everything in their power to make you look good. That’s just not true. People are doing a great job likely because of the personal satisfaction they get from doing a great job. If you overlook this fact, and regularly steal the credit for a job well done, you will be spending more of your time training new people to replace the people who left than you will on having the spotlight shone on you.

If you want the spotlight and the credit, then take the credit for attrition numbers being on the rise, training budgets being escalated because you have to train more new people and also poor morale.

Nothing knocks the morale out of people faster than stealing the credit from them after they poured their heart out on a project. People want a reason to take personal pride in their work and if you’re going to steal it when they do go above and beyond for you, or at the very least not acknowledge their effort, you are going to be a very lonely boss working by yourself.

If you work by yourself, well then you’re really not the boss are you? You’re just an employee who no one wants to work with. And that would be no surprise either. You brought it on yourself.

Are you giving someone credit for their work daily? I’m not referring to just a “Good job” in the hallway, but something public and heartfelt. The more you let your people know they will get the credit for a job well done, the more you will have a job well done from your people. What goes around comes around.

Publicly acknowledge and privately criticize. Make sure the rest of the staff know when someone has done a good job. Don’t play favorites and don’t blame someone else for a shortcoming in your department. More on that next time.

Boss Tip #6 - Keep Your Mouth Shut

Over the Christmas holidays, I ran across an article in the Winnipeg Free Press that claimed that 27% of employees said that their bosses made negative comments about them to other employees and other managers.

Now just picture this: lining up 100 bosses in a row, having 27 of them step forward and accusing them of talking about their employees to other employees behind their backs. How incredibly juvenile and malicious is this, really?

I couldn’t believe what I read. It was sourced from the College of Business at Florida Sate University who surveyed some 700 people in a variety of jobs. This was only one of their findings. But this is the one that surprised me the most. Bosses? Talking badly about employees to other employees? Jeez are we still in high school?

It’s time for these bosses to start growing up. What possible good can come from talking to employees about the performance of other employees? You can only hope, as a boss, that the person you’re telling doesn’t clue in that in five minutes you may be talking to someone else about him or her. Gossip is one of the most demoralizing factors in any office. And when that gossiper is in a supervisory position, the company is in big trouble.

Employee morale drops. Performance numbers fall. Attrition rises dramatically. Training budgets become stretched to the max from having to hire so many new people. The company will have a bad reputation with its employees. And once it becomes part of the corporate culture, good luck finding qualified people willing to work there.

If this gossiper sounds like your boss, risk the loss of your job by going over their heads and demanding a change. The boss that talks about their people to other employees needs to be fired today. If their immediate supervisors are reluctant to do something about it, they should be fired too.

And if you can’t find a way to make senior management do something about the problem, then plan your exit strategy and perhaps consider doing what they do: talk to others behind their backs – others like the media.

Nothing solves a problem quicker than the watchful eye of the general public and a subsequent drop in business. No business can afford to keep loose-lipped bosses in their ranks. Business, be prepared to take your lumps if you choose to keep these poor excuses for mentors on-board. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior from anyone in a supervisory capacity. Doing nothing condones the behavior and actually fosters more.

Make sure your supervisors are skilled in the art of tact, confidentiality and diplomacy. If you don’t, you’ll pay – one way or another.