Seriously, Stop Whining

If you were not dumped out of a white panel van at your workplace today with your hands bound behind you, blindfold over your eyes and gag over your mouth then you arrived at work ... willingly.

People who say they can't function until they've had their first cup of coffee need to get up about an hour before they normally do, have their coffee at home and THEN go to work.

People who are counting the days until retirement are living a jail sentence. If you can't find any happiness in your work, you are likely to find less in retirement.

But what about the people having a good day who are forced to endure people who complain because it's Monday, Tuesday, 3 more days to the weekend, etc? For the complainers, do you think people actually want to hear you complain? Seriously?

If you disliked your last job and the one before that and the one before that and you've begun to dislike this one, it's not the job that's the problem.

If you're seriously unhappy about your job, then find another job. That's not a flippant statement. Do something else. Run a french-fry truck, weave baskets or do whatever brings you joy. But seriously, stop whining. It really isn't making you very attractive, or your co-workers any happier, is it?




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Kevin Burns - Workplace Expert and Speaker

Mediocrity Is Where Most People Live

Kevin Spacey, in the opening of the movie Casino Jack, does a monologue in front of his bathroom mirror. Featured below are some of the highlights from that monologue.

People look at politicians and celebrities on the TV, newspapers, glossy magazines. What do they see? "I'm just like them," that's what they see. "I'm special. I'm different. I could be anyone of them."

Well guess what? You can't. You know why? 'Cause in reality, mediocrity is where most people live. Mediocrity is the elephant in the room. It's ubiquitous.

Mediocrity is in your schools, it's in your dreams, it's in your family.

Those of us who know this, those of us who understand the disease of the dull, we do something about it. We do more because we have to. The deck was always stacked against us.

You're either a big-leaguer or you're a slave clawing your way onto the C-train.

I will not allow the world I touch to be vanilla.

Is today a "vanilla" day or are you going to strive for something more?

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How To Find Hidden Clues About People You Work With

This guy was all set to drive his new fridge home in the trunk of his car (sort of) in Richmond, British Columbia this week. That is until the cops stopped him before he ever left the parking lot (store staff called police when they saw this).

When asked by the police officer if he thought his load was safe, the driver replied that he thought it was indeed safe since it was secured by ropes and the seat belts from the back seat.

Police told him to find another way to transport it home. Seems he was attempting to not pay the $50 delivery fee the store wanted to charge him.

Now while you're chuckling to yourself and shaking your head, think about this: this guy works for someone and wherever it is that he works, he thinks that this is a safe way to transport a refrigerator.

An attitude like this is a possible danger to this guy's co-workers.

You have got to make it clear how important safety is, not just IN the workplace, but outside of the workplace too. The guy with the fridge may abide by safety procedures at work but it is obvious that he doesn't believe in safety or possess a Safety Attitude or mindset.

You can't build a safe place to work on a shaky foundation. Address the attitudes - not just the rules.

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3 Questions To Better Meetings

Prior to the recession, a Canadian financial services company hired a former U.S. President to address their company. You could ask what a former President could say that would be worth a six-figure speaking fee? And the answer would be "nothing really." But the company would be sending a message that it had done well enough that it could afford to hire a former U.S. President. But luckily, for most organizations, those days of self-aggrandizing have been replaced by more fiscally responsible strategies.

A national bank hired a professional football coach to speak for 90 minutes on leadership to its managers. After the speech, the coach came down into the audience, shook hands and made small-talk with each attendee. When asked to recall the celebrity's content, most had difficulty - but everyone could recall verbatim the small-talk. His celebrity overshadowed his own message - the reason he was paid to speak.

If your organization is going to take the time to meet, then the organization needs to be better as a result of the meeting.

I have spoken with associations who feel the need to hire celebrities as marquees saying, "we use celebrities to bolster registrations for our meeting." Dare I say, if you need a celebrity to get people to come to your meeting, then perhaps you need to reconsider having the meeting altogether. There is obviously little perceived value in attending. (Note: a few select celebrities have been able to transition their celebrity into functional, how-to strategies for organizations - but very few. Choose wisely.)

The same goes for your meetings in the office. Here are 3 questions to achieve better meetings:

1. Is there a specific purpose for this meeting or are you holding it because you've always had a Tuesday Management meeting?

2. Is one person holding the meeting to look like a celebrity or is it really going to make the workplace better and is it readily evident how the organization might become better?

3. Could all but one point of your meeting agenda be replaced by a single page memo and if so, can you focus the meeting on just one issue and still call it a meeting?

Make your meetings worthwhile. Have a purpose, a strategy and an outcome of making your workplace better. Otherwise, let your people do their work. There needs to be perceived value in attending a meeting.

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Kevin Burns - Workplace Expert and Speaker

How Low Is Your Bar Set?

Students are not tested on their ability to think beyond the scope of their studies. Uniform tests have made sure of that. The average student simply says, "what will I be tested on - I will study only that."

The same philosophy follows a student into the workplace. A worker, knowing what he or she is likely to be graded on, will do only that. They are called performance reviews and they are narrow-focused, spirit-killing, motivation-halting tragedies that happen at work daily.

Managers and organizations set the bar too low in an effort to reduce their potential turnover. The criteria for performance is laid out and the employee is forced into complying with the criteria only. Otherwise, they may receive poor performance reviews if they are not fully focused on their assigned criteria.

Most corporate web sites make it easier for customers to file complaints than pay compliments. My bank's web site didn't provide me any outlet to compliment a call-centre employee but there were several ways to file a complaint. I wonder which they get more of.

Organizations who set the bar low for their customers get just what they ask for.

"Tell me what you're scoring me on and I will do only that," is a terrible attitude that leads to an apathetic Culture. But it happens because most organizations have no way to measure going over and above. Therefore, it rarely happens.

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How To Motivate Staff

Time Management is rarely about time. It's about setting priorities.

If you can decide what is most important in every situation, who is most important, how it needs to be done and then do that thing first, you won't ever be left wondering what to do next.

But how do you choose which of the dominos needs to be knocked over first? By answering the WHY part of the equation. People are rarely helped to see WHY what they do is important. Without answering the WHY, they are unable to fully understand the HOW. When someone is muddy on WHY and HOW, WHAT seems impossible.

So before you penalize your entire team by forcing them into a generic Time Management session for the sake of one or two (which many managers do), ask yourself if your people fully comprehend the WHY of their jobs.

Don't leave staff motivation in the hands of some guy who delivers the same Time Management course to thousands of differing industries. If Time Management worked, there would only be one course and it would be mandatory for each person to take it in University and never have to take it again.

Time isn't the issue. It's an issue of having a basic understanding of why the job exists in the first place. Communication is your best motivator.

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If You Can Do Better ....

... Why don't you?

Have you succumbed to the "good enough" attitude of your co-workers and your workplace?

Really? Can you really feel good about leaving your best effort in your big-boy pants at home?

Don't ever complain about the job if you're not giving your all. Don't complain about the job if you can see ways to improve the organization but choose to say nothing. Don't complain about the job if you're not actively encouraging your co-workers to do better by your example.

The truth is, how we one thing is how we do everything. If you don't give your best at work, you don't give your best to your friends or your love partner. You can't possibly give your best to your relationships if you don't give your best at work.

"Doing your best" is an on-off switch that is either on all of the time or not at all. Sadly, for most, it's not at all.


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Are You Still Afraid To Be Honest?

Honest communication is the backbone of any successful corporate Culture initiative. You can plan and strategize all you want but in order to make a positive change in Culture takes communication - people talking directly to people.

Hiding behind voicemail and email doesn't make a workplace any better. Harboring bitter resentment towards a co-worker without addressing it only creates more animosity. Filter-Free Fridays are designed to get stuff off of your chest before that stuff eats into your guts and creates an ulcer.

You don't have to be hurtful in being honest. In fact, honesty is so rare in the workplace that any sign of it might be conceived as a breath of fresh air.

So, on Friday, take back your spine, pony up and if there is something that needs to be addressed, then address it - in a non-hurtful way. Here's a key ingredient to excellent communication on Filter-Free Friday: be respectful - not regretful.


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How Easy Are You To Work With?

Dr. Phil asks a similar question: how easy are you to live with? But really, it's the same question only for the workplace. So?

Are you a blustery co-worker with an opinion on everything? Do you suck up all the oxygen in meetings? Is it your voice and ideas that are more important?

Or...

Do you offer help when you can? Do you encourage your co-workers to voice their ideas? Do you congratulate your co-workers who get promoted ahead of you?

Here's the real gauge: how many of your co-workers ask you to join them in social events and activities outside of the office? If you're not invited to play outside of the office, it's probably because you're difficult to work with.

Can't argue with your results.


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Nice Guys Earn 18 Percent Less

Oh crap, just what we need, a survey showing that nice people at work earn less - as much as 18% less. Workplaces are already facing a civility crisis and now this?

The survey also points out the problem most times: managers who just don't get it.

If you've got a manager who is mostly absent and you want to get noticed for promotion or at least a raise, you have to raise your profile and get in the boss's face. Most people don't know how to do this positively so they act like jerks, the manager doesn't want to deal with it, the employee gets the raise - rewarding lousy behavior.

Got a jerk in the workplace? That jerk getting paid more? Bring it up and into the open. Point out that not-so-nice people are being rewarded for their lack of civility. Ask your boss if that's what they had in mind for the department. Maybe your boss isn't even aware that they are rewarding poor behavior.

Let's be civil in the workplace. There are already enough jerks that we have to deal with daily. Let's not reward them.


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Are Good-looking People Hurting Your Workplace?

Anyone who has ever been set up on a blind date, and told their date has a "great personality," gets nervous. People want to be seen with the beautiful people. But it's not just when it comes to relationships that this happens. Companies do it too. They put really good-looking people in charge of their reception desks. And sometimes it works. And sometimes it doesn't.

Unfortunately, sometimes companies choose beauty over substance choosing eye-candy with little else in the way of skills - on the phone, in person and in communication. They think they are making a great first impression by putting someone attractive at their front desk when what they should be going for is high- performance and high-function.

The job of the receptionist should not be left to just beautiful people. In fact, I vote that the ones with the really good personality get to be the ambassador for our workplaces - the ones that can carry on a conversation, know what's going on and recognize the importance of their work: the VP of First Impressions.

That person at the front desk speaks volumes about your organization. Hire for substance, not for looks.


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Vacation Time

I will be taking a little time off over the next month or so to spend some time relaxing, some time thinking and some time writing. Most of all, I want to spend some time developing new strategies to help you build better workplaces. I will return here in August.

Meanwhile, for our Canadian readers, Happy Canada Day on Friday (July 1). For our American readers, Happy Fourth of July on Monday.

Be safe, be courteous and continue to make building a better workplace a priority in your respective workplace.

Kevin

Video: Are You Putting Your People At Risk?

Are You Actively Putting Your People At Risk? from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Workplace Expert, Kevin Burns argues that companies who do not care about their people enough to ensure that they follow safe procedures it could be argued do not care about their customers either. How you do one thing is how you do everything. How can you say you care about your customers but not the people who serve your customers?

Video: Why Mid-Managers Are The Lifeblood

Why Mid-Managers Are Lifeblood from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Kevin Burns, Workplace Expert, says most middle managers get very little training and are thrust into a role that most are ill-prepared for. It is the most thankless job and the one with the highest "hassle" factor. Add to that, when the economy tanks, middle managers are usually the first to go. The truth is, I am on the side of middle managers. I want them to get better.

Video: You Call Yourself A Professional?

You Call Yourself A Professional? from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Kevin Burns, Workplace Expert, tackles the subject of being a "professional." How can you call your people "professionals" when you only give them formal feedback once a year? Do you think Tiger gets one golf lesson each year? How about Kobe or Sidney Crosby? You say you run a "professional" organization but do you really?

Video: How To Avoid Embarrassing Onboarding Mistakes

How To Avoid Embarrassing Onboarding Mistakes from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Kevin Burns, Workplace Expert offers up advice to counter managers who systematically remove the incentive to perform well by giving away the farm to new hires by not tying it to performance. All your new hire has to do is the bare minimum - just enough to not get fired - and they will enjoy raises. Hiring a new employee is not simple. There is pressure involved to get it right and to start a new relationship on the right foot. So how do you do that?

Video: Where To Find The Best Workers

Where To Find The Best Employees from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Kevin Burns, Workplace Expert, shows you where to find the best workers. Do you HONESTLY think high-performers who are happy with their work are going to be checking the newspaper want ads or paying any attention to your "Now Hiring" sign in the front window? The only people who are likely to respond to your ads or your Help Wanted sign are the people who are already looking for a job - the available. And there is a reason that they’re available.

Video: How Managers MUST Engage Staff

How Managers Must Engage Staff from Kevin Burns on Vimeo.

Workplace Expert, Kevin Burns, thinks that the real purpose of a good manager has been lost with too many meetings and too much paperwork and that perhaps it’s time managers changed their minds and philosophies of what they are there to do. The truth is that managers work for the staff and NOT the other way around.

Video: How To Get Rid Of Toxic Employees

Part of building a better workplace is knowing when to remove the weeds from the garden. You don't just move weeds to another part of the garden. You pull them, trash them and protect the garden from future weeds. That's how your garden grows. That's how your workplace prospers.

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.