The Happy Burro

(Fourth in a series for Managers – to end this year and prepare for next year)

One of the dreaded questions during employee review discussions: “Boss, what should I do about my development?” No, you don’t get to play ‘coach’ and say, “What do you think you should do?” This is another moment of truth, where you get to show why you’ve accepted the responsibility of managing people.

Ownership of Employee Development

Employees: own their development. This means they drive the efforts, do the work, and reap the benefits.
Managers: provide the guidance, performance goals, and present growth opportunities where possible. You are charged with treating everyone on your team fairly, not equally. Some employees need more development, complex development, additional guidance.
No Prescriptions!

Know your employees – why do they work? Telling someone to read a book, take a class, or add more work to their day isn’t managing an employee’s development. Asking them what they think they should do isn’t the answer either. Giving the employee a detailed, prescriptive plan for development? No, no, no.

If you have a high performer that wants to be the next CEO, you’ll need to assist them with a different plan than the high performer that works just for the money and doesn’t want to get a promotion.

Each development plan needs to be tailored. How? Employ this:

The 70-20-10 Framework

Focus on what your employees are learning, not what they know.

70% – on the job experience and projects.

20% – relational and social: mentoring, connecting with colleagues internal or external.

10% – formal learning: internal or external training courses, reading books or journals, online research.

Most companies invest their training dollars in the 10%. This is part of what makes managing employee development so difficult!

The ‘art’ part of this development approach is to tie it all together. For example: send an employee to an Excel class (10%), introduce them to others who use Excel (20%), and give them specific projects to utilize Excel (70%).

For more on 70-20-10 development plans, see my post “100% Career Management.”

Here Is What A Manager May Do

1. Keep up with your performance management all year.

2. Tie the development plan to performance.

3. Make sure the employee understands that they own the execution and success of the development plan.

4. Know your people – give them the guidance to develop the right plan.

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What are your favorite approaches to employee development?

NEXT: Being a ‘net exporter of talent’!

Joe Raasch :: Nov.30.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: 4 Comments »

(Third in a series for Managers – to end this year and prepare for next year)

Leading people is one of the hardest, most joyful, thankless, and important roles in an organization.

Why This Matters

When you’re working with paper, pens, PowerPoint, ideas, thoughts, whiteboards – no worries. These are all inanimate objects. Not so with people. Every bit of productivity in an organization plays out in the relationship between a manager and their team: engagement, performance management, goal achievement, change management. As a manager you have untold influence on the outcomes of the team, department, division, company!

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“People leave managers, not companies.”
(First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently – Buckingham and Coffman, Simon & Schuster, 1999).

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Accepting a position where you’ll have a person, or team of people, reporting to you, is one of the highest honors one could receive in the workplace. Why? The development of a bond of trust that is implied, interdependent, and critical to success.

Trust Me

Just like a good parent, as a manager your work, intentions, communications, and actions are to be trusted and respected by your team. This doesn’t mean you need to be popular, likable, considered a friend, or even all that charismatic. These attributes are helpful, but shouldn’t be chased in lieu of respect and trust. The problem is, this trust is earned, not given with the new ‘manager’ title on your business card or office door.

With A Servant’s Heart

The reality of being boss is that there is a cost. You may get the title, the office, the increase in variable compensation, a feeling of a little power when you get your team. Now the work begins. Besides your work each day, you have to bring your best self to the office, as you are now under the intense scrutiny of your team. Each word, each action, each mood you display, affects your team. Scary? Indeed. If you approach each day with the intention of serving your team versus managing them, you’ll see that the work can be the most gratifying you’ll ever undertake. A nuance, to be sure. Working with your team with a servant’s heart doesn’t mean not making goals or letting people on the team run over you.

Call To Action

If managing people is so important, how do you organize your day to get the best out of the team, and to keep earning that trust each day?

1. 30% on people, teaching and coaching.

2. 10% on governance, ethics, compliance.

3. 60% on operational reviews, metrics reporting, and strategic planning.

If you cannot commit, serve, work extra hard every day to engage, promote, lead, teach, and learn from your team, please consider a different profession. No one is ever rewarded for failing. Failing with people is not an option. Managing people is a calling. Don’t abuse the privilege.
There are many professions that need strong individual contributors – go there, do well.

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Jamie Notter has written a poignant short series on trust HERE and HERE.

Jim Stroup writes each weekday on “Managing Leadership” HERE.

Joe Raasch :: Nov.27.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Performance Management :: 4 Comments »

The Age of Conversation Goes from Lulu.com to Amazon.com in the next week!

It’s TRUE! Our Age of Conversation book project, debuted July 16, 2007 right HERE.

We’ve raised over USD $11,000 in just four months for Variety, the Children’s Charity.

GET YOURS AT THE OLD PRICE TODAY

You haven’t already purchased The Age of Conversation? Maybe you would like to give a copy as a gift to friends, family, clients, or colleagues? The hardcover and softcover books will be available at “yesterday’s” prices at Lulu.com for the next week. NOTE: the hard cover edition will be discontinued. (You will still be able to purchase eBook and bulk orders at Lulu.com.)

One week from now, you will find the book on Amazon.com and other booksellers at a higher price to cover distribution commissions.
(approx. $30 vs. $16.95 today).

WHAT IS CHANGING?

Why are the editors moving distribution channels? We want to generate more dollars for Variety, the Children’s Charity. By taking advantage of the far-reaching distribution power of Amazon.com and others for the paperback version, we’ll be able to continue raising funds for the charity and raising awareness of how the power of conversations are shaping social media and marketing.

WHAT IS NOT CHANGING?

All proceeds from book sales benefits Variety, the Children’s Charity.

WHAT IS THE AGE OF CONVERSATION ABOUT?

The Age of Conversation brings together over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers, and creative innovators in one publication. The topic? Conversation! If you want to know more, check HERE.

THE AUTHORS

If you would like to know more about the authors and their thought leadership, visit one of their blogs listed below.

Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan, CK, Valeria Maltoni, Emily Reed, Katie Chatfield, Greg Verdino, Lewis Green, Sacrum, Ann Handley, Mike Sansone, Paul McEnany, Roger von Oech, Anna Farmery, David Armano, Bob Glaza, Mark Goren, Matt Dickman, Scott Monty, Richard Huntington, Cam Beck, David Reich, Luc Debaisieux, Sean Howard, Tim Jackson, Patrick Schaber, Roberta Rosenberg, Uwe Hook, Tony D. Clark, Todd Andrlik, Toby Bloomberg, Steve Woodruff, Steve Bannister, Steve Roesler, Stanley Johnson, Spike Jones, Nathan Snell, Simon Payn, Ryan Rasmussen, Ron Shevlin, Roger Anderson, Robert Hruzek, Rishi Desai, Phil Gerbyshak, Peter Corbett, Pete Deutschman, Nick Rice, Nick Wright, Michael Morton, Mark Earls, Mark Blair, Mario Vellandi, Lori Magno, Kristin Gorski, Kris Hoet, G.Kofi Annan, Kimberly Dawn Wells, Karl Long, Julie Fleischer, Jordan Behan, John La Grou, Joe Raasch, Jim Kukral, Jessica Hagy, Janet Green, Jamey Shiel, s, Dr. Graham Hill, Gia Facchini, Geert Desager, Gaurav Mishra, Gary Schoeniger, Gareth Kay, Faris Yakob, Emily Clasper, Ed Cotton, Dustin Jacobsen, Tom Clifford, David Polinchock, David Koopmans, David Brazeal, David Berkowitz, Carolyn Manning, Craig Wilson, Cord Silverstein, Connie Reece, Colin McKay, Chris Newlan, Chris Corrigan, Cedric Giorgi, Brian Reich, Becky Carroll, Arun Rajagopal, Amy Jussel, AJ James, Kim Klaver, Sandy Renshaw, Susan Bird, Ryan Barrett, Troy Worman, S. Neil Vineberg, C.B. Whittemore, Mack Collier, Andy Nulman
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What would change if you joined the conversation?

Joe Raasch :: Nov.25.2007 :: Innovation :: No Comments »