Using courageous career conversations to shift engagement

While we can all agree that engagement is key to business success, its easy for employers and business owners to fall into the trap of keeping their employees in the "roles they are great at" instead of assisting these employees to map their potential career path.

To boost engagement employers should always make potential career pathways clearly visible and ensure managers regularly discuss transfer options to maximise engagement levels. According to recent research, one in five workers are in the wrong job, and when they move, the shift in engagement levels is "absolutely huge".

It's really down to managers and leaders taking the time to have meaningful discussions with their employees in order to really understand what they want, what motivates them, what drives them.

They need to be able to have courageous conversations where they are able to say '"just because there may not be an opportunity right now, does not mean that this will always be the case.  If I know what direction you are wanting to go, let's see how we can move you'."

Managers must also be willing to release staff who may be high performers in their organisations but whose personal aspirations are not aligned with what that specific business unit needs or wants, and let them go somewhere else within the organisation, so the talent is retained internally rather than lost to an external competitor.

Recent survey results conducted by Hilton hotel chain show a shift in the number one reason people remain employed with the organisation.

In 2010, 33% of employees said they remained employed because they had the opportunity to grow their career, while 27% said it was because they wanted to be associated with the brand. Now, association with brand has taken over career growth opportunities (25% and 23% respectively). From further internal research and feedback, they deduced that the shift in this statistic is based on the visibility that your career will be taken care of at Hilton, so working and being loyal to the brand is actually now the key driver of retention

Minimising Workplace Negativity

There is nothing more detrimental to workplace morale than unrelenting workplace negativity. It drains the energy from a workplace and steals attention away from work.

As a manager it is important to stay closely in touch with employees throughout the company as this will allow you to sense any workplace negativity in its early stages.

It is essential to pay attention to employee complaints, exit interviews and employee discussions and feedback to pick up any signs of negativity. This information will help you learn to identify the symptoms of negativity before its consequences damage your work environment. It will also help you prevent future negativity and cure any current workplace negativity.

Negativity is a growing problem in the workplace, it is often the result of a loss of confidence, control, or community. Understanding what people are negative about is the first step in solving the problem.

Communicating with employees will help you define the exact problems and the extent to which these problems are influencing your workplace. One of the easiest ways to do this is to identify the particular employee groups who are experiencing the negativity and the source of the issues that triggered their unhappiness.

Perhaps the organisation has made a decision which has negatively affected staff or staff are feeling threatened or neglected by management.

Whatever the reason for the workplace negativity, these issues must be addressed.
Here are a few tips for keeping your workplace a negative free zone:

• Give staff opportunities to voice their opinions about workplace policies and procedures. Acknowledge the impact of changes in work hours, pay, benefits, overtime etc. on your employees.
• Treat employees like adults with fairness and consistency. Do not create rules for all your employees to target the few people who are doing the wrong thing. Keep the number of rules directing the behaviour of adults at work to a minimum.
• Keep your staff in the loop with what’s going on within the organisation. Provide the context for decisions and communicate regularly and effectively.
• Give employees opportunities to grow and develop. Training and opportunities for promotion are visible signs of an organisations commitment to staff.
• Make sure you give your employees appropriate reward or praise and recognition for a job well done.  Reward and recognition are some of the most powerful tools an organisation can use to boost staff morale.
• Listen, often people just need a sounding board. Be present and available to staff. 

How to Deal With Difficult Co-Workers

Ideally everyone would have great co-workers, people who helped you to succeed professionally and made you feel appreciated and respected. Unfortunately this is not always what happens and you may be forced to deal with someone that makes your job harder.

Whether your colleague has anger control issues or is just not very competent at their job, at the end of the day you still have to get your work done.

Here are a few tips to help you deal with a difficult co-worker.

• Don’t let it negatively affect your work. Even if it’s tempting to take longer lunches to get away from a difficult co-worker, in the end you will suffer from it the most as you will need to make up the time in order to finish all your work. It may feel good to make your colleague look stupid at a meeting or to send them a passive-aggressive email but it won't do any good for your relationship and it won't make you feel any better in the long run. It will make your relationship with your co-worker even worse and make it harder to get your work done and nothing is more counterproductive than that.
• Write everything down. Document interactions with your colleague, whether its requests or criticisms. This way you have something to refer back to if your co-worker is being irrational or contradicting themselves. Having a record of everything they say to you can be helpful if your relationship gets so bad that you want to discuss the situation with a supervisor, you'll have written proof of what has been going on.
• Don’t react too hastily. Give yourself a little time to think before reacting when dealing with a conflict with your co-worker. . This will give you a chance to be level headed.  Even if your co-worker becomes emotional, you need to uphold your professional manner so that they have nothing to use against you. Your issues are more likely to be resolved if everyone is being calm while they are being discussed.
• Identify your co-workers triggers. Find the things that tend to lead to anger management issues and avoid them as much as you can.
• Don’t bring your work home with you. Try to get into the habit of leaving all the stresses of dealing with a difficult co-worker in the workplace and not taking them into your personal life – this will only add to your stress levels. This may mean having friends that don’t work with you to help you detach yourself from your work life.

One on One with the Boss

Most management conversations happen during group meetings, emails. Over the phone or when a problem arises.

However, it is good practice to meet with your boss one on one more frequently to get a little advice, support and motivation.

The main goal of a one on one meeting with your boss is communicating with them about the work you are carrying out for them.

• Before you go into a meeting with your boss ask yourself the following: 
• Are there problems that haven’t been spotted yet? 
• Problems that need to be solved? 
• Resources that need to be obtained? 
• Are any instructions or goals not clear? 
• Has anything happened since we last talked that the boss should know about? 
• Are there questions the boss needs to answer? 

Here are a few tips for making the most of a one on one session with your boss.

• Be prepared – make notes about what you would like to discuss with your boss ahead of time. If you have a problem to discuss bring your recommended solution, likewise if you have a decision to be made, make your recommended decision known.
• Keep your boss informed of all the key things you have been working on. This is a good opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and get some guidance and coaching from your boss.
• Own up to your mistakes. If you are having a meeting due to a mistake you have made, don’t be afraid to own up to it and make yourself accountable. Do not try and pass the blame or point the finger at your colleagues. 
• Always try to have a positive attitude in meetings with management. It is not productive or helpful to go into a meeting with a negative state of mind and you will cover more ground in your meeting if you stay upbeat.
• Include career development as a regular agenda item in your meetings. This will help you determine and achieve your goals as well as demonstrate to your boss that you are ambitious and have a desire to improve.
• Ask for feedback. Many bosses find giving feedback uncomfortable but by asking for it you are opening the lines of communication and making them feel more comfortable. 
• Let your boss know what you need in order to be successful. If you let your boss know in a constructive way how they can support you, most will do what they can to help.

Effectively managing employee underperformance

What do you do with an employee who is not performing?  What options do you have in this area? 

You have a responsibility as an employer to ensure that they have been given sufficient opportunity to improve their performance before you resort to disciplinary action.  After all, they may be having a hard time outside of work or any number of other factors may be affecting their performance and this should be addressed with fairness.

Counselling the under performing employee is vital and entails advising them that their performance needs improving and setting out a plan for improvement.

Workplace Bulletin provides a good suggested couselling scenario for an underperforming employee:

1. Investigate the matter further

Investigate the issues before meeting with the employee so you can be sure of the facts. This may mean that you speak to other managers, employees and witnesses.

2. Hold a private meeting with the employee

Hold the session in private and retain a record of the discussions (this could be recorded in a diary).

Do not make the discussion a casual conversation. Counselling is a focused discussion that is meant to clearly show the nature of your expectations

Be specific in your comments, e.g. 'It is not appropriate to clean the roller on a machine while it is moving', rather than general, e.g. 'You need to clean the rollers properly'.

Allow the employee to respond, and take their comments into account.

Focus your recorded comments on the employee's conduct, rather than the employee as a person.

3. Develop a performance management plan

A performance management plan (sometimes called a performance improvement plan) is a document that outlines the performance goals an employer expects their employee to achieve. These can include health and safety objectives.

The purpose of a performance management plan is to:

• set out the goals or 'key performance objectives' that reflect the employee's role in the business; and
• provide measurable benchmarks for assessing the employee's performance.

Develop the plan with the employee and keep a copy in the employee's file.

If employee performance is handled correctly, problems are recognised and solved early and the need for disciplinary action is eliminated or reduced.

4. Set a review date for following up

Your performance management plan should identify further dates for reviewing the employee's progress.


Source Workplace Bulletin

Is notice required when dismissing an employee for serious misconduct?

What are your responsibilities when you discover an employee has seriously broken the rules?  First of all, what defines ‘serious misconduct?’, and do they have any rights in this instance?

Dismissal is a tricky area in any case as it involves things like notice periods, warnings of various kinds, replacement of staff, workload etc, not to mention pay, leave and other entitlements.

‘Serious Misconduct’ is defined by FW Regulations (r 1.07) as the following:

• Wilful or deliberate behaviour that is inconsistent with the continuation of employment;
• Conduct that causes serious and imminent risk to the health and safety of persons or the reputation, viability or profitability of the business;
• Theft;
• Fraud;
• Intoxication at work; and
• Refusal to carry out lawful and reasonable instructions of the employer

Even if an employee has displayed behavior that could be labeled as ‘Serious Misconduct’, you still have responsibilities to comply with before you dismiss them if you do not wish to be faced with an unfair dismissal case.

• You must ensure that you
• Explain the allegation to them
• Provide them with an opportunity to respond (such as a) meeting
• Ensure that the response is proportionate to the misconduct
• Comply with notice requirements contained in any relevant contracts and/or awards

December Case Study: The Right Fit

It is amazing how one individual can so greatly impact a business, particularly if they are not the 'right fit'. One distributor of personal products I have been working with recently experienced this first hand, as they employed someone who didn't fuse well into the culture of the business.

Whilst  teamwork was such a strong part of this business' culture, the new employee seemed to cross the boundaries, treating other team members like their own personal assistants, including the business owners. Working cooperatively with the owners, I developed a time management strategy to review, improve and boost the new employee's performance. Unfortunately, only two weeks into the implementation of these strategies, the employee resigned, after causing havoc within the business for nine months. 

When recruiting new employees, always identify the prospect's characteristics and skills, and consider how they may fit within and enhance the business. Note that a transition from a major corporation into a small business may be difficult; but whilst it is certainly possible, it may require some assistance and investment on the employer's part. It is crucial you ask questions to the new employee, and make your expectations of them clear. 

My client was amazed at the effect the employee had on the business, and how the energy returned following their departure. As an owner or employer, always aim for prevention rather than management and, address issues at their immediate appearance. Be patient enough to wait for the right fit, rather than settling for the first in. 

End2End Business Solutions can help you find the right employees that fit your business! Contact Annette on 8977-4002 for assistance.

What Gets You Out Of Bed In The Morning?

Who is really responsible for the development of my career?
With statistics reporting more than 35% of people waking up wondering how on earth they ‘got here’, it seems that we live in a world, of which a large proportion of people tend to fall into their careers based on circumstances rather than a passion or dream.

According to research from Right Management; over 90% of HR managers feel their organisations are under performing and that almost half of all employees are wrongly fitted in their careers. It’s no wonder employees are left uninspired to perform at their optimum capacity in their career of, well, chance.

Career management practice leader of Right Management, Tim Roche, recently stated that half of the 146 000 participants in his survey, aiming to challenge and bring awareness to their true career motivators, effectively made some career change.

 No longer in the age where an employee would spend their lives in one occupation and/or in one company, there are a few grey areas regarding who’s responsibility it is to motivate and develop an employee’s career.

 It is unfortunately not yet typical of a business to integrate both career development and business strategies, although doing so might increase the company’s performance, productivity and overall focus from employees, whilst decreasing turnover.

There is a need for managers to be bold and courageous enough to tackle career management, so that employees are not only strategically motivated and empowered in the present, but also for the years to come. Managers must learn to seek and embrace friendly, personal conversations with employees about the direction of their careers.

 Common misconceptions prohibiting managers from stepping up in this area, rather than avoiding completely or redirecting matters to the company board, are that such conversations will be an expense or that employees may be unrealistic in their expectations or capabilities. In order to engage employees in a positive way, managers must be secure in their own understanding of what drives and motivates both themselves and their fellow employees, and how to implement principles and strategies to encourage this.

 Lizzy Allen of Right Management, adds that career management should involve tripartite commitment, in which the individual, the leader and the organisation equally commit to enable, discuss and promote career development. It is the tripartite commitment that allows active and personal relationships to ensure the success of all parties.

December Case Study: The Right Fit

It is amazing how one individual can so greatly impact a business, particularly if they are not the 'right fit'. One distributor of personal products I have been working with recently experienced this first hand, as they employed someone who didn't fuse well into the culture of the business. 

Whilst  teamwork was such a strong part of this business' culture, the new employee seemed to cross the boundaries, treating other team members like their own personal assistants, including the business owners. 

Working cooperatively with the owners, I developed a time management strategy to review, improve and boost the new employee's performance. Unfortunately, only two weeks into the implementation of these strategies, the employee resigned, after causing havoc within the business for nine months.

When recruiting new employees, always identify the prospect's characteristics and skills, and consider how they may fit within and enhance the business. Note that a transition from a major corporation into a small business may be difficult; but whilst it is certainly possible, it may require some assistance and investment on the employer's part. It is crucial you ask questions to the new employee, and make your expectations of them clear.

My client was amazed at the effect the employee had on the business, and how the energy returned following their departure. As an owner or employer, always aim for prevention rather than management and, address issues at their immediate appearance. Be patient enough to wait for the right fit, rather than settling for the first in. End2End Business Solutions can help you find the right employees that fit your business! Contact Annette on 8977-4002 for assistance.

Managing poor performance and behaviour

In order to maintain a harmonious, efficient and consistent work environment, the manner in which you deal with bad behavior is particularly important.

Bad, disruptive or negative behavior in the workplace is essentially a rebellious form of underperformance, and may be triggered from a number of factors including:

•                    An employee’s confusion or ignorance regarding their goals, expectations, standards to be upheld and resulting consequences

•                    Personality or cultural clashes

•                    Incompetency in the tasks or skills required of the employee

•                    Insecurity or uncertainty in their performance resulting from lack of praise or feedback

•                    Indolence, poor work ethic or environment

•                    Issues in an employee’s personal world

•                    Feeling victimized by workplace bullying

Developing a strategy on how to deal with such behavior, prior to having to deal with such situations is crucial. In the case that the issue results in termination and is taken to Fair Work, it is imperative to have a clear trail of documentation. These documents should include clear procedures on how to manage underperformance and a job description that highlights the expectations, roles and targets of each employee. 

Employees need to be aware of their job descriptions and of the employers’ management of work performance. Should management of underperformance become necessary, or should an employee violate employment conditions, documentation of interviews should be kept, as should any email communication. To help avoid small issues resurfacing, documentation of the management of each individual incident is helpful. 

Note however, not all issues of underperformance may need a formal address; the answer may be as simple as implementing of a culture of regular feedback to improve employees’ performance.

There are a few important steps in managing bad behaviour. These are:

1.   Identify the issue

2.   Assess the issue

3.   Discuss the issue with the employee in a private conversation

4.   Devise a solution as a team

5.   Monitor performance

A few other keys to remember when dealing with underperformance or any work related issue is to steer clear of using business jargon in conversation, and opt for a more relatable choice of words to avoid alienation or misunderstanding.  An employee should come away from the conversation with a clear understanding of the expectations of them in the workplace, the improvement required, and any follow up steps that will be taken

To find out more, or for assistance with managing poor performance or behaviour, contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002.

Difficult conversations in the workplace

Do you need to have a difficult conversation with an employee and aren’t sure how?  As an employer or manager, it is likely that you will need to have a difficult conversation with an employee at some stage. The Fair Work Ombudsman has some excellent tips on how to do this well.

Examples of the types of conversation you may need to have are:
•    communicating tough business decisions, such as denying a leave request or a pay rise to your employees
•    giving bad news, such as ending employment or advising unsuccessful job applicants
•    discussing poor performance or behaviour
•    dealing with complaints and grievances.

In the workplace, the best way to handle an issue is not to ignore it or sweep it under the rug, but to deal with it promptly. If this is handled well, this can have the effect of lifting employee performance and engagement, and improving relationships in your workplace.

Generally, workplace issues will not just disappear. If ignored or avoided, you may find the problem can become worse, can potentially damage the productivity and efficiency of the business, can reduce staff engagement and ultimately lead to higher absenteeism and employee turnover.

Here are a few handy tips if you need to have a difficult conversation in your workplace.

1. Prepare for the conversation.

• Write down the key points you need to cover
• Think about your desired outcome and think about whether it is realistic.
• Check your facts and gather any documents you need, have examples/copies to hand.
• Arrange a time and private place to speak with the employee, and let them know what the conversation will be about so they have time to prepare too.
• Let the employee bring a support person if they want to.

 2. The conversation itself

• Start by explaining the situation clearly, based on the facts. State the problem or issue at the beginning of the conversation.
• Avoid unnecessary small talk.
• Stick to the facts, rather than opinions, and give examples where possible.
• Importantly, ensure you explain the impact that the issue or their behaviour is having on the business or team.
• Focus on the issue, not the person. It helps if you use words like 'the behaviour', 'the situation', rather than 'you'.

 3. Ask the Employee for input

• Invite the employee to share their point of view and listen to what they have to say.
• Even if you're convinced that you're right, try to keep an open mind - there may be other issues or facts you don't know.
• Always acknowledge the employee's feelings and be willing to consider an alternate solution.

4. Manage your emotions and remain calm.

• Be rational and objective. Being angry or defensive won't help to resolve the issue.
• Always ensure that you stay calm, talk slowly, at an even tone and volume, be clear and concise and focus on the issue, not your feelings or the person involved.

 5. Help the employee manage their emotions.

• In these situations, the employee often reacts emotionally. It's important not to make a promise you can't fulfil to diffuse the employee's emotional reaction.
• Listen and show genuine interest in what the employee has to say. This may involve expressing support or reassurance where you can (eg. 'I can see this is hard for you' or 'It's ok to be upset about this'), or apologising if appropriate (eg. 'I'm sorry but I can't grant your request').

 6. Reach an agreement on how to move forward and close the conversation.

• Close the conversation by agreeing on action points and next steps.
• Gain the employee's commitment to the agreed actions. You can do this by asking questions like 'how do you feel about that?' or 'What do you think about this way forward?'
• Set a follow up date. This will allow you to check if the agreed steps have been taken and see whether the employee needs any further support or assistance.
• Thank the employee for listening and openly discussing the issue.

7. Follow up.

• Ensure you fully document the discussion and any agreements you have made.
• Maintain a professional relationship and keep communication lines open with the employee.
• Follow through with the agreed actions and follow up with the employee to make sure the issue has been resolved.

If you or your employees could benefit from coaching on how to successfully hold ‘difficult conversations’ contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 or by email. We can structure a program specifically for your workplace to give you and your employees the skills to successfully communicate the difficult conversations.