Challenge Blog

….Or what gets measured gets done

I’ve been working with a business who wanted to develop the skills of their managers.  I was pleased to agree a series of outcomes and plan training to help those be achieved.

As the first day unfolded it soon became clear that this training wasn’t what was needed at all (or at least not yet!).  Managers were telling me that they saw no need for the kind of skills we were working on.  The view seemed to be “we just need to get on with our jobs and so do our staff”.

Interesting…..

So what are their jobs?  They all have MANAGER if their job title.  Without exception they have all been  promoted from the staff teams they were in and it became clear that the reason they were promoted was where the difficulties began.  They were all ambitious and keen to get ahead in their careers which they see as being through promotion to manager.  They were also all fantastic top performing sales people who got great results when they were selling.

Guess what - now they are managers what they REALLY still want to do is SELL!

There is little recognition within the business for the skill of managing and certainly the biggest financial rewards are still given for highest sales.  Targets are about sales activities and results, meetings are about sales figures, the appraisal questions focus on sales performance….

What gets measured gets done

These managers keep on selling and view managing as an inconvenient side activity to be done as little as possible.

So where are they now?  Well we’ve begun a much more fundamental process of reviewing business processes, organisation structure, pay and rewards, career progression and company values. 

It is early days yet but I am delighted that the senior management team in this business are really willing to listen and take action.  They want their business to be the best in the market, the best in the region and the place that people want to come and work.  They are keen to get it right and come out of what has been a tough two years in their industry fighting fit,  focused and strong for the future.

They recognise that strong management is essential and they are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that.  I believe they will succeed and I’m really pleased I’ll be on the journey with them throughout 2010.

I started this thread back in November because of an article I had been asked to write about New Year’s Resolutions for HR. Well, the article is written and will be in the January Chamber News, but here is a sneak preview for blog readers! New year, fresh start and an opportunity to look forward to the future with your HR all in order, legally compliant and working for you. Sam Swinstead at Challenge Manager urges us all to make our New Year’s Resolutions when it comes to employing our staff, and she offers a few suggestions to get you started. 1. Spend some time to plan. It is time well spent but it is often a “luxury” that we don’t allow ourselves. It will enable you to succession plan for business critical job roles, be strategic in recruitment decisions, identify cost savings and minimise any potential need for redundancies, short time working or lay-offs. 2. Get some legal expertise. Ensure you know the relevant employment law before you make any major decisions or take actions that may have legal repercussions – going to tribunal is costly, time consuming, and often wholly avoidable if you check the law out first. 3. Make this the year that you review your HR policies and procedures. Is this job on your “to do” list forever lurking near the bottom as something you know you “should do “? Make time to check they are all up to date, following best practice and legally compliant – it gives you peace of mind and ensures your staff know both their rights and their responsibilities. 4. And while you are at it, review those personnel files. Do you know what has been filed away in that personnel cabinet or would you prefer not to think about it? Make it a priority to review every employee’s file, ensuring that it contains everything it should…and nothing it shouldn’t! 5. Communicate, communicate, communicate! In the tough times we think we’ll be facing ahead, being honest and transparent, keeping staff up to date and in the know will increase their trust in you and keep their loyalty to the business…just when you need it most 6. Commit to developing your staff. We know it’s tough to think about spending money on training when there are so many other things that the budget could be spent on. Remember that your staff are your greatest asset when they perform at their optimum, but they are your greatest cost if they don’t have the skills, knowledge or confidence to do what you need them to We think these are a great start for most businesses with employees, so you might add some of them to your own New Year’s Resolution List….along with plans for developing new products and services, increasing sales, reducing costs, minimising your environmental impact and anything else you have identified as important to you, your business and your success. We take this opportunity to wish you all a lovely Christmas and a great start to 2009 as the next couple of weeks look busy and then I’m taking a (well earned in my opinion!) break until early January. Until such time…

…and beyond Well the canoe is now packed away for winter, thermal socks are now definitely required for dog walking, and I have even managed to buy a few Christmas presents - so progress has been made since the last blog! At home we’ve been thinking a little about 2009 - well the first 6 days of it anyway when we will be enjoying some Egyptian sunshine we hope. We plan to take some time while we’re away to sit down (hopefully over a nice bottle of wine!) and think about what we want 2009 to be like for us as a family. A pal told me a couple of years ago that she and her husband take time to review the year gone by and write a list of what they want to do and achieve in the year to come. I think this is such a great thing to do and having tried it ourselves we have enjoyed the benefit of planning great days out, holidays and other things we want to do and then making sure they happen. We’re doing the same in the business too - are you? In the last blog post I talked about reviewing the year just gone - did you take some time out to do that? I hope so and I hope you found it useful. So now to the future. The next step is to build a “big picture”, a vision of what you want 2009 to be like. Then after that we can start generating those smart objectives and identifying the actions required to achieve those big goals you have. There are all sorts of ways that you might create your own vision and I don’t presume to suggest that I know what will work best for you - but if you are seeking inspiration try a few of these really simple ideas. One great place to start is to explore all of your senses: 1. Get creative - literally DRAW a picture of what it will look like - or create an image using photos, newspaper clippings or anything else that appeals to you. If you are really artistic make a model or other visual representation of the successes of 2009 for you. 2. Imagine what you will see if you achieve all of your goals - will it be a yacht on the ocean, a brand new office painted purple? 3. Ask yourself what will I hear? What sort of things will people be saying to me and what will I be saying to them? 4. Imagine what it will feel like to achieve your dreams - consider your emotions and thoughts and literally what you might be feeling physically. 5. A further stretch is to imagine what success will taste like. Will it be champagne bubbles, that night out at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant or fish and chips on the seafront - what do you want? 6. And don’t forget to consider what success smells like - do you love the smell of money, will it be the new leather smell of your first brand new car, or the lilac bush outside the window of your new home? Use all of those senses to create a really strong picture for yourself of what you want to achieve in 2009. Make sure it is exciting, vibrant and inspirational to you- then embed it firmly so that you can call upon it whenever you need a reminder of what you are working hard to get to. Other ways to create that vision are to ask those you trust and love to help you create it. What are their views, how do they see the future? Talk it out and create a shared image. Be inspired by their goals too. If you get stuck then try moving to a different environment, take inspiration from a walk outdoors, distract yourself by doing something different for a while, energise yourself with some exercise, get creative in the kitchen or decorating, talk to someone else, play loud music, or anything else you can think of to inspire you! Above all else - have fun creating the image of what YOU want your future in 2009 and beyond to look like! If you want any other hints and ideas then we’re brimming full of them - give us a call! Look out for the next blog post which looks at turning this vision into something concrete - setting those objectives and making those new year resolutions.