Structured Planning to Initiate Recognition Program

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Paul Dumouchelle

This is an occasional series describing (anonymously) a real challenge faced by one of my ADVISA clients in Ohio and Michigan and my recommendation to them based on analysis and understanding of PI®. Please let me know what topics you’d like to see included in this series.

- Paul

Structured Planning to Initiate Recognition Program

Scenario: The President of a financial service firm seeks to turn around people’s attitude in her firm. She is interested in using every tool available for improving employee morale

PI Patterns

President – She is similar to a Control Reference Pattern, although with a Lowest B (Highest D, Low B & C, High A)

Typical Employee Reporting to President – Craftsman Reference Pattern (Highest C & D, Lowest B, Low A)

The Issue: The President wants to use face-to-face recognition that will connect with each employee’s motivating needs and drives. She believes this an effective approach to changing attitudes and that such conversations can be done quickly without additional expense. She is not comfortable with the idea of simply talking to people without some structured approach to identify the appropriate action.

PI® Analysis and Recommendation: The President’s hesitation is natural for somebody with her PI Pattern – she is a Highest D who wants to know the “right” way to do things and a Lowest B who is more comfortable with logic, facts and data than emotions and feelings.

The typical employee pattern differs from the President in that most employees are Low A and High C. What is critical with one-on-one recognition, however, is crafting an interaction that fits EACH INDIVIDUAL’s motivating needs. This is best done by focusing on each person’s single strongest need – something that a structured approach using personality assessments allows.

To address the President’s need for structure we created a table of all her key employees’ strongest PI drive. As part of the table we identified the type of recognition appropriate for each high drive (e.g. “Recognition for Error-Free Work” with Highest D individuals) and noted a list of activities in her firm that would tie into that type of recognition. We then cross-referenced this with a weekly calendar she could use as a checklist to make sure she touched each of her people at least once per week.

This type of simple task-management approach is often very useful to generate a real change in behavior. Turning the challenge of one-on-one recognition into just another to-do item simplified this activity for the President.

Results: My client followed the program through the first two cycles of employee interactions. After this point the checklist no longer became necessary as she had effectively learned how to adopt this new behavior and make the tool of in-person recognition work for her team. Happily, my client reported that attitudes began to improve. While she couldn’t take all the credit as other factors supporting a positive change occurred at the same time she still felt good about her contribution to the turnaround.

Managing Workplace Stress

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Paul Dumouchelle

My first recommendation in my work for ADVISA with PI® clients in Ohio and Michigan is to minimize stress on your team by matching people to work using our personality assessment.

It is not unusual to find that people who are in jobs that constantly require them to act in ways that are directly opposite of their personality preferences suffer from stress-related maladies. People who suffer from physical ailments obviously aren’t going to be contributing at the top of their game.

On the other side of the coin, when your work is consistent with what you enjoy most then you will be most-engaged and productive.

A recent study on alternative stress management techniques highlights that attitudes about stress itself can also affect performance. When stress is seen as highly negative it generates a “fight or flight” response – which ADDS TO THE STRESS!

If improving employee morale is your goal then your strategy should include systematic talent management that assesses job requirements and evaluates candidates’ personal qualities. You should also consider how stress is percieved in your organization to minimize the “fight or flight” response.

Creating Employee Engagement

Posted on February 4, 2010 by ADVISA WEB TEAM

ALL THE NOSES IN THE SAME DIRECTION!

Most organizations have gone through the values – mission – vision stage. By now, these documents are covered in dust. Many are still displayed in reception areas and board rooms. But most managers don’t really pay attention to them anymore. So it is not really surprising that many people site “lack of direction” as the single most irritating factor in the company they work for.

We forget that the goal of these documents was to bring people together around a common theme. The end result was never as important as the road to get there; the discussion was to be the catharsis. It is the leveling that occurs that brings people on the same page. A day talking about your values-mission-vision statement can be invaluable!

Too often even the actual strategy remains a mystery! Small companies are often lead by the original entrepreneur, and she is surprised to hear her immediate co-workers don’t comprehend the strategy she has spent many a waking night to develop. And the same disconnect easily develops in a larger organization, where the plan devised by the top is just not disclosed to the troops, or as a minimum, not understood. A few tips to avoid this disconnect:

Verbalize your strategy in a clear and concise way. Use a few sentences if you have to, but the shorter and simpler, the better. Use a pictorial if possible.
A strategy is not a dream. Make it a call to action, an achievable and believable goal that everyone, from top to bottom, can believe in.
Engage in true dialogue. Take it from Alan Greenspan:

“I have never found the arbitrary use of authority to control an organization either effective, or, for that matter, personally interesting. If you cannot persuade your colleagues of the correctness of your position, it is probably worthwhile to rethink your own.”

Every team member on your payroll needs to have clear goals, directly linked to the achievement of the overall strategy. Demonstrate your commitment to these goals by a clear prioritization: how critical is the strategy if my contribution is just part of my day to day tasks, and many other goals also need to be achieved? It sends the message that it is OK to point your nose in the right direction at a specific time only. And that is wrong!
If you don’t have the discipline to follow a strategy, then don’t waste time putting one together! Now I live by the dictum “What is the point of having a mind if you cannot change it”! You’d better change the strategy if you discover a better one! But be consistent, and follow your plan until you come up with a better one. And at that stage, communicate the new plan, and start the cascading process anew.
Follow up. Make sure the individual’s goals are met. Find out why deviations occur. Use your Plan-Do-Check-Adjust cycle. Get people to assist one another where needed so the overall goal does not get compromised. Jump in where your expertise can help, or throw more resources at the issue. And demonstrate your commitment to achieving the goal by your actions!
Visualize your strategy, the cascading goals and the progress made. It will point out to all which noses are not aligned. Peer pressure never hurts!

Following this process with rigor will make sure people understand how they feature in the overall goal of the company, and why their noses should point in the same direction. Make sure they know that exceptions won’t be tolerated. You cannot afford a lack of discipline in this area!

The benefits of strategic planning , and a sound strategic planning service to help you through the cycle are vital getting your employees truely motivated. It is a key component of best HR Practices.

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