Handling Feedback: It’s About Being Transparent, Not Getting Defensive

If you need to give constructive feedback or challenge someone, try prefacing it with authentic self-disclosure.

I recently witnessed a great example of this in action. More specifically, it was an example of:

• A leader modeling transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability.
• How doing so made his challenging a team member much less threatening
• And, by doing both, modeled how to challenge someone or give negative feedback in a safe way.

Here’s what happened …

No defensiveness, just deep listening and sharing

I was facilitating a management retreat for a medical practice recently. As part of the program, each member of the team asked the others for feedback on something they do really well that others appreciate and something they could improve on.

One of the managers bravely shared with the Practice Manager, who we’ll call James, how she felt unsupported by him during an incident with a physician and the response she would have liked from him.

I watched his response closely and was impressed by how he demonstrated the “seek first to understand” maxim and then how he shared the rationale behind his response.

As he explained his rational, he didn’t get defensive, he didn’t shut her down or “correct her.” He simply shared that his intention was to communicate that staff have the right to call physicians on bad behavior. They didn’t have to call on him to intervene.

But here’s where it got good.

How NOT to receive feedback

Another member of the management team, upon getting critical feedback about a couple of her team members, immediately countered with: “They probably do that because your people…” Now, even though she didn’t make her remark in an accusatory tone, she made it immediately after the person gave her feedback.

Reflect on what you would think if you were the feedback giver and the receiver responded immediately with a retort. You would think they didn’t care about taking in what you said, but only on defending themselves. You would probably feel that your message wasn’t heard and your sharing it was a waste of energy.

After the interchange, James the Practice Manager shared how one of their goals as a team is to talk openly with each other and how one of the things that makes that possible is listening openly to criticism. He then shared how when he was getting criticism in the group, he found himself getting defensive at first, and had to stop that response and focus on what the person was saying. He acknowledged how hard it is for him — as it is for all of us — to get negative feedback.

Acknowledging feedback

He then went on to comment on how the manager had immediately responded to her feedback with a retort and how it would be more useful to acknowledge to the other person that they had been heard, and ask the other person for more information and clarification if necessary.

I thought it was a great example of how to challenge someone in a kind and compassionate way, by first sharing how you, too have the same automatic defensive response and that you’re not coming from a “better than” place, but from a “we’re all in this together” perspective.

The manager’s facial expression, voice tone, and verbal response to his observation indicated that she was able to take in what he said without feeling criticized, judged, or shamed. Conversely, if he had given feedback in the “Gotcha” style that some people do — especially those who like to adopt a position of superiority — she probably would have verbally accepted his feedback, but inside harbored resentment.

Take away messages

1. Demonstrate authenticity and transparency — Be willing to acknowledge your own fallibility and natural human responses to difficult interactions or situations. When you do, your team will be able to relate to you more, they will respect you more, and they will be able to hear and value your feedback more. They will be able to do so because they see that you recognize your own humanity and don’t put yourself above them. Your modeling this will also embolden them to be more transparent and real in their interactions, which will make for a more alive, creative, and bonded team.
2. Self-disclose a similar experience or response — When giving someone feedback, if you can possibly do so, either share an example of how you did the same thing or simply acknowledge that you have done the same thing as the other person. This helps take away from the natural “One Down” position a person feels when someone else is giving them negative feedback. When the other person feels that we are giving feedback from a position of superiority, it is likely to trigger shame, which poisons the feedback and the relationship. Conversely, coming from a position of “We’re all human and therefore imperfect” makes it easier to hear negative feedback without feeling shamed.
3. Use self-deprecating humor — If the other person is prone to embarrassment or harsh self-criticism, I recommend that you use self-deprecating humor to acknowledge that you know only too well how challenging that situation is. Obviously, only say that if it’s true. When we do this, not only does it diminish the potential of a “One Up” position, it also utilizes the power of humor to diffuse tension and awkwardness.

One more thing

Occasionally, I meet “Old School” managers or people who are simply insecure, who are afraid that doing the above will make others lose respect for them. They fear that doing so will diminish their credibility, and power.

As you probably know from your own experience, the opposite is true. When someone in a position of power chooses not to lord their power over us, when they acknowledge that they recognize they aren’t perfect, and when they act in ways that help us save face … we not only like them more, we respect them more, and are more open to future feedback from them.

So look for opportunities to be more transparent, authentic, and vulnerable and watch your ability to positively influence increase.

By David Lee - founder and principal of HumanNature@Work 

What to Do When a Rising Star Falls

Imagine me, moving through the hallway to a meeting I don't want to attend but where something has to be done.

Jon had been a top performer and a promising promotion just 12 months ago. Unfortunately, the rising star had fallen. Staying in the role was no longer an option, and there was only one question left: removal from the company or a second chance?

By its very nature, talent management planning is mostly about the positives: designating strategic roles, attracting and nurturing talent with potential, providing great development and plotting the next moves to maximize growth and impact. It's the fun part of the job, and Jon had been a stellar product of this work, until now.

I had a few minutes to gather my thoughts before entering the room where Jon's business and function boss would meet to debate the second chance option. In preparation for the meeting, I formulated a five-point checklist to guide the conversation and reach the right decision for all concerned.

1. Did Jon cross the integrity line?

If yes, then no second chance. Fortunately in Jon's case, ethics and values were never in doubt. The problem stemmed from other issues.

One trap here is if the performance track record has been superior, there is a temptation to issue a temporary pass on organization values and ethics. The best organizations make the so-called tough call to dismiss the high-performing, low-value leader. We all wish more would do so.

2. Does Jon have the skills to win?

The current role could be such a mismatch for Jon that odds of growing the necessary skills for success are quite low. In that case, more time in the role or development interventions are wasted time and energy.

The issue then becomes whether Jon has valuable skills - differential competencies - that the organization needs. If so, then the discussion should focus on other valuable positions where he could succeed.

The trap is to replant someone with a performance issue into a holding role that doesn't really do any good for the organization or the performer's self-esteem.

3. Does Jon still have the sponsorship to succeed?

Even with a good second-chance role, Jon may not make it without continuing sponsorship. Some cultures and leaders are more forgiving of a misstep than others.

As I think about the conversation with Jon's manager, I want to test the confidence and commitment. Are we committed to bringing the best out of Jon in the new role?

If there is hesitation, my experience is that we are delaying a bad situation and possibly making matters worse down the road as Jon tries to rebound without the necessary support from above. The same holds true for peers and other stakeholders.

4. Does Jon have the resiliency to recover?

Being removed from a job after 12 months is hard on the ego, especially for a high-flyer who has done well in previous roles. Even with the right amount of support, I've seen second-chancers never fully recover. They lose their ambition and the innovation and boldness necessary to win. Jon will need to be resilient, learn the lessons of failure and use the experience to build new levels of self-insight and determination.

5. Are we all better off with a fresh start?

The final question is about balancing interests. First, in fairness to the company, do we have a good backfill for Jon right now and other promising candidates to fill roles which would be Jon's second-chance job?

A weak pipeline needs to be one of the considerations for next moves. Second, would a fresh start at a new company, a new setting, be better in the long run for Jon? This question feels a bit more caring but is also difficult to ask.

This type of discussion is never easy, and even with these five questions to guide it, emotions will be high when deciding Jon's options. Talent management is about doing our best when things turn out well and also when they don't.
By Kevin D. Wilde-  vice president and chief learning officer at General Mills

What to Do (and Not to Do) in Creating a Culture For Innovation

What to do

In CIO, Frank Wander, founder of the IT Excellence Institute and a former Fortune 250 CIO, recently shared three best practices for doing just that in terms of what you should always, sometimes and never do:

Always recognize that IT’s culture is your responsibility, and innovation is an outcome of the culture…

Sometimes work outside the office to find a quiet setting in which to think…

Never build a culture of blame. Innovation is often about trying and failing. If failure leads to blame, you’ll create an innovation short-circuit.”

This is at the heart of creating a culture that is open to innovative ideas (even if they may sound silly at first), sharing, helping, contributing together in an environment that’s supportive and where failure is not only tolerated but encouraged as a path to success. (Check out this great post from Dan McCarthy on famous failures.)

What not to do

Sometimes, avoiding the pitfalls is as difficult as following the path to success. Indeed, this is no less true when creating a culture of innovation.

Today in his Workplace Mojo blog, Matt Monge wrote about “culture killers,” namely:

• Saying your people are your priority when they’re really not;
• Saying you want feedback when you really don’t; and,
• Empowering “leaders” who don’t really lead.

Doesn’t this all really circle back to transparency? You say what you mean and do what you say. Easily said, but not always as easily done, especially when you’re trying to instill these beliefs and approaches in your own team of leaders to filter down.

The best approach is for the senior leader to model the desired behaviors, then consistently, frequently and in a timely way recognize and reward those who do so as well. Equally important, leaders must be willing to coach and, if necessary, remove leaders who demonstrate the “culture killers.”

By Derek Irvine - Vice President, Client Strategy & Consulting Service at Globoforce

Three Awesome Examples of Great Job Descriptions

If your company is struggling to find new talent, is it possible that your job descriptions could be to blame?

It’s a question worth asking, because your “now hiring” advertisements determine, in part, just who applies for your position. Craft your ads the right way and you’ll capture the attention of talented innovators.

Write a generic post, on the other hand, and you may as well head to the nearest corner and shout, “Who wants a job!”

If you’re looking for a little inspiration to up your hiring game, here are three examples of job descriptions that pack a punch. Remember, if you’re going to spend hours of your time asking strangers open-ended questions in the interview phase, you might as well stack the deck in your favor.

1. Clear and concise

So what’s the most important rule to follow when writing job descriptions?

It’s simple: you must speak like a normal human being. Consider chucking phrases like “core competency,” “leveraging assets,” and yes, even “best practices.” If you must use business speak, couch the terms in simple sentence structures.

In other words, don’t be opaque just because it’s the norm. Writing professionals agree that it’s not a good trend, and in fact many don’t even consider this type of writing be a valid form of communication (since it seems to do everything but communicate).

Additionally, language like this makes it harder for applicants to understand exactly what the job is and what skills they’ll need to apply. The strongest descriptions use language that’s both succinct and concrete. Take this job ad for a T-shirt designer as an example:

You will be expected to generate your own amazing ideas as well as illustrate subjects provided to you in a style which the ThinkGeek customer enjoys. You’ll also be making web graphics for the products you help create, as well as filing in other design tasks around the office. You must have a great sense of humor and amazing illustration abilities and technique. Can you draw Rancors with your tablet while blindfolded? Good. That’s a start.”

In this posting, the requirements are clear and easy to comprehend. An applicant can quickly gauge the expectations of the company and can decide whether his or her skill set meets those requirements. When it comes to writing job descriptions, a simple and compact style will save you time, because when you’re clear about your needs, you won’t have to interview candidates who simply don’t fit the bill.

2. Packed with personality

Have mercy on your applicants. Many of them will have spent days or weeks combing through dry job descriptions while slowly losing hope of ever repaying their student loans. Would it kill you to entertain them a bit? Add some wit to your writing and you’ll capture the interest of all the young creatives.

Not sure what we mean? Take a look at this opening paragraph for Woot.com’s posting for an electronics buyer:

You started out an acoustic buyer. When you made the change, everyone gasped. One called you Judas, another tried to cut the cable with an axe. But you held on, and now you’re a trendsetter, an industry leader, and sometimes called a visionary in your field. You’ve mastered getting deals on all things electric and you’re reading to push the envelope again. Hey, guess what? Us too! Why don’t we go on the road together, man? And by the road we mean you can buy electronics for our website. See, it’s slang.”

Would this paragraph provide the perfect sample job description if it appeared on its own? Of course not, but it does whet your appetite and make you want to read more. The tone matches the company’s personality – and that’s important. After opening with a bang, this job posting unpacks the necessary details, and does it in a truly unique way with headers like “worst part of the job” and “degrees of separation from the CEO.”

This sends a message to potential employees (and the site’s competitors) that the company is one that’s willing to take time on the details in all areas of their business – right down to their job descriptions.

3. A challenger appears

If you’ve ever been forced to sort through a pile of applications, you know that many candidates don’t exactly give it their all. They hand in cover letters riddled with spelling mistakes, and their resumes detail work experience that’s just not applicable. Of course you want to invite a wide range of applicants when you’re hiring, but you don’t want to waste time on people who can’t even bother to proofread.

The solution? Issue a challenge like this one, used by Reddit in their search for a programmer: “Applications must be sent to S@reddit.com, where:

• S is a three-character string which, when given a null terminator and encoded in hex, is equivalent to the eight-digit hexadecimal number H.
• H is the hexadecimal representation of the decimal number N.
• N = A * B * C * D
• A is the number of 1 bits in the current serial number on the SOA record for reddit.com.
• B is the number of seconds in a day.
• C is the ASCII value of the character that appears 5304 times in *.html files in a fresh checkout of the reddit repository. (It’s also the EBCDIC representation of the \a character.)
• D is the port that you typically connect to when you need to get an encrypted shell on some remote machine.”

Is it a riddle every would-be applicant could solve? Definitely not – but that’s the point.

This creative touch ensures that everyone who does apply will not only have the skill set needed for the job, but that they’ll also be the kind of people who don’t cut corners, who get excited by challenges and who are happy to put in a little extra effort where it counts. Add a puzzle or other creative task to your job posting and discover employees who are up for the challenge.

Some jobs will always be easier to fill than others. The position of “gourmet chocolate taster” for instance, is likely to generate far more interest than, say, “unpaid data entry intern.” When writing job descriptions for some openings, there’s only so much you can do.

But if these creative examples of job descriptions teach you anything, it should be this: it’s not just about what you say, but about how you say it. Paint a picture of a workplace full of wit and enthusiasm and you’ll attract applicants who mirror those qualities.

By Eric Gaydos - Buzz Marketing Manager at The Resumator, a SaaS applicant tracking system and recruiting platform

The Job Description: From Static Relic to Dynamic Business Tool

Recently, many HR pundits have begun advocating abandoning the job description as a relic that can't keep pace with the dynamic nature of today's workplace. However, what is outmoded is not the job description, but how it has been designed and used.

Job description content has been too general, too subjective and too one-dimensional. No wonder employees have been unclear about their jobs when the job description itself lacks specificity.

Dynamic job descriptions are both job success profiles and blueprints for an organization's ideal workforce designed to achieve its strategic objectives. They enable an organization to compare actual employees against the ideal workforce based on pre-defined competency and performance criteria. And they provide employees a critical "road map" of personal work priorities, performance expectations and job competencies - all aligned with a company's business strategy.

With dynamic job descriptions, an organization can:

a) Compare each employee's actual competency levels to those required for job success.

b) Get information necessary so that managers know which employees are ready to fill jobs in the future at a given time.

c) Customize performance planning and evaluation forms to each employee that are linked to strategic business objectives.

Dynamic job descriptions are a powerful vehicle for communicating clearly to employees about specific performance expectations and success competencies. They can also contribute to performance planning, goal setting and evaluation; feedback and coaching; development planning; career path planning; succession; compensation and rewards; and candidate selection.

What Is a Dynamic Job Description?

A dynamic job description consists of functional and detailed information, further modified by essential job responsibilities and required job success competencies. Accounting for that last element - job competencies - is the "secret sauce" that makes a job description truly dynamic.

Multiple levels of job descriptions are required.

a) Functional job descriptions are internal benchmarks developed collaboratively by business function leaders and HR. They reflect what's needed to achieve current business strategy and should be revisited and updated when business strategy changes. In effect, they translate the organization's broad business objectives into job-specific, actionable deliverables and success competencies.

b) Once employees have an appropriate functional job description they should be involved (with guidance from managers and HR) in editing and customizing that functional job to create a personal job description (derived from the functional job) that specifically fits their local or work unit circumstances.

c) Personalized job descriptions reflect each employee's personal roadmap for job success. Involving employees in personalizing their job descriptions helps them understand expectations and increases their buy-in and commitment to meeting job performance objectives.

Job descriptions should also capture two vital elements that enable job information to be applied to multiple other HR processes - essential job responsibilities and job competencies.

Essential job responsibilities describe the key deliverables, work outputs and performance expectations of a job. To be effective, they must be updated when changes occur in business strategy. Then, they can be used to customize an employee's performance planning and evaluation. Essential job responsibilities provide employees a direct line of sight between personal performance expectations and business strategy.

Job competencies - often overlooked but essential - represent both the core organization and the job-specific functional and technical skills, behaviors and approaches to work required for job success.

d) Core organization competencies reflect an organization's "DNA" - its distinctive qualities and marketplace persona. They must be understood and practiced by all employees when performing their jobs, interacting with customers and collaborating with each other. For example, core organization competencies might include communicating openly and honestly, teamwork and quality focus.

e) Job-specific competencies embody the functional or technical knowledge, capabilities or specialized behaviors required to perform a job's essential responsibilities.

If organization core and job-specific competencies are clearly defined, along with their associated proficiency levels and accompanying behavioral anchors, then this provides truly objective standards against which an employee's actual competency levels can be measured and compared to the ideal. This is critical information both for performance reviews and for guiding employee development.

For example, job description competencies and associated target proficiency levels can be used to more accurately assess an employee's development needs as well as readiness to move up to the next job.

The dynamic job description, when clearly articulated and integrated across multiple talent management processes, can be a powerful tool that supports hiring, measuring performance, identifying training and development needs, coaching, succession planning, career path planning and analyzing workforce readiness to contribute to an organization's real-world performance.
By Robert Levy - president of HR Technology Solutions Inc

You Can Prevent Layoffs

As a manager, here are some actions that you can take to reduce the likelihood of layoffs in your organization:

First and foremost, watch out for creeping structural complexity. Just like any living organism, organizations have a tendency to grow, adding unnecessary layers, positions, and locations. As such we end up with headquarter staffs, divisional staffs, regional staffs, and local staffs all creating work that justifies their existence. Maintaining structural simplicity to begin with, with limited layers and as few extra locations as possible, is one way of avoiding layoffs.

Phase out products and services. Although we are always looking for new ways to benefit customers, often we don't eliminate the ones that have outlived their value. Without sunset laws for outdated products and services, we allow costs and infrastructure to build up that will eventually have to be taken down.

Manage the balance between today's revenues and tomorrow's opportunities. Managers always have a choice between investing in current operations and innovating for the future. When the balance is overly skewed towards short-term revenues, it's easy to build up costs (and people) that provide results today but cannot be sustained in the long-term.

In today's business environment, layoffs have become an accepted fact-of-life and a common tool for managers to maintain profitability. But we might be better off if we spend more time preventing layoffs rather than managing them.

By RON ASHKENAS - managing partner of Schaffer Consulting and a co-author of The GE Work-Out and The Boundaryless Organization.

Managing Up: How Do You Build a Relationship With Your Manager?

“I need to talk to you about an employee that I am having trouble with.”

Like a lot of you, I get calls all the time with people that want to bounce things off of me. I also volunteer my HR services to non-profits. This statement came from a founding member of the non-profit that I have been working with for the past year.

The executive director/founder had hired a direct report. The interview went well, and references checked out — that is, until this person started work. It seemed that as time went on, the new hire became disconnected from the executive.

Building a relationship

When the executive would schedule a meeting between the two, the direct report would just refuse to show up, saying that she had other things to do. When there were group meetings, she was very dismissive of her. It got to the point that she tried everything she could to just not have to communicate with her boss.

I thought of this scenario this week when I was part of an MBA course interview. Each student was asked to interview a corporate executive and get their insight on three questions. Collectively the questions centered on managing up. Specifically how do you build a relationship with your manager?

Besides being honored to be asked, I was impressed with the questions. For anyone that knows me, knows that I have an opinion on lots of things, however I keep it to myself only if asked.

I like questions that make me think and get away from the snap answers that I have given so many times. When you are asked the same questions over and over again, you tend to look at them as lobs.

I have served on so many panels during my career and very seldom am I asked a question that you really have to think about and formulate a response. However, these questions all gave me time to pause and think them through.

So my post this week is on the following four questions and my responses to each:

1. What do you think about managing up to your boss?

This is a subject that is not taught in college. This is a subject that in order for you to be successful, you must figure it out on the job. There is no manual, so you have to create the manual yourself.

In order for you and your manager to connect, you must be cognizant of managing the relationship. You want to be seen as a productive and valuable part of the team. For that reason, it is your best interest to figure out how to get this relationship on track. We have all probably experienced the “boss from hell,” but even in that case, until you find a way to get out, you have to find a way to connect.

Managing up is working with your boss to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and your organization. This has nothing to do with kissing up. Rather, it is a deliberate effort to build a relationship between two different individuals where one is in charge of the other.

2. How do you manage your boss?

First and foremost, you must be the best employee you can be. You should strive to build a relationship with him or her, and understand your role within the department. In order to manage your boss, your first order of business is to figure out their style.

Try and think of the value that you bring to your boss. To be successful, you have to be in sync with their work style and habits. Even though you have the job and have gone through the interviews, you must show value once you get inside the organization.

The value that was created at your previous company does not translate, for the most part. You can’t live off the superstar reputation that you previously had. You have to begin again the methodical process of building up your credibility in this new environment. The first step of this process is dealing with the manager that you report to.

Ask your new manager how you would like to interact. Ask them about what type communication they prefer: voice mail or face-to-face, detail or overview? What is their preferred method for sharing information? Concentrate on making their job easier. Get to know their style. Until you figure out their style, you are going nowhere.

3. How do your best subordinates manage you?

Now the table is turned — how have your subordinates managed you? Think of your best subordinate over the years (if you have managed people). My best were the ones that, whenever there was a problem, always mentioned it but also would say that they have given it thought and offered up a solution.

Our conversations were always about solutions. I do not like “problem” reports, the ones that can always spot and bring you a problem. I do, however, love the ones that think, have an opinion, and come up with a solution. That was my style — and they figured it out.

4. “It is not your actual performance that counts, but your manager’s perception of your performance.”

I have always loved the phrase “perception is reality.” What we perceive is usually what we believe, and it is based on what we see, hear, and think.

So based on that thinking, it is important that your manager hear the right things about you. This had to do with departmental feedback, peer feedback, etc.

If they see us struggling with deadlines, interactions, and contribution, that is how we are going to be perceived.

If we give them reason to think that we are not in sync, we are perpetuating this thought process.

So as I thought this week of the non-profit and the fit between the executive director and her report, I came away feeling that in order for this person to be successful in her next career role, (she was eventually fired), Job 1 is that she must learn from this mistake.

By Ron Thomas - Director, Talent and Human Resources Solutions at Buck Consultants (a Xerox Company). 

Why We Need to Change Performance Management to Talent Development

Performance management. Let’s think about that for a minute. When you Google the word “management,” here is what you get:

• The process of dealing with or controlling things or people;
• The responsibility for and control of a company or similar organization.

It’s all about control. A logical person might conclude that a process called performance management has at its core the intention to control performance. And they’d be right!

Why performance management doesn’t work today

Performance management was created to manage (i.e. control) the work of an industrialized workforce to maximize output. No thought was given to the development of the individual.

Fast-forward to today and the rise of the knowledge workforce, which is very different from an industrialized one.

• One right way –> Multiple right ways, best approach varies with the situation;
• Maximizing production output –> Creating competitive advantage through best use of talent.
• Creativity detracts from results –> Creativity is essential for results
• Command and control –> Collaboration and self-motivation.
• If-then rewards motivate –> Mastery, autonomy and purpose motivate.

It’s no surprise that a process created to control the output of a workforce where work was standardized and repeatable doesn’t work as a tool to develop a knowledge-based workforce. No matter how much you massage around the edges.

I won’t quote a bunch of survey statistics here because, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen them – over and over and over. So has your CEO. What you may not know is that it’s also expensive, rolling in at about $2,000/person.

Practical ideas that may help

What I haven’t seen in any of my research is data confirming that performance management is delivering on its objectives. Not. Once.

It’s time for us to change our lens from performance management to talent development. And I believe HR needs to lead the way. Your leaders are waiting for new ideas from you.

While surveys and research findings confirm the problem, not many address the solution. So I’ve provided some practical ideas to help you get started.

• Unbundle. Stop relying on one jumbo process; done once or twice a year, as the basis to drive all your talent-related actions. Take a close look at what you are trying to do with performance management and unbundle those activities.
• Cultural shift to continuous feedback. Begin building the foundation for a cultural shift to valuing and encouraging feedback. Change the notion that feedback only goes top-down. Encourage people to get and give feedback in any direction. Emphasize the idea of agility and feedback when needed. There are lots of good tools out there that can enable this. Two of my favorites: Rypple and Cleargears.
• Invest in improving feedback and coaching skills. Enable your workforce to both give and receive feedback effectively. For years, we’ve trained people to participate in a months-long process where the outcome is to give a grade. This does nothing to prepare them to effectively coach and develop each other. Helping people at all levels in the organization build this capability signals a shift in perspective from identifying weaknesses to capitalizing on strengths; reinforcing a cultural shift from judging and grading to coaching and development. And it’s a much better spend of your $2,000/head! Feedback and coaching support innovation and creativity much better than assessing and grading do. And, helps to shift responsibility for growth to the individual by empowering them to ask for feedback versus waiting for the scheduled time for it to be administered from above.
• Succession planning with a purpose. Make talent reviews and succession planning an ongoing dialogue with leaders. These discussions are critical to helping you understand where you have deep bench strength and where there are gaps that need to be closed. Follow-up on agreed actions and share insights with those being discussed, encouraging people to take an active role in the planning and execution of their development activities.

When HR professionals shift their focus to talent development and bring fresh, creative ideas to leadership, they get a seat at the table that is truly value-added. They become an advisor to the business around talent, driving value to the bottom line by linking an organization’s talent strategy to its business strategy.

BY Kristi Erickson - Partner at PeopleResults, a consultancy that guides organizations and individuals to “start the wave” of change.

Keeping Top Talent: How Leaders Can Manage Increasing Employee Turnover

A weak labor market associated with the economic downturn may have held down turnover rates in many organizations. But, it could be argued that we have been in the eye of a turnover storm.

Data from Hay Group’s employee opinion database, including responses from over 1.69 million U.S. employees working in 152 organizations, offer leading indicators of future turnover. And the trends indicate cause for concern.

The percentage of U.S. employees indicating an intention to remain with their current companies has declined 8 percentage points since 2009, with the result that 44 percent are now reporting plans to change employers in the next five years. Perhaps recognizing these shifts, fewer U.S. employees are confident about the ability of their companies to retain high quality employees, falling from 56 percent in 2009 to just 43 percent presently.

Where to focus to keep top talent

Those organizations that fail to identify and act on issues negatively affecting employee commitment during this break in the storm are likely to find employees exiting in increasing numbers as other opportunities become more plentiful. High performing and high potential employees, who can find alternative opportunities even in tough labor markets, are particularly likely to be turnover risks.

Where should leaders be focusing now to keep more of their top talent?

To provide insight, we conducted additional analyses on Hay Group’s employee opinion database. We isolated employees who indicated that they are committed to their companies for more than two years (the “stayers”) and compared them with employees reporting intentions to leave within the next two years (the “leavers”).

Five key retention factors

By examining the largest gaps in workplace perceptions between these two groups, we can identify key factors affecting employee retention.

• Playing for a winner. Employees are unlikely to bind their futures to organizations unless they view them as well led and headed in a positive direction. Some 60 percent of “stayers” report trust and confidence in company senior management, versus just 35 percent of the “leavers.” The “stayers” also report considerably more faith that the direction and goals of their companies are the right ones at the present time (73 percent versus 51 percent).
• Somewhere to go if I stay. Today’s employees have become increasingly aware that they are responsible for managing their own careers. As opportunities for career development are among the most consistent predictors of employee engagement, it should not be surprising that the “stayers” are much more optimistic about their ability to achieve their career objectives with their current employers (64 percent versus 31 [percent). Likewise, 67 percent of the “stayers” report that their supervisors provide ongoing coaching for development, as compared with 45 percent of the “leavers.”
• A fair exchange. If organizations want employees to do and deliver more, it’s essential that they have confidence that they are valued as people, that their extra efforts are recognized and appreciated, and that there is a reasonable balance between rewards (tangible and intangible) and contributions. The “stayers” rate the care and concern for employees displayed by their companies much higher than the “leavers” (62 percent versus 39 percent). And they also report greater levels of satisfaction with the fairness of their pay in relation to the work they do (53 percent versus 31 percent).
• Support for success. As many employees are being asked to do more with less, they need to feel that they are working “smart” as well as hard. Of particular concern are efficient work processes and collaborative support from co-workers to allow employees to perform at their best. The “stayers” give their companies higher marks for being effectively managed and well run (73 percent versus 51 percent) and are considerably more favorable regarding cross-work unit working relationships (63 percent versus 41 percent).
• A sense of control and influence. Critical to optimizing work processes, especially in dynamic environments where goals and objectives are frequently changing, is leveraging the ideas and input of employees at all levels. Some 73 percent of the “stayers” indicate that they have the authority necessary to do their jobs well, as compared with 51 percent of the “leavers.” The “stayers” are also more positive about the support their companies provide for employee creativity and innovation (70 percent versus 48 percent).

Implications for employees, too

Taken together, these findings provide organizations with a road map for managing increasing turnover risks in the months and years ahead.

Leaders who are successful in keeping their best people will need to foster a positive view of future company prospects and opportunities for individual growth and development, focus on structuring work environments to support employees’ success in their roles and leverage employee input to promote high levels of effectiveness, and reinforce the balance between what employees contribute and what they get back from the organization in return.

The findings also have implications for individual employees.

Research has generally suggested low correlations between the reasons employees cite for leaving in exit surveys and explanations given in follow-up surveys months later. While some employees may be less than candid with their employers at the time of exit, others may simply struggle to identify and pull together the sources of their dissatisfaction.

Are you feeling frustrated in your current job and thinking of quitting? If so, consider whether these turnover factors hit home for you. Your manager would likely appreciate discussing them now – as opposed to learning about them in a resignation letter.

By Mark Royal - senior principal in Hay Group. Contact him at mark.royal@haygroup.com.