Setting your Goalsetting Conversation

While stretch Goals can be useful in forcing people to break old rules, and do things better, they’re worse than useless if they’re totally unrealistic, or if the people who haven’t met them aren’t given the chance to debate them beforehand and take ownership with them 

-          From the book  Execution by Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy

I’m currently reading this book 'Execution' and came across this line.  I was reminded of a time during my corporate stint when the management decided to set targets for the next year at a number that was 3X of the previous year without any discussion or debate with the teams concerned.  The various heads didn't receive any inkling on how the target was arrived at, or the basis for it. While they continued to drive their teams towards this aspirationally stretched target, one could see that actual energy was missing – because they didn’t own the targets. A key reason for this was that the targets were considered unrealistic, and not in sync with market conditions.

Why am I writing about this now?  The world is in a state of chaos thanks to COVID 19, and with social distancing norms, lockdowns and travel bans world wide, many businesses don't know if they will survive this.  Without this crisis, there’s a tendency among some managements to grudge the permission of leave among their employees, irrespective of the reason for the leave.  With the current lockdown in India and other parts of the world, business is pretty much at a standstill. In India, the government has asked organizations not to lay off employees, and pay their dues.  Employers will naturally be considering how to make up their lost business when things return to normal.  They will feel that they have to push their employees extra hard since there’s a lot of catching up to do.  And the first thing they will do is increase the targets above the norm in an effort to make up for lost time. It could be a stretched goal or an aspirational goal.  Such targets are usually handed down, with a minimum of discussion. The discussion on “how to reach the goal” is not open or encouraged, since "there's no time because there's so much to do". This is one example of how it looked in a Dilbert cartoon strip (Thanks to Scott Adams for his kind permission).

In a world economy which is already slowing down since the past 6 months, such a strategy that doesn’t take this into account when setting these new goals, is going to get limited results or find the strategy backfiring.  A limited result would be akin to wanting to win a hundred meter race that is being held at a height of 15000 ft above sea level.  It is extremely tiring and draining and things will only get worse from there, if persisted.  

A strategy that backfires would mean that -

1. The unrealistic aspirational target can demoralize the employee morale since they may get a feeling that the organization doesn’t care for them or their work-life balance
2. The demoralization is further accentuated when the “how” of a stretched / aspirational goal is not articulated sufficiently.
3. The stretch /aspirational goals may encourage employees to "do what it takes to get it done", and may indirectly encourage unethical behaviours (small and large). This will negatively impact the quality of the output, and the culture of the organization.
4. Employees at all levels (who are also quite smart) will quickly recognize that the target is quite unrealistic (they do know what stretch targets really are), and would do their work at a little above lip service to save their jobs.  In other words, they will be quite disengaged, which doesn't serve the organization well.
5. Excess stress will hit those who are working wholeheartedly on the target, leading to burnout and perhaps more unplanned leave, if not resignations due to high work pressure or layoffs for not meeting the targets.
6. The organization’s systems and processes will be heavily strained, causing errors, a dip in quality out and service, possible breakdowns and further delay in meeting the targets.

What’s to be done?  I’m not advocating low targets – every business owner / organization knows their own industry well enough to do this task.  I also encourage stretch targets because they can help you to grow, and it can be very enjoyable and satisfying if the tasks  are aligned to the strengths of the employees.  

Here are some guidelines which could be useful:

1. Be realistic when setting the goal.  Start with “Why” – as Simon Sinek advised.
2. In today’s times especially, one person will NOT have all the answers.  So do engage a neutral, external Facilitator to enable your HODs and their immediate reports to have meaningful discussions on ‘HOW’ the targets will be realized, and pool their knowledge and resources to make it happen. You may even decide to invite your vendors for a part of this meeting, especially when discussing support for the execution of the goals. Use this opportunity to include review dates, specific milestones and so on.
3. Encourage and support interdependent behavior – which is about knowing their strengths and balancing their weaknesses with the strengths of other employees, as this will enhance their performance. This becomes easier if your team has undergone their individual Clifton #Strengthsfinder assessment and have this clarity.
4. Ensure that there is clarity on what support (lead generation, training, manpower and other resources) will be provided by the organization and what will not be provided.
5. Ensure that performance reviews are human, practical and based in compassion (not to condone negative behaviour) across the organization.
6. Ensure that performance reviews are solution-oriented and focused on business outcomes, instead of blame games.
7. Don't go overboard with designing an elaborate rewards mechanism, and do ensure that people are rewarded for consistent results born of collaboration and innovation. One person can't know it all OR do it all.

As you can see, this is going to take time, which you may feel that is not worth the investment.  I would submit that it would be more costly (financially and otherwise) not to take this approach. I would also like to point out that this approach will positively impact the employee engagement within your organization, because they will feel feel trusted, and involved in the future of the organization, rather than turning up to office for a paycheck..

Want to know more?  I'd be happy to have a call on +919820155778 to discuss more with you. Or you can leave me a note at ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com

Employee Engagement for All Situations

When people are financially invested, they want a return.  

When they are emotionally invested, they want to contribute

- Simon Sinek

Employee Engagement has been in the conscious mind more and more over the past decade, ever since it was talked about by Gallup's Curt Coffman and Marcus Buckingham in their ground-breaking book "First Break all the Rules".  It has frequently been quoted in HR conferences and HR initiatives along the lines of "X percentage of employees in organizations are disengaged".

Here's a simple definition from Google - "Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work". 


And Forbes.com - "Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals".


Here's what it looks like:

This means that employees put in more than required effort in their work, because they're not just working for a salary or bonus or promotion, but job satisfaction, transparency, along with fulfilling personal growth goals and other things.

A cursory google search will turn up loads of links on the topic, including definitions, how to do it, things to watch out for and so on.  And this article is not really about those things. This article is about what managers can do to drive engagement.

While we're at it, I would like to clearly state that Employee Engagement has nothing to do with fun activities (birthday celebrations, festival contests, annual day events) run by HR and / or line managers every month / quarter.  These are stress buster activities, nothing more, nothing less.  For those who think that these fun activities are employee engagement, ask yourself - "How many candidates will join my organization or take back their resignation because we are running these fun events?"

In my experience of twenty years in HR across different industries, Employee Engagement comes down to the relationship between the manager and his team. This is applicable to for all departments including HR.  Employee engagement is not the responsibility of HR, but the responsibility of anyone who leads a team, irrespective of organization level or delegation. When you come to think of it, it's also the responsibility of those who don't have teams, but work across the organization.  HR can provide a framework of Talent Management (Hiring, Performance Management, Rewards, Learning), but the actual work has to be done by the manager personally.

Why the manager?
The manager has to set goals for the team, ensure discipline, manage and monitor performance regularly, provide effective feedback, groom and develop his team members, and ensure goals are met.

So how does the manager drive engagement in his team ? (the term "he" is interchangeable with whatever term you like)

• He has to know his team, beyond their resumes.  
• He has to let the team get to know him / her - beyond the designation.
• He has to develop a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.  
• Define the goals
• Monitor and manage performance
• Enable them to understand and use their own motivation in their work.

Some may say - Who has time for all this?  It seems a lot of work, and it definitely does require substantial investment of time from the manager. Unfortunately, there's no shortcut from this time investment.  There is of course, the Situational Leadership Model by Dr. Paul Hersey  (Center for Leadership Studies) which can help the manager do all of this.

Here's an image of the model:

The #SituationalLeadership model will enable you to:

• Allocate the appropriate task to the correct employee
• Adopt an appropriate management style with each employee (not a one style fits all approach)
• Get employees to participate in the planning the execution of the department's work.
• Identify high performers
• Manage low performance
• Develop the capabilities of the team members

In a crisis or in Business As Usual (BAU), a leader / manager has to take frequent decisions in many areas where he and his team have to get things done.  The Situational Leadership model is an excellent guide for doing all the above-mentioned points. 
For Situational Leadership to succeed, the manager must know both his own Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as those of his teams. A tool such as the #CliftonStrengths or the #PRISM Brainmapping Professional (or DISC, FIRO-b, etc) is necessary as a precursor to ensure that the team becomes an engaged, smoothly-oiled unit. A few reflective questions to start  could be :

1. "What do I need from my team?"
2. "How do I support my team so that they deliver what I need from them?"

Of course, Team Coaching and Individual coaching will also help, along with regular conversations which treat the employee as a person and not just an employee.

Want to know more? Leave a note here, or write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com to set up a call. I can also be reached at +919820155778 for a conversation.

Career Advice to get to success

Check out this article for some great advice on your career, no matter what your field is, this is about behaviours to get to success.


https://thriveglobal.com/stories/14-executives-on-the-career-advice-theyre-thankful-they-took/?utm_content=buffer9cbe9&utm_medium=Arianna&utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_campaign=Buffer

Bill Gates Rules of technology

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” —Bill Gates