Monthly Archives: February 2015

Challenges for Managers in outsourced environments

One of the greatest challenges facing a manager is how to effectively deal with the people in the workplace who are not doing what you want. It may be a quality issue, productivity issue, safety issue or even a social issue.  Remote management in outsourced environment poses more challenges than a typical workplace.

If you say or do nothing, you are passively approving that particular behavior. Because you have witnessed the event, you have to do something.

There are a number of options open to you as a manager. There are no easy ones. Let’s have a look at the options so that when you are faced with this situation you can choose your course of action. Each situation is totally different so there is no one option that fits all cases.

The first option is to discuss the situation with a person’s immediate supervisor. This means that you are not violating the chain of command and you are placing the responsibility with the supervisor concerned for them to deal with it. You don’t know if this is a repeated incident or if you happened to observe it for the very first time. The immediate supervisor will know the person very well and will also know whether or not this particular behavior has been an issue in the past.

The next option is to ask the person a question such as, “What are the consequences of your doing the job that particular way?” This is the opening of the dialogue between the individual and the manager. By doing this, the objective of the manager is to get the individual to focus on the outcome of their work. This opens up the opportunity for the manager to coach the individual to perform that task differently. The question must be asked, if you are the supervisor in this situation, how would you feel?

A similar approach is the one where the manager asks, “If you were to do this job again what would you do differently?” Again, it is the beginning of the dialogue about the process that the person was carrying out. As a supervisor, would you like your manager to take this approach when they see something which is wrong?

It is very important that the manager and the supervisors talk about these situations prior to it happening. After the event is too late. If I were a supervisor I would like my manager to point out situations where my team members are not performing so that I can deal with it in my way. In fact, I would insist on it because my manager would not know the person particularly well or the history of performance in detail.

Successful coaching people in the workplace depends on sound relationships. It is more likely that the supervisor will have a sound relationship with the person rather than the manager. However, this is not to say that the supervisor cannot ask the manager to contribute to the conversation. Small issues like this have a hugely negative effect on workers, supervisors and managers.

Attrition Problems ….How not to lose your best resources

Attrition is one word that every manager dislikes. The Expense of losing someone, recruitment all over again, training, knowledge transfer and all that is associated with replacing a good resource is a painful process. It impacts more than your bottom line, if you are in a large organization with outsourced component this can get more complex with lot of hidden costs associated with it.

Though a level of attrition is expected and is sometime encouraged to draw in fresh blood, it is imperative to keep your best resources at all costs and by all means.

It is easy to lose our best resources both knowingly and unknowingly, if only we know some of the tips and techniques and used it to our advantage we would be in much better shape. Here are some tricks.

1. Be dishonest.

Yes, #1 on the list is dishonesty. Integrity matters. Most good employees – and all great ones – have integrity. So, lying to them, to their coworkers, or to customers / suppliers is sure to turn them off. Over-billing a client, ripping off a supplier, bending the rules, cooking the books, and even just “little white lies” are all sure to catch the private ire of those employees who can best help you and your organization succeed. Don’t think they don’t notice; they DO.

2. Don’t say “Thank you.”

It’s a small thing, but it really does make a difference. Even small gestures of appreciation, complements on good work, acknowledging that someone stayed late / came in early / went the extra mile help keep talented people motivated and engaged. A small gift card, permission to leave early for the day or work from home the day before a holiday (if work is getting completed), a kind word, an email, all of these things cost very little but go a long way. I suggest making a point of doing them. People care if someone notices when they are doing a good job.

3. Forget the values that made your organization a success.

I’ve been part of organizations that truly lived their core values (and even years later can recite them by heart, because they were so prominent). We all knew what they were.We all agreed they were important, or at least accepted them as such. The leadership talked about them, and everything we did as a company HAD to align to them. When you build a team, you have to be very explicit about expectations and the team culture, and then review the key elements of that together from time to time.

4. Don’t take time to listen (to their concerns).

Good people almost always actually want what is best for the organization. They may have differing opinions on what that is, but they can be passionate, even fiery about it.If you’re dismissive of their concerns, when raised, you’re headed down the road to losing top performing people. Even if you can’t change a policy or a decision, you may be able to adjust how it is implemented to optimize the situation based on the concerns that your talented people raise. Just what kind of weak, arrogant, incompetent, narcissistic leader doesn’t want to hear this, anyhow?

5. Ignore their personal and professional development.

Note that there are two dimensions to this – professional development (technical skills, industry knowledge, expertise, professional certifications, formal training, etc.) and personal development. I would include leadership skills, street-smarts, maturity, self-awareness, EQ, general health and well being all as part of this.Leaders only follow stronger leaders, so if you want to keep current or future leaders, be sure you are mentoring them. Let them learn from your own life experience; telling good stories from your experience can be a great way to do this. Help them become better professionals – and better people.

6. Don’t be selective who you hire in the first place.

We all know that hiring people who really fit and are highly talented is tough. We know that the repercussions of a bad hire are awful for everyone. Make sure people really will fit into your organization. I have found that the recruiting process is often commensurate with the organization and role. The better (and more prestigious) the entity and higher profile the role, the tougher the recruiting process often seems – and it should be. Talented people often don’t mind a tough (within reason) selection process because they are usually competitive people who thrive on challenge. Invest the time needed to really explore what makes a person tick before you hire them.

7. Micromanage.

Do I really need to go here? Yes, unfortunately. Though we all know better than this, don’t we? Sadly, I’ve seen way too much of it. It’s not just classical micromanagement either. I’ve seen truly exceptional people who excelled in their role end up with their jobs “dumbed-down” to cater to the lowest common denominator, and to the point they were no longer challenged or motivated. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before they were looking for an opportunity somewhere else.

8. Set the bar low.

Great people will get discouraged and either leave or adapt to mediocrity if that is what they perceive is deemed acceptable. I’ve seen mediocrity accepted, rewarded, applauded, and even promoted! The impact of this on team morale (and on the highest performing team members) was palpable. Set the bar high and then become a cheerleader – even if people don’t make it over the high bar, point out how high the bar was set and how high people did get, and celebrate the success they did have at the right level. They may just make it over that high bar the next time.

9. Be cold and uncaring (to them and to their coworkers).

People are human. Why do we seem to forget this so often? They have personal struggles, ambitions, families, crises, etc. One of my favorite bosses from the past was a gentleman, he knew most about me and my family. He didn’t go beyond appropriate boundaries, but I really knew he cared about me as an employee and as a person (note #5, above).He was personable and when I needed a friend, a true mentor, someone I could go to with a problem. I knew I could talk to him and he’d help me out however he could. He got a lot of loyalty from me in return. I should also point out that talented people watch how you treat other people, not just themselves, and they take note of it.

10. The “usual” things (under-pay them, intrude into their personal lives, harassment, etc.)

Yes, the “usual” things will usually get a good person out of your organization as fast as they can possibly find an opportunity elsewhere. Incredibly, I’ve seen organizations under-pay very good people. One executive even said to me, in private, “Well, just what are they going to do? Leave? They have no place to go. The (job) market is poor.” This was his way of rationalizing, those many years ago, reduced bonuses for a group of people who really had earned them – and who were contractually entitled.This was disappointing to say the least, and I lost a lot of sleep over it at the time, even though my own bonus was good that year. Plus, it wasn’t long before people actually did have someplace else to go, and go they did.