Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is Horizon Point’s line of resources for managers of people. Managing ourselves is a distinct set of behaviors from managers the work of others, and we are here to help. Read stories in this category if you are ready to take the next step into people leadership (or if you’re looking for articles to send someone else…).

  • Building Culture When There’s No Building: Remote Workforces

    Building Culture When There’s No Building: Remote Workforces

    Even with today’s technology, many people have a hard time wrapping their minds around the concept of a virtual company. When someone asks me where Horizon Point’s office is located and I respond that we are a virtual organization, I often get some puzzled looks.

    Their first question is usually “If you don’t have an office, where do you work?” And that’s often followed up with something along the lines of “Don’t you miss interacting with other people?”

    Truthfully, I’m always interacting with people, including co-workers, clients, fellow HR professionals, and other members of the community. I just don’t do any of that from a central location. Depending on the day my office is at home, at a client site, in my car, or even at Panera Bread.

    Virtual organizations have unique challenges when it comes to creating a sense of company culture. How do you get your employees around the water cooler when the water cooler doesn’t exist and even if it did, your employees aren’t there to congregate?

    1. Clearly define your company’s mission and core values. Make sure employees know the organization’s mission and core values, speak to them often, and ensure your employees actions are guided by them. Recognize employees when they exemplify your organization’s mission or core values.
    2. Take opportunities to bring your team together, whether in-person or virtually. If your employees are all local, hold regular meetings with the entire team to talk about what’s going on in the company or plan social events to bring them all together. If they are spread out, hold virtual meetings regularly. Give them opportunities to get to know each other and build a sense of teamwork. Come together at conferences, workshops, or other work-related events.
    3. Recognize employees for a job well done. Remote employees still need feedback and recognition. Give them a call to congratulate them or thank them, send them a card in the mail, or even send out regular recognition emails to your staff.
    4. Be there when they need you. Virtual employees can’t just come knocking on your office door when they need help, but you can ensure that you’re there when they need you. Be prompt in responding to their calls or emails. Take the initiative to check in with them regularly. Don’t ever make them feel like you’re too busy to give them your time and attention.
    5. Encourage them to lean on each other. Another way to help build teamwork is to encourage your team to support each other. If an employee comes to you with an issue and you know another member of your team has expertise in that area, connect the two and encourage them to work together to resolve the issue.

    Communication is key to building company culture, whether your employees are all under one roof or spread far and wide.

    For more on remote workforces, read our blog It Doesn’t Matter How and Where Work Gets Done. The Death of Office Space, Office Hours and the Employee-Employer Relationship.

  • 2 Keys to Being a Successful Leader Instead of a Doer

    2 Keys to Being a Successful Leader Instead of a Doer

    A production line worker is promoted to line supervisor, yet he is still running the line like the rest of his team.

    A department Vice President is still solving day-to-day issues and is drowning in a to-do list that has nothing to do with leading the people in her department.

    At every level of the leadership hierarchy, I see it often.  Leaders not leading.  Yes, they are busy doing, but they devote little to no time leading people.   And if they just led more, it would actually shorten their to-do list!

    They were stars at their functional roles, so what do they keep doing even when promoted?  The functions that they do well.

    If you are making the transition to a leader of people,  or if you are a part of HR trying to help facilitate successful transitions for people to be good at leading people, here are some things that can help equip you/your team to make the transition successfully:

    1. Engage in/Provide leadership coaching and training. Pave the way to do this before making the transition to leader if possible. This will help equip you with mindsets and insights to practice before being placed in the role. When seeking someone to help you improve your performance, what should you look for? Here are 4 key things to look for in a coach.

    Books: If you are taking the self-directed approach to this, start by picking up some great leadership books.

    Classes: Enroll in a leadership classes that focuses on successful leadership principles and practices.  These come from all types of providers and in all types of formats, costs, and time commitments.   For a large organization, your company’s LMS should have a variety of resources and potentially structured, pre-arranged classes.  For smaller organizations, reach out to peer organizations in your community and see what they would recommend.

    Coaching: Reach out to a leadership coach internally or externally to arrange regularly scheduled coaching through your transition.   For more on vetting a coach, check out this post.

    Mentoring: Seek out someone who is already established as a strong leader of people to meet with regularly. Your natural tendency may be to gravitate towards a mentor that is good at what you are- functional responsibilities. Resist the urge and find a mentor that truly is the best at leading people. We would suggest meeting at least twice a month to begin with and then less frequently as you transition successfully. Read more about mentoring here.

    2. Practice Leadership Habits:  There are certain things that almost, if not all leaders do, and that is spend a substantial portion of their time equipping others to be successful. Your calendar should reflect that you are a leader by how you spend your time.  Habits should include:

    Regular one-on-ones with each person that reports to you:  These should be scheduled meetings that take place at intervals you feel are most appropriate.  I’ve seen some work effectively as infrequently as quarterly and some occurring weekly in order to be effective.  The frequency most often depends on how much development and guidance the person needs from you.  If you are leading effectively, the amount needed should decrease over time. These meetings should be booked in advanced and only cancelled/rescheduled in an emergency.

    Availability to everyone that reports to you:  Meeting the needs of your people should be your first priority (as long as you aren’t equipping them to allow you to be their crutch).   You should pick up the phone when they call or return their call as soon as possible.  You should also be responsive to emails and/or text messages. Going MIA to your reports breeds a feeling of not feeling valued. Be available.

    Be a career agent.

    And finally, read this post about how to move your goods to greats in order to be a leader

  • Can You Really Reduce Turnover?

    Can You Really Reduce Turnover?

    Guest blog written by: Steve Graham

    Conversations around reducing employee turnover, also known as talent retention, have been around since work began.  Even though the topic is not new, the challenges facing employers and their approaches to reducing turnover is.   Generational attitudes about how long a person remains at one job has dramatically shifted. For decades, people identified a career or found a job and they stayed with one employer until retirement.

    One reason for this shift in tenure, is how the modern career path is navigated.  Many of the foundational thoughts on “career” do not apply in today’s workplace.  According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review , by psychology researcher Tania Luna and international executive Jordan Cohen, said “ Modern employees are suffering from their belief in the “career myth,” what they describe as “a delusional belief in the outdated idea of linear career progression.” Luna and Cohen explained, “People today can no longer rely on an outdated system of career advancement — one that presumes employees will be given incremental chances for career advancement along with raises and title changes.”

    These shifts in career management and view of careers have created new challenges for the modern workplace in reducing turnover.  Some may argue about the importance of emphasis on talent retention, as a result of these changing attitudes about work and career.  Having a talent retention plan as part of an HR strategy is well advised. What is most important is ensuring your strategy and the approach addresses the new thinking about careers and the modern workplace.

    Understand that people will leave no matter how well developed your talent retention strategy, your benefits, perks, work-life-balance, etc.  People move on and understanding this reality will enable a better-prepared workplace for reducing turnover.   Experts argue over the key driving factors that cause turnover, and likewise, there are a lot of opinions on what helps reduce turnover.

    Turnover factors can be unique to an organization and industry sector. There are common methods in reducing it that can be applied to almost any work environment.  The goal of preventing turnover is not a reality. Reducing turnover should be the focus.  The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides benchmarking data on turnover.  They have found, regardless of industry type or bias, employee job satisfaction and engagement factors are key ingredients of successful employee retention programs. In a recent SHRM study, Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement: The Doors of Opportunity are Open research report, employees identified these five factors as the leading contributors to job satisfaction:

    1. Respectful treatment of all employees at all levels of the organization.
    2. Compensation and benefits.
    3. Trust between employees and senior management.
    4. Job security.
    5. Opportunities to use their skills and abilities at work.

    *Source: SHRM, Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement: The Doors of Opportunity are Open research report

    Related to factor five above, finding purpose is essential in creating an environment that promotes talent retention.  People who approach work with a purpose are more likely to be engaged and receive value in what they do, therefore, helping to reduce turnover.  Provide a work environment that allows people to find purpose and contribute at their highest levels.

    Having leaders with a servant approach can help cultivate purpose-friendly workplaces.  Zoe Mackey, of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, in her article titled: Why Servant Leadership Reduces Employee Turnover Rates said, “Adopting servant leadership can be an important part of the solution. After all, servant leadership is based on the foundational idea that learning to serve those around you helps them achieve their greatest potential. Who wouldn’t want to work for a boss like that?”  By creating a sense of community and strong foundation of trust, reducing turnover using a servant leadership approach works.

    People will not find purpose unless they are allowed to grow.  That is why a focus on career development helps reduce turnover.  The Association for Talent Development  (ATD) has extensive information on career development’s influence in reducing turnover.  A recent article from ATD stated, “Career development also can help with retention because employees can develop a sense of loyalty for employers who are willing to invest in them. Likewise, when it is time to hire new employees, career development programs can be attractive to job-seekers.” The sense of value to the employee is a driver in loyalty.  This is an important piece in talent retention.

    Turnover is never fun, but it is a reality.  Shifting your strategy to better align with the needs and attitudes of the modern career path is the first step.  Make it hard for people to leave your organization by offering them outstanding value and return on their investment in working for you.

     

    About the Author: 

    Steve Graham serves as vice president for marketing, HR business partner and college instructor. He holds graduate degrees in management and higher education. As a life-long learner, he has additional graduate and professional education in executive and professional coaching, health care administration and strategic human resource management. Steve is also the Founder and President of Valiant Coaching & Talent Development, LLC.

    He is a certified HR professional with The Society for Human Resource Management, certified coach with the International Coach Federation and a Global Career Development Facilitator. His professional memberships include: The Society for Human Resource Management, the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Association for Talent Development and International Coach Federation.

  • Preparing for the Worst: Business Continuity Planning

    Preparing for the Worst: Business Continuity Planning

    Hurricane Florence had residents and businesses along the East Coast scrambling to prepare for what could have been a catastrophic event. Even though the storm was downgraded, it still had a major impact on some areas hit.

    My mother, who lives in Northern Virginia, found it hilarious when I called her and made her go down the storm preparation checklist:

    • Non-perishable food? Check.
    • Flashlights and batteries? Check.
    • Candles and matches? Check.
    • Bottled water? Check.

    Of course she had each item, but I had to make sure just for my own peace of mind.

    Disasters, whether natural or man-made, can have a lasting impact on organizations if they are not prepared. My husband spent about two years working in disaster recovery for Customs and Border Patrol. Twice a year he and his team had to travel to an undisclosed location and complete a test run of their disaster recovery plan, setting up all of the CBP systems at the secondary site and ensuring those systems were fully functional.

    Has your organization considered what the response would be in the event of a disaster? Have you considered what you need to do to ensure that there is minimal impact to your organization, your employees, and your customers? What resources will you need to keep your company up and running during the recovery period?

    A great way to ensure that your organization is prepared is to create a Business Continuity Plan. A Business Continuity Plan allows your organization to continue operating during a disaster and helps to minimize the impact. Planning ahead allows you to:

    • Assess your organization and determine what functions are essential to your operation.
    • Determine what resources are needed to maintain those essential functions, or to get those services back up and running as quickly as possible.
    • Designate employees or departments responsible for acquiring certain resources in preparation of a disaster or restoring certain services in the aftermath.
    • Practice for the real thing.

    Is your organization prepared if a disaster strikes?

    For more information on Business Continuity Planning, click here.

  • Does Your Team Talk in Metaphors?

    Does Your Team Talk in Metaphors?

    One of my favorite things to do for companies is to help them understand what distinguishes high performers from average and/or low performers in their organization. The purpose of this could be for a variety of reasons, but oftentimes, it is to help companies create a profile and tools to select the right talent.

    We ask the clients to provide us with the opportunity to talk to high, mid and low performers.  We ask them a series of job analysis questions and watch them work for a bit.  While we watch them work, we ask them questions about what they are doing, why they are doing it and ask them to explain what is going on in their head to understand what mental processes they are engaging in to complete their work.

    Recently, we’ve been working on this type of project for a client.  And we’ve uncovered one of the most interesting things I think I’ve seen so far in doing this kind of work.

    Overwhelmingly, the high performers talk in metaphors.  They explain things, often complex things, through metaphors instead of direct or literal language.

    For example: “So, when we do this, it is like we are headed out on a trip from here to Nashville, and we decide half way through that we need to change our tires and our oil.”  This was used to explain how poor planning hurts the company.

    Another way this came out was high performers using song lyrics to describe what they were doing, how they were doing it, or why.

    In this particular example as well as in other workplaces, people who talk in metaphors seem to be better teachers. (Think Jesus, arguably, regardless of your religion, one of the best teachers ever.  How did he usually talk to his followers?  In parables, which is simply another word for metaphor.)

    Metaphors help us:

    1. Make more than one point with less language. There is often the points and THE POINT that can only be expressed through metaphors instead of specific or descriptive dialogue.
    2. Describe often complex things in simple terms.
    3. Commit things to memory. We remember the song lyrices or the analogy more than we remember the work instructions.

    In this instance, the behavior of talking in metaphors will be related to the overall competency of teaching.  Teaching will be one of three to four competencies we will design selection criteria and assessment around for this client.  The ability to teach in order share knowledge across employees is a critical competitive advantage for this organization.

    So how can we assess for teaching ability?  Well one way is to see if candidates talk in metaphors. Do candidates engage in the behavior that the high performers use?

    To do this we will train hiring managers to pay attention to these things:

    1. In interviews, using “tell me about a time” questions, does the candidate explain things or answer the questions and use metaphors to describe?
    2. In interviews, ask them to explain the last time they described how to solve a problem to someone. Ask them to actually walk through the description.  Are metaphors or analogies present?
    3. In a work sample, we will ask candidates to teach someone how to do something. We will score this work sample, among other things, to see whether using metaphors was present.

    Another way to look at metaphors is to more broadly see if people tell stories to explain things instead of simply describing what is.   Assess if storytelling is present in your candidates.

    Is your workplace full of metaphors?  If so, your organization may be better at teaching than others.