Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Human Resources

We know HR. Read our Human Resources blog archives for stories and best practices from our work with real clients and personal experiences in the world of HR.

  • The Number One Thing that Leads to Team Success

    The Number One Thing that Leads to Team Success

    The last three books about workplace effectiveness I’ve read have all discussed it.  Two of our clients are having lots of trouble with it. It is what research shows us leads to team success more than any other factor.  It is the concept of psychological safety. 

    According to Amy Edmondson, a lead researcher on the topic, “Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” 

    And according to research conducted by Google: 

    Following the success of Google’s Project Oxygen research where the People Analytics team studied what makes a great manager, Google researchers applied a similar method to discover the secrets of effective teams at Google. Code-named Project Aristotle – a tribute to Aristotle’s quote, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (as the Google researchers believed employees can do more working together than alone) – the goal was to answer the question: “What makes a team effective at Google?”

    Psychological safety was far and away the most important of the five dynamics we found — it’s the underpinning of the other four.

     

    The New York Times Article describing the Google study stated the following: 

    No matter how researchers arranged the data, though, it was almost impossible to find patterns — or any evidence that the composition of a team made any difference. ‘We looked at 180 teams from all over the company,’ Dubey said. ‘We had lots of data, but there was nothing showing that a mix of specific personality types or skills or backgrounds made any difference. The ‘who’ part of the equation didn’t seem to matter.’

    What interested the researchers most, however, was that teams that did well on one assignment usually did well on all the others. Conversely, teams that failed at one thing seemed to fail at everything. The researchers eventually concluded that what distinguished the ‘good’ teams from the dysfunctional groups was how teammates treated one another. The right norms, in other words, could raise a group’s collective intelligence, whereas the wrong norms could hobble a team, even if, individually, all the members were exceptionally bright.

     

    What happens when psychological safety isn’t present in a team?  At the very least, the best ideas aren’t generated, and the best results aren’t achieved.  The whole is not greater than the parts. 

    At its worst, and we are seeing this firsthand right now, psychological safety can cause a culture of undermining and distrust so pervasive that people literally lie, steal, and engage in self-destructive behaviors at work. 

    Does your team and workplace have psychological safety? 

    To measure a team’s level of psychological safety, ask yourself and your team if you/they agree or disagree with these statements:

    1. If you make a mistake on this team, it is often held against you.
    2. Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.
    3. People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.
    4. It is safe to take a risk on this team.
    5. It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.
    6. No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.
    7. Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.

    After the findings at Google, they developed tools to help teams cultivate psychological safety.  Check out these great resources here to help your team(s) cultivate the one characteristic that can breed the most success:

    Psychological Safety Tools

     

    How are you cultivating psychological safety at work? 

     

    Need more resources on this topic?: 

    Scholarly article by Edmondson on the concept 

    Edmondson’s TedTalk on the concept

     

    Books I mentioned that talk about the importance of psychological safety: 

    The Trillion Dollar Coach

    Brave New Work

    No Hard Feelings 

  • Is it a Fantasy Draft or is it Talent Acquisition?

    Is it a Fantasy Draft or is it Talent Acquisition?

    Do you know the difference between a snake draft and an auction draft in fantasy football? (If you said no, help is here!) Most people who play have a pretty solid preference for one or the other. I’m here with the unpopular opinion that it doesn’t matter which style you use (gasp!). When you draft a player to your team, snake or auction, what matters is whether that player’s skills match up with your needs in the most strategic, beneficial way. 

    Do you know what fantasy football really is? Talent acquisition. Recruitment and selection. When we evaluate a pool of candidates for a job, we’re looking at both on and off the field performance to find the best match. We’re looking at professional work experience combined with intangibles like work ethic and integrity. We know that the most successful players – on the field and in the office – have equally strong hard and soft skills. So how do we objectively measure fit and decide who to draft? 

    We measure fit by matching values. We assess current employees’ values, and then we use that data to develop an Organizational Culture Profile (OCP). Candidates then take the same assessment, and like magic, we have data to tell us which candidates we should draft for our team based on their preferred OCPs. 

    Jason Mutarelli with Accounting Today talks about using data to make fantasy football decisions in much the same way he approaches his own professional accounting work. We know data is critical to decision-making in the workplace, but we can’t figure out how to use objective data when making arguably the most important decision of all: who to hire. 

    Fantasy football is about having fun and flexing your strategy muscles. It’s about objectively evaluating individual technical skills and team-based performance to build a roster of players that will bring you a win each week. Don’t we want a roster of players that will bring us wins in the workplace? We win at work when our values match. Start assessing values and you just might win the league!  

    See the original post of “Is it a Fantasy Draft or is it Talent Acquisition?” by Jillian Miles on thematchfit.com here.

  • 4 Reasons to Outsource

    4 Reasons to Outsource

    I came across a post on a Facebook group a few weeks ago.  The mom participant posted a question to the group asking how people simplified their lives.  She has three young children, and I took her post to mean she wanted to spend more meaningful time with her kids but didn’t know which direction to take or have the ability to do as a working mom. 

    Most of the responses to her question came down to two types of responses 1) limit your kids (and your) extracurricular activities 2) outsource.  People recommended outsourcing laundry, grocery shopping, ironing, and clothes shopping among other things. Get rid of spending time on the things that don’t add value and meaning the responses seemed to suggest.

    In business, outsourcing is also an option that provides an opportunity to focus on meaningful things while at the same time often reducing costs. This New York Times article acknowledges this and also indicates that outsourcing human resource functions is on the rise.  At Horizon Point most of the work we do, when it comes down to it is outsourcing human resource work.

    So when and why should you outsource?

    I would suggest that there are four key reasons or situations to outsource in business:

    1. When things are non-essential or don’t create value.  Just like the responses to the mom post, saying no to something is saying yes to something else.  If you have the resources to hire someone to do your laundry you can spend that time on a Saturday at the park with your kids when you would normally be doing laundry. Or you could hire a nanny to take your kids to the park while you do laundry- which is more meaningful and value-added?  Same with grocery delivery. 

    Likewise if you outsource, let’s say payroll as an HR function, you can focus more on employee engagement as a more value-added activity than processing payroll (Let me just caveat this by saying, both having clean laundry and payroll being right are essential, they just aren’t differentiators in life and in business- it’s gotta be done, but it’s really no fun to do it and it is a time suck.) Many of these things that don’t add value are also being are automated, which is similar to outsourcing for this reason. 

     

    2. When you don’t have the expertise.  I’ve got a big hole in my den ceiling right now because apparently something is leaking from upstairs.  I have no idea what is leaking, why, and how it is ending up in my den. I could try to fix it, but I would most likely create more of a mess and it would take countless hours for me to learn how to fix it.  It is much more effective and efficient for me to hire someone that has expertise in this area to stop water from dripping out of my ceiling. In the same way, outsourcing things that you don’t have in-house resources for is a good reason to call in some experts.  For example, you may need to outsource leadership training because you don’t have a person that is trained and experienced enough to do this. Often this makes sense for project-based work, not ongoing needs. 

     

    3. When you need someone that doesn’t have a dog in that fight.  Another reason to bring in expertise is that you need an objective third party to facilitate whatever activity that needs to be done.  We see this a lot in outsourcing 360 evaluations, engagement surveys, and anything where anonymity is needed to ensure the integrity and participation in the activity.  Other types of activities where I see more people bringing in experts is for organizational design and development activities such as looking at how an organization is structured and making recommendations on how to improve it or in coaching someone to better performance.  The main value the outsourcing brings in these cases is objectivity that obviously needs to be tempered with outsourcing to an expert that knows what he/she is doing. 

     

    4. When you are in transition.  The mom who posted on the message board is in a phase in her life where many things require her undivided time and attention. She has lots of competing priorities and is trying to sort through managing them.  

     

    Likewise, businesses are often in this place.  At Horizon Point, we have found living all of our company values (people first, passion, productivity, continuous learning and improvement, and give back) by helping companies that are in this type of growth transition.  It usually presents itself as a company that has grown past 50 people, where the office manager or a similar role has been doing “HR” and the owners/leaders of the company realize this isn’t going to work long term. They need an expert to help them be successful at all things people -to give them a competitive advantage- but they don’t have one in house.  They are like the mom with three young kids who still have two that can’t tie their shoes without help. Eventually, her kids will learn to tie their shoes and she won’t have to devote time to this every morning, but not without her teaching them to tie their shoes.  

    We come in and help the company identify internal (and on occasion, external) talent that can be the people leaders they need with some guided help and practice.  They outsource their HR to us temporarily, but the key piece of this outsourcing is teaching someone else to be their HR leader. We are working ourselves out of the job and we want to, just like the mom tying the shoes is doing.  She doesn’t want to tie her kids’ shoes forever.  

    We’ve worked through a few engagements like this at Horizon Point over the last four to five years, and there is nothing more rewarding that seeing a company continue to grow and thrive because you’ve helped them pick the right person to lead their HR function and helped them learn how to do it. 

     

    What do you find is best to outsource in life and in business?

    4 Tips to Help You Delegate Learned from Grocery Delivery
    You Gotta Gitcha Some Help to Lead and Run Well
  • Why Counter Offers Upon Resignation Rarely Work

    Why Counter Offers Upon Resignation Rarely Work

    Your top employee or best manager just walked into your office holding that dreaded piece of paper. You know, the one with the words “thank you for this great opportunity, I respectfully resign my position” typed neatly on it.  

    As you read it, your mind starts brainstorming “what can I do to get them to stay?!” You can’t lose them, they’re the best of the best. You’ll never be able to find someone with their skill set and knowledge of the organization. You’ll spend months training their replacement just to get them up to speed. You’ve invested so much into them, how can they quit?

    And then without hesitation, the words “would you reconsider if I put a counteroffer together for you?” comes out of your mouth. They graciously say “sure” but in their mind, they’re thinking there’s nothing you can offer them to stay. It’s too little, too late. 

    And in reality, in most cases it is. Yet, in many industries, counteroffers are becoming increasingly common. 

    What does a counter offer really say to an employee? 

    1. You weren’t worth my time then, but you are now. You didn’t take the time to gauge their satisfaction with their job when it would have counted. Instead, you assumed they were happy with their position in your organization, with your head stuck in the sand, until they abruptly informed you that they were not happy in the form of their resignation. And suddenly trying to make them happy has become a priority, where ten minutes prior it wasn’t even on your radar. 
    2. It will cost me less to retain you than to replace you. It’s estimated that replacing an employee costs between 100-300% of their annual salary. That includes recruitment, onboarding, and training. By proposing a counteroffer you’re telling the employee that you’d rather pay them more to stay than to have to put out the money to replace them. It’s cost-effective. That tells the employee they aren’t what’s important to you, the cost savings are. 
    3. I’ll offer you more money to stay in a job you’re obviously not happy in. Counteroffers most often include incentives in the form of a higher salary, extra vacation time, and other perks that aren’t available to the general employee population. What they too often don’t include is training opportunities, strategic plans for advancement, or any other resolution that would improve the work situation the employee aims to change by leaving. Three of the top reasons employees leave is the work they are doing, no room for advancement, or their leadership. Offering them financial incentive to stay won’t impact those things. 

    So how can you proactively keep your top employees from slipping you that piece of paper? 

    Start by assessing your key talent through a people review. This should include their strengths and areas of improvement as well as their risk for leaving the organization and a succession plan if they do. Then sit down with them and have a conversation, or what we in HR sometimes call a stay interview. Find out what their career goals are and see how that matches up with the succession plan you designed. A succession plan won’t work if you haven’t taken into consideration where your employees want to be in three to five years within your organization. During that stay interview also ask them what they like about working for the company, what their pain points in their position are, and give them the opportunity to share their ideas. And finally, assess your wages on a regular basis. Are you lagging in your industry with regards to wages? If so, what can you do to improve that? 

    What steps has your organization taken to ensure that your key employees don’t walk out the door and leave you in a panic? 

  • Who Is Your Successor?

    Who Is Your Successor?

    How many people do you know that have left a job or stepped down from a volunteer leadership position, regardless of the reason? Have you ever been that person? I have. Let’s talk about it. 

    Every day, organizations find themselves with a newly empty desk chair. Responsibilities unassigned. Balls dropped. Projects unfinished. On average, that chair sits empty for 40-60 days, depending on which report you read. Think about your own organization. Do you know your “time to fill”? With the talent market like it is right now, your time to fill may be even longer. Think about all that lost productivity a.k.a. lost revenue + cost of recruitment + myriad of other expenses we know fall into the total cost of hiring one person. Whew! 

    We can be proactive and cut the time to fill significantly. We need to talk about succession planning (even if you don’t want to). Sharlyn Lauby talks about this on the ADP Spark blog in her article “5 Reasons You Should Have a Succession Plan (Even If You Don’t Want To)”. Another iteration of something I hear myself saying at least once a week, Lauby states, “It’s absolutely essential for organizations to think about the “what ifs” associated with an employee not being able or available to do their job.” We have to be prepared if we want to maintain long-term success. 

    I recently left a job that I loved for the job that I was made for. It wasn’t easy, but it was right for me. As the first domino fell, so did the next one, and the next one. I had to tell two volunteer-led organizations that are dear to me that I could not finish out my term on the board of directors. I was, of course, willing to help train my successor…who I realized did not exist. Not for my job, nor for my volunteer roles. It was a shock to these systems for me to leave suddenly. But it didn’t have to be. 

    Sharlyn Lauby said something else I hear myself saying constantly: “Succession planning isn’t as hard as it sounds”. It’s as simple as paying attention to the talent already within your organization. Forbes contributor, Stuart Levine, describes strategic talent management and successful succession planning as a system where “People are identified for their potential to guide the organization in the future as much as for their current strengths”. The wisest talent managers think in the future and live in the present. When executed well, succession plans can be the lifeblood of an organization. 

    Remember that job I loved and left? I was teaching at a university, focusing on professional and career development of business students. We frequently invited industry partners to visit classrooms and speak to students about their successes and their challenges, sometimes in a recruiting capacity, sometimes purely educational. Sherwin-Williams was one of my favorite companies I invited to participate – let me acknowledge my bias as their former HR intern – because I think they do many, many things extraordinarily well, including talent management and succession planning. Did you know upwards of 85% of their hires are internal? Did you know some of their current top leaders started with the company as management trainees decades ago? Here’s what that looks like. Sherwin-Williams is a shining example of an organization that thinks in the future and lives in the present. They have extensive training and development that is specifically designed to capitalize on the existing strengths of potential leaders in preparation for their inevitable opportunity for internal promotion. They pay attention to every single potential leader and how he or she can be strategically developed to lead in a way that is best for him or her individually and best for the company. It’s really an incredible system. 

    So how do you get started? SHRM has excellent resources to help any organization create succession plans. Here are two reads I recommend:

     

    If you have more time and are ready for a deep dive, check out Developing Leadership Talent, part of the SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. 

    Succession planning is important. I have experienced the stress of having no plan in place when someone left, and I have been the cause of that stress for others. The proof is in the successful organization pudding: pay attention to and develop your talent now. Who is your successor? Don’t wait until you’re leaving to figure it out. 

     

    Have questions about how to incorporate strategic talent management and succession planning in your organization? Horizon Point can help. Call us at 256-227-9075 or email us at info@horizonpointconsulting.com.