Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Leadership Development

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 in your own leadership development (or if you’re looking for resources for someone else).

  • 7 Ways to Supercharge Your Employee Engagement

    7 Ways to Supercharge Your Employee Engagement

    Written by guest blogger: Steve Graham

    In most businesses, an “Employee Engagement Survey” goes out once per year to determine how engaged employees are with their jobs. The survey seeks to determine whether a person finds their job rewarding, feels like they have a real stake and interest in the company and cares about the overall success of the company.

    And while these surveys are certainly a step in the right direction, they fail to create a holistic culture of engagement within a company. After all, if the subject of engagement is only broached once per year, it’s not going to be particularly high on the radar of company leadership or employees.

    This is a significant mistake.

    More and more research is showing that high levels of employee engagement produce exponential business results. A worldwide study by Gallup determined that engaged employees are far more productive, profitable, and dedicated to customers than those who aren’t engaged. The study also found that low engagement leads to more absenteeism, quality assurance problems and safety issues.

    Additionally, Gallup determined that companies with more engaged employees are far more profitable. They took all the companies from their studies with a positive engagement score and broke them down into three groups, then compared the company’s earnings to industry competitors:

    Those in the lowest engagement group outperformed their competitors by 19% on average. However, results among those in the higher engagement groups were far more impressive; median earnings among those in the “top decile/exceptional growth” group were more than four times those of their industry competitors.

    In other words, even those companies with the lowest amount of positive engagement still outperformed the industry.

    And yet, so many employees are not engaged with their jobs. They go to work, straggle through the day, come home and live for the weekends. Clearly, something is out of order.

    So how can companies create more employee engagement? How can they make it a strategic issue that is present every day of the year? How can they help their employees be more profitable, productive and happy?

    Here are 7 suggestions for supercharging employee engagement.

    #1. STAY CLEAR ON CORE VALUES

    Without a sense of clear and compelling core values, employees will have no purpose in their jobs. They will feel somewhat aimless, unclear as to what exactly they’re trying to accomplish. Gone are the days when all employees cared about was having a job to go to. Now they want to know that what they’re doing actually matters.

    This is why companies with a specific and motivating mission have thrived. Toms, for example, donates one pair of shoes for every pair sold. Zappos teaches about and rewards their employees for astounding customer service.

    The starting place for employee engagement is giving employees a compelling vision of the core values and the behavior that should flow out of those core values. If these are muddy, engagement will stay low.

    Lisa Earle McLeod wrote the following about millennials in the workplace:

    The millennials are telling us what we already know in our hearts to be true. People want to make money, they also want to make a difference. Successful leaders put purpose before profit, and they wind up with teams who drive revenue through the roof. In other words, give people a purpose and profit will follow.

    #2. KEEP UP THE COMMUNICATION

    A company can’t expect its employees to be deeply invested if they never hear from company leadership. As noted previously, employees want to know that their efforts are making a difference. They want to see how their work is impacting the company. They also want to constantly be updated in terms of where the company is headed and what initiatives are underway.

    Company-wide communication also gives leadership a great opportunity to recognize outstanding performance, which in turn fuels more engagement.

    Consistent feedback from company leadership allows employees to have a sense of what matters to the company and how they can be more invested. An absence of communication leads to employee stagnation.

    #3. PROVIDE MANAGERIAL COACHING

    One of the biggest differentiators in terms of employee engagement is management. In fact, it is so significant that Gallup notes:

    Gallup has studied performance at hundreds of companies and measured the engagement of 27 million employees and more than 2.5 million work units over the past two decades. No matter the industry, size or location, companies are struggling to unlock the mystery of why performance varies from one workgroup to the next. Performance fluctuates widely and unnecessarily in most companies, in no small part from the lack of consistency in how people are managed.

    In other words, poor or absent management inevitably leads to unengaged, uninterested employees.

    To combat this, managers need to be closely involved with their employees without micromanaging. They need to learn the art of constructive feedback, as well as know how to consistently praise good performance. Saying that you’re a hands-off manager can sound somewhat noble, but in reality it can be problematic. Employees want a manager that is helpfully engaged.

    #4. HELP EMPLOYEES GROW

    Employees who never progress in their skills or knowledge will inevitably feel bored and left behind. On another hand, companies that encourage employees to improve skills and learning will see engagement improve significantly.

    There are numerous ways to help employees grow, including:

    • Encouraging additional schooling, such as a graduate degree or certification.
    • Giving employees time to work on passion projects.
    • Providing a stipend for employees to invest in books or courses.
    • Supplying on-site learning for new technology.

    This touches on the previous point. Today, employees want more than just a job. They want an occupation that fills them with passion and purpose, something that engages them on both an intellectual and emotional level.

    Giving opportunities to grow allows them to experience this fulfillment.

    #5. CREATE AN ENJOYABLE TEAM ENVIRONMENT

    Employees spend more time with their coworkers than almost anyone else, usually spending 40+ hours every week in close proximity with them. The quality of the team environment dramatically impacts engagement levels. Teams who are deeply connected will feel much higher levels of commitment and engagement than teams who focus solely on work.

    How can companies foster a supportive team environment? There are numerous ways, including:

    • Team activities outside of work hours (sporting events, concerts, dinners, escape rooms, etc.).
    • Friday celebrations, where food is brought in and weekly wins are celebrated.
    • Team retreats to focus on strategy and experience fun.
    • And many more…

    The purpose is simply to build an atmosphere of hard work, trust, fun and teamwork. Being part of a great team leads to increased engagement.

    Shada Wehbe puts it this way:

    A teamwork environment promotes an atmosphere that fosters friendship and loyalty. These close-knit type ambiances motivate employees in parallel and alignment to work harder, cooperate and be supportive of one another. Individuals possess diverse talents, weaknesses, communication skills, strengths and habits. Therefore, when a teamwork environment is not encouraged this can pose many challenges towards achieving the overall goals and objectives. This creates an environment where employees become self-absorbed in promoting their own achievements and competing against their fellow colleagues. Ultimately, this can lead to an unhealthy and inefficient working environment.

    #6. SHOW APPRECIATION FOR HARD WORK

    Fewer things deflate employees faster than not receiving recognition for a job well-done. Humans are wired to respond to praise, and a lack of praise can lead to dissatisfaction and discouragement. This is common sense, yet so many managers neglect the simple act of showing appreciation for a job well done.

    This recognition doesn’t need to be overly complex or involve some sort of elaborate ceremony. Gallup notes:

    Gallup’s data reveal that the most effective recognition is honest, authentic and individualized to how each employee wants to be recognized. Acknowledging employees’ best work can be a low-cost endeavor—it can be as small as a personal note or a thank-you card. But the key is to know what makes it meaningful and memorable for the employee, and who is doing the recognizing.

    Employees who feel appreciated will be far more engaged than those who feel ignored. A simple, “Good job!” goes a long way.

    #7. LET EMPLOYEES BE HEARD

    Employees want to know that their thoughts and ideas matter—that they’re not simply a number or a cog in a machine. One way to give them a sense of identity is to give them a voice. Companies with a system that allows for meaningful employee feedback will have significantly more engagement than those who ignore employees.

    After all, employees are usually the ones on the front lines, interacting with customers on a daily basis. They know the struggles and successes and areas where improvement is needed. Creating a feedback system where suggestions are heard and implemented can make a significant difference in employee engagement.

    CONCLUSION

    The extreme opposite of an engaged workplace is an assembly line. Employees perform a single action repeatedly, with little sense of value of accomplishment. They are simply one piece in a much bigger machine. And while most companies are not that extreme, those who ignore employee engagement risk creating an assembly-line-like environment.

    Engagement matters. It matters to the employees, to the managers and to the bottom line. Failing to work toward it only hurts a company in the long run.

    Increase engagement, increase your bottom line.

     

    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 & professional coaching, health care administration, and strategic human resource management.

    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. LinkedIn.com/in/hstevegraham

  • Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Millennial Generation

    Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Millennial Generation

    I’ve heard millennials called many things. Lazy. Entitled. Spoiled.

    Then I came across an article on Today.com that reminded me millennials aren’t the first generation to be labeled negatively. Writer Tom Wolfe dubbed the Baby Boomers as the “Me Decade” in his article The “Me” Decade and the Third Great Awakening. Paul Begala referred to Boomers in Esquire magazine as “the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.”

    Gen Xers were also the targets of such negative monikers. I still have a letter to the editor that graced my local paper my senior year of high school from a “concerned citizen” that dubbed my generation as “functional illiterates”. And yet many of us Gen Xers are successful. We are well respected leaders. We are innovators in our fields.

    So, I asked myself if what is said about millennials is really true and I did a little research.

    A 2014 study by Forbes Magazine showed that of the 80% of millennials who owned a smartphone, 87% checked their work email after hours on a regular basis and 37% always did. That same study showed that while only 13% aspire to climb the corporate ladder, 67% hope to start their own company.

    That doesn’t sound lazy to me. It sounds like dedication, and it sounds like they have goals. Those goals are just different than those of the generations before them.

    Unlike the generations before them, they are not content to work the nine to five, put in a day’s work, and leave it at the door when the whistle blows. They don’t believe in a work-life balance, they believe in a work-life integration. And achieving that work-life integration means having to think outside of the box. Sometimes, way outside of the box!

    The Forbes article called millennials the True Entrepreneur generation. But while 67% aspire to start their own business, a 2014 report by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy shows that only two percent of millennials, compared to 7.6 percent of Gen Xers, and 8.3 percent of Boomers have actually started their own companies. Why? In part due to their lack of experience in the workforce and lack of business acumen. But also in part due to those pesky student loans that followed them out of college, and those loans often keep them from being able to gain the startup capital needed to get a business off the ground.

    The plight of the millennial generation is something companies should take advantage of and view as a potential asset. There is an entire group of young, eager to learn individuals out there just waiting to find the right opportunity. They are an often-untapped recruiting market for organizations. Yes, their ultimate goal now might be to own their own company down the road. But goals change. I know mine did. If you can get them in the door, give them a great opportunity, you might just show them the benefits your organization can offer them long-term.

    They want to be a part of an organization where they can truly make a difference, be a part of the bigger picture, and soak up as much knowledge as quickly as they can.

    If organizations can harness the energy that millennials have it can be a win-win. Remember that millennials are driven by purpose and want social connection. I found it interesting that according to an article on Time.com, 51% of millennials still want face-to-face interaction over other forms of communication. But they want that interaction to be meaningful, not just wasted time.

    Find a way for your organization to benefit from the entrepreneurial spirit of millennials and you may find them to be some of the greatest contributors to your organization.

    What is your organization doing to tap into the millennial market and harness their entrepreneurial spirit?

    Like this post? You may also like:

    Tiny Homes, RVS and Millennials- What this all means to your employee benefit and engagement strategy

    Is the role of the millennial male changing the way they lead at work?

    Millennials – Seekers of a Professional Development Fix

  • Employee Mentoring Programs

    Employee Mentoring Programs

    Written by guest blogger: Steve Graham

    What role do employee-mentoring programs have?

    Mentoring programs have a tremendous impact on employee development, talent retention, and engagement.  Employees crave feedback and often seek someone who has walked their path.  Offering a formal mentoring program demonstrates the organizations commitment to talent development.  It also allows for assistance in developing a career path, and answering the often-asked question, “How do I get where you are?”.

    One common reason for turnover is lack of professional growth. Mentoring offers a chance for an employee to discuss many of the same concerns their mentor once had.  This is vital in offering hope and encouragement when it is needed the most.  It is invaluable to have someone who listens, cares, and offers sound advice.

    An important component to employee engagement is the relationship between the employee and their manager.  Time and time again, research has shown that most employees leave due to bad managers.  Mentoring fills the gap that is left by having a disconnected or bad manager. They can offer insight on navigating complex situations and give the employee that needed ear.

    What is the ROI of these programs?

    I believe the most important ROI is the fulfillment of serving someone else.  We all need someone to help us during our journey, both professionally and personally. My best mentors helped me grow in both areas. We don’t live compartmental lives, and what happens in our personal lives influences our professional lives.

    Another ROI is creating a culture that values talent development.  Having mentoring programs helps with recruiting talent and building a strong employer brand.

    One of the top questions I receive during interviewing or shortly after hiring new talent is, “What do you offer to help with career advancement or growth?”.  It is a great return on investment when you can tell them about your outstanding mentoring program.

    What is an example of when you’ve seen a mentoring program work?

    My first time having a true mentor was not in a formalized program. While our organization valued mentoring, it was not structured.  I would not be the person I am today without that first mentoring experience. It crafted my early view of management, demonstrated leadership, and showed me the value of caring for your people and their growth.

    Even though I have not worked with my mentor in almost twenty years, I still value his advice, and seek it out when facing an important decision.  In my opinion, mentoring is something that should be passed down. It is a great feeling when the mentee becomes a mentor. Leadership is about influence and mentoring is a leadership process.  I cannot help but think about the loss of potential talent due to lack of access to a mentor.  Mentoring is beneficial in identifying leadership potential and opportunities for career advancement.  There are several organizations that require any potential management candidates to complete a one-year mentoring program.

    A great resource for learning more about workplace mentoring is from Matt Collins DDI blog, the value of being a mentor.

     

    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 & professional coaching, health care administration, and strategic human resource management.

    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. LinkedIn.com/in/hstevegraham

  • A Culture Where Nothing Is Ever Good Enough and How to Fix It: An Interview with Rajeev Behera CEO of Reflektive

    A Culture Where Nothing Is Ever Good Enough and How to Fix It: An Interview with Rajeev Behera CEO of Reflektive

    1 in 4 people say their jobs are the most stressful part of their lives. What is creating stress in the workplace and how can it be resolved?

    Rajeev Behera, CEO of Reflektive, says that a fear-based work culture where nothing is ever good enough is a main cause of stress in the workplace. This occurs when managers use intimidation tactics, putting more value on the employees that put in the most hours, instead of those who are team players.

    Rajeev saw this first-hand in his work life before founding Reflektive, a performance management and talent development software company, where he is CEO.   In a fear-based environment, he said, “Managers task managed instead of people managed.  A focus was always placed on the past judged by the metric of what tasks were completed or not completed.”  As result of this mindset, Rajeev saw a culture of intimidation taking over the workplace.

    This resulted in the wrong things being measured and rewarded, leading to nothing ever being good enough.  For example, Rajeev points to time spent at work as one thing that was measured, instead of results.  “Time”, he says, “is subjective. How much is enough?  And you can never give enough of it.”

    So how do you change it?  Rajeev emphasizes several key points in helping managers move a fear based culture where nothing is ever good enough to one that is employee and future focused:

    1.  Set goals:  Instead of measuring things like time that are subjective, set goals with employees and monitor and measure performance based on the progress of these goals. Empower the employee to take the first pass to set their goals each quarter and collaborate to agree on realistic outcomes.
    2.  Be collaborative and agile in your future focus: Rajeev encourages leaders to, “talk about it (goals and projects) while they are being worked on so employee and manager can partner together.  Because things can change quickly, the goals can be adjusted when needed. This is contrasted with the manager just saying ‘go, do and don’t bother me till it’s done and perfect.’ This fear-based approach leads the manager to become judge and evaluator instead of collaborator and coach.”

    Rajeev says that one of their most popular products is Agile Goal Management, because it makes sure that goal setting is a “Collaborative process- not just one-sided- so both manager and employee agree.  And if expectations change, they can edit it together, document, and focus on what to do to move the business forward.”

    “So how do you get managers to become coaches instead of evaluators?” I asked Rajeev.

    He offered these practical steps:

    1.   “Discuss the why, not just the “what” to do.”  The why comes back to achieving business success by treating people as partners instead of task completers.
    2.   Diagnose the current culture.  Rajeev said you can do this by paying attention to “How the employees and managers talk. For example, in meetings, when there is a problem or process that is not up to par, how is the leader phrasing an action item? A fear-based approach will phrase it as something that isn’t done, placing it in the red, or when it should be done or already have been done, and saying things like ‘why didn’t we already have that done?’  This demonstrates a culture of negative reinforcement where nothing is ever good enough.”

    In contrast, leaders with a future oriented approach ask questions about what can and should take place to accomplish a goal and help employees plan from there.

    1. Mandatory weekly one-on-ones and quarterly check-ins. Future oriented cultures, focus on employees and managers having regular, one-on-one checks, but as Rajeev says, “it up to you (the manager) to decide on what’s  important to focus on and as a leader, manage your schedule and flow of these meetings accordingly.”  People managers actually meet with people, so the one-on-ones provide a time for relationship building, giving clear instructions up front, setting goals and talking about career development as it relates to organizational and personal goals and priorities. Quarterly check-ins provide the opportunity to step back and discuss progress, readjust objectives, and plan for how the manager can help the employee achieve their goals over the next quarter.

    This approach allows you to “talk about it while you’re working on it so we can partner together, instead of the go do and don’t bother me till it’s done and perfect,” says Rajeev.

    1.  Focus on career development.  “Coaches instead of fear-based managers,” Rajeev says, “figure out what employees want to do with their career and where they want to go, and then they give them projects to help reach those goals. Many people leave a company because they see a lack of opportunities.”

    While we can learn from the past, a focus on the future is what drives performance management today. Equipping organizations with the tools to look forward, instead of backward, inadvertently leads us to think about the possibilities of how great we can be instead of thinking nothing is ever good enough.

  • Do Mentors Matter More than Bosses and Parents? How to Establish Mentor/Mentee Relationships

    Do Mentors Matter More than Bosses and Parents? How to Establish Mentor/Mentee Relationships

    “Not having a mentor is just stupid,” said a young and successful sales professional in a meeting I attended a few weeks ago.   She was giving the group advice on how to be successful in sales.

    I couldn’t agree with her more.  Not having a least one mentor (and seeking to be a mentor to someone else) is just about the dumbest mistake you can make in business.

    I was fortunate to have a wonderful academic and professional mentor in college (he passed away a few years ago and I still miss his sound advice), and I continue to have a few professional and personal mentors.  They may not even see themselves as my “mentors”- we haven’t been so specific as to have a DTR aka high school code for “Defining the Relationship”- but they are.

    I’ve never thought about how important having a mentor is in all aspects of life until reading Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant.  Like most things, business books end up teaching me more about parenting than they do about business!

    In his book, Grant states:

    The paradox of encouraging children to develop strong values is that parents effectively limit their own influence.  Parents can nurture the impulse to be original, but at some point, people need to find their own role models for originality in their chosen fields…. If we want to encourage originality, the best step we can take is to raise our children’s aspirations by introducing them to different kinds of role models.

    But how do we establish mentoring relationships for our kids, and ourselves whether in business or in personal relationships that grow us as people and as professionals?

    Sheryl Sandberg in her book, Lean In, emphasizes that asking someone to be your mentor isn’t the right approach; instead these relationships should grow naturally.  I do think, however, you can set-up some framework to help these relationships grow organically:

    1. Find or establish common connection groups. I’ve found that my interests in business start-ups, running, faith and talent development have led to meaningful mentoring relationships.  Help yourself, your company and your children seek out or establish common interests groups and grow relationships through them.
    2. Realize that mentoring doesn’t have to be the “old” mentoring the “young”. Often people call this “reverse mentoring”, but mentoring should be a relationship where one who has wisdom through expertise and experience can help another person.   If strong relationships are established, often the role of mentor and mentee can be reversed at times during the course of the relationship depending on the circumstances and topics.  For example, I may be able to be a mentor for someone younger than myself about how to start and grow a business, but that person may be more tech savvy than I am and can teach me a thing or two about establishing business scalability through the use of tech tools.
    3. Understand that mentoring relationships may have more of an impact on outcomes than close familial and/or working relationships. If you’re the parent or the boss, you may be thinking that it is your job to be the mentor.  However, as Grant’s research points out, you may be better off helping your child or employee establish a relationship outside the home or your workplace or department to help them grow and become more successful.

    Diversity of ideas and thoughts can help people grow more than the familiar.   Like I hear many parents that come to us for career advice for their kids say, “You don’t have a dog in this fight”.  What they mean by this is since we aren’t so close to it, we can give more objective advice that people are more receptive to receiving and acting upon.  The kind of wisdom that comes from a mentor is not the carrot or the stick approach on advice that often comes from our parent(s) and/or our boss.

    What the best advice you’ve received from a mentor?