Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Talent

Beyond Talent is our line of resources for professionals in the workplace who are individual contributors without people supervision responsibilities. Read this category for blogs on professional and career development to excel in your current role or help you prepare for your next level career.

  • Now don’t go changing your compensation structure without….

    Now don’t go changing your compensation structure without….

    You’re worried you’re not attracting the right talent or that you aren’t able to keep good talent around for long and you think it might be because of your salary structure.   Before you launch into a compensation structure overhaul (we’ll tell you how to do this next week on the blog), you need to:

    Know for sure that the reason you are having the problems you are having is in fact compensation related.  It may be that all your supervisors are jerks and people may leave even if you paid them twice as much.  Surveying employees, especially through exit interviews is a good way to do this.  Also, getting a quick snapshot to see if you are externally competitive in compensation in your area is also advisable.  

    Some sites to spot check your wage rates with the market (Make sure you search based on your market.  If you are just competing for talent locally, then search by your metropolitan area, not the entire nation): 

    Career One Stop

    Salary.com

    Salary Expert

    BLS

    Do a job analysis and write job descriptions.  You can’t accurately design a compensation structure without defining what jobs require.  This helps you compare jobs both internally and externally.  

    A job analysis can be done in several ways: 

    Job observation

    Job questionnaire to the people in the roles and their managers

    Review of job logs or reports

    Structured panels

    A combination on any of these

    Reviewing occupational information can help you frame any of the above or help you check the data you’ve gathered against standard responsibilities based on job title

    A job analysis needs to gather what is required to perform the job. (This is a really short way of saying this; there are many purposes of job analysis because it is the basis of any talent management intervention.  Read more about the things needed in job analysis based on what you are trying to accomplish here.) 

    A job description needs to include: 

    Date description was written

    Job status (exempt, non-exempt; full or part time)

    Title

    Purpose of the role

    Reports to

    Job summary (outline of responsibilities of the role)

    Knowledge, skills and abilities required as well as education and experience required

    Essential Functions for ADA purposes

    Tasks and Responsibilities of the job

    Physical factors of the job (environment where the job is performed) and working conditions (overtime requirements, shift)

    The disclaimer that the description is not designed to cover a comprehensive listed of everything the job entails (the other duties as assigned statement) 

    Once you have gone through these two steps, you are ready to start with a compensation redesign if you have determined through Step 1 that is what you need.  Check back on the blog soon to see how to do this. 

    Do you need a compensation overall or something entirely different?

  • Leaders are Noticers

    Leaders are Noticers

    “The real heroes anyway aren’t the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention.”  John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

    According to my editorial calendar, I’m supposed to be writing about job shadowing today, but I’ve noticed something. In the past week I’ve had conversations with three people about their work.  One just quit. One is DONE with her work and is planning her quit, and one just realized she wants to quit, but hasn’t started the plotting of her exodus yet. (By the time I see her again next week though, I imagine she will have it all mapped out.)

    Why are these three DONE with they’ve been doing? Through these conversations, I’ve decided that the two reasons people quit a job (they are actually quitting a boss, not a job) is because:

    They don’t feel like they have the opportunity to make a contribution and/or

    They don’t feel like the contribution they are making is valued.

    Long and short, what they are doing isn’t being noticed. And the one who needs to be noticing, their boss, just isn’t. More often than not, the boss is too busy “doing things” instead of noticing people and the contribution they are making or have the potential to make. 

    As the boss, don’t let it take cancer (read the book) or a resignation letter to make you wake up and notice.  Want to be a leader or a “hero” as the quote states, then start noticing people- who they are, what they value, how they want to contribute- and give them the avenue to make a contribution that is valued. If you do, you become a hero in their eyes and you get to keep them as valuable talent. If you don’t, they will demand to be noticed with a resignation letter.  And if it takes the resignation to get you to stand up and take notice, as the guy who just quit boss did by offering him at $15,000 raise, stock options and a VP title to stay, you’re already too late. Your employee is already done, mentally moved on to a place where they think someone may stand up and take notice of their talents without having to demand it.  

    But I must end here; my three month old is demanding to be noticed by her cries. No one said the noticing was easy, as I delay picking her up to write these last few sentences, continuing to pretend to unnotice. No one said leadership (or parenting) was easy either. There is so much to be noticed. But if you can be half a percent better at noticing than the rest of the population half a percent more of the time, you’ll be able to do what everyone is trying to do but hasn’t quite figured out yet how to do it- retain the best talent.

  • 4 Steps for Handling and Diffusing Conflict

    4 Steps for Handling and Diffusing Conflict

    Last week, I had to share some information with someone that was unpleasant. I was nervous about how to deliver the message, but I went back to the steps I recommend to leadership coaching clients when they have to deliver and discuss issues that involve conflict. This is a very common issue that leaders have to navigate, and the best method to handle or diffuse conflict is to address it. The worst thing that can be done is to ignore.

    If you’re struggling with how to handle a situation head on, use these steps to make it easier:

    1.  Get your facts before proceeding. There are two sides to every story and a he said/she said issue is not ready to approach until you’ve gathered your facts. Make sure you know the ins and outs of the issue before discussing and address it.

    2.  Seek counsel of the wise. Before I went into my “unpleasant” discussion last week, I sought the counsel of three people that I trust. There was consensus on how to handle the issue from the three individuals (who had no idea what the other people recommended), so I felt confident that the approach was the best method. Make sure you have 2-3 trusted advisors as a leader. This is why hiring a coach may beneficial.

    3.  Plan and practice your approach. Write it out if you need to. This will help you feel confident in your delivery and anticipate questions or concerns that may arise from the party(ies) you are addressing.

    4.  Address it. Like I said, the worst thing you can do when conflict arises is to ignore it. To address the situation effectively:

    • Frame the issue with the facts
    • State your concern as well as why you are concerned making sure that potential effects on company and individual performance are addressed
    • Ask open-ended questions of the parties
    • Provide time for comment from all involved
    • Develop an approach or plan of action to resolve the issue. Ensure that everyone involved is clear on his or her responsibilities.

    How do you address difficult issues and/or resolve conflict in the workplace?

    Want more? You may like this post:

    2 Tips for Resolving Conflict Wisely

  • Everyone Gets a Trophy and The Skills Gap

    Everyone Gets a Trophy and The Skills Gap

    At a lunch meeting yesterday, one topic of discussion was the “everyone gets a trophy” generation. The millennial generation – of which I am barely a part of based on my date of birth, but rarely admit to being – seems to have a problem with feeling entitled. And the negative outcomes this creates in schools and int he workplace is a hot topic.

    A couple of issues cited in this discussion were:

    • Lack of respect for consequences of one’s actions. For example, a star pitcher not getting to pitch in a game when scouts were there because he missed a practice and was also in trouble at school for skipping class. His parents raised holy terror because he didn’t get to play. Who is to blame? The parents or the student?
    • Lack of respect for other people and their time. For example, a teenager not showing up for work to teach swimming lessons because she had play practice and no one called to let the family know the child would not have lessons because the teacher couldn’t make it. Is the paid work or the play practice more important to attend? The director of the play told her she couldn’t miss practice. Does getting a paycheck for something also communicate you can’t miss?

    Compare these to examples to key findings cited in the Alabama Skills Gap Study conducted by the Alabama Department of Labor:

    Employers were more likely to identify gaps in soft skills (41%) than in technical skills (38%).

    Of the employers who have identified gaps in soft skills, 65% stated that Attendance was a problem. Following Directions and Time Management were the next most often identified soft skill gaps (39% and 36% respectively).

    We could blame these skills gap issues on just one generation, but the numbers show employers must be facing it with the majority of their workforce, which can’t possibly be all made of just the trophy winners.

    So what should we do? First, we should focus on soft skills development just as much as we do technical skills development in our schools and in our homes. A good resource for soft skills curriculum can be found here: http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/

    Next, we need to turn the mirror on ourselves, whether as a parent or as a teacher or even as a student. The question becomes, am I guilty of what I’m complaining about and how do I model the behavior I want to see?

    I say this as I sit here, letting my three year old skip swimming lessons. He’s asleep next to me after having tried to wake him up from his short-lived nap to go to the lesson. You haven’t seen holy terror until you’ve tried to wake a three year old up who doesn’t want to be woken up. Yep, that person complaining about the teenager teaching swimming lessons was me and now here we are not going to a scheduled lesson. Am I teaching my son something I don’t want to be teaching him? Sure am. But at least I called to let them know we wouldn’t be there… (I know don’t tell me, because I know, we still should have gone).

    As I beat myself up about not doing what I know I should, I figured I’d at least share the lesson. Soft skills are important. They are learned. Teach them by modeling the behavior you want to see.

    Want more on the soft skills employer want? Check out these posts:

    What do employers want? The 4 Cs

    What do employers want? Creativity

    What is your smart phone teaching you about communication?

    Want to get a job? Foster collaboration

  • Drop Lots of FYIs to Communicate Effectively

    Drop Lots of FYIs to Communicate Effectively

    I was mad. Really mad. I had an appointment with a client. He asked to reschedule because he said he would be out of the office all day the day we had scheduled to meet. I showed up at the company the day we were scheduled to meet in order to meet with one of his colleagues and out he walks. He’s there. I felt lied to and intentionally blown off.

    He said nothing. I said nothing. I expected an apology or at least an explanation e-mail or phone call to come from him. I got nothing.

    In inquiring about his presence at the office when he said he was going to be gone, I found out he was waiting on another person to leave for the day. He hadn’t lied, but he hadn’t clarified anything with me. I’m glad I did some inquiring before I blew off the handle at him, and I was embarrassed that I got so worked up about the situation. But it all could have been diffused if he had just informed me about what was going on, instead of leaving me assuming.

    I often find that with business communication, we assume a lot. We assume people know certain things are happening, or we assume they have the information they need to complete a task, or we assume people think the best of us. More often than not, our withholding information by assuming leaves people, well mad. Like I was.

    Taking on the mindset of informing others helps to steer communication in a way that does not leave unanswered questions.

    Are you informing people enough? Consider this list from the coaching tool, For Your Improvement(maybe it’s not a coincidence that the book is referred to as FYI). If you find yourself thinking one or more of these statements describe you, then you’d be well served dropping a few more FYIs every now and then.

     

    Unskilled Informer:

    -Not a consistent communicator

    -Tells too little or too much

    -Tells too late; timing is off

    -May be unclear; may inform some better than others

    -May not think through who needs to know by when

    -Doesn’t seek or listen to the data needs of others

    -May inform but lack follow-through

    -May either hoard information or not see informing as important

    -May only have one mode- written or oral or e-mail

     

    For more on improving communication:

    Saying too much is like saying nothing at all

    How to combine communication with teamwork

    Team communication: It’s not what you say but how you say it