Are you a Tit-for-Tat Manager?

As a company leader, you are probably interested in employees doing their best work. But most new staff members quickly lose the inspiration they had on their first day. How can you intervene so that precious employee motivation doesn’t get lost so soon?

An old man woke up one morning to the sound of stones hitting his zinc roof. He ran out to see a bunch of kids running away, laughing as he shook his fist and shouted at them to leave him alone. After several episodes in a row, he drew them into a conversation, from a distance: “Come stone my roof tomorrow and I’ll give you each some money.”

The following morning, they each received J$100 for their antics. But he apologized. He could only afford J$50 to repeat their performance. Deciding it was still a bargain, they returned the next day and collected their payment from the obviously senile senior citizen.

Shaking his head, he said: “There’s so many of you…I can only pay you J$1 tomorrow.”

“That’s all? Cheapskate…Forget it!” they complained as they stalked away for good.

While the old man was a master manipulator, there are managers who unwittingly produce the same result. Their employees start out being “transcendent”, but end up stuck in a “tit-for-tat”. The only difference is that everyone is unhappy with the outcome. Here’s why this happens.

  1. A Transcendent Beginning

Most employees are naturally motivated at the outset of a new job. When asked to give discretionary time and effort, they are often quite willing to do so. They are inspired.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t last, but it’s not because of the circumstances. The transcendent state they initially enjoyed is one they can’t manage for very long. In other words, they are unable to explain why they feel the way they do. Also, they don’t identify the drivers of their positivity, fail to intervene when it slips away, and sometimes even regret that initial burst of motivation.

And most company cultures are unhelpful.

They don’t foster transcendent ways of being, let alone act to keep them alive. Toxic employees attack them with open cynicism. Those who are “too happy” have obviously “drank the Kool-Ade” – a snide reference to the suicidal Jim Jones cult.

In other words, companies allow this precious resource to fritter away as if it weren’t important. However, it’s actually critical.

In fact, most organizations do a good job of promoting staff to the executive suite, where transcendence is the norm.

Unfortunately, top leaders take their own motivation for granted. They also don’t realize that as they rose in the corporate ranks, they left the de-motivated behind. They no longer had to contend with the most embittered. Their amnesia leaves them unaware of the battle new employees face, made worse by a lack of help from their direct managers.

2. Why Most Leaders Become Tit-for-Tat Managers

Even though leaders may be transcendent, few have the ability to inspire their troops to extraordinary actions. Instead, the average manager devolves into a Tit-for-Tat: “No-one does anything if they aren’t being paid”.

While there’s abundant evidence this thinking is flawed, they cling to this explanation. It’s the ultimate escape from responsibility because there isn’t a single organization on earth with enough Tit (i.e. cash) to induce a meaningful Tat (i.e. a transcendent culture.) Why? Research shows that apart from short, physical activities, more pay does not produce motivated behavior.

In other words, ineffective managers surrender, then blame their staff. But is there an alternative? Yes – the fact is that transcendent cultures do exist.

  1. Prevent the Slip into Tit-for-Tat Relationships

The best interventions take place before the slip begins. Organizations can train employees to work with their habits of thought that often turn a dip into a landslide.

Eastern philosophies teach that joy is inside all of us. Unfortunately, its presence fades as we pick up defects in our thinking patterns.

However, mystics also argue that transcendence is merely a transformation away. If taught, we can learn how to become like the old man in the story: someone who coaxes a change with the right dialogue. In other words, we can pick up the kind of self-talk which transforms and returns us to a transcendent experience at will.

There are a number of effective methods to try, including affirmations, meditation, and journaling. More advanced approaches require fresh mental models picked up from coaches, books and therapists. (For more than a decade, I have used The Work of Byron Katie.)

The startling realization is that most organizations offer nothing at all. If they were to start, they would probably see that the high motivation present in the probationary stages never goes away completely. They just need to invest in helping staff remove the obstacles.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To search prior columns on productivity, strategy, engagement and business processes, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com.

On Fostering Powerful Admins

As an up-and-coming leader in your company, do you need an administrative assistant? If you are adamant that you don’t, consider that it’s only a matter of time before your mind changes. The question is, do you know why this will take place?

The position of administrative or executive assistant has been under assault. In times past, the role was the exclusive domain of women who possessed shorthand, typing, and organizational skills. While the first two tasks have been replaced by note-taking technology, the third has become all-important.

In fact, there are a number of women running Jamaican companies behind the scenes. They all used to be admins. Outside their organizations, they are unknown, but insiders know the real story. Recently, Big Bosses’ memory has started to fade. Their facility with the latest technologies has slipped, but their admin has stepped up to play a vital, but quiet role.

Furthermore, persons in these roles have added specialized digital and online skills no-one else in the company has. But they are far more than IT geeks. Their unique position means that if you aspire to the executive suite, or already sit there, you need an admin by your side.

Take note of the McKinsey research completed by DeSmet and Bevins. According to their article “Making time management the organization’s priority”, admins enhance a leader’s power. Also, executives who are effective time managers receive “strong support in scheduling and allocating time”. Only 7% of ineffective time allocators said the same.

What would it take for you to have that level of support, preferably before you become desperate? Here are a couple of steps.

Invest in Administrative Talent

Following the low pay, low-skilled secretarial positions of the past, some companies still treat admins as if they aren’t important. For example, some HR managers are quite willing to put a brand new hire in the office of the CEO, believing that such persons are interchangeable.

Using the old, outdated definition, they are.

However, once admins are seen as a critical part of executive success, the game changes. The person (who can be any gender) requires specialized training in each step of their development. This should be introduced as they climb the career ladder, enabling them to serve managers at higher levels. In fact, there should be a healthy pipeline of assistant talent at all times.

Also, companies shouldn’t pay assistants peanuts. Not only is the role important, it should attract quality persons who have their own aspirations. Low salaries simply won’t engage those who can add value to the C-Suite.

Be Prepared For a Partner

As a high-performer, you may be quite capable of navigating any new technology, and managing the demands on your time. However, the moment will come when you won’t be able to juggle all your business and personal commitments on your own.

As such, you need to give thought to the kind of person you intend to work with. What practices will they perform? How well? Should other staff relate to them as the power behind the throne?

Unfortunately, personal productivity among executives varies widely, because few have received any formal education on the topic. As such, they aren’t taught how to leverage someone who helps them manage a busy calendar, to-do list, or project plan.

Up until now, it’s also unlikely that you have benefited from the feedback or coaching required to be productive at higher levels. As such, you may be underestimating the demands which will be made on you, and the need for a team approach.

Consider the television show “The West Wing”. Jeb Bartlett, the President, had a decades-long working relationship with his admin, Mrs. Landingham. Several times per day, he asked: “What’s next?” In keeping with the character of a perfect assistant, she was always ready with an answer.

If you haven’t recruited such a person in preparation for promotions you hope to attain, start looking. Likely subjects may already be in your company. But sometimes you can recruit talented admins from other organizations where they just aren’t being appreciated.

More importantly, if your corporation doesn’t foster its administrative assistants, undertake a coordinated attempt to change the culture. If folks think that having an assistant is a perk like a bigger office or a company car, challenge this thinking.

Introduce the idea that admins are powerful contributors to the executive suite. Without them, your organization may be wasting time and effort on meetings, email and scheduling activities.

Advocate the notion that these necessary evils are better left to the trained professionals. Show the powers that be that the value of their skills far outweighs the cost of their salaries. Then, champion concrete changes.

Overcoming COVID’s Communication Gaps

As a leader, has the advent of “working from home” distanced you from your employees? As a result, have you witnessed unwanted behaviors? Perhaps you have even realized the unexpected: workers who are actually worse off.

In some companies, we have noticed a surprising phenomenon: Employees who had a good relationship with the organization’s leaders before COVID are now becoming fearful of the same executives. In other words, a certain anxiety has arisen.

It’s led to many staff members working longer and harder, but this added effort doesn’t come from a healthy place. Ultimately, this behaviour does more harm than good because it’s being driven in a way that’s just not sustainable.

The Problem

The average Jamaican worker operates in a perpetual state of low anxiety. The proof? Managers who arrive here from other countries notice talented individuals acting like victims. Furthermore, many of our workers thrive when they migrate to more supportive environments.

On a daily basis, local staff members cope with their fears by developing a heightened sensitivity towards the “Big Man” or “Boss Lady”. Outsiders are shocked to see the deference our employees give to powerful people, going out of their way to elevate and “Big Them Up”.

For example, staff members in some organizations know exactly where the top manager is at all times: when she is absent, work comes to a halt. In others, people scan the CEO’s demeanour to understand his mood. If he is on the warpath, they broadcast the news internally, and warn their colleagues to act accordingly.

But these are all just survival techniques. Our workers developed these habits because executives embody a threat to their well-being. As in slavery, the wrong word from the wrong leader can lead to dire outcomes: public shame, disrespect and separation.

While the exact coping mechanisms vary, their intent is the same: to relieve the state of anxiety. And to some degree, they succeed.

The Pandemic’s Impact

Enter COVID-19 and the mandate to work from afar. Some are thriving: they have escaped the scrutiny of micro-managers and enjoy a fresh freedom to be productive.

However, most are not accustomed to the new disconnection from their organization’s leadership. Now, they are left to their own thoughts and worst fears: a bad thing. Here’s why it happens.

The fact is, the average worker is a social creature: closely linked to other people in the workplace with whom they can share informal interactions all day long. Any scary news or rumors were (before COVID) moderated by the presence of their colleagues, even if no words were passed. At a glance, one could gather critical information by simply observing the environment.

Furthermore, if the CEO happened to walk through the company, staff could feel comforted by her proximity, reducing their anxiety. The quality of her “Good Morning” and the quickness of her pace communicated valuable messages. Questions like “Will I be fired today?” dissipated with her smile.

With new work from home norms (such as Zoom) all these emotional supports have disappeared. In fact, staff is spending more time in meetings than ever before. Perhaps it’s all an effort to compensate for the lack of informal communication which has fueled rumours and driven up anxiety.

Creating the Contact People Need

In a radical departure from the past, some are suggesting that the physical workplace should be retained…but only as a place to socialize. By contrast, an employees’ focused, productive efforts should occur at home, where they are free of distractions. The original purpose of the two locations should be swapped.

But that’s futuristic, post COVID thinking. We can’t follow this prediction today because of the pandemic. What can be done in the meantime?

Some companies have responded by creating informal gatherings between employees. These are opportunities for their people to enjoy each other’s company without a business agenda. Apps like Remo and Airmeets are built for these kinds of interactions, offering far more possibilities than the average meeting software.

However, the most important chats are not with peers, but with superiors. These can be implemented to prevent a rise in anxiety. In spite of busy schedules, some companies are including executives in game nights, cocktail hours, joint training and other gatherings. These are designed, scripted activities (not just random hangouts) which are meant to reduce the emotional distance from bottom to top.

In this context, these informal, but intentional, interactions between leaders and staff serve an important purpose: they help compensate for a cultural challenge in the Jamaican workplace. Together, they provide a way for companies to avoid a predictable spike in employee anxiety in pandemic times. It’s a corporate tactic suited for the distance we’re forced to maintain.

Signs of an Unhealthy Probation

Years ago, I mistakenly worked for someone I shouldn’t have. Since then, I have wondered: could I have foreseen what transpired? Were there early warning signs I overlooked?

Abundant research shows that employees don’t leave companies; they leave bad managers. We need look no further than the outgoing White House, with its record high turnover, to find an outstanding example. Many high-profile staffers depart (and have left) amidst a storm of tweeted insults.

I had a manager who did the same: publicly bad-mouthing me to others long after we had parted ways. Since then, I have scoured my memory to determine what the predictors of an unhealthy relationship with a boss might be. After all, if I could see them happening in real-time, I could confront them, knowing that they never go away by themselves.

Anyone who is considering a new position can do the same. For most jobs, companies offer a probationary period to test an employee’s suitability. In their eagerness to please, few new hires consciously realize it’s also a unique opportunity to ask: “Are there early warning signs of an incompetent manager who will eventually make my life miserable?” While these aren’t easy to pick up, here are three red flags you should look out for on your next assignment.

1. Being Liked

Arguably, it’s a natural desire to want to be liked, but becoming a competent manager involves outgrowing this everyday tendency. Over time, good managers learn to place the welfare of others and the mission of the company above their own need to be accepted.

In this context, a probationary period is a chance to see what your manager does under stressful situations. Will they stick to principles, or give in to the weakness to say and do things which are popular, or avoid getting themselves into trouble…all in order to be liked?

If you witness your manager “throwing people under the bus” i.e. blaming others in order to be liked or accepted, watch out. It’s safe to assume that the worst treatment meted out to others will one day be directed at you.

But this doesn’t mean that your manager is a “bad” person. They may be very well-intentioned…and completely clueless. Your task in this phase is to uncover the raw truth about their competence and act accordingly, setting aside any wishful thinking so you can take decisive action.

2. Looking Good

Another faulty behaviour to watch out for are those intended to make a manager look good…at all costs. There are many variants of the theme: some focus on physical objects such as their clothing, cars and houses. Others try to show off using their kids or spouse. A few lord their intellectual or artistic achievements.

It all amounts to a relentless campaign to compete with, defeat, and dominate those around them. As a new employee, if your manager uses you as a tool to further his/her ego-based objective, it’s corrosive.

Why? The moment will eventually come when you make a mistake. If your manager’s reaction under pressure seems bombastic (i.e. out of proportion), he/she may be putting the welfare of others in the back seat. Instead, their efforts to avoid looking bad include a tendency to become abusive.

3. Not Stepping Up as the Owner

As a new employee, perhaps the most difficult (but important) trait to detect in your manager surrounds taking responsibility. It’s a skill many managers struggle with, finding it to be unnatural. After all, it flies in the face of self-protective human behaviour which is so essential to our basic survival.

In fact, holding oneself publicly accountable equates to putting oneself in harm’s way…at risk. The act of doing so on a continuous basis is the very definition of a capable manager.

Yet, it remains a tricky behavior for employees to flag, especially early in their careers. Here’s a useful shortcut: observe if your manager apologizes sufficiently when he/she makes a mistake. You’ll be able to know by measuring the degree to which the apology restores the trust and goodwill that existed before the error was made.

In fact, if you work for a manager who publicly apologizes for a mistake you (not him/her) made, pay attention. Their resistance to the temptation to hang you out to dry, may indicate that you have a true winner.

This positive “warning” sign may mean that you shouldn’t leave. However, if all you can sense are the other incompetencies listed above, consider your probation a success: you have detected a manager you should probably quit.

How to Inspire “Paused” Employees

As a result of the pandemic and the recession, are many of your staff-members unconsciously “working-to-rule”? In other words, have they reverted to doing the minimum possible to keep their jobs? If so, what can you as an employer do to break them out of a dangerous rut which could drive your firm all the way into bankruptcy?

These are scary times, and with good reason. Here in Jamaica, COVID is spiking to unforeseen levels and as the death-toll mounts, even more people are testing positive. Furthermore, the economy faces poor predictions as we enter the traditional slowdown of the tourist season. Arguably, business confidence is at its lowest ever.

Consequently, most of your employees are probably stalled. Confronted by bad news and distracted by children who would normally be in school, they are overwhelmed. Laying awake at night, they are pre-occupied by the need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

It seems only natural: in response to a threat, you should focus on defending yourself. However, when the threat is enduring, there’s a limit to how well a good defense works. Case in point: you can’t win the football World Cup by only preventing goals from scoring. Plus, deep within the human spirit lies a steady force that drives us to do more than just survive.

Unfortunately, few corporate leaders know how to transcend the “survival” stage of the pandemic. With each spike, they reset their companies’ attention to the usual: social distancing, wearing masks and working from home. But there will always be spikes…for now. A vaccine won’t make its way to our citizens for several years.

In the meantime, your company may just go out of business.

Instead of waiting and resetting every few months, how can you take your employees out of the “pause”?

1. Think Big

A few years ago, the US Coast Guard had such a challenge. The world was changing rapidly and its old operating mode as the first-responder to sea-based emergencies was no longer working. The threats it faced were now organized: some by terrorists and others by global forces such as climate change.

The organization needed to take into account incipient trends, then rise far above them. As opposed to merely reacting, it needed to shape long-term outcomes. That could not happen in the short term.

Instead, the organization developed a decades-long scenario in which it transformed itself, creating a new, influential role in the future. From that end-point, it worked back to today, resulting in a difficult re-organization impacting thousands.

But my experience leading Jamaican companies planning tells me that the articulation of a vision isn’t enough. To some degree, we are immune from such leader-talk courtesy of politicians. Now your people are, quite rightly, skeptical of bombast.

They should be.

Research shows that overblown visions of the future can be de-motivational. Why? When a goal is too far out of people’s reach, they give up, asking themselves, “Should I waste time on a failure?”

2. Be Fact-Based and Realistic

The first way out of this dilemma is to create a numbers-oriented map of the journey from the future back to the present. Such a chart is quite difficult to craft, but it starts by defining a specific year for your goal, such as our own “Vision Jamaica 2030”.

Furthermore, it must show how critical metrics such as top line revenue, EBITDA and market share need to change to accomplish your end-point. Plus, it needs to capture qualitative milestones. Finally, projects and interventions which take months or years to implement should be added in and synchronized with the other targets.

The end-result is a detailed picture of the journey your organisation must take from now until the stated year of your vision.

Some would say that such detail is likely to be “incorrect”, and they are right. This is not an exercise in prediction or accuracy. Instead, it’s meant to galvanize your organization with not only a destination, but a realistic means of reaching it.

Why is this activity important to employees? Without this level of specificity, they won’t buy-in, and will simply add the goal to their mental list of empty promises. This is the problem with overarching, vague vision statements. They have stopped working because people are immune to the optimism of “world-class” pronouncements which are more ignorant than credible.

One way to tackle this challenge is to involve all your staff in your data gathering. After all, this is their future you are crafting. Take care to address all the facts and assumptions they deem important.

The fact is, in these difficult times people want to be inspired…but moreover, they don’t want to be disappointed by a CEO’s pipe-dream. Focus on creating a vision that’s realistic and you’ll replace their unwanted fears with a motivation that enlivens and lifts them to extraordinary achievement.

The Shock of Low Standards

There are a few moments in your employees’ careers when they go into a shock. However, it’s not because too much is demanded of them…in fact, it’s the very opposite.

In prior columns, I shared what sometimes happens when a recent college graduate joins the full-time workforce. Coming from an education system with extreme demands and standards, they encounter a rude surprise: individual efforts to excel are attacked by one’s peers. At the same time, their management rewards vague, dubious achievements.

Unfortunately, most newcomers fall right into place, frittering away whatever fresh energy they once had. They become like everyone else: comfort becomes the paramount goal. In fact, some firms set “making employees comfortable” as an all-important concern.

Not surprisingly, this is the very opposite of the way people relate to each other in high-performing organizations.

For example, military boot-camp is designed to expose raw recruits to an environment of impossibly high standards as quickly as possible. This immersion is intended to surprise them – to provide a shock. When it’s done well, it isn’t sadistic or destructive. The best rise up to meet the challenge, while others are excluded.

I’m sure at some point in history, a well-intended general experimented with a more “comfortable” path to basic military training…only to see it rejected. Why? A battlefield is no place to discover that your colleagues are more interested in saving their skins than bravely following the mission.

The truth is, society doesn’t admire someone who “seeks my own comfort above all else.” However, this is a low standard that many companies promote during the onboarding stage. But that’s not the only instance where the battle is lost. Here are three additional episodes in employees’ careers which could be carefully crafted to show excellence.

1) Their First Meeting

Sharon, a new employee, bustles into her first meeting to ensure she’s not late. As she opens the door with moments to spare, there’s no-one else in the room. Five minutes later, the second person arrives. The meeting eventually starts 15 minutes late with several missing, including the convenor. The top executive, whose presence is required to make decisions, stumbles in even much later still talking on his phone, without apology.

This everyday scenario teaches Sharon to surrender her college standard of arriving ten minutes before others to sit in the front row. Instead, she’s encouraged to join a sloppy, mediocre majority.

2) Their First Project

After a few months on the project, Jerome is confused. He can’t define the mission and the last two status meetings have been cancelled. While he continues working on his deliverables, his manager has never asked for an update.

With extra energy and bandwidth, he turns his efforts to a startup – a side-hustle he has launched with friends. That feels more real for some reason, even though not a single penny has been earned.

3) Their First Promotion

Fred was just promoted to the executive suite. While HR makes sure that all frontline employees have their annual performance reviews, their advice is ignored at this level.

He discovers that the Managing Director has been too busy (for several years) to schedule feedback discussions. She seems happier giving out random, public “Big-Ups” to low-level staff than having substantial, confronting conversations with her direct reports.

As such, he has no idea how to improve his performance. Consequently, when a headhunter calls, he jumps at the opportunity to move to a different organization which, he hopes, has higher standards.

No Excuses

Perhaps you are reading this article, arguing that “My company is not an army.” True, but what would it be like to find and emulate the best-run organizations in your industry? Maybe you would discover a common thread in all high-performing service clubs, sports teams, NGO’s, statutory bodies, corporations and even bible-study groups.

Consider that there may be something in human nature that instinctively seeks comfort in relationships with others, rather than accountability…and that it destroys performance.

As such, your book-club which skillfully causes (or “forces”) its members to read the assigned books is one that thrives, where others fail. This core ingredient – accountability – is the secret sauce that wards off the drift towards mediocrity. When you fail to repeatedly burnish it brightly, the worst will always happen.

The alternative is to craft high standards around key events which offer their own shock and surprise. While you’ll definitely lose those who are committed to their personal comfort, each one who remains has the opportunity to push others to excellence.

Can Your Leaders Lead Without Personal Integrity?

“All I have is my word.” Back in the day, this was a common saying among working professionals. For them, keeping one’s word was the only honorable, accepted thing to do. But times have changed: Is there a place for that sentiment in today’s Jamaica?

In 2020, many people have a contingent relationship to the promises they make. In other words, they will keep their commitments if the stars align in just the right way.

When they do, it’s because their feelings and circumstances are in the perfect place, and the gain far exceeds the cost. To summarize: the result is not really up to them, but a fortuitous confluence of external events. It provides them with a psychological back-door: a way to escape any future obligation.

Some people specialize in this kind of behaviour, even while seated at a boardroom table. But it’s human: we hate being trapped by promises we made in the past. Some refuse to make them altogether, explaining that compliance is up to God, not them.

While such behaviour is convenient to those giving their word, it wreaks havoc in the world around them. Here are two ways.

1. Reputational Risk

If you have ever been ghosted (i.e. stood up) by someone with a flimsy excuse, you probably made a decision. Perhaps you resolved never to trust him/her again.

However, if you are a habitual “flake”, you may be upset to hear what we won’t tell you: “If you can’t be trusted to satisfy simple obligations, then you certainly won’t be considered for others which are more substantial.” Also, while we may consent to meet with you again, we’ll be calling ahead to “confirm” (aka micromanage) the appointment.

But don’t relax. Whereas this trick may work for small matters, it fails for important commitments. Instead, we’ll just call someone else.

Unfortunately, you may never understand why you are no longer on our list of invitees, or why we don’t return your calls and email messages. Your inability to generate the willpower to keep your promises has resulted in lasting damage.

2. Organizational Weakness

Hire enough chronic promise-breakers into the same organization and you have the perfect recipe for bankruptcy.

Case in Point: A founder, known for honouring his word, dies and leaves the company to an unreliable sibling. The inheritor never understands the invisible glue of integrity that enabled the company to thrive. Consequently, promises are broken on a whim so customers, employees and other stakeholders start a steady exodus to better alternatives. It’s a lack of integrity writ large: a violation of the brand promise, employee compact, or shareholder trust. These are all unwritten expectations no company can break for long.

Arguably, the rise and fall of the quality of Digicel’s mobile service is such an example. When it entered the market in 2001, it delivered a striking, powerful salvation from C&W’s monopoly. But recently, the government reported a meeting with the company to complain, on behalf of consumers, about its poor service: a dramatic reversal for a favorite brand.

What can leaders of companies like Digicel do? They can undertake a return to workable standards on a personal, but public level. 

In an era in which the President of the United States freely reverses his stated commitments to people, precedent and principles alike, the world is short of those who lead by example. It appears that the practitioners of “situational integrity” are “winning.”

This has not gone unnoticed in Jamaican society, however. Organizations like the NIA and CAFFE are pushing to return our country to a simpler standard: a time when people did what they said they would, just because they said they would…especially when it’s hardest to do so.

But the key is not to merely be wary of making promises. The deeper challenge is to relate to one’s word as if it were as important as oneself: a reflection of character.

Unfortunately, when life is working as it should, the challenge seems to fade in importance.

For example, several local politicians have apologised for disparaging remarks made on the campaign trail about an opposition Member of Parliament. In essence they said: “Those comments are not a reflection of who I am.”

The irony is that Digicel and other organizational leaders could see their recent shortcomings as an opportunity to return themselves to who they really are. Jamaica yearns for this kind of leadership: the kind that willingly reveals itself when mistakes are made, at the moments when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable and unprofitable.

These opportunities demonstrate how to live old-fashioned principles in modern-day life and empower everyone of us to do the same.

The Hole in the Fence Theory of Productivity

There are many reasons being given for our lack of economic growth and corporate profitability. I suggest a different one, aptly named by columnist and friend Dennis Chung: “The Hole in the Fence Theory.”

We Jamaicans love a business rebel; the person who finds a hole in the fence to a concert then sneaks in as many friends as possible before discovery. With good reason. Short-term opportunism helped our ancestors oppose and survive the profit-makers who took us as slaves for the first workplaces.

Fast forward to today and, after centuries of practice, we still celebrate the rebel…until he gets in our way. A taxi driver forms a new lane. An employee steals goods and time. A high-ranking official orders an expensive cake for his boss’s birthday.

We are quick to brand such highly visible instances as “Corruption!”…with a capital C. However, most of the daily holes in our fences are “small.”

Case in point: Many companies require employees to sign in upon arrival. I worked for a firm in which (amazingly and impossibly), 90% of the employees “arrived” at precisely 8:30 am. One day, a new employee entered a truthful time of 8:31 am. He was roundly chastized by subsequent arrivals, one of whom “corrected” his entry in the log.

Obviously, he just didn’t understand the “runnings”: his unspoken role in keeping a “small” hole in the fence open.

How can we transform our cultural tendency to exploit such short-term advantage-taking?

1. Treat Integrity as if it’s Mission Critical

I remember making fun of the cadets as a Wolmer’s student. Not only would they march in the sun in boots and long pants, but their preparations for the annual inspection involved copious use of Brasso and melted shoe polish: hilarious extremes.

However, as an adult, I now appreciate the JDF’s high standards. Belatedly, the connection between shiny shoes and life-saving mission readiness is apparent.

Truth: I only learned the lesson after volunteering in an organization that made a big deal of strong standards. For example, the layot of tables for public events was seen to be as important as the integrity of the payment process. The argument was simple: when small things go wrong, expect big ones to follow.

How can this level of integrity be operationalized?

2. Set up Tests for Small Slackness

Van Halen, the popular Rock band, had a requirement that concert promoters provide a bowl of M&M’s in their dressing room…with the brown candies removed. Upon arrival at a new location, the band’s manager would examine the bowl, and if the instruction were ignored, would stop everything. He then initiated a painful, line-by-line review of the contract to ensure that every provision, especially those which were safety critical, had been followed.

In other words, like a military operation, these musicians knew how to set up flags for early, small and seemingly insignificant signs of slackness. Imagine if your employees cared to do the same?

3. Educate and Unleash People

Unfortunately, slackness tests are probably not happening soon. As a citizenry, we are culturally blind to the cause-and-effect relationships which drive success. While a few can rise to a big occasion such as a Miss World pageant, a 100 meter final or a mega-concert overseas, most of us don’t see the hidden connections between personal slackness and operational failure.

We need to learn that mega-national successes (such as Singapore’s) aren’t wrought by individuals. Instead, they only accrue to groups of people who practice reporting holes in fences to those who can fix them. In other words, they find a way to repair integrity breaches because of its unique role: serving every citizen.

Conversely, mega failures aren’t caused by only taxi drivers and criminals. When we collectively abandon high standards both organizations and our country suffer. In this context, more stringent enforcement of laws will fail – there will never be enough policemen or legal statutes to produce a transformation.

Instead, this is inside-out work. There’s an inner restraint our citizens need to learn in which we sacrifice our immediate, personal appetite for gain for the greater good. We should help save the life of the driver of an overturned truck, rather than joining the mob grasping at his goods.

The happy news is that “we likkle but we tallawah,” like a powerful locomotive train. However, without reliable tracks we’ll continue to scare off investors and tourists, alike.

Their reaction is a sign: if we don’t get serious about our slackness, we’ll remain world famous…except it will be for our weak production, lack of innovation and poor GDP performance.

How to Reward Your Employees Effectively

Could you make a mistake and offer the wrong gift to employees during the holiday season? What if it’s based on outdated assumptions that do more harm than good? Here are some findings from recent research to ensure your organization makes the most of the occasion.

The season for giving gifts to staff is fast approaching and, right now, someone in your company is making an important decision. What gifts should workers receive? It may seem like a small-time concern, but take a closer look: it’s tied up with management’s idea about what motivates employees.

In some years, managers get this wrong, thereby amusing or even insulting staff with their choice of gifts. In others they get it perfectly right, and it resonates in a way that lifts morale and engagement. What can you learn about employee motivation that results, at the very least, in doing no harm?

The big finding is that there’s a huge paradox at play:  the story employees tell their managers about gifts just isn’t true. To wit, when surveyed, most staff members say they prefer cash rewards. With regards to money, most respond with a knee-jerk, cultural reaction – of course they “want more of it”, as soon as possible. 

However, when employee performance is measured after the fact, cash turns out to be less effective in changing behavior than verbal praise or other visible rewards.

Why is that?

I believe that, when surveyed, employees are literally reporting what they should want, rather than what actually produces higher performance. This is especially true for complex or creative work which can’t be quantified easily. 

In fact, monetary awards undermine intrinsic motivation in these situations in a phenomenon called “crowding out.” It implies that staff becomes distracted by the money, focusing away from the job at hand. This ruins quality and productivity.

Part of the reason this happens is that raw cash, when rewarded, offers only a temporary spark. In no time, it devolves into a commodity to be traded for ordinary goods and services such as JPS, NWC, rent and phone bills.

However, this isn’t true for other kinds of gifts which have more staying power. Here are some examples and the reasons why they perform better than one-time cash rewards.

1. Luxury Items

These are identified as goods and services which the recipient wouldn’t purchase for him/herself. Apparently, the fact that the gift is a luxury allows an additional level of indulgence. After all, once a reward has been given, it cannot be returned. Instead, it must be consumed and enjoyed which prolongs its effective life, even after completion.

In addition, the luxury gift grants permission to the recipient to partake in an “impractical” expenditure which takes them outside habitual behavior. This heightens the experience, usually increasing a sense of gratitude.

However, one-size-doesn’t-fit-all. Each person has their own ideas about what’s special. Choosing the right gift means knowing something about their personality and making a proper match.

2. Hedonic

Another element which augments the effect of a reward is an intention for it to generate positive emotions. In particular, in the workplace it could evoke feelings of being “included, appreciated, invested in and feeling valued.” This is so important that some researchers have attributed 80% of voluntary attrition to a lack of recognition by employers, echoing similar studies performed here in Jamaica.

In this context, sometimes the most meaningful rewards have no real tangible component whatsoever. Instead, they hit other emotional chords which are more powerful. For example, the words spoken when the gift is given should be accurate and specific, focusing on the unique contribution. This increases the impact.

3. Social

Finally, it’s also best if the reward is public, so that others can honor the individual. 

Furthermore, try to choose something that’s not perishable, such as a physical object; rather than a dinner for two.

Such visible rewards keep doing their job long after the event is over and can continue to be a talking point. Its line of sight reminds people of the reason the gift was given and continues to honor the recipient.

Too many companies treat their employees as if they are simpletons who just want more money or food (e.g. Christmas cake and Easter bun). It’s a not-too-subtle form of classism which needs to be traded in.

But don’t stop at changing the gift you give. Examine the underlying theory managers harbor about the motivations of their staff. Challenging this old thinking may avoid a problem this holiday season.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20191201/francis-wade-how-reward-your-employees-effectively

What Does it Take to Truly Be In Communication?

Most people consider the phenomenon of “being in communication” to be a simple matter: it’s the state which follows a discussion between two or more persons. But is this standard high enough to get your organization through challenging times?

Others believe that communication is just about sending messages in the general direction of their intended recipients. Based on what we know of electronic messaging, that’s also not true. It’s too easy with new technology to blast another person with loud, confusing or random notes that do nothing to achieve the precious end-result of “being in communication”.

A definition: to “be in communication” means to be on the same page as others. People are together and in sync, achieving a high level of cohesion. A large frequency of authentic conversations occur which put prior issues to bed.Take a look at working groups in your office. Sometimes, the least effective ones are stuck with a list of matters which cannot be discussed. The breakdown in communication inevitably drags down performance, making it hard to complete the simplest of tasks.
Given these realities, what should leaders do to bring about a new level of communication to their organizations?

1. Understand that Being in Sync Is Unnatural

Functional teams are an aberration. Getting people to work well together is always going to be an ongoing, uphill challenge. Why?
To explain, it’s somewhat abnormal for a group of individuals to “be in communication”. If anything, our survival instinct leads us to scan our world for threats. We have a natural, inherited suspicion.

This invisible vigilance treats vulnerability and openness as weaknesses to be shunned. In other words, our very nature constantly pushes us out of communication with each other and ruins teamwork. Unfortunately, these are the very traits that teams need to bring into reality in order to “be in communication.” Just take a look around. Most people would rather stick to themselves and share as little as possible with others. In spite of this challenge, too many managers prefer to effect a level of casual nonchalance in their working groups which makes things fun and easy in the beginning, but causes havoc when the going gets tough. Instead, the best leaders don’t let their guard down.
Fully aware that mediocrity is always at the door trying to sneak in, they prepare themselves to communicate in group settings in a focused, intense way. Others react by calling them anal. But they persist, insisting that certain processes be followed by every high-performing team they  sit on, bar none.

What are some disciplines your leaders can implement to ensure quality teams operate from the same page?

2. Tune into Group-Based Routines Which Work
Here is a process Caribbean groups should follow to allow communication to flow. First, it’s important to start every team activity by giving people an opportunity to connect. Once that requirement is satisfied, the approach is the same as that used in other countries: define the purpose of the gathering, the agenda / steps to be followed and the logistics which must be in place. (I was taught to use PAL – Purpose, Agenda and Logistics.)

When this formula is adopted, “being in communication” becomes easier to accomplish because the team’s core activities are already being managed in the background. In other words, taking care of the basics yields added bandwidth. It can be applied to the careful speaking and keen listening required to get on the same page and stay in communication.
3. Tune into the Group’s Connections
When humans aren’t working closely together, but should be, some surprising behaviors manifest. For example, they may start blaming each other for what appears to be minor matters. This sometimes escalates into name-calling and even acts of verbal violence – “Bad Mind”.

As a leader, you must be hyper-aware of these small gaps before they become major issues. Often, all that’s needed is an insistence that people talk to each other, rather than rely on electronic channels. However, in extreme cases, you may need to intervene with outside help.

Therefore, it’s essential to learn how to tune into and monitor the degree to which individuals in your team are in communication with each other. Call this a kind of ESP if you will, an ability to tap into intangible, emotional data that your inner self serves up. Most of the time we ignore these private urgings, but a leader should never do so.
The success of your enterprise may rely on the accomplishment of difficult goals. They won’t happen without the deep cohesion that brings people together on the same page. It’s a phenomenon which most leaders must consciously will into existence or it just won’t happen.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20191006/francis-wade-what-it-takes-be-truly-communication?