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| April 11, 2013
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Building Trust

Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>I have written many times on trust. Two post give more details - Working Trusting Relationships and New Leadership Position – You’re Up! As employees we all want a trusting working environment. As managers it is one of our responsibilities to insure that we develop a trusting environment.  Then why is it that 82% of people don’t trust their boss? When I was working with an organization recently, it became very apparent that one area that needed focus was developing a better, more trusting work environment.  If you spent some reflection time on the working environment you work at – is it a trusting environment?  Are people worried about what others are saying? Decisions taking forever to get made? Back stabbing happening? There is no shortage of examples of what we don’t want…

What does it take for you to do to make your work environment be more trusting?

  • Assume best intent (until proven otherwise). You want to build that culture of trust, then no one, especially the manager, should not assume the worst in a person or situation. Remember that jumping to conclusion kills trust.
  • Remove barriers. One of my favorite items that help to bring trust back is to spend time working on removing barriers, like removing bureaucracy. Jumping through hoops to get work done, erodes trust very quickly. Make work easy, remove the red tape and watch things change quickly.
  • Act as an example of trust. If you want to improve the culture of trust, you have to trust your team to do their work and make decisions. That means even if that decision that was made did not go well. You still have to trust the decision and tell your employees so. After a decision has gone wrong, I usually sit down and we revisit the situation and possible decisions – and then let the employee learn from it… This should make the next decision point better.
  • There is no “I” in team. Other words like “we” and “they” should never describe the teams. Listen to how the team talks. If you hear those words or the “us against them,” time to step in and course correct. For the English majors, take out those pronouns and insist that names are used.

Building a trusting culture is difficult. As the manager, you are the key to much of the success of building that environment. People inherently don’t trust the boss… If you can demonstrate and live up to being a trusting manager, you can get your team to follow along. It starts with you!

Image courtesy of:Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

 

Category: Leadership, New To Management | Tags: , , , , ,
| April 10, 2013
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Incentive Programs Working or Not?

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock PhotosWith experience or being around a long time, you get to see lots of programs come and go. One of those programs that seem to change frequently are incentive programs. Wikipedia puts, “an incentive program as a formal scheme used to promote or encourage specific actions or behavior by a specific group of people during a defined period of time. Incentive programs are particularly used in business management to motivate employees, and in sales to attract and retain customers.” Can you think of some? I know quite a few (well, lots). It is one of those tools to help the organization to instill a continuous improvement in performance. Think back on those programs, did they work? How did they make you feel?

When I look over the many incentive programs that I have experience with there are some common themes of those that have been successful.

  • The incentive program was well thought out. Answering the questions of what behavior are we going to reward. That behavior has to be above the expectation of all employees. Going after the top of the class. Hopefully inspiring others to what to reach the top.
  • The program awarded past performance.  The program has a timeframe that is long enough to help develop a better picture of a sustained performance.
  • The reward is timely, specific and impactful.  What is the award that is given? Debate around money, plaques, pat on the back and public recognition need to be considered before implementation. Setting the award will be critical in how well the program is received by the employees.

Let’s face it, this is a touchy area that managers have to navigate carefully. I have seen many a program start off with the best intentions, but fail shortly after implementation. Why? The list is long. The critical ones that pop up quickly are the incentive program is not focused on top performance. Many programs are focused on getting “all” to do what their expectations are normally (attendance). Some programs are set up that the employees can work the system to be eligible for. This has a huge effect on the employee base, as they will “see” the gaming going on and the program could demotivate many folks. Lastly, the award has to be meaningful. Some expects say that money should not be a motivator, that just the recognition should be enough.

Over the last couple of years, I am seeing some new incentive programs that will be interesting to see how well they will work. Those are the incentive programs for lowering health insurance costs. Those particular incentives to be healthy. Helping add money to the flex spending accounts for employees that are not overweight. For employees that attend health seminars or complete a company sponsored information session. There are many examples. With the raising cost of health care, these incentive programs are popping up everywhere. Is it too early to tell if they are working? Are they fair? Time will tell.. I know for me, I got healthier by increasing my exercise and diet, so that I could get some additional funds to help offset my health care costs.

Do you think incentive programs work? As a manager, I know I spent more time dealing with the incentive program than maybe the organization planned. Please share the good, bad and ugly…

Image courtesy of: Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

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Category: Leadership, New To Management, Observations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
| April 4, 2013
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Identity Theft – A Real Life Example

identityMany people have seen the movie Identity Thief. I was one of the many! I truly enjoyed it and laughed. Identity theft in reality is not a joking subject. This post is about the experiences that I have had to share with my mom. She was a victim of tax identity theft. When filing her, 2011 federal tax return, she was sent a letter that her taxes were on hold. She came to visit me and we got on this right away. Below is just some of the steps and some of the happens that she has encountered along the way. Safe to say, that no one wants this to happen to them…

Once she showed me the letter. I called with her on the line, to our IRS hotline number to get a clearer picture of what has happened. The shared with us that this her return has already been sent. That they now have a second return (which was her’s), which they have flagged as possible tax identity theft. The agent on the phone gave me some basic information on next steps. I asked the all important question of how long will it take to get her the money that she is owed? He led us to believe that 30 days from when the id theft process has been done. From June 2012 till today – nothing! I guess 30 days depends on what closed or done means.

Steps that had to be taken – letter from the CPA stating that the taxes in question are in fact “her” taxes. (makes me wonder if you do them yourself – do you write your own letter?). File a report on what happened with your home fraud agency. Which she did. After some time – she received confirmation that she was a victim of tax id theft. She was given some report that definitely showed that these folks are good. They filed her taxes quickly. They had an address in Chicago (my mom has lived 2000 miles away for quite some time). They received $10K in return in a card! News to me that you would want that you can get your return in a card. Second shock – $10K in return. My mom has never received $10K from taxes in her life. The other red flag was the big deduction of continued education. All simple red flags that our IRS should have seen before they process the tax return. I guess it just is processed and looked at later.

Next was a follow up with the IRS office again (45 days had passed!). The answer to that call, was the time to process is running a lot longer than you were quoted back in June 2012. The throughput time is now more like 6 months. Nothing like adding 5 months on… That deadline came up – still no check! She calls again (as 2012 taxes are due now – which she will wait to insure that her name is cleared). They said that go ahead and submit your 2012 taxes that a note will be put in the file so they can process. Guess what? My moms 2012 taxes are held up! Because of the tax identity theft (of 2011).

My mom’s frustration level is at a boiling point. I guess just about everyone else would be just as bad. Me, I try to keep a calming approach to this. I recommend she can again and get an answer to why has this taken so long, what is needed to close this properly and express that you now have 2 years of tax returns that you are not getting that you need. Well, that call only got us to the point of the theft agency has to close the case before they can process. I guess going back to the done part – that was not clearly communicated as the done. Months go by and nothing happens and the answers you get just lead you to believe soon. The next phone call was to the identity theft agency that needs to close the case. That call was not good. They did not have an answer for when the case will close. They hinted to an additional 30 days. Mom was now passed boiling. For maybe the first time that I can remember she hung up on someone. Ouch!

She calls me… Fills me in! I can really sense the frustration. I am getting frustrated. After a few minutes of venting.. I ask her to maybe go to the local theft agency (my mom works in local law enforcement office) and see what maybe they can do from their end. What is the worst that can happen – nothing! Also, I think this one would be an awesome one to hit up the local news “on your side” folks. Maybe they can shake a tree and get the money freed up.

Morale of the story – make sure that you are taking the necessary steps to insure that identity theft is not going to happen to you..

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Category: Observations | Tags: , ,
| April 3, 2013
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Long-term Volunteering 411

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my volunteering and how to make sure that I get the most out of my opportunities. I shared, in my last post, about making sure that you do your homework about getting into a volunteer opportunity. That post was for the more event-driven volunteering. Those items that are really short-term. I got a call from a friend that was asking me more about the longer term volunteering. I really did not have an answer to the question off the top of my head. In the spirit of getting to learn more and sharing those experiences with my readers.. Here we go – long-term volunteering!

Long term volunteering is really those opportunities that you get to work with an organization to help out beyond an event activity. Some people volunteer on boards of organizations, others help out with training or just want to come into the organizations workplace and help out doing whatever is needed. The fact is, these opportunities are always available, but organizations are seeing that those volunteer numbers are going down, significantly. I asked those folks that I volunteer with and they said recruiting long-term volunteers is harder than ever before. I guess it does not take too much to see that in olden days, back in the 50′s and 60′s, many adults dedicated their lives to volunteering. They were able to be home with the family, but had time to spend helping out. Today, most families are two incomes and there is little time to volunteer for a longer period of time. I definitely can use my example here. I was working full-time, helping raise my family, involved in my kids sports and just could not spare any time left to volunteer differently from the occasional event. Now that I have semi-retired, I have more time and have been working with 2 different organizations for almost two years. Simple fact, the baby boomers (and the everyone else) is getting older. The baby boomers have over represented themselves in volunteer opportunities for 30 years. Long term volunteering has suffered lower enrollment for quite some time, it may never get back to the good old days.

What can be done to help organizations improve longer term volunteering?

  • Organizations can definitely improve their overall recruiting, training and use of volunteers. My experiences with this subject, highlight that many organizations are not setting up these engagements for success. They do a great job of communicating the passion and what is needed, just don’t show that same level of passion for making (it) happen. I was asked to help develop training material for one organization to improve the productivity of their employee base. I was excited! Jumped in and started working on it. Developed and ready to go. Six months later, I am still ready to go. Start, stop, pause and start again is frustrating. Making the experience positive for the volunteer is no different from what the organization should do for their paid employees.
  • Organizations should break the long-term volunteer opportunity into shorter engagements. It maybe easier for someone to sign up to six months than forever. I did an engagement based project for one organization that was supposed to be two months (was four months ). Any long-term volunteer opportunity could be looked at and broken down into more manageable pieces. Looking at some of the stuff that I am working on now – I have a sales cycle, relationship building cycle, and admin throughout. Breaking that up, could add additional volunteers that can focus on each cycle. Potentially  improving their number of volunteers and the overall effectiveness.
  • Organizations need to take advantage of the 24×7 mindset. If you want volunteers, you may have to be open to having them on “their” time. Having them work within “your” business hours, maybe too difficult for most working adults. Technology has improved accessibility to information. Make your information accessible to your volunteers. Set those volunteers up with the necessary access.
  • Organizations are going to have to get creative with their volunteers. Baby boomers are getting older – they are the ones with the overall experiences of being there, done that. Those entering the workplace today, are demonstrating that volunteering is going to be something that they want to do. They only lack the experience. So, setting up volunteer opportunities in a team will help everyone. For me, I really enjoy teaching and sharing my knowledge with others. So, if I get to work with someone who is new and has a passion for what we are doing… I can get an extra dose of fulfillment – getting the job done, helping the organization and helping someone learn.
  • Organizations need to insure that they are staffing properly. The org needs to insure that they are not burning out their volunteers. Insuring that they have enough volunteers to cover the task(s) at hand.
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Category: Volunteering | Tags: , , , , ,
| April 1, 2013
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Volunteering 101

When was the last time your volunteered? Volunteering is nothing new. I bet we all have done it from time to time. How did your volunteer experience go? I have had a mixed bag of experiences over the past couple of years. As many of you know, I retired from corporate America and now am working on my own and volunteering my time at many organizations.  I want to share my experiences with how to insure that when you do volunteer that you are getting the most out of your experience.

Why do you volunteer? Let’s face it, no one is volunteering for the money, there is none. We basically do it because we like how it makes us (the volunteer) feel. Giving back to makes us feel good! I also volunteer to help me to continue to learn new things. When I feel good and learn something – I am in the best place possible. Think about why you want to help and match your wants to the organizations needs.

Have you ever had a volunteer experience go totally wrong? Or was not what you expected? Some of the best laid plans go totally south from time to time. I usually like to look over the organizations website to fully understand the organizations volunteer opportunity. Most larger organizations have a volunteer coordinator that can be an excellent resource to fully understanding what the opportunity is and what you will be doing. Make sure that you have your basic questions and concerns covered before you sign up! For me, I have done some volunteer work with expectations that were communicated and followed up on. When I got there, everything was different. Put that experience on high alert. I spent the next four hours stuffing envelopes. I did it, but definitely was not overly happy with my experience.

Do you go back to past organizations? This is the true test to how well that past experience went – you come back from more.

What is it that made you come back? I come back when I feel that the time that I spent volunteering was worthwhile. Worthwhile for both the organization and myself. Some people love to stuff envelopes – me not so much. I also like to come back, when everything is planned out fairly well. That means that the communication channels are open and being used. It means that expectations of the volunteer opportunity are pretty clear. Nothing is perfect and flexibility is needed, but when you go into the opportunity thinking one thing and it is a complete 180 degrees from that thinking – it is tough.

The only problem with what I have written here, is that the small volunteer opportunities usually are not well communicated and expectations clearly set. You could miss out on a pretty awesome opportunity. So, I like to take a little time to call or email the folks to discuss further the volunteer opportunity. Hearing their passion for the opportunity and how they answer my questions, usually sell me.

Best advice – Do some research on the organization and volunteer opportunity.  Discuss it with someone within the organization. Decide on if this is right for you. Get behind and give 110%. This should give you everything that you wanted in that volunteer opportunity.

Anything you do differently?

Category: Volunteering | Tags: , , , , , ,
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