Snow Crazed
February 28, 2008
photo credit: Our blog and press release last week regarding how companies deal with extreme weather generated a lot of interest. I’ve had interviews with the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal radio, and HR Executive - all looking to follow up on what employers should do to prepare for and manage through extreme weather conditions. The AP article ran in many print and online newspapers across the US. The survey results and/or the AP article were referenced in dozens of television and radio broadcasts. The Boston Business Journal opened up their own survey on employer behavior on snowy days that indicates employees wish their employers would act more quickly to send them home when the weather is bad.
The level of attention this survey received points to the universal human desires it surfaces around our need to be treated with consideration and respect. People want to believe that their employers care about them, but when employers put business ahead of human welfare, that trust is undermined. On the other hand, severe weather conditions create an opportunity for workplace colleagues to connect with each other around a shared experience external to their work.
What are your war stories about weather and work?
Dealing with Extreme Weather: An Inconvenient Truce
February 21, 2008
Today we’ve released the results of our most recent survey concerning the impact on the workplace of extreme weather. In Boston, we’ve had several severe workday snowstorms this year that ground the region to a halt. The picture here is from our storm on December 13th - when just about everyone’s commute became a nightmare. My one hour commute stretched to three, and I seriously considered abandoning the Mini Cooper in a snowbank. I was relatively fortunate to have a back road alternative. Other friends and colleagues spent up to six or seven hours getting home. Across the country, similar snow, wind and/or rain conditions have made this winter especially brutal.In our survey of 2810 working adults, 33% of respondents indicated that their commutes had been impacted by severe weather in the last 3 months. Once at work, employees note they are distracted from their jobs by concerns about how their commute will be impacted when they do leave, how they’ll provide alternative childcare or pick up arrangements, when or if their employers will decide to close early, etc. Employers, in turn, grapple with assessing the true severity of expected storms and determining the best course to ensure the safety of their employees while minimizing the adverse impact of closing or cutting back on staff. Read more
Performance Management Tips for Britney Spears
January 4, 2008
It’s performance review time at Kronos. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the 15 years I’ve been a manager giving feedback to people about how to improve their performance at work. While every employee is unique, there are recurring themes that I’ve needed to address.
Here are a few (illustrated with celebrity examples) that those of you on either side of the performance appraisal equation may find useful in thinking about how to improve your own performance or that of your employees:
- Avoid “foot in mouth” syndrome. This is for those who don’t think before they speak (or who speak without being properly prepared). One of the best case studies in 2007 is Miss Teen USA South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton - whose completely incomprehensible response to a question about the geographic ignorance of US high school students suggests that she will soon join the ranks of the underprepared workforce.
- Admit to your mistakes, learn from them, move on. Two words - Britney Spears.
- Be a gracious loser. No one is always right. Even when you are right, you won’t always get the project funded, the extra resources, or even the credit that you’ve earned. Try your hardest to win, but when you lose, conserve your energy for the next challenge. Last night’s Iowa Caucus gave a few high profile candidates a (perhaps unexpected) opportunity to demonstrate grace in the face of defeat. Here’s Hillary Clinton’s speech as an example.
- Performance improvement starts with self awareness. Whether it’s listening to feedback from the boss, colleagues and customers or formal assessment testing, you can’t leverage your strengths or mitigate your weaknesses if you don’t know what they are. Steve Carrell brilliantly demonstrates lack of self awareness as the hapless manager on The Office.
- Superior results often require taking some risks. Walter Lewin, a physics professor at MIT, has become a media star based on his unconventional teaching methods. Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs has made a career out of looking out over the horizon and creating solutions for needs consumers didn’t even know they had.
What’s the most useful feedback you’ve received during a performance appraisal?
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