Are You One Of The 63% against mature workers?

Research released today by the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) http://bit.ly/zkDHwC found that 0nly 37% of respondents could be certain their organisation was not influenced by negative perceptions of mature workers when recruiting or retaining staff.

This suggests 63% of surveyed organisations couldnt be sure or did actually allow negative perceptions to influence their decisions.

Okay, I am being sensationlist and I am using figures to get your attention. Or am I?

Someone who has been in the workplace for around 40 years has accumulated an lot of wisdom and knowledge. Between 20% and 50% of those responding to the survey, depending upon the question they answered, claimed loss of mature workers had contributed to a lack of competitiveness and a loss of key knowledge.

Think about this. In a hospital setting, if we fail to nurture those mature workers that remain working, if we fail to put in place appropriate processes for passing on knowledge and experience and we combine that with new entrants that have received only a minimum of practical training – it is possible someone will die as a consequence. Systems and processes are no replacement for decades of wisdom and experience.

Now I’m not suggesting every mature worker should be retained. As a management coach I have seen a fair number who are their own worst enemy and should be let go at the earliest opportunity. Changing environments require workers that are able to adapt. Those that cannot adapt are a barrier to effectivenss and service delivery.

Fortunately not every worker over the age of 50 is a dinosaur. Many have demonstrated their ability to adapt, to learn new skills, to work in a changing environment. These people are worth their weight in gold. I suspect many did so because they are personally motivated to succeed. I wonder how many other mature workers fall through the cracks; are mis-labeled as difficult and inflexible, simply because their employer doesn’t have in place effective processes for assisting them to change, to develop new work skills, to take on new responsibilities and to work within a more diverse workplace?

This research shows that it is possible that we don’t get the best from our mature workforce because we don’t have a positive attitude about mature workers. This suggests there is a need to develop greater awareness of potential and benefits amongst both mature managers and immature managers-in-waiting – as much as it is necessary for mature workers to adapt better to the emerging workplace environment.

If you feel your organisation might benefit from becoming more aware of working with diversity, please contact us to discuss how our specialists in workplace diversity might design a process for you.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

CEO Muck Up!

Over the past six months I have watch as an experienced and competent CEO of a nonprofit organisation has stuffed up and appears unable or unwilling to admit to having made a mistake.

This CEO has a long history of financially prudent management and has a good repore with stakeholders, staff and clients. On the surface he ticks all the boxes. I have known this CEO for many years, have worked with him in the past, though he is not keen to ask for advice from outsiders or consultants. He suffers from a problem highlighted in a recent McKinsey report – he doesn’t ask questions and he doesn’t listen.

Recently this CEO made a hiring decision. In doing so he overlooked people in the organisation with existing talent and proven potential. The manager hired is an idiot. I know this because I have worked with this person in the past and I have been privy to this person’s behaviour since being appointed.

The newly appointed manager has failed to build a workable relationship with existing staff, resulting in discord between manager and staff.

Mature and experienced staff members have tried to facilitate conversations with the newly appointed manager, to no avail. Within the admin area, communication is rapidly breaking down at all levels.

Those same mature and experienced staff have met with the CEO. The CEO has acknowledged that all is not well. To date nothing has been done to change anything.

What is the outcome to date. The most experienced and versatile staff members in this department are seeking other employment. In the words of one staff member, “I have gone from jumping out of bed every Monday, wanting to go to work, to just doing my job, getting paid and going home.”

It is hard to admit to making a mistake. I know, I have tried and failed on numerous occassions, but there are times when you just have to bite the bullet and move on.

In this instance, every passing day increases the damage and the cost. Regrettably the cost will not show up immediately on the balance sheet and in there perhaps lies the real problem. The CEO’s vision and focus is just a tad too narrow.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

The Greeter

Imagine.

Whenever I walk into our local Bunnings store, I’m greeted by a staff member at the door, with a warm welcome and sometimes even a farewell, please come again. I swear one day the greeter will remember my first name and offer me a discount at the sausage sizzle in the car park!

All jokes aside. What does it mean to me to be greeted in this manner? Two things. The first is I feel welcome and acknowledged. I an no longer anonymous. It makes me feel good. Secondly, I am aware that if I have a question as I enter the store there is someone right there to provide an answer.

I’ve been a weekly shopper at Bunnings for the past decade. I love Bunnings. Around me Mitre 10′s and independent hardware retailers have hit the wall. I don’t wonder why.

So what is my point here? Imagine if as I walked into a hospital, all concerned and nervous and just a little pissed off at having to pay for my car parking space and I am greeted by a warm, enthusiastic person at the front door. Imagine if my hospital made me feel as welcome as Bunnings does.

This could be achieved by using volunteers. It has got to be better than approaching an office worker hiding behind a glass screen bogged down with telephones and paperwork. It would enable the office worker to be more efficient due to less interruptions.

It just goes to show how the simple things can have the greatest impact.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

The murky waters of multiple stakeholders

Management of a nonprofit organisation is not a simple matter. Where for-profits can choose to use a single criteria, financial return on investment, as an indicator of success, should they choose to; nonprofits on the other hand must cater for the mixed needs of multiple stakeholders.

This can lead to strange contradictions. When all is going well, stakeholders are often happy little vegemites, we rarely hear from them. When things begin to go sour around the edges, we can find ourselves faced with a plethora of conflicting needs, desires, political partnerships, old scores to settle etc. These factors can serve to contribute to the ultimate demise of a nonprofit just as much as management incompetence.

I feel sometimes it may be too simplistic to simply state that every bad outcome is a direct result of mismanagement. Yes it does happen on someone’s watch. There is no doubt someone was responsible for an organisation and its sustainability. This shouldn’t imply the only influencing factor is management competency.

There may have been a failure of management in that they didn’t foresee emerging events that would have a negative impact, or they might not have taken appropriate remedial action at the right time. However as shown by the demise of Shorebank in the United States, it is sometimes a combination of economic, political, social and management issues, collectively that serve to bring a good organisation to its knees.

Are such outcomes preventable? Possibly not, but as i started this post by saying, when things are going well we don’t hear from our stakeholders, when things are going well the media doesn’t want a chunk of us and when things are going well there are no ill-informed rumours circulating and when things are going well our political masters don’t feel any heat and are therefore less likely to react in an unpredictable manner.

Who is responsible for ensuring all is well? Who is responsible for stakeholder communication? That would be the management team. Maybe it is that simple after all!

Those are my thoughts for the day

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

Obligations of management

As a rash of businesses in all sectors let go of staff and others look at closing up shop altogether I got to thinking about the obligations of management.

Then I read a research report today which linked management behaviours to productivity. The report essentially links management behaviour high performance over a variety of areas. The research also showed that of those firms surveyed around 60% had low performance in all areas. What does that say about the management behaviours in those firms?

What do we expect of our managers? I believe people managers to look out for them, to treat them with respect and dignity, as human beings and to engage them in the daily processes. I believe also they expect their managers to fight for their future. Afterall in most instances only those in a management role have access to all the information that informs a decision.

How many times have employees in general felt their management team gave up; that it was easier for management to sacrifice workers than it was to get up and fight?

A management team that gives up is morally corrupt. As a team they have abdicated their responsibilities to those they are supposed to support and nurture. Likely in the case of public companies they have also abdicated their responsibilities to stakeholders.

The research suggests those poor performing organisations are the ones most likely to go belly up. Which means we continue to recycle poor managers and impose their mediocrity upon the workforce all over again.

Is there a solution? Yes there is. Firstly recruit people into management roles based upon leadership characteristics and behaviours as much as technical knowledge. Then reduce the number of managers by having management focus upon developing others to be the best they can be; to take personal responsibility for their own outcomes.

One really effective manager will achieve a great deal more than five or six ineffective managers. It is time to get rid of all those middle managers and senior executives that lack leadership behaviours.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

Facing our fears

According to the experts our fears hold us back from achieving our full potential. I have no doubt they are right. The universal advice is to face our fears, accept they exist, that they won’t go away; so just deal with them.

I don’t have a problem with the advice. Its like all self help advice, it will likely work if you do the things you need to do. What about those that cannot get past their fear?

Firstly we have to make  a couple of choices. Is it a fear we must face or one we simply don’t want to face? Our stress is created by not making a choice.

If we decide our fear must be faced – then there is no alternative but to just do it. Face it and go full on. Better to face the fear than have it sneak up behind you and take you by surprise.

On the other hand, if it isn’t necessary to face your fear, then don’t. Make a decision to not bother with it and to not be bothered by it.

Not every fear need be faced. There are often alternatives. At another time, facing the fear might become necessary but for the moment, walk away and do something else.

A lot of our fear arises from our concern about being out of control. If we take this action we dont actually know what will happen. We become fearful of the unknown. The solution here is to accept you cannot control everything; however you are an intelligent person and you will always be able to work through whatever happens.

If you are a bit anal and need to be in control then perhaps you need to walk away and do something else. Persisting with an activity that generates fear will simply increase your stress and often result in negative behaviour.

Consider bringing someone else in to work with you. If you have to do something fearful and you can’t walk away, then ask yourself who else might help you. Having someone to walk alongside you can help reduce the stress. For example, if you are fearful of walking into a room full of strangers, consider asking a colleague to accompany you.

You can also change how you do things. Returning to our room full of strangers. Perhaps you could make an effort to be the first person there. By changing how we behave we may also reduce the level of fear and stress.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let The Journey Continue

John Coxon

 

 

 

Are you an ordinary manager?

The title to this blog is not meant to imply any inferiority. I was thinking about this when I woke this morning. Sure we can talk about all the things exceptional managers do but then the reality is only a handful of people ever acheive that status. The vast majority of people engaged in a management role simply aspire to be the best they can be on a day to day basis.

What is needed to get through the day in the majority of management roles? The word endurance comes to mind. For many people involved in management their day is filled with dealing with the minuete of work life – not grand decisions, more like working through issues such as who didnt enter the correct number into the security system when leaving work last night, or who didnt order a new supply of toilet paper for the staff bathroom, who why A doesnt want to work with B today.

In these environments managers need patience and persistence. It helps if you prioritise issues based upon their impact and consequences. Strange as it may appear, a lack of toilet paper may be more important than whether A and B want to work together. In this way you will attend to those issues most likely to cause ongoing grief.

Ordinary managers just do ordinary things. One of the most ordinary things you can do every day is facilitate conversations with people. Actually that would be extraordinary as a good number of managers actually fail to do this. By facilitating conversations I mean, avoid telling people what to do or what to think; instead ask questions and enable people to explore ideas and contribute their wisdom and knowledge.

A small handful of managers operate in the rarified arena of grand decision making. Most simply spend their day dealing with a myriad of common issues. At all times remember you are a human being, working with other human beings. How you treat others will guide them in how you want them to treat you.

As the saying goes, when we bend over to pull up our pants, we are all fairly much the same!

Those are my thoughts for the day.

Let the journey continue

John Coxon