“That is the beliefs that individuals, groups, and societies hold which determine choices are a consequence of learning through time - not just the span of an individual’s life or of a generation of a society but the learning embodied in individuals, groups and societies that is cumulative through time and passed on inter-generationally by the culture of a society.” – Douglass North
Determining Economic Priorities
Most Americans would probably say that going to work and earning an income takes priority over spending time with their friends, family or children. The argument usually is that without a paycheck I cannot afford a living worth enjoying. That leaves Americans working in order to afford healthcare, pay the bills or provide a certain standard of living for themselves or family. My question to you all is why hasn’t the reason we worked changed? Since the Great Depression, the United States has developed laws and regulations to govern the workplace and devised certain social safety nets e.g. unemployment benefits that were suppose to make working a more enjoyable experience. Unemployment currently stands at over10% nationally, are we any better off?
When 7 Hours Became 8 and 8 Hours Became 9
Americans work considerably longer hours than most industrialized nations yet we’ve developed powerful tools that help us get our jobs done faster. This disconnect (longer hours vs. tools to help us work) is due to not capitalizing on the productivity gains we’ve realized.
The main reason for this is that we’re still measuring output as if we were a manufacturing-based society. Our economy is predominately supported by the production of services that are elastic, meaning they are sensitive to changes in demand. There are no inventories for services; you cannot produce a lot now and save it for later. The need for services depends solely on there being a demand.
This means that there will be some days, weeks or months when we may work well over 10 hours a day. Other time periods we may need only 2-4 hours to complete our work due to changes in demand. Why are we then still using the 40 hour work-week as a standard work-week?
We've been increasing the numbers of hours we dedicate to work but haven’t gained much in return. Why? Because the way we work has remained stagnant. Currently there is no flexibility built into our operating environment that allows us to capture these differences in demand. If you only need 4 hours to complete your work for one employer then why not have the ability to spend time with you family, take training, get an education or volunteer?
It is these additional “outside” activities that are going to positively impact our future generations. As Douglas North mentioned in his Nobel Prize lecture, it is the cumulative knowledge of a society that is passed on through generations. In order to increase this knowledge we need to work smarter and use our time more wisely. This includes changing how we reward staff – it shouldn’t be about how many hours you worked but rather the quality of the service you provided. We are no longer dependent on making widgets in our society – we sell our knowledge. The only way we’ll be able to actually grow our cumulative knowledge is if we’re given time expand our experiences.
Growing Our Economy
The first step toward growing as a society is the advent of social-networking tools. These tools have helped us collaborate more, share more information, and build relationships in ways previously deemed as unimaginable. This has yet to fully cross over into our culture but it has the potential to change the way we work and the way we interact with our customers and clients.
The Great Recession has caused many workers to question their role in the economy and the priorities they’ve set. We must now consider new ways to move forward, to grow and remain competitive – providing more flexible workplaces that incentivize quality of service versus quantity of hours should be the starting-point.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
10 Ways to Motivate Your Staff
It is hard to be cheery and chipper when you’ve been told you’re no longer needed in your current position, or your hours or wages have been cut. As unemployment rises and the job market becomes even more competitive, those who still have their jobs are looking to keep them. This may mean staying in a job that you hate. All of us have those days when we wish we weren’t in the office, but when those days turn into weeks and months, and with the job market in a downward spiral, it’s only natural to feel trapped. While there are plenty of things that you can do to help pass the time until you can find a new job, there’s a lot an employer can do to reengage their staff and help motivate them.
Below are some things management can do if they want to keep their staff motivated and on task:
1. Don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re all on the same team that means the rules that apply to your staff should also apply to you. If you’re down staff members and request that others not take vacation that means you shouldn’t either. You’re the captain of the ship and your mates depend on your for guidance and direction – the best way to provide this is to lead by example.
2. Don’t micro-manage your staff. This doesn’t mean assigning a task and walking away, but it does mean providing clear instructions and expectations when delegating work.
3. Give credit when credit is due. This is one of the best ways to motivate your staff. If they’ve worked hard and done great work, make sure they get recognized for it.
4. Don’t be overly demanding. I understand that deadlines are still deadlines, but if you’ve known about one for over a week and inform your staff a few days before the due date, be ready to reward them when they meet it. Apologize if you have to and make sure they understand why this is important to you and the business.
5. Give genuine feedback. Constructive criticism is the best way to give feedback – be sure to note what they did well first, follow-up with a critique and end on a positive note. Make sure that your staff knows that they did a great job, but could improve in one or more areas.
6. Don’t take advantage of your staff. This begins with respecting that your staff has work-life balance choices to make. Find out if they carpool or if they ride a certain bus that only comes at a certain time and if you’re in a meeting that runs late respect that they may need to go.
7. Don’t be a perfectionist. This may be one of the hardest things to overcome but it’s extremely important. Once you’ve delegated an assignment, it’s out of your hands until it’s finished. Be sure to communicate expectations and so long as things are completed satisfactorily and on time, it should be a job well done. It really de-motivates staff when they feel like they can never meet your high expectations.
8. Don’t have favorites. If your staff sees that X employee always gets the best assignments, they’ll be less likely to devote extra time to their work. Divide responsibilities evenly and make sure that each staff member has at least one thing that they really enjoy doing.
9. Be sincere. There’s nothing worse than sarcasm when you’re in a bad mood. It’s also easily misunderstood and can increase conflict in the workplace.
10. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. I can’t say this enough; communication is key to so many things – a happy friendship, marriage, relationship, etc. It’s also the key to a happy work environment. Open and honest dialogue helps staff share their comments, concerns or praises. Be sure to have an open mind and take action if there’s some constructive criticism. No one is perfect but they only way we can make improvements is if we hear what’s working and what’s not.
Below are some things management can do if they want to keep their staff motivated and on task:
1. Don’t be a hypocrite. If you’re all on the same team that means the rules that apply to your staff should also apply to you. If you’re down staff members and request that others not take vacation that means you shouldn’t either. You’re the captain of the ship and your mates depend on your for guidance and direction – the best way to provide this is to lead by example.
2. Don’t micro-manage your staff. This doesn’t mean assigning a task and walking away, but it does mean providing clear instructions and expectations when delegating work.
3. Give credit when credit is due. This is one of the best ways to motivate your staff. If they’ve worked hard and done great work, make sure they get recognized for it.
4. Don’t be overly demanding. I understand that deadlines are still deadlines, but if you’ve known about one for over a week and inform your staff a few days before the due date, be ready to reward them when they meet it. Apologize if you have to and make sure they understand why this is important to you and the business.
5. Give genuine feedback. Constructive criticism is the best way to give feedback – be sure to note what they did well first, follow-up with a critique and end on a positive note. Make sure that your staff knows that they did a great job, but could improve in one or more areas.
6. Don’t take advantage of your staff. This begins with respecting that your staff has work-life balance choices to make. Find out if they carpool or if they ride a certain bus that only comes at a certain time and if you’re in a meeting that runs late respect that they may need to go.
7. Don’t be a perfectionist. This may be one of the hardest things to overcome but it’s extremely important. Once you’ve delegated an assignment, it’s out of your hands until it’s finished. Be sure to communicate expectations and so long as things are completed satisfactorily and on time, it should be a job well done. It really de-motivates staff when they feel like they can never meet your high expectations.
8. Don’t have favorites. If your staff sees that X employee always gets the best assignments, they’ll be less likely to devote extra time to their work. Divide responsibilities evenly and make sure that each staff member has at least one thing that they really enjoy doing.
9. Be sincere. There’s nothing worse than sarcasm when you’re in a bad mood. It’s also easily misunderstood and can increase conflict in the workplace.
10. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. I can’t say this enough; communication is key to so many things – a happy friendship, marriage, relationship, etc. It’s also the key to a happy work environment. Open and honest dialogue helps staff share their comments, concerns or praises. Be sure to have an open mind and take action if there’s some constructive criticism. No one is perfect but they only way we can make improvements is if we hear what’s working and what’s not.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Work-Life Balance a Farce?
According to Jack Welch's comment, on July 14th there is no such thing as a work-life balance, only choices. I couldn't agree more with his statement. As a young twenty-something who's married but childless, I watch my co-workers (both men and women) make daily choices about their work/life priorities. For some, that's meant leaving the workforce entirely and raising their children themselves, for others that's meant putting their kids in day care and budgeting time during the weeknights and weekends to spend with their children. Each of these situations requires sacrifices that few people inside and business attempt to discuss.
Jack Welch's comment, though controversial, hit the nail on the head. Fortune 500 companies around the world pride themselves on creating family-friendly programs for employees, but participation in these programs often comes at a cost - slower progression up the corporate ladder. Participation in these programs alone though isn't the only way to reduce the pace of your ascent, having children can handicap you in some professions such as finance and consulting. Younger, childless workers, who are eager to gain experience and quick to lend a hand, are often rewarded with increasing levels of responsibility that enable them to climb the ladder faster. These responsibilities are generally taken from more senior staff members who are unable to work late-nights or weekends due to family obligations.
How Do We Fix This?
The continuation of our society depends on us passing on our genetic material via the birth of children. For better or for worse, our responsibilities do not end there. These newborns need to be provided for, nurtured and taught how to provide for themselves. Sure parents provide and nurture their children and teach them a lot of life lessons, but the only way they can do this is if they can earn money and spend time at home. Here's where we reach the impasse.
Life is Full of Trade-offs: Is it a Balance or a Choice?
Economics teaches us so much about decision-making that it's a tragedy it's not taught in schools. Each decision we make in life has an opportunity cost associated with it. That doesn't change when you decide where to live, who to work for, who to marry or when/if to have children. These decisions close some doors and open others... there are sacrifices that must be made and opportunities to be had. What the work-life balance discussion doesn't explain to us are the different inputs, pros and cons if you will, of these decisions. In the case of work, does having children mean reducing your opportunities for advancement? In some cases yes, unless you're willing to forgo spending the time you want with your kids. It's a choice... not a balance.
Changing the Way the Game is Played
The only real way to address this issue is to focus on how we define performance. Is it the number of hours you spend in a chair? Is it the number of times you're in front of your boss? Is it the results you achieve? Most management leaders respond that business in particular is a "people" industry. Advancement in this industry is focused not on what you accomplish but who you know. In order to meet new people, you need to be able to attend meetings, events, social outings, weekend proposal gatherings etc. By building your network this way, you ensure that you're at the top of people's minds when a new opportunity becomes available. New opportunities allow you to showcase your talents and be perceived as a high-performer. High-performers are rewarded with promotions and even greater responsibilities.
This mechanism for achieving success alienates parents. Comments on other articles with this subject wish to include childless individuals who want to dedicate their time to something other than work. It is my belief that individuals with interests outside of work, i.e. volunteerism, religion, fitness hobbies meet people and network in much the same way as within job networking so these activities provide with similar benefits and help you achieve success either at your current job or with another.
So Where Does This Get Us?
It gets us to a choice. You choose to have children. You choose to work. You choose how you define success. Work-life balance comes when you understand the consequences of your choices and you balance them. Will you make CEO, have 3 kids and be a single-mom? Probably not, unless you've got some great parents or an awesome day care that's willing to watch over them for several hours a day and weekends. It's a sacrifice.
Let's begin to open the dialogue about what both women and men sacrifice to meet their idea of success. This is an individual choice - each person needs to define success for themselves, their families and work to achieve it. For some that may be a c-suite office, for others that may mean 18 kids. We need to respect that each person makes a choice. Each person makes sacrifices. Is a c-suite office outside the purview of parents? Certainly not, but people only get there by making difficult choices. From both an employer and employee perspective, we need to understand the impact choices have on career progression. We need to begin to have open and honest discussions about what it takes to get to the top. Until we learn how career progression is impacted by choices, work-life balance really will be a farce.
Jack Welch's comment, though controversial, hit the nail on the head. Fortune 500 companies around the world pride themselves on creating family-friendly programs for employees, but participation in these programs often comes at a cost - slower progression up the corporate ladder. Participation in these programs alone though isn't the only way to reduce the pace of your ascent, having children can handicap you in some professions such as finance and consulting. Younger, childless workers, who are eager to gain experience and quick to lend a hand, are often rewarded with increasing levels of responsibility that enable them to climb the ladder faster. These responsibilities are generally taken from more senior staff members who are unable to work late-nights or weekends due to family obligations.
How Do We Fix This?
The continuation of our society depends on us passing on our genetic material via the birth of children. For better or for worse, our responsibilities do not end there. These newborns need to be provided for, nurtured and taught how to provide for themselves. Sure parents provide and nurture their children and teach them a lot of life lessons, but the only way they can do this is if they can earn money and spend time at home. Here's where we reach the impasse.
Life is Full of Trade-offs: Is it a Balance or a Choice?
Economics teaches us so much about decision-making that it's a tragedy it's not taught in schools. Each decision we make in life has an opportunity cost associated with it. That doesn't change when you decide where to live, who to work for, who to marry or when/if to have children. These decisions close some doors and open others... there are sacrifices that must be made and opportunities to be had. What the work-life balance discussion doesn't explain to us are the different inputs, pros and cons if you will, of these decisions. In the case of work, does having children mean reducing your opportunities for advancement? In some cases yes, unless you're willing to forgo spending the time you want with your kids. It's a choice... not a balance.
Changing the Way the Game is Played
The only real way to address this issue is to focus on how we define performance. Is it the number of hours you spend in a chair? Is it the number of times you're in front of your boss? Is it the results you achieve? Most management leaders respond that business in particular is a "people" industry. Advancement in this industry is focused not on what you accomplish but who you know. In order to meet new people, you need to be able to attend meetings, events, social outings, weekend proposal gatherings etc. By building your network this way, you ensure that you're at the top of people's minds when a new opportunity becomes available. New opportunities allow you to showcase your talents and be perceived as a high-performer. High-performers are rewarded with promotions and even greater responsibilities.
This mechanism for achieving success alienates parents. Comments on other articles with this subject wish to include childless individuals who want to dedicate their time to something other than work. It is my belief that individuals with interests outside of work, i.e. volunteerism, religion, fitness hobbies meet people and network in much the same way as within job networking so these activities provide with similar benefits and help you achieve success either at your current job or with another.
So Where Does This Get Us?
It gets us to a choice. You choose to have children. You choose to work. You choose how you define success. Work-life balance comes when you understand the consequences of your choices and you balance them. Will you make CEO, have 3 kids and be a single-mom? Probably not, unless you've got some great parents or an awesome day care that's willing to watch over them for several hours a day and weekends. It's a sacrifice.
Let's begin to open the dialogue about what both women and men sacrifice to meet their idea of success. This is an individual choice - each person needs to define success for themselves, their families and work to achieve it. For some that may be a c-suite office, for others that may mean 18 kids. We need to respect that each person makes a choice. Each person makes sacrifices. Is a c-suite office outside the purview of parents? Certainly not, but people only get there by making difficult choices. From both an employer and employee perspective, we need to understand the impact choices have on career progression. We need to begin to have open and honest discussions about what it takes to get to the top. Until we learn how career progression is impacted by choices, work-life balance really will be a farce.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Being Laid-Off Might Not Be So Bad
So this post follows-up to my previous post & comment - why I feel like being unemployed might be a good thing. I know that people may read this and think that I'm ungrateful for the job I have (I might be) and that I'm nuts for thinking being unemployed could be good. Hear me out.
Fire in the Belly
As I've stated in the previous post, I've watched my friends and family members lose their jobs. It hasn't been a pretty sight and unfortunately most of them still do not have jobs. Some of them of become depressed and thrown themselves month long pity-parties. Others have thrown themselves hook-line-and-sinker into finding out what they want out of a job and developing a plan to find it. They've followed Oprah's advice, and begun to do some serious soul-searching to find answers to questions such as: What aspects of my previous job did I love or hate? What will make me happy? What am I good at? What are my needs and wants from a job? What kind of career or job is for me?
Those who took a week or two to sit under a tree and contemplate their navel now have found satisfying jobs that pay well and most are in a different industry from where they were before. I understand this might not be for everyone; most of us need one or two incomes and have major financial responsibilities that, after a layoff, can be difficult to keep up with. I hear ya. I am suggesting though that if you have been laid off, take advantage of the time you have to contemplate your navel. Doing this will help you hone your job search, you'll know what you want and when you know what you want you can sell yourself better to future employers.
This gets to my final point: Get that fire in your belly - develop your idea of your perfect job and go after it. Unlike us employed folk, you have nothing to lose.
Global Competition & A Lesson Learned
While I might be ungrateful for my job, those of you who don't have one might no longer be. This is something I cannot stress enough - most of us Americans have been blessed with the ability to work. We've experienced low-levels of unemployment in comparison to many emerging markets and I feel that this has caused us to take our jobs for granted.
Global competition is increasing, just take a look at what's happening to GM and Chrysler. Asian countries have been able to build better quality cars for a cheaper price. I, like many of you, feel upset and sorry for those who work in the GM and Chrysler factories & dealerships. They specialized in an industry where union contracts and a poor growth strategy caused them to lose their jobs. What's worse is that because they got promised more in salaries than the going rate overseas it's unlikely they'll find manufacturing jobs here in the US.
They took their jobs for granted - they thought they were safe and they're about to lose them.
Let this be a lesson to all of us; unless you're in a job that requires a clearance or is extremely specialized, consider yourself vulnerable to global competition. We're no long competing with just Americans, we're competing with the world. That means keep your eyes open, get a variety of different experiences and network. If you find yourself in a situation where your work is about to become outsourced or competition is eroding your company's profit margin, you'll be in a much better position if you've caught it early, have cross-trained yourself and built a network that can help you find your next position.
So why is being laid-off a good thing? It gives you a chance to dig deep, figure out what you want, get some fire in your belly and no longer take your job for granted. All of these things could pay huge dividends later, especially when competing with those of us who have weathered the storm with jobs and don't have nearly the drive that you all do.
Employed now? Read Alexandra Levitt's commentary on how to bring your passion to work: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124374051483469533.html
Fire in the Belly
As I've stated in the previous post, I've watched my friends and family members lose their jobs. It hasn't been a pretty sight and unfortunately most of them still do not have jobs. Some of them of become depressed and thrown themselves month long pity-parties. Others have thrown themselves hook-line-and-sinker into finding out what they want out of a job and developing a plan to find it. They've followed Oprah's advice, and begun to do some serious soul-searching to find answers to questions such as: What aspects of my previous job did I love or hate? What will make me happy? What am I good at? What are my needs and wants from a job? What kind of career or job is for me?
Those who took a week or two to sit under a tree and contemplate their navel now have found satisfying jobs that pay well and most are in a different industry from where they were before. I understand this might not be for everyone; most of us need one or two incomes and have major financial responsibilities that, after a layoff, can be difficult to keep up with. I hear ya. I am suggesting though that if you have been laid off, take advantage of the time you have to contemplate your navel. Doing this will help you hone your job search, you'll know what you want and when you know what you want you can sell yourself better to future employers.
This gets to my final point: Get that fire in your belly - develop your idea of your perfect job and go after it. Unlike us employed folk, you have nothing to lose.
Global Competition & A Lesson Learned
While I might be ungrateful for my job, those of you who don't have one might no longer be. This is something I cannot stress enough - most of us Americans have been blessed with the ability to work. We've experienced low-levels of unemployment in comparison to many emerging markets and I feel that this has caused us to take our jobs for granted.
Global competition is increasing, just take a look at what's happening to GM and Chrysler. Asian countries have been able to build better quality cars for a cheaper price. I, like many of you, feel upset and sorry for those who work in the GM and Chrysler factories & dealerships. They specialized in an industry where union contracts and a poor growth strategy caused them to lose their jobs. What's worse is that because they got promised more in salaries than the going rate overseas it's unlikely they'll find manufacturing jobs here in the US.
They took their jobs for granted - they thought they were safe and they're about to lose them.
Let this be a lesson to all of us; unless you're in a job that requires a clearance or is extremely specialized, consider yourself vulnerable to global competition. We're no long competing with just Americans, we're competing with the world. That means keep your eyes open, get a variety of different experiences and network. If you find yourself in a situation where your work is about to become outsourced or competition is eroding your company's profit margin, you'll be in a much better position if you've caught it early, have cross-trained yourself and built a network that can help you find your next position.
So why is being laid-off a good thing? It gives you a chance to dig deep, figure out what you want, get some fire in your belly and no longer take your job for granted. All of these things could pay huge dividends later, especially when competing with those of us who have weathered the storm with jobs and don't have nearly the drive that you all do.
Employed now? Read Alexandra Levitt's commentary on how to bring your passion to work: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124374051483469533.html
Friday, May 29, 2009
So Why Write?
I never thought I would ever participate in the blogosphere until this current financial crisis has caused several of my friends and family to lose their jobs. I guess you could say I'm lucky enough to still have mine, though I honestly feel it might be better to be unemployed (explanation will follow on a separate post). Our country has gone through a lot over the past 2 years; our financial climate and institutions look very different, we've racked up an enormous amount of debt and emerging markets like China, India and Brazil are finding themselves invited to tables previously reserved for the G-8.
So that answers the economic part, but how does this affect me at work? That's the question I'm hoping to help answer throughout this blog. Americans need to better understand how each hour they slave away in an office, construction site, school or church ends up affecting the US and global economies. It's not just the hours though that we need to better understand, it’s how the income we end up using to buy and sell goods & services from this work affects the economy.
Without employment, people do not have money to spend. When people do not have money to spend, businesses do not sell their goods. When businesses do not sell their goods, suppliers do not make a profit. When businesses and suppliers can't earn a profit they stop producing finished goods, stop harvesting food, stop trading raw materials and the whole economy as we know it collapses. This is the point where the government then has a decision to make - bailout businesses or let them fail.
What many of us didn't realize is how critical of a role we all individually play in this vicious economic cycle. If it hadn't been for us (consumers) pulling out of the economy (along with a variety of other reasons), this deep recession could have been less painful than it will be. Let's get educated, let's understand what role we have in the global economy. Once we have a better understanding of our role and the different players, it's my belief that we can help mitigate future crises by being responsible and holding not only our leaders accountable but also ourselves.
So that answers the economic part, but how does this affect me at work? That's the question I'm hoping to help answer throughout this blog. Americans need to better understand how each hour they slave away in an office, construction site, school or church ends up affecting the US and global economies. It's not just the hours though that we need to better understand, it’s how the income we end up using to buy and sell goods & services from this work affects the economy.
Without employment, people do not have money to spend. When people do not have money to spend, businesses do not sell their goods. When businesses do not sell their goods, suppliers do not make a profit. When businesses and suppliers can't earn a profit they stop producing finished goods, stop harvesting food, stop trading raw materials and the whole economy as we know it collapses. This is the point where the government then has a decision to make - bailout businesses or let them fail.
What many of us didn't realize is how critical of a role we all individually play in this vicious economic cycle. If it hadn't been for us (consumers) pulling out of the economy (along with a variety of other reasons), this deep recession could have been less painful than it will be. Let's get educated, let's understand what role we have in the global economy. Once we have a better understanding of our role and the different players, it's my belief that we can help mitigate future crises by being responsible and holding not only our leaders accountable but also ourselves.
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