Get Rid of The Outdated Long Hours Culture and Work Smartly

The next in my theme about the most difficult situations managers have to face, is all about changing that long hours culture and having the courage to embrace flexible working as a win/win concept. In week one I wrote about How to make Managing Poor Performance Easy, last week I tackled those Difficult conversations So here are my tips on creating a healthier way of working.

It amazes me that in this century we are still talking about a long hours culture. Research completed in the UK by the TUC, reported in the Independent earlier this year states that employees in the UK work an average of 7.18 hours in unpaid overtime every week. Interestingly, a recently published survey by Ortus Recruitment showed that only 1 in 10 professionals consider flexible working to be important, amidst speculation this is because they believe it will only be introduced to benefit the business. “The TUC said some unpaid overtime was down to heavy workloads, but it believes much of the extra hours being put in were down to “pointless presenteeism”, with staff judged on the hours spent at their desk rather than the work they do”. I’ve worked in and with many organisations with a long hour’s culture, although I’ve never subscribed to such a senseless way of working personally, and if it were demanded of me, I would have asserted my rights. Before you get the picture that I cheerily leave the office on the stroke of 5.30 every day, I have to say just because I don’t subscribe to a long hours culture, doesn’t mean I sometimes don’t work long hours, because I do, but not because of the culture, but because the ebbs and flows of the work demand it, at times, but not all of the time. I have known leaders who have judged an employee’s performance by the number of hours they’ve worked, or how late they stayed at the office, but frankly they didn’t engender respect because employees knew their judgement was ill-conceived and more about either wielding power, or as a crutch to stifle their fear of not being able to deliver. We live 24/7 lives, and economically every employer wants to get every last penny of value from their salaried employees, of course they do.  Although anyone with any real management skills understands if a permanent long hour’s culture is necessary then the business is not being managed well and will not be sustained over the long term. That’s not to say there aren’t times when employees might be expected to pull out the stops occasionally, for example; if there is a rush order, crisis or a situation which is temporary or seasonal. This has to be balanced with sensible give and take, and a mature attitude and commitment to get done what needs to be done. Some organisations are resistant to introducing a flexible working regime, or  have created a long hours culture, and are scared to let it go because they believe employees will take advantage of them and want it all their own way. This reluctance I believe stems from a lack of confidence to introduce a way of working flexibly with a win/win outcome. I don’t advocate it’s always easy, but it can be done. If you have a long hour’s culture or a rigid 9 – 5 culture and you want to change it: Here are some suggestions how to achieve a healthier way of working, which will allow you to ditch long hours for good. 1.  Operate a Smart Performance Regime Set outcome-based targets and objectives. This will allow employees the freedom to fit work around their own particular style of working as well as their lifestyle. Objectives can be adjusted depending on capability and business needs, but the focus is not on watching the clock Evaluate productivity. Long hours do not necessarily mean that employees are working to full capacity. It might be that someone who leaves at 3.30pm to pick up the kids every day is more productive than someone who stays till 6.30pm. Continuously improve efficiency or lean ways of working. The aim here is to make processes and procedures slick and time-bound, the focus being on reducing hours rather than extending them. 2.  Cost out the commercial benefits of a workforce with a healthy work/life balance Gather together the associated costs with unhealthy working hours. Stress-related absence; or even higher than average sick absence, may be costing the business dearly. The costs of presenteeism, where people attend work when they are ill, are higher than if they were absent. A healthy working pattern can increase employee engagement, lead to greater commitment, reduce turnover, to name a few of the benefits. Develop a matrix of improvements you’d like to see as a result of operating more flexibly to fit with your team’s lifestyle, so you can measure the win/win element. 3.  Set out clear standards and bottom line expectations There are always boundaries and it is being clear about what these are. If people want to leave early sometimes, then there are always provisos. For example if there are minimum volumes of work to be done or standards have to be met, or even if there has to be someone there to answer the phone. Don’t micromanage, but let teams sort out the arrangements themselves. If standards aren’t met then make sure the team is made accountable. Make it clear flexibility is ok, but that the work has to be done. 4.  Plan for ebbs and flows Employees need to understand the pattern of ebbs and flows. Although there will always be some unexpected emergencies where employees might need to stay, most situations can be planned. Set out what needs to be done and give the team ownership for delivering. 5.  Show genuine gratitude when employees do pull out the stops Never let additional effort go without at the very least a “Thank You”. Employees like being appreciated. They want to feel they are making a difference just as much as you do. They will feel they are, if you sincerely feel gratitude to them for going the extra mile when the situation demands. Remember a healthy work culture may include times when it is right for employees to work long hours for short periods. Motivated and happy staff will often “up their game” when crisis hits or change is occurring. The trick is to recognise when a long hours’ culture is in place simply for the sake of it. This is when good workers become demotivated as otherwise great performance is ignored because they don’t choose to burn the midnight oil. If you’d like to find out more about Leadership Development and the work we do at People Discovery, then read our great new monthly Ezine:  Issue 2 is out now!  The Extra MILE

Why not sign up to get your  free copy direct to your mail box and when we send you your first issue, we will also send you a copy of our free E-book The Best Business Advice I Ever Received!

Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles.

People Discovery is a Leadership Development coaching consultancy,  based in North East England, working globally.

By Christina Lattimer

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Approaching Difficult Conversations With Confidence

This week I’m continuing on my theme setting out some of the most difficult situations managers have to face. Last week I wrote about How to make Managing Poor Performance Easy, and this week I set out the steps I believe are essential to successfully hold those difficult conversations, which only become easier with experience and practice. 

The worst kinds of conversation are those when you have to deliver a negative message to a team member. Whether it is a performance, behaviour or skill set problem, there is something in our human make-up which just makes us feel uncomfortable with the whole thing.

There are many reasons managers don’t tackle negative influences at work.  Sometimes, they just don’t like confrontation, have a misguided sense of politeness, or secretly hope the situation will quickly right itself.  Other times, they know there is something wrong, but just don’t trust their instincts.  And finally some doubt their own ability to be able to have that difficult conversation successfully, and fear counter accusations or even worse the dreaded employee dispute.

They may well rationalise and justify their reasons for leaving things as they are, although secretly feeling resentful and angry inside.  Often the negativity becomes a persuasive culture where substandard performance and behaviour become acceptable. After all if one or two people don’t show up firing on all cylinders, why should the rest of the team?

Unfortunately, some managers struggle about where to draw the line and avoid having that difficult conversation. Very rarely does the negative situation just go away, and the result is layer upon layer of annoyance, frustration and resentment.

In the meantime, the person displaying the poor performance, unwanted behaviour or undeveloped skillset is often blissfully unaware they are causing such unrest; or they simply have been allowed to act in that way for so long, they think it’s acceptable.

It’s not all bad news, because with a simple systematic approach and a positive mind set, managers can have those difficult conversations and achieve a win/win result, increase confidence and achieve clarity about when to step in. Here is how:

1.      Never act when you are feeling negative

Being impersonal and unattached to the problem are crucial determinates of a successful outcome. If you try to tackle a problem when you are feeling frustrated or angry, then you will likely be accusatory, or otherwise alienate the employee. There is nothing wrong with expressing your concern, but own your emotions, don’t blame someone else for them. If you feel uncomfortably emotionally charged, then wait until it passes and follow the steps below before planning how and when you are going to speak to the person.

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy”.  Aristotle

2.      Gather your facts

Writing down your concerns with specific examples and more importantly quantifying the impact on the business or team is essential.  Quite often you are so busy, you know incidents or situations keep happening, but the whole big picture becomes distorted, or blurred.  Getting it down in writing, helps give you clarity and perspective.

3.      Be clear about the standards you expect and why

Refer to organisational standards, or if they aren’t in place, take this as your red flag to set some. Instinctively you know when someone’s actions are below par. The trick to testing your instincts for validity is to identify which standard, code or policy the employee’s action is breaching. If you can’t identify any, then you haven’t set out your expectations, and this is your first step.

4.      Decide what you want to achieve out of having the conversation

You are having the conversation because you need something about the person’s behaviour, performance or skill-set, to change. You need to be clear about the change you want to happen, when, and what the consequences are if the changes don’t happen.

5.      State the facts and own your concerns

Never accuse, but own your concerns. Be factual and don’t personalise the feedback you are giving.  So for example saying “This is what I am seeing, and I am concerned about the impact this behaviour is having on the team” Or “I see that only 10 customer accounts have been dealt with this week” Are much more powerful ways of asserting the problem than “You are disrupting the team by this behaviour” or “You aren’t productive enough, we need more from you”

6.      Listen intently and keep an open mind

While you have a plan as to what you want to get out of the conversation, you also need to keep an open mind and listen intently to the employee is saying. Most people want to do a good job and there may be many reasons as to why they aren’t meeting expectations or standards.  You need to be flexible in your approach, depending on what the employee is reporting back to you.

7.      Reach common agreement about standards, but where you can’t; be assertive

One of the commonest problems managers fear is that the employee dismisses their concerns as not important.  So for example, if someone is 20 minutes late for work regularly twice a week, and their response is “Well it’s only 20 minutes it’s not a crime”, this where earlier research on impact is essential.

8.      Encourage suggestions for resolution and develop a clear plan going forward

Your way isn’t always the right way, and the employee may well have solutions which you haven’t thought of and which work better for them.  If the employee makes a suggestion which you don’t think will work, but they are adamant, let them have a go (assessing impact risk of course), simply restate the outcome you want and let them take the responsibility for achieving it.

9.      Plan an appropriate time and setting to talk to the employee

Sounds obvious, but the timing is crucial. It’s no good having a conversation when there is a faith based holiday the next day, or they are planning to go on their annual holiday. You also need to think about what they may have to do to improve and how quickly it needs to be achieved.  Much of course will also depend on the seriousness of the impact they are causing.

See also:   Handling Difficult Conversations At Work – Survey and Results Guide lpc.org.uk

“When asked to rate their own confidence in dealing with difficult conversations with any other individual at work, over two thirds of managers (68%) rated themselves as either extremely or very confident. However, when we put the same question to HR managers, only one in five (21%) felt that managers in their organisation were either extremely confident or very confident to address difficult conversations and almost half (47%) of those surveyed felt that managers were either extremely or very unconfident.  Furthermore, half of HR managers (48%) felt that difficult conversations are either frequently or often referred to HR when they could be effectively dealt with by the manager. Overall our results suggested that sensitive conversations are often being delayed, risking a detrimental effect on staff morale.”  Handling Difficult Conversations At Work – lpc.org.uk

If you’d like to find out more about Leadership Development and the work we do at People Discovery, then read our great new monthly Ezine:  The Extra MILE

Why not sign up to get your  free copy direct to your mail box and when we send you your first issue, we will also send you a copy of our free E-book “Don’t Just Smile – LAUGH” – The 5 Steps to Guarantee You a Happier Life!

Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles. People Discovery is a Leadership Development coaching consultancy,  based in North East England, working globally. By Christina Lattimer Follow us on  Google+

Are You Challenged By Poor Performance?

As a young manager, the second biggest challenge to get my head around was to identify when lagging performance became poor performance. The biggest challenge was then to determine what to do once that decision was made. The reason tackling poor performance was an even bigger challenge than naming it, was because once I knew what the problem was, I then had to deal with the personality of the poor performer, and as we all know, people react differently to the same information. In those early days of my career as a manager, I was also the youngest in the team and telling someone they weren’t cutting it was particularly daunting for me. I very quickly learned how to do this with damage limitation, and as my experience grew, I learned to help and support the poor performer in a much kinder and effective way. Here is some of what I learned.  Managing poor performance can be one of the most stressful parts of managing a team. The problem is of course; good managers know that the vast majority of employees want to come to work to do a good job. When an employee is not performing, more often than not it is either because: a)      They are in the wrong job b)      They have problems outside of work c)       They simply need more knowledge or information or understanding. It takes a skilled and experienced manager to be expert and slick when it comes to raising poor performance. Often teams become less than enchanted with their manager when the manager fails to address poor performance, even when the impact isn’t extreme. One of the most frustrating experiences for a team is when they feel they are carrying a member who is not pulling their weight, frustration can turn to stress when the manager simply does nothing about it Poor performance can appear at any stage in the employment life-cycle. Managers need to be extra vigilant in any trial period. I have seen managers give new employees the benefit of the doubt and live to rue the day they confirmed a permanent appointment, when they had experienced niggling doubts during that time and failed to listen to their intuition. What follows are some simple ways to help both prevent problems and when they do occur, what to do about them. Don’t ·         Miss the telling signs in the trial period. Follow up on any issues which arise during that time. ·         Wait until the next performance review. Deal with any emerging problems as soon as they become apparent. ·         Develop an attitude or fixed view of the employee, there may be many reasons for under-performance ·         Ignore what other people are saying about someone’s under-performance; subtly check it out, if you don’t at first agree ·         Wait until a major incident or disaster occurs ·         Wait until everyone else in the workplace is totally fed up because of the under-performance. ·         Confuse a performance issue with a conduct problem. Misconduct of course impacts on performance, but they are two totally different issues. ·         Wait until the under-performer goes off on sick leave. Do ·         Have a fair and equitable way of measuring performance for all employees ·         Use your internal policies and procedures for managing under-performance. Your policies should be designed to assist you to get it right.  If your policies hinder the process, they need to be rewritten. ·         Identify the precise areas of under-performance. Exactly what element of performance is the employee not achieving? Performance can be lack of productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, or an under developed skill set for example. ·         Gather clear examples and facts which demonstrate the level of performance. Do not rely on hearsay, because your boss told you to do it, or niggling doubts. ·         Keep an open mind about the reasons for under-performance. You do not know what is going on in the employee’s life. Don’t assume they are under-performing and they just can’t hack it. ·         Talk to the under-performer as soon as possible, and listen to what they have to say. Let them know you are concerned, not accusing. ·         Ask them about external factors, their own views about their performance, and what they think the expectations of them are. Ask them about training and skill sets. ·         Develop a clear and SMART action plan. The outcomes of the action plan must actually prove to you that the employee is capable and willing to bridge the performance gap, and be able to sustain it without constant supervision. ·         Be clear about the time-scale in which you require the performance to improve and for how long before you relax monitoring. ·         Meet regularly and give honest accurate feedback about their progress. Listen to them and amend the action plan if there are credible reasons for lack of progress, but stick to your agreed time-scale except if there are exceptional circumstances. ·         Give them every support in terms of training, mentoring, materials and guidance they might need. ·         Be kind. The majority of people want to do well at work and it can be a nightmare experience for them if for some reason their performance isn’t up to scratch. Genuinely wish them well and hope that they succeed. ·         Be confident. You know how you want your team to work. Don’t settle for anything less, and expect great not mediocre results for your team. If you manage poor performance well and manage to raise performance, then this not only instils a sense of achievement for the employee, but also gives a great message out to other staff that you are fair and tuned in to what is happening. Your team might not know when poor performance is being tackled. But they certainly do know if it is not being addressed at all. See also  Poor performing workers biggest drain on HR departments, survey reveals If you’d like to find out more about Leadership Development and the work we do at People Discovery, then read our great new monthly Ezine:  The Extra MILE Why not sign up to get your  free copy direct to your mail box and when we send you your first issue, we will also send you a copy of our free E-book “Don’t Just Smile – LAUGH” – The 5 Steps to Guarantee You a Happier Life!

Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles. People Discovery is a Leadership Development coaching consultancy,  based in North East England, working globally. By Christina Lattimer Follow us on  Google+