Employee Engagement

Towers Perrin recently released the results of its global survey of employee engagement. "Just 21% of the close to 90,000 respondents worldwide are engaged in their work, meaning they’re willing to go the extra mile to help their companies succeed." The rest are at various levels of disengagement.

"What’s perhaps more troubling, 38% are partly to fully disengaged. The result is an 'engagement gap' between the discretionary effort companies need and people actually want to invest, and companies’ effectiveness in channeling this effort to
enhance performance. The study also found that companies with the highest levels of employee
engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement."

Link to the study: http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/getwebcachedoc?webc=HRS/USA/2008/200802/GWS_handout_web.pdf

Startling results like this beg the question: what can organizations do to improve employee engagement and discretionary effort? It is critical that companies pursue full engagement as anything less than full engagement represents enormous waste. If your greatest business expense is benefits, salaries, and wages, wouldn't you want to maximize your investment and be sure you were receiving maximum effort? It is always startling that the efficiency, Six Sigma, and LEAN experts seem to miss this one. The greatest waste in your company occurs anytime a staff member gives anything less than maximum effort.

So what can be done? Many things, but according to the study, we can start by:

1. Creating a hiring model that ensures the selection of those who will produce maximum effort.

2. Building a cohesive, clear, and effective senior leadership team that will set the tone in the organization. The Towers Perrin study shows we have a long way to go in this area.

3. Recognizing the positive, even simple, ordinary greatness that is in your company. Everyday there are heroes who are solving customer problems and representing you well -- find these heroes and thank them.

4. Holding leaders accountable to hiring, spotting, developing, and retaining those who bring their passion with them to work every day. Until people see that this matters to the boss, change is unlikely to come.

What has worked for you? How have you improved employee engagement and discretionary effort? What do you see that is in the way?

Farewell to Pontiac

This week GM announced plans to pull the plug on the Pontiac brand. This was tough news for me to take for sentimental reasons as the Pontiac Sunbird was the first car I ever bought at a dealership, with a car loan ($164.22 a month). Made me feel like such a grownup. It was 1992, and the dealership was Wade Raulerson in Gainesville, Florida. The 1992 Sunbird is pictured to the right -- white like mine. And yes, a four-door. How many 22-year olds buy a four-door? I traded that car in for an SUV days before my first son was born. We needed something bigger, you know. Well, he'll be a teenager next month, and I still have that SUV, which is a link to the Sunbird, so you're starting to catch on to the sentimentality.

Anyway, it is a reminder that no company or brand has the right to exist. We all have to make our way and prove our worth and value. And while I loved my Sunbird, I got rid of it before the head gasket blew (as that model was prone), and I have to remind myself this was the same brand that rolled out the Fiero (it was supposed to be a cheaper Corvette and ended up being a more expensive Citation) and the Aztec (a recent winner in an "ugliest car ever" contest).

Also, Pontiac has created some iconic advertising. Advertising Age has a slide show containing some of the ads -- fun to look at, and yes, I remember some of them -- you will, too.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136319

So, I guess the lesson here is to stay vigilant about your business, but more importantly, stay relevant. Because for some reason, I never bought another Pontiac after that Sunbird, and I guess there were too many others like me.

"Mr. Irrelevant"

Every football fan knows the NFL Draft was held this past weekend, with the Detroit Lions selecting Matthew Stafford with the coveted first pick. Stafford and all the other first-round picks have gotten a lot of attention as the focus now shifts to how (and if) they will be able to help their new teams and to the big contracts they will all sign. A side question: what kind of system rewards the newest, most unproven people with the most money?
But the first rounders don’t always get all of the attention. Every year, the last pick in the draft is honored as “Mr. Irrelevant” by a group in California created and headed up by former NFL wide receiver Paul Salata, who played in the NFL for one year. Salata’s group invites Mr. Irrelevant to Newport Beach for “Irrelevant Week” and the awarding of the “Lowsman Trophy” (opposite of “Heisman” and pictured above) It’s all in great fun, the proceeds go to benefit the Orange County Goodwill Fitness Center, and the designee often joins the festivities to be part of the scene. This has been going on since 1976, and according to the group’s website (http://www.irrelevantweek.com/), there will be lots of enjoyable activities to greet this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Ryan Succop, from the University of South Carolina, chosen as the 256th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, you’d think the last overall pick in the draft wouldn’t stand much of a chance of success, and sometimes you’d be right. Some Mr. Irrelevants didn’t even make the roster of the team that drafted them (anyone heard from Cam Quayle, 1998’s Mr. Irrelevant?), but there have been some surprises. According to irrelevantweek.com, there are currently four past “winners” playing in the league, Bill Kenney (1978) was a Pro Bowl player, and Marty Moore (1994) became the first “Mr. I” to play in a Super Bowl.
This got me thinking about how often we might miss talented players, employees, colleagues, and others in our midst. How many “Mr. or Ms. Irrelevants” are in our lives? These might be the people who would be last on our list, but have the potential to surprise us with their talents and abilities if we only take the time to notice them.
This summer when the NFL teams go to training camp, while everyone else is watching the top picks, I’ll be keeping an eye on Ryan Succop, a really good kicker from South Carolina. When I’m watching him, I hope I’ll be reminded to not let anyone in my life be “irrelevant.”

Ben Stein on Sales

Ben Stein's column in The New York Times rarely disappoints, and this week is no exception. He opines on the value of the art of salesmanship and how transferable sales skills are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26every.html?_r=1

Raising Bill Gates

Fascinating article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. "Raising Bill Gates" is an in-depth look at the early life of Bill Gates and what his parents did right and lessons they learned in bringing him up. Here's what I captured and as the father of three will try to put into practice:

1. Don't freak out when children's interests, talents, and desires begin to diverge from your own. This is natural.

2. They will be independent of you at some point, so when that process begins, go with it. It was only when the Gates began to let young Bill follow his hunches (including leaving college) and stopped trying to control him that he really blossomed.

3. A man named Dorm Braman had a huge impact on young Bill Gates, Sr. when he was a child. The lessons he learned from Braman were put to use as he raised Bill Jr. I loved what Sr. had to say about Braman: he had "no sense of personal limitations whatsoever."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124061372413054653.html

What Works in Sales

Famed reality TV producer Mark Burnett is claiming that producers like himself can do a better job selling ad space on these shows than professional ad sales people.

Burnett is producer of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." Maybe I'll write about "The Celebrity Apprentice" next week. Anyway...

During a gathering of reality hitmakers at a Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, Burnett was asked by moderator Jeff Probst what is the most frustrating aspect of dealing with networks.

"The biggest problem is the massive disconnect ... between creative producers and ad sales," the "Apprentice" creator said. "The dumbest thing in the world is that the people who are trying to sell advertising -- the entire reason for this business -- are explaining what the content is after hearing about it third-hand. We're not there to say, 'Here's what the show is, here's my vision, here's the feel of it, and here's how I think some of your products could integrate seamlessly without harming the experience for the viewers.'"

He's right -- I believe he could create a more compelling sales proposition for advertisers because they would be hearing him describe his vision. Not a professional salesman describe Mark's vision as it was described to him (third hand).

More proof that sales and communications comes down to two things: clarity (a clear message) and credibility (an interesting messenger).

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2b46d200e6140dd0146572e6e431f8ef

Obama's "Rounding"

John Baldoni has a very good post on the Harvard Business blog. It deals with Obama's recent efforts to be visible to the CIA employees and his "making rounds" there. Contains some very good morale-boosting tips.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/04/what.html

Health Care's a Mess, But I Like My Doc!!

Came across this item on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog today: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/22/patients-theres-waste-in-medicine-but-my-doctor-is-perfect/

Americans are typically unhappy with the state of health care delivery in America today, but they love their individual personal physician. (I would have to include myself in this category as well.) Reminds me that even when Congress has low overall approval ratings, expect an overwhelming majority of individual members of Congress to be re-elected. ("Congress sucks, but my guy is good.")

Also saw these results of a Harris Poll a little over a year ago in which Americans stated things in the country were bad, but as the questions got closer to home, the more positive the responses became.

I wonder why. Is it just because we are more optimistic about the things we know and feel we can control (like the choice of a physician)? Or is this positivity the only way we can cope in an increasingly hectic world?

Traits of a "Kitchen Nightmare"

NPR today did a spot on Gordon Ramsay's show "Kitchen Nightmares." I would recommend this show on Fox to anyone who is interested in culture change. The concept is that successful chef Gordon Ramsay is asked to come to a struggling restaurant and act as a sort of consultant -- find out why it is in trouble and provide the owner with the know-how and juice to turn it around, all the while showcasing Ramsay's charisma, profanity, and ego. But the show works. I've seen a few of the episodes, and it seems that all of the struggling restaurants have these three things in common:

bad leadership/ownership

bad food

filthy kitchen

I suppose service could be listed as well, but often after the above three are taken care of, the service seems to improve. It's almost as if the staff is waiting to see if leadership really cares enough to improve the food and clean the place up. Oh, and after a few months, Gordon returns, and the places have inevitably gone back to chaos. Which shows how tough changing a culture (even in a small restaurant) really is.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103321043&ft=1&f=1008

Accountability, NBA Style

For a team to be effective, it must be accountable. This doesn't mean that the players or team members are only accountable to their coach or leader. This is one-way accountability. True accountability flows in all directions, with players and team members accountable to one another. There is a good example of this in the Atlanta paper from last month. Al Horford of the Hawks in only his second year is holding his team mates accountable for their effort and performance. He is becoming a true leader way beyond his 23 years. Oh, and he isn't the best player or the biggest scorer. He's just a leader.

He’s different because he’s a second-year pro and leading this team —- often by example, sometimes by his words, even in the face of a veteran teammate.
How many second-year pros do that?
“I did it at Florida when I felt I had to,” Horford said Thursday. “I did it in high school. Here, I’ve done it a couple of times.”
Anticipating the next question, he quickly veered left: “I’m not going to name names. But if I see that somebody is not necessarily putting in the effort or is slacking off and it’s noticeable, I’m going to say something. Usually I’m very mellow. But sometimes I think something needs to be said, even if I put it out there in front of the whole team, even to the point where the guys might be mad at me for a day or two. I think it’s for the best."

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/20/schultz0320.html

Frantic Family

The schoolteacher of my fourth-grade son paid my wife an amazing compliment today. She said, "You know what I really admire about you and your family? You're not one of those overscheduled, hurried families who involve their kids in every single activity."

While it felt good to get this kind of feedback, she had to give a lot of credit to a book, "3 Big Questions for the Frantic Family." It helped us define what makes our family unique, the most important thing we have to accomplish together as a family, and how we are going to keep communicating these priorities. Has really helped us avoid the "well, everyone else is doing (fill in the blank activity), so I guess we should too." We led a small group at our church based on this book, and I know it helped many other families as well.

Pat discusses the book in Success Magazine: http://www.successmagazine.com/dynamic-family/PARAMS/article/665

"Take Your Passion With You" (Excerpt from "Ordinary Greatness")

"It's surprising how many people come home from relatively 'clean' jobs at the end of the day feeling bitter and miserable. Whereas the people I meet, by and large, seem really content with their lives, and happy with their dirty jobs. " -- Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe, host of TV’s “Dirty Jobs,” was asked by Fast Company magazine to share some tips and some life lessons he has learned as he has gone around the country spending time with people who do some of what most of us would refer to as the most disgusting jobs. Number one on his list was: “Never follow your passion, but by all means bring it with you.” (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/seven-dirty-habits-of-highly-effluent-people.html) This struck us as great advice. Some say, “Follow your passion.” Dumb advice. If I simply followed my passion, I’m afraid most days I wouldn’t stop tossing the football around the backyard with my sons. I’m most passionate about spending time with my family, but of course, that has to be balanced with a need to make money, fulfill other obligations, etc. So we love Mike’s advice – take your passion with you wherever you go.

Just watching Mike’s show gives some insight to this concept. While everyone he visits is doing a dirty job, and for the most part, it seems, not getting rich doing it, every person he works alongside of is engaged and showing passion for the work. Can someone really be passionate about collecting chicken manure or scrubbing the inside of cement mixers? I doubt it. Instead, I think these people have brought their passion with them, and no matter what they were doing, they would be passionate about it. They just would be. Now, does it help to do work we find interesting? Of course. But we’ve also met executives who work in much nicer surroundings and make more money but who are miserable and exhibit less passion for their work than Mike’s friends. They have a great job, but they haven’t brought their passion with them.

Best Book on Teamwork Ever Written

I know I am biased because I am a consulting partner of the author Patrick Lencioni's firm, but this is the best book ever written on teamwork.

Culture Drives Innovation

I saw an item today based on research conducted by The University of Minnesota. It found that building a strong culture is an underrated, yet vital element of innovative, creative outcomes. You might say "duh," but there are a lot of companies spending a lot of money on Six Sigma and creativity programs and not seeing results because of the lack of a strong culture.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/uom-uom111808.php

"The Guy Who Didn't Deserve His Own Show"

One of the side-effects of my constant travel schedule is arriving at hotels in new cities late at night or early in the morning, and being unable to sleep, too excited by either the harrowing travel or the events of the next day. I’ve learned to appreciate the ability of late-night TV to slow down my nerves and help me sleep. Late-night TV is mostly a wasteland of infomercials and B-movies, but one of the bright spots for me has been “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” on NBC. I’ve only caught a handful of the shows, but it can always be counted on for a laugh it seems. It was interesting to see recently that Conan has aired his final show, as he will be succeeding Jay Leno as “Tonight Show” host when Jay steps down later this year -- according to Conan, a dream of his come true.

Conan’s career path also contains many lessons for leaders, I believe. You see, when Conan was offered the role of host of “Late Night” in 1993 (after being encouraged to audition by the legendary producer of “Saturday Night Live” Lorne Michaels), he was following the very successful David Letterman, and Conan was a complete unknown. He had been a successful writer behind the scenes on “The Simpsons” and “Saturday Night Live,” but he had no show-hosting experience. Many experts in the entertainment field were quite surprised and maybe even a bit offended that someone they did not know well had been chosen to host “Late Night.” In fact, NBC even acknowledged this perception in a radio ad which aired shortly before the show's debut that year that had O'Brien telling the story of someone who recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!"

And his tenure was not without its bumps. For example, the first three years, NBC insisted on renewing the show only on a two-week basis at a time, as its survival was not guaranteed. Then Conan and his staff began hitting their stride. The shows became consistently funny, ratings improved, and the show developed a loyal following, especially among high-school and college-age kids. This provided some comedic fodder for O’Brien on his 10th Anniversary Special. Mr. T appeared on the special to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for ten years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool...but you've only been funny for seven!"

What’s the lesson for leaders? Well, first of all, greatness in others is not always readily apparent. Sixteen years ago, no one was predicting that Conan would be such a successful host with such a legion of fans that he would actually be the next host of the “Tonight Show” after Jay Leno. His greatness was under the surface. He appeared to be an ordinary man, the “guy who doesn’t deserve his own show.” It took a visionary like Lorne Michaels to see the “ordinary greatness” in Conan.

Second, the lesson is that people need time. It might take a while to see ordinary greatness in others – don’t give up. You might have to keep an eye on things weekly like the NBC folks, but the results will be there.

So tonight, before you watch “Late Night” or go to bed early, be sure you have recognized greatness somewhere around you. Oh, and be sure to not just recognize it, but to tell someone you have. Here are some phrases to get you started:

I haven’t told you this in a while, but thank you for….
You might think that no one noticed when you…
Thank you for making my job easier when you…
Thank you for always taking such good care of our customers. I know they don’t always say thank you, so let me…


There is ordinary greatness everywhere you live. If it’s not apparent, you might have to be open to it and give it time. But the return on your investment will make it worth it, and you might find the next Conan!

Ordinary Greatness

Just wanted to remind everyone about my book "Ordinary Greatness," published by Wiley and in stores in July. It is available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Greatness-Where-Expect-Everywhere/dp/0470461721/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237848509&sr=8-1

Part of the fun of writing a book like “Ordinary Greatness” is the opportunity to connect people with the greatness inside themselves, those they lead, and in fact, everyone around them. We found that as we researched the book, there were in every organization multiple opportunities to find greatness, and our goal was to equip leaders with tools to ensure that they could find that greatness even in places where they least expect to find it.
We were constantly reminded of leaders we know who, because of their busy schedule, frantic life, and overall hectic existence, walk past greatness every day because it appears so ordinary. Then we realized that far from being the exception, this has become the norm: greatness gets overlooked on a daily basis due to how it is encapsulated. Ordinary people do great things in the business environment, but these individuals and their deeds go largely unnoticed. Leaders simply fail to grasp what is right there in front of them.
This is further evidenced by clients who bring us into their organizations to solve a problem. We soon realize that they’ve had everything needed to successfully resolve the issue all along—they just don’t see it.
This book will analyze the invisibility of ordinary greatness, how it happens and what it is, how leaders can learn to open their eyes and recognize it regardless of its frame or context. This can be a wakeup call for you as you work every day to keep employees engaged and passionate about their work.

Welcome to my blog!

Well, it has happened -- dream come true -- I am now blogging! I hope that all of you will find this site both helpful and entertaining -- I'm sure I will!