DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Have we crowned the wrong folk hero?

By Barry Stern

It’s 6:21 AM Eastern Time on Thursday, August 12th and I just Googled our new folk hero Steven Slater - 4,840,000 results. He has clearly touched an international nerve as a courageous representative for all the downtrodden masses of customer service providers. But I’d like to express my anger and frustration at the folk hero status ole’ Steve seems to have achieved. The high or low point depending on your vantage point was my viewing of Jimmy Fallon’s “Ballad of Steven Slater” the other night on his talk show. Now stories of course are emerging about his apparent instability or that his “fuse was lit”.

As a frequent traveler, this saga certainly caught my attention; I too have felt like exploding at people countless times over the last 25 years of travel. In fact, I felt like clobbering the woman in the row in front of me 2 nights ago who screamed at her kids for the entire flight when all they were doing was being kids.  Or the idiot in the seat in back of me who really didn’t need the phone he was talking on for the person on the other end to hear him before they closed the hatch. You know, I really didn’t need to hear you strut your stuff about your big “deal.” I get it, you’re a very important man, so important it just couldn’t wait. But I had a book to read and I was exhausted, grumpy, and just wished I wasn’t on the plane. I really just wanted to tell you that I thought you sounded like a complete arrogant idiot. But the point is, I didn’t.

I will never forget the angry man sitting in front of me many years ago who was so hostile to a flight attendant that he literally dropped his newspaper in front of her in the aisle in the hope that she would trip.  Or the idiots on my trip back from Puerto Rico who came on board with boatloads of duty free liquor, stuffed them into the first class luggage compartment when they were in coach, and so abused the flight attendants that the pilot eventually had to threaten to land the plane prior to our destination. But these flight attendants held it together. You could see them gather themselves, their training and mindset kicking in.  They are my folk heroes.

I’d like to celebrate you and everyone in your organization who provides customer service. It’s a skill and a motivation, one which you have and companies select for and develop. I’d like to put in each and every one of your names and get 6 Million results. I want your internet presence to out-Slater Slater. I’d like to see your pictures all over the internet coupled with testimonials from clients who were upset about the fact that they didn’t get the prescriptions they need, that their paychecks weren’t deposited, or panicked about how they were going to get to their city after missing their connection. I’d like them to tell us all about how well you handled that situation, and in the end how you brightened their day and alleviated their fears.

I’d like to see stories about how in the face of dealing with the most ornery, unreasonable, and threatening customers your fuses remain “unlit”. You are my real folk heroes.

I want to hear from YOU. Who are the customer services heroes in your lives, in your companies?  Send me a post. Let’s give them their due!  

Barry Stern is vice president, Consulting Services and Delivery for Development Dimensions International (DDI). Follow him on Twitter.

A Country Music Classic Turned Workplace Reality

By Craig Irons

The workplace is a demoralizing environment. Bosses are jerks. Employees feel trapped. Their debts are piled high. There’s trouble on the home front. 

Sounds like the plight of today’s American worker. But, as you may remember, we’ve heard it all before:  More than three decades ago in the late Johnny Paycheck’s country song, “Take This Job and Shove It."

Paycheck’s rowdy workingman anthem, which was written by fellow country music outlaw David Allan Coe, was a huge hit in the late 1970s, in no small part because it gave voice to an undercurrent of workplace angst that rang true for millions of people. 

Now, “Take This Job and Shove It” is again reflective of the times. In fact, any leader who really believes all of his or her team members are just happy to be working in this down job market, and are therefore engaged in their jobs, needs to revisit and listen closely to this song. 

The crude proclamation of the chorus is the hook, but the real story is revealed in the verses. The protagonist has toiled in the job for 15 years, and he harbors genuine disdain for his foreman he describes as “a regular dog” and the line boss with the flattop haircut who “thinks he’s cool.” He’s busting to get out and relishes the thought of seeing the look on his supervisors’ faces when he announces that he’s walking out the door for good.

When all is said and done, however, our disgruntled worker doesn’t go anywhere.  Because he lacks the guts? No. It’s because he can’t afford to quit. He stays in the job because he needs it. And our recent “Pulse of the Workforce” survey demonstrates that most people will only stay until something better comes along.

And that is the lesson modern-day leaders need to take from this timeless country song.  Your silently unhappy employees aren’t going to tell you what you can do with the job. At least not today, anyway. But once the job market rebounds, all bets are off.

What are you doing now to prevent it from happening?

Craig Irons is the editor of GO magazine for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Trick or . . . Recognition?

By Matt Collins

Halloween - scary costumes, decorations, pumpkins, hay rides and CANDY!  If you’d polled children on Saturday to find out their favorite aspect of Halloween, they'd almost assuredly have put candy in the number one spot.  But wait a second—why are the kids so excited? Don't they have candy all the time? 

Think about how this relates to employee recognition. You've probably been to houses during Halloween that load up your kids pillowcases with fistfuls of penny-a-piece hard. In these cases, the quantity of candy your child is receiving is much greater than average. But whoa! The next guy gave them each a king size candy bar!  Squeals of delight from the pirate and princess for something really memorable.

How much "candy" does it take for workers to feel they are valued?

For some employees, receiving frequent recognition is important to help them stay engaged in their job.  For others, they value the type of recognition more so than how often it occurs. The important thing is to ensure that you are determining the proper blend of recognition needs for your culture and individual employees. 

Now that Halloween is over, and the candy has been put away, are the kids in sweets withdrawal? Do your employees feel that same void when recognition for their efforts is overshadowed by economic worries and survival mode commentary? 

DDI's recently released survey, "Pulse of the Workforce", indicated that 42 percent of individual contributors feel as though their efforts are going unrecognized.  Of those, three in five say they will look for another job when the economy improves (four times the amount of those who do feel recognized).  What is your organization doing to avoid falling into this trap? 

Recall the reactions of kids you know this weekend as they received their favorite or not-so-favorite types of candy.  Then think about how your coworkers will react if you can identify the type of recognition that motivates them, and supply them accordingly. Don't just shower your coworkers with a bag of mixed goodies—send them their favorite sweets every now and then. They'll appreciate it, and maybe even send you some back. 

Matt Collins is marketing and sales coordinator for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Running Uphill

By Barry Stern, Ph.D.

After having been away from running for around 10 years and beginning to train again about month ago, Saturday I ran in a local 5K and had a blast!  Perhaps I was inspired by the upcoming New York City Marathon, which I completed in a blinding 1997 rainstorm that still brought out about 1,000,000 spectators (or as I thought of them that day, my closest friends) across the Five Boroughs. An incomprehensible celebration of human accomplishment, tolerance, collegiality, and diversity, to this day the experience continues to produce psychic returns.

Less vivid are my memories of the 5AM training runs, or the missed family Sundays when I “went long” with my training partner. Nor do I much reflect on the occasional nausea, the aches, pains, blisters, cold, or the uphill runs when right before blessed relief at the top of some crucifying hill in Chesterland, Ohio, my heart felt like it was about to punch through the back of my ribcage. But there is a steel-like mental connection of that marathon peak experience with those long hours of excruciating training. 

Today it feels to many of my colleagues and our clients that we see the top of that heart pounding hill and perhaps can even glimpse at what’s beyond. The more optimistic of us feel that marathon day is approaching. And we know that getting to this point in some semblance of health has meant we’ve developed new muscle. And yet, for all too many leaders, this singular focus has come at the expense of those they lead.

Understandably, leaders have focused their efforts on managing costs, ensuring profitability, doing more with less, and chasing revenue. But what has been the toll on human capital? Consider these harrowing statistics from our recently completed Pulse of the Workforce survey:

• 55% of those surveyed say they will move to another company if they have the opportunity
• 51% feel stagnant and only 29% of those folks feel like they’re interested in what they do. A typical comment is “same old thing, day after day.”
• 44% of stagnant workers plan on actively looking for another job when the economy improves. Typical comment: “I’m just killing time until the economy improves”.

Many of us feel that our organizations have been left with “the best” as a result of these times. But what actions is your company taking now to ensure that your world class runners are entered and ready for the race?

Barry Stern is vice president, Consulting Services and Delivery for Development Dimensions International (DDI). Follow him on Twitter.

Vision? Whose Vision?

By Matt Paese, Ph.D.

I’ll never forget a conference years ago where I met nice guy whose business card is still somewhere in my desk. Under his name reads the coveted title, “Visionary”. A title like this clearly screams for inquiry, so I couldn’t help asking, but in our short exchange, I never quite figured out how he got the title or what his job was. Now years later, I find myself wondering again.

A short while ago I hung up the phone with a senior executive who runs the web operation for a global retailer. We were discussing a candidate for a major role on his executive team, and a question came up…about vision.

She’s a shoe-in for the job, but her soon-to-be boss asked, “Can she sell the vision?” This organization’s web strategy is new, unique, and will require big change. Not everyone will understand it, and some will almost certainly resist it. 

The well-striped candidate in question is even-tempered, focused and driven, pragmatic, and at times a bit too much so on all these fronts. No doubt she can drive the strategy, but what if she can’t get anyone to believe in the vision? I’m left with a different question:

Where should vision come from, and why should we have to “sell” it?

Doesn’t the phrase “sell the vision” suggest that we’ve already missed the opportunity to involve others in its construction? I know there are some who are clearly better at seeing future possibilities than others, and there are some (often not the same people) who are better at communicating what that brighter future might look like. But is it true that great vision can only be generated from the unique minds of a few “visionaries”? 

I don’t think so. 

While nuggets of possibility are often born from the minds of individuals, it’s only when these nuggets are tumbled by the imaginations of an engaged team that the full measure of a vision is truly fashioned. There is then no need to sell a vision that is already owned by its buyers.

Recently a DDI survey revealed that more than half of US workers feel their careers are stagnant, largely because they’re not involved in challenging assignments.

Since we’re all rethinking the future, and since so many of our associates are feeling stagnant, maybe we should rethink the notion of “the visionary leader”, and begin considering “the visionary organization”. 

Matt Paese is the Vice President of Executive Solutions for  Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Have You Forgotten Aldo?

By Verity Bissett-Powell

After completing my university exams I had a couple of weeks to kill before graduating and joining the real world. I spent these days immersed in a pc game called “Sims” which allowed me to control various electronic individuals and build a community. I managed their well being and happiness through directing them when to eat, drink, relax, etc. Unfortunately multi-tasking these various activities was not always easy. While focusing on building a house for Dominic, I would neglect Aldo, resulting in him falling asleep at inappropriate moments of the day and Aldo’s ‘smiley face’ barometer flashing a dangerous red to catch my attention.

Over half of today’s workforce has reported that they are feeling stagnant. Consider this a flashing red barometer: your workforce is not smiling.

In the current slumping economy, organizations have redirected their focus towards productivity, selling, managing costs, and are neglecting their employees. These workers are unmotivated, uninspired, and uninterested. Of the individual contributors who said they felt stagnant 46% divulged that they “just do their job and go home”. These are the people producing your products, managing your money, and conversing with your customers. You cannot afford to ignore them.

How did I deal with Aldo? I found that spending some time checking his assorted barometers to see what he needed helped. In his case, food, shower, and sleep were the right solution to move the smiley face indicator toward green bars. I would recommend a different combination for your workers: Talk to them individually to discover their motivations, seek opportunities to give them exciting challenges, and show them how they directly contribute to organization success. You manage them. You can put smiles back on their faces.

Verity Bissett-Powell is a Consultant with Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Workplace on Stage

By Mike Hoban

Isn’t it curious how popular the workplace has become, not just as a backdrop but as a central theme - a theater of the absurd - for television entertainment?  It’s the “Dilbertization” of the airwaves and several shows are riding that airwave. You may tune in to the weekly misadventures of the misfits at “The Office,” led by clueless boss, Michael Scott. That office culture is disturbing, dysfunctional and dismaying. Oh yes, and hysterical. No matter how awful your own workplace might be, at least it’s not Dunder Mifflin, "The Office’s" fictional company.

“Scrubs” focuses on peculiar characters in a wacky workplace, in this case the hospital and “Ugly Betty” features the ugliness not so much of Betty, but of the office culture in the fashion industry. And two new sitcoms, “Parks and Recreation” and “Better off Ted,” position the workplace as a potentially outlandish parcel of the universe. In “Better off Ted,” the company motto is “Money before people.” Cynical. Snarky. And funny.

Fox has decided to play the genre differently with the upcoming “Someone’s gotta go”, a reality show about a work group deciding who among them will be laid off.  As a Fox executive said by way of explanation, "It's Survivor meets The Office."  Here’s one story about it. 

Of course, the workplace-as-humorous-existentialist-purgatory theme has a rich tradition.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show; M*A*S*H; Taxi; Night Court; Cheers; Welcome Back Kotter  used the ironies and absurdities of workplaces to make the point that work is more than just the source of a paycheck.

And I think that because of the blurring of work and non-work in our lives, the workplace has gotten more of our mindshare and has become a legitimate target of satire and social commentary. Yes, workplaces can be toxic, but calling out that toxicity and playing it for laughs acknowledges the human condition.

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).