Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Speculation and Confusion

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Joann’s agitation turned into confusion, predictably. “But, every interview I have ever been in, that question was asked.” We had been talking about my reasons for not asking the question -Where do you see yourself in 5 years-.

“Joann, what is the purpose of the interview process?”

“It’s to find out if this is the right person for the job,” she replied.

“Good answer. The purpose of the interview is for you to predict the future behavior of the candidate when they come to work for you. Tell me, what is the best predictor of future behavior?”

Joann thought for a long minute. “Well, we sometimes use a personality assessment.”

“Those are okay, but the best predictor of future behavior, statistically, is past behavior. If you want to know how someone is going to behave when they come to work for you, all you have to do is find out how they have behaved in similar situations in the past. The purpose of the interview is to collect facts about the person’s past behavior.

“The problem with your question about 5 years from now, is that it calls for speculation on the part of the candidate, has nothing to do with facts and is not verifiable. But here is the biggest problem. If you ask that question, you will get a response that you can do nothing with. All it can do is confuse you as an interviewer. In the midst of your fact based data collection, you get this speculative response that has nothing to do past behavior and it actually confuses the interviewer.” -TF

Speculation and Invention

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I quietly sat through the interview as an observer. During the debrief after, I fielded the following question, “Well, what did you think?”

I did have a number of thoughts. “At what point did you think you lost control of the interview?”

Joann looked puzzled, “Lost control?” I was silent. “What do you mean, lost control?”

“I was just curious if you noticed. At what point did the candidate begin to ramble and make stuff up?”

“Do you think he was making things up?” Joann asked.

“Oh, without a doubt I said. About two minutes into the interview, you asked him a question, and that is when it started. In fact, the manufactured stories continued through most of the interview.” I could see that Joann was beginning to fume, thinking the candidate had put one over on her. But I continued. “And all this fabrication was at your invitation. Do you remember the question you asked?”

“No.” Joann was definitely agitated.

“You asked him where he thought he would be, professionally, in five years. Anytime you ask a question about the future, you invite the candidate to speculate, fabricate and invent stories that you have no way to verify. It provides you with no useful information.”

I sat quietly. I knew this would take some time to sink in. -TF

The Best Predictor

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“What is the purpose of this interview,” I asked. Morgan struggled for a moment, but some clarity managed to pierce the fog.

“The purpose of the interview is to help me make the right hiring decision.”

“Good,” I continued. “In a sense, you are in the role of the fortune teller. It is your job as a Manager to predict the future. How will this candidate behave when they come to work in your company? So, Morgan, the best predictor of future behavior is what?”

“Past behavior,” blurted Morgan.

“Exactly, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. All you have to do in the interview is find out about their past job behaviors. If they have a pattern of a behavior in the past, there is a high likelihood they will repeat that behavior when they come to work for you.

“First, determine what behaviors will be necessary for the position you are hiring. Then find out, if that is what they have done before. Once they report for work, you will NOT be able to change their behavior; it already has to be a part of them, their patterns. You are not in the behavior modification business. You are in the behavior selection business.” -TF

Don’t Wait

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From the Ask Tom mailbox.

Question

I was recently promoted to one of our higher volume locations as a supervisor. At first I was excited to show my skills to my new manager. However, I am doing less work and feel I am going backwards instead of forward. My new manager hasn’t had the time to train me and I don’t think I am being taken seriously. My question is, should I move on to another job or just be more patient.

Response

Why are you waiting for your manager to train you? You have to take some initiative here.

Are you responsible for scheduling?

Are you responsible for other associates performance?

Are you responsible for newbie training?

Are you responsible for inventory control – any aspect?

Are you responsible for drawer cash outs?

If your manager is like most managers, they are very busy with what is in front of their face at any given moment, especially during this holiday season. You cannot afford to wait. You may have to learn those skills from another person, from a book, from another manager, mentor or friend at the store. Ask to come in on your own time to sit in with another to learn scheduling or whatever the skill. Show genuine interest in learning. Sure, you may end up “volunteering” three or four hours of your own time, off the clock, but that investment will pay big dividends down the road. You will get those hours back one hundred times over. -TF

Nail Down the Outcome

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“Can you take a look at this job description?” asked Stan.

He slid the paper underneath my nose. It was well organized into different Key Result Areas. Each area contained descriptions of tasks, activities and responsibilities.

“What is the desired outcome in each Key Result Area?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the problem with most job descriptions is that they tell you what to do, but don’t tell you how well something should be done, or by when. In each Key Result Area, what result does your manager expect?”

“I’m not sure,” replied Stan.

“If you can nail down the expected result, you will find this job description much more useful. Go spend some time with your manager and find out. I want to see an outcome connected to each Key Result Area.” -TF

Fear of Losing Control

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I was working with a group yesterday and the topic was delegation. I asked them to make a list of all the reasons that we don’t delegate more often. The first word spoken was “Fear.”

“Fear of what?” I asked.

“Fear that the person will fail.”

“Fear of losing control.”

“Fear that the project will not get finished.”

“Fear that the quality will not be up to my performance standards.”

So, the reason that we don’t delegate more often, has to do with a powerful human emotion. It is a wonder that we can delegate at all.

So, here is my question. How do you deal with the fear? When you do delegate, how do you ensure that the project will not fail, that you will not lose control, that the project will be finished, that the quality will be up to your performance standards? -TF

Feedback Loops

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From the Ask Tom Mailbag. By following the link to the right, you can email a question directly to me. I got this question last week.

“We are trying to develop a feedback loop to identify production problems. Developing the data collection and designing the reports is not the problem. The challenge is to create a sustainable structure of accountability, so that when defects are detected, someone takes corrective action and then reports the improvements. We suggested a monthly meeting, but we are getting pushback from those who need to be involved. What would you suggest?”

Meetings are one of my favorite accountability platforms because the group dynamic can bring about appropriate pressure for results. However, it seems you are experiencing a predictable resistance to a special meeting.

My first inclination would be to piggyback as an agenda item in an existing meeting that occurs with the desired frequency and is attended by a good number of the interested parties. Promise an efficient report that lasts no more than three minutes and contains only the critical information. If everything is on-track, there should be little discussion. If things are off-track, the group can decide how best to address the underperformance.

Second strategy would be a method of public reporting or posting of results (for all to see). This might be a tracking whiteboard in a conference room or an updated chart that gets posted in a special gathering place. The location might be best where those responsible for the results can see how their progress is being tracked.

Do you have a creative suggestion on accountability? -TF

Break This Thing Out

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“Do you ever get any kind of plan from your supervisors?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” said Kelly, “but it is usually a vague promise to do better.” We had been talking about a special project, anticipating some extraordinary effort including some overtime. Kelly had been having trouble getting a written plan out of her supervisors. There were material flow issues, capacity issues and bottleneck issues. It was a great, high-volume contract, but if it wasn’t managed, all the profit could erode in a heartbeat.

“Kelly, things are going to get tight around here for the next four weeks. If your supervisors give you target numbers, then you have something to hold them accountable for. If they give you only vague, softball stuff, then there is nothing they can be accountable for.

“Oh, sure there will be some yelling at the end. You won’t have the right materials and overtime will go through the roof. But, the yelling will be general, nothing specific. Your supervisors are good at the Teflon routine.

“That’s why you have to break this thing out. The contract says 240 units, that’s 60 per week for four weeks, ten per day on a six day work-week or twelve on a five day work-week. Your supervisor team needs to give you hard numbers and report back each day. It’s going to be a tough four weeks. You have to have a plan. No excuses.” -TF

Energy and a Picture of the Future

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“I am sitting with my team at the warehouse door. Every product carton is sitting in its bin with its barcode label facing front. On the clipboard hanging by the shipping table is a computer report showing, in order, the highest turnover items. The top fifteen items on the list occupy the fifteen bins up front next to the staging area.

“Our controller is standing with the group. He has two reports from his computer system. One report is our book inventory in the computer. The other report is the cycle count report from the inventory just completed. The numbers at the bottom of the report match.

“The UPS driver just showed up for his afternoon pickup. All outgoing shipments have been sitting in the staging area, ready to go, for the past twenty minutes. There is no picking backlog.” Calvin was proud as he described this picture of his warehouse two weeks in the future.

“Calvin, why do you think this picture is important?” I asked.

“There are a hundred details that make this picture happen,” he said. “Some of the details, we will put on a list, but others we won’t. But if we continue to work toward the picture, it will all come together.”

“Calvin, the most important part of this picture is the pride I see in your face, knowing that you have finished a complicated process. We can set all kinds of goals and performance standards, but it is that picture of the future that drives the emotional energy to attack and complete a project. The most important planning skill is to create that picture of the future. Now, go make it happen.” -TF

Third Time is the Charm

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“I don’t understand,” puzzled Calvin. “It was only a two week project. Why do you think we need a plan, now? All we have to do is get the labels on the product boxes.” Calvin and I were working on the implementation segment of a barcode project.

“You tell me,” I said. “How well did the project turn out?”

“Well, we’re still working on it. It’s a lot of boxes, and we missed some as we were going through the inventory.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Oh, my boss showed up late in the afternoon and started looking around. It’s amazing how he can always find the stuff we missed. It’s almost like he went straight to it. Boom. In five minutes he found 36 product bins that we missed completely. Now he is making us go back through and check every single item.”

“What is that doing to your completion schedule?” Calvin, just looked at me. No answer. “So, there wasn’t enough time to plan this thing up front? There wasn’t enough time to do it right, but there is enough time, now, to do it twice?

“Calvin, I know it seems you are really behind the 8-ball, but I want you to stop. Right now. Stop, and get your team around. I want you to draw out each of the steps with your team on a big piece of butcher paper. I want you to plan how you are going to get all the labels on and then plan how you are going to check for accuracy. You should be able to get that done in a half an hour. That half hour will end up saving you eight hours on the back end, and you shouldn’t have to do it a third time.

“Remember, doing it a third time is always an option.” -TF