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.

Losing Talent

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Marty was at a loss to explain why he was losing his most talented people. His office was upscale, roomy cubicles, good benefit package, competitive wages and reasonable bonuses. I asked about his managers. Aside from the CFO and the HR person, there were two project managers running thirty technicians in the field.

“So, Marty, tell me, you have managers running the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

“Well, the Project Managers tell the technicians what they need and the technicians do the work.”

“Marty, the Project Managers run the projects, but who is running the technicians?”

Many companies pull out a layer of management without understanding the roles that managers play. Project Managers run projects. We weren’t losing projects, we were losing technicians. The most important element related to employee retention is the relationship between the manager and the team member. This is a difficult relationship to cultivate if you do not have a manager in the equation.

Examine your organization, where are your managers and how have you defined their roles? -TF

Bringing Personal Lives to Work

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Adrian was almost beside himself. I say, almost, because he was trying to be so logical about it. “Why is it that people always seem to bring their personal lives to work?”

“Adrian, I have found that people bring their personal lives to work, because they have personal lives.”

This notion that we can separate our business and personal lives is somewhat absurd. There is nothing that impacts someone’s professional life as an issue occurring in their personal life. As managers, we always seek high levels of performance, yet often attempt to remain ignorant about those circumstances that influence performance the most. A manager unaware of a health issue, a marital circumstance or a drug problem will likely be befuddled and unable to anticipate or compensate when performance drops off. Effective managers know their team members, the whole person, the whole person who comes to work everyday. -TF

Where Are You Going With That Question?

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“You don’t like the interview question?” asked Christopher, shifting in his chair. He had created a list of questions in preparation for a candidate interview later in the afternoon. At the top of the list, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Chris, every question you ask has to have a purpose in the interview,” I replied. “What specific piece of data are you trying to collect with that question?”

“I think it is important to find out where they are headed in life.”

“Chris, tell me again, what’s the job position?”

“Project Manager.”

“How long are your typical projects?”

“Four to six weeks.”

“Chris, tell me how someone’s fictitious image of a five-year-future snapshot will predict success as a Project Manager, working on projects that last four to six weeks?” The silence hung heavy. “Let’s change two things about your approach to questions. Instead of the future, ask about the past. Instead of a hypothetical, ask about a fact.” The quality of the responses to those questions will increase dramatically. -TF

Value of a Task

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The organization chart was getting messy. Ted had just drawn a new circle next to himself. “I think we need to hire another department manager. I just cannot get everything done.”

“Ted, tell me, how much do you get paid, on an hourly basis?”

“I don’t know, I would have to break down my salary, but let’s say I make $30 per hour, plus, plus.”

“Fine, close enough. Ted, if you look at all of the elements in your role as a manager, how many of the tasks that you do, are $30-per-hour tasks, and how many are $12-per-hour tasks? Let’s do some quick analysis, just on yesterday.”

As Ted detailed his tasks from the prior day (and you can bet I pinned him down for all the detail) he discovered that 50% of his time was engaged in preparing paperwork, printing reports, doing data entry and reconciling inventory counts. Ted didn’t need another department manager; he needed a good strong clerical support person.

As a Manager in your organization, how much $12 per hour work are you doing? -TF

System Dependent?

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“Yes, but we can’t afford to fire this person, right now. If we did, we would lose everything they know about our system. I know their performance is unacceptable, but we would be lost without the things they know about our processes, our machines, the tolerances, the setups.”

“So, where does that leave you,” I asked.

“Between a rock and a hard place. We can’t even let this person find out that we are recruiting for his replacement. He might quit.”

In the beginning, most companies organize themselves around people and their abilities. As the company grows, an inevitable transition must take place. Ask yourself the following question, “Is your organization people dependent, or system dependent?”

If you think your organization is people dependent, what steps would it take to transform into a system dependent organization? It starts with the simple documentation of processes and roles. That’s the first step to prevent becoming hostage to an underperformer. -TF

Personality Profiling

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Question:
What do you think about using personality profiles to base our hiring decisions?

Response:Okay, put me on the spot. Put me in the face of an entire industry that makes their living from a paper and pencil test or an online web based test that tries to predict the future behavior of a new hire in your company.

Here is my bias. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Find out what a person has done in the past, odds are, they will do exactly the same thing when they come to work for you.

If a person has been successful managing projects lasting four weeks, they are likely to be successful for you managing projects that last four weeks. If they managed change-orders well in their previous experience, they will likely handle change-orders well for you. ALL you have to do is find out what they have done in the past. This is best accomplished with a series of behavior-based interviews.

Personality profiles may be helpful, but provide only one data point in the overall criteria in the hiring decision. My adamant advice is, DO NOT BASE your decision solely on the report of a personality profile. They may be helpful, but cannot make the decision for you. -TF

Find Another Eric

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The resignation letter stared at Adrian. His best team member, Eric, had just quit. Eric was employee of the year last December and just received a raise two months ago. He was in line to become lead technician in his department. What could be better? What else could Adrian, his manager, have done?

I inquired about the exit interview conducted by the HR coordinator. The form stated that Eric left for better wages.

Adrian was worried. Three years ago, Eric entered the company as an inexperienced recruit among a group of seasoned veterans. Over time, his personal productivity outpaced the entire team. In Eric’s absence, Adrian feared the overall output would falter. Eric often carried the whole group.

I called Eric, already gainfully employed (at a lower wage) in another company. Happy with his decision, Eric shared his story. On a crew of six, Eric had consistently accounted for 50% of the output. The other team members were slackers riding on his coattails. I asked what Adrian could have done differently. The advice was quick and simple. “Cut the dead wood. Release the poorest performers and productivity would have increased, even with a reduced headcount.”

Adrian is left with the remnants of a mediocre team. But before he can heed the advice, he has to find another Eric. -TF

Real Play

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Susan was adamant, “My people do not like role playing.” We had been discussing a training program for her team of Customer Service Reps. She had a litany of reasons. “It makes them freeze up. They are uncomfortable. They would rather be poked in the eye with a sharp stick.”

She continued to describe a typical scene in the conference room where unprepared team members are met with a slick trainer, intent upon mild embarrassment.

“I agree with you,” I responded. “I would hate that, besides, I don’t think anyone learns anything valuable. Let’s try role playing in a different way.”

The major benefit of role playing is having team members practice predictable scripts and behaviors so they can consistently repeat them in real life. This means role players should be completely prepared knowing exactly what to say, following a pre-determined script or checklist. The point is to have them practice the words you want them to say, over and over.

Most role play scenes should be short, 90 seconds or less. They should have a very specific objective and create repetition. I don’t want participants to be cute or funny. I don’t want them to think on their feet. I want them to respond in a way that has been proven (by testing) to be effective. I want them to solve problems by the book and make sales with predictability. -TF

Sense of Urgency

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We had been working as a group for forty-five minutes and the words at the top of the list were sense of urgency.

Nanci, the head of the hiring team, was curious, “How can you interview someone for a sense of urgency?”

“You cannot see a value or a trait,” I replied. “You can only observe behavior that may be driven by that value or trait. So when we think about a sense of urgency, what behaviors are we looking for?”

“They don’t procrastinate and they don’t wait until the last minute to get a project started.”

“And what else?”

“They are quick to attack problems that might cause a delay.”

“Good, now we have identified two behaviors, enough to work with for now.”

You see, I don’t know how to interview someone for a sense of urgency. But I can come up with a dozen questions about how the candidate starts projects and prevents delays.

When a role in your organization requires a value or a trait, simply translate it into a behavior that you can interview for. -TF

Harvey’s Hook

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The ball lifted off the tee, almost with a wobble before moving sideways from right to left, arching into moderate grass off the fairway. Harvey’s next swing was vertical, over his head, then smack into the turf at his feet.

“Who were you thinking of?” I asked.

“No one. What do you mean? It was just a lousy shot.”

“I mean your second swing. Who were you thinking of?”

“Ah, I was just letting off steam. I wasn’t thinking of anyone.”

“Well, if you were thinking of someone, who would it be?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking about the guy who taught me how to play. He would have been a little disappointed.”

“Who is this guy? Do I know him?”

“No, he was a pretty old guy when I learned. And I was only nine years old.”

“I was just curious.”

Kurt Lewin tells us that individual action is a myth. Our behavior is always influenced by groups or individuals, even if they are not physically present. To gain insight into a person’s behavior, all you have to do is find out what group or person the individual has in mind.

Who do you have in mind, that is affecting your swing? -TF