Tag Archives: Work

Why Do We Keep Trying to Grow? Three Thoughts

Situation: A CEO is looking at the strategic plan of her company. They are planning for growth but a question arises – what is the balance between work for the sake of the work and work for the reward that it brings? What are the thoughts of the other CEOs around the table? Why do we keep trying to grow?
Advice from the CEOs:
• Step back and ask – what do I seek? Do the same with the members of the leadership team – what do we seek?
• Define what you want and what enough is. There is always the question of whether when reaching the goal will it be enough? Work with your team to discuss and seek a consensus on what their objectives are both for themselves and the company. You may be surprised at what this discussion yields. Two books may help you to deal with this question: The Gap by Dan Sullivan which deals with growth, motivation and satisfaction and Small Giants by Bo Burlingame of Inc Magazine which tells the story of a number of companies that decided that growth is defined by the impact that they have on their employees and communities as opposed to growth in revenue or profits.
• Repeat this discussion with the team at least annually. Expectations develop and change over time. An annual review of plans and opportunities empowers the team to make interesting and valuable contributions.

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How Do You Take on Additional Business When You Are Capacity Limited? Seven Suggestions

Situation: A Company has been growing rapidly over the past year. This has strained resources in some departments, including manufacturing. New customer demand just keeps coming in. What can the CEO do to meet customer demand without busting at the seams? How do you take on additional business when you are capacity limited?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • There are three questions to be asked before taking other steps:
    • Is it possible to expand manufacturing by outsourcing?
    • Can the company just hire more people?
    • Is the business that the company is getting good profitable business?
  • First, what a great problem to have – not to belittle the challenge that the company faces.
  • If there is concern about the company’s vulnerability to future downturns and the company is holding off adding staff because of this, look for a filler product that can help the company to smooth business cycles.
  • Farm out constrained work to other departments of the company – for example engineering. Are there independent entities that the company could partner with to add temporary capacity?
  • If there are financial constraints, then look at adjusting the pricing for new business.
  • If there are conflicts between capacity in manufacturing and engineering, consider becoming more of an engineering-focused firm and invest in this area. Look at outsourcing manufacturing capacity.
  • Look for sources of temporary capital to fund the company through the adjustment. Use an existing bank line of credit or a loan to finance short-term capital needs.

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How Do You Say “No”? Four Suggestions

Situation: A CEO has employees who frequently show up in his office with a request that he solves a problem for them. This takes up the time that he needs to solve bigger picture issues. He’s also concerned that employees should be able to solve these problems themselves. What tactics have others used to address this issue? How do you say “no”?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Don’t say “no.”
    • Saying “no” discourages future questions and reduces communication. Instead, answer their question with a question. Help them to see the next step in the process of solving the problem themselves.
  • What questions do you ask?
    • What do you think is the best solution?
    • Have you tried X, Y, Z?
    • Encourage them to use their peers as resources.
    • Focusing on #2 and #3, may give them insight into solving #1.
    • Have you spoken to (name) about this. (Name) may be able to help.
  • Another good response – “I can’t help you right now. Why don’t you try to solve it and I’ll follow-up with you when I can.”
  • It may be difficult to learn how to say no. Instead work on helping others to understand what you know about a particular technology or issue. Just ask questions to show them how to approach the problem, and then let them work through it.
    • This will take more time than “doing it yourself” at the beginning. However, they will rapidly gain more comfort working through issues and options on their own and will also gain both confidence and competence. Long-term it will save you time.

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How Do You Improve Communication with a Key Employee? Three Points

Situation: A CEO has a challenge. While a key employee does excellent work and has fresh, new ideas, he can be overly protective of these and how they are implemented. The result is that conversations often become combative. How can the CEO better lay out alternatives and improve these conversations? How do you improve communication with a key employee?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Have a conversation with the employee about communication and competitiveness.
    • Be honest. Acknowledge your own combativeness during previous conversations. Discuss and develop alternatives to avert this in the future.
    • If future communications take the same turn toward combativeness, be conscious. Admit what’s happening and shift the tone. Keep the conversation civil.
  • When this employee offers an idea, listen and repeat the idea first to confirm that that was said was understood.
    • Ask questions to clarify specifics of the idea prior to offering a different perspective.
    • When offering an alternative, ask for the employee’s thoughts on that perspective and whether this would complement or conflict with his idea.
    • The objective of the conversation is to develop alternatives which will benefit the company and its operation. Keep the focus on this.
  • Take some time and sketch out your own thought process before responding to his proposal. Ask for some time to consider this, if necessary.
    • Repeat his words and objective as you heard it and ask whether you heard correctly.
    • Identify any challenge that may arise implementing his suggestion, and ask whether he sees the same challenge. Could his suggestion be tweaked to avoid this challenge.
    • Present another alternative only after the previous steps, and ask what the employee thinks about this alternative. Work together to design and decide on the appropriate solution. Assure that he receives credit for his idea.

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How Do You Deal with a CAVE Person? Four Options

Situation: A CEO has an employee who is very talented as an individual contributor but is destructive in a team atmosphere. The CEO wants to give this individual the opportunity to succeed and contribute, but simultaneously wants to limit the negative impact on other employees. In colloquial terms, this individual is a CAVE Person (Citizens Against Virtually Everything).  How do you deal with a CAVE person?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Limit this individual’s focus to his strengths. Work with his manager to facilitate this.
    • Let him focus and crank out work as an individual contributor.
    • Don’t require this individual to participate in group meetings. Approach this by asking if he likes meetings. The likely answer is no. Follow-up by asking whether he’d prefer to focus his time in areas where he can contribute the most.
    • Be sure to compliment him on his work when this is deserved.
  • For the last three years we’ve learned the utility and limits of remote work. Consider remote work as an option for this individual. Work out a schedule of individual one-on-ones with his manager via Zoom to assure that he has what he needs to fulfill his role.
  • Drive the department to company’s and the manager’s attitude – not his.
    • If he is having a bad day, keep up a good attitude without allowing his attitude to bring the team down.
  • Realize that it may not be possible to fix this individual’s attitude or save his position.
    • Make every attempt to find an appropriate niche for this person in the company.
    • Document the efforts and accommodations made.
    • Have his manager write him up when he is destructive to the team.
    • Be prepared if, at the end of the day, it’s necessary to let him go. It may be the best thing for both him and the team.
    • Another member shared her experience with a CAVE person at a previous company. They made every attempt to accommodate the individual, but documented as they proceeded. When they finally let the person go, everybody’s productivity increased because the distraction was no longer present.

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How Do You Improve Communications and Quality? Five Points

Situation: A company has a good team to support its projects. They work together well and demonstrate good work habits. However, communication between team members, and between certain team members and management is challenging, particularly when performance issues are involved. How do you improve communications and quality?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • What has been tried?
    • Once a month, The CEO plans an outside event for the team, for example a long dinner in a nice location.
    • During the latest event, the team members started opening up to one-another and to the CEO. They were much more open than they are at work.
  • Are the concerns about communication within teams, between teams, or between teams and management?
    • Several team members are relatively new. A few others are long-term and often fail to perform to standards. This group frequently has issues and it takes their foreman’s time to address these. This frustrates the foreman.
  • How should the CEO deal with this situation?
    • The foreman is a long-term employee who reports directly to the CEO. It is the responsibility of the CEO to develop a solution that serves the interests of the company.
    • For example: the company lives and breathes on customer satisfaction. Any worker with a pattern of substandard work negatively impacts both the image and value of the company.
    • Further, distracting the foreman from his primary responsibilities impacts his ability to complete other work demands.
  • Try the following solution:
    • Explain the problem and the negative impact that this has on the company.
    • Establish a policy that workers are responsible for assuring that work meets standards before completing a job.
    • Establish a list of specific standards for work and checklists to assure that the work is complete and meets standards.
    • Establish and publish a policy that if a Foreman or supervisor finds work performed below standard this will result in a warning to the worker. Continued performance of substandard work becomes grounds for termination. Misrepresentation of work quality is grounds for immediate termination.
    • Ask key managers, supervisors and foremen for input on the policy.
    • Once the policy is finalized, post it, provide all employees with a copy of the policy, and make sure that it is openly communicated to them both verbally and in writing.
  • If any worker currently presenting problems persists in this behavior, the company will have established a policy and procedure for disciplinary action and, if necessary, termination.

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How Do You Motivate the Team to Act Proactively? Four Thoughts

Situation: A company has developed a good team to support its projects. They work together well and demonstrate good work habits. However, the CEO wants to improve communications between team members, and also between herself and team members. When challenges arise, she wants to hear about them proactively, on a timely basis and with recommended solutions. How do you motivate the team to act proactively?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Is this just a question of communication within the team, or is there also concern with communication beyond the team?
    • There are two long-term employees who consistently demonstrate a poor work ethic; however, due their seniority and relationships with the Foreman, this is tolerated.
  • What steps should be taken to deal with this situation?
    • The Foreman reports directly to the CEO. The proper way to deal with this is to develop a solution that serves the interests of the company.
    • The company lives and breathes on customer satisfaction. If any worker shows a pattern of substandard work, this negatively impacts both the image and the value of the company.
  • Clear and fair standards and expectations are critical:
    • Establish a policy that workers are responsible for assuring that work meets standards before completing a job.
    • Establish a list of specific standards for work, and job checklists to assure that work is complete and meets standards. Spot check to assure that the work and checklists meet standards.
    • If a supervisor finds work performed below standard this will result in a warning to the worker. If the worker continues to perform substandard work, this becomes grounds for termination.
    • If a worker misrepresents the quality of work performed on a final project checklist, this is grounds for immediate termination.
    • Ask key managers and supervisors for input on the policy. This is not a democratic process, but others should be given an opportunity for input.
    • Post the policy and provide all employees with a copy. Communicate the policy openly both verbally and in writing.
  • Meet informally and frequently with the team to deepen relationships with them and between each other.

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How Do You Maintain a Healthy Work/Life Balance? Three Perspectives

Situation: A CEO finds that even on vacations he is obsessed with what is happening at the office. This keeps him from relaxing even during time off. Moreover, his family notices this and is unhappy that he isn’t spending his vacation time with them. How does he turn this around? How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • If an individual is still working most of the time when on vacation this has a number of negative effects.
    • It makes the vacation even more stressful than normal work. First, a vacation is meant to provide distance and perspective from the workplace, as well as to allow time to relax and recharge. Second, this is time set aside to enjoy being with family and focus on work robs everyone of this. Third, while on vacation, there are fewer resources at one’s disposal so solving problems from afar is more difficult that when in the office.
  • To address these issues, plan on the next vacation to be “fully unplugged.”
    • Designate a “substitute” to act as CEO during this vacation. Assure that this individual has their own “go to” person to work with if they encounter a situation that puts them in over their head. Perhaps this can be a member of the board or another senior officer.
    • Plan the next vacation for two weeks to test the substitute model.
    • An additional benefit is that this can provide assurance that even if an unexpected situation prevents the CEO from being present, there is an assurance that the company can operate without the CEO if necessary. This boosts the value of the company.
  • Remember that success as a CEO is measured partly on the ability to have a fully operational office when the CEO is absent. Build and conduct the role so that the company operates well when the CEO is not there. This is consistent with a healthy growth model and long-terms plans for building a successful company.

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What Is Your Bonus Plan This Year? Four Thoughts

Situation: A CEO is thinking about the end of the year and bonus plans for his company. It has been a difficult year between remote work and workplace COVID restrictions for those on-site. Recent moves by public and large private employers to mandate vaccination has some employees worried. The latest inflation reports are also of concern to many employees. The CEO wants to retain as many staff as possible. What is your bonus plan this year?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The CEO queued up a suggestion of a bonus in the 8% to 18% range depending upon performance on top of 10% 401K contribution. Several others agreed.
  • One CEO said that in a good year they award a 6% 401K match plus a bonus range of 10 -18% for non-commission personnel. They don’t offer bonuses for commissioned salespeople. Support staff get an 8-10% bonus.
  • Another CEO suggested that the CEOs plan was possibly over generous with a 10% 401K contribution. Given the current economy many employees may prefer cash.
  • This has been an exceedingly difficult year for most businesses with myriad challenges. As the economy reopens it will be as critical to hold on to high performing employees as it is bringing back previously laid-off employees or attracting new employees. Think in terms of recognition for those who have helped the business work throughout the year in additional to bonuses.

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How Do You Recruit and Retain the Best People? Three Suggestions

Situation: A company is losing employees. Not the top ones, but the 2nd level. It’s not a manner of money but other reasons. Some don’t like the developing culture of accountability. Others are younger high potential employees who have performed well but have left for unexplained reasons. How do you recruit and retain the best people?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • It’s important to learn why they are leaving.
    • It may be a millennial phenomenon – this group may regard work as a transitory necessity.
    • Determine whether it because of accountability or other reasons.
      • Could they be unhappy with the level of growth opportunity?
      • Previous generations were used to moving to move up – are the younger employees less prone to do this?
    • Could younger workers see work as a job, whereas previous generations saw work as their livelihood – as their life.
  • What options could be tried?
    • Set up a hiring plan – over-hire to assure availability of talent – 15 people in the next 3 months.
    • During the hiring process employ a focused interview diagnostic to identify the key factors that will boost in employee retention.
  • One CEO has suggested an approach:
    • Start with a volunteer employee focus group that holds a series of meetings over lunch.
    • Use company channels to ask for volunteers.
    • Allow the group to relax and open-up over time. Then begin to drill down to the real issues, including legacy issues.
    • Use feedback from the focus group meetings to design a survey to establish metrics, validate the findings of the focus group, and establish benchmarks for long-term attitude monitoring.

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