Tag Archives: walk the talk

Team Players and Cliché Junkies

31 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Business, Human Resource

≈ 4 Comments

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As expected, rush hour traffic was thin today, Tuesday 31 January. It usually is the case on the first work day following a long weekend. Lunar New Year a.k.a. Chinese New Year fell on 28th and 29th January – a weekend and therefore Monday 30th was declared a public holiday.

teamplayer_clichejunkie

Many employees leverage on the long weekend and take a vacation break, and return several days later. Well and good.

But some staff return to work on the second working day – the Wednesday. They take one day off – the first work day following the long weekend. Quite often these are the same people and you notice a consistent pattern of behaviour.

It is not because they are on vacation, though that is the reason proffered. The reality is, these people – a minority, if I might add – know that the first work day after a long weekend is also the most taxing.

Staff return to the office to face a deluge of emails and work, and it can be overwhelming and stressful.

Therefore these clever people stay away an extra day, hoping that most of the backlog will be cleared by the time they return to the office. Shrewd. But it also smacks of a person who gives only lip service to team work.

It is difficult to identify the ones gaming the system as many are genuinely on vacation. And mind you, there is nothing wrong to chill out and recuperate at home – especially after several days of partying. It gets worse when managers pull the same disappearing stunt and return to the office after the dust of the first day settles. We have all met managers who are cliché junkies – parroting something they read but not following through with action.

How do you prevent this abuse or moderate the behaviour?

Well, if a person calls in sick, there is nothing much you can do, especially if their infirmity is certified by a doctor. Even if you detect a pattern, one does not ordinarily question a physician’s decision.

For the rest of the staff – resort to rotation.

Assuming your office has six people and there are three long weekends in a particular year, allow only two people – obviously, each time a different pair – to take off. This allows staff to leverage on long weekends and also spreads the burden of clearing backlog.

Wherever you are and whatever the number of staff in your office – this is one solution.

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Why Great Team Builders Chose the Best

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Business, Human Resource

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1. Why do great team builders chose the best people?

Great team builders know that more than quantity, it is quality that counts. The team is made up of individuals and will succeed or collapse dependent on its weakest link.

2. Why don’t hiring managers chose the best people?

There are many reasons and here are a few (feel free to share your points in the comments below):

  • They’re unable to recognize the best – the most talented.
  • They do not know what they’re looking for in people.
  • They confuse paper qualifications and “years of experience” for expertise.
  • They’re fearful of bringing in people who might outshine them.
  • And many more…

3. Is it not true the more the talented, the more an employer has to pay?

Most people speak in general terms and this is part of the problem. Instead of asking the right questions, they seek the “right” answers. Getting the right answer to a wrong question is not progress, not productive. However, even a wrong answer to a right question sets you on the path of progress.

Instead of seeking the “most talented” the question should be – How do I select the most talented (the best) from a given class of candidates?

This leads us to the next question.

4. How do I determine the class of people?

You do this by clearly defining the following:

  • The job’s scope – what exactly do you want that employee to accomplish. The more detailed, the better.
  • The job’s requirements – both objective or hard skills (paper credentials, years of experience, etc) and subjective elements such as soft skills.
  • An overview of the remuneration package on offer.

These three criteria will attract the right people, or people who consider themselves qualified.

Use the objective/hard skills as a funnel to shortlist candidates, people who meet ALL the requirements (excluding the soft skills) – and this will be your class of applicants.

During your selection process, zero in on the soft skills you desire and you will have your best-in-class. You’re not paying more but paying the same to chose the best from a given class of candidates.

5. Let us be candid here, as a salaried manager, if I chose someone better than me, I risk losing out on promotions and even my job. Do you expect me to chose what is good for my employer over what is good for me?

A pointed question and it’s a very valid question. Answer pending…

 

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Note: I shall upload more questions and answers in this post, and welcome you to “follow” my blog so that you’re kept updated.

Meanwhile, enjoy this short clip: Quality over Quantity is what makes a winner!

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Public Speakers | Branding

05 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by in Business, My Opinion

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How public speakers come across as fakes.

As an editor and ghost writer, I meet quite a few people on the speaking circuit – motivational speakers, investment advisors, and a myriad mix of talented people who help others in their career, business and life. My good fortune is, I’ve met many great speakers, genuine people who are passionate about helping others.

Unfortunately, the speaking circuit is a busy market place, unregulated and has attracted plenty of snake-oil vendors.

Branding

How do you find good speakers who are genuine and can help you?

Look up their social media presence and you will gain useful insights. By social media, I include all on-line presence: Website; Blog; Facebook; Instagram; Twitter; LinkedIn and so on. Their posts, their comments and how they treat visitors – all give insights to the person behind the façade.

Interestingly, some people who make their living from an on-line presence are quite ignorant of how they portray themselves – their personal branding. Compare this with their signature message – something that they pin their persona on. A person might go on about how he believes in paying it forward, embracing diversity and so forth. However, his social media activity might point to something else – perhaps even detrimental to his image and business.

For example, John, a public speaker, invites Mark to hook up on Facebook.

However, let’s say, Mark declines to join him because he is not a fan of Facebook.

What should John do? How should he handle this rejection?

The worst course of action would be for John to post on Facebook about Mark’s reluctance and criticize him. By doing so, John would have revealed his true self. All the flashy sales videos and sound bites might help him in branding but oversights such as these will surely demolish and make him look like a fake.

How then should John react to Mark’s response?

He could offer Mark an alternative to keep in touch. If not Facebook, there is Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn (which especially caters to business professionals) or even via simple email. It’s so obvious. And if Mark comes across as totally disagreeable, John should respect his (Mark’s) wishes and move along. A relationship maintained is a relationship that might one day bear fruit. It’s called “paying it forward”.

John should never ignore one fact. The audience on Facebook are the very people who are in his circle – the very people he hopes to attract to his talks. The very people that matter.

He could have turned the problem into an opportunity – which is what every motivator advises you to do – but when it came to the crunch, instead of showing his graciousness and consistent branding, John goofed.

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