American companies spend billions on employee training and development each year and most of it is wasted. The hoped for changes just don’t materialize. Why? Here are eight reasons: 1. Training isn’t what employees need. Training develops skills. At the end of a training course, employees should be able to do something they couldn’t do or couldn’t do well before the class. If you don’t know what skill your employees need that they don’t have, you are wasting your money. 2. You are training the wrong people. Too often one employee screws up and the solution is to train everyone rather than deal with the miscreant. If-he-needs-it, they-probably-all-need-it thinking leads to training lots of employees who already know what to do and have been performing acceptably.
The purpose of annual reviews is ostensibly to improve performance, right? Then why don’t they? Why do managers and employees alike dread them? And why on earth do they happen only once a year? I can think of only one performance review I ever had in decades working in Corporate America that actually helped me improve. That taught me something about myself that I didn’t know. That accomplished something other than:
When I walk in the New England woods, I am never alone. It’s not because there are a lot of people. Often, I see no one. It’s because of the stone walls. The walls conjure images from the past. I picture farmers pulling crooked carrots from rocky soil, brave pioneers fighting for their lives, tough women caring for babies in circumstances impossible to comprehend. I see rugged individuals and ingenious problem solvers. I also see conquerors, heartless racists intent on destroying the native population, and people with no respect for the land.
As we enter the final quarter of the year, it’s always good to reflect on where things stand. Think about personal progress to-date, as well as business progress. Have you achieved most of your goals for the year? Grown personally? Tackled something new and exciting? Enjoyed wonderful vacations? Deepened important relationships? Celebrated life? If not, what one thing can you still do to make this year a success? Then, what must you do differently to set yourself up for a great new year? I can think of lots of possible answers:
Massachusetts is suffering from a serious drought. Town water supplies are low. Reservoirs sport wide gravelly necklaces on every shoreline. Private wells are drying up. The grass is brown and crunchy. And the gypsy moths are destined for a banner year in 2017 because their only natural predator, a fungus, requires moist conditions to thrive. Millions of trees devastated by drought and gypsy moths this year are unlikely to survive another horrendous year. Nonetheless, the weatherman on my radio says, “Not a great forecast today. You can expect lots of clouds and rain.” Not a great forecast? Where have you been? We need every drop of moisture those clouds can deliver, as well as the reduced evaporation the same cloud cover can provide! Think before you speak!
I always appreciate it when big companies like Wells Fargo provide perfect, highly visible examples to prove my points. You will make better decisions faster if you SOAR through Decisions. Unfortunately, most people skip three of the four steps. And Wells Fargo has just provided a fabulous example of skipping the fourth! The R in SOAR stands for Risks. When you think you’ve arrived at a decision, it pays to pause to consider what might go wrong. Ask yourself or your team, what are the downsides to this alternative? I guarantee Wells Fargo skipped this step and let me show you why.
We have unusual toilets. The lids close softly. A nudge is all it takes. It didn’t take long after moving into our new house to develop the nudge habit. You know where I’m going, though. You know what happens when we are guests and nudge someone else’s toilet? BAM! It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing because we are aware that it is happening. The BAM! helps. So we apologize. But what if we didn’t? What if we just went around slamming toilet lids?
Process trumps power. It also squelches politics and individual habits, quirks, and dysfunctions. What would happen if you were playing a common, well-known game like Go Fish or Crazy Eights and someone skipped your turn? You’d speak up, right? You’d say something like “Wait a minute, it’s my turn.” Or suppose someone tried to change suits with a seven instead of an eight. Would you let them? No way!
Fear often holds hostage those who must initiate personnel changes. I see it in client organizations of all types and I see it triggered by individuals at all levels of the organization. Typical hostages include board members who know they need new leadership, CEOs with ineffective executive team members, and supervisors suffering from inadequate performance of a direct report. They fear the conversation with the individual. They fear upsetting colleagues loyal to the individual. They fear losing an otherwise good employee. They fear that they haven’t set clear expectations or provided adequate feedback and support. They fear appearing heartless and hurting a bread winner and his family. They fear being unfair because the demands of the organization have changed, not the employee. They fear embarrassing the individual or creating awkward inter-personal dynamics. They fear making others fearful. They fear public or political repercussions if the individual has significant visibility outside the organization. They fear lawsuits and unions. How many of these have you felt?
When I was hitting tennis balls this weekend, I noticed quite a few people out running. Ugh! I’d much rather chase a ball, a frisbee, or a hockey puck. I also enjoy honing a tennis stroke or carving the perfect turn on the ski slopes. But running? No thanks. I get bored. For me, there is no challenge in putting one foot in front of the other over and over again; I mastered that a long time ago. When I convince myself to run, my brain quickly conjures umpteen pressing tasks, articles to write, and alternative activities that are actually fun. My husband is different He likes to run. He gets in the zone. Mile after mile after mile. The lesson here?