Execuscope                                     February, 1992

 

 

 

For Answers, Try Questions

 

Asking the right people the right questions can help you make the right decisions. Workers are often experts on problems, but they seldom volunteer advice. They may think they don't know enough, or they may think you don't care about their opinions. Here's how to get fresh in­sights and good points as a leader at the same time:

   * Start by talking to people privately in their own work areas. Assure them the input can be confidential.

   * Next, hold group brainstorming sessions. Get collec­tive feedback about the ideas proposed in private.

   * Be nonjudgmental. Ask open-ended, unbiased, respect­ful questions. Keep your own ideas to yourself so that people won't simply tell you what you want to hear.

   * Nod and make eye contact to keep people talking. Watch for body language that hints someone might say more if asked.--Supervisory Management, October 1991, p. 7.

 

 

Handbooks Protect Management

 

A handbook that spells out rules, standards, and griev­ance procedures can shield your company from lawsuits. It can help you deal with problems before they end up in court and help you once you're there. In sexual harass­ment cases, for example, employers can be liable for the way they handle a complaint. A handbook helps make sure cases are handled properly.

   One wrongful discharge lawsuit was thrown out because an aircraft maintenance worker hadn't exhausted the handbook grievance procedures before filing a lawsuit. The worker complained that, in violation of the handbook, he was fired without cause. The court ruled that if the handbook was a contract, the employee also had to follow it fully. Both union and non-union workers have to try inhouse remedies first, the court said.--Bureau of Busi­ness Practice Management Letter, Sept. 25, 1991, p. 7.

 

 

Halting Workplace Trauma

 

Psychological abuse of workers by managers is more wide­spread than all other work-related stresses combined. This workplace trauma causes $6 billion a year in de­creased productivity. Billions more are spent on lawsuits for sexual harassment, defamation, and wrongful termina­tion. Workers sue when they feel unfairly treated.

   A psychological contract exists between employee and employer, says clinical psychologist C. Brady Wilson. The firm may be liable for a violation of the contract that causes cumula­tive psychological impairment. Here are some signs of workplace trauma in employees:

   * anxiety or depression, emotional outbursts

   * increased accidents and mistakes

   * absenteeism, tardiness, degenerating relations with coworkers, grievance procedures against management.

   To target abusive managers, watch for:

   * a dramatic rise in productivity in a section

   * sudden downgrading of performance appraisals

   * high departmental turnover, high retraining costs

   * humiliation, punishment, or prejudice.--Behavioral Sciences Newsletter, September 23, 1991, p. 1.

 

 

 

Page 2

 

Handicapped Workers Excel

 

Are you having trouble finding qualified people to fill labor gaps? Consider hiring disabled workers. Statistics indicate you won't be alone: The employ­ment rate among the handicapped is expected to jump in this decade.

   The handicapped have proven themselves effective employees, according to Louis LeHane, president of the Association of Outplac­ement Consulting firms.  "They have a widespread reputation for punctuality, reli­ability, and respon­sible behav­ior," LeHane says, "and there has been no evidence to suggest that they cannot work as effectively as the able-bodied on jobs for which some physical impairment is no obstacle."

   Here are some tips to help you and a disabled worker feel comfortable:

   * Don't be too careful about what you say. If you're overly guarded, your handicapped coworker will feel self-conscious. Most handicapped people are not ashamed of their condition and will help you understand it.

   * Ask before you help. Handicapped workers are not helpless. Unsolicited help can be insulting or bothersome. Find out how you can best help.

   * Treat the handicapped as part of the team. Relate to them as individu­als. Include them in social get-togethers, even if you think they won't be able to participate. You may be wrong.--Working Together, September 9, 1991.

 

 

Letting the Right People Go

 

Nobody likes to let people go, yet firing is as vital as hiring when it comes to business success. To surround yourself with competent people, take a fresh look at your company. List the skills needed to run the organiza­tion. Forget college degrees and tenure and ask yourself who will get the job done. In this zero-based staffing process, consider this advice:

   * Cut people with poor attitudes. Negative attitudes lead to low morale.

   * Competence is worth more than passion. Saddam Hussein was passion­ate, Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf was competent, according to management expert George Odiorne. Passion often fizzles over time.

   * Find people who are both competent and highly motivated. They're your best bets.--Communication Briefings, October 1991, p. 3.

 

 

For Best Results, Know Your People

 

To help your employees reach their potential, work with them as individu­als.

Understand what makes them tick, and you can help employees do their best work. Here are some ways to foster your human resources:

   * Treat people as individuals. People have their own personalities, yet many supervisors try to treat everyone the same. Notice who needs lots of attention and encouragement and who considers them condescending.

   * Capitalize on exceptional traits. Give a perfectionist tasks where quality is essential. Ask a creative person to help solve special problems.

   * Provide opportunities for growth. Give someone with a boring job the chance to prepare for other jobs in the department. Give an accountant who likes working with people a chance to conduct department meetings or to train others in various company procedures. 

   * Encourage participation. Bring people in on the early stages of plan­ning, and they will be committed to a project's success.

   * Help workers set and meet their own goals. One manager helped a worker expand his goals by increasing his self-confidence. Initially, the worker was afraid to take the initiative on any project. The manager gave him responsibility for a series of small but increasingly complex projects.

   * Expect the best. Too many managers are satisfied with mediocre work--an attitude doesn't cut it in tough times. Mary Kay says her cosmetics com­pany is successful because it rewards workers for setting higher and higher expecta­tions for themselves.--Dale Carnegie & Associates, 1991.

 

 

Stay Upbeat While Unemployed

 

Out of work doesn't have to mean down and out. Here are some ways to keep a positive attitude while marketing a very important product--you.

   * Don't condemn yourself. Figure out how to correct mistakes you made so you won't repeat them, but don't think of yourself as a fail­ure.

   * Let people know you need a job. Don't let pride stop you from spreading the word to family members and friends. You need their emotional support. They also may know of a job.

   * Be truthful but positive about why you left your job. Don't volunteer that you were fired or offer involved explanations.

   * Don't criticize people who let you go. You'll need them for references.

   * Don't take rejections personally. If you weren't hired, you and the job weren't right for each other. You want the right job, not just any job.

   * Be good to yourself. Take some vacations from job finding. 

   * Match your goals with your skills. Don't overestimate or underestimate your­self.--Management Accounting, August 1991, p. 12.

 

 

Take the Department out of Personnel

 

Thinking of human resources management as the personnel department limits its scope. Personnel executives who think of themselves as department heads may miss greater opportunities. They may spend their time carrying out other people's ideas rather than initiating their own.

   With the "department" label, employees who look up to department heads may accept whatever a personnel manager advises. Upper management, on the other hand, may tend to look down on personnel as just another service department. They often like the idea of a central personnel office so that they can keep control but avoid the detail work. 

   Well-trained personnel practitioners have specialized experience and knowledge. They are trained to tune their programs to the attitudes and beliefs of the organization. Personnel activities work best when top manage­ment supports them but doesn't interfere with them.

   Personnel programs are successful because of what they are, not because of who proposes them.--Human Resources Update, September 10, 1991.

 

 

Page 4

 

Be Graphic With Your Coworkers

 

The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is useful in manage­ment. Get your ideas across to your employees graphically, and they'll understand and remember what you want them to do. Here are some ways to implement "visibil­ity management" in your company:

   * Clarify goals. Post a schedule of daily production requirements needed to meet a monthly goal. Explain how one department's schedule relates to company goals. Let employees plot their actual daily output. With this schedule, workers won't be surprised by unplanned overtime requests at the end of the month. Output may be smoothed out as well.

   * Improve quality. Work with quality assurance personnel to list the most common errors or defects in your department or assembly line. Pinpoint the work area where problems occur. Make a graphic showing the problem. For example, make a print of a problem part, highlighting the screw that is often missing. Post this graphic at the problem work station and at the receiving work station. For more complicated prob­lems, include instructions on how to do the job right.

   * Streamline communication. Use flip charts throughout a department to keep workers informed and to find out about problems. Write down upcoming staff meetings or secondary tasks. Ask workers to write down specific problems such as, "Frame #Y523 was bent."

   * Perk up meetings. Keep staff members awake at meetings with visuals.--Supervisor's Bulletin, September 30, 1991, p. 1.

 

FORECASTS                            Page 2

 

 

The trade deficit may disappear in a few years, predicts The Kiplinger Wash­ington Letter. Exports, which have been growing faster than imports since 1987, will continue to lift the economy. In 1987, the trade deficit was $150 bil­lion. In 1990 is was $100 billion and in 1991, $70 billion. This year it will prob­ably drop to $60 billion. Ex­ports al­ready off­set much of the slump in hous­ing, automo­biles, and other in­dus­tries.

 

You still have time to shop around for the best office space. The commercial real estate market is expected to stay slow for four to five more years. On average, 20 percent of existing space is vacant. Investors who joined develop­ers in part­nerships may suffer as banks get tough­er. To regain assets quickly, banks are begin­ning to fore­close on loans instead of negotiating work­outs.

Offices vacancies are plentiful in San Diego, downtown Los An­geles, Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, Miami, Chicago, New York, and Boston. Office construction is nil in Phoe­nix, Denver, Dallas, and Miami.

 

 

Mortgage rates are expected to reach bottom in early 1992, so now may be the time to refinance. If you pay 10.5 per­cent and plan to stay a few years, refi­nancing makes sense. Shop around and compare lenders' total clos­ing costs. Calculate how long you have to stay to recoup costs, including the difference in taxes from lower inter­est pay­ments. 

 

  
FINDINGS                         Page 3

 

 

Dreaming of Tahiti?

 

Take a vacation and you'll do a bet­ter job when you return. Top executives say they need vacations to prevent burn­out, renew personal relationships, and in­crease job productivity. Some 81 per­cent of Hyatt Hotel executives sur­veyed say their performance improves after vaca­tions. So use all your vacation days and encourage employees to do the same. If you don't have time for a week in Tahi­ti, try several short vaca­tions. They break up the year and avoid huge work pileups, say members of the Ameri­can Productivity and Quality Cen­ter. Fully 86 percent of its members take vacations of less than a week, a survey found.

 

 

Low-Stress Alternatives

 

If you like job stress, be an inner-city school teacher, an air traffic control­ler, or a newspaper editor. If you don't, consider 10 jobs Men's Health says are least stressful. These include for­est ranger, craftsperson, piano tun­er, musi­cal instrument repairer, archi­tect, natural scientist, industrial machine repairer, librarian, and barber.

 

 

Money Isn't Everything

 

Seniors work an average of one day a week for free and say they would like to help more. Two out of five men and women 60 or older do volunteer work. That adds up to 15.5 million seniors and 3.6 bil­lion volunteer hours. More than 60 per­cent give time to reli­gious organiza­tions. One third help social service agencies by providing trans­porta­tion, vis­its, companionship, and phone calls.

 

 

A Good Boss Is Hard to Find

 

Workers say three out of four bosses use bad management techniques, according to a Communica­tion Briefings survey. Bosses who don't communicate clearly or lis­ten to employees are easy to find.


 

SHORTS                               Page 4

 

Budget motels can be crime-ridden be­cause they tend to scrimp on security, according to a Wall Street Journal arti­cle. It docu­mented four rapes at a Fort Worth Motel 6 and three murders on other Motel 6 grounds. A Tampa Motel 6 had 200 crimi­nal visits in 12 months. If you choose a budget motel, make sure it has a securi­ty guard on patrol and a dead­bolt and working phone in the room.

 

Children under six exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to have fair or poor health, especially if they live with a smoker. Half of U.S. pre­schoolers have had smok­ers in their homes.

 

To stretch dollars, state governments are helping groups of com­panies start par­ticu­lar pro­jects. They give fewer indi­vidual grants and loans.