Entries Tagged 'Managing Change' ↓

Become your company’s MVE – most valuable employee

By Mark Gonska

With the grim unemployment news splashed across the headlines, it is understandable that you may be concerned about losing your job.

According to Traci Bell-Thomas of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, “The unemployment claim systems in Ohio and other states buckled this week under an onslaught of telephone calls and website hits.

With the number of people being laid off at the end of the year, the systems are just being overwhelmed.  The telephone hotline generally receives about 7,500 calls a day, but has been getting around 80,000 calls each the past two days (January 6, 2009).” 

Business as usual isn’t. 

So, what can you do, as an employee, to ease your anxiety and protect your position with your employer?  Here are some tips to fireproof your current employment by working toward becoming your boss’s Most Valuable Employee:

Make an honest appraisal of your job situation

Do you get along well with your boss?  What are you doing to make your workplace run better, faster and cheaper?  Do you bring solutions or complaints to your boss and co-workers? 

Make sure you are doing the best job you can be – and that you are the best employee you can be.  Identify three improvements you can make at work and DO them. 

You need to take action to make things better.  Don’t wait.  Waiters are for restaurants.

Put yourself in your employer’s shoes – and walk around

What is keeping your boss up at night?  Find out.  Have a discussion with your boss and find out what you can do to help in these tough times.  Simply ask, “what’s the most important thing I can do to help our business in these tough times?  What can I do to make things better for you?”

Ask, “What do you see that’s working – that I should CONTINUE to do?  What’s not happening that I should START DOING and what’s really bugging you that I should STOP doing? 

Take immediate action on your employer’s recommendations. 

Let your yes be yes

Deliver what you promise.  Don’t wait to be reminded – you need to bring solutions, not problems and complaints. 

If you make a promise, you need to follow through on that promise.  Is your plate already full?  Clarify your priorities and determine what is most important to you. 

What should you purposefully neglect to get this done?  We all need to make sacrifices right now – and you might have to say “yes” more often. 

You now have several tools in your tool belt to help you keep your job.  Act on your fear about losing your job and use that energy to fireproof your job. 

Go into work each day and focus on how you can be the best employee you can be. 

Mark Gonska is Executive Vice President of Career Transition Services for Dise & Company. You can contact Mark directly at the People Page on Diseco.com

So what are you doing to turn the crisis into an opportunity?

By Ralph A. Dise, Jr.

The bad news just keeps coming.

While there is still a lot of uncertainty about the near future, and the economy is shedding jobs at a rate of half a million per month, it’s hard to remember that recessions are survivable. 

For those of us not eligible for a federal bail out, it’s survival of the fittest. Companies and the people running them have to make very tough decisions.  Those who survive will do so by being disciplined about managing cash and creative in their business development efforts.

What will the competitive landscape look like when there is a rebound? Your guess is as good as mine. Every time there’s a recession though, someone brings up the story about the two men hiking in the woods. So please forgive me if you’ve heard this one before, but it’s worth repeating…

The two men hiking in the woods
There are two men hiking in the woods who see a bear not too far ahead running straight at them. One man turns to run away while the other man quickly puts down his pack, pulls out a pair of sneakers, sits on the ground, removes his hiking boots, and starts putting the sneakers on his feet.

 The first man cannot believe his eyes and says, “Those sneakers aren’t going to help you outrun a bear.” The second man replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.”

The bear is the economy. You are the guy with the sneakers. The other guy is your competition. All we need to do is make sure that we help you outrun the other guy.

What are you doing to manage the downturn?
Every two months, our firm hosts the Senior HR Thought Leaders Forum at the Union Club in down town Cleveland, Ohio.  At the January forum, we asked the question: “What are you doing to manage the downturn?”  What ensued was a lively discussion with many ideas for you to consider. Here are several of those ideas.

Managing cash flows and conserving cash
Conserving cash does not mean spending as little as possible. What it does mean is that every single penny is spent as effectively as possible, with the smallest level of risk to return.  Managing cash flow requires minimizing debt and doing everything possible to keep the cash flow positive.

It seems most companies have stopped their 401k matching programs, frozen salaries, laid off workers, and cut salaries. They’re doing everything they can to conserve cash. Others are investing in their future leaders by nurturing the talent they have. While merit increases may be frozen, they are offering their “keepers” new responsibilities and interesting assignments, and giving them challenging opportunities earlier than they might otherwise have done. 

Reorganization and restructuring
Public companies have to answer to shareholders, so when there’s a recession like this, leaders must realign their cost structure to weather the downturn and do it with certainty. It’s not personal.  It’s just business. One of our Forum participants told how his CEO could see the downturn coming, and wanted to take radical steps to restructure and re-organize. The Human Resource leader recommended that a significantly large number of employees be laid off, and that others be offered early retirement. The Chief HR Officer’s objective was to restructure one time and only one time.  In this way he hoped to mitigate the long, morale destroying death march he had observed at other companies in the past.

Executive leadership and visibility
Strong executive leadership is needed now more than ever. Leaders should be highly visible and actively communicating about the business environment. They should regularly articulate the plans the company has for managing the downturn. Leaders should constantly remind employees that it is everyone’s job to figure out where to reduce expenses— on everything from copy paper to corporate travel and lodging to raw materials. Especially even factory workers should be asked what could be done to drive down costs. They know where the savings are. They’re just waiting to be asked.

Turning a crisis into an opportunity
The main thing is that you can’t take this downturn lying down.  How are you going to turn this crisis into an opportunity?

Hard times means there are lot of talented people out there. And right now their skills are going to waste. It’s a great time to look for smart people who can get things done.  Are you spending time looking for the star performers that will help you through? You’d better be doing something about this or your competitor might.

As Wendy Edgar, Area Human Resources Director, America’s People Team at Ernst & Young said at the conclusion of our meeting, which summed everything up and brought our time together to a close: “a financial crisis is a horrible opportunity to waste.”

Remember the story of the two men hiking in the woods? What are you doing to “outrun” your competition? What are you doing to turn the crisis into an opportunity?

Ralph A. Dise, Jr. is the President of Dise & Company, the Presiding Director of Lincolnshire International, and has worked in the field of Human Resources his entire career. You can contact Ralph directly at the Pro People Page on Diseco.com.

How to cope with the pressures caused by the downturn

By Bill Marshall

If you are in Finance or Accounting, or you’re an Executive charged with managing the P&L of an organization, you are probably undergoing a rather large increase in stress as you come to terms with financial conditions you may not have experienced before. 

What many people don’t understand is that when you are charged with ensuring the management of the day-to-day and at the same time safeguarding the health of the organization for the future, you are expected to maintain a certain image, and sometimes you can’t let your guard down.

And this is increasingly hard to do, especially if you’re moving into uncharted territory.

That is precisely what we’ve launched Project CFO:  a confidential consultation that is designed to evaluate the difficulties you may be facing to (1) identify staffing needs before they become insurmountable problems, and then (2) recruit the talent that will help you overcome the challenges that are keeping you wake at night.

Key Attributes of a Project CFO Consultation:

• Inherent understanding of key leadership skills necessary to get the job done in any environment
• Mature approach to understanding your corporate culture and what the ramifications are for finding the right candidates that fit your needs and your culture
• Ability to craft a compelling story about why a highly desirable candidate should want to join your organization

If you’d like to take a short time out of your day—a confidential breakfast or lunch—where you can escape from the pressures of managing the day to day– with an experienced human resources professional who will listen to your story, then let me know by contacting me confidentially through our website (see link below).

Bill Marshall is the Vice President of Executive Search for Dise & Company. You can contact Bill directly at the People Page on Diseco.com.

Helping others understand how your presence could benefit them is still the best way to find the position you’re seeking

By Greg Reynolds

Finding your perfect job is not easy—even in the best of times.

When there is a downturn like the one we’re going through right now, it’s even tougher. But it’s not impossible. It’s easy to get caught up in the gloom and doom—and to get discouraged. 

My advice is “Keep it upbeat.”

There are jobs out there. The average amount of time for the job search has increased slightly. But the candidates we coach are landing the positions they are seeking. Now—more than ever—it’s crucial to keep a positive outlook and maintain an upbeat attitude, and to keep your eye on the prize. 

Fully 80% of jobs are captured through conversations and through networking.

So every day, you should be on the phone or attending events where you get to meet new people, rekindle old acquaintances, and remind the people you know that you’re looking for a position.

Be prepared

Remember, people are naturally willing to help. But they can’t help you unless you help them help you. If the old Woody Allen adage holds true that 80% of success is showing up. The other 20% is being prepared. And if you can’t answer the question: “What do you do?” or “What kind of job are you looking for?” in 30 seconds or less, or you are stumbling over your words, then you are not prepared.

If you’re not prepared you’re not making it easy for other people to help you. This puts too much pressure on them, and makes your request for assistance more of a chore than a favor.

And that will lead you nowhere.

When you’re prepared, you make it easy for others, and it’s a simple matter of doing you a favor.

Make your benefit understandable

What are the benefits everyone understands? Saving money. Making money. Saving time. Making someone’s life easier.

When you’re crafting or revising your elevator speech, do not forget to tell the person that you’re speaking with how you can benefit an employer. Make it understandable.  It’s what is going to make people remember you. And it’s what will get others to refer you to prospective employers, and possibly your next employer to you.

When you’re talking to people on the phone and daisy-chaining your way to the person who will eventually help you find your job, practice your big benefit.

Paint a picture. Illustrate how you can do good for them.  Help them envision how your presence could be a service to them. That makes it easy to then explain it to others.

The person you’re speaking to has to make that mental connection. They have to see how you will benefit them or one of their associates, or else they’ll simply tell you “I’m sorry no-one really comes to mind right now. If I can think of anyone who can help, I’ll let you know”.

And that’s not going to help you get where you need to go.

If you’re going to make real progress in your job search, when you introduce yourself, present the benefit. When you’re telling a story about one of your accomplishment, present the benefit. When you ask for a referral, frame the request as a benefit.

Finally, don’t fall prey to the old fear that you don’t want to call someone because you’re afraid to bother him or her. People are naturally willing to help. And there’s no reason to be embarrassed about being in between positions. Everyone knows someone who has been affected by this downturn.

One thing is for sure. If you don’t make the calls, and if you don’t network, you will never know.

Greg Reynolds is the Director of Client Development for Dise & Company. You can contact Greg directly at the Pro People Page on Diseco.com.

The Revolving Door of Work: What to Do If You’re Headed Out and How to Get Back In

The job market these days may best be described as a revolving door… and you know those revolving doors – you can get squished if you’re not careful.

As the revolving door of employment turns, you’re either going out or coming in. Lots of people are rewriting their resumes and polishing their interview skills. What should you do as layoffs loom? And how do you jump back into the job market at 35, 55, or 75?

How to get through the revolving door of work…

How you answer this question can make or break your organization’s ability to adapt to change in these very difficult times.

“What business are you in?”

“Has your business changed with the economic climate?”

“Are you adapting to change? Or are you unsure of your next step(s)?”

Adapting to change, i.e.—refining your corporate culture and aligning it with today’s economic imperatives—is one of the toughest jobs you’ll ever undertake. Yet it could possibly be the difference between weathering the downturn—or not; or between surviving and thriving.

Most companies have difficulties dealing with change because a company’s culture forms over a period of many years. Typically, the culture is defined by default, unintentionally, reflecting the leader’s management style. It is then reinforced as new people are hired, in part, because they fit the prevailing culture.

Over time everyone gets comfortable and resists change.

For your company to consider cultural change, something significant must occur. Perhaps you lose a key client (or several key clients), you restructure and have layoffs, or face bankruptcy.

You don’t have to wait for a crisis

By definition, a crisis would never occur if executives and managers were proactive about solving problems. Most crises can be avoided if you stay in tune with the changing environment.

In good times when you’re experiencing double digit growth, everything is easy. What happens when the pipeline of new business shrinks to almost nothing?

In tough times, we have an obligation to be proactive, to look at things we weren’t paying attention to before. If you haven’t done so recently, you should gather your management team, and ask the following questions:

1. Are your prevailing values out of sync with your current needs?
An honest appraisal of the values on display in your company will help you determine where you are and what’s required to meet your current needs.

2. Have you articulated the values and objectives your company requires now?
You’ve told everyone the company must now do more with less. But is it OK for managers and executives to challenge assumptions openly? Or do you put a premium on “being agreeable”? Will your company accept risk-taking if there is the promise of great reward? Or are you in survival mode and closed off to new ideas? Are you listening to your line managers and your customers for ideas that could help your company expand revenues, cut costs, or otherwise contribute to the bottom line? Henry Ford said: “We need all the brains we can get, and all the brains we can borrow.”

3. Do you seek out opportunities to celebrate the values that make your company a winner?
Are you recognizing and rewarding the people who are achieving greater results with fewer resources? How about those who bring in new accounts or increase business when everyone else is cutting back?

If you embrace and articulate values that are in tune with the economic climate, you’ll increase your organization’s capacity to adapt. You’ll be in a much better place for the uncertainty ahead.

The question is: “Do you want to be in control of, and define, your company’s values? Or do want to leave it to happenstance, and instead let them define you?”

Ralph A. Dise, Jr. is the President of Dise & Company, the Presiding Director of Lincolnshire International, and has worked in the field of Human Resources his entire career. You can contact Ralph directly at the Pro People Page on Diseco.com.