BEWARE THE PERILS OF "OBVIOUS"
There I was, ready to write my first article for Workplace News. I worked hard to get this gig, I had proven my expertise in employee retention, I demonstrated my writing skills and I had sworn on a stack of old newsprint that I was committed to writing faithfully. My only obstacle was deciding what to write about this month that would be of interest to a well respected audience of HR professionals. “Just don’t write about the same old tips and tricks our readers already learned in HR 101,” my editor said. “We have seen and heard them all before – in our world that stuff is all too obvious.” Little did she know, that was the flash, the inspiration I needed. This month, I want to share my thoughts on the danger of obvious, those little things we all too often take for granted.
Let me start by quoting Edward de Bono, a prolific modern day thinker, who wrote the following about the danger of obvious:
It's Obvious!
“Many of the principles will seem obvious.
It is very difficult to teach things that are obvious because the mind takes them for granted.
Because we can understand something, we often believe that we do in fact practice it.
A lot of research into thinking habits shows that the most obvious and easily understood principles are not used, although everyone would claim to use them.
The fact that the steps may be simple and obvious should not obscure either the difficulty of using them or the value of using them.”
When I first read this, I thought “Yeah, that’s right — the stuff that has really bitten me in the butt has always been the stuff I already knew.” If you think about it, relationships break up because one party felt unloved while the other party thought their love was obvious. A sports team picked to be the champion often loses because everyone on the team thought their winning was obvious. Employees leave because they feel unappreciated, yet as employers we feel our caring was obvious.
I believe that as HR professionals we all need to go back and do a sanity check on those things in our world that we think we are doing, and ask ourselves if they really do hold true.
I think that we often take for granted that new employees have a never ending passion or commitment about joining our organization, that they have no fear, no second doubts or concerns. If we didn’t, why else would you hear the horror stories of new employees showing up on their first day only to be greeted with no desk, no boss and no plans? They introduce themselves at reception only to find out no one knows who they are and where they need to go. All of us know the importance of creating a great first impression; we know that it cements loyalty and kick-starts employee productivity. That part is obvious. We all know it, yet many times we fail to do it or we fail to do it right. In my mind, having a “powerful” onboarding program is paramount to keeping the great people we just invested our time and energy in finding. Ask yourself, how does your onboarding program really rate? Onboarding is much more than helping an employee fill out some forms and find the washroom. Onboarding is about selling, celebration and success. We need to assure our new employees that they made a great choice. We need to celebrate their decision to become part of the team. And we need to outline the strategies to ensure our mutual success. When was the last time you qualified your onboarding program? How effective is it, really? Sure, we want to communicate the ins and outs of the business, but more importantly we need to define the essence of a great business relationship – a long term relationship.
You might also say it’s obvious that employees leave companies, that their leaving is inevitable. But let me ask you, have you ever had an experience where your perception of the business changed radically when you changed managers? A good manager encourages, motivates, anticipates and defines the working culture. A good manager sugar coats the tough stuff, clears out the rough stuff and provides just enough leadership to let everyone feel empowered. We know the number one reason employees leave a company is because they don’t feel valued or appreciated anymore. Isn’t that really the manager’s responsibility? I believe that nine times out of ten, employees leave their managers, not the company. Are your managers getting the training they need, the mentoring, and the tools to keep great employees?
Finally, we know how important employee feedback is. As a company we need to know what our employees are thinking and how we can best serve them. That much is obvious. What if our approach to getting the feedback is wrong? What if we’re not getting the kind of information we need? I have a saying: “You never call your own child ugly.” Yet time after time we do the work ourselves, limiting our chances of getting a fresh perspective and a different point of view. Do your employees feel comfortable asking you questions? Do they trust and believe their feedback will be used for the right reasons? Do they believe it will be used at all?
I know that every month I am going to bestow on you different ideas focused on employee retention. I know some of it will be obvious, but all I ask is that you remember that just because you know it, it doesn’t mean you do it. Never underestimate the difficulty or power in doing it right.
