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Mentoring Programs Benefit Both Employees and Organizations

One of the most frequent comments that comes up on employee surveys is that employees want more opportunities for growth and development. And studies show that companies who provide those opportunities have more engaged employees, higher retention rates, and better business results.

Providing your employees with learning and development doesn’t have to involve costly training programs. It can be as simple and cost-effective as transferring knowledge through mentoring relationships.

A mentoring program involves matching a less experienced employee or manager (mentee) with a more experienced employee or manager (mentor) for guidance and development. In most mentoring programs mentees do not report to their mentor, which often allows the mentee to be more candid about issues and concerns. Mentoring relationships provide development for the mentee and also benefit the mentor by helping them develop or enhance their leadership skills. Often the experience helps the mentor regain passion around his/her work and thus become more engaged and productive.

There are also myriad benefits to the organization. A mentoring program:

Shows employees that the company is willing to invest in its people
Conveys to the outside world that the company values its employees
Reduces turnover by increasing loyalty among employees (saving replacement costs)
Creates a more positive work environment
Helps mentors develop leadership skills
Provides growth opportunities for employees
Promotes a sense of cooperation and harmony within the organization

There are different schools of thought about the process for matching mentors and mentees. Some recommend that the pairings be allowed to evolve naturally. Others ask for volunteers to participate and then manually match mentors and mentees based on function and/or location. Others use software tools to do the match.

If you are thinking about developing a mentoring program, here are some tips to help it succeed:

Select mentors who are positive role models and enthusiastic about the program.
Establish clear expectations for the mentoring partnership, such as minimum number of meetings, length of partnership, who is responsible for initiating meetings and driving the relationship, etc.
Include at least one check-point to evaluate the relationship.
Encourage mentors and mentees to create specific goals for the partnership.
Orient mentors with best practices and guidelines around goal setting, giving feedback and basic relationship skills such as open communication, active listening, being accessible, building trust, sharing knowledge and ideas, and working together to resolve differences.
Develop a process for obtaining and incorporating feedback from both mentors and mentees about the program to ensure continuous improvement.

I had the privilege of starting a mentoring program for a large organization some years ago. We established it initially for 6 months, with a kick-off, mid-term event, and Mentor/Mentee luncheon with all participants at the end of the period. The program was very successful, and we were able to track the progress of participants. Several of the mentees received promotions. Another mentee decided to go back to school to obtain an advanced degree. Another mentee decided to make a lateral transfer to a different position that would provide the experience he needed to achieve a promotion. The mentors also benefited from the program. They felt more engaged and motivated in their jobs. They were very proud of their mentees and the progress they saw. Several of the mentoring pairs continued their mentoring relationship beyond the end of the pilot.

If you need help initiating a mentoring program at your company, please feel free to contact me. In my next blog, I’ll talk about establishing affinity group mentoring programs and give you some success tips for mentors and mentees.

New Minimum Wage and Hiring Rules in Effect

As of July 1, the minimum wage has increased in a number of California cities. If you have employees in any of the following cities, be sure that you have changed their pay rates accordingly. Note that in some cities, the minimum hourly wage is based on the number of employees. Also, if an employee works in (or telecommutes from) a city with a higher minimum wage than the state, the employer must follow both the state wage requirements and the city’s wage requirements for that employee. The current minimum wage in the state of California is $10.50/hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $10/hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees.

New minimum wages are as follows:

San Jose: $12/hour
Milpitas: $11/hour
San Francisco: $14/hour
San Leandro: $12/hour
Emeryville:
• $15.20/hour for companies with 56 or more employees
• $14/hour for companies with 55 or fewer employees
Los Angeles, Malibu, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County:
• $12/hour for companies with 26 or more employees
• $10.50 for companies with 25 or fewer employees

Effective January 1, 2018, the state-wide minimum wage will increase to $11/hour for employers with 26 or more employees and $10.50/hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees.

Use of Criminal Histories in Hiring Decisions
Also effective July 1, the Fair Employment and Housing Council implemented new rules regarding the use of criminal history in hiring decisions.

The new rules require that employers consider whether their use of criminal histories will have an adverse impact on any protected class. If an applicant or employee claims that the policy or practice of using criminal histories has an adverse impact on a protected class, the employer will have to show that the policy was job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Employers must also be able to show that there wasn’t a less-discriminatory policy or practice that could have achieved the same result. Employer policies must allow for an individual assessment that considers the nature of the offense, how long ago it took place, and how it relates to the position, if at all.

In addition, applicants or employees must be notified if an adverse action will be taken because of their criminal history, and they must be given an opportunity to address any factual inaccuracies. If a record is shown to be inaccurate, it must not be considered.

Please note that the following criminal records should not be considered in California:

• Arrests that did not result in conviction (unless trial is pending)
• Detentions that did not result in conviction
• Sealed records
• Convictions that have been judicially dismissed, including through expungement
• Misdemeanor marijuana convictions more than two years old
• Participation in pre-trial or post-trial diversions programs
• Proceedings in juvenile court

If you have questions about a specific hiring situation, contact your employment counsel.

Conducting a Great Coaching Conversation

One of your roles as a leader is to develop your employees. This includes giving regular feedback, providing opportunities that help them stretch and grow, and allowing them to learn from their mistakes. It’s called coaching. And putting yourself in the role of coach (positive) instead of boss (often negative) will go a long way to improving employee engagement and, by extension, improving company performance.

A survey by Corporate Executive Board found that firms whose culture encourages open communication outperform peers by more than 270% in terms of 10-year total shareholder return. Good coaching and an open, honest communication environment go hand in hand.

Key to an effective coaching process is the coaching conversation. This is where the leader (coach) does more asking than telling, and where the coach and coachee (employee) co-create a solution and next steps. This model works for both performance coaching and career development. Although the content will be different, the basic structure is the same – two-way, honest communication resulting in clarity and specific next steps.

Performance conversations should happen as close to when the performance issue is observed as possible. Unlike wine, poor performance does not improve with age. And unless the employee is made aware of the issue, he/she may assume everything is OK. Give employees the opportunity to learn from mistakes and to improve. Career development conversations should be held on a regular basis.

Here’s how a performance coaching conversation might look:

Set the stage. Explain that the goal of the conversation is to provide feedback to help them improve.
Describe the issue. Be sure that the issue is something you have personally observed, not something you were told by others. “I’ve observed that you came in late three times this week.”
Get them thinking. Ask, “What do you think the impact of your being late is?” “How could this have been avoided?”
Confirm expectations. “When do we need to be in the office and available for customer calls?”
Gain commitment. “What are the new behaviors you will practice?” “What are the benefits of those new behaviors?”
Follow up. If the behavior changes as promised, be sure to have another conversation where you give them positive feedback, including the positive impact of their actions. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been on time or even early for the past two weeks. We have consistently gotten orders out on time as a result. Thank you!”

Remember that, as a coach, you need to be providing regular feedback for both performance and career development. Catch your employees being good, and let them know how much you appreciate them. Praise them when they turn around a performance issue. When they come to you with a work issue, avoid the temptation to tell them how to solve it. Ask good questions to help them come up with a solution. “What have you tried so far?” “What’s another approach that might work that you haven’t tried yet?” “How have you handled something like this in the past?” “What was the outcome?”

If you’d like to learn more about giving effective feedback, please contact me about my one-hour performance feedback training.

Increase HR Knowledge with Our Generalist Certificate Program

As a long-time HR Professional, I know that those who work in human resources must continually add to their knowledge about HR best practices, employment law, benefits and various other topics that impact companies and their employees. That’s why for the past two years I’ve been partnering with HR Training Centers to deliver their Certificate Program for HR Generalists. This 3-day program is designed to provide HR Generalists, and anyone responsible for the HR function, with practical solutions and strategies to manage the challenges HR professionals are faced with every day. This class is for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge about the various aspects of the HR function.

The next offering of the certificate program is July 17-19 at the Santa Clara Tech Mart, 5201 Great America Pkwy, Suite 360 Santa Clara, CA 95054. Register on or before June 17 to receive the early bird discount.

Participants in the program will:

Learn best practices and indispensable strategies for every HR function
Acquire the practical knowledge and tools needed to navigate employment law landmines
Practice their learning through “real-life” case studies
Network with other HR professionals
Earn an “HR Generalist Certificate” that enhances professional growth
Earn 18 PHR / SPHR re-certification credit hours
Earn 18 SHRM PDCs

Participants will also receive access to our Training & Certification Programs for FMLA, ADA, COBRA, and Paycheck Fundamentals!

The interactive workshop format of this program allows for plenty of discussion around real-life issues, resulting in knowledge and solutions that participants can immediately apply. I hope to see you there!

A Strong Culture is a Recipe for Success: Johnson & Johnson

A clearly defined, communicated and continually reinforced company culture improves productivity, promotes ethical behavior, and contributes to business success. Employees are more likely to be engaged and loyal when they work in an environment of strong ethics, mutual respect, and trust.

I experienced this firsthand at Johnson & Johnson, with the Johnson & Johnson Credo. The Credo is a set of guiding principles that provides a framework for employee behavior. When employees understand the corporate values and expected behaviors, they are empowered to do the right thing. If someone deviates from expected behaviors, the Credo can be used as a coaching tool to help that individual learn what is expected and why.

The Credo states Johnson & Johnson’s responsibility to their customers, their employees, their communities and their stockholders. It was crafted by a member of the founding family nearly 75 years ago, which was, as stated on their website, “long before anyone ever heard the term ‘corporate social responsibility.’ Our Credo is more than just a moral compass. We believe it’s a recipe for business success. The fact that Johnson & Johnson is one of only a handful of companies that have flourished through more than a century of change is proof of that.”

The Johnson & Johnson Credo is infused in every aspect of J&J life. Every new hire is given the history of the Credo and its importance to the company. It’s in the company’s reward systems. When the company I was working for was bought by J&J, we went through a 2-day mandatory Johnson & Johnson training to understand the values. When tough decisions were made, the VP of HR would take out a copy of the Credo to serve as a compass to make the right decision for all the parties involved.

The Johnson & Johnson example shows that it’s not enough just to establish “a great culture.” You have to ensure that the culture becomes a part of the hearts and minds of all employees – from executives to new hires.

If you need help establishing, communicating or reinforcing your company culture, please contact me.

Creating a Culture That Promotes Good Behavior

In my past couple of blogs I’ve discussed harassment and bullying, how to recognize and prevent those behaviors, and the negative effects they can have on your business. But bullying and harassment are just two of many bad behaviors that can impact your business. Others include: unethical behavior, disrespect to customers or other employees, poor quality work, chronic lateness or absenteeism, and so on.

Establishing and communicating clear guidelines as to what is, and what is not, acceptable behavior is essential. It’s about creating a culture that promotes ethics, respect and integrity. Although we often think of company culture in terms of branding and perks, a strong company culture includes much more.

According to Harvard Business School Professor James L. Heskett, “effective culture can account for a 20-30% of the differential in corporate performance when compared with ‘culturally unremarkable’ competitors.”

So how do you create a great culture that promotes good behavior? Start with clearly defined vision and mission statements, and a set of core values. Ensure that each and every employee understands and can articulate the vision, mission and values. Be clear and consistent about expected behaviors. Integrate the vision, mission, values and expectations into your new hire orientation, employee handbook, and leadership training. Be sure that leaders at every level are aligned with the culture and are modeling expected behaviors. Recognize employees who consistently demonstrate the values in their interactions with customers, vendors, team members and other employees.

Employees who know what the standards and expectations are feel more empowered and have an easier time making decisions. This is especially important in small companies where everyone knows one another and employees feel more like family. If the standards aren’t clear and consistent and periodically reinforced, the lines can get blurred.

Communicate, and most importantly, demonstrate to employees that your focus is on doing the right thing, and not just on increasing profits. When companies lead with ethical behavior, respect and integrity, employees are more likely to follow.

If you would like more tips on creating a positive culture, please contact me.

Identifying and Preventing Workplace Bullying

In a survey conducted by Dr. Judy Blando of the University of Phoenix, nearly 75% of respondents said they had been affected by workplace bullying, either as a target or a witness. That’s shocking. What’s even more shocking is that so often bullying goes unreported, and when it is reported the targets are often the ones that bear the consequences. According to a recent article in business.com, targets lose their jobs at a significantly higher rate than perpetrators (82% vs. 18 %).

This is short-sighted on the part of employers, because bullying impacts not only the targets, but other employees who witness it, as well as customers. Chances are if someone is a bully to those inside your organization, they will be a bully to those outside the organization.

I’ve seen this first-hand. A company I was working with hired a new sales manager. Over time, the sales manager’s team began to complain about a number of things. He wasn’t cooperating with the rest of the team. He would get in people’s faces. He took credit for other people’s work. He would over promise to customers, and when he couldn’t deliver, he would blame others for it. All of these are signs of a bully. The company owner was reluctant to take action. It was hard for him to admit he’d made a bad hire. This is pretty typical. In fact, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 72% of employers deny, discount, encourage, rationalize or defend bullying.

I encouraged the owner to explore what was happening internally, and to consider that it might be impacting the company’s image externally. Following an investigation, the sales manager was fired. Not long after that, two customers called the owner to say that they had been on the verge of moving their business because of the way this individual had treated them. Bad behavior is bad for business!

Often bullying can be subtle. And often bullies pick on targets whom others describe as amiable, easy-going, kind. Bullying is abuse, plain and simple. Here are some things to watch for. A bully may:

Consistently ignore the target, or exclude them from team meetings, conversations, or outings
Be overly critical of the target’s work, with the goal of making them feel inadequate or unworthy
Create a hostile work environment by igniting conflict or competition among team members
Yell or use abusive language to others
Physically block the target from entering or exiting, or invade the target’s personal space
Take credit for work that is not their own
Blame others for their mistakes
Give false information or withhold information to discredit the target
Purposely prevent the target’s progress on a work project

Preventing bullying in the workplace starts by making good hires. Craft your behavioral interview questions to draw out any red flags from the candidate’s previous experience. Communicate to employees that abusive behavior/bullying will not be tolerated. Create an environment where all employees feel comfortable sharing concerns with their leader or HR. Be observant. Notice and take action when you see bad behavior. Develop and communicate a process for reporting and response. Keep accurate records.

If you have concerns about bullying in your organization, please feel free to contact me.

Bad Behavior is Bad for Business

You only have to glance at the news to get the feeling that workplace bullying and harassment are on the rise. Bill O’Reilly was called out recently for his behavior toward women at Fox News, as Roger Ailes had been accused before him. As of a few days ago, more than 50 companies had pulled their advertising dollars from The O’Reilly Factor.

Clearly, bad behavior is bad for business.

Most of us are familiar with what constitutes harassment. However, I think a reminder is useful.

California law prohibits workplace discrimination and harassment in employment based on:

Ancestry
Age (40 and above)
Color
Disability (physical and mental, including HIV and AIDS)
Genetic information
Gender, gender identity or gender expression
Marital status
Medical condition (genetic characteristics, cancer or a record or history of cancer)
Military or veteran status
National origin
Race
Religion (includes religious dress and grooming practices)
Sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or related medical conditions)
Sexual orientation

Harassment may refer to derogatory comments, slurs or propositions; epithets; assault; blocking movement; offensive touching; physical interference with normal work or movement; and visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons.

California law also requires that employers with 50 or more employees provide sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training for all supervisors. This training should be given when someone is first promoted to a supervisor position, and then every two years thereafter.

Workplace bullying, as defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute, is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. It is abusive conduct that is:

Threatening, humiliating or intimidating, or
Work interference that prevents work from getting done, or
Verbal abuse

Workplace situations of harassment or bullying impact not only the victims, but also other employees and, potentially, customers who either witness or experience the abusive behavior. Bullies tend to be equal opportunity perpetrators.

In my next blog, I’ll share a specific example of how bullying nearly lost a company several key clients, and I’ll give you some tips for recognizing and preventing bad behavior in your organization.

5 Tips for Managing Transitions Effectively

One of the skills that often comes up in discussions of leadership capabilities is “managing change.” As I noted in my most recent article, though, the role of the leader is more about managing the transition required by employees as they adjust to the change. In his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, William Bridges described that transition as a 3-phase process:

Ending – letting go of old ways and the old identity.

The Neutral Zone – that period where the old is gone but the new isn’t fully operational.

New Beginnings – employees adapt to the new ways/identity and find the sense of purpose that makes the change work.

Here are some tips for guiding employees through this process effectively.

Determine how behaviors and attitudes need to change to make teams work effectively as a result of the change. Who stands to lose something under the new system, and how will you handle that?
“Sell” the reason for the change. What is the problem that the new process/organization will solve? Help employees see the problem from the customer or business perspective. People will be more adaptable if they understand the “why” versus having to accept change “because I said so.”
Get to the root of resistance to the change. Talk to individuals to understand their concerns. Explain to employees the phases of transition, and that it’s a natural process. Hold skip level meetings. Listen.
Hold employee meetings / forums to discuss how you will move forward together in the new organization / process. Include and empower employees to help with the transition.
Celebrate the new beginning. If it’s the formation of a new team, for example, create a new team logo. If it’s a new process that solves a customer issue, share positive customer feedback. Have a “We Did It!” event. Acknowledge employees for successfully completing the transition.

To ensure that your transition goes as smoothly as possible, here are some things you should avoid.

DO NOT turn everything over to individuals as a group and ask them to come up with a plan.
DO NOT break the change into smaller, sequential changes. This would require employees to go through the transition phases multiple times. Introduce the change all at once with a well-thought-out plan.
DO NOT pull key employees together as a model to show others how to do it.
DO NOT keep changing plans if one doesn’t work.
DO NOT threaten disciplinary action if employees won’t quickly adjust to the change.

If you would like some help developing a transition plan, please contact me.

Managing Transitions in an Ever-Changing Environment

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

It sounds simple enough, but if you are a leader attempting to guide your employees through a major change – an acquisition, a reduction-in-force, or new leadership, for example – you know that overcoming resistance to change can be the biggest hurdle to progress.

In his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, William Bridges clarified that a leader’s role is not really about managing change, but rather about leading employees through the transition process as a result of change:

“Change and transition are not the same. Change is the external event or situation that takes place. Transition is the inner psychological process that people go through to adapt to a change. Empathetic leaders recognize that change puts people in crisis.”

Bridges describes transitions as a 3-phase process:

Phase One is an Ending. “Letting go of the old ways and the old identity people had.” Maybe they’re losing a beloved leader, or moving to a different team as the result of a reorganization, or having to adapt to a totally new way of doing their job. In any case, there’s a certain amount of grieving or sense of loss for what they’re leaving behind.

Phase Two is the Neutral Zone. This is an in-between stage when “the old is gone but the new isn’t fully operational.” Here is where the critical “psychological realignments and repatternings” take place. People begin to let go of the past. Although they may still be unsure of what’s ahead, they are beginning to accept the inevitability of the change.

Phase Three is New Beginnings. In this phase people adapt to their new identity, experience renewed energy, and find the sense of purpose that will help make the change work.

As a leader, understanding and accepting that your employees need to go through this process will increase the likelihood that the change will be successful.

Next time we’ll talk about some specific strategies for helping your employees through the process.