Mary E. Marshall's Blog, page 43

Bullies in the Workplace? Just Say ‘No!’

We’ve all worked with them – bullying co-workers, managers, supervisors and entrepreneurs – and it’s never fun. What is a workplace bully? Someone who manipulates, badgers, intimidates and ignites fear in the workplace in their determination to maintain control and drive their own agenda. Why do they get away this behavior? Because they can. No one stops them. We all remember stories about the big kid who picked on weaker kids or the “mean girls” who were merciless. The hope is that once you get out of school and into the workplace it all changes and there are no more bullies, but alas, they are alive and well.

Workplace bullying is actually a widespread problem:*

27% of US employees have experienced some form of bullying at work
50% of the US workforce reports either having been bullied by someone at work or having witnessed someone else being mistreated
72% of bullies are bosses (abusing employees is not illegal unless the treatment is demonstrably based on age, sex, race or religion)
Bullying is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment

The question is why? Just like a fire needs air to exist, bullies have two requirements to persist in their behavior – a playground and participants. If you take both of those away, then they no longer have a platform. Think of a bully like the proverbial “bull in a china shop.” They stroll through the store leaving a trail of broken dishes with little more than a glance backward, completely unaware of the destruction they have just caused, or in some cases, they are aware, but refuse to take any responsibility for their part in causing it and blame others.

How do we change things? Let’s start with “the playground.” Bullies must have a theater or an environment that allows or even encourages bullying behavior to begin with. This can be a dysfunctional department, project, environment, person or entire company. It means that collectively, there is an unspoken belief that bully behavior is okay. At the very top levels, the leadership has condoned the playground. By not stopping it, they have approved it, and in some cases, (think Wall Street), it’s encouraged. So the choice is not to populate the playground, stay out of the department, choose not to “show up” or even leave the company. At the end of the day, it’s hard to be a bully when you’re alone.

The next condition is “participants.” Taking yourself off the playground helps, but a good bully always finds another victim, so the next thing to do is say “no.” Bullies are usually people who either have physical strength, or in the case of the workplace, “institutional strength,” through a position of authority or influence. In most cases, they are actually insecure and petty people, using their position to belittle and intimidate others. Don’t let them. Call them out on behavior that is inappropriate and say “I don’t agree,” or, “I don’t feel that was appropriate” and walk away. Don’t engage in conversation, and let them know you are NOT participating any longer. Say no more.

This will likely lead to your departure from the company so be prepared for that. However, if you really look hard at the values of a company that allows bullying – do they reflect your values? I bet they don’t. In the end, you control the amount of air given to a bully’s flame – without a playground or participants, you have effectively blown the flame out.

To find out more about dealing with workplace bullying you can visit The Workplace Bullying Institute.

 

*Statistics according to The Workplace Bullying Institute 2010 and CareerBuilders, 2011

Photo credit: Photobucket

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Resetting Your Training Beliefs

I saw an interesting post on LinkedIn by a former colleague of mine that reads:

CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?”

CEO: “What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”

I’ve heard the first question asked a lot over the years. I’ve rarely heard the second – and that’s the point. If you aren’t investing in your people, how valuable are they going to be to YOU over their tenure?

We’ve all had the highly qualified, well-trained, high potential employee leave for a better opportunity. In today’s workplace when a typical employee will have 3-5 different careers and their average tenure at a firm is less than 5 years, we need to be prepared and expect the exit.

The issue becomes how to leverage the training dollars and manage expectations regarding the investment. So often we put a dollar amount in the budget and hope it gets spent on the right types of training for the future. A better approach might be to have each manager do a mini-SWOT analysis, (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), for each of their departments. What could be improved through training? What are the best leverage points for the investment? Have the manager make a proposal, find the resources and most importantly, create a goal and a way to track the effectiveness of the training.

Next you need to communicate the “value” of the training to your employees. If you are sending them to a school that has a price tag associated with it, it’s easy to assess the value. Be specific with the employees about how long it will take for the Return of that Investment, and if they leave before that time, be clear about what pay back, if any you will expect. (Tuition reimbursement usually has a 1-2 year stipulation with it.) If the investment is more intangible, still figure out a way to measure and track it so that you can continue to make better and better decisions regarding training in the future.

The last conversation is a harder one. It’s conveying to your employees that it’s okay to take their education elsewhere. This comes down to the core values of the company. Do you believe that investing in your employees’ well-being and development is a good thing? If so, although you would like them to stay, you are going to provide the training whether they do or they don’t. It’s part of your company DNA or culture. I heard about a company that told their employees right up front that they knew they would only be able to keep them for about 3 years so they wanted it to be a mutually beneficial relationship during that time. That’s bold, and it’s how you keep high potentials engaged for the time you have them.

At the end of the day, start asking the second question. What happens if you don’t train your employees and they stay? It might make you change your plans.

 

Photo credit: By Dan4th Nicholas from Cambridge, MA, USA (Corporate training) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons

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Give Thanks for All Your Employees Do

As entrepreneurs and leaders sometimes we move so fast that we forget to “smell the roses,” as they say. One of those roses often ends up being recognition of our employees. And let’s be clear, without our employees, there is no company.

So in honor of this “Thanksgiving” let’s start with our teams. I’m not advocating a group hug or email that says, “gee thanks.” Let’s try to make it a little more personal.

Everyone likes to be recognized and thanked in the way that feels best to them. If you are trying to guess what that might be, observe how they “thank” others, it’s usually a sign as to their preferred method of being thanked. Focus on your direct reports first and model for them what a sincere thank you looks like. Recognize them for a specific contribution or an overall “attitude” of gratitude that helps the whole company grow. Be specific in your message so they know what you are thankful for.

Remember that “thanks” don’t always have to be communicated with dollars. A kind word or sincere recognition will often go much further than a monetary gift. Ultimately you need both, but during this time of giving thanks, focus on just that, saying thank you

When I started thinking about this, I wondered why we don’t do this more often? Part of it is our speed and forgetting to smell the roses as I mentioned before. I think a larger part of it is that we are sometimes uncomfortable giving employees thanks and simply assume they know we are grateful. Human beings need feedback and being appreciated is one of the basic needs we all have. So make someone’s day with a sincere acknowledgment and thanks for their contribution.

Think about what you might be able to do to inculcate this into your culture. As leaders, everyone looks at all you do with special scrutiny and interpretation. It is our job to ensure that our behavior is being interpreted correctly. So above all else, be sincere and authentic. If you can’t give thanks without these ingredients, it’s best to forgo it altogether until you can figure out how to do it properly. Done well, it will be something your employees imitate and repeat and it will become a pattern in the culture.

A simple conversation with you as the leader about their positive contribution to the organization is all you need to do to start. Just a three to five minute exchange to give thanks will make someone’s day.

It’s a valuable few minutes if you do it right. And it will pay itself forward for a long time. Give thanks!

 

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