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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2008 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 12 No. 4, August-September 2009
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1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES FOR TOUGH TIMES
3. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
4. HUMOR BREAK
5. ABOUT THE EDITOR
6. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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REALITY CHECK
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"People leave jobs because of dissatisfaction with their boss,
lack of challenge, or lack of opportunity for advancement…not simply
for money."
--Charles O'Reilly, Professor, Grad School of Bus., Stanford U.
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1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
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COMPENSATION DOES NOT LEAD TO PEAK PERFORMANCE
The compensation for CEOs at the largest U.S. companies went from 35
times the average worker's salaries in 1978 to 300 times at the end
of the 1990s.
ACTION STEPS
Read the next article and take action.
Source: Firms Still Willing to Pay Dearly for Talent, HBR 87 (3), 2009:
26.
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2. PERFORMANCE INCENTIVES FOR TOUGH TIMES
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During these tough economic times cash for employee compensation and
bonuses is about as abundant as snow in hell. Which may be a blessing
in disguise since pay does not motivate your employees to deliver peak
performance. Want proof? Look at the performance of U.S. financial institutions
such as Citigroup, or think about the last time you gave your employees
a raise. (I know it's been awhile.) Let's say it was 5% and it became
effective the first of the month. How many employees said: "Boss,
starting today I will be giving you 5% greater effort and performance."
Research tells us that pay will achieve two objectives: it will insure
that employees come to work and stay with your company. Not bad, however
not peak performance. To get that, you have to stick to the following
12 rules.
Rule #1: Practice Management by Appreciation (MBA)
Get in the habit of focusing a great deal of your attention on what
your team members are doing right, or if you are a perfectionist, what
they are doing almost right. Then provide them with specific, timely
and positive feedback ideally in front of others, and it is very likely
that they will continue to further improve and repeat that behavior.
Not only that, their performance will likely improve in other areas
as well. Reinforcement experts call that shaping and chaining which
comes about because much of our behavior is a function of consequences--see
Rule #2. If you want to take advantage of this powerful strategy read
or listen to my Winning Management book http://wolfrinke.com/wmbook.html.
(Tough times demand that you get really good at practicing MBA!)
Rule #2: Tie rewards to performance
I refer to this as "the most important management principle of
all time." The reason: what you reward or recognize will be repeated.
What you ignore, will go away, and what you punish will not be repeated,
at least not while you're around. (Wait! Read that again! It explains
virtually all of the behaviors that puzzle you.) So if you want peak
performance then your high performers should be rewarded differently
from your low performers. And if you want teamwork then you must reward....
(You catch my drift.) Yet very few managers get this right. A great
way to check yourself is to review your calendar. Who are you dedicating
most of your time to? (Yes, your time is a reward!) Your peak performers--the
people who make you look great? Or your troublemakers? If it is the
latter, get busy right now and give more rewards and recognitions to
your top performers, and by all means devour my Don't Oil the Squeaky
Wheel book http://wolfrinke.com/squeakywheel.html. In these tough times
you can't afford to keep "rewarding" what you don't want!
(The book will also help you use punishment more effectively.)
If you like an example of a company who gets this right study Proctor
and Gamble. They tie all bonuses to their bottom line which causes all
team members to be focused on specific bottom line results.
Rule #3: Tie rewards to needs
Every employee has different needs or to say it another way: "Different
strokes for different folks." For example if you have a contest
with a prize of a trip to Aruba for two, it will not cause someone who
is single or afraid of flying go the extra mile. Similarly if--as a
token of appreciation for "a job well done"--you provide employees
a ham for the holidays, you will likely achieve the opposite effect
for your Jewish employees. (Don't laugh, one of my New York clients
did that!) To make this rule come alive you have to find out what motivates
key employees. How do you find that out? You ask them! Now there is
a radical concept!
Rule #4: Do it in public
Whenever possible recognize team members in front of their colleagues.
In fact, here are two practices you should always adhere to: Punish
in private, and reward in public. Schedule frequent celebrations and
hoopla sessions, because public recognition is the breakfast of champions.
Just think what Olympic athletes will do for a small piece of metal
on a colorful string. And please don't tell me that your employees don't
like it because they get embarrassed. If that is the case, you have
not done a good enough job of building your employees self-esteem and
it's time for you to read or listen to my popular book: Make it a Winning
Life: Success Strategies for Life, Love and Business http://wolfrinke.com/miwlbook.html.
Rule #5: Be fair
Here is a scenario for you to contemplate. Employee #1 is a project
manager and completion of one of his projects may potentially save the
company $100,000 over three years. Employee #2 has been tinkering with
an idea she came up with on her own time, which upon implementation
will likely result in increased sales of about $100,000 per year indefinitely.
How would they feel if both received a weekend for two at the same resort?
The likely perceived unfairness could cause employee #2 as well as many
others to conclude that giving 111% is not important around here, and
as a result modify their future actions accordingly. Want more help
with this read or listen to my Winning Management book http://wolfrinke.com/wmbook.html.
Follow these five rules and you and your team members will continue
to raise performance and productivity even during these tough times.
(Rules 6-12 will be in the next issue of this eNewsletter.)
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3. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
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The following full day seminars may be open to you if your company is
a member of the Institute of Management Studies (IMS). Contact the chairperson
for specifics.
Increasing Your Personal Effectiveness
9/21/09 London, England, contact: Mike Matthews, london@ims-online.com
9/22/09 Edinburgh, Scotland, contact: Graeme Crawford, scotland@ims-online.com
9/24/09 Manchester, England, contact: Gareth Morris, manchester@ims-online.com
NOTE: I have other "in-house" presentations scheduled. Please
let me know if you are interested to preview me or bring me into your
organization at reduced expenses when I'm scheduled to be in your area.
That way we can let you know when I'm coming your way!
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4. HUMOR BREAK
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Lessons in Management
An eagle was sitting in a tree resting. A small rabbit saw the eagle
and asked, "Can I sit like you and do nothing?"
The eagle answered: "Sure, why not."
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of
a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Management Lesson: If you want to sit and do nothing, you must be sitting
very, very high up.
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5. ABOUT THE EDITOR
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Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is a highly effective management consultant and
executive coach who specializes in building peak performance organizations,
teams and individuals. He is the author of 14 books including "Don't
Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership
Effectiveness" and "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations" available at www.WolfRinke.com.
Wolf is also an internationally recognized management/leadership keynote
speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that
combine story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how
to" action strategies that participants can apply immediately to
improve their management and leadership effectiveness. Preview a live
demo at www.WolfRinke.com. To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services
contact us at 800-828-9653 or WolfRinke@aol.com
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6. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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