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Letter from the Editor
If you’re like me, you’re becoming increasingly annoyed at the number of reality shows on television. They’ve become the mainstream and I’ve grown weary of seeing people with self-inflicted dysfunctions fill up the airways.
However, there is one reality show that captivates me – Supernanny. For those with better taste than me, Supernanny is a show where an English nanny (Jo Frost) swoops in to help a frustrated couple deal with their out-of-control children. The situations are fairly extreme – children swearing at and hitting their parents; children running amok in any public place; general mayhem.
Sitting comfortably with remote in hand and 23 years of parenting behind me, the solutions to the family’s problems are obvious and simple. The solutions, however, are not easy. They’re not easy because most children do not come with an operator’s manual or instructions. One day, these little people show up and almost instantly start doing things that you really don’t want them to do – from pooping their pants to spilling things to writing on walls to neglecting homework to ignoring curfew. Some things – while distasteful – come with the territory and, as parents, we can expect to deal with the diapers, the night feedings, and the accidents. Other things – like manners, respect, responsibility, work ethic – require effort – a LOT of effort – and diligence on the parent’s part. Knowing the difference between what you can (and should) influence and what you can’t is the key first step to parenting.
Managing is like parenting in a lot of ways. The trick is knowing what you can (and should) influence and what you can’t. Later in this issue of The Key, we explore the important people management skill of analyzing performance – before addressing a performance problem, make sure you understand WHY there’s a performance problem.
Like parenting, managing can be extremely frustrating. Employees don’t come with operating instructions and most of us are not naturally equipped to manage others.
Like parenting, managing can also be extremely rewarding. In fact, there is probably no greater influence on a person’s life – other than parents and significant others – than a person’s manager.
Terry
Entelechy to Present at ISPI
 Entelechy has been invited to present at the 2007 International Performance
Improvement Conference in San Francisco on April 30-May 3, 2007. We will be joining our client, Wellpoint (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield) as we present “Flattening Training: Consolidating Three Regional Curricula:”
The world is flat and so are training organizations. Entelechy and Wellpoint came together to make the Northeast Region of Wellpoint even flatter. Through analysis, design, and development, learn to take your scattered training and make your training fit in a flattening world. Performance-based solutions and materials will allow you to deliver training better, faster, and more consistently
Participants will be able to:
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Describe the model an organization can use to combine regional curriculums.
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Utilize the model through practice with a case study.
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Evaluate the challenges in combining curriculums.
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Assess the use of a third party to facilitate all or part of the process.
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Explore and identify strategies for success.
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Generalize the model to fit their organizations.
If you’re planning on attending the conference, I’d like the opportunity to meet you. We will be presenting Wednesday, May 2 at 3:30 pm in Sierra F. Check
http://www.ispi.org for more information about the conference.
The Lies – and the Truths – About Learning
 Last month, I invited readers to submit their entries into Entelechy’s
Lies About Learning contest and two lucky winners would be drawn randomly to win a copy of Lies About Learning signed by the editor, Larry Israelite.
The response was impressive – both in terms of volume and in scope. A few of your responses:
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“‘People are our most valuable resource.’ What a crock. If that was true, there’d be more of an effort to maintain or improve their skills.”
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“One of the perpetual lies is that anyone can do effective training. That’s like saying anyone can be a good parent. Yet there’s so much evidence that proves just the opposite.”
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“I read the chapter on Lies About CLOs and, being a
CLO, can tell you that it’s spot-on. While the title is fantastic, the position doesn’t command nearly the prestige and power it should have.”
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“The training partners we work with would have preferred a less harsh title – perhaps ‘Myths About Learning.’”
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“Here’s a lie: ‘People need training.’ I think we in training – not just the hopped up, hyped up eLearning guys but ALL of us – exaggerate our importance. Face it, training is not recognized for its importance because we haven’t filled a burning need. We’re not seen as integral to the success of the business because we’re NOT. Remove the Accounts Receivable group or the IT group or Sales and you’d have instantaneous and visceral reaction. Remove Training and maybe in a month or so someone will notice. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be or can’t be a key driver of business, but we won’t get there by overpromising and
underdelivering. Or by whining about it.”
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“It’s a lie that training is a thankless position. I’ve been in training for three years and have never enjoyed my work so much. I enjoy helping people and making a difference.”
The above were selected because they were representative and somewhat controversial. Thank you to all who responded.
And now the two winners of the free autographed copies of Lies About Learning are:
(drum roll please……)
For those of you who didn’t win, you can order
Lies About Learning directly from the ASTD Store at http://store.astd.org/product.asp?prodid=3991
or on Amazon.com.
Before You Can Manage Performance You Must Analyze Performance
People management is a mystery to many people and especially frightening to new managers or supervisors. We all know managers who adopt an overly heavy iron-fisted approach to performance just as we recognize the milquetoast manager who is
 everyone’s friend.
And those of us who ARE managers – and have been managers for more than a few weeks – recognize that knot in our stomachs when we know that we need to confront an employee about a performance issue. The knot comes from knowing that we NEED to do something but are UNSURE of the best approach.
Before you can manage performance, you need to analyze the performance and explore why the employee isn’t doing what he or she should be doing.
There are really only two primary reasons why people don’t do what you want them to do:
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They can’t do what you want them to do.
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They won’t do what you want them to do.
That’s it. Two reasons. Effective managers know how to tell the difference between the two and they know what to do about it.
They Can’t Do What You Want Them to Do
There are several sub-reasons why people can’t do what you want them to do. They include:
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They don’t know you wanted something (or wanted something done a specific way, or by a specific date, or…); they don’t know your expectations or think they are doing it correctly.
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They don’t have the resources (time, people, information, budget) to do what you want.
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They don’t have the skills or knowledge to do what you want.
They Won’t Do What You Want Them to Do
Sometimes, people who CAN perform, won’t; they choose not to perform for a variety of reasons:
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The perceived positive consequences for performing don’t outweigh the effort or the perceived negative consequences.
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The task is perceived as less important than something else.
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They choose to do it their way, not your way.
See if you can match the scenario below with the correct performance analysis in the chart under the scenarios:
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Employee: “I didn’t know that there was a specific deadline.”
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Employee: “I can’t contact as many people as I’m supposed to because the information on half of the contact sheets is incorrect.”
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Employee: “I haven’t been to the training yet.”
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Employee: “This is a waste of time.”
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Employee: “My child is having a lot of trouble in school lately and I’ve been having to talk to the counselors and the principal daily.”
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Asking someone to do three hours of work in two hours.
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Employee: “Every day I bust my hump and do a great job, but I don’t hear a thing until I mess up.”
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Employee: “Nobody’s said anything about my work so I must be doing okay.”
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Employee: “The last time I finished early, I was given more work.”
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You (the manager) have quit requesting reports from a certain employee
because she never completes them correctly or submits them on time.
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Employee: “I can keep track of things better using my own method.”
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Employee: “Sounds good in theory, but it’ll never fly in the real world.”
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Employee: “I haven’t been able to get to it yet.”
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When the employee performs poorly, he gets an easier assignment the next time.
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Scenario #s |
Analysis – Why The Employee
May Not Be Performing As You Want |
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They don’t know you wanted something
(or wanted something done a specific way, or by a
specific date, or…) they don’t know your
expectations or think they are doing it correctly. |
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They don’t have the resources (time,
people, information, budget) to do what you want. |
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They don’t have the skills or
knowledge to do what you want. |
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The perceived positive consequences
for performing don’t outweigh the effort or the
perceived negative consequences. |
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The task is perceived as less
important than something else. |
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They choose to do it their way, not
your way. |
Check out the correct answers on Entelechy’s website at: www.unlockit.com/TS-HPMquiz.html.
In the next issue of The Key we’ll identify appropriate responses to each scenario. Analyzing performance allows you to confidently approach the employee and address the performance issue in the most appropriate way.
This information comes from Coaching for Performance, a module in Entelechy’s
High Performance Management program. If you’d like to learn how coaching and performance management can help your company, please contact us at
info@unlockit.com.
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Terence Traut, President of Entelechy "unlocking potential"
ttraut@unlockit.com
phone: 603-424-1237
fax: 603-424-6361
http://www.unlockit.com
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