Senior Management: Misguided or just Disconnected?

With all the recent CEO terminations, I started thinking about my and my friend's experiences. And although one can argue that the CEO owns and drives the corporate culture and senior management team (aka, the Board), it's often a chicken-and-egg syndrome and all are partially to blame when things go wrong.

So are senior management teams misguided...or just disconnected?

In my opinion, it's a combination of the two.

1. The Board is inherently a bit too disconnected from the frontline--the people who actually run the business.
2. This is further exacerbated if they make poor hiring decisions and insert managers/directors who do not have the skills and experience to lead their staff and the business to success. 
3. The result is that not only is the Board not aware of what is important to its staff  (and therefore business), but they also have a false impression, as fed to them by their mishires in an attempt to protect their own self interests.

So what are some possible solutions?

First off, as I've mentioned before, value human resources as your most precious asset. You are nothing without your people and if you motivate them, they will gladly think of ideas to take your company to the next level. So why not combine the two? Reward good ideas and overachievers by taking them to lunch. Turn off all your electronics for the hour and really listen to your shining star. Ask him/her what works and what doesn't. What would they do differently. How could x product/process be improved. And try to take this feedback to heart and if you can't, let the employee know why. Either way, they'll feel vested and valued, share this with everyone else on the team, and before you know it, everyone will be trying to earn that hour of your time.

If the above sounds too optimistic, try it before you discount it. And if this method doesn't work in your company, find something that does. But remember that the purpose is to reconnect with your frontline staff and make them feel like their ideas matter; it's not to "pay them off" with a nominal fiscal reward (which does have its place and time, but this isn't it.)

Motivation and Corporate Culture

Have you ever had to rank attributes in the order they're most important to you? This may have been for self-assessment purposes or to prepare for an annual review, and each company's version is probably almost interchangeable.

Do you remember what was most important for you? Is that still the case? I'm a big proponent of any activity that helps you know yourself better, since succeeding at work and life will depend on this.

As many have heard me say, and as I know has come up in previous blog posts, to succeed and be happy at work, the job has to play to your strengths. But that is unfortunately not enough. Imagine a brilliant innovator that needs collaboration and mistakenly finds himself at a company where the culture is to work independently and quietly, and where bouncing ideas off each other is frowned upon. Do you think he'll be able to succeed even if the job itself plays to his strengths? How about the manager who is good at motivating staff and making things happen, but needs authority and autonomy to work at her best. Will she succeed with a micromanager?

How do you make sure you end up with a good corporate/team fit in addition to a job that plays to your strengths? I actually think that companies, as part of pre-screening potential employees, should give them a self-assessment. It is in the company's best interest to ensure employees will be happy and productive. I just read yesterday that Zappos, after putting all new hires through a four-week training program, offers them a $3000 bonus to quit. A small percentage actually take them up on this offer and they consider the ROI well worth it since they only want employees who really want to be there.

If HR won't pre-screen for good fit, it's up to the hiring manager and employee. For the manager, I would give the employee the self-assessment quiz as soon as they walk in your door and explain that it's to see if the two of you would make a good team. If you think this is too harsh, then ask leading questions; for example:

1. What three adjectives best describe you?
2. What type of manager have you worked best with? Worst with? Why?
3. What kind of environment brings out the best in you? Worst in you?
4. Would previous managers or peers disagree with any of this? Why?

Consider these examples, but cater the questions to the level you're hiring for, what matters most to you, and to what you need most in a direct report.

For the potential employee, Scott Ginsberg wrote a great article called "7 Interview Questions to Uncover Corporate Culture" for theLadders.com. Since that link won't work if you don't have a Ladders account, I've copied and pasted the questions below:

1. If you could describe your corporate culture in three words, what would you say?
2. If you were going to give public tours of this company, what stops would the guide make?
3. If the local paper were going to run a four-page article about your company's culture, what would be impossible not to include?
4. What's the best part about working in this environment that I won't be able to see from just a walk around the office?
5. What are the most common complaints employees make about your company culture?
6. May I speak with a few of your veteran employees or new hires?
7. What do you love best about the culture here?

 As they say, it takes a village, so make sure it's the right village for you so that you're motivated to do your best--for yourself and the village.