So, with CPIs hovering around 3-3.5%, and most surveys showing 3.5-4.0% increases in salary budgets for 2007, life’s a breeze, right? Just add the percentages into the Excel formula, press “Enter,” and you’re done, right?
Actually, wrong.
Enter “wage inflation.”
I’m going to avoid the ecomomist argument that higher wages do or do not cause inflation. That’s just not our relative concern here. What is clearly our concern is that our currently strong economic growth lowers general unemployment rate. This, theoretically, can cause businesses to bid up the price of labor and (hopefully) pass through those higher costs in the form of higher prices.
If only it were so easy. As the CPI shows general inflationary trends (e.g., our product/service cost increases), wage inflation is an additional cost on top of inflationary pricing. In other words, it’s a potential incremental cost.
Now, again theoretically, profit-conscious firms aren’t going to hire employees at a rate of pay more than his utilitarian or marginal value, or more than the additional revenue earned. Hardly rocket science, right?
The reality, however, shows that sometimes wages do increase faster than general inflation, particularly for individual functions, positions and/or jobs, rather than an overall employment market.
Enter compensation planning. It’s easy to get in a cyclical rut: analyze the jobs, survey the market, establish a range. Then adjust for infation a couple of years and start all over again. That’s simply not enough. We must pay close, specific attention to the inflationary movement of key positions within our organziations and adjust accordingly — or at least be acutely aware of the disparity. No reason for a surprise here.
Sometimes compensation planning takes foresight, analysis, and a real awareness of what’s going on in the world.
Sound familiar? At the office? At home? Yes, that short conversation takes place millions of times every day across this country in the workplace, in stores, in the kitchen, between co-workers, bosses and employees (both directions), spouses, and parents and their children – basically anywhere there are two people interested in a particular outcome.
Since this is part of a newsletter, let’s start in the workplace. We certainly don’t expect our employees to know everything, yet because many of them think and feel likewe do, they’re hesitant to ask questions. As leaders, we get frustrated with team members who wait until the last minute to ask for help – or don’t ask for help at all – and things go to hell in a handbasket.
What makes us think it’s any different for our boss? It’s not.
Keep this in mind: you’re not a failure if you ask for help. You fail when you need it and don’t ask for it and the consequences create a crisis. If you don’t believe that applies to you, you might offer it as a piece of advice in your next coaching conversation.
So, why is it so dammed hard to ask for help? Easy… we have egos.
Successful people are helpers, not helpless, right? We think asking for help makes us look weak, undermining our credibility as a (insert self-description here). We may think that, but it’s not true! Pretending we don’t need help when it’s obvious that we do is what undermines our credibility.
Self-reliance can be both a strength and a self-limiting weakness. Especially at senior levels. We develop this huge blind spot about letting someone else lighten our load. Well, I’d like to offer a hint on what your first clue should be that you need help: someone says, “Can I do something to help?”
They obviously see something we don’t.
Okay, I hear you. You don’t need help. All I can ask is that you keep this in mind next time you get frustrated at someone who won’t ask for help.
How about we build a culture where people aren’t intimidated to ask for help by helping them understand the “when” and “how” to ask questions. I’ve heard it said that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but I know better… I’ve heard some.
Let’s start with when. Here are five good times to ask for help:
When you don’t know – you encounter a new process, new situation, new technology, new project, etc. Again, the world doesn’t expect you to know everything.
When deadlines are in danger – someone else is usually depending on you to complete your part of the project or process on time; don’t disappoint them.
When you don’t understand what’s expected – when you accept an expectation, you own it. Sometimes you have to gain clarity on just exactly what is being asked of you.
When you’re curious – not in a judgmental way, but actually trying to learn why things are done in a certain way, where what you do fits into the larger effort, or when you don’t understand a decision. WARNING: watch your tone of voice when you ask.
When you see an opportunity to develop someone – asking your team to help when you’re overwhelmed (or when you’re not) is an opportunity for you to practice empowerment and for them to grow in the organization.
Great! We’re almost there. Now that your team knows when to ask you for help, here are some tips for how to ask without sounding incompetent:
Make sure you need it – you want to have tried it before your boss offers a simple solution. Start the discussion with “I tried…”
Bring solutions, not problems – I wish I had a dollar for every time my daughters heard me say that. You need to be able to say “Here are the options I see…”
Be S-M-A-R-T – ask for the help you need, or you’ll get more help than you want. Make your request for assistance specific, meaningful, actionable, realistic and time-bound.
Don’t be a martyr – just because you wait until the last minute doesn’t mean it’ll only take a minute. The last thing you want to hear from your boss is “Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
You didn’t ask for my help, but I’m not surprised. You already knew all of this. And I don’t think I’ll let my wife or Kevin Berchelmann read this. I can already hear them thinking “Physician, heal thyself!”
Late in my Air Force career, I had the great fortune to command a fantastic group of diverse, talented Airmen. The only downside was that we lacked sufficient personnel and resources to be fully capable of executing our assigned mission, which pitted me against my peers in a competition for more – more people, more money, more equipment, and more priority. I thought it was the perfect job for me, because I’d spent most of my career competing for more. (more…)
I hate to call anyone a crook. It sounds unseemly and judgmental, and just a tad juvenile…
Ah, to hell with that. Wells Fargo, you guys are a bunch of crooks. Specifically, the leadership involved in the fraudulent account processing debacle. Yes, the leadership, not the schmucks that
leadership whacked in the process.
The numbers, for you analytical types:
565,443 — The number of unauthorized credit card applications filed by Wells Fargo’s community banking division
1,534,280 — The number of unauthorized deposit accounts opened by Wells Fargo’s community banking division
5,300+ — The number of schmucks (mentioned above) fired for actually opening these fraudulent accounts
$185,000,000 — The amount of the fine levied on Wells Fargo for this fraudulent activity
$200,000,000 — The amount of stock held by John Stumpf (just “Stumpy” from here on)
$19,000,000 — The amount of money Stumpy hauled in last year.
$125,000,000 — The amount to be paid to Carrie Tolstedt, the executive in charge of these fraudulent activities
$20,000,000,000 — The approximate dollars in annual profit made by Wells Fargo
0 — The number of senior leaders held accountable for this travesty
Here’s the deal… there’s simply no way that 5,300 people–all doing the same job for the same division–can be fired for fraudulent (potentially criminal) acts, and no one in real leadership was aware of the problem. Just no way. Think about it–that many people whacked, same division, same job, all for fraudulent activities in a bank. And no one noticed? That’s your story? Seriously?
I call bullshit.
If you hold a gun to someone’s head and say, slap Bill over there or I’ll pull the trigger, well, Bill’s about to get slapped. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t the violent type, that you’ve never hit anyone in your life, or that Bill is a helluva good guy. None of that matters. What matters is you have a gun to your head. The schmucks fired at Wells Fargo, all likely justified for doing something way wrong, had guns to their heads.
Over aggressive daily sales quotas; hourly (yes, you read that right)–hourly–conference calls to make sure your quotas are on track; after-school detention overtime and forced marches on Saturdays for anyone coming up short. And if you came up short after two months, you got whacked. I’d say that feels like a gun to the head. Held there by senior leadership at Wells Fargo.
The push was relentless, and making these arguably unreasonable quotas was not simply an issue of performance–some personal bankers had as much as 20% of their total compensation tied up in sales commissions from these extra accounts. In other words, another gun. I’m not excusing criminal or unethical behavior by those doing it; the firings were likely justified, and behavior like that is deplorable no matter the incentive. But to just punish over 5,000 workers while senior leadership is not just held unaccountable, but rewarded with mucho dinero?
In a 2013 interview, Wells Fargo CFO Timothy Sloan said “I’m not aware of any overbearing sales culture.” Where’s that bullshit flag again…? I’m throwing it. Of course, Timmy had good reason for–and was rewarded for–his ignorance; he’s been promoted twice since that interview, and is now heir apparent to Stumpy himself. Things that make you go hmmm. I’m certain it’s just a coincidence…
Stumpy doubled-down on his perception of executive innocence in a Sep 13 WSJ article, stating “There was no incentive to do bad things,” and that “…some employees didn’t honor the bank’s culture.” And what, exactly, might that culture be, bigshot? My favorite Stumpy quote: “I feel accountable.” Not “I amaccountable.” Tweeeeet! Throwing my flag again…
Leadership matters. Ethics, integrity, even simple honesty, are all driven from the top. That which you condone, allow or permit, through action, inaction or positive consequence, is what you get. Culture really is that simple. Honest leaders get honest employees (for the most part). Ethical senior leadership promotes ethics and integrity throughout. Conversely, fast-and-loose behavior at the top creates a culture of shady corner-cutting throughout the organization. Plausible deniability is a good movie line, but it sucks when used by senior leaders to allow bad behaviors to boost profits.
That idiom has its origins in the Roman Emperor Caracalla, later known as Marcus Aurelius. He was known as one of the bad-ass Emperors somewhere before 200AD. Legend has it he was killed while relieving himself, hence “with his pants down.” Though it may actually have been a robe. Or chainmail. Whatever he was wearing, he had it down and he was killed. Going forward, warriors took care of their business with sword in hand, so not to be “caught with their pants down.”
So, what does this incredibly interesting trivia lesson mean to you? Funny you should ask…
Simply put, in the people equation, demand has—and will continue to—outpace supply. Our recent 2016 Survey of Senior Leadership (SSL) ranked Talent Acquisition/Talent Management as the #2 Leadership Challenge today. Behind only Revenue/ Earnings Enhancement, the perennial #1 for many years.
I know what you’re thinking… War for Talent?? Seriously? Oil is at or around $50. Global layoffs in oil & gas exceed 350k in the past 18 months. Article after article tells of the woes of recent graduates, unable to find anything but McJobs after incurring a bucket-load of student debt.
I was born at night, you say, but not last night.
Yeah well, listen up—it’s happening. We’ve got something of a perfect storm brewing for talent.
Demographics: Baby boomers continue their exodus. And many are stepping aside from leadership roles even if not leaving the workforce. Millennials aren’t just looking for a job, they are seeking specific roles with specific returns and rewards. Simply “needing to work” isn’t enough to cause action if the position and company aren’t a perceived fit.
Market stabilizations, though welcome, mean that hiring simply must take place. Some layoffs were too deep, others brought to surface shortfalls heretofore unrecognized.
Increased employee turnover is an added dynamic. National turnover rates in the U.S. continue to increase, nearly doubling (yes, you read that right, doubling) in the past four years. In other words, you’ve got to plan for new hires and replacement hires. And remember that about half of all that turnover occurs within the first 12 months of hire. Put that in your pipe and smoke it…
We’ve got to pay attention here, and plan for reality. Here are some simple suggestions:
No, really… plan for hiring well in advance of desperate need. Identify what you truly need, and project out for at least a couple of quarters (a year is better).
Be willing to hire when the right candidate is ready. Not when you’re ready, necessarily, but when the right candidate is ready.
Charge recruiters with keeping an eye out all the time. If they stumble upon someone available today who fits a Q3 need, see #2 above.
Be slower on staff reductions. Give market and company conditions some time to equalize. I know the short-term pressures can be big, but longer-term failures due to talent shortages are bigger.
Leadership matters. People will stay with effective, meaningful leadership. They’ll leave if it doesn’t exist. We know that now, so act accordingly. Employee referrals increase when leadership cares. We know that, too. Plus, engaging leaders drive discretionary effort; new hires and incumbents succeed more often with engaging leaders.
Talent matters—nothing new there. The right talent can be difficult to find even when you receive 400 applications/resumes. Ask anyone responsible for recruiting today—they’ll tell you. Bodies are plentiful, specific talent… not so much.
Sort of like the Twilight Zone episode, Where is Everybody?
This is an area where mediocre leaders just don’t get it.
And because of their egocentric defensiveness, they lose a ton of credibility.
Without writing a treatise here, suffice to say that there are three very simple things that a leader can do to set himself apart (positively) from the pack: (more…)
