#KuToo

You may have read recently about the protest in Japan. Women are protesting, no revolting, against the requirement that they wear high heels to work, claiming it’s gender discrimination. Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Minister, Takumi Nemoto, a man, claims, “It is socially accepted as something that falls within the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate.”  Well, I respectfully disagree.

When I heard a news clip on the radio about the #KuToo movement, a play on the words for shoes and agony, I thought of something I read in a career advice column earlier in the year.

The advice seeker wrote that her company requires professional office attire and for women that means high heels. She’d been diagnosed with back pain and told by her doctor to wear flats.  Her boss called her out for wearing casual shoes. She wanted to know if the boss could dictate what she wore.

Well, both columnists who responded totally missed the mark. She talked about employment-at-will, securing doctors notes and eliciting advice from the boss. He did an on-line search of women’s shoes where he found 25 types of women’s heels, and talked about a shopping trip with his wife for women’s shoes.

While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t specify manner of dress as a protection, there are state and local non-discrimination laws that do. And without checking with an employment attorney, I’d venture an opinion that requiring women to where a certain style of shoes, while not making the same demands on men, is likely sex discrimination under Title VII – or close to it.

The advice seeker didn’t elaborate on the nature of her back pain, but its root cause could be covered by the Americans with Disability Act.  Her employer could be flirting with yet another claim of discrimination.

Dress codes are tricky. Indeed, we struggled with how to talk about “questionable” workplace dress in our next book about the dynamics of workplace behavior.  Yes, employers should have the expectation their team members – male and female – will dress in a manner that’s professional, acceptable and appropriate for the organization’s business. In certain occupations, those that are safety related for example, requirements for certain manner of dress, including shoes, is certainly reasonable.  But mandating that high heels is the only acceptable foot ware for women, is not.

In The Manager’s Answer Book, we talk about recognizing other legal pitfalls in Section 7. We’d be delighted if you’d purchase a copy and check it out. https://tinyurl.com/y8umaqpz

Commencements and Commitments

It’s June, the month of graduations and weddings — commencements and commitments. 

Graduations.  They occur at the end of an academic phase — the end of high school or college, for example — with a commencement ceremony. A commencement is a beginning or start of something new. So, graduations are about ending one phase and starting a new one. 

We are in a commencement phase ourselves. Since 2011, we’ve been writing and publishing nonfiction business books of a prescriptive nature. Now, however, we’re on the cusp of a new chapter — writing and publishing in a new genre — narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction is like a novel. It tells a story or stories.

We've been on a journey writing this narrative nonfiction book. Recognizing there are many stories to tell about the dynamics of workplace behavior, we set out to gather them from our colleagues. Since we wanted to write a compelling and enticing book, we took many storytelling liberties. The stories we heard were molded, tweaked, and often combined with others to fit the structure of the scenes we created throughout this book.

In order to preserve the privacy and identity of the individuals and organizations involved, we created a fictitious company and cast of characters as a backdrop against which we tell these tales. The characters portrayed are composites of a large number of professionals across a wide variety of industries and throughout multiple careers. 

Weddings. They represent commitments. A couple on a journey is looking forward and making commitments to each other about the future.  Our idea for this work of narrative nonfiction formed in 2011 as we concluded writing The Big Book of HR. Along the journey — gathering stories, countless drafts, rewrites, and edits — we were interrupted with requests from our publisher to write three more books. Then there were other life events that stalled us. 

Now we are rocking it. This year alone the manuscript has been in the hands of four HR colleagues for peer review and now it’s been turned over to three beta readers for their critique.  Once we get all this feedback, more rewrites will be done. Then we can move onward to get the book to market.

We know there’s still a great deal more to do — cover design, editing, formatting — but we’re on a solid path to the next stop on our journey. Publication and book launch are planned for 2020. 

Many of our readers have been along on this journey with us.  Now, we invite all of you to keep up with our progress and hold us to our commitment. We’ll be sharing more information in our weekly blog — makingpeoplematter.blogspot.com — and in this monthly newsletter, so please be on the lookout for them. 

Barbara and Cornelia

First Impressions

I recently walked into a huge office complex for the first time and stopped for a moment looking for the building directory. I heard a voice behind me say, “Do you have a problem?” I didn’t think he could be talking to me but when he repeated the words, I realized he was – he was asking me if I had a problem.

I was stunned at his choice of words.  He must have thought he was being helpful, but he made me feel I’d done something wrong.  I certainly didn’t feel welcomed.

I politely explained that this was my first time in this building and I was a bit unsure of where I was to go. What I really wanted to say was no, I didn’t have a problem, but you certainly do.

It would have made such a difference to me if he’d said something like, “Can I help you find where you’re going” or “The building directory is to your left.”

Sure, we all have bad days when we say or do something that is out of character. Maybe on another day, this man would have welcomed me and been helpful rather than treating me like I was a problem he’d have to fix. However, I may not ever go to that building again and he’ll never have a chance for a do-over.

There was an old Head and Shoulders commercial that said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” How true that has turned out to be. We all need to be aware of what we say and how we say it so that the person we are interacting with, is left with a positive impression – even if the interaction is as short term as the guard in the example above. 

How about when you go for a job interview? What about your first meeting with a prospective client? Do you think about what you plan to say and how you plan to say it before your meet? If not, you may want to run your opening through your brain or practice it out loud a couple of times so the first impression you make is a positive one.

Now, don’t get me started about the habit so many people have of saying, “No problem” instead of “you’re welcome” when they are thanked!  I want to respond – “I know I wasn’t a problem” but I stop myself.  Yet, it is tempting!

What Employee’s Value from Work: Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

The Washington Post, using an independent research organization, does an annual survey called Top Workplaces.  They publish the results in their Sunday Post magazine.

It’s not surprising to learn employees surveyed are looking for organizations where they have confidence in the firm’s direction.  Even in a time of low unemployment, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Said in a slightly different way, employees want transparency from their leaders.

The Post’s survey also showed that employees want to work for an organization with high ethics and where the organization’s values are lived. Most well managed organizations publish their values, but some have trouble living up to or demonstrating them. This is not what today’s workers are looking for in an employer.

The result that did surprise me is that 67% of the respondents said they value working in a place were different points of view are encouraged. This is great news. People want to work where there is diversity of thought.

High on the list of things people value is having a good manager. The adage that “people don’t leave organizations—they leave managers” reinforces what the respondents said in this survey. Strong managers who set clear expectations and hold people accountable tend to be the kind of managers people want to work with.

Manager’s Tips:  If holding employees accountable is a struggle for you, The Manager’s Answer Book addresses this issue and here is a portion of the answer:

Managers should hold their people accountable for their work but before you can do that, clear expectations must be set. One of your most important roles as a manager is letting your team know what is expected of each of them. If they are new to our organization or your team, if you’re starting a new project, or if you are asking for something you’ve never asked of them before, they need you to be clear on issues such as:

• When is the task/project due?
• What are the key deliverables?
• Are there milestones for check in?
• What will success look like at the conclusion of the project
• How will my performance be measured?

See page 76 of The Manager’s Answer Book for more information on setting expectations and holding employees accountable.

As you work to improve your managerial skills, keep in mind what people value from work and if you don’t already do so, maybe you want to ask your own team what’s important to them.  You may learn valuable information that will help you engage and retain your staff.

Words Do Matter: Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

We were at a museum recently which had a number of wartime planes on display. What struck me about one was its description. It included statements such as: She was built in [year]; she flew [x number] of missions; she was taken out of service in [year].  “Why,” I asked no one in particular, although my husband was standing nearby “are inanimate objects referred to as she?” I didn't really expect an explanation, but where did this practice come from?

Language is powerful and we talk about this in The Manager's Answer Book. On page 123, this question is posed: Knowing that words matter, do you have any guidelines on using the correct words and language to avoid offending anyone?  

Manager’s tip:  Part of the answer we offer:  Language is symbolic, meaning there is an arbitrary connection between the symbols (words and phrases) and what they refer to. Stated another way, different words and phrases can have different meanings to other people, depending on their perspectives and experiences. In today’s diverse workplaces, communication can be complex and challenging!  Paying attention to what you say and how you say it is an excelled way to build positive relationships at work. 

Remember to use neutral words, be wary of slang and jargon, and don't use labels when referring to other people. 

Busy is Not the Point

If you don’t follow the great Seth Godin on social media, I highly recommend you start today. He always makes me think.

For example, recently he posted this -- “There are no points for being busy -- busy is not the point.”

This really resonated with me!  I frequently tell people that I don’t just like to be busy. I like to be “crazy busy”.  But as I reflect on my own life, I think I am guilty of thinking being busy in and of itself is a good thing. After reading Seth’s post, I realize I should be refocusing on being productive and being creative. In other words, busy is not the point! 

I know I do this a lot -- I stay busy doing something that I enjoy doing rather than starting a project that I’m not as interested in or just don’t want to do.  It’s another example of why being busy is not the point.

The point is how productive you are – that is, working on things that need to be accomplished.    We all probably know people who are good at looking busy but who are really playing video games on line or shopping on QVC!  Appearing to be busy is also not the point.

If you’ve ever taken a time management class or read a book on how to maximize your time, you probably heard that we all have the very same number of hours in a day or a week to use and there isn’t a thing we can do to gain more hours.  We can only learn how to better use the time available!

I want to be clear -- this is not a blog about time management -- it’s about time maximizing! If you want to maximize your time, consider these two questions:

• How can I make sure I’m not just doing stuff to show activity or avoiding doing something else?  
• How can I use my time to do the things that matter?

Here’s the big lesson for me (and I hope for you) about thinking busy is the point -- learning to say no can make all the difference in the world! When I first started consulting, I said yes to anything anyone asked me to do because I thought if I said no, they’d never ask me again.  I quickly learned that was very faulty thinking, but I don’t think I’ve truly learned how important it is to be comfortable in saying no when what is being asked doesn’t fit into my long-term goals.

Being clear about those goals really makes a difference when you’re asked to take on a new task or responsibility. If it will move your forward, say yes! Consider that saying no allows you to build in time so that if something comes up that you want or need to do, you can say yes!

Many times, what matters isn’t work -- it’s spending time with family or volunteering at a soup kitchen or even having fun.  But if we are so hung up on being busy, we probably are missing out on some things that are a lot more significant in our lives.

Don’t, as Seth Godin says, “be busy being busy, instead of doing what’s important.” 

When There’s a Line Outside Your Door

Has this ever happened to you? You have a well functioning, highly productive team of great people who are doing everything you wanted them to do—well, I may be going a little far with describing a perfect work team but, you get the point.  Things are in good shape and you can get a bit of breathing room and maybe do some strategic thinking or even take a vacation.

Then, seemingly without warning, one of your employees isn’t getting along with the others on the team.  There is a line outside your door of unhappy employees who yesterday were quite satisfied with their working situation, but today are ready to bail on you and your organization.

Your first inclination is probably to shut your office door and hide but, tempting as that may be, you need a plan. The Manager’s Answer Book covers this topic with a question/answer discussion that walks you through a process of how to take corrective action that starts with counseling the employee using these steps:

1. “Point out the differences between what the employee is presently doing and what they should be doing.
2. Describe in specific terms the negative impact the employee’s behavior is having on them, others, and the organization.
3. Give the employee the opportunity to explain. There could be extenuating circumstances. However, don’t get caught up in defensive excuses.”

To get the rest of the steps to take, see page 60 of The Manager’s Answer Book which is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local independent bookseller.