ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Ashtead Performance Group Newsletter</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=unicode" /> <style type="text/css"> .links { font: 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #FFFFFF; margin: 0px; padding: 2px } .links a { color: #CCCCCC; text-decoration: none } p { font: 11px/18px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #333; margin: 6px 36px; padding: 2px } p a { color:#036; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:dotted 1px #036 } em { color:#0CC; text-decoration:none } .quote { font: italic 14px Georgia, Times-Roman, serif; margin: 4px 48px; color: #333 } h2 { font: bolder 14px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #006666; margin: 12px 0 12px 38px } .newsheadline { font: 20px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #FFFFFF; margin: 6px 24px 0px 24px } li { font: 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #333; padding:2px 0px; margin:3px 60px } ul { padding-top: 0; margin:0 } #tips li {margin: 10px 0; line-height:150%} .toprule { height:4px; margin:0; padding:0; border-top: 1px solid #000000 } .forward { font: bold 14px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin:0; padding:0; background-color:#CCC; text-align:center } .forward a { display:block; color:#000; border: solid 1px #333; margin:6px } .bodycopyRev { font: 10px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #FFFFFF; margin: 12px 18px 6px; padding: 2px } .bodycopyRev a { color: #FFFF00 } .footer { font: 9px/12px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #666666; margin: 0px 36px; padding: 3px } .booktitle { font: italic bold 16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 6px 18px; padding: 2px; color: #CCCCCC } .bookhead { font: bold 14px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 6px 18px; padding: 2px ; color: #099 } .topstrip { font: normal 11px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding:2px; color: #FFFFFF; background-color:#063; height:18px } .div1 { background-color:#ccc; padding:18px; margin:18px } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="#999999" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0"> <table width="601" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td height="18" valign="middle" class="topstrip" > &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;November 2009&nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp; &nbsp;Issue 11</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><a href="http://ashteadgroup.org"> <img src="http://ashteadgroup.org/Newsletters/APG%20Logo.jpg" width="450" height="80" border="0" alt="Newsletter" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="120" bgcolor="#000000"> <img src="http://ashteadgroup.org/newsletters/banner.jpg" width="600" height="120" border="0"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#666666" class="toprule" > <p class="newsheadline"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="3">This month's theme: </font>&nbsp;&nbsp;Dealing with poor performance head-on</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <p class="forward"> <a href="http://ashteadgroup.org/L4recruit.aspx">Share this with a colleague</a></p> <br /><p style=" font-size:12px;color:#000">Welcome to the November edition of Sharpening the Axe.</p> <p class="quote">&ldquo;Management is nothing more than motivating other people&rdquo; <br /> Lee Iacocca </p> <p>Poor performance. It&#39;s something we are all faced with from time to time, but how often do we deal with it effectively and speedily? To look someone in the eye and tell them they no longer fit the business is a difficult task. But just how long are you prepared to let it go unsaid before someone&#39;s poor performance begins to impact the business?</p> <img src="http://ashteadgroup.org/Newsletters/hgittelmon.jpg" alt="Harold Gittelmon" hspace="6" align="right" /> <p>It&#39;s a subject I discussed at length with my interviewee for this month, Harold Gittelmon. Harold is managing director of Harding Brothers, the fastest growing cruise-line concessionaire. It operates gift shops on board 60 cruise ships around the world. The company has several territories world-wide making the task of managing performance even more difficult for Harold. </p> <p>When I asked Harold if he had any regrets in his role at Harding Brothers, he immediately mentioned a particular incident. He told me he had failed to take a tough decision he instinctively knew was in the best interests of the business. The decision, involved dealing with a new senior recruit and their performance.</p> <p>Harold admits to having a whole bunch of excuses for not dealing with the issue. In a refreshingly honest confession he admits he focused on the guy&#39;s skill-set and technical competence. He failed to question whether or not he would fit into the team.</p> <p>I&#39;m sure we can all relate to this situation. But what do you do about it? </p> <p>Once Harold had made the decision to hire, he was so concerned with getting the new recruit up to speed, and not wasting the agency fee, that he persevered rather than dealing the issue. </p> <p>So what did he learn from this? </p> <p>&ldquo;You have to be decisive&rdquo; he points out. &ldquo;When a pattern emerges you ve got to deal with it.&rdquo; On reflection, he calls it &ldquo;an expensive but valuable lesson.&rdquo;</p> <p><img src="http://ashteadgroup.org/images/linkarrow.gif" alt="" style="margin-bottom:-4px" /> <a href="http://www.ashteadgroup.org/hginterview.aspx">Click here to read the full article online</a></p> <p>But just how expensive are these lapses for business?</p> <p>Well, SHL group recently estimated that US companies are wasting $105 billion a year (an amount equal to over 1 percent of the gross domestic product) because of poor hiring and management practices. </p> <p>That&#39;s a lot of cash. And the reason it impacts so heavily is that poor performance covers a multitude of sins, such as:</p> <ul> <li>Quantity of work achieved  doing too much (workaholic) or too little</li> <li>Quality of work</li> <li>Absenteeism</li> <li>Other forms of withdrawal from work  excessive chit-chat</li> <li>Conflict  stirring the pot</li> <li>Dishonesty</li> <li>Refusal to volunteer</li> <li>Lack of delegation</li> <li>Unrealistic targets</li> <li>Information distortion</li> <li>Slow decisions</li> <li>Capriciousness  too much fun and jokes</li> </ul> <p> In the book review this month, I&#39;ve recommended a good read on this subject entitled &#39;Managing the Poor Performer&#39;. More of the book later, but I will steal two golden rules from it to help you make a start. </p> <p>1. Make it easy for the person to do what you want.</p> <p>Too many people set out to make it obvious they have won if the poor performer changes their behaviour. Making it easy involves giving the person early successes; be clear about standards of performance; don t crow when the person changes  &ldquo;I knew you d feel better once you saw it my way&rdquo; isn&#39;t helpful. </p> <p>2. Handle the problem; not the person.</p> <p>Describe the problem in terms of behaviour, not personality. So you talk about why Tom has been late eight times out of ten this last month - not about why Tom is a persistent absentee. You talk about why employee turnover and grievances are twice as high in Tom&#39;s section - not about why Tom is so insensitive. You must talk about what Tom does; not what Tom is. Handle the problem; not the person. </p> <p class="quote">&ldquo;My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.&rdquo; &nbsp; Jack Welch</p> <h2>Moments of Truth </h2> <p>A crucial moment on which much depends& </p> <p>Those of you who know me well, and have worked with me, know that I speak a lot about these moments of truth. Those little acts of leadership that create the culture for your team, your department, and your business. </p> <p>In our interview, Harold Gittelmon hit this particular nail right on the head when he talked about leading by example. What struck me throughout our chat is the raw honesty of the man and I realised that what defines his style of leadership is his conviction to be himself, no matter what. </p> <p>Paradoxically, he sees this strength as one of his weaknesses. He even commented &ldquo;one of my shortcomings is my personality.&rdquo; When I dug further, he explained he does not disguise emotion and that this transparency means his people are aware when he does not know the answer. While this may be a shortcoming in certain situations, it&#39;s clearly a strength when it comes to engaging his people about his vision for the business. </p> <p>Harold believes in being really open with his people. In most instances, other than the one recounted above, he will tell someone if he feels they have the wrong character for Hardings. He doesn&#39;t have the distance a lot of people expect from an MD and it clearly helps his credibility. </p> <p>Your approach will probably not be the same, and that&#39;s fine. But you have to be true to what you believe in. The thing about really effective leadership is that it must be truly authentic. Authenticity is about being genuine and real with your people. People can smell insincerity at 100 paces - they aren&#39;t fools.</p> <p>So the next time your people see you sweating over a decision and not knowing all the answers, remember that it is okay to be vulnerable as long as you acknowledge it. It&#39;s a bit scary but then that&#39;s why it&#39;s a moment of truth.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="601" bgcolor="#666666" cellpadding="12"> <tr> <td> <p class="bodycopyRev"><strong><a name="#Opinion">Over to you</a></strong></p> <p class="bodycopyRev">At the end of our interview, Harold talked about being open and honest with his people and showing a vulnerable side. I totally agree with him. I believe that being authentic in today s business world is crucial  particularly with so much spin going on from so-called leaders. If you re not genuine, people will see straight through you and they won t follow you. I also think it takes great maturity to be open and honest.</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">OK that s my opinion  what s yours? Is letting people see you are vulnerable too and that you don t have all the answers a great strength or a weakness? Should you adopt a different persona in the office and keep vulnerabilities to yourself?</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">As ever we&#39d love to hear your views. Please add your voice to the <a href="http://ashteadgroup.org/HGInterview.aspx"><strong><em>Comments linked to this interview</em></strong></a></p> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="600" bgcolor="#eeeeee" cellpadding="4" id="tips"> <tr> <td style="width:40%; vertical-align:top"> <h2>Harold s top tips  six of the best</h2> <ol> <li>Focus on the whole package. Don t just look at someone s technical skills. Consider how they will fit in with the team.</li> <li>If your intuition tells you something is wrong, it probably is. Be decisive and remember that the longer you leave it, the worse the situation gets.</li> <li>Be specific in your feedback. Write letters to accompany a bonus payment and describe the thing they did that was special. Tell your people you noticed the extra mile they travelled.</li> <li>Be really open with your people where you can. Don t duck the difficult questions, and do state your likes and dislikes.</li> <li>If you feel passionately about something, make an example of it. If one of your core values is being honest, make a big example of it. People need to know what you stand for and that you are consistent.</li> <li>If you want your people to be innovative and take the initiative, rip up the rulebook and let them loose. Let them choose the course of action, get them to own the challenge and be prepared to be amazed at the ingenuity of a truly empowered team. If you feel the need to intervene, suppress it fiercely.</li> </ol> <p class="quote" style="margin:4px 14px; font-size:11px; text-align:center">Final thought  take responsibility ...<br /> &ldquo;A man can fail many times, but he isn t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.&rdquo; <br />John Burroughs</p> </td> <td bgcolor="#333333"> <p class="bookhead"><a name="#Book"></a>We like this </p> <p class="booktitle">Managing the Poor Performer</p> <img src="http://ashteadgroup.org/Newsletters/ManagingPP.jpg" alt="Managing Poor Performers" hspace="10" align="right" /> <p class="bodycopyRev"><em>by Valerie and Andrew Stewart (Gower Publishing) <br />ISBN 0704505940</em></p> <p class="bodycopyRev">A particularly useful read in the light of this month s lead article on Problem Performers. I find this book a great help because it offers practical advice on detecting poor performance, understanding the causes, and it offers remedies.</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">My work is focused more on developing potential in individuals and companies rather than on remedial work. However there is still plenty for me to gain from reading through the chapters on understanding the causes of poor performance and on remedies.</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">The authors certainly know their stuff and although it s twenty years old, the wisdom has not dated.</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">Part three deals with remedies and this is the part of the book that gives me best value. The chapter deals with:</p> <ol> <li class="bodycopyRev">Counselling interviews (agree standards; agree there has been a gap; agree the size of the gap; agree who has responsibility for reducing the gap; agree actions; agree measures; set time for follow- up)</li> <li class="bodycopyRev">A different job within the company</li> <li class="bodycopyRev">Job redesign</li> <li class="bodycopyRev">Using peer group pressure  the most reliable force for correcting poor performance</li> <li class="bodycopyRev">Professional counselling</li> <li class="bodycopyRev">Training</li> </ol> <p class="bodycopyRev">If you only read one section, read the part about peer group pressure. If your performer s problems are attitudinal or motivational, then this will give you much food for thought.</p> <p class="bodycopyRev">The book unfortunately is now out of print. However, second-hand copies are still available - one popular source being <a href="http://abebooks.co.uk">Abe Books</a>.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#014911" align="center"> <p class="bodycopyRev">Have you got a book you&#39;d like to share with us? <br /> Send your review to <a href="mailto:simon@ashteadgroup.org">Simon</a> and we&#39;ll include it in a future newsletter.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#f5f5f5"> <p class="footer">We&#8217;re sending you our newsletter because you are a client, we have worked together in the past, we&#8217;ve exchanged business cards, or you&#8217;ve asked us to send it to you. However, we don&#8217;t want to fill your inbox with things you don&#8217;t want so to unsubscribe from our mailing list <a href="mailto:subscribe@ashteadgroup.org">please click this link</a></p> <p class="footer">To make sure you continue to receive this newsletter and our bulletins, <a href="mailto:simon@ashteadgroup.org">please add this email address to your address book or safe list</a>.</p> <p class="footer">Ashtead Performance Group, Unit A, 63 Woodfield Lane. Ashtead, Surrey, KT21 2BT. Tel: 01372 275444 email info@ashteadgroup.org </p> <p class="footer">&nbsp; </p></td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>