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Thoughts from The 100: Making a Job Offer

The-100-Title-Only Last time I shared Intertech’s hiring process (which you can read about in detail in my new book “The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership.”) But that was only half of the story. In my next several posts I’ll share my philosophy about how to select top performers and, most importantly, your role in ensuring that they thrive once they come on board.

Why only hire the most accomplished professionals? It takes time and patience to find and recruit top performers. Yet it’s a substantial investment that pays for itself over time. Companies that settle for mediocre employees experience eroding profit margins since lower pricing is their only competitive advantage.

It pays to be picky. In the world of Information Technology (IT), a top programmer is 100 times more productive than someone who rates at the bottom of a 10-point scale. Research (Bryan 2012) and my own experience back up this audacious claim.

Not surprisingly, top performers are not easy to find or recruit. They’re usually contentedly employed elsewhere and not terribly interested in switching jobs unless their current employer fails to recognize their value (and reward them accordingly!).

For this reason, strive to cultivate a “virtual bench” of possible candidates who are exceptional at their jobs even if they are happily employed elsewhere. Stay in touch with these folks because circumstances can change and they may become interested in new opportunities down the road.

When you find a top-performing candidate whose skills, personality and values fit your organization, it’s time to negotiate an offer. Some may consider my approach unorthodox, but I believe in treating people candidly. Ask your candidate what’s most valuable to him or her: time off, telecommuting, money or something else? Take that into consideration when you make your offer. Of course, if someone expects a lot, you should expect – and receive – a lot in return.

Negotiate your offer clearly, present face-to-face, and provide a firm deadline for the candidate to decide, although do give a reasonable amount of time to make a decision. If you require candidates to sign a non-compete agreement, you must disclose that at the same time you make the employment offer. Assuming your candidate accepts your offer, you still have plenty of work to do in ensuring that he or she succeeds at your firm… more about that on my next post.

Thoughts from The 100: Getting and Staying Engaged at Work

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In my last two The 100–related posts I shared my thoughts around happiness and getting clear around goals (yes, they are connected!). For me, and for most everyone that works at Intertech, being engaged with what we do also is a huge part of what makes us and our clients happy. Engagement is made up of many factors. It ranges from having employees understand how they fit into the big picture to continuous feedback on how they’re doing in their jobs.

Employee engagement has become a hot topic for many in business and for good reason: not only are more engaged employees more satisfied, they happily give extra discretionary effort in their jobs. According to a Gallup poll, engaged employees, when compared to non-engaged employees, are more than 20 percent more productive at work. They also are absent nearly 40 percent less than their non-engaged counterparts.

The good news is that fostering employee engagement is not expensive and it pays off big time. When companies can pair engaged employees with engaged customers, outcome-oriented business performance increases by 240 percent over companies where neither group is engaged (Gallup, 2013).

In my new book, The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership, I define concrete actions to improve a company’s performance in all the major areas of engagement. Here is a high-level quick summary (check out the book for more detailed information):

Leverage teamwork – It starts with hiring professionals who understand the value of pulling together.
Use goal alignment – Work with employees to set achievable goals, provide training and support, and hold them accountable.
Build coworker trust – Find ways to foster communication and trust among coworkers, including social outings and things like Fantasy Football if that fits with your culture.
Recognize individual contributions – Consciously create a culture that celebrates employee success, particularly when it happens as part of a team effort.
Cultivate managerial effectiveness – Think of managing like coaching, helping others to see their part in the bigger picture and taking pride in their accomplishments.
Cultivate trusted senior leaders – To earn trust, senior leaders must lead the way, admit mistakes and communicate that it’s ok to be wrong.
Cultivate feeling valued – People are the lifeblood of your business. Make sure they know you could not do it without them!
Encourage job satisfaction—Have systems in place to encourage consistency, communication and teamwork. Provide interesting work opportunities in a friendly and respectful environment.
Be smart about benefits and pay—Pay people as generously as possible and provide creative benefits without breaking the bank. (Hint: it starts with asking people what they care about most.)

Next time: Building a High-Performance Team One Employee at a Time

Intertech Foundation Awards 2016 STEM Scholarship

Alexina Boudreaux-Allen has been selected by the Intertech Foundation board of directors to receive its $2,500 STEM scholarship for use in 2016-17. Boudreaux-Allen plans to study computer science and hopes to combine art and technology during her career.

“My main academic goal while at USC is to get involved with the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). Receiving an internship there is one of my top priorities, which will allow me to explore emerging graphics technologies and applications, and possibly develop a career in the combined fields of graphics and virtual reality. . . I believe that computer science can only ever reach its full potential when combined with another field. For me, that field will be art,” explained Boudreaux-Allen in her winning scholarship application.

As I shared in the press release, Boudreaux-Allen’s application was outstanding because she demonstrates technology vision and practical thinking about how to achieve her goals.

View the press release on Intertech’s website.

Thoughts from The 100: Defining Personal Values, Setting Goal

TS2015-Softcover-BookCover-New “Thoughts from The 100” is a series of posts with thoughts, examples, and additional insights from my book The 100.

Living one’s best life is not a casual activity. It takes thought, preparation, planning and commitment. I believe when we identify our deepest motivation—our values—and align our behaviors accordingly; we are more likely to achieve goals that lead to a full life, fully lived.

To imagine my own deepest values, I imagined what people would say about me at my own funeral. What mattered most? Leaving a legacy of care for others: my family and friends, my employees and even people I don’t know. I realized that caring for others means spending time with them and listening to them.

This little exercise inspired me to ask employees how Intertech could best support them in living their best lives. Not surprisingly, healthy work-life balance was high on their lists. This spurred our decision to create three-month sabbaticals for employees with seven years of service. We’ve also begun providing financial support for new employees who wish to set up a home office.

This year, Intertech was named a top workplace for employee flexibility by Fortune magazine. While we’ve won dozens of awards for being a great place to work, the award for flexibility was especially meaningful because it goes to the heart of our core values.

Digging deep enough to identify your core values is worth the effort. Values bring meaning and clarity to our lives. They also serve as guiding principles when establishing goals and making decisions. As Roy Disney once noted, “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”

Turning Values into Reality

Values are worthless if they’re not connected to behavior. Yet how do you decide what form your values should take in the world? Try envisioning your future.

Seriously, close your eyes and try to picture yourself in 10 years. Get specific. What do things look like? Think about the rhythm of your day and how you will look, act and feel at work and in all other areas of your life.

Far from a “touchy- feely” exercise, the effectiveness of visualization has been proven by solid research and is used by athletes and others to achieve desired results. Once you’ve gotten a handle on your desired results, you need to formulate goals. Think of goals as the roadmap and values as the destination.

I’m a believer in SMART goals, that is goals that are:

Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Driven

Some potential categories for life goals include your primary relationship, friends, kids, professional and business, fitness, philanthropy, creative pursuits, finances, spirituality, travel, and learning.

For goals, set SMART long term goals. Next, break them down into smaller chunks. Aim high and include dates. Never leave a goal setting session without taking some action… this could be as simple as a making a phone call or doing a some online research.

I also advocate writing your goals down and posting them where you can see them on a daily basis. If you’re afraid you might slip into old habits that work against your goal, share your goals with others.

For more about goals, I highly recommend Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill and The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz.

For my employees, and me, achieving a healthy work-life balance is a top goal. Next time I’ll share some specific strategies for doing just that!

My Radio Interview on The Small Business Advocate

My thanks to Jim Blasingame of The Small Business Advocate for our conversation about leadership, Intertech and The 100. Below are parts one and two of the interview:

Part 1

Part2