Establishing who we will be

We have a little mantra here that says 'Do power differently' and that means eliminate hierarchy, love your customers more, admit when you're wrong, this idea of eliminating the distance between me and you, creating a sense of we all rise and fall together, it's more like eliminating separation because… I don't care [about] the colour of my skin, my gender, we're all walking the same human path.”

“So, for me, just to embed that language and cooperation anywhere, especially [at] a utility company, has been my greatest honour.” 

“I always say, if you have a lot of power you have to be 10 times more humble because people don't like it already that you have power over them, so we have to just remind our team that people already feel powerless, so we have to be a lot more respectful, even when people are aggravated with us.”

Kelly Tomblin

Jamaica Observer

June 8, 2017

Will the New JPS culture survive

“We put together a transformation team from throughout the organization that went to every location and asked people 'what is your greatest vision for this company, what do you want with your hearts, what is your heart telling you?'” “It came from here, it wasn't like I brought it, and I think what leaders do, if they do it right, they find what already exists in you that may be covered up, because we got hurt, we've been abandoned, we've been talked down to, whatever reasons. And so I think a lot of what leadership is all about is being able to uncover and take away that baggage from you and say, 'Oh, that's who you really are, let me see that'.

“I think that's what we've been able to do, to say take off your mask, quit trying to be like that person, be your grandest self of what your creator made you to be, and I do think that requires a different language that we've had.”

Kelly Tomblin
Jamaica Observer
June 8, 2017

Sir Richard Branson’s thoughts on why businesses fail

The reason businesses fail is “that management pays no attention to little details.  A lot of big companies don’t listen to their staff or customers to get the little details right.  To run a hotel or if you have a smaller company, listen to your people who buy your products. Listen to your staff who are on the frontline. Write the things down that they tell you and then make sure you sort those things out. Suddenly you will have a fantastic company that everybody likes, because there won’t be anything left to write down. You would have sorted everything out and everybody is loving it, so you can go forward to the next step.”

Sir Richard Bronson

Jamaica Observer, June 7, 2017

Sir Richard Branson’s explanation for how entrepreneurs build businesses

“An entrepreneur is like an artist. You have an idea, so you have a blank sheet and then you start filling in on that sheet of paper as you create a business. To create a business is like getting the perfect picture on that sheet of paper and getting every little detail right, and then you launch your business.  You have your perfect piece of art created.”

Sir Richard Bronson

Jamaica Observer, June 7, 2017

How Leaders Save Followers From Being Professional Victims

Many executives are relatively strong at taking responsibility, especially in areas where others don’t. They stand up to be counted, assuming risks that others won’t.  However, they are often baffled when their followers show an excessive and inexplicable fear of victimization. What should leaders do to eradicate this bad habit that makes good people slip into dependency and turns potential future leaders into weaklings? Case: A corporate leader who I work with scratches his head in dismay. His followers, who he hopes to grow into a new cadre of leaders have devolved into victims-in-waiting. That is, they have learned an infantile, super-sensitivity to perceived slights and imagined disrespect. He has discovered that even his best attempts to make a difference are taken as personal attacks. They have become professional victims. According to the Urban Dictionary “professional victims” claim victimization when things don’t go their way. They continually believe someone is taking advantage of them. In his case, workers have taken to attend meetings in a silent boycott, refusing to contribute anything more than a minimum. Truth be told, there is a certain kind of power to be gained from convincing your (perceived) oppressors that you are their victim. At best, it invites them to take responsibility in a new way as a result of seeing the truth for the first time. When this happens, transformation can result as it did in countries like the USA, India and South Africa. However, at worst, being a victim can be just a form of hostage-taking. Then, it becomes a nasty blame-game where the self-described weak gain a scrap of leverage, usually by bullying those in power into feeling guilty. Unfortunately, in some companies there are a frighteningly large number of staff members who act as professional victims. In your company, you may know exactly who I am talking about. If you do, then go a step further and ask yourself: “Is the diseased thinking spreading or shrinking?” Use your answer to gauge how effectively your people are being led. Ineffective leaders merely join the pity party, engaging in their own version of professional victimhood. They may, for example, compare their current job against prior roles they held in better companies, with better colleagues who served better customers. This just makes the situation worse. Effective leaders respond quite differently by taking the following three steps. 1. Demonstrate By Example Real leaders take responsibility at extraordinary levels, far beyond the boundaries of space and time. For example, they may even take ownership for what people do to each other. Or, they may assume responsibility for what has happened in the past, under prior leadership, as if they were in charge when it happened. While others may think this is crazy behavior, it is actually self-empowerment at its finest. Leaders who are powerfully self-aware are not blind to what they are doing and they don’t do it in secret. They actively create a context in which they locate themselves as the cause of important results, positive or negative. As they do so, one public step at a time, it’s noticeable that something is different. This magic ingredient may be hard for others to articulate, but leaders seize vacuums of responsibility to inspire others to act. 2. Educate Followers A few top leaders don’t just act differently, they teach this exceptional behaviour to others at every opportunity. Sometimes, they have developed their own language for what they do, using homegrown phrases such as “taking one for the team.” Developing responsibility in others is a critical part of their job and the key to a cultural transformation. 3. Share the struggle A tiny handful go even further than teaching others. They take the risk of sharing their personal struggle with new areas of responsibility. By doing so, they show that it’s OK to be imperfect, giving staff real-time insight behind the scenes of a leader’s transformation. Unfortunately, most top executives are clueless about these three steps. With low awareness, they are stunned when people avoid interacting with them for fear of being victimized. They witness employees acting as responsible adults in other areas of their lives (family, church and community) and can’t understand why the workplace is so different. Professional victims are perfectly capable of this dualism. They can also be quite effective at converting others to their cause: misery loves company. This means that leaders cannot just sit back and wait for people’s mindsets to change – they won’t. The solution is to be aware and active. If you are a leader, work on the three skills listed above and make them part of your everyday way of being. Leaders are only called forth when the stakes are high and success will be impossible if you avoid this particular duty. It is hard, but necessary. Published : Jamaican Gleaner 12/2015

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. Missed a column? To receive a free download with articles from 2010-2016, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

Avoiding POOR Meeting Attendance

“If you build it, they will come…” This is not exactly all true when planning a meeting. A lot of work goes into producing a successful meeting and the majority of work is definitely in the primary stages of research, design, and planning. When this is done properly, the remaining stages of co-ordinating and evaluating the meeting will bring forth the desired outcome.

Attendance IS the lifeblood of a meeting! Whether the reason for meeting is a training session, sales presentation, corporate retreat, customer/employee incentive programme, or themed event, faulty meeting planning will cause unwanted results, including poor attendance.

People come together in a meeting to share ideas and visions, to make decisions, to be entertained, or to solve problems. As a planned communication encounter between two or more persons for a common purpose, the meeting must appeal to the intended attendees. Attendance is a meeting planning issue and not just an issue for sales and marketing or public relations, which are parts of the meeting planning process.  Attendees want results. They want information. They want the tools and techniques they can use immediately. Attendees will attend meetings that satisfy their needs. All of these concerns play an essential role in the meeting planning process.

The consequences of poor meeting planning can result in premature cancellation, complete cancellation, wasted time, termination of employees, as well as ineffective use of resources. Poor or faulty meeting planning can also have a negative impact on a company’s budget thus affecting other cost factors, not to mention, management embarrassment or discolouring a company’s image. In a poorly attended meeting, money goes down the drain without ever achieving the desired results.

Poor meeting attendance can come from several overlooked attributes of faulty meeting planning. Companies with tighter budgets can get hurt by inadequate meeting planning preparation and poor communication. If a previous meeting was successful, there is no justification or guarantee that when repeated, will produce the same results. Change happens! People’s needs change! Environments change! Meetings need to adequately address current critical issues that apply to those attending. Therefore, the information to be shared with the attendees must have the potential and capability of being applied immediately or be within their areas of work and interests. Producing frequent lower-quality meetings is also a sure-shot indicator for attendees to lose interest and not show up.

Let us look at several ways you can avoid poor meeting attendance.

• Know the attendees! This cannot be expressed or emphasised enough. This is key to the success of any meeting planning process. To know the group helps in the selection and negotiation of all the necessary ingredients to put the meeting plans together. Knowing the attendees requires research that will provide demographics – the important element and information that must be collected and reviewed carefully.

• Establish objectives that are specific, measurable, and appealing to the attendees. Failure to meet the primary objective to the meeting means that the meeting has failed.

• Design programmes that apply to the attendees’ needs and interests. Believe it or not, the decision to attend a meeting is at the sole discretion of the attendees. They are the ones who need to be motivated as they want to know what is in it for them.

• Select a venue that will contribute to attendees’ presence and participation. The location and type of venue compliment the design of the meeting.

• Always plan ahead. Do not wait until the last moment to begin preparations. Meeting planning is a serious business that involves strategic decision-making. Meetings should not just be planned, they should be staged as sensory, financial experiences that are designed to evoke the senses and make people attend and be able to take something away from that event.

• Take a risk and try something different. Each person attending a meeting brings a different level of knowledge and expertise to the programme. Understand that the attendees are also customers who attend meetings with different ideas, values, and expectations.

• Engage the services of a professional meeting planner. Good partnerships leverage both internal and external resources to achieve common objectives. The ultimate goal is to achieve more with less.

The challenges and trends of today’s economy can be very difficult on any organisation. Organisations need to be creative to stay alive. Organisations need to realise that meetings constitute a substantial portion of their budgets and should take the necessary steps to pay attention to the (real) cost of producing a meeting. So as not to lose money unwisely and to achieve return on investment, a company must take a closer look at the way it conducts meetings.

Meetings are here to stay and attendance is essential to making them successful. Attendees are customers. Pay attention to their needs by producing meetings that are worth their while to attend.

Source: Mrs. Margaret Lawrence - HRMAJ, Western Chapter                                                                   

Organization Development & Effectiveness

Organizational Effectiveness is a concept that demands continuous improvement at all levels in a system. Several methods have been devised and used in this regard all aiming at making the organization more efficient and more competitive. As the rate of activities increase, organizations are likely to become increasingly focused on day to day operational issues thereby becoming less aware of emerging difficulties that will ultimately reduce its effectiveness.  One is also likely to miss the important effects that known problems are likely to have on the rest of the rest of the organization.  Before you know it the organization is in a severe downward spiral.

The point be made is that the organization is a system.  Problems in one part of the system that goes undetected will grow and spread to impact other parts of the organization.  It is important therefore that the problems are detected, analyzed and subjected to carefully planned interventions.  Organization Development (OD) offers an opportunity to do just that.

Organization Development is a “planned organization-wide programme” (Schein) that focuses on aspects of organizational dynamics. It involves activities which the consultant facilities with individuals and groups.

These activities emerge from a diagnostic process that identifies problems, their causes and variables that must be controlled in order to achieve satisfactory solutions.

In the early days a typical definition of OD would emphasize the point that it uses “Behavioural Science” to find solutions to organizational problem. This is because the OD process involves organizational members at all stages, namely a) the “front end” (diagnostic stage), b) the design, development and implementation of strategies, c) mentoring and evaluation and feedback.  Naturally, skill is working with people is of the utmost importance.

There are several models for carrying out an OD exercise. Most are very comprehensive. Yet they can be learned fairly easily and thereby become available for use in your organization.

The Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica has launched an “OD Cell” that gives members an opportunity to participate in exploration of:

A)  What is OD                                                           

B)  Its application in Jamaican organization              

C)  Forming network for sharing information and expertise.

You are invited to become an OD enthusiast.

By:  Lloyd Stanley

HRMAJ

August 2007

The Value of Team Work

Social Scientists throughout generations have concluded that man is a selfish being, guided mainly by self-interest and the satisfaction of personal needs. Yet he is also defined as a social animal for whom the sense of belongingness is paramount. It is this belongingness need that creates the platform for the development and success of work teams.

Organizations have been trending towards the acceptance of the team concept, as increasingly, managements as well as workers, recognize the value of teamwork and buy into the process of team building.

In his book “The Team Trainer: winning tools and tactics for successful workouts”, William Gorden reminds us that a cake is more than eggs, flour and sugar. It is the combination of the ingredients which make it a cake. This is the idea of synergy - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Similarly, the organization is greater than its separate departments. It is the combined efforts of all the departments and all the people in the departments who work together to achieve common organizational goals. If the emphasis is on collective responsibility, mutual accountability, communication, collaboration in goal attainment and contribution to the organization’s development and success, then that is a team. (William Gorden 1996)

A team has been defined as “a group of two or more individuals who interact with and influence each other. Team members are held together by their interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals.”

Stages of Team Development:

• FORMING: testing and orientation, a time when members get to know each other and find out what is expected of them.
• STORMING: individuals take on roles and responsibilities, competition is obvious and interpersonal conflicts are played out.
• NORMING: There is a sense of cohesion. Roles are established. Consensus forms around objectives. There are common expectations about accomplishment of goals and members interact more efficiently.
• PERFORMING: Members are more task-oriented. Things shift from establishing and maintaining relationships, to accomplishing objectives. Team members have learnt to coordinate their actions and manage conflicts. In high performance teams, members are highly cooperative, have a high level of trust in each other, are committed to group objectives and identify with the team.
• DORMING: Periods of inactivity or no-growth are common experiences in the process.
• ADJOURNING: most work teams eventually end…if several members leave the organization, are reassigned elsewhere, the plant shuts down or if there are lay-offs.

Is your work group really a TEAM? It may be interesting and beneficial to evaluate its degree of TEAMNESS.

SIGNS OF TEAMNESS: 

• Management asks for team members’ input
• Team members have confidence in management
• Motivation is high
• Team members have a positive attitude towards the organization and its goals
• Communication is open and extensive
• Information flows freely throughout the levels of the organization
• Decision making is shared
• Emphasis is on self-control and problem solving
• Goal setting and performance standards are high but realistic
• The organization is committed to career development through training and job enlargement
• There is Unity of Purpose and Collective Responsibility
• PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING

Well, what is the verdict? Is your work team really a team or is it just a work group?

By: Shona Heron

HRMAJ - Western Chapter

April 2007

How Human Resource Professionals Can Prevent the Need for Outside Consultants

As a consultant, I am often called in to solve a simple problem that most Human Resource professionals could solve for their companies.

It's one I shared in a recent Gleaner column entitled "Why Consultants Need to See Your Watch before They Tell You the Time."  In the article, I shared an assumption I make on every consulting project, that someone already had determined the answer to the prevailing problem. My value-added is to bring problem-solvers and decision makers together in a unique way that solves the issue.

This may seem simple, but often there are political, social and language barriers that stand in the way. While I make a living removing them, this task can also be performed by HR professionals.

But here's the problem. It's the rare HR professional who takes responsibility for crafting the transparent kind of environment that avoids the need for my services. Too often, HR takes a back seat, watching the culture evolve in amazement, if not befuddlement.

Take the example of the greatest work-related culture change in recent times. It's not empowerment, transparency, or leadership... it's the advent of email. In this case, HR was tucked away on the sidelines, the last to learn the difference between "Reply" and "Reply to All."

The fact is, many existing problems in your company already have a technological solution. It's not surprising that the best way to create a transparent environment also requires new technology. Here are some ideas for how a connected culture - so taken for granted to millennials - can be incorporated into your company.

1. Set up transparent online networks

HR professionals are often at the forefront of hosting traditional all-employee meetings. However, they also need to become experts at doing the same thing online, via social networks. Programs like Facebook clone Yammer make this an eventual certainty and the only question is whether HR will provide leadership as it unfolds ... or mere viewership.

2. Create space for open ideas

Giant Q&A networks like Quora and StackExchange allow for in-depth exploration of solutions to pressing problems. They are brilliant platforms that, in the future, will be echoed in-house by similar apps. But there's no need to wait - the capability to have these quality conversations already exists in your company. Just ask someone in IT.

3.  Help problem-solvers meet

For difficult corporate problems, answers are too complex for any single person to solve. Often, several individuals have a piece of the overall puzzle and need to be brought together in the right way. HR can create these meetups using a combination of both online and offline solutions. Add in a dash of blended learning to kick-start the process and an opportunity for purposeful experiential training can result.

HR is uniquely positioned to tackle tough problems by virtue of its soft skills but they aren't enough in today's tech-driven environment. The HR manager who embraces technology and pushes it into the corporation can have a profound impact connecting people, leading the way to solutions rather than just following.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners in its discussion list, it’s the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates - www.caribhrforum.com

The difference between getting some coaching and having a coach

Last night I pre-recorded an interview with Dr. Sonia Davidson for CaribHR.Radio. She made the point that  human resource professionals need to be role models. The topic happened to be corporate wellness but we went well past the easy stuff like running 5k's and putting in corporate gyms.

Instead, we looked at the need for HR practitioners to get mental health assistance - not after the fact, but proactively. After our conversation a wider thought struck me: having a coach isn't a widely accepted practice in corporate Jamaica.

The assumption in most workplaces is that coaching is a luxury... until it's desperately needed. Then, it's seen as a final effort to help someone who is in "Big Trouble." Possibly, they are just one step from being fired.

At that moment, the expense is seen as a requirement, but the damage has already been done. Performance has dipped, a reputation has been sullied and the person is already dispirited with their resume doing the rounds. Unfortunately, this last-gasp approach is encouraged by HR practitioners. They don't appear to distinguish between an ongoing coaching relationship and casual advice offered by a well-meaning friend.

In 1995 I hired a coach to help me become a better business owner. I had recently started my own training at CoachU, where the trainers emphasized the necessity of having one's own coach. Trusting their advice, I hired an expert and began a relationship that lasted until 2006.

Over the course of the decade, the quality of our conversations shifted dramatically. In the beginning for example, I was late for our first call. She responded quickly by including a paragraph in our agreement: if I were late again, her rate would increase by 50%, then by 100% if it recurred. After the third infraction, I would be fired as her client.

In 11 years I was never late for a single call.

As you can imagine, after working together for so long, she learned all my foibles and the conversations were far more impactful than they were at the start. She could not be outsmarted by the mental tricks I played on friends, family and colleagues where I could evade responsibility or accept sloppy standards.

Furthermore, she was highly trained. Speaking with her was unlike any conversation I ever had with others. Plus, her list of accomplished clients meant that she had a vast experience that novices coaches, or the average manager, simply did not possess. As a result, I owe a lion's share of my professional success to her persistent, continuous help.

You could imagine how these kinds of relationships could be a tool in transforming your company. Perhaps as you look at the aspirants to the executive suite you shake your head... so much raw talent, but so many glaring flaws.

However, the place to start isn't with them... it's with you. Until you have benefited from a long-term coaching relationship it's hard to be an advocate of its value. So take Dr. Davidson's advice and be a role model. Let people see that the HR practitioners in your firm are proactive, receiving the best coaching in the company... not the least.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners in its discussion list, it’s the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates - www.caribhrforum.com

Why Employees Don't Really Want Cash Incentives

A new study on employee incentives reveals that employees often aren't aware of what's best for them. Case in point: when asked, "Are you motivated by money?", an overwhelming majority respond by saying "Yes."

However, in practice, employees behave differently; more in line with the words of Bob Marley who admonished us to not be the kind of people who "be bought nor sold." Companies who attempt to purchase employee motivation end up buying a bag of trouble.

It turns out that our knee-jerk response in such surveys is just that - a highly conditioned social norm. When offered either a cash or non-cash incentive we give the same answer as everyone else: "Show me the money." However, in practice, we aren't as motivated as we think. Research of New York City cab drivers on rainy afternoons showed that they would rather take time off than keep working, once they hit their target. This was true even though it's the time when they make their most money. In other words, their emotions get in the way of making as much as they can.

It's exactly what happens to commissioned salespeople. They become "income adjusted" according to CultureWorx, a human resources consulting firm. They earn the same amount of money by selling fewer products/services or earning more money by selling the same amount of products/services. By economic standards, this behaviour is irrational. Dr. Ran Kivetz explains that, for the typical person, cash incentives tend to be used to pay bills first, which makes the experience mundane. This makes it an inefficient motivator.

However, employees tell a different tale - incorrectly. In one experiment, a group motivated by a massage reported that they would have preferred the cash equivalent. Unknown to them, their performance was greater than the group incentivized by cash.

The takeaway? Asking employees what motivates them is a perilous business. Their behaviour doesn't match what they say.

In fact, money can be a demotivator - just try to motive someone to complete a task with an inexpensive gift rather than its cash equivalent. People can feel insulted when they believe that you are trying to buy their loyalty with little cash.

Given that risk, it's better for Human Resource practitioners to use the latest research when guiding executives. You may have to explain that the ROI on a $100 incentive is much higher if it's offered in terms of a non-monetary award. It has less of a chance of backfiring, and is more motivating.

Some argue - "But Francis, you don't know our employees!" You may have a point if you aren't paying them a living wage. However, in Jamaica we assume that what motivates a casual worker who is barely making ends meet also applies to a knowledge worker in your company. The research says differently, even if when we don't realize it.

Source: 
Houlihan, T. (2011). Why cash is a less effective incentive. The Reward Systems Group
Boritz, J., Borthick, A., & Presslee, A. (2012). The Effects of Tangible Versus Cash Rewards in a Sales Tournament: A Field Experiment. Issues in Accounting Education, 27(4).

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners, it’s the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates.

HR - Is Your CEO Being Too Easy On You?

If you suspect that your Chief Executive expects little from HR, here are some immediate actions to take. Act now, before he / she concludes that the Human Resource function isn't important...or worse.

Many HR professionals live in a world of low expectations. Here's my evidence - I have met very few CEO's and MD's who expect HR to deliver more than the minimum: "keeping people happy." This is in stark contrast to their expectations of CFOs and Sales Vice-Presidents - to hit measurable results that keep improving from one year to the next.

In these recessionary times, they may be asking for too little. If your time as an HR professional is consumed by efforts to fix problems brought to you by others then you may have a problem. If these problems amount to little more than keeping employees happy then you have a big challenge. You have become a good soldier, rather than a general.

The fact is, in today's economic times, CEO's need to pay lower wages for greater performance. It's not really a choice - their competition is hell-bent on doing the same. They are losing sleep as they scan their mediocre, less-than-world-class-workforce, and dream of a day when they can create a transformation.

One CEO who inherited a moribund, dysfunctional company admitted as much to me. With access to the right people, he could produce the same profits... after letting go a half of them. He didn't need HR to determine who should be kept, but he lacked a process to arrive at a new transformed destination.

That's exactly what's missing for many CEO's. A feasible transformation plan and an HR executive to lead the charge. It may be just what the business needs, but many of them are afraid to ask for what they really want: they don't want to HR on the spot.

Maybe a great question to ask your CEO is: "What are you afraid to ask or demand from HR that would transform the business we are in?" If you have the courage to ask the question you may not get a well-formed answer but it could kick-start an essential conversation. Over time, you can refine that original answer and turn it into a set of measurable objectives, suspending your fear of not knowing exactly how to achieve it.

That fear might be OK. Nowadays, there are lots of people doing things they didn't know how to do, in ways that propel them out of their comfort zone. Other executives face such "deliver-or-else" demands every day.

It's time HR leaders became the ones to shake up their companies with tough questions, showing the expectations being made of them are too low. Too many are sitting by the side, far outside the critical conversations that are re-shaping their company. The fact is, we are in precarious times that require tough corporate leadership from all functions. HR is not exempt. More than ever, it's required.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners in its discussion list, it’s the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates - www.caribhrforum.com

The Mal-Effects of Keeping Bad Employees

A new study suggests something you may have already suspected: keeping a bad employee around has a far greater effect than hiring a superstar. As an HR manager this means that you can do more to help your company by removing low performers.

In a recent article on Strategy + Business blog, Matt Pamquist pulled together research from a recent study published by the Harvard Business School Strategy Unit. It showed that apart from the obvious costs such as pilferage and sexual harassment, bad employees also detract from the performance of others. They take a toll on workplace morale, customer retention and people's attitudes. The study showed that "the higher the number of toxic colleagues surrounding a particular employee - even one not predisposed to bad behavior - the more likely it was that the worker would follow a destructive path." In other words, their toxicity is contagious.

Furthermore, the study also showed that replacing a toxic employee had twice the impact that replacing an average employee with a superstar had.

Lastly, it showed that toxic workers are sometimes skilled at appearing productive. They know what to do to generate a lot of activity that appears to the casual observer to be a reflection of hard work. The hidden truth is that, in the end, they do not help the company because their bad behaviour counteracts any positive effects. For example, the rogue trader who costs Grace Kennedy some US$20m in profits in 2010 was, from all appearances, a high performer. His early removal would have made a gigantic difference.

Consider these facts carefully. They shed new light on a persistent complaint surrounding many HR managers. CEO's tell me that they would like to intervene with toxic low performers but can't. Over the years, their managers have given these low performers glowing reviews. These false appraisals add up over time to paint a picture of someone who is doing well, when the opposite is true.

Due to our labour laws (which are echoed in the rest of the Caribbean), it's hard to fire someone without a documented, just cause. Here's my interpretation: weak HR leadership makes it impossible for the company to do what every viable enterprise must do to remove low performers.

Think of a top football club. There is universal recognition that arrivals and departures are a part of the system, a requirement to become a great unit. This is probably very different from the popular thinking in your organization, which sees itself as a "family."

It's an unfortunate metaphor. It paints the picture of lifelong blood relationships that isn't real, instead of a temporary coalition of high performers who happen to share a single goal for a limited time.

At the end of the day, this accumulation of mediocre talent must be seen as the responsibility of Human Resources, the only organization who can see the long-term, bigger picture and has the means to do something about it. Think of it... if your company isn't a world-class performer, but boasts of low turnover, it might be an indication that you are coddling toxicity without being aware of its consequences.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners in its discussion list, it is the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates -www.caribhrforum.com

Why HR Needs to Champion New Technology Like SkedPal

Most non-HR execs view Human Resource Managers (HRMs) as technology laggards. This characterization may be unfair, but if there is any truth in it, it means that HR professional are holding back their companies. To what extent is this true and how can it be fixed?

In times past, issues related to employee productivity were the exclusive concern of HR. The diagnosis and training and measurement expertise required to lift employee performance resided in the skillset human resource professionals.

However, there has been a dramatic shift over time. When email entered the workplace in the mid-1990's HR sat on the sidelines, watching. The HR unit was often the last to learn how to use this new technology, plus the ones that quickly  followed. Some remember a time when HR offered classroom training in topics like "How to use Microsoft Excel."

Today, such training is laughable. Employees are expected to train themselves. The fact that they successfully do so today would shock the HRM of the 1990's.

Arguably, HR is still in shock and has long ceded the main role of productivity mavens to IT. That is, technologies such as email, the Internet and mobility have done more to boost employee producctivity and change company culture than anything HR has introduced in the past twenty years. HR still lags behind, watching the company evolve.

One example involves the evolution of individual task management. Employees today are struggling to keep up with their Inboxes. Unfortunately, so is HR which is often seen as a department that can never catch up with email.

The problem isn't email itself. Instead, HR needs to return to its roots to understand the human behavior that underlies task management. Here's a shortut to this particular lesson.

Human beings all manage tasks in the same underlying way. Self-generated tasks are known as "time demands":  psychological objects which are promises they make to themselves to complete an action in the future. They learn how to manipulate time demands in their teens, using this skill to get through college and perform at work.

However, in our professional lifetime, things have changed. The new technologies mentioned above mean that we create more time demands than ever before. Unfortunately, we use pre-Internet, teenage skills. The result is overwhelm.

The deffinition of being a productive manager of time demands has changed. Instead of the old goal of "having the right habits", the emphasis has shifted to "knowing how to upgrade your habits."

Research shows that your people change their methods for managing time demands in a predictable way.

1. They start out using memory. In the Jamaican workplace, there are way too many employees at all levels using this technique, failing as a result without knowing why.

2. Some improve their skills by shifting to using To-Do lists. They learn that memory usage is limited.

3. A handful who must deal with a much higher number of time demands replace the use of a To-Do list with their digital calendar. This takes carefful skills and it gives them greater capacity.

Recently, new technology has emerged that changes the game. For the person who gets to the limits of using a To-DO list, they can schedule their tasks directly into a calendar using software powered by Artificial Intelligence. SkedPal, which is currently in Beta, is one example while Timeful (which was recently purchased by Google) is another.

I happen to be on the Advisory Board for SkedPal, which is available for free in its Beta form at www.skedpal.net. I can say after a year of usage that it is likely to change the way we manage time demands in a profound way.

There's no reason HR must stand by while this change takes place. Like other technology-led transformations, there are human behaviors that lie underneath which HR is uniquely equipped to understand. It's a fresh opportunity to actively lead from the front rather than reactively sit on the sidelines. Everyone could benefit.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 600 practitioners in its discussion list, it is the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio, CaribHRNet and CaribHRUpdates -www.caribhrforum.com

How HR Can Re-Shape a Culture Filled With Interruptions

While the Human Resource Management profession missed the boat on the biggest culture change in the past fifty (50) years, i.e. the advent of email, the game is far from over. In fact, technology-driven interruptions represent an immediate opportunity for HR Professionals to have a positive impact.

In our first conversation, the HR Director of a major company in Jamaica complained to me: "In every executive meeting, half the people aren't paying attention. They are lost somewhere in their smartphones!"

Unfortunately, she was alone. While her colleagues would individually admit that their behavior was unproductive, it never changed. The collective anxiety that drove each of them to achieve so much also led them to develop the terrible habit of checking messages every few minutes.

As a result, meetings dragged on with no end in sight, taking too long a time to bring about consensus.

She was the exception because she believed that something could be done to address the problem. From her point of view, they had the collective power to put in new rules and enforce them. Unfortunately, no-one else saw the problem this way. Even the CEO thought himself a victim of a Chairman who demanded his attention at all hours of the day or night.

The psychologists call this distracted behavior "Continuous Partial Attention." In many companies, it's become a habit that destroys productivity at all levels, leading employees to display symptoms associated with ADHD. Furthermore, Dr. Glen Wilson's research shows that constant interruptions from phone calls, emails, and text messages cause an IQ drop of 10 points.

The truly bad news comes from the opposite direction. Researchers like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ("Flow") and Cal Newport ("Deep Work") have shown that one's best comes forth during periods of total, uninterrupted concentration. Their findings explain why many professionals come in early, leave late and work on weekends and holidays. It's their only opportunity to do high-quality work.

As an HR professional, you need not stand by and watch this disaster take place if you follow these three steps.

1. Build HR into a Model Unit of Productivity

Given its unique role, human resources should become the most effective department in the company, the best users of mobile internet tools. It's the only way to gain the respect needed to be influential.

2. Challenge Executives

In most companies, managers demonstrate the worst behaviors. They must be challenged at the top.

3. Advocate Modern Policies

Most companies have no policies about the productive use of technology, resulting in a widely disparaged free-for-all. HR must lead the way in implementing practical policies drawn from international best practices in this area.

Some may see this as a burden, asking "Isn't this the job of IT?"

It will never be. Instead, it's an opportunity to provide leadership in a vacuum that affects every employee's productivity. HR must become the experts, getting over whatever technophobia might be lingering. It's the only way to make a difference.

Francis Wade is the founder of CaribHRForum, an author and management consultant.

This article is a monthly contribution from a member of CaribHRForum. With over 500 practitioners in its discussion list, it is the largest online network of HR professionals in the Caribbean enjoying CaribHR.Radio and CaribHRNet. Tune into our latest episode, an interview with Vincent McHugh at www.caribhrforum.com