Employee Responsibility Archives

Nov 04 2021

Seeing the Equal Value of EVERY Person Involved In the Effort … An Even Bigger Challenge When Workers Are Remote

One question I often ask of a coaching client is how they see the job they do? What does it contribute to the team, department or organizational success? How do they see its’ importance in terms of what it contributes to the desired outcome and achievement of the intended goal? Finally, what is the value that they place on their contribution as well as the value that others place on it? Too often the answers I hear don’t make for a pretty picture. And they definitely don’t make for a cohesive group effort. That, in turn, can have very real and even detrimental impact on the success of an individual and an overall effort. Add to this challenge the fact that today and in the near future many will be working remotely thus creating actual distance that can make this reality and challenge even greater.

In an ideal environment from one’s very first day they learn to recognize that they and the work they do is a contributor to the overall success of project and/or the company. It may be related to sales, customer relations, operations, accounting, delivery, administrative or overall management. Yet the ultimate success of whatever the goal might be cannot and will not be achieved to the max unless all aspects of whatever the goal requires are handled to the same degree of successful completion. This would logically require that every person involved in the process understand and truly value the job they do at the same time it is valued by others.

THE THINGS THAT INFLUENCE SEEING A PERSON AS DOING MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT WORK

Unfortunately, and especially today, I don’t believe that such a business culture is the norm. Rather, individuals either see themselves and their work as more or less important than another’s. This is especially heightened when we can’t see others on the team as we’re not always in the office or at least at the same time. When this happens it takes the wind and needed energy out of the sails of some while inflating that of others. The result? Divisiveness among the very people who are relied upon to make it happen in a successful way.

Here are some of the things that contribute to differences in the ways that one’s particular job contribution is seen as less than by others. There were well identified by Glenn Llopis in his contribution to Forbes on writing about different ways the contribution by some is undervalued. I believe this applies to ways that others on the team devalue another’s work and present it as such to some of his points. Consider these in today’s remote work environment:

Unaware of Their Strengths
Some people involved do not see the importance of the work being done by others. They often see what they do as the most important. As such, they might not take the time to truly understand the abilities and strengths of what that person is capable of providing. When those working together can’t see beyond the obvious, they are doing themselves, their co-workers or employees and their organization a big disservice. They are unknowingly undervaluing their contributions and the opportunities before them. The remote work environment only magnifies this.
1. Refuse to Seek Their Counsel

Too often one does not see the true value of another’s job, see the person doing it and the related contribution. They may be inclined to look over them when seeking input that could improve the task, method and the outcome. This contributes to someone feeling undervalued and disrespected and thus a poor sense of their work and their desire to genuinely care.
Make No Effort to Invest in the Relationship
When any one position on a team is seen as less important than another, it delivers the message that they are less important as a person and as an important link to the desired outcome. Thus, the person feels taken for granted and down goes their interest or investment in a most successful outcome.
Provide Little if Any Feedback
If one doesn’t value the work or another the tendency is to not waste the time of providing input. Such input could alter and improve the work that person is doing. Of course, this easily can lead to that person feeling underappreciated and with that, the importance of caring and effort go south.

HOW DOES A PERSON MOVE FROM FEELING LESS THAN TO SEEING THEIR CONTRIBUTION AS IMPORTANT

This is all interesting, however, what is especially important to the person feeling this lack of appreciation and love is what they can do about it. The good news? There are steps you can take that will have a most positive impact on the person (is that you?) and the ultimate success that is the overall goal as follows:

Take stock of just how real and prominent this situation is
Do you believe that the feeling you have and your related sensitivity to it is widespread coming from many or different directions? Or is it primarily from a sole source? Are you more aware of these feelings over the past 19 months? Regardless, it is unpleasant and uncomfortable however one’s reaction and actions tend to be different given the actual situation.
Have a conversation with the person(s) who you feel doesn’t appreciate your work
Perhaps they emit the impression they do because they really don’t understand what you are doing and the related skill and challenges that it represents. Why should they? Their focus is on what they contribute and thus to some extent they take your abilities and results for granted.
Be more visible to the others
Feeling unappreciated can make us withdraw from attention and notice and that only furthers the reactions of another and our own isolation. If you are proud of what you do and the level of skill you have, let that allow you to be an active part of the group effort. After all, others don’t really understand all that is involved. Let your sense of pride allow you to have a presence to the other(s).
Be open in your recognition and praise of others and their contributions
Demonstrating your willingness to acknowledge others and their part in creating the desired success provides the example of others returning the same to you. It’s a win-win.
You don’t need permission from another to feel satisfaction and pride in the work you do and what you provide to the overall, successful effort
Being able to view what you do and the contribution it makes to the goal as being an important is key. Realizing you are a needed part of the overall effort makes you are less reliant on any other person’s view to define your real value. This enables you to move forward positively and confidently.

Amy Rees Anderson is a founder and Managing Partner of REES Capital, an angel investment firm. She focuses on helping other succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures. In her article for Forbes entitled “Every Person Matters in a Company, and There is No Such Thing as an Insignificant Position” she expressed this:

“Every single person in a company is a valuable piece of the chain. If they do their part wrong, the entire chain feels the effect. That chain is in a circle that goes round and round, with no beginning and no end. Every person matters and is equally important to the overall functions done in a company. No one person is insignificant or small in the process. Everyone needs each other” for the job they do and role they play in an effort. Did I just heard a mic drop?

This says it well and in today’s working world, finding ways to make connections with others on the team can lessen the impact of the changes that COVID brought with it. It can also minimize the tendency to value one’s contribution to the team effort as more or less than another’s. Characteristics of a successful team include … members who fulfill their own tasks and help one another. They communicate openly with the team and resolve conflict constructively. Finally, they know they directly contribute to the company’s success. Now all we need to do is to commit to making this happen.
Mike Dorman

May 27 2021

Masks off! Beware! Faces Revealed. What Else is Uncovered?

ANNOUNCEMENT!
MASKS NO LONGER REQUIRED!

… around other vaccinated people … when gathering outside … when alone outside … when … when … when. HALLELUJEH! Although we are not completely there yet … we are definitely on the way. Finally, we find ourselves being able to reenter a world and way of living that has some resemblance to what we all considered to be ‘normal’. Sixteen months later of living in ways that we never could have imagined and over which we had little control.

As welcome as the need to ‘mask’ is on the wane, I get curious as I contemplate what the mask may have also provided in addition to our protection from COVID? What are the various feelings, thoughts and emotions that we have gotten used to hiding that are now ‘there’ for others to see? And … now being on display, will they help or hinder what we want to achieve?

Although the question applies to all aspects of our lives, I want to explore it in work/business relationships. For many, using the likes of ‘zoom’ allowed us to ‘meet’ without a mask so that seemed quite normal. Still, once the call was complete, we felt the freedom to have reactions without being seen by others around. We could complain … to ourselves. We could berate another on the team or within the company and they would never know. However, going forward and the potential of returning to the office at least part-time we lose the privacy of our reactions and feelings.

It seems prudent that we be very aware of this to avoid unintended consequences. Here are just some of the ‘protections’ that go away along with the masks:

The ability to hide our unbridled frustration
With another person, a direction or with the work that isn’t getting finished in a timely manner.

The ability to mask anger or displeasure with any aspect of the work being done or requests made of us
Without our masks we must relearn how to effectively convey our displeasure in a way that gets desired results without damaging the needed relationship.
The ability to hide our true identify as a person
Perhaps we want to be seen as a team player when we don’t’ really care for the work of the team. Perhaps a
person wants to play the role she/he believe is expected of them rather than allow their true selves to show. This was just easier when wearing an actual COVID related mask.

The ability to be in control of our emotions we want to display
Obviously we have reactions to many things we hear and witness in our day to day lives. This certainly is the case in the workplace. The actual masks we have been wearing for the past 16 months have enabled us to relax without concern that others might easily be able to read our emotional reactions.

Being able to hide our weaknesses
This mask allows us to better display the strengths we feel we have and distract from others seeing what we perceived as our weaknesses. Our confidence is better conveyed as we want it to be seen.

Being able to play the expected role in any given situation regardless of our true feelings
Do you want to sound enthusiastic or excited about the ‘plan’? Do you want to make a positive impression to get the sale? Do you want to come across as someone’s new friend to get them to support what you want them to do? The COVID mask has made that easier for your voice alone can convey the way you want to be ‘seen’.

The wearing of masks has been around through the ages. To all people, they serve a function and there is a time and place for each of them. We wear them from time to time to protect and project ourselves when/as necessary and appropriate.

We use them to present ourselves as we think we should or need to.
We use masks to hide true feelings or to play a role that we believe is expected of us.
We use masks to hopefully be seen by others as we want to be seen.
We use masks to protect ourselves from ill-intentioned people and a way to keep them at arm’s length until we allow them into our area a bit at a time.

With COVID and the imposed need/requirement to wear masks, we were given a way to mask any situation behind the cloth of which these were made. Being intentional about donning our masks just made the various ways we used the imagined masks easier. We didn’t have to give as much thought to how and to whom we wanted to project ourselves or which mask to wear because they provided real protection for many different situations.

With masks gone and along with the new sense of regained freedoms, we should recognize that it now prudent for us all to be consciously aware of how we do and how we want to project ourselves to those around us. We should be very aware of how much easier wearing an actual mask made it for us to have our thoughts and feelings without being easily ‘read’ by others. And now, the eyes are back upon us. With faces visible, the thoughts and emotions we have are still real and present. How we choose to convey them … or not … is bound to have an impact on our individual and collective success in whatever we do.
Mike Dorman

Sep 24 2020

Employer and Employee Loyalty … How COVID-19 Has Redefined the Meaning … Part I

It would be difficult to find a person who doesn’t long for ‘the old days. The normal lives we lived had routines and practices with which we were all comfortable. Whether we liked every aspect of them or not, at least we got up every day and carried on with our routine. We knew what we had to do and what was expected of us … whether by others or ourselves. Of course, I’m not talking about decades ago. In fact, these routines and the related comfort with them only went out the window about 7 months ago.

So much pertaining to our lives was turned upside down and inside out including the workplace. For many people fortunate enough to still have a job, they were relegated to working from home which, by itself, was the cause of much upheaval in that known and comfortable routine. Working from home … often with other family members present … was a challenge with which most had little if any experience. On the other hand to those whose jobs went away, the concern and turmoil created has upended some lives as never before imagined or experienced.

With the changes that have been imposed on employer and employee alike, it behooves us to willingly shift our ideas of what’s possible after the curve flattens. How to encourage and develop the loyalty on which any organization depends in both directions is the challenge. This first of a two-part blog will first address changes that organizations as employers must consider. How do they devise ways that allow them to bring people back to the workplace in a fashion that lets the business to progress and also keep all on the team safe given the realities of this ‘new normal’ world.

What Loyalty Will Look Like from the Employer or Boss

For businesses who have been able to stay afloat or even thrive during the pandemic they have done so by allowing or even requiring that employees work from home when possible. In moving forward there are things a business is going to have to recognize and incorporate into how they operate in this new arena. Diana Vienne is a senior partner with Notion Consulting. In an article penned Fast Company she has aptly identified five changes that organization will need to consider and embrace for them to get employee loyalty on which a good portion of their success depends. They are as follows:

Allow for a virtual workforce
Just because the company has devised ways to open and still maintain safety doesn’t mean that all employees will be able to return to an office environment. Having children at home who are virtually attending school remains one reality. Thus, and because the organization has been able to function with a home-based team for several months, is there really the need to change? Probably not unless the organization simply wants life to be what it was way back when ‘in the old days’.

A willingness to judge progress on output rather than facetime
Being the first one in the office and the last one to leave is no longer a measure of commitment and performance. In a post-COVID-19 world, employees will be measured on what gets done and the value of their work rather than on the individual tasks and the time it takes to get the work done. Leaders will need to provide clear, outcome-driven expectations enabling employees to deliver on goals successfully. Such a focus rather than specific tasks needs to happen.
Recognition of the need for a work-life balance
The idea of expecting employees to work a nine to five workday is just unsuited to the demands of the workforce that will emerge from the COVID era. Flexibility in allowing the employee to accomplish their best work while meeting individual needs can be a positive motivation to team members. To the extent the leaders themselves demonstrate such a model enables this to become a part of the company culture.
Revamped channels of communication
COVID has forced upon organizations a change in the method of communicating. For several months communicating has been significantly altered. No more just popping into another’s office or cubicle to give or get input. It has often required some advance planning to set up a zoom style meeting or even atelephone call. Employers will need to provide employees with the tools and training they need to operate effectively. Likewise, they will need to use an effective format to spread needed input that will allow for successful outcome of efforts being made.
Increased Trust and transparency of and with employees
Being able and willing to trust employees to do what they are expected to do is a key element of establishing asuccessful environment in this new work world. And in order to reinforce the loyalty that is needed for success, the employee will need to feel this. Understanding and support must go in both directions which requires good listening and empathy of and for all.

Leaders that demonstrate these qualities and officially recognize excellence in their people will earn greater trust and loyalty from their employees. Leaders who seize this mindset now will be better prepared to engage employees for the long term, regardless of the external environment.
Mike Dorman

Coming: The next blogpost will address required changes of the employee in order for them to receive and maintain loyalty of their employer. Regardless of the job being for one’s current employer or a new one given the need or desire to find new employment, a willingness to accept and adapt to the revised ‘normal’ makes a solid footing within an organization achievable and realistic.

May 20 2020

The Freedoms and Flexibility of Working From Home … While Being Watched

Now, some two months later, those fortunate to be working and earning are often doing it from their home. On one hand this doesn’t make the COVID-19 situation any easier for sure however, in conversations with them, I am getting the sense that a good many are starting to realize the advantages their ‘home office’ has provided as they settle in to what may continue for a while. At the same time and while starting to enjoy the related freedoms, it is also important for all to realize that the ‘bosses’ are also finding ways to oversee the work being done … or not being done and thus doing their jobs.

It is no doubt that with each passing week we are settling into what working from home

requires … not so much of the job as that has always been an expectation. Rather, what working successfully from home means and what it takes to be successful. Here are some of the advantages that those who have established a ‘home office’ are realizing and actually enjoying:

No commuting necessary – regardless of how much time you spentgetting to work it often entailed traffic, the related congestion and time – the related frustration that one really never gets used to
A Customized work environment – getting to set up your ‘office’ just as you like it and being able to avoid the surrounding noises that come from other’s conversations that do nothing to help you accomplish your tasks. Finding a closed room from which you can make an important telephone call is no longer a necessity
A relaxed dress code – although still needing to be presentable when participatingin a zoom equivalent call at least from the waist up, being able to dress more casually is often welcome. This is to say nothing about the cleaning bill savings
Added flexibility to one’s work schedule – To those used to needing to be in the office from 9 to 6, they now often have greater flexibility. Want to begin at 7:00 so you can attend a child’s baseball game at 4:30? Sure … as long as you know you have completed the work that needed to be done that day
Saving money – Gas prices are definitely down and it’s likely that won’t last. Buyinglunch costs add up significantly especially when done 20 days per month. Suddenly you realize that you have ‘extra’ money to spend in other areas and what could be bad about that?
A better way of creating true work-life balance – If it’s because of having no commute time or because you can alter your work hours to allow you to participate in other things going on at home, you now have the greater likelihood of being able to do these things in a more planned manner.

Along with enjoying the advantages, what is important that we all realize is that many bosses are simply not comfortable with having their team members out of sight. This is new for them as well. The worry is that the work she or he counts on them to accomplish won’t get done as or when needed. What this has wrought is a desire and thus a need to devise methods of keeping tabs on the home-based workers for that boss is going to be judged by how well their group is doing under her/his direction.

Here are some steps that are being taken by some organizations that provide leadership with the ability to monitor home-based employees. Some have always been used even within the office however to the ones working from home and with COVID-19, it just feels different.

Various forms of ‘spy’ software – and completely legal provided you let people know it is being used. Wanting to know how those being monitored are using their time? Here is the answer. The ability to track time use with varying frequency is readily available … and being used. The ability to determine if company confidential documents have been printed or sent to an unauthorized person is also used.
Checking to determine if you are really paying attention – while screen sharingon the likes of a zoom call it is possible for others to determine that one is engaged or if and when one has left the meeting for any period of time.
The ability to see messages sent to other employees – Sending a message or email to another employee is not confidential when the boss has the software that is attached to all company computers. Thus, any communication needs to be something that you are willing to have anyone else see.
An overall desire to know that the company is getting the full value from you – this is being accomplished in other and simpler ways than overseeing software. Perhaps the boss wants a video chat with you every day to review your accomplished and intended work. Or perhaps it’s calling a video meeting with ‘the team’ to allow all to update on what they have accomplished on a given day along with their planned tasks for tomorrow. Although the frequency of such meeting is not the old norm when in the true office, it is a way to help the organization and us as individuals stay on course. Of course this is our job especially if we want to keep the one we have.

Here’s the important point. When we go into the office we expect and know that we are being observed at any given time. We know and expect that our productivity is being watched and measured. When in the office we spend our days in a business frame of mind doing what it takes to justify and earn our paycheck. In today’s environment, nothing has

changed in terms of what is expected of us in terms of what we accomplish. The only change is the location of our ‘office’ or work space. Therefore, to the extent we can and do create both the area of our home office … a place that we walk into and out of just as we are used to doing under the ‘old normal’ … and the related mindset, the greater the likelihood that we and others around us will recognize that we are ‘at work’ and all of the expectations that come with that.

I personally fully expect that when today’s crisis has passed or at least diminished because a preventative treatment has been devised for this virus, the past ways of doing our jobs will not return as they were. There will be a new normal and that will include many more people in the work force doing their jobs in a remote fashion. Thus today, we can fight

what is presently going on or we can embrace it. Just seems to me that those of us who get our arms around this are going to be ahead of the curve going forward and that can only translate into a real advantage in terms of one’s perceived, personal value. That we can demonstrate that we can be trusted to do what is expected of us for which we earn the money we need and want seems like a good goal. Has today’s reality caused new challenge and frustration? Of course it has. Our choice becomes one of fighting it or adapting. Adapting seems like the ultimate smart choice to make.

Mike Dorman

Jun 12 2019

Complacency vs. Opportunity at Work ~ The Choice We All Have

There has been a lot written about what creates complacency with some in the workplace and much of it relates a personal lack of clarity as to career direction or one’s not having an affinity with the direction they chose. Others are simply burned out and zapped of strength and desire to forge ahead because the nature of the company has changed … perhaps through growth that has taken away the excitement associated with the startup they originally joined.

Yet, I come face to face with another interesting and different phenomenon. It is related to the level of unemployment. It appears that when unemployment is at a high point in the working world, those in jobs realize the importance of keeping

the job they have. They tend to put out more effort to do things that will provide some degree of insurance that they will not be at risk of joining the ranks of the unemployed and looking. This takes various forms that might include asking to learn new tasks … demonstrating a willingness to put in more overtime … operating with a greater sense of flexibility that moves away from a rigid ‘job description’ to one of ‘whatever needs to be done’. The result for these individuals is that they actually learn new skills and in the overall, enhance their value to the organization.

Conversely, when unemployment is at a lower point much like it is today, some interpret this a job security perhaps believing that they would be hard to replace and with that ‘comfort’ tend to become complacent … in their job and the

specific work they do. Thus, they become more aware of and less willing to put in extra time even when needed. They do the work they were hired and expected to do however don’t tend to reach beyond to learn or take on greater responsibilities. Generally speaking with their job more of a guarantee, they tend to coast along and in so doing just might be jeopardizing their career and ultimate goals.

Often, when I make this point to a coaching client I can see the lightbulb go on for it’s a perspective that some haven’t considered and thus, not acted upon. The exciting part happens when one does change their view of the situation and gets onto the bandwagon of determining how they can and should be operating … as if it’s a time of high unemployment. Converting complacency to opportunity carries with it some serious and real energy and that carries significant benefits.

Realistically speaking and regardless of the rate of unemployment, pushing oneself into an unknown arena also pushes

ourselves into a zone of discomfort. We’re over the edge of what we know and do well. Our willingness to take that leap happens because we believe that it will reap benefits … to the organization and perhaps most importantly, to ourselves. It is often our hesitance to willingly do this that carries with the state of being complacent.

Here are some signs that perhaps … just perhaps … you are operating in the zone of complacency and recognizing this will help one move in the direction that takes advantage of the opportunities that are always present to some extent.

Showing up, doing your job as you know it and remaining in your comfort zone
Finding yourself wanting to continue using past approaches rather than pushing to improve methods and systems that could bring greater efficiencies
Resisting being an active participant with other work associates in a desire to streamline and explore improvement
No longer striving to do your best and rather focus on ‘good enough’

I’m sure there are more signs and yet, what is so valuable is our ability to recognize that, regardless of the level of unemployment, our viewing either situation as an opportunity to gain knowledge and recognition for how one has chosen to operate will have the impact of advancing our career and overall success. I grant you that times of lower unemployment as we are experiencing today are not necessarily a main cause of complacency. However, it appears that they can certainly bring it to the forefront without our realizing that this has taken place. As Bonnie Marcus stated in an article written for Forbes Women … “If you assume that the status quo will remain in place (like your job), you are setting yourself up to be blindsided. If you stay in the safety of your complacency without a notion as to what’s happening in the company or in your industry, your safety zone can become a danger zone overnight. Changes are occurring all around you that can make your skills and competencies obsolete. Potential mergers and downsizing can be potential landmines unless you are tapped into the politics of the company and listening carefully to the warning signs that change is about to happen.”

Dictionary.com’s definition of complacency is “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.” It seems to me that focusing on the opportunities that we can create in our work overrides any circumstance related to the level of employment. Or let’s say … it should! Right?
Mike Dorman

Contact

Subscribe to our newsletter