Ariel Duhon
Could your firm be the next BP? Are you one step away from a gigantic failure that will toss you into the public eye, and savage your bottom line and corporate reputation? On his blog, human resources expert John Sullivan notes how people management and human factors can trip you up. Here are some items on his checklist for predicting corporate disaster.
ABSENTEEISM
A shorthanded team or one seeded with temporary under-skilled labour, particularly in maintenance and safety roles, will likely face increased errors rates and could lead the team to postpone activities that may be crucial to avoid a mishap. "Significant absenteeism may be symptomatic of deeper problems," he says.
EXCESSIVE O.T.
Chronic fatigue and stress may also contribute to increased error rates and postponement of activities that are important.
TEMPORARY HELP
If temporary labour comprises a high percentage of a critical work team, their unfamiliarity with processes and standards could set the foundation for a critical incident.
VACANCIES
A high vacancy rate in jobs could indicate important work in the organization is being postponed, ignored, or reallocated to under-skilled labour.
EMPLOYEE SOUNDINGS
Low or dramatically decreasing performance, satisfaction, and engagement scores could indicate future troubles.
PRODUCTIVITY
Sudden bursts or declines in work force productivity may indicate policies are being violated, process steps are being sidestepped, or warning measures are being ignored.
COST CONTAINMENT
If your attempts to contain your costs go too far, it may just encourage shortcuts and the use of inferior materials. "Oversight is needed to ensure that short-term savings do not result in long-term costly disasters," he stresses.
WHISTLEBLOWING
If you have frequent whistleblowing reports, it could indicate a problem in the ranks and with your processes. On the other hand, a total lack of whistleblowing reports does not necessarily mean you are in the clear. It could indicate employees are uninterested, have experienced retribution in the past when they spoke up, or are unaware of how to report issues.
ACCIDENTS
High accident rates can indicate that procedures are not being followed. Remember that unresolved safety issues, routine violation of safety rules, or poor safety training can be a harbinger of larger safety issues.
ERRORS
Similarly, a high error rate may indicate that procedures are not being followed or that the training is lax. Slowness to respond to major errors is also a warning signal - perhaps the most critical indicator, he says.
TURNOVERS AND TRANSFERS
If a lot of employees are leaving a manager, that may indicate he or she is weak and potentially prone to higher rates of major problems.
COMPLAINTS
Beware of a sudden increase in complaints or grievances, which would signal upcoming major problems.
MANAGEMENT LOAD
If the ratio of managers to employees leads to the managers having too many individuals to oversee, poor supervision may increase, with dramatic consequences.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Whenever major new technology is implemented, the likelihood of a significant failure increases dramatically.
MANAGEMENT
Invite staff to reduce information overload
IT engineer Nathan Zeldes believes reducing information overload in your organization can give you one of the best returns on investment of any activity you pursue. "With knowledge workers losing about one day a week to this issue, anything that will reclaim them that time is bound to repay itself very rapidly for the company, while improving the victims' quality of life," he writes on his Challenge Information Overload blog. The problem, however, is that some of the available organizational solutions may seem restrictive or oppressive to at least some employees, reducing the chances of success.
To get better buy-in, he recommends:
Involve the employee base from the very start. "Announce your intent to tackle the program early, before the solutions are a done deal!" he stresses. If you set up a team to devise solutions, consider including employees from all layers in the hierarchy, thus representing your full base of technology users.
Collect ideas from your employees, which will secure their help and commitment, as well as give the program visibility. When he worked at Intel, a contest was held with prizes for the best ideas.
If the solution you develop is too radical, try it out first on a pilot team. "This carefully chosen and motivated team will be more likely to succeed, and the outcome - if it is positive - will be easier to sell to the rest of the organization," he says.
LEADERSHIP
How women can send the right cues
Women tend to surpass men in sending out cues of empathy and warmth through their body language but fall behind in signalling authority, according to executive coach Carol Kinsey Goman. In Troy Media, she highlights body language mistakes that women leaders commonly make.
They use too many head tilts to signal they are listening and involved. "Head tilts can be very positive cues, but they are also subconsciously processed as submission signals. Women who want to project power and authority should keep their heads straight up in a more neutral position," she advises.
One way that status is non-verbally demonstrated in a meeting is by physically taking up room, but women often physically condense. She suggests at the next meeting, women spread out their belongings and claim their turf.
They act girlish, twirling hair, playing with jewellery, or biting a finger.
They nod too much. That can express encouragement and engagement. But it can also make some women look like a bobble-head doll, and rob them of a sense of authority and power.
POWER POINTS
Hey, remember me?
If you are reaching out with an e-mail to someone you met or has been told about your work, don't assume they know who you are or remember meeting you, warns personal productivity expert Peggy Duncan. If there could be doubt in their mind as to who you are, offer a simple reminder geared to the context in which they will place you or value your approach. Inc.com
The right way to shake
If you are reaching out to someone with your hand - a handshake greeting - here's the formula for a perfect handshake, from University of Manchester Professor Geoffrey Beattie, who has studied them. "The rules for men and women are the same: right hand, a complete grip and a firm squeeze [but not too strong]in a mid-point position between yourself and the other person, a cool and dry palm, approximately three shakes, with a medium level of vigour, held for no longer than two to three seconds, with eye contact kept throughout and a good natural smile with a slow offset with, of course, an appropriate accompanying verbal statement." Ummah2.com
Be your own worst enemy
If someone is in conflict with you, try writing a letter to yourself from their perspective, advises blogger Ali Hale. Little Dumb Man
Easing scheduling stress
Malcolm Marcus, president of Toronto-based Worksmart Webware Inc., says making sure the staff schedule is up to date is one of the simplest yet most important things managers with hourly staff can do since it reduces the stress of scheduling staff, and ensures staff are paid properly and clients get invoiced properly. The scheduling application should be open, or open and minimized on your computer desktop, so you're only a few clicks away from entering changes. As well, keep the number of people who can actually enter and change shifts to a minimum - one or two people.
Outlook tip
You can register a new appointment from any screen in Outlook by clicking Ctrl-Shift-A. Womack Co. newsletter
Special to The Globe and Mail