I’m reading a really interesting management book right now called First, Break All the Rules. I’m reading it rather slowly since I’m busy with putting together the material for the class I’m teaching in January for San Jose State, but I couldn’t wait to read it as soon as I’d heard about it (it’s not new, I think it came out in 1999). The authors, both of the Gallup Organization, based the book on in-depth interviews with over 80,000 managers. The found common threads in all of those interviews to understand what truly great managers do. And they also found that no matter what the pay and incentives, if an organization does not have truly great front-line managers who know how to motivate employees and bring out their talents, the incentives will not help.
The authors base the strength of a workplace on how employees can answer the following 12 questions:
“1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?
12. At work, have I had the opportunities to learn and grow?”
If staff can say yes to all of those things, you have a very healthy workplace. If not, I think that’s a red flag to look at workplace culture and your own management techniques. I’ve had great managers who made me feel good about my work and energized, and I’ve had terrible managers who made me count the minutes until I was free of them every afternoon. I can attest that one’s manager and workplace culture make all the difference between feeling motivated to achieve and doing the minimum amount to keep your job. When I feel like my supervisor has faith in me… when I feel like my efforts are recognized… when I feel like my manager cares about what I’m working on… when I feel like my decisions are supported, that’s when I do my best work. I see this just in working on my class for San Jose State University. Debbie Faires, Assistant Director for Distance Learning at SJSU’s SLIS program, has been so supportive of my course preparation and so encouraging of my experiments with Drupal, that it makes me want to do better. When I feel supported like that, I want to put 150% in. If I was in a situation where everything I did was criticized and where creativity was not encouraged, I’d probably end up putting less of myself into my work. I know that’s terrible to admit, but it’s true.
This really got me thinking about Tyler’s post the other day at Library Garden: Do we encourage our employees to leave? In some situations, I’d say yes. I like what Tyler says here about the fact that there might be factors we’re not even aware of that encourage employees to leave:
“If your system sees people leave and then watches them flourish in another position, you shouldn’t brag that “they started off in this system.” It should raise questions as to why your system couldn’t seem to hold on to him/her. Employee retention has always been difficult in our profession but, sometimes, we unknowingly encourage people to leave.”
While I agree with Tyler that pay, vacation and hours are issues, I think that in many cases, people are willing to take less pay, less vacation and work crappier hours (within reason, of course), for a truly great job in a truly great environment. Professional investment in the development of staff seems like more of an issue, because it says a lot about an organization when it is not willing to support professional development of any kind. Even if an organization doesn’t have money to send people to conferences, they can give employees time to listen to a SirsiDynix talk or to buy employees some books to learn a new programming language. Opportunities for advancement also are an issue for those who want to move up the ladder. Especially at small libraries, the opportunities to move up often are few and far between, so it’s inevitable that some folks will leave if they are primarily interested in advancement. Still, a great culture can often make up for a lack of opportunities to advance and a smart manager would be willing to shift an ambitious employees’ job responsibilities around a bit to give them the sort of experiences they are looking for.
These are things that people have told Tyler they quit over. I think that there are often a lot of reasons why people quit that they don’t talk about. Like the culture in an organization. If everyone comes to work miserable… if all they do is complain… if people do the minimum to keep their jobs and never want to change since that means more work… what enthusiastic person would want to stay there? There are many libraries that sadly reward longevity over initiative and hard work. I’m a big believer in employee recognition programs that recognize good work, not just years of service. People want to feel like there’s some benefit to their hard work, even if it’s just a pat on the back. When people work twice as hard as their colleagues with no recognition of that, they will eventually stop working that hard or will leave for a place that does appreciate innovators and hard workers.
A little encouragement goes a long way, as Janie’s comment on Tyler’s post indicates:
My first year of teaching I had a principal who visited our classrooms regularly both while we were teaching and after hours just to chat. He was not being intrusive, just interested. About once every 6-8 weeks I would receive a quick handwritten note from him complimenting on something that I had done recently. Sometimes it was just two sentences to say he liked how I had done a bulletin board display and other times it would be a paragraph or two summarizing several things he noticed that he liked. I loved working in that school and for that principal. I have never worked for anyone like that again, but during a stressful first year as an 8th grade teacher it help me keep my sanity. I still have those thank you cards tucked away.
I think people also need to feel supported by their managers. They want to feel encouraged to make independent decisions and know that those decisions will be supported. When I was in library school, I worked in circulation in a public library. Part of my job was collecting overdue fines as people couldn’t take out any more books once their fines got up to $25.00. Most people paid their fines, no problem. Others would complain. I remember there was a woman who had lost three books. She didn’t deny never returning them, but she didn’t think she should have to pay it since her taxes fund the library. I respectfully stood my ground with her and she started saying that she’d call the mayor and complain about us. Then my supervisor came out and told the woman she’d wipe out her fines. This teaches patrons that rules don’t matter if you complain enough and it taught me that I won’t get backed up by my boss when I’m enforcing her policies. I felt like I’d been cut off at the knees. When staff don’t feel empowered to make even the smallest independent decisions, how are they going to feel about their job, their manager or themselves?
Though I haven’t gotten too far into the book, I think this is a must-read for anyone who manages others. Many managers often don’t realize the impact they have on the morale of their staff. Some see their job as being about making sure people don’t screw up, giving permission for vacations, and doing yearly evaluations. They don’t see their job as being about support, empowerment and mentoring. And those managers are the sort that ambitious people are likely to run screaming from; regardless of pay or vacation or support for professional development. A bad work environment affects every other aspect of your life and no one wants to come home from work every day feeling defeated.
So, if you’re a manager, how would your staff answer those 12 questions? If you imagine you’d get a lot of no’s or, even worse, you have no idea how they feel, you might want to consider whether or not there’s anything you can do in your position to change that. I know some middle managers don’t have the power to make many changes themselves, but there are always ways to encourage, motivate and support your employees.
Meredith,
I work in a really great school. My principal is the bomb! Everyone I had ever worked for before I came here was pretty much a walking demon who would let parents come in and threaten teachers and pull students out at will, with no heads-up and no request for assistance from the teacher. I’ll work here as long as my principal is here. I don’t know what I’ll do when he retires and we get a new one, unless the new one is one of the assistants currently here, who are also way awesome people who taught for many, many years before becoming administrators. I’m going to have to read this book and apply it to my own school library. Although I verbally encourage my student assistants and we have little celebrations annually, I’m sure there are other great things I could do for them, so that when I have a sophomore assistant, they’re begging to come back as a junior and senior. Less work for them, less retraining for me, everybody’s happy. So how could this be bad? Thanks again for the inspiration!
“1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
Yes because we issue job duties not job descriptions. It breaks all duties down and details percentage of time. There is flexibility, but it provides the general idea.
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
I always leave extra cash in the budget plus I ask staff what they need around budget time. I also have a Friends wish list that staff contribute to.
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
Job positions are not static. One person cannot do the same as another and it is better to mold that position towards the person’s desire. If they like providing programming instead of cataloging, I would configure it as much as I can to make it work. Sometimes there is flexibility, sometimes not.
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
I always do a manager walk around and complement staff on a job well done. I need to do more of that. Previously, I provided an employee of the month program so that staff would be recognized for good work and what they did that was so good. It has taken a brief hiatus since higher-ups didn’t like I was doing that. I will find an alternative.
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
Personal time is very important to me. If someone is going through something personally, they won’t be very happy at their jobs. It is better to extend as much leeway as possible so that they can resolve an issue. I once had a staff member needing to take three weeks off in a few days to go see their dying mother. I let them take it and use it as sick time. This was a total violation of policy, but the person was able to get there before their mother died. A few days later, she wouldn’t have made it.
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
I hope I provide enough encouragement for training and professional development. It is difficult because most of the training is in the valley, a 30 mile drive, so many are reluctant to go on their own. I put out a training program so that they can request any training they want and attend any conferences they want regardless of their status.
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
Meetings are usually feedback meetings. What is going on and what do we need to do about it? Do we need to adjust anything. Front line staff opinion is critical. If they aren’t providing honest feedback, I can’t make good decisions.
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
My library has a strategic plan and each staff members role is molded around providing active parts of the plan or support parts. I came up with a graph that represents each staff members role and displayed it.
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
This wasn’t always the case, but with some training and some people leaving, everyone works more as a team.
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
I think that is established through after work programs. Some staff members set-up bowling after work or other events. Outside of work events help with this.
11. In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?
Everybody gets a review from their supervisor. However, it is important that there is a constant discussion about expectations and mission. If you are just doing a review every six months, you may be missing the day to day stuff. It also minimizes surprises at the review bad or good. No one should be surprised if I think they are doing a good job.
12. At work, have I had the opportunities to learn and grow?”
This goes back to providing training opportunities both inside and outside of work. The library provides regular training and elective training. Staff are allowed to attend conferences and programs. Most of them can only go in state right now. Some can go to national conferences. It is tough to afford anything out of state.
Thanks for this post! That list is key — the absence of 4, 5, and 6 are what’s driving me to seek other work, and it’s gratifying to see them listed out here.
What amazes me is that others at MPOW seem to be very very happy here, which takes me to one of two conclusions: it’s just me being treated this way, or they are completely beaten down and don’t expect better. And all feel the director is doing a great job.
Either of which underlines my need to leave. I was already motivated, but more logs on the fire makes it easier to see the way out!
Thanks.
One little problem, of course, is that many bad managers are as likely as not going to answer these questions incorrectly, assuming, e.g., “Yes, my employees know what’s expected of them,” and so forth. Perhaps the authors address this matter of self-deluding solipsism. Perhaps they also temper the tone of radical transgression struck by their book’s title. “Well, not *all* the rules!” One of the best vehicles to good management, I think, is prudent emulation of role models. I’ve worked for great managers in my time–including in my present position–and when the time comes (again) for me to manage, I’ll keep their examples in mind.
I agree with just about everything written here, and will gladly go in search of the book. My only thought is an additive one — sometimes the answer to some of those questions is “no”, but that’s not always the fault of the manager or the library or the environment — sometimes the employee really *is* the problem. The list, and the discussion, and the environment, only work when everyone is committed to the same workplace goals.
Just a thought!
Jenica, I completely agree. Sometimes it IS the employee. Sometimes there are people with major emotional/personality issues. Sometimes people just have a personality conflict with the people they work with and would do fine with others (maybe the fit is wrong for them in the institution).
But I think when a manager can look at all of the people they manage and see that the answer to many of those questions would be “no”, there’s a problem. And I think, no matter what, it’s a good idea for a manager to ask herself, “have I made my expectations clear? Do I give my staff the tools they need to do their jobs? Do I encourage their development of new skills?, etc.”
I absolutely love that book!!!!! I wrote about what I thought about it in June.
Meredith, absolutely. If a manager, who is earnestly trying to do good work, sees ‘no’ as the answer to those, there IS a problem. And I think answering those questions — looking at those issues — both up and down is important, because managers are employees, and many employees are also managers. We need to study ourselves in all directions…
Ah! That’s where I’d heard about it! I’d added it to my Amazon wishlist when you’d mentioned it, but then I completely forgot from whom I got the idea. Thanks for the tip, Mary! It’s great so far.
I read this book after attending a leadership course recently, and I really enjoyed it. These are the kinds of questions I like to consider now around performance review time.
We just got this book here at my library and now I’m even more excited to read it. Although I don’t manage anyone (yet), I like to think of myself as leading by example and, as such, I love to read books about great management styles.
By the way, I just had to add that I attended SJSU and graduated a couple of years ago. While I wouldn’t want to be back in school again, I so wish I could be back for one semester just to attend your class! 🙂
Most bad managers wouldn’t even ask themselves these questions. Many bad managers could answer it, but it wouldn’t match with reality. There was a recent study asking employees and managers about their performance. Most managers thought they were better than 90% of others in their field. Most of the employees thought they were in the bottom 10%. There is always a disconnect and most managers aren’t as good as they think they are. Constantly thinking about these questions and morale issues is the path to good management. You should always worry if you are a bad manager.