MAKING A PACT FOR SUCCESSManagement 101 tells us to ensure employees understand their roles and responsibilities, and set clear and measurable goals. Where does what the employee wants fit into this picture? Managers who also support their employees’ personal goals find adding this component leads to extraordinary results for the business too! AND - this practice is one of the most important things you can do to be a humane leader. The trend beyond 101… There’s a new trend in the making. Companies are now looking for every method they can find to make the most out of every employee and to have that something extra that keeps their stars from moving on. What can give them that extra edge that helps them keep their valued employees? Many are looking at the PeoplePACT Process/Method as a new way to gain that retention edge. Many leaders are beginning to truly make the PACT with their people. WHAT IS THE PACT? No matter what the industry or the location of the organization, the scenario is basically the same: the two sit across the desk from each other. This is the second meeting; the stiffness and anxiety that characterized the first have now been relaxed. All of the carefully crafted questions have been asked and answered. Prospects on both sides have been explored and satisfied…or have they? A handshake seals the deal. But what deal has been struck? Do the employer and new employee understand that there may be a stated and unstated agenda at work that can define their relationship, limit their opportunities, or transform their professional experience forever? Since each person that you work with is a unique human being, with his or her own individual needs and dreams, the humane boss has the opportunity, as well as the responsibility, to reasonably support these needs and dreams. In so doing, the employee/boss relationship can shift from one of intimidation and manipulation to affirmation and collaboration. While this may take more skill, time and effort for the boss up front, in the long run happy employees produce more and create far fewer problems and headaches for their managers. This transformation can occur through the process of mutual commitment between the boss and the employee we refer to as the “PACT.” To make the PACT, the leader engages their employees in an ongoing dialogue about roles, responsibilities and expectations of both parties. The good boss also asks what it is the employee truly wants from the company and their career. Bosses are sometimes surprised by the responses they hear when they ask about individuals’ personal professional goals. Some people want more time with their families or more vacation time each year. Some want higher pay or expanded benefits. Some want to learn new skills and abilities or find greater challenges on the job. Some have a skill or ability that is not being used that they would like to incorporate into their daily routines. And some, of course, want to get promoted or be the boss. (Interestingly, far fewer than you would expect actually want to be the boss!) Whatever goals or motivators the employee values strongly, the point is this: when you enact a PACT with an employee, in a safe environment where trust is present, you may not only be surprised by what it is they actually want, but also how easy it might be to help deliver. We have seen again and again that employees who feel valued and that their needs are seriously considered work harder and better than others. You as a boss will really be making your life easier in the long term.MAKING THE PACT In an ideal world, the best time to begin making a PACT with an employee is the day he or she is hired. Clarifying expectations – yours, the employee’s and the organization’s - puts everybody on the same page. It also minimizes the potential for misunderstanding and disappointment on all sides. Just bear in mind that the PACT is a process – specifically, a process with trust at its core. Since trust has only begun to be established at the time of hire, a final PACT may not be possible at that point but it’s is a great time to set the stage and begin it.There are three sides to the PACT: yours (the boss), the employees and the company’s. And there is no better opportunity than the time of hire to make those positions known. Most bosses are pretty clear when it comes to explaining to an interviewee what is expected of them. They do a pretty good job of reviewing the demands of the position, key goals and the team bjectives. PACT bosses will also be sure to clue a new hire into the organization’s needs and goals. But what specifically do you see as your piece of pie? Do you want to be the next production manager? Do you want this hire to help you become known as a manager who supports her people? Do you want a raise based on improved numbers? And what about the company? What are its expectations of this employee? Whether the organization is rebuilding, booming, expanding, changing its focus or reorganizing after cutbacks, it is important to make the employee feel a part of the larger effort. As boss, you want to build inclusiveness; then, when you have provided him or her with big picture perspective, you can begin to talk to your employee about his own professional goals. EXPLORING THE EMPLOYEE’S NEEDS Of course, not every boss is a PACT boss. The openness of PACTing can be a bit disconcerting to workers who have spent a lifetime – or what seemed like one – in authoritarian offices. Faced with the possibility of giving the “wrong” answer to a traditional manager, many new hires will simply tell you what they believe you want to hear. We suggest that you put aside more general, ubiquitous questions and focus specifically on query’s that reveal the employee’s unique perspective. Questions like, “Tell me a little about what’s really important to you in a job?” or “What contribution to your last job are you most proud of?” reveals something about an employee’s preferences, strengths or work style. They also set up the kind of meaningful dialogue that builds trust. Keep it going! Ask some important follow-up questions. Since past behavior can be a predictor of future performance, focus on pivotal periods of the person’s life. Questions like, “What difficulties did you encounter in your last job?” or “Why did you choose Yale instead of Harvard? A marketing major over a degree in finance?” will get you meaty answers, the kinds that offer you a glimpse into a new hire’s inner workings. They will also enable you to begin to build a profile so you can begin to work to his talents and preferences. Finally, invite your new employee into the PACT. Tell him that one of your most important roles, as boss is to help him to be his best at this job. Ask him to allow himself some to time to get to know the job and organization a bit better. Suggest that, as he acclimates himself to his new position, he might ask himself how the demands of the job line up with his personal goals. Then set a date to meet again in a month to further discuss specifically how you can help him to optimize his experience on the job. What does the employee want? What can you do to better support him? MOVING ALONG THE PACT ROAD Continuing to build the PACT includes building trust. Acting on trust takes great courage for both boss and worker. You, as boss, must trust that the employee has the team and organization’s best interests at heart and not only his own. The employee needs to be reassured that what he says will not come back to haunt him. Put him at ease by reaffirming that you are on his side. You might say something like, “You’ve done very well in your first 3 months here. You’ve fulfilled both the team and the organization’s needs. But what about your own? Is the job working out for you? What can we do to make your situation better?” Together, you can then explore any scenarios the employee believes will enhance his performance, including growth and development issues, the possibility of educational benefits, a more rewarding work/home interface or whatever else might boost his morale or participation.What a PACT boss needs to do, in a non-threatening way, is to take a pro-active stance. Stay in contact with employees so that the situation can’t go far awry. Then, if the employee hits a bump in the road, ask her what she feels she needs to pull her performance up. The idea is to set your people up to win. The crucial thing here is not to be looking for deficiencies and problems, although you certainly should address them as they come up, but to look for ways to help. It is in the PACT boss’s best interest to support her employees’ plans and projects so that they almost can’t fail. Depending on the situation, frequent check-ins would be necessary and appropriate as long as they are done in a spirit of collaboration. Your most motivating role is as a partner in your team members’ success – not as an overseer or inspector. The continued and growing success of each of your people is your goal. Their success includes both meeting organizational goals as well as their personal career goals. In that context, support flows naturally, the employee blooms and the organization achieves extraordinary results. So, how about jumping on the band wagon of the latest business trend and begin making those PACTs with your team members today!
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