[READING TIME: 8 MINUTES]

In this 8020Info Water Cooler, we consider how to know when it’s time to let someone go, pivot with strategic course corrections, start change slowly so you finish strong, effectively welcome new hires, and intentionally cultivate 12 key skills in a framework to develop your organization. Enjoy!

1. Deciding When It’s Time to Say Goodbye

One of the hardest things to do as a manager is deciding whether to fire someone.

Longtime executive Molly Graham says the first step when somebody is underperforming is to ask whether their role is clear and do they know what it is, and do they understand your expectations of them?

“That should be the framework for your first conversation with the person after you get that gut feeling: Reclarify the role and reset expectations,” she writes on her blog.

If things don’t get better with a clearer role and expectations, she recommends these three exercises to figure out the extent of the problem:

• Write the job description for the role as if you were hiring someone new. Ask yourself, “If I had this person’s salary and could hire someone new, what would they own and drive?” Often this will determine the individual is not up to the role and the gap too big to close.
• If you had a magic wand and could fix what is wrong with the individual’s performance, what specifically needs to be improved and how likely is that to happen? Also consider how fast the fix needs to happen.
• If you decide it’s unlikely that the person is going to be successful in their current role, consider whether there is another spot in the organization where they might be successful.

None of this is simple, but it does give you a roadmap.

2. Start Change Slowly to Finish Strong

It’s been drilled into us to start change initiatives fast with a quick and easy win. But consultant Greg Satell says that usually is a bad idea.

“If you go around touting a ‘win’ that others don’t find relevant and meaningful, you will lose credibility,” he writes on his blog.

It also can sidetrack you. He points out at X, Google’s “moonshot factory”, the guiding premise is that if you want to get a monkey to recite Shakespeare on a pedestal, you start by training the monkey first, not building the pedestal, because training the monkey is the hard part.

“There’s a reason that big projects tend to announce delays when they are supposedly 90% towards completion,” he says.

“They’ve spent the time racking up the ‘easy wins’ and putting off the more challenging parts. That’s why it pays to move slow to go fast. You need to figure out how you’re going to get the hard stuff done or nothing else will matter.”

 

3. An Effective Welcoming Package for New Hires

Onboarding of new employees in too many organizations is miserable. Here are recruiting specialist John Sullivan’s tips for reversing that with a welcoming package sent to their home before they start that has all of the information and tools needed for a solid start:

• Make sure it’s a surprise:  Don’t alert them to the fact a welcoming package is coming. The bigger the surprise, the stronger their memory of it will be.
• Send them personalized thank you notes: Include personalized handwritten thank-you notes for agreeing to join. They may be from the hiring manager and any teammates they have built a relationship with. “This minor act might initially seem unimportant, but in reality, it has a major impact,” he notes on his blog.
• Include a working smartphone and laptop: The package should have the highest-level phone that their position allows, fully operational. If that’s not possible, give a description of what they will get on their first day. You also should send them their laptop —again, the best possible— but can leave access to the company’s system until their first day.
• Provide Q&A from past candidates: Answer a list of the most common questions that have been asked by previous new hires. Also, if possible, supply a contact number where they can get their own personal questions answered prior to starting.

Cap that by assigning them a peer buddy mentor and a list of first-day activities, all indicating you are eager for them to join.

4. Busting a Social Media Myth

It’s been said that social media is “rented land” in the sense that other companies own those platforms and they are not under your organization’s control — critics therefore suggest social media is not worth the marketing investment.

Digital marketer Ann Handley says it’s true the land is rented but the second part of the statement is “the mythiest of myths”.

She says you must accept that social media is not about instant conversion. Initially it is about awareness, discovery, and meet-and-greet. It then can move on to engagement and a sale.

“When social media doesn’t work, it’s because we’re impatient,” she says in her newsletter. It may not be for every brand, but it’s a choice worth considering without succumbing to myth.

5. Zingers

• Mum May Be The Word:  Before speaking in a meeting. Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford, would ask himself, “Is anyone else in the company more qualified to provide ideas on this topic than I am?” If the answer was yes, he thought, “Why should I be speaking?” (Source: Kelly and Marshall Goldsmith on Chief Executive.net).
• Speak Promptly on Social Issues:  New research shows that speed matters when organizations make statements in response to social issues. Past research suggested firms should respond slowly to a sociopolitical event because consumers would view the time lapse as a signal of deliberation, care, diligence, or effort. But now it appears, in general, at least for less controversial issues, that people interpret a faster response time as an indicator of authenticity. (Source: Harvard Business Review).
• Pitching vs. Asking:  Before approaching someone, it’s helpful to assess your motives: Are you pitching or are you asking? If you have a script or a highlighted goal in mind, entrepreneur Seth Godin says you’re pitching – asking questions to create forward motion. If you’re willing to learn and change your point of view as a result of the conversation, you’re asking. That’s rare, and people can tell, he adds. (Source: Seth’s Blog).
• General vs. Specialized GPT: Bloomberg’s creation of its own financial AI model (BloombergGPT) led many to think specialized information was the way to go. But artificial intelligence expert Ethan Mollick notes that an older version of ChatGPT beat BloombergGPT on almost all finance tasks. This demonstrates a pattern at this stage: The most advanced generalist AI models often outperform specialized models, even in the specific domains those specialized models were designed to serve. (Source: One Useful Thing).
•  Beyond Happiness:  Being happy with what you have doesn’t prevent you from pursuing what you want, notes Ottawa thought leader Shane Parrish. (Source: FSBlog).

 

6. The List: 12 Skills for Today’s Work World

Two-thirds of workers say they would be more inclined to join and stay with an organization where decision-makers prioritize their skills and potential rather than jobs and degrees. This finding was reported in a 2022 survey by Deloitte.

But building a taxonomy of skills to guide worker development can be difficult. Amy Schultz, global head of talent acquisition at graphic design platform Canva (which has over 4,500 global employees) shared this model of four pillars and 12 skills with CharterPro:

Craft:

• Provides technical expertise.
• Delivers value to customers.
• Solves problems.

Communication:

• Communicates effectively.
• Collaborates and builds relationships.
• Rallies others.

Leadership and Coaching:

• Develops self and others.
• Personal leadership.
• Team building.

Strategy:

• Thinks strategically.
• Navigates complexity.
• Sees it through.

 

7. Around Our Water Cooler

Is It Time to Make a Course Correction?

In the 6th century BCE, Greek philosopher Heraclitus made the point that you can never step in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and you’re not the same person (or organization). His insight highlights the concept of constant change and impermanence in life.

But what about strategy?

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, consultant and HBR writer Ron Ashkenas asks: Is it time to pivot your strategy? Or should you stay the course, given the uncertainties and risks of pursuing a new strategy?

He proposes three excellent questions to help you consider why you are considering a pivot in the first place:

[] Is the real problem a misguided strategy or a failing of execution?

Are you changing course because the strategy needs to change — e.g. have some assumptions proven not to be true, or does it not fit your culture? Or because the implementation of the strategy has been poor, perhaps because of lack of commitment to the goal and gaps in capacity or skill sets?

[] Are you changing course just to appease outside pressures?
Pressures to “go faster”, show results sooner or “just do what the others are doing” can be hard to resist. Your own impatience can add to the urgency. But before making changes and causing churn in your project, consider whether the issues raised externally are valid. You might even start to doubt elements of the strategy yourself, so it can take courage to stay the course.

[] Are you pivoting to chase a “shiny new opportunity”?
Here’s a question to ask yourself when new opportunities emerge (Gen AI might be an example): Will it actually increase the likelihood or speed of achieving our goal? Will the payoff be worth it compared to the new risks and demands on your resources?

As Ashkenas notes, make sure you are pivoting for the right reasons. Otherwise your course corrections may steer you in the wrong direction.

What We’re Reading:

• Harvey’s Pick: In Radical Respect consultant Kim Scott looks at how to determine the difference between bias, prejudice and bullying in the workplace and what techniques you can employ against each one, either as a leader or as a distressed colleague.
• Rob’s Pick: BBC presenter and journalist Ros Atkins has put together a guide to help make your arguments stand out, hold people’s attention, prepare for an interview, and write an essay, report or presentation. In The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity and Confidence, he explores the anatomy of a good explanation and shares step-by-step guidance for getting your points across.

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8020Info helps senior leadership teams and boards develop, clarify and build consensus behind strategic priorities. Our services support strategic planning and change processes, marketing communications and research / stakeholder consultations. We would be pleased to discuss your needs and welcome enquiries.

8. Closing Thought

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”
— Howard Aiken, physicist