| |  The Aftermath
How Did Leaders Score During the Downturn… And What To Do Next?
by Ann Mamallo, Pacific NW Director at BlessingWhite
The economic dust is beginning to clear: It would appear — for the time being at least — that our economic environment has stabilized. Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s optimism meter remains at a lukewarm level since September 09. Retail figures are still shaky. European debt is a concern. Unemployment will be a long-term drag on growth. While we are out of recession, based on the economic definition, the green shoots of recovery are very tentative.
At BlessingWhite, we have been interested in how leaders performed during one of the worst economic periods in recent history.
After numerous interviews with employees at all levels and at companies in all sectors, I have begun to develop a picture of where leaders excelled and where they performed less well. Let’s start with the places they excelled.
Praise to the leaders
Leaders made smart business decisions – Time and time again, the individuals interviewed reported feeling good about the decisions their companies had made and they expressed confidence in the soundness of the businesses. One Learning and Development leader on the West Coast stated, "We made all the right decisions. That’s why I’m staying here…but it’s hard."
Leaders were clear – Of all the
findings, this was the most surprising. In this downturn,
whether described as creating a line of sight, cascading
goals or creating clarity, more so than in years prior,
companies made it a priority to inform everyone of the
choices they were making. Whether they were planning
layoffs or furloughs or reduction in pay, at all levels
employees seemed to know what their company was doing
and why they were doing it. This clarity built support
for the actions, no matter how painful.
As
an illustration of the creativity companies used, one
firm, Moss
Adams, a regional accounting and business advisory
firm, published regular articles on the home page of
their intranet ("Marvin") to let employees know how
the firm was doing and what their leaders were focused
on. Leslie Weigle, Director of Training and Development
stated, "We wanted to be realistic, not Pollyanna-ish,
and keep a positive tone. We're very metrics-driven
so it was important to keep the metrics in front of
people and to let them know what our leaders were doing
to stay abreast of market conditions, etc… like
talking to others in the industry. I'm proud of how
we handled things."
This
clarity was required whatever the business circumstance.
Agrium
Wholesale, a Canadian producer of fertilizer, wasn't
experiencing the same financial crisis as other employers
but made a point to provide context for their workforce…
the economy was suffering but they were doing ok. They
did so through quarterly meetings, written quarterly
updates and road shows by their executives. The message:
we're going to "stay the course" and do not despair.
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Leaders were visible –
Town halls, road shows, emails, newsletters, webcasts…
whatever the modality, leaders were out there
meeting with their workforces and getting the
word out. Driven by a sense of urgency, leaders
stepped up in a way I’ve not seen before. |
Not everything was roses…
Smart, clear and visible may well describe the leaders
of the past 18 months, but INSPIRING does not.
In tone as much as words, those interviewed expressed
fatigue. As much as they agreed with the decisions made,
they were not energized by them. One HR Director of
a global technology consulting firm put it this way:
"Our leaders were great at inspiring at times
of growth. But the downturn took a gear shift and they
didn’t make the shift. They were sad and shocked…in
survival mode and they wanted to protect people as best
they could. Inspiring was last on the list".
John Hollander, SVP of OD and Learning at Probuild reinforced
the theory that leaders were not able to rise to the
level of inspiring: "The workforce is battered,
defeated, down in the dumps. They went through the worst
time anyone’s ever seen in this industry. They’ve
seen their colleagues laid-off, they’ve have to
focus on cost, fewer resources. The advantage of this
time is that we could take advantage of the burning
platform, to change the way we do things. But leaders
didn’t inspire through this time. The lack of
inspiration wasn’t by design, they just didn’t
know how."
Shifting from clarity to inspiration
As we emerge from survival mode and return to building
businesses — albeit more carefully — leaders
need to maintain a sense of clarity but also provide
a sense of excitement, passion and purpose. The mantra
of "at least I have a job" has changed to
"how will I get all this work done?" With
workers stretched to their limits, it’s time for
leaders to not only be clear and visible, but to "breathe
life into" the troops.
What actions can a leader take? Terry Pearce, author of Leading Out Loud, calls for leaders to create "depth" to help others create meaning from actions. Senior leaders now have an opportunity to turn their thinking from "surviving in the present" to creating an inspiring vision of the organization’s future. Leaders at the manager-of-manager level have an opportunity to rally their troops around this vision and to help people move forward.
How to do this? Here are a few actions leaders can take:
- Talk about the past 18 months in context: create a shared context for those who have moved through the time together so they can look back with pride.
- Show genuine gratitude: recognizing, specifically and individually, what people have done to bolster the company during rough times.
- Talk about the future: declare what it will be and where the employees fit in. Avoid uninspiring declarations around sales growth and increased revenues. Focus instead on the mission, the values and the purposeful culture that will get you there.
-
Recognize that hard work is ahead…
but figure out what’s in it for them.
I’m hearing repeatedly employees saying "I’ve
worked weekends and nights for a long time and it
hasn’t impacted me positively… my workload
is bigger and my salary is even or less than before.
I’m done giving everything to the company."
-
Make it personal: Often leaders have
a model of leadership that is primarily stoic, tough,
non-emotional, persevering. But this approach doesn’t
resonate with a workforce that has seen friends and
relatives downsized. By hearing leaders speak authentically,
employees can get a real sense of what it has meant
to a leader and how much the contribution of every
individual counts.
-
Discuss values: the company’s
and the employees’. Recent brain research reveals
that talking and writing about values helps quell
feelings of helplessness and lack of control. [Scientific
American Mind Feb/Mar 2009 – Finding Control
in Chaos, p 8 – Siri Carpenter].
Leaders
may have found that clarity, visibility and business
aptitude were effective skills to deploy in the emergency-response
of 2008/2009. But these skills alone will not allow
them to return to growth. Inspiring the workforce in
the context of the last 18 months, yet with a compelling
picture of a bright future-to-be, will be the most effective
approach in getting back to growth.
As tempting as it may be for leaders to begin to relax as they see their revenue go up and deals come back… now is the time to inspire, not relax. You’ve got your A-players on board— it’s worth the effort to keep them there.
Side Note
How did companies do in the downturn? Some initial observations from our interviews.
Positive:
-
Business models were refined.
-
Companies made it a point to make the plan clear and
widespread.
-
The A-players were in place.
-
Leaders were visible – through emails, through
town halls. They stepped up.
Negative:
-
Money$ Money$ Money$ — compensation alone doesn't make
people happy but it’s enough to make them UNHAPPY.
- "Be happy you have a job." was an overused retention strategy.
- The anxiety has gone from "Will I have a job?" to "How will I ever get all of this done?"
-
Employees are beginning to stage quiet "sit ins".
They are saying by their actions… I won’t
do this anymore.
The Good OR Bad:
-
Culture seemed to be the determining factor for most
companies. Companies that had invested in building
a purposeful culture ahead of the recession reaped
the benefits. Risk adverse companies fared worse than
those who had an established clear focus on customer
service, innovation or collaboration.
Ann Mamallo learned to be curious about corporate
culture and its impact on employees during her 20 years
of career-coaching MBA students at the University of
Washington and Seattle University. She is part of a
team that leads activity for BlessingWhite West and
Western Canada. Ann is a popular conference and event
speaker based out of Seattle. She can be reached at
908-904-1000, x8078 or amamallo@bwinc.com
For more information on how BlessingWhite can help your organization develop more effective senior leaders, or to find out more about the Leading Out Loud™ program, call 1.800.222.1349 or email info@bwinc.com.
Copyright © 2010 BlessingWhite, Inc.
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