Habits

The easier it is to do, the harder it is to change. –Eng’s Principle

I spend a lot of time in team sessions and individual coaching talking about behavior change. We discuss the value in making the change and the impact that behavior has on every level of the organization. One thing I don’t always address is how difficult behavior change can be to achieve and the fact that it takes time.

When talking about behavior change, what I am really talking about is changing habits. A study from University College London says that on average subjects who were trying to learn new habits such as eating fruit daily or going jogging took an average of 66 days before reporting that the behavior had become unchangingly automatic. Individuals ranged widely, some took 18 days, others 245. The challenge is that our brains are designed to take short cuts, keeping as many behaviors as possible automatic.

It is suggested that the best way around this is to understand that habits are responses to needs. If you eat badly, you might resolve to start eating well, but if you’re eating burgers and ice-cream to feel comforted and relaxed, trying to replace them with broccoli and carrots is not going to help. What is required is not a better diet, but an alternative way to feel comforted and relaxed.

Here are some suggestions for changing habits and/or behaviors:

1. Commit to the change
2. Work on one behavior at a time
3. Create a plan, write it down
4. Make it daily
5. Start simple

What behaviors have you been able to successfully change in your organization?

Finding a Fit

I often coach clients regarding their hiring needs as many are concerned about how a candidate will fit in to their organization. We talk about resumes, we discuss potential interview questions, I review job descriptions and on occasion I meet candidates. Throughout this process I continue to talk about finding the right fit. It is not always about skill but more frequently about culture. For example, if your organization has a culture that operates in a way where if people get their work done, it doesn’t matter when you show up and you hire someone who wants to know that everyone will be at their desks by 7:45 in the morning, it probably is not the right fit for the culture (I am simplifying here to make my point).

The challenge, in this economy especially, is that we get starry-eyed when that “perfect on paper” candidate appears. We look at their education, and past work experience, and think, “What a coup to get someone like this!” I promise this would end up being a case of square peg, round hole that would end in no one being happy.

To find the right people, companies need to take a couple of steps back and ask themselves more of the right questions.

• How would you describe your company’s culture?

Key elements of culture can be found in:

· Leadership

· Relationships

· Employee engagement

· Communication

· Values alignment

· Change management

• What are the unique attitudinal characteristics that set your company apart from everybody else?
  

• Who succeeds and who fails in your culture?

Once you are able to answer these questions honestly, you can go back and determine what questions to ask and what to look for in potential candidates.

By paying attention to fit, organizations can create an employment strategy that will attract and retain the right employees.

Setting Goals

Each year, I spend the last of December and the first part of January setting goals. I set both personal and professional goals using the same method. It goes something like this:

1. Evaluate successes and opportunities from the year
2. Ask myself what goals need to carryover in to the next year
3. Set new goals and objectives
4. Give it time to simmer
5. Evaluate and finalize

The first three items probably sound familiar and perhaps similar to your process. Items four and five are why it takes me in to January to finish. I tend to be really ambitious when it comes to setting goals and after living through a couple of weeks and looking back on them, I sometimes realize that they are either unrealistic, not all that important or not detailed enough. Taking some time from my goals is a good way for me to determine if I am going to maintain or transform.

Shouldn’t we do both? Perhaps, but each requires a different strategy and one that must be aligned with the overall goals of the organization. For example, I can set my goals based on maintaining, meaning; maintaining relationships with clients, co-workers and our product but if the overall goals of the organization for 2012 are to transform, then we are misaligned and I will spend the year feeling disconnected and always playing catch-up.

February is quickly approaching but it is not too late to set goals. I would challenge you to answer the following questions before tasking your team with the activity:

1. Does every member of your team understand what the goals of the organization are?
2. Do they have a clear picture about how those goals could work in tandem with their personal goals?
3. Are they empowered to set goals that align with the goals of the organization?
4. How are these expectations communicated?

Your goals and the goals of each member of your team or organization should insure that individual talents are aligned with business strategy so that value is added to the organization. Setting goals that are effective and stand a chance to be completed rather than being an “exercise” for the sake of it, takes time and effort, but one that I think you will find worth it.

Results Oriented Culture

Results seem to be a topic of conversation quite frequently these days. Every organization is trying to figure out how to achieve more with less. We use words like accountability, engagement, and behaviors in our discussions about getting more results. We analyze our workplace to determine if we are truly productive. We dream of changing “the way things have always been done”, convinced that if we could only do things differently it would be better. Does any of this sound familiar? What we are really talking about is culture; and not just understanding culture but creating, adapting and changing culture. How overwhelming does that sound?

Culture in the simplest terms is the way we do things. Each group has a culture. The way I think about it is; our behavior is how we show up at work. A group of people and their different behaviors make up a culture. Conflict occurs when one or more of the people in the culture group lack the skill, ability or desire to adapt their behavior. Culture impacts behavior, attitudes and satisfaction. All of these translate to engagement in an organization. People who fit in to the culture tend to be more engaged while those who do not, don’t. Culture also affects the pace at which work gets done, how outsiders are treated, the attention paid to details, or risks that the group takes. These in turn influence the success of the group in meeting its goals.

I attended a webinar last week titled, How to Accelerate Culture Change for Game-Changing Results. It was an interesting and fast paced hour with several great tips for action. The speaker referenced their culture model that they call the Results Pyramid® http://www.ozprinciple.com/culture/results-pyramid/. Experience drives beliefs, beliefs drive actions, actions produce results and results create culture. The argument is that either you will manage your culture or it will manage you.

Changing culture to obtain results does not have to be completely overwhelming if you think of it this way:

1. Don’t just focus on responsibility, take accountability for achieving results.
2. Culture changes one person at a time.
3. Development is the key to creating culture change.

I narrow this down to how I think about most things. Small steps each day toward a defined goal will accomplish great things, even changing culture.

More on Motivation

We are all motivated differently and being aware of the nuances of motivation will make you a better leader. Intuitively we know that employees find motivation in work that matters and that makes a contribution in a larger sense. What else motivates employees?

The results of a 2007 study by global HR consultancy Hewitt Associates show that compensation is not the number one motivator for most. They researched high potential performers in seven Fortune 500 companies to examine the key drivers that inspire them to exceptional performance. The top six items on that list were:

1. Job Fulfillment/challenge
2. Total Compensation
3. Opportunities for Advancement
4. Good Work/Life Balance
5. Being Linked to Business Results
6. Integrity

Are you surprised to see that compensation isn’t listed as the number one motivator? Daniel Pink writes in his book, Drive http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319567268&sr=1-3, that research has shown over and over that a big paycheck—or the carrot on the stick—is not the key driver of your best performers. To be sure, people have to feel that they are paid enough and that they are treated fairly, as the other factors on this chart indicate, but once those needs are met, the most powerful driver is intrinsic motivation.
In short, Pink’s theory distills down the six motivation factors found in the 2007 study into three necessities:

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose

If we take a look at autonomy we understand that we have to allow people to be self-directed. This encourages intrinsic motivation which is the drive to do things because they matter. Money is extrinsic and destroys motivation.

You don’t have to provide these in abundance (like full autonomy) in order to encourage intrinsic motivation. Even a little change in the work environment toward these things can make a big difference. Your challenge then as a leader is to figure out how to provide those opportunities to your employees.

There are five things that you can do to motivate your employees to care about their performance.

1. Know them
2. Grow them
3. Inspire them
4. Involve them
5. Reward them

This is a simple list that can make a big difference. Do you know what motivates your team? If not, have you asked?