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(All material on
Your Office Coach is copyrighted to Marie G. McIntyre. All rights
reserved.)
Leadership & Management Topics
Office Insights: What Do Women Want at
Work?
Decades ago, Sigmund
Freud famously asked “What do women want?” Because women now occupy
more than 50% of all managerial and professional positions, employers
may find themselves wondering the same thing. So how does a company
attract and retain female employees? One business that appears to have
the answer is Principal Financial Group, considered one of the most
female-friendly workplaces in the U.S.
Why does Principal appeal
to working women? Here are a few reasons:
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The CEO,
who was raised by a single mom, is strongly committed to providing
opportunities for women.
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Women are
significantly represented at all levels of leadership. They fill 50% of
the most senior positions and 35% of seats on the Board.
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HR policies
are designed with family needs in mind.
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Flexible
work schedules are available.
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Women are
encouraged to maintain careers while raising children. For example,
mothers can return to work part-time after having a child, then
gradually build up to full-time.
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Managers
avoid making assumptions based on gender or family circumstances. For
example, one woman was offered a promotion involving relocation while
she was out on maternity leave.
§
Two on-site
gyms are available, and an early-childhood learning center will be
opened later this year.
So how is all this
working for Principal? Pretty well, judging by their results. Sales
are higher than ever, and all employee performance metrics have
increased. Apparently what works for women is also working well for
their employer. (Source: Fortune, February 2008).
Helpful links related to this topic on Your Office
Coach:
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“Rate Your
Job on the ‘Happiness Scale’ ” at
http://yourofficecoach.com/Topics/happiness_scale.htm
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“What Are
Your Energizers at Work?” at
http://yourofficecoach.com/Topics/energizers_at_work.htm
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Office Insights: Pros & Cons of
Telecommuting
A visitor to our website
recently wrote “Our section head does not believe that anyone should
work from home because we won’t be as productive. Any ideas on how to
change his mind?” Debates about telecommuting are often based more
on feelings than facts. Sometimes the deciding factor is simply the top
executive’s personality. Those who thrive on interaction believe people
are more productive on-site, while autonomous types feel more can be
accomplished without office distractions.
A recent review of 46
studies on telecommuting provided a more factual look at the subject.
Researchers found that telecommuters were more productive, less likely
to quit, and more satisfied with their jobs than those who spent the
entire week at the office. The greatest benefits occurred when
employees could control their schedule and determine when they worked
from home. (Journal of Applied Psychology, V.92, #6)
Is there any downside to
this work-from-home paradise? Yes. Even when their work stayed on
track, people who worked from home three or more days a week began to
feel too isolated from their colleagues. They missed both job-related
information and the social support that coworkers provide. So with
telecommuting, as with most things, there appears to be a happy medium.
(Source: APA Monitor, January
2008).
Helpful links related to this topic on Your Office
Coach:
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Office Insights: How do you Identify
Substance Abusers?
Have you ever wondered if
one of your employees or coworkers was drinking on the job? According
to a recent government report, one of every 12 full-time employees has a
drug or alcohol problem. Although construction workers and food service
employees top the list, almost 8% of CEO’s described themselves as being
alcohol dependent. The idea of high-level executives making critical
decisions when they’re slightly sloshed is more than a little
frightening! (Source: Atlanta Journal
Constitution, July 2007)
Here are just a few of
the signs that someone at work may have a drug or alcohol problem.
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Regularly missing
work before or after weekends.
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Frequently calling
in sick.
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Taking “breaks”
where no one can find them.
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Making an unusual
number of trips to their car.
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Keeping a locked
drawer in their desk.
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Having beer or
wine with lunch. |
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Frequently getting
drunk at office social functions.
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Slurring their
words or smelling of alcohol.
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Suddenly becoming
extremely excitable or manic.
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Regularly falling
asleep on the job.
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Dramatic changes
in weight.
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Frequent use of
breath mints. |
Although typically a
pattern of behavior is required to indicate a problem, sometimes a
single event can raise a huge red flag. For example, on the morning
that the new CEO was to visit his location for the first time, a
Division President in one technology company showed up with a strong
smell of alcohol on his breath. That was a pretty clear clue that he
might be an alcoholic – and that did indeed turn out to be the case.
Websites with a complete list of drug or alcohol
warning signs:
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“Signs
Someone is Using Drugs or Alcohol ” at
http://www.drugfree.org/Intervention/Articles/Signs_Someone_Is_Using
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“HelpGuide: Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism” at
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/alcohol_abuse_alcoholism_signs_effects_treatment.htm
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Office Insights: How Useful Are Your
Meetings?
Everyone complains about
meetings. But when people need to collaborate and communicate, meetings
are a necessary evil. After all, not everything can be done by email!
One consultant tried an
experiment with his clients. He asked three questions to help them
assess the value of their meetings: (1) What percentage of your time do
you spend in meetings? (2) What percentage of your meetings have a
clearly defined objective? (3) If there is a clear objective, what
percentage of the time do you achieve it?
Here’s what he found:
they spent 70% of their time in meetings, about 40% of those meetings
had clear objectives, and the objectives were met only 28% of the time!
That’s a lot of wasted time and effort. So try using these three
questions to assess your own meetings. Then take steps to improve your
score. (Source: HR Magazine, January 2007)
Helpful links related to this topic on Your Office
Coach:
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Who Hates Meetings
The Most?
Most
of us complain about meetings. But who really hates them? According to
a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Vol. 91, #2),
employees who are highly achievement-oriented are most negatively
affected by time spent in meetings. The more meetings these high
achievers attended, the worse they felt about their jobs.
On
the other end of the scale, who likes meetings a lot? Upper level
managers, that’s who. Not exactly a big surprise, since they’re usually
the ones who require others to attend. So here’s the logical question
for managers: are you alienating your superstars by forcing them to
engage in hours of pointless discussion? Or are your meetings viewed as
focused and purposeful? Suggestions for effective meetings can be found
at the links below.
Helpful links related to this topic on Your Office Coach:
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