DISQUS

Kare, I'm so glad it resonated with you. And thank you for the link to Rita Carter's book. I'll take a look at this and add it to my book wishlist...it sounds like just the book I need to read.

David, I love this that you write: "I have not had a job for almost 30 years but I sure have been working." Well said.

Thanks, Scott...I just downloaded and look forward to reading. Appreciate you posting the link here. Cheers!

Ath007, for me the whole notion of sitting on the same side of the table is largely metaphorical (though I can see the physical nature of it, too). I always think of those scenes of two people negotiating a divorce or other sort of issue. They sit on opposite sides with a table acting as barrier in the middle. It keeps them separated and distanced when a closer connection is what's truly needed. And in my experience, we can fall prey to doing this with our customers - keep them just out of reach as a way to defend ourselves (rather like a suit of armor). However, what's needed today are closer connections and relationships, authenticity and guilelessness. It sounds like you do practice the metaphorical notion of meeting on the same side of the table.

Here's the part of your question that's taken me a bit off-guard: I almost always sit on the opposite side of my wife or friend when eating. I almost think its a learned behavior. Look at other couples and more often than not, they're sitting across from each other undoubtedly for the reasons you mention above.

But what could be the harm of sitting next to a friend, spouse, partner, (or even a business colleague)? The physical structure would then best mirror the metaphorical idea and solidify the connection between you and the other person. I think I'll try this the next time I'm out in a restaurant and observe what happens.

Thanks so much for your comment, perspective, and opinion of my post.

Mike, I like the questions you pose here. I think once an individual understands that they may not be totally responsible for a poor fit, then they can begin to approach their situation using questions like the four you offer above. Thanks for bringing that perspective to this post.

Hiya Steve, glad to provide some inspiration for your latest post. I agree that there is a real misunderstanding around self-interest. It's quite different from self-centeredness or other more negative forms of egoism that can plague management (and employees for that matter). It is possible to pursue self-interest with a higher purpose.

Thanks for the dialogue here as always and double thanks for stretching it with your latest post:
http://www.allthingsworkplace.com/2008/08/stop-...

Sybil, that's a great suggestion! By turning it around, it keeps organizations from navel-gazing and forgetting their whole reason for existing. The best orgs seem to be those who see the symbiotic relationship between the care of employees and customers.

Howdy "website design"...I would love it if more folks and managers promoted this view and then developed the structures to integrate it into the working culture. Turns out that if we work in an organization, we all have internal customers. Easy to see why this has helped you snag those jobs. Thanks for adding that great idea and perspective to this post!

Thanks, Steve. It *is* enlightening to just observe how workers treat their colleagues and their organization when they think no one is paying attention. As for your experience with internal/external care, I'm also amazed at the stubbornness. I think this is yet another vestige of our industrial past when the job was done with little regard for the true welfare of the worker. It's sort of a mind/body split set to the modern workplace. We're getting there, just taking a while.

Safe journeys in your travels, friend.

Sybil, I really appreciate the addition of that last sentence...it's something you address in your book that all managers need to think about and take action on. Every single manager and employee should ask: Who is my customer here within the organization? And am I giving them great service? We get so caught up in what's going on out there that we usually neglect the needs of folks two or twenty feet away.

Steve, thanks for the dose of experience and reality. I think one area where folks like us can get discouraged is when we realize that our advice is not being heard by executives even though we make all these impassioned arguments for why retention is so vital to the organization's health. But you hit it squarely on the head when you remark: "You pay attention to what you get rewarded for."

Somehow we have to work to change the conversation from short-term profit focus to a long-term people focus (and with our economy the way it is, that's going to be quite a feat). It's overturning decades and a few centuries of business thinking but - and feel free to call me crazy - I think we're a hell of a lot closer to creating functional organizations today than yesterday.

I hold fast to the ideal that great organizations that understand the value of people are like magnets for the best talent. They believe that people drive profits and not the other way around. So...what must we do to help executives make people and retention one of the top things on their list? Or do we need to be like the Ghost of Christmas Future and show them how things are going to be if they don't alter their thinking and actions?

Hiya Jeff, thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely address the interaction of talents and passions. Look forward to reading your comments on the series starting this coming week.

Hi Cathy, thank you so much for sharing your painful experience. As hard as it must be to think of leaving a place where you've put in 24 years of your life, you're making the right decision. Any place that tears down your self esteem and confidence is toxic. Hold tight and true to who you know that you are: a hard working, patient, good helping professional that will be welcome in an organization that will see you and appreciate all you bring.

First and foremost, take care of yourself. Connect with your volunteer experience and hold on to the energy you gain there. Make it your armor. And find that next workplace as soon as you possibly can.

Please let me know how things go...and if there's anything that I can do to help you. Be well.

Hiya Karl, could you imagine coming into work one day thinking that it's going to be a normal, everyday sort of day only to discover a guy dressed as Napoleon sitting in your seat? Then getting chased away by a penguin on a pogo stick? And another guy running through the corridors dressed only in a towel? That's how I imagine our kitty here must have felt...no wonder he was ready to head inside!

Hiya Andrew, don't discount your experience based on your age. I think you're dead on with the importance of finding creative outlets. It's in the creative process that we usually find things that surprise us, inspire us, and confuse us. It shocks us out of our complacency and keeps us on our toes. Thanks for coming along and come on back in two weeks when we do it again!

Sybil, I think your frustration is common for all of us. Judy McLeish suggested an idea along the same lines, which is maybe the traditional approach we've been trying to implement is not the best:
http://employeefactor.com/2008/06/maybe_the_tra...

For me, the positive thing is that we're really just at the beginning of a new time in the history of work. What we're experiencing now are the growing pains as organizations grope for something that will work for the long haul. So, yeah...we have to keep the faith and keep plugging away, experimenting with new ideas, approaches, and practices and be part of the process to firmly entrench what we know will work.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by a cubicle mindset, but my guess is that we're talking about the same thing. My understanding of the industrial mindset is grounded in the notion that organizations are machines and employees are simple cogs - easily replaceable with one specific purpose. If a cog is no longer considered usable, then its discarded. If it shows a weakness in an area, that weakness is hammered out. And the organization is best managed with an engineered efficiency. In essence, the same mentality that drove textile mills and manufacturing plants 150 years ago simply rolled over into the office environment without much thought as to whether it actually made sense in that space.

I believe that in order to help organizations truly harness the best in their people and fulfill the employee-management dynamic, we're going to need to be in the vanguard of helping organizational executives shift their mindsets. Some of today's best entrepreneurs are already there and it'll be with their additional help (or think of it as "peer pressure") that I think we'll see a stronger employee-customer care mentality spread wider.

Hiya Sybil, thanks for starting us off with your thoughts on those two questions.

Q1: I'm also wondering if it's not a case where management thinking hasn't caught up to organizational reality. There are a couple of times in your book where examples of poor engagement screamed industrial-age thinking and the belief that employees were cogs and the corporation was a machine. We still seem to suffer from a mechanistic perspective when it comes to the employee dynamic.

Q2: I'm hoping that we can get some of our readers who are non-profit and association professionals to weigh in and add to the dialogue. I think what can make working in a non-profit particularly challenging is the organization's relationship with its paid staff. It can be very different from the corporate world. And you're absolutely right about the critical nuances being different, particularly when it comes to dealing with volunteers as non-paid staff.

Thanks again for engaging in what I hope will be some very provocative discussions.

Hiya Judy, if you're interested in the book definitely consider buying the book from the WME online store with the discount code above. And check back here...I have a feeling that we're just at the beginning of a very interesting dialogue with Sybil.

Kare, both of those remarks are ones I get often, as well...particularly the "losing control" one. It gets interesting when I respond: "But you never really had control to begin with. It was all a bit of self-delusion." We're currently in the midst of a seismic shift in attitudes in regards to org culture, connecting deeply with customers/members/constituents, and employee engagement. Once upon a time, each of these may have been considered in isolation. Now, it's starting to be clear that these three organizational elements are interrelating in new, and depending on your perspective, scary ways.

I'm an impatient sort of guy but I'm learning that most organizations that want to succeed and remain vibrant for the long-term will eventually need to come around to this same conclusion. We just need to stay in the game and help them get there.

Jordan, I think many execs in organizations have absolutely no idea what their true culture is. They have their values/mission/vision neatly printed on cards or posters and think that's their culture. Unfortunately, there's much more to it than that but they look for the easy route. So when they try to implement a social media strategy that doesn't jive with their true culture, the disconnect is often perceived by everyone else but the executive powers.

That's fantastic, Steve! I love the way that feeds into perception and how it can be used to shift thinking from negative to positive. Thanks so much for sharing that!

Maddie, I totally agree. This post is influenced by my 10 years in non-profits from both a manager and employee perspective. It's in associations and other similar organizations that growing staff is even more vital to keeping them engaged.

Steve, I might argue that the smaller ones don't practice employee development any better than their larger peers. What's interesting is that from my observations...the reasons are largely the same as I listed above. And I think that if you asked most managers to tell you what talents are available to them through their team, they'd give you a glassy-eyed stare. Talent goes where it can be appreciated and cultivated...too bad most managers still haven't discovered this, yet.

Wow! Thanks everyone for sharing your fond memories. And welcome...I really appreciate that everyone here so far is a new commenter. Hope you'll keep coming back!

Kids have a wonderful way of reconnecting us to some deeper truths we might have lost along the path to adulthood. Definitely more to come on this topic...