Question 25
What Characteristics Does the Model Employee of the Company Possess?
If the person who interviews you has responsibility for recruitment, he or she has undoubtedly seen many people come and go and could, therefore, summarize the profile of the typical hire. If the person who interviews you makes the hiring decision, he or she should certainly be able to provide that profile.
You need to listen carefully to the description. Is this someone who will be asked to conform rigidly, take no risks, and work collaboratively? Is this someone who is expected to be mature, self-motivated, self-directed, and responsive? What exactly are the characteristics that make a person successful in this company?
Perhaps it’s someone like Mr. Young, described in the previous chapter. He was an iconoclast. He represented a new kind of thinking. He was innovative, and that made him frightening to some people. Or, the ideal person may be the one who keeps his head down and his nose out of trouble. Or, the person may be someone willing to devote a lot of unpaid overtime to the company. Or, the person may be a leader who brings people together collaboratively. Ask and consider, do I have the characteristics they value in an employee?
Jim, a friend of mine, took a job with an actuarial firm. After a few weeks, the CEO called Jim into the office and noted that he left at five each day. Jim agreed that happened. The CEO informed Jim that his employees saw themselves as warriors, working 10- and 12-hour days. Jim informed the CEO he completed his work by five each day and did not see himself as a warrior and quit. He has worked quite successfully in his replacement job for over 20 years.
Be sure a company’s model employee fits with your vision of a model employee.
Companion Questions to This One
26. What skills are valued most?
27. How would you describe the successful manager in the company?
What Skills Are Valued Most?
If you’re applying for a programmer’s position, then obviously programming skills will be highly valued. If you’re applying for a policy analyst’s position, you must have some skill in analytical thinking. And, you understand that your skill level must match with the position you hope to be hired for in the organization.
I worked in a health care system where strategic thinking and planning were the most valued skills, although no one stated this. Financial management ranked equally with the strategic thinking and planning. However, finances were left pretty much to the bean counters. Too much understanding of finance actually pigeonholed a person as a finance expert only. Critical thinking, however, was prized, as was the ability to construct a tight planning document.
Fortunately for me, writing and speaking were also valued. I succeeded because of these strengths and my quick understanding that I had to bolster my strategic thinking and planning skills. I mastered the questions: What is our objective? How will we measure our success at achieving that objective? What will this cost? How will we measure our return on investment? Add to those questions another few and they will serve you well: Who are the target audiences? How do we describe them? What are their needs? What is our timeframe for this project?
In summary, you may think you know the skills required for the position that interests you, but you’re better off if you can have them articulated. Ask your potential manager what skills are most valued in the organization and particularly for the position in question.
Companion Questions to This One
25. What characteristics does the model employee of the company possess?
27. How would you describe the successful manager in the company?
How Would You Describe the Successful Manager in the Company?
You will want to know as much as possible about the management styles of the people for whom you are likely to work. Forget theory X-Y-Z. Get an honest and practical profile. “Our managers expect results but are willing to listen and to help. They mentor. They care. They provide resources for individual growth.”
Perhaps the best manager is the one who communicates well, who collaborates, who does not micromanage. They have cultural competence; they give credit where it’s due. They make objective decisions; they help people grow and learn.
According to an article on the LinkedIn website, “A Gallup poll of more than 1 million employed U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor.” About 75 percent of workers who voluntarily left their jobs did so because of their bosses and not the position itself. In spite of how good a job may be, people will quit if the reporting relationship is not healthy. “People leave managers not companies...in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue.1”
The best managers have a good intelligence quotient (IQ) and a better emotional quotient (EQ), emotional intelligence. They know how to interpret and manage their emotions, and they can recognize the emotions of others. They treat employees with dignity and respect even in difficult circumstances. They encourage staff development through positive interactions. They refrain from making derogatory remarks even in jest. These kinds of managers exist. Find yourself one!
Listen closely as the person interviewing you describes valued management skills. Make sure you fit with the description of your potential manager.
Companion Questions to This One
25. What characteristics does the model employee of the company possess?
26. What skills are valued most?
Does the Organization Have a Recognition-Rich Environment?
We all like to be told we’re doing something well. Actually, we like the public acknowledgment more than we like the financial rewards (although they’re not hard to take, either). Who has been named “Employee of the Month” and not enjoyed seeing his or her picture hanging in the lobby? Who has been cited for outstanding work and not enjoyed a privileged parking place for a month at the front of the building? Who has completed a tough project on time and not enjoyed lunch with the CEO?
I have often said that money is a negative motivator. That is, when people come forward and say that they want to quit their jobs because they don’t make enough, they are usually disguising some other complaint (not enough challenge, not enough growth opportunity, not enough recognition).
If people love their jobs and receive recognition for their good work, they will work for free. When I worked for a television production company, we produced television commercials, rock concerts, NFL football, NHL hockey. We had celebrities in and out of our studios. We enjoyed a relaxed and creative atmosphere. People wanted to work at our company. And, they were willing to work for little or nothing! Certainly you want to be rewarded financially for your contribution to an organization’s bottom line, but recognition is equally important.
One young man, an English major from the University of Pittsburgh, who had graduated and was bartending at a nearby tavern where he met many of the company staff, worked at our video production firm for free on his off time so as to be involved with the work we were doing. Eventually, we hired him, and he went on to produce Pittsburgh Pirate baseball for broadcast where his name was regularly featured on the broadcast credits.
Research funded by Make Their Day, an employee motivation firm, and Badgeville, a gamification company, surveyed 1,200 U.S. employees from a broad cross-section of industries. Among the study’s highlights:
83 percent of respondents said recognition for contributions was more fulfilling than any rewards or gifts.
88 percent found praise from managers very or extremely motivating2.
Money is a negative motivator. Recognition has real value!
Companion Questions to This One
29. What is the organization’s retention rate?
30. What opportunities exist for training and staff development?
31. Does the organization have profit sharing, gain sharing, an ESOP?
What Is the Organization’s Retention Rate?
Remember: The Pareto principle is the 80–20 rule. In total, 80 percent of the company services or products are purchased by 20 percent of its customers. And, 80 percent of all the work is done by 20 percent of the staff, that sort of thing.
Compensation Force measured the level of total separations in the United States 2016 at 15.1 percent. In other words, 15.1 percent of the total U.S. workforce left their job in 2016. The separation rate includes employees who voluntarily quit a position, layoffs, retirements, and discharges.
SHRM predicted the annual turnover rate to be close to 19 percent and also assumed that the average cost-per-hire to fill a position at $4,129. Some studies show that replacing an entry-level position can cost up to 40 percent of an employee’s salary.
Losing good employees is expensive, and in some cases avoidable3.
Satisfied employees stay. Sure, life circumstances change, people begin families, retire, or move to warmer climates or to greener financial pastures. That is to be expected and is reflected in data on retention. But, sometimes, a low turnover rate doesn’t automatically suggest a great place to work. My dad worked for the railroad for 35 years and I venture to say that he hated all 35. I guess he thought he couldn’t do anything else.
But, satisfied, challenged, and engaged employees do not leave the company. They hardly ever think about it, in fact. They are too busy being challenged and enjoying their work.
Ask about the turnover (or retention). The good companies volunteer this information!
Companion Questions to This One
28. Does the organization have a recognition-rich environment?
30. What opportunities exist for training and staff development?
31. Does the organization have profit sharing, gain sharing, an ESOP?
What Opportunities Exist for Training and Staff Development?
Only organizations lacking good common sense fail to budget, and budget well, for training and staff development.
Job skills change continuously. People want to progress. Change is natural. If this didn’t happen, the Shoe Factory Mentality would set in.
What is the Shoe Factory Mentality? It can be described as mindless repetition and boredom. I saw it firsthand when I worked a summer in a shoe factory. I watched people sit at machines and perform the same tasks over and over, punching out the soles of shoes, running sewing machines around leather, rewarded by piece work sewn at greater speeds. They were an unhappy lot. They faced the prospect of doing the same routine over and over and over until they retired.
The smart organizations invest heavily in training and education for their employees. Most have educational reimbursements. If they don’t, they should. Make sure you check this out with a prospective employer, especially if your job faces automation.
Niall McKinney, president of AVADO, a learning company based in London, noted that as jobs automate, employers may need to help employees reskill to match the new jobs that will appear. “We think people are spending more because the skills required in roles are changing very quickly,” he said.
As more jobs become automated, employers need to help employees re-deploy in new or more advanced areas. Around 32 percent of current workers aged 16 to 54, regardless of their position, may need to retrain within the next 12 years, according to McKinsey reports cited by AVADO.
Kelly Palmer, CLO at Degreed, a talent development company, said in an e-mail that cost is not an excuse for not training employees. “The reality is that today anybody can learn any topic, from any device, anywhere in the world at low to no cost,” she said. With so much content available, she added, “it’s more about encouraging and allowing employees to spend time learning4.”
Additionally, education often opens doors to advancement. Without it, opportunities are limited. So, your future in one way or another often depends on the education opportunities your company provides for you on site or through reimbursement for classes. Successful companies retrain valued employees. Ask if the company you are interviewing with offers these opportunities.
Companion Questions to This One
28. Does the organization have a recognition-rich environment?
29. What is the organization’s retention rate?
31. Does the organization have profit sharing, gain sharing, an ESOP?.
Does the Organization Have Profit Sharing, Gain Sharing, an ESOP?
I worked in a not-for-profit where we had Gain Sharing. We couldn’t, of course, call it Profit Sharing, so what was made on the bottom line and shared the organization called by another name.
I enjoyed this benefit. I remember getting a pretty nice check at the end of the year. Some executives got really nice checks. I’m talking about checks worth several thousand dollars. As I recall, the CEO was a little embarrassed about the million or so dollars this not-for-profit shared with its management and hoped it would not be made public through the media, that never happened.
Most for-profits have profit sharing, and rightly so. Or, they have generous ESOPs, employee stock option plans. Those are beneficial as long as the stock has value. Ask the people who may have worked at ENRON and had its stock. It was bad enough that its 401K invested in ENRON. You may want to ask your employer, as well, where it invests its employees’ 401K funds.
Research indicates that shared capitalism (profit shares, group bonuses) can also improve job satisfaction. This is the case even when controlling for the additional income a worker can derive from group incentive plans. This suggests that workers derive value from sharing ownership in their firm over and above the value they get from making additional money. The effect is partly related to the warm glow employees feel in response to the gift of free or discounted shares, and partly to the effect ESOPs have in dampening the bad aspects of a job. Importantly, individual performance-related pay plans do not have this positive well-being effect—they can incentivize through income, but they don’t affect worker well-being in the same way as shared capitalism programs5. Those programs make employees feel that they benefit from the extra effort they put into their jobs.
Companion Questions to This One
28. Does the organization have a recognition-rich environment?
29. What is the organization’s retention rate?
30. What opportunities exist for training and staff development?
How Are Customer Relations Handled?
Why would you ask a question like this? Isn’t this the responsibility of the marketing department? What does customer relations have to do with employee relations?
For one thing, a company should treat everyone the same way. If they treat their customers well, they are likely to treat their employees well. If they have systems for treating their customers well, they are likely to have systems for treating their employees well.
However, unfortunately, this is not often the case. Some companies erroneously view employees as disposable. And, they soon view customers as needing their services. This mentality soon leads to a company’s demise. Well-run companies value employees and customers equally. They follow philosophies that make people feel their needs are important to the company, and the company strives to meet them. Everyone in the organization has an important role in marketing.
“For a consumer faced with a glut of choice and their own rising expectations, the experience a company provides is increasingly the differentiator between brands. In fact, the recently launched second edition of Salesforce’s ‘State of the Connected Customer’ which reveals that 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services and 76% say it is easier than ever to take their business else-where.”
“Salesforce’s research also finds 76% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations and 84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business6.”
Everyone has choices just like companies. Each company can choose to be pleasant and respectful and helpful, or they can choose to be complacent, uncaring, and unresponsive to customer needs and concerns. Find how this company treats people it; foretells how they treat employees.
Companion Questions to This One
33. Does the organization support any cause?
Does the Organization Support Any Cause?
These days the enlightened for-profit organizations are partnering with not-for-profits to be socially accountable. Since the Statue of Liberty Fund and American Express partnered to raise money for restoration of the statue, many corporations have collaborated to do the right thing.
Ben & Jerry’s represents a good case-in-point. Ben & Jerry’s and its employees contribute to many social causes, including the environment, nuclear waste clean-up, mental health support, children’s issues, and wild lands preservation, among many others.
Usually, companies with a conscience, companies that are interested in more than themselves and their profit, also have more interest in their employees. Try to choose a company to work for that works for others.
“…consumers aren’t the only group that can benefit from and appreciate a well-executed cause marketing campaign.” Consider these statistics:
About 53 percent of workers and 72 percent of students say a job where they can make an impact is very important or essential to their happiness, with the students ranking it third in overall importance and only 1 percent behind marriage (according to the Net Impact: What Workers Want study by Rutgers University).
Increasing the engagement level in a 10,000-person organization by 5 percent can boost profits by an estimated $40+ million (according to Taleo Research)7.
Feeling good about the social impact of your organization makes you feel better about contributing your talents to that organization, in other words job satisfaction.
Companion Questions to This One
32. How are customer relations handled?
How Flexible Is the Company?
Let’s hope the era of sweatshops has ended, all over the world. Let’s hope employers exist that allow employees to job share, telecommute, and re-design their jobs. Let’s hope you can find an organization that allows flexible scheduling, compressed work weeks, and any other adjustments that are appropriate and necessary for you to perform your work well.
“Lean start-ups are moving with purpose, speed and agility to reshape markets. By contrast, most major corporations are heavily layered, bureaucratic, and stifled by complex webs of reporting lines that weigh-down leadership and smother talent.
To compete in this environment, we believe organizational structure must evolve to unlock the potential within enterprises and unleash the latent power in networked teams. Under this new model, predictable efficiency gives way to rapid adaptability. Smaller is actually better. Focused teams with resources, air-cover, and real decision authority will always be ‘faster to market’ than heavily structured groups that require approvals before each step8.”
The recent pandemic transformed flexibility from a desirable perk into a powerful people practice, one that is expected to endure well after COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror, according to recent research from Mercer.
In another article, Lauren Mason, principal at Mercer, explains that the pandemic has reshaped both employer and employee expectations regarding flexibility. While flexibility from work primarily was offered through a combination of emergency leave and paid sick time and flexibility at work featured options such as work from home and job sharing, flexibility overall today has taken on a new meaning, as a result of nationwide school and office closures.
“As employers look towards reinvention, pre-COVID approaches to flexibility may no longer be sufficient,” Mason says.
Mercer reports, in fact, that over 83 percent of organizations will continue workplace flexibility at a greater scale postpandemic. She adds that COVID-19 has resulted in a great experiment for many organizations around flexibility, noting that office and school closures have resulted in real-time innovation… “over 90 percent of employers say productivity has stayed the same or increased as a result of remote working9.”
Flexibility can increase your job satisfaction immeasurably. Working in other ways, whether from home or other places, offers employees flexibility and often increases their output. You need to know how flexible your company is.
Companion Questions to This One
35. Is the organization parent-friendly?
Is the Organization Parent-Friendly?
These days employers must provide family leave. But, that doesn’t make them parent-friendly.
Ask your potential employer if it has a day care facility on site or the benefit package that allows for funds to be set aside for child care. Ask if it has facilities for breast pumping. Ask if employees may leave in mid-day if they receive a call that a child has become ill. Ask for specific examples of employees, even executives, who have families and who may have had family issues that required leave or an altered work schedule.
Depending on your age and marital status, this question may or may not be critical to you. Nonetheless, the answers to the question can be equally revealing for unmarried or unattached persons.
According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the nearly 90 percent of American families with children in 2015, at least one parent was employed. For the working parents in these families, trying to find a balance between work obligations and family demands can be all-consuming and exhausting.
As a result, more and more workers now look for employers who understand that an individual’s personal and professional life cannot always be distinctly compartmentalized. In fact, according to a 2014 report by The Council of Economic Advisers (a White House agency), a third of employees—including nearly 50 percent of working parents—have turned down a job because it conflicted with their family responsibilities.
As more owners in businesses of all sizes have become aware of this development, they have begun to implement a host of family-friendly policies that will help them recruit and retain the best possible employees, according to Sodexo’s 2015 Workplace Trends Report. Some companies are beginning to offer benefits related to elder care also. These family-friendly policies are helping to increase employee morale, job satisfaction, and productivity while reducing absenteeism and disengagement10.
Companion Questions to This One
34. How flexible is the company?
Does the Company Provide a New Employee Orientation?
Does the company provide a new employee orientation and, if so, how is it structured?
I have worked in organizations where the orientation lasted all day, often an awful, boring tedium. These orientations provided little important information about the employer. First, we saw the company video. Then, we sat through a series of unenthused speakers from various departments providing basic information in a perfunctory manner. If you weren’t asleep after a human resources representative showed you an overhead projected rendition of your pay stub, you were surely asleep as the company nurse explained the various services available. Near lunchtime, most were awakened by the security department’s demonstration of the fire extinguishers. When we sent someone off to the corporate employee orientation, we always sent them with pagers and promised to page them after the pay stub presentation.
My experiences notwithstanding, employee orientations can be very important if they are created so as to share the history, traditions, and culture of the company, if the executives participate and welcome the new hires, if useful information is provided and processes explained. Ask your interviewer about the information provided in orientation.
Research shows that orientations offer these benefits:
• Increase of retention of a pool of new, skilled, and capable employees, turning them into worthwhile long-term assets or investments of the organization. According to research, employee retention improves by 25 percent, thanks to effective new employee orientation programs.
• Improve the organization’s ability to acclimate its new employees to the organization.
• Increase in the company’s overall productivity and performance.
• Establishment of clear standards that help reduce risks of disputes and disagreements11.
Orientations can be an important vehicle to introduce a new hire to the company and make them familiar with its culture, mission, procedures, and benefits. They can ease the transition and help a new hire to become an important part of the organization.
Companion Questions to This One
37. Does the organization require employees to write goals?
38. How are employees evaluated?
39. Does a job description exist for this position?
1 https://linkedin.com/pulse/employees-dont-leave-companies-managers-brigette-hyacinth/
2 https://psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-the-manager/201306/newemployee-study-shows-recognition-matters-more-money
3 https://dailypay.com/blog/employee-retention-rate/#:~:text=As%20mentioned%20earlier%2C%2010,%2C%20high%2Dperforming%20team%20members
4 https://hrdive.com/news/why-employers-are-spending-more-on-learningand-development/545903/
5 https://hbr.org/2016/12/profit-sharing-boosts-employee-productivity-and-satisfaction
6 https://marketingweek.com/how-customer-experience-impacts-the-bottom-line/
7 https://frontstream.com/blog/using-cause-marketing-to-improve-employee-engagement
8 https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/human-capital/articles/gx-unlocking-the-flexible-organization.html
9 https://hrexecutive.com/how-covid-19-will-redefine-workplace-flexibility-for-ever/
10 https://businessnewsdaily.com/9614-family-friendly-workplace.html
11 https://cleverism.com/10-tips-effective-new-employee-orientation/