SECTION 5

Ask How You Will Be Evaluated After You Join the Company

Question 37

Does the Organization Require Employees to Write Goals?

I worked in a system where the executives wrote a strategic plan that included goals to be achieved by each executive. The executives, in turn, shared that plan, and their goals, with their managers who were required to write goals that would support the larger effort while being related to every-day job duties. These managers shared their goals with their subordinates who, in turn, wrote goals designed to accomplish their specific duties while relating to management’s goals. This created a beautiful system feeding the growth and success of the company.

The goal writing system required specific, measurable language and it was negotiable, in large part. That meant employees created a performance plan with their managers that allowed them to see their relationship to the whole. And, again, the goals were specific and measurable. The process also called for regular review of the goals and periodic adjustment. In a sense, it delivered self-fulfilling success.

You should look for an employer that measures performance through such a system. In any event, you need to know how your performance will be measured.

What do the experts say? “It’s common knowledge that helping employees set and reach goals is a critical part of every manager’s job,” says Amy Gallo in the Harvard Business Review. “Employees want to see how their work contributes to larger corporate objectives, and setting the right targets makes this connection explicit for them, and for you, as their manager. Goal-setting is particularly important as a mechanism for providing ongoing and year-end feedback.”

“Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and co-author of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, says ‘A manager’s job is to provide ‘supportive autonomy’ that’s appropriate to the person’s level of capability.’ The key is to be hands-on while giving your people the room they need to succeed on their own.”

Companion Questions to This One

Question 38

How Are Employees Evaluated?

The last thing you want is to have your performance, and hence your financial success, measured by arbitrary factors, such as your popularity. You want your measurement system to be as objective as possible. You want none of this—“Susie did a great job this year; everyone likes her.” You’re asking for trouble if you accept such a subjective and flawed evaluation system.

Of course, any measurement system has flaws and biases, just ask the people at GE who suffered with Rank and Yank. No system is completely objective and able to weed out the truly poor performers. Nonetheless, many companies strive to reduce biases by creating quantitative performance measurement.

I said earlier that I worked at a not-for-profit, religious-based health care system. This system flouted its mission to the public and to employees and asked that each employee goal-writer provide specific, measurable goals that included a mission goal. You might ask: How can mission be measured? Let me give you an example from my performance plan as an employee of that organization.

Mercy’s mission was, in general, “to create a healthy community.” Again, mission statements are global. For an organization to “create a healthy community,” it would have to eliminate not only physical illness but societal illnesses as well. That means it would have to attack the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse, poverty, joblessness, and a host of other problems, such as illiteracy. Also, you’ll remember that a Mercy values included “community” and “collaboration,” among four others.

Having studied music, I volunteered at a not-for-profit called Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU). I volunteered to teach guitar. My mission goal, therefore, was written, “I will teach three students guitar within the year.” I am happy to say that I wrote that goal for several years and, in fact, worked with many great not-for-profits in Pittsburgh to help young people change their lives through music.

Before you accept a job, be certain that you understand the evaluation system. Make certain it is based on objective criteria, and that you have some part in the performance plan’s development and writing. After all, you will be measured against this plan.

Companion Questions to This One

Question 39

Does a Job Description Exist for This Position?

Almost every organization uses job descriptions. And, almost every job description contains the line “And other similar related duties.” It is that line that allows the organization to have you perform the duties not specifically listed in the job description. Be that as it may, the job description tells an employee most of what the company expects. It may not be a perfect and complete description, but it explains things reasonably well.

I tell my students and friends not to accept a job that has no job description (and not to accept a job without a commitment from management to develop a written and negotiated performance plan, that is, set of goals). I recommend that any person being considered for a job ask to see the job description at an early interview, either the first or second. I suggest that any person who wants to accept a position with a company that does not have a written job description volunteer to write one, with input from the manager, immediately after accepting the job.

Hey, you are going to be evaluated. Your success in the company, and your earning power therein, will depend, to a large extent, on evaluations derived from your job description. Shouldn’t they be based, as much as possible, on some objective criteria? Shouldn’t a job description be used in your evaluations? Otherwise, how will you know if you’ve performed all of the duties expected of your position? How can you or your manager evaluate your performance without a description of the duties expected of your position?

Companion Questions to This One

Question 40

What Is the Typical Day and Workload Like for This Position?

You need as much information as the interviewer is able to give you so that you have a realistic idea of the work you will be expected to accomplish. If it’s a new position, the information may be vague, but if it’s an ongoing position, you should be given a concrete answer. You might also be told the status of the person who had the job.

What you’d like to hear, of course, is, “She was promoted to vice president (or some other lofty title).” You’d like to know that the organization mentors, coaches, and advances its people. It can be this way! Organizations can, in fact, coach their employees to greatness. Many don’t, but that’s another story.

You may hear, “She took a job with the competition.” Or, you may hear that your predecessor took another job as a result of relocation or promotion, or left for personal reasons related to family. These are legitimate reasons. Few people any more work their whole lives for one company. And, just about everyone is flattered to have another company seek his/her services.

All too often, however, people leave because they can’t handle the demands of the job. When this happens, the fault lies almost exclusively with the employer because of bad management, bad planning, or bad employee selection. Selecting a new employee is one of the most important decisions a company can make. Unfortunately, many make the decision too lightly, or they base the decision on the wrong qualities. And, potential employees make the decision equally lightly, especially the young and inexperienced. The best fit occurs when candidates and companies present themselves as openly and honest as possible.

Companion Questions to This One

Question 41

Have There Been Any Lay-Offs Recently?

This speaks for itself. You need to know what job displacements have occurred, how many staff were effected, what caused the displacements, what was, or is, being done to avoid further displacements.

Also, listen to the language and tone the interviewer uses to answer. Remember that this person represents the company. His or her language and tone will reveal sensitivity or insensitivity to the victims of the displacement and the attitude of the executives. How this person reacts to any of your questions will likely reveal the actions, attitudes and opinions of the administration.

If there was a lay-off, how was it handled? I’ve been through four, three of which I helped to implement, and one of which I suffered through. I know the subject from both sides. I know that a lay-off isn’t the worst thing in the world, but how it is executed can be. Even in organizations that espouse human dignity, lay-offs can go very badly.

Very bad lay-off processes make people feel valueless at a time when their self-esteem is low, anyway. Only the most caring organization can make a lay-off a less-than-catastrophic occurrence. In the best of circumstances with larger lay-offs, the organization offers displacement services, including counseling to help employees find new employment and deal with psychological issues related to lay-offs. This is an organization that cares about their employees, a place you would want to work.

In the late 1980s, Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh laid off over 500 people in a single day and several others in subsequent weeks. It was the first and largest lay-off in its history and resulted from bad foreign debt. Some of the employees had begun working for Mellon just out of college and at the time of the lay-off were in their 60s, just short of retirement. The bank set up counseling services to help people reboot their resumes, practice interviewing, and receive counseling. Although it wasn’t their best memory, many employees were able to find employment though those efforts, significantly softening the blow.

Also, the organization’s answer to “do you anticipate additional layoffs” is very important. You do not want to give up a job or get oriented to a job only to be laid off a few months on the job.

Companion Questions to This One

Question 42

What Techniques Does the Company Use to Increase Morale?

The answer to this question suggests not only how valued the employees are but how creative the management staff is.

Here’s how my morale was increased. I teach at Carnegie Mellon University. It provides full tuition for any of my children who choose to go there (and are admitted). For any two children who choose to attend another school, Carnegie Mellon pays a percentage of that cost. Is that a great benefit, or what?! Talk about a morale booster!

Forms of morale boosting vary in organizations. Some companies have no dress code. Others provide an employee gym; some others provide a nap room. Some use no titles and no assigned parking places. Goldman Sacks in New York is reputed to give employees a limo ride home if they work late. These benefits may help you decide between two offers, or they may have no effect on your decision.

Whatever they are, these perks make employees believe they are important. Even if they are never used, the extras help build a strong morale. Ask your interviewer if his company has any such goodies! They may create a deeper engagement for you at the company, and engagement is what your employer, and you, will want. Too many people have little to no engagement at their place of employment. They come and go and typically don’t last. If your company does any of the following, your engagement will deepen.

The Gallup company lists the 12 elements of employee engagement¹.

Question 43

How Long Have You Been With the Company?

You should check the qualifications of the person who is interviewing you. Has this person been at the company long enough to know the answers to your important questions? What is the interviewer’s point of view? Does this person convey happiness or satisfaction? Are they welcoming? Do these feelings seem to stem from job satisfaction?

The longevity of employees at a company can be an important indicator of the level of satisfaction employees experience working for that company. High turnover indicates something in that work environment causes employees to leave after a short period of time. That may be a red flag to you unless you can find the reason for the high turnover.

I am amazed at the timidity of most of the students who mock-interview with me or ask me questions about their pending interviews. They act as if they are powerless in the interview process. They would never dream of asking this question, and other questions to which they are entitled to answers.

You can ask this kind of question in a conversational, nonaggressive way. Interviewers should not find this question threatening; they should welcome it. Hey, this is your life we’re talking about. These are your talents being recruited. These are your eight (10–12 or more) hours per day of labor. This is your second family. You need to know all you can about them.

According to a most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), over 3.5 million Americans quit their jobs every month, about 2.3 percent of the labor force.

According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Workforce Learning Report, 94 percent of employees say that they would stay at a company longer if it simply invested in helping them learn and develop as employees².

This interest in learning and development is particularly strong among younger workers. LinkedIn’s research found that roughly a quarter of Gen Z and millennials say learning is the number one thing that makes them happy at work, and over a quarter (27 percent) of Gen Z and millennials say the number one reason they’d leave their job is because they did not have the opportunity to learn and grow.

And, there are signs that employers are beginning to catch on³. Savvy employers offer employee enrichment programs and tuition reimbursement to encourage employees to grow and develop. These are the organizations you want to work for.

¹ https://shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0510fox3.aspx

² https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/learning-solutions/images/workplace-learning-report-2019/pdf/workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf

³ https://cnbc.com/2019/02/27/94percent-of-employees-would-stay-at-acompany-for-this-one-reason.html