“When the pace of change outside an organization becomes greater than the pace of change inside the organization, the end is near.” John R. Walter, President, ATT. Our current situation is in turmoil. We appear to be coming out of the most significant recession since the 1930’s, we see businesses closing or cutting back. So far at least half of the financial bailout hasn’t yielded significant results. Banks are still not lending. Here are a few other “pre-meltdown” considerations for you as well- Eric Allenbaugh, an Oregon based management consultant published an article describing the three primary cultures represented in corporate America.

• The “Glazed Eye Group”- this group is most recognizable through their lack of spirit and vitality. They are adept at explaining why something can’t be done, make excuses and avoid taking risks or being accountable at all costs. Here is the really bad news, Allenbaugh estimates this population at 54% of the American workforce and as they range from neutral to mildly negative they don’t take proactive action to improve their situation. Let me be specific here, what I mean is they don’t leave under their own power; they stay and drain the energy out of your organization.
• The “Beady Eyed Group”- this is the group that is actively disengaged. They are your corporate terrorists. They actively seek out the flaws and the negative and “spread the wealth”, sharing their negative energy and disenchantment with everybody. Although they represent only about 17% of the workforce their impact is disproportionate, they consume huge amounts of managerial energy and investment. They are not interested in finding solutions and improving things. By the way, they are also not significantly more likely to seek alternative employment either. Since “life sucks” they figure it’s all the same why go to the work of changing
• The “Bright Eyed Group”- this is the group you want, period. These folks are engaged, they buy into your mission, values, and vision. They embrace change, look for opportunities to improve their skills and aptitudes and embrace personal accountability. The unfortunate part is that they represent only about 29% of the current workforce.

Before I talk about solutions I want to share a little more perspective with you to create the sense of urgency we need. A recent study by Cigna Healthcare provided some pretty startling statistics-

• U.S. workers reported that they spend two to five hours per week resolving personal issues at work, a productivity loss of 5 to 12%.
• 61% of U.S. workers have reported to work while they were ill or dealing with personal matters
• Of that group, 62% felt that they were noticeably less productive or attentive to their duties
• 46% missed at least one day of work in the preceding six months, with 22% of those absences related to family matters.

In “HR speak” we call this phenomenon – “presenteeism”.

So now let’s talk about some solutions you can take to address this issue.

• Hire Hard- Manage Easy- my friend and colleague Joseph Skursky of Market

Leader Solutions, uses this motto as the basis of his recruitment and selection system. The point is be careful about who you let in your lifeboat! Starting with the right folks makes it a whole lot easier and cost effective, trust me!

• Create An Appropriate Culture- I have spent the last fifteen years refining my model – Moving from Compliance to Commitment™. It is composed of five elements: respect, responsibility, information, rewards and loyalty. My premise is simple; people join and stay with cultures, not organizations. As leaders you are the guardian of the culture. You notice I say join up. They make an affirmative choice to join up or commit to you. Ken Matejka describes commitment like this:

“Commitment is the act of being physically, psychologically, and emotionally impelled. It means that employees gladly give up other options.” - Ken Matejka Why This Horse Won’t Drink 1991 

• Good Leadership- good leadership is critical, but what is it? I like Marcus

Buckingham’s definition-

“Effective leaders don’t have to be passionate. They don’t have to be charming. They don’t have to be brilliant…They don’t have to be great speakers. What they must be is clear.” -Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know: …About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success (Free Press 2005)

What do you think about that? Clarity; who are we, what are we trying to accomplish,

what is my role? Every employee asks these questions. Our job is to answer them.

• Effective Management- management is different than leadership, period.

Richard Rumelt, a professor of Management at UCLA describes the role of

management this way-

“The most important role of any manager is to break down a situation into challenges a subordinate can handle. In essence, the manager absorbs a great chunk of the ambiguity in the situation and gives much less ambiguous problems to others.” Richard Rumelt Strategy’s strategist: An interview with Richard Rumelt

We are facing a significant challenge economically, politically, and internationally. If we can galvanize the untapped energy of the American worker and move them from Compliance to Commitment™ we can see the fruits and benefits of engagement. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests.  This Margaret Wheatley quote summarizes it beautifully-

“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacity to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.”

For those of you that think it is too hard, takes too long, or just can’t be done; I just have one question- What is your plan B?

About the Author
Mark is an Associate Partner with Edwards Executive Search. He is the author of the internationally acknowledged book, Managing Whole People and has been a frequent contributor to Bank Marketing News, Best Thinking, and Small Business Edge.

He is a strategic partner with Debra Young and Tanya Westby, expert sourcers with Edwards Executive Search.  They both focus on the placement of key executives within clean technology organizations.