--Mike Connelly

Usual potpourri of dealing with admin problems to self-help career stuff this week. Maybe a little more on leadership than usual, the good side of it anyway. Plus a bonus for you diabetics. Seriously. And no whacks at Yahoo. (Pause here for huge sigh of relief.) Anyway, you’re the judge of the quality of each but we think there’s something here for just about everybody, even cranky old bloggers.

“8 Ways to Be a Memorable Boss” (in a good way)
“How ‘Giving’ Can Create a Positive Organizational Culture”
“Are You a Restless Leader”
“6 Traits You Need If You Want to Lead”
“5 Tips for Reducing Public Speaking Nervousness”
“How to Tell If Your Job Is Right for You”
“How Multitasking Can Improve Judgments” (KISS principle)
“The Unexpected Antidote to Procrastination”
“Your Boss Probably Wouldn’t Pass Yale’s Emotional Intelligence Assessment” (would you??)
“What Your Boss Is Thinking When You Ask for a Raise” (blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah??)
“What Do U.S. College Graduates Lack? Professionalism” (not all, but enough for an “Amen”)
“Positive Social Support at Work Shown to Reduce Risk of Diabetes”
“Providing Workplace Wellness Centers Could Backfire” (like how you feel when you go on a diet, then put the pounds back on. Like that.)
“5 Ways to Be Productive When the Pressure Is On”
“14 Easy Ways to Get Considerably More Done”
“10 Signs That You’re the ‘Problem’ Employee” (for remedies, see just above . . . only there’s no remedy for being a “loose canon” . . . or bad editor)

--J’me Overstreet

JCO completed another training of correctional supervisors in leadership skills in Oklahoma County in April. The participants learned concepts including changing under stress, writing measurable performance objectives, transitioning from staff to management/leader, delegating effectively, communicating effectively, and managing conflict through their own specific personal management style. Evaluation after program completion found all elements of the training valuable to very valuable to extremely valuable. Elements rating 90%-100% very to extremely valuable included changing under stress, writing measurable performance objectives, learning the emotional role of leaders, understanding how work engagement has changed, and learning the participant’s personal style of managing conflict.

Comments about the training were positive, such as:

• Enlightening,
• the training spoke to me,
• should be taught to all supervisors,
• very influential and helpful to motivate me to be better, training was organized and informative,
• I know so much more about myself and what I need to build on,
• loved the whole program, now I have to apply what I learned.

JCO’s next leadership training is scheduled for OK County later this May.

 

--Mike Connelly

“Marissa Mayer Doubles Yahoo’s Paid Maternity Leave, Gives Dads Eight Weeks Off”

If somehow you’ve had a major void in your life that you couldn’t understand, it has to be you haven’t been reading this blog during its constant harping on the destructive decision by Yahoo’s CEO to end at-home work for her employees, thus increasing carbon emissions (more than just the added cars on the road) and setting the standard for other major companies. Best Buy followed within the week. Our point has always been that we better figure the “at-home” thing out for all major orgs that can do it, including Corrections Sentencing ones, because the costs of buildings (owning and renting), transportation, lost morale from increased staff costs on top of the added emissions from Yahoo et al. are not bearable now and will be worse as The Perfect Storm wreaks its toll. Did you catch in our Perfect Storm update yesterday the latest CO2 level we’re going to hit soon? (You didn’t? Man, that void is major.)

It’s legit to see this as a blatant PR move designed to deflect the criticism she’s received for building a day care facility on site for her own new baby (so lovingly held in the so loving picture released with the so loving story) while telling parents to get their butts to the office for free food, fun, and spontaneous innovation just like Yahoo’s competition, which still actually have much better and longer leave policies, it turns out. Which shows she still thinks the secret of success is seat time, being where she can see you any time she wants. She justifies her moves based on what her competition does but only seems to copy the parts that satisfy her control needs.

But here’s the real question if you want to figure out how much of her management belief system is anything other than the usual bunch of clichés strung together in the best MBA/consultant-speak: where’s the study of the ratio of “creativity and innovation” that the at-home work ban was to provide versus the “creativity and innovation” of just letting people not do any company work at all for weeks and months at a time? Wouldn’t someone as “data-driven” as her acolytes claim she is want to see those numbers? Do babies at birth weight more heavily in the data than babies a year or more later? Or is all that just a bunch of PR specialist bushwa better at image management than actual management?

As stated above, this isn’t irrelevant to Corr Sent, no matter how tired you are of us harping on this. You have the head of one of the leading companies in America deciding to add to climate change through more carbon emissions in a variety of ways just because she’s bought into tripe that at-home workers are goofing off and need seat time/cubicle time/free lunch time to generate wonderfulness. You will hear very similar and worse arguments when the time comes to consider cutting your own Corr Sent emissions/energy bills/rental units through allowing more at-home work from your staff and others. We need to be working out whatever real problems exist, not fantasizing about faux ones, because one of the very best and easiest ways to adjust to most of the components of The Perfect Storm is going to be at-home work, whether that fits with old guard management or not. The ones who figure it out, including Corr Sent execs, will be the ones who win, using concepts like “personalized leadership” researched here that does require much more and different leadership and management skills for distributed personnel than the Yahoo CEO clearly has demonstrated. The info tech companies that figure it out will win big time. Needless to say, it doesn’t look like that latter group will include Yahoo.

--Mike Connelly

The Aging Inmate series set us off a day getting you your Management news this week, so we apologize for any heebie-jeebies that may have set in. We’ve got enough here to calm them, we believe. The first article is again the one we really want to headline. It’s one of the very best pieces you’ll find on the future of state and local funding/spending, and with a little inference, it demonstrates why all these “savings” hailed by Corr Sent Reform 1.0 efforts have essentially been bushwa and should have been seen as such from the beginning., much less the “implementation” likelihoods in the future. Add in the effects of The Perfect Storm, only touched on in the article, which multiplies all the effects he discusses, and you’ll get why 1.0 is so inadequate, why more funding of it as it is is not just wasteful but diverting resources from truly necessary efforts, and why efforts to defend 1.0 (as we discuss in the News today) are so poorly spent. The funders and defenders treat what this article details and explains so well as if these conditions don’t apply, as if we’re still partying like it’s 1999. It’s not. The longer we act as if it is, the harder, more expensive, and less successful we will be in dealing with The Storm. At some point this will be apparent to all but the most devoted deniers. Right now, it’s apparent well to the writer of this article. Here’s just a bit to make it apparent to you, too:

What does all of this mean for the future? In the past, many actions taken by state and local governments to cope with recessions could be viewed as temporary, likely to be reversed when things returned to normal. However, state budget officials are now talking about a "new normal" in which revenue (and therefore expenditure) growth continues to be slower than in the past and where the federal government no longer can be counted on to moderate the effects of future economic downturns. The across-the-board cuts known as sequestration and the more general need to reduce the federal deficit make help from Washington increasingly unlikely.

In this context, elected officials and managers at the state and local level face substantial challenges in planning for this uncertainty. If past is prologue, they are likely to respond to this uncertainty by taking such steps as delaying hiring, not filling vacant positions, freezing salaries, imposing furloughs, or deferring maintenance or equipment purchases.

These strategies may be useful in addressing short-term problems, but they are less effective in combating continuing budgetary stagnation. These sorts of cuts may leave many programs' capacity to deliver effective services so diminished that they end up looking like (to borrow a phrase heard from one manager) the "walking wounded." Moreover, because many of these strategies were already employed in the recent recession, there may be practical constraints to their further use now. . . .

In the end, governments cannot pretend that they can just continue to do everything they have before, only with fewer resources. The effective functioning of government will require not just doing the same with less, but also actually doing less. The only way to address this will be to make choices, which is what budgeting is supposed to be about. The more informed these choices, the better.

Say amen, brothers and sisters.

“Managing Through Endless Fiscal Uncertainty”
“Feeling Powerful Will Make You Smarter”
“What Do Your Eyes Tell About Your Leadership and Status?”
“You’ve Become the Office’s Alpha Mean Girl—Now What?” (don’t you get to make a movie about it??)
“8 Habits That Are Making Your Work Life Harder”
“How to Stay Productive If You’re Terrible at Waking Up Early”
“How to Manage Conflict at Work”
“How to Be More Effective at Work” (had enough “how” articles yet?)
“Your Brain Thrives on Complexity When You’re Solving Tough Problems” (no matter what you think . . . so to speak)
“The Worst Job Interview Questions Employers Can Ask” (“my biggest weakness? I guess, just working so many dadgum hours and not being satisfied with having success after success. That, and the cocaine.” Favorite article this week. “If you could be a tree, what kind . . . ?”)
“Training the Brain to Improve on New Tasks”
“How Out-of-Office Replies Can Put Workers at Risk” (did you really tell every burglar in town you’re out-of-town on vacation for the next two weeks?)
“The Most Unusual Excuses for Arriving Late to the Office” (lots of good ones, like the angry wife, the glass of water, the husband’s car keys, and the freezer; pay no attention to those tips to avoid being late)
“8 Psychological Pitfalls That Will Thwart Your Success”
“Bad Decisions Arise from Faulty Information, Not Faulty Brain Circuits” (so I’m not really forgetting where my pajama bottoms are?)
“10 Business Cliches to Avoid Like the Plague” (lot of good ones but actually only 9, leaving the 10th to us? How about “pull up your big [whatever] panties”?)
“A Quiet Person’s Guide to Effective Public Speaking”

“The Next Step in Introvert World Domination” (you schmoozers had your day and look where we are so we’re taking over, get used to it . . . and stop touching me)

“Marissa Mayer Defends Her Work from Home Ban” (speaking of introverts and having no clue about them, the Yahoo CEO again proves she manages by inaccurate instinct rather than solid research finding, claiming “people are more productive alone” but more “innovative” together. Uh, no, that’s not what the research says, particularly for introverts, but why let Reality get in the way of your useful stereotypes and algorithms?? Just don’t copy her, okay? “People” are not one-size-fits-all)
“People Crave Autonomy More Than Any Perk” (uh . . . Marissa???)
“Why Daydreams Are Good for You” (bookmark this and have it on your screen to point out to your supervisor whenever necessary)

--Mike Connelly

The usual range of managerial potpourri this time, although we don’t always slip in anything about taking showers. We don’t want to offend.

“Adaptable Leaders May Have Best Brains for the Job” (Literally, and not literally as in “literally blew my mind!” but literally literally, as in “Leaders who had a more complex sense of their leadership skills and greater neurological complexity were found to be more adaptive and effective leaders in these scenarios.” Just the kind needed for The Perfect Storm.)
“Seriously Flawed Feedback Demeans Exemplary Employees”
“Laziness May Be Genetic” (be prepped to hand this to your supervisor when receiving serious feedback)
“Even the Most Talented Workers Depend on the People Around Them”
“The Purpose of Purpose” (org purpose, individual purpose, e’re the twain shall meet?)
“You Only Have 7 Seconds to Make a Strong First Impression”
“Managing Your Time Will Never Be Enough”
“Why Are Good Managers Hard to Find?” (we know, we know!! Because the range of skills necessary are pretty diverse and dependent on context and hard to find in one person, or even train in them? Ding, Ding!! What do we win??)
“How You Could Be Missing Out on the Best Candidate for the Job”
“3 Dangers of Using Personality Tests to Screen Workers” (which might be one reason you’re missing out on, well, see above)
“5 Tips for How to Gain Confidence at Public Speaking’
“5 Talents That Will Set You Apart in Your Career” (yes, GOOD talents)
“The Power of Regret” (not as off-topic as it may sound)
“The Secret to Success Is Giving, Not Taking” (but everything in moderation, folks)
“How to Write a Resignation Letter” (not that you have anywhere good to go right now)
“How to Choose the Right Career” (uh, maybe we shoulda switched this one with the one above first)
“4 Success Tips for People with Fluctuating Self-Esteem” (do they vary from day to day?)
“Structured Reflection Improves Team Performance” (key word “structured”)
“Why You Have Your Best Ideas in the Shower” (finish this with your own witticism, we’d just get into trouble)

--Mike Connelly

If you read here regularly (and if you don’t, why not????), then you probably have recognized that we refer a lot to links, articles, and op-eds over at Corrections.com and CorrectionsOne, a couple of the very best sites for straight corrections material on the Web (and please don’t read anything anti-gay or pro-gay into that). Right now the two sites have some good pieces up, including a new one at Corrections.com from its best columnist, that may or may not be news to you but certainly will be helpful. We’re giving you excerpts from each as encouragement to click the headlines so give them the hits, please. Thank you.

“How I Almost Lost My Job Working in Corrections!”

Our Unit Manager was directly above Ms. Jenny. He was not happy about my people skills and my lack of ability to work with those around me. Frankly, I was not happy about him, and the decisions he would not stand up and make. The support by my superior was absent, he thought my skills as a correctional officer, corporal, and now a case worker had not been proven. He stated, “Dee, you have not been here long enough” I heard it so many times, I had not put in "my time" and I was breezing through. He than informed me the inmates had wrote and signed a petition to have me removed! Me removed! Really! For doing my job! I'm sure he didn't know it but that was all I could take! People just do not appreciate a good worker when they see one!

It's Time To Make A Decision

One morning after verbally fighting with one of my colleagues about who was going to take one side of the housing unit for an area check, I thought "this Is It!" There has to be another job out there where I am appreciated! Instantly, at that very moment a strong thought came to my head. What if you lose the job, you worked so hard to obtain because of your ATTITUDE?

I pondered on this thought for the rest of the day and through out the night. “What if I lost this job that I worked so hard to get all because of my attitude? But now I found myself asking “How could I make the difference?” I started thinking about changes I needed to make, with the focus on myself. It was truly not all of "them".

“Recognizing Issues Undercutting the Correctional Workforce”

Every career field must change and evolve to improve and persist over time. Internal and external demands on the correctional workforce are changing, and so we must look at innovative, creative ways to remain competitive and excel. Correctional departments and agencies must be educated on how organizational culture, in addition to the span of generations, impacts the workforce. There will always be offenders serving sentences in a jail or prison—but our facilities and workforces may not always be efficient, staffed by happy personnel, and have plenty of money for operations.

Correctional departments must embrace women, especially Millennial women, and the culture of collaboration, innovation, and competition they present. Accepting these new additions to the workforce is key to the progression of the career field and the competitiveness of departments. And it is key to making sure that we in the correctional workforce—with both genders and many generations—are able to meet our metrics and continue serving for generations to come.

“Correctional Career Plans”

If it is one thing that can be said about working in the prisons it’s the fact that opportunity is always lurking and knocking on doors for those willing to answer and open that door. If you are one of those correctional officers seeking career growth and challenges it is important that you recognize these chances to advance when they occur. Keeping your head under the sand like an ostrich is a sure way of missing out of these prospective gains and inefficiency in doing your job is another sure fire way of being ignored for such promotional opportunities.

First do the job you have been hired on to do. Don’t be an attention hog but keep yourself alert and vigilant for opportunities. Show them you are available for new tasks but don’t be an opportunist. Remember there is no “I” in the word “team.” Keep in mind your future is based on how you fit in the workplace. There will be many barriers as success is rarely a straight line to your ultimate goal. Showing your supervisors and managers you are flexible and willing to learn new things is the key to discover new experiences and skills. Many correctional officers have found this method of being willing to step up as a means to experiencing high success and rewards.

“Tragedy Repeating: CO’s Murder Brings Back Painful Memories”

For many, Williams’ death nearly five years after Rivera was slain shows a lack of changes in a system that seemingly continues to put its employees last.

Teresa described pushing to get corrections officers the stab-proof vests that her brother should have had at the time of the incident. Following Williams’ murder, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced it will issue pepper spray to officers at high-security prisons, including the Wayne County facility where Williams was killed.

But Teresa says that’s not all they should be doing.

“More staffing is needed so that officers aren’t alone when something like this happens,” she said. “If Jose had had someone with him, he would have had a better chance.”

Rivera was working alone that night, with only a radio as a body alarm, keys, and a pair of handcuffs. Williams was also working alone and supervising over 100 inmates.

--Mike Connelly

So many articles, so little space today, so we’re breaking them into two parts this week. First was yesterday, and you missed the monkey article if this is the first you’ve heard of this. But you’ve got raises and “no crying in Corrections Sentencing!!” today so don’t skip here, too.

“Big Data, Better Workforce” (we know “big data” is the “big thing” now and don’t downplay it, not completely anyway, just wary as someone who knows the shakiness of so many of the decisions what to count, of the data entering and manipulation, of the uses that decision-makers want it for that really are scary and/or unfounded, of being held accountable for results based on what was often more smoke than fire, knowing there are going to be a lot of hindquarters ending up bitten)
“Belief in ‘Belief in a Just World’ Theory” (not sure this is really “management” but it does talk about perspectives on Reality and how they play out in behavior that you might find helpful when dealing with staff . . . or sweetie . . . or yourself . . . . Which ties in well to the next story.)
“26 Tips on How to Read People”
“Office Parties Have Unintended Consequences for Company Culture”
“Few People Understand the Difference Between Risk and Genuine Uncertainty”
“2 Essential Rules You Should Keep in Mind When Resigning”
“16 Secrets to Creating Breakthrough Ideas”
“The Hunt for the Creative Individual” (check off all the characteristics that you share with such persons to see if you are one, or at least read the final paragraph because it got iced tea on my keyboard)
“13 Ways to Score a Big Raise” (we know, probably should have put this one first . . . but we like for you to read all the way through)
“The Dos and Don’ts of Crying at Work” (we’re betting this isn’t one of the 13 Ways just discussed above)
“Stanford MBA School Professor Explains How to Get Promotions and Raises”
“I Know More Than My New Boss” (on second thought, maybe read this one before you act on the raises articles above)
“Why Hiring Only Young People Is a Mistake”
“Worrying Can Make You a Better Friend and Employee” (keeps you alert . . . unless you end up on drugs for it)
“How to Make Better Decisions: Pretend You’re Giving Advice to a Friend”
“18 Tips on Making Smarter Decisions”
“Women Make Better Decisions Than Men, Study Suggests” (to which we men have decided that we don’t agree)

--Mike Connelly

So many articles, so little space today, so we’re breaking them into two parts this week. Next batch up tomorrow afternoon, but you only get monkey articles today. (That’s got you reading, doesn’t it?)

“What Are the Most Important Things Great Leaders Do?”
“What Baseball Teaches about Leading When Expectations Are High or Failure Is Certain” (one thing taught is “don’t read this if you’re an Astros fan”)
“How to Understand Your Mind” (think you can handle it? might be better with some Guinness, which is good for you)
“Everything You Thought You Knew About Teamwork Is Wrong”
“America Needs to Move Beyond Its ‘Extrovert Ideal’” (more on the value of introverts, which gets shut off because of the emphasis on the schmoozing rather than skills of extroverts)
“The Unspoken Truth about Work Trust”
“The Truth about Bias in the Hiring Process”
“These Charts Reveal the Secrets to Motivation”
“Management Fads That Make a Difference” (nice whacking on TQM, for those so old to remember it, but not sure we’re buying the sell-job for Six Sigma yet for social service agencies like corrections)
“Monkey Study Reveals Why Middle Managers Suffer the Most Stress” (no problem unless they start bringing monkeys in for the intermediate management positions because they’ll work for fruit, which, given the quality of some state legislatures, isn’t impossible)
“Why We Ignore Good Advice”
“7 Negotiating Tips for Anxious or Sensitive People” (extroverts don’t need to be told)
“How to Not Get Sidetracked”
“Working in the Right Temperature and Light Is Crucial to Getting More Done”
“People Want to Follow Calm, Assertive Leaders” (you mean like . . . introverts???) 

Part Two with advice on raises (!!!) tomorrow.  Talk about shameless cliffhangers!!!

--Mike Connelly

Don’t want to prejudice you (much) about what you’ll find most valuable in these articles this week, but we especially liked the one calling for more and better analysis in IT planning upfront before you start doling out the bucks for those inevitable cost-overruns. It didn’t take us long watching these projects get put down on paper with confident assertions of wonderfulness and efficient costs to decide that, from then on, whatever they said the timetable was and the costs would be, start with them being twice as long/much and, if offered an over/under bet, never take the under. The first piece goes into some detail on all that, explains why the uses of the new wonderfulness have to be as wonderful as the bells and whistles themselves, and offers a few useful if obvious tips for improvements (obvious to everyone but the planners apparently, which might actually tell us something, too). But like we said, don’t want to prejudice you. Much.

“Technology Fiascoes and the Failures Analysis”
“The Most Common Ways You’ll Change Once You Become a Manager” (from pills to liquids was our experience but that could just be us)
“How Struggles Make You a Better Leader” (get past the “struggle lens” talk and you’ll actually find some helpful ideas about avoiding making your mirror your best friend)
“Core Leadership Competencies: Which Do You Possess?” (3 different sets of skills, showing the difficulties of finding folks with all three at high levels, explaining a lot about what happens in organizations, and yet no mention at all of the resilience/flexibility requirements that will predominate Perfect Storm decision-making and implementation, showing how far we still have to go)
“Use Guilt to Become More Productive” (but don’t make your mom your guru on this unless she’s also a CEO)
“5 Easy Ways to Motivate—and Demotivate—Employees” (probably won’t be news but not bad to be reminded)
“You May Be a Starfish and Not Even Know It” (probably best to find out now rather than later)
“Never Say ‘I Don’t Have Time’ to Your Boss” (not more of that “guilt” thing but more about thinking through time management)
“Dramatically Increase Productivity by Understanding Employees’ Temperaments” (J’me will be happy to come to your place to train more on this if you’ll provide a nominal fee, as we define nominal)
“The 5 Gifts of ADHD in the Workplace” (beyond the drugs it will get you)
“Can You Find a Mentor or Will Your Mentor Find You?”
“The Unspoken Truth About Work Trust” (Theory X and Theory Y live, and even if you don’t know what we’re talking about, you know what we’re talking about)
“What You Need to Know About Happy Hour Etiquette” (arguably the most important article of this group)

--Mike Connelly

A bunch of good stuff this week, especially the first article, which is why we put it first. It deals with how innovation requires an implementation structure (no point inventing motor oil if there aren’t any cars), which kills off a lot of great possibilities which may or may not come back around when that infrastructure is there. As we deal with The Perfect Storm now and well into the future, a lot of great ideas will be available but only those that fit available structures will be do-able. That’s why our projections for changes in Corr Sent by 2020 only address those clearly on the radar, whether implemented well yet or not. It’s why so much of Corr Sent Reform 1.0 flounders when judges as a group (not the few who might participate in the changes) turn out uninterested in pre-sentence assessments, or not enough trained assessors are available or retainable, or the number of treatment beds supposedly to take the diverted offenders doesn’t “and then a miracle happens.” It’s why changing fuels for our cars depends on hydrogen (or whatever) stations that don’t turn up or electrical plug-ins that recharge car batteries in less than 5 minutes so we can keep on our trip. You can add your own examples, we’re sure. So the first article’s dealing with these sorts of questions, from a business perspective but applicable to us, too, is definitely one you should check out. But remember: these are all work-related!!! So no shame or sudden clicking to that spreadsheet when you hear your supervisor’s familiar shuffle of his/her shoes.

“The Innovator’s Blind Spot”
“13.4 Million Reasons NOT to Ban Telework” (mentioned this one in our News earlier this week but don’t want it missed since so much transition in The Perfect Storm relates to this and those “innovators” in the first article will make a fortune if they can figure out the best way to make it go)
“What 6 Rules Should Be Guiding Your Career?”
“How to Manage Your Enemies”
“Simple Steps to Shorter, Saner Meetings” (uh . . . don’t have them???)
“Uncovering Your Professional Blind Spots”
“People Prefer Confidence over Actual Expertise” (which, again, is why talented introverts, as we’ve noted over and over, are passed over for back-slapping blowhar . . . uh, less talented extroverts, who can play the “let’s build the culture” game well while the agency/company loses the contributions of the talented introverts)
“Warts and All” (about “natural” leadership and why leaders [sic] who don’t model the culture they want but instead just talk it and institute artificial “insert tab A into slot B” recipe items (while building their newborn a nursery in their CEO office and telling other moms to give up their at-home work) are just going to be lucky if the company does turn around, especially since those leaders tend to stress the back-slapping blow . . . uh, non-introverts also . . . but we’re not going to say the name “Yahoo”)
“IT Departments Have Become Completely Useless” (wow . . . but makes a good case that, had Chief Info Officers done their jobs integrating data into their orgs rather than just seeing themselves as purchasing czars, we wouldn’t need the Chief Digital Officers now replacing their functions)
“Chewing Gum Helps You Concentrate for Longer, Study Suggests” (don’t say you never learn anything here)
“How to Stop Your Brain from Making Big Mistakes” (sounds like you start with a pack of Juicy Fruit)
“I Learned Every Secret of Leadership by Playing in a Rock Band” (so, start one, and then . . . )
“Harvard Lecturer Explains How to Get Employees to Think Like Entrepreneurs”
“How to Create a Positive Inner Work Life”
“15 Psychology Experts Share Their Best Productivity Tips” (wanna bet if one of them is “chew gum” . . . and walk . . . .)
“The Future of Work” (hint: very little like “The Past of Work”)
“12 Certainties That Will Transform Every Career and Create New Ones” (along the same line as the last one above, but while you might think we’re most intrigued with the “Big Data and Real-Time Analytics” one, we’re actually fantasizing about the “3D Printing” one and madly going through my Salma Hayek collection that I have filed on the family computer as “DOC concepts”)
“Why Success Makes Us Risk Averse” (uh . . . you don’t want to lose it . . . ?)
“How to Get People to Do Stuff” (the trick, of course, is to have the “stuff” be things that need doing)

“Job Burnout Worse for Your Heart Than Smoking” (and about that “doing both at the same time” thing you’re trying, thinking they might cancel each other out . . . .)

--Mike Connelly

Not a boffo week for management articles, but there are some generally useful ones below and some that might be more specific to particular readers. The last one on “value-cost” leveraging may at least give you something to talk about over that pitcher or keg this evening. You know how your friends love it when you bring up academic articles from your line of work. Or substitute the “super password” one for Pictionary!! (Or if your eye gets captured by someone special at the bar this evening, bring up the question of the first article. The response will be memorable. Beyond words. We promise.)

“Evaluation or Research? Is the Distinction Important?” (hint: yes.)
“Slow Down, You Think Too Fast”
“How Good Are You at Ditching Distractions?”
“How to Lead Effectively: 6 Strategies”
“Managing the Mess: Go Directly to C” (good idea of Corrections Sentencing reform)
“Why Employee Development Is Important but Neglected”
“Meet the New Boss, Meaner Than the Old Boss?” (please do not shoot this messenger)
“Three Rules for Finding a Career That Makes You Happy”
“Be Prepared to Answer These Questions During an Interview”
“How to Get Your Way”
“How to Say ‘No’ to Your Boss” (we’re not responsible for anything that results from this)
“A Simple Way to Create a Super Strong Password”
“Finding the Sweet Spot of Value and Cost”

Have a good weekend. Remember your Guinness. It’s Good For You!

--J’me Overstreet

Are your employees truly engaged in their work? Do you know if they have a true sense of purpose and find meaning in what they are doing? Employees who are actively engaged and psychologically involved in their work tend to stay in an organization.

The idea of work has changed dramatically since the 1970’s. History tells us that in the 1970’s work was all about compliance. Employees were told what to do and for the most part they complied. Being a leader in the 1970’s was less demanding and required fewer people skills. Today, employees are required to make decisions in order to perform activities successfully, and in corrections specifically, activities that are directed toward a purpose. Employees are expected to be self-motivated and self-managed.

Employees surveyed in the 2000’s strongly agreed, at a rate of 66%, that meaningful work is important. This compares to the employee of 1970’s, indicating that meaningful work was only 27% on a scale of importance. Employees of the 2000’s indicate that having the responsibility to decide how their job gets done ranks 55% on a scale of importance as compared to 32% in the 1970’s. So what do these statistics tell us? Employees today must be engaged, they must be trained and they must be supported through a self-management process. Retaining employees means understanding the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.

Extrinsic motivators were effective back in the day: company picnics, promotions, raises… Today research shows that it’s the intrinsic motivators that are retaining talented employees. Intrinsic motivators are based on psychological rewards: the satisfactions they get from work. One of the most important intrinsic motivators includes how the employee is experiencing the people they work with.

If you want to increase the retention rates of your most talented employees, investigate their sense of purpose. Honestly assess what the organization is doing to allow them a sense of choice. Hold your managers accountable for the development of people skills. Most employees will not produce quality work and stay in an organization if they work for Attila the Hun. Those that do stay under those circumstances are the ones you wish would leave.

--J’me Overstreet

 

“My dear, you’ve had the power all along…” –Glenda (the good witch)  The Wizard of Oz

 

Are you focusing too much on recruitment and not enough on retention?  I will answer that for you, the answer is definitely “Yes!”

 

How often do we put our energy into the things we have very little or no control over rather than the things we do?  If we are honest when we answer this question, the answer will most likely be “Most of the time.”

 

 For as long as I can remember, correctional organizations have struggled with recruitment and retention, particularly for the entry level, low paying jobs.  Depending on the political climate and the resources at hand, organizations have typically thrown money into recruitment efforts by establishing special units, investing in trinkets for recruitment fairs, and fighting a “ lose-lose” battle to secure resources for higher entry salaries.  Why did I refer to this as a” lose-lose battle”?  Stay with me….

 

I won’t argue with you that these are not all noble efforts, at least the continuing effort to secure competitive compensation packages.   However, if we look at the outcomes produced over time, most of the energy put into these efforts was really just about “making ourselves and others feel better about the problem.”  This is a frequently used problem solving strategy, but it never works.  It only delays the inevitable.  What’s the inevitable?  Continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the inevitable . . . yes, you know the quote . . . it's insanity!

 

As Glenda the good witch told Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy asked her how she could return home, Glenda replied, “My dear, you’ve had the power all along.”  So today I am Glenda, and corrections organizations struggling with recruitment and retention are Dorothy.  Yes my dears, you all have had the power all along . . . at least when we talk about retention.

 

We’ve all read or been exposed to retention strategies.  Do exit surveys, treat your employees fairly, give them have a voice . . . blah blah blah.  Right?  Well, it’s only blah, blah, blah because we are not doing these things very well.  When was the last time you actually reviewed your recruitment statistics over the past five years and then compared that to your retention stats?  If your organization uses an exit tool, have you really investigated its effectiveness?  How is it really being used in the field?

 

Surveys over the last 50+ years continue to show that salaries are not the number 1 issue for retention.  It’s how the employee is treated by the boss.  So, get up out of your chair and do something about this.  See, you have had the power all along.  If you are not holding your managers accountable for their retention rates, you are not using one of the most powerful tools you have.

 

When leaders of the organization decide to make this personal and do something about it, they decide to develop their managers and hold them accountable for this.

 

Ask these questions:

            Do I have some managers that “everyone knows” don’t play well with others?  Am I allowing this mold to grow?

            How is my organization using the employee performance evaluation tool?  Is it effective or just a joke?

            What strategies and activities has the organization deployed to emphasize retention, if any?  Have they been effective?

            Does my organization need assistance in developing and holding managers accountable for retention, more effectively utilizing the employee performance evaluation tool, and determining what steps to take for succession planning?

 

Tip:                

What if all you did was require all of your wardens to meet personally with each new correctional officer hired and during that meeting they asked them to meet with them prior to making a decision to leave the organization?  This idea, as you are already smirking about, will not be popular.  However, I think you might be surprised at the results you might get!

 

Oh yeah…earlier I referred to a “lose-lose” battle and asked that you stay with me.  The battle is a “lose-lose” because if you look at the data, you will see the when salary packages are slightly improved, the recruitment/retention data may show improvement, but the momentum doesn’t continue.  This is a “lose-lose” because the organization and the public are now investing more money in hiring and training employees that are still leaving.

--Mike Connelly
Got some high quality stuff for you this week. Your job is to figure out which ones we’re talking about. We do dare you to send the last one around to others in your office. Particularly your supervisor/boss.

“Talent Executive Says Annual Performance Reviews Are Huge Morale Killers” (file under “duh”)
“A Question of Accountability: What Happens When Employees Are Left in the Dark?”
“Stop Thinking That Hard Work Will Get You a Raise” (performance not well linked to success, but you didn’t need to be told that, right? Look at Microsoft. And the Kardashians.)
“The Exact Words to Use When Negotiating Salary”
“The Best Bosses Don’t Have to Work on the Weekends”
“Top 6 Reasons Why People Hate Their Bosses” (Because bosses read the article just above???)
“Snore More, You’re Probably Sleep Deprived”
“Interrupt Me for Five Seconds?—Fuhgeddaboudit!”
“The Fairness Flaw: Why ‘Fair’ Managers Often Falter”
“The Best Mentors Are the Ones Who Scare You a Little”
“It’s Off to Work We Go” (relationship between home location and work)
“18 Ways Your Office Job Is Destroying Your Body” (and you thought it was age . . . or is that just me?)
“How Modern Technology Is Destroying Your Posture at Work” (I’m now down to 4’8” . . . )
“Wanted: A Life Outside the Workplace”
“New Data Shows Depth of Employee Discontent”
“Ask These Questions During the Job Interview to Identify the Right Hires”
“Narcissism and Leadership”
“Working with a Narcissist”
“How to Get the Job Done When You Just Want to Crawl Back into Bed”
“Why Employees Quit Their Jobs”
“Do You Have the Leadership ‘X Factor’?”
“Catfight? Workplace Conflicts Between Women Get Bad Rap”
“Why Focus Makes Us Smarter—and 8 Ways to Sharpen Yours”
“Meditation Is the New Yoga: Bringing Mindfulness into the Workplace” (like we said, we dare you . . . .)

--J’me Overstreet

J’me Overstreet and Associate Pam Ferguson presented a three-day women’s leadership seminar February 20-22, 2013 to 18 women who work for the Oklahoma County Juvenile Justice Bureau. The course covered self-awareness as a leader, how you operate on a team, what style you use in dealing with conflict, what intrinsic motivators are and how to use them to engage your employees and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Participants also received information on how to develop performance outcomes and use the employee appraisal as a coaching tool.

Participants rated all aspects of the training overwhelmingly “very” or “extremely” beneficial. Among their comments were: “I was very skeptical about attending, but this training opened my eyes,” “Don’t change a thing, so grateful I got to come,” and “I get jealous when others get to go to your training and I don’t!” The participants had specific suggestions for additional future training, including secondary trauma, team building, performance evaluations, time management, and “when your boss is a ‘he’.” The latter may prove impossible to comprehend.

--Mike Connelly

Sit back with your diet soda and revel in these latest assists to your management and career future. Putting your feet up on your desk might be a little much, but, if your supervisor isn’t around, who are we to say? (And if s/he IS around, have the first article there at the bottom of your screen for easy and fast clicking.)

“Companies That Offer Flexible Schedules Get More Out of Their Employees”
“The Beauty of Brevity” (meeting, presentations, memos—need we say more?)
“The Least Effective Bosses Don’t Bother to Train People”
“Why the Hiring System Is Failing”
“Why Leaders Don’t Understand How to Play the Innovation Game—and How You Can Help Them Win” (bunch of tips on what innovation is and isn’t, including warnings about the “big data” craze relevant to Corr Sent and this truth: “The greater the magnitude and volatility of the forces that drive the future, the less likely you are to get it right.” Just ignore all the spelling problems.)
“How Winning Works: Building Great Work Teams” (did anyone know Harlequin published leadership books? Wanna guess what the content includes?)
“When Your Job Hurts”
“Nine Practices to Help You Say No”
“Myths of Power—With No 3: The Maligning of Hierarchy” (“power over” v. “power with”)
“Five Signs Your Star Employee Is About to Leave”
“Finding Self-Discipline in Others” (impact of work peers on performance . . . or other peers on other things that could get you into a DOC)

--J’me Overstreet

I just returned from serving as facilitator of the Chief Legal Counsel Focus Group meeting, sponsored by the National Institute of Corrections. Eight of the correctional Chief Legal Counsels from across the nation met in Washington, D.C. February 11-12, 2013. Participants discussed what the top issues, challenges and concerns facing their organizations are as it pertains to their areas of responsibility.

A variety of major topics surfaced: ADA, Religion, PLRA, PREA, Health care, Administrative Segregation, Mental Health, Gender Identity Disorder, Safety and Security, Prisoner Advocacy, Death Penalty, and a myriad of Employee Litigation issues.

The group planned a two-day Network Meeting to be held in Aurora, Colorado on July 9-10, 2013. All chief counsels will be invited and encouraged to attend. Numerous workshops will be offered and CLE’s will be available for some of the sessions. The National Institute of Corrections is funding this project.

Have a good weekend.

--Mike Connelly

If you’ve gotten much out of these weekly management pieces before, imagine what you’ll get from articles on Iron Man, “The Office,” and knowing how to tell if your boss is a narcissist. The latter one might not be as interesting to him/her if s/he wanders by your computer screen, though, so use your own judgment.

“Having a Tony Stark in the Office Is Fine as Long as You Hire a Pepper Potts” (she doesn’t have to look like Gwyneth, though . . . and I really did have to look up how to spell that name)

“Mediocre Managers as Damaging as the David Brents of the Workplace, According to New Study” (but not the Dwights??)
“Does Your Boss Sign Off with a Flourish?”
“12 Ways to Be a More Innovative Boss”
“20 Signs That You Are a Psychopath”
“Respect, Not Friendship, Is What a Manager Needs”
“The Heart of Engagement” (employee engagement, not you and your sweetie’s)
“6 Powerful Ways to Stand Out at Work” (GOOD ways)
“How to Feel More in Control of Your Time” (like by reading blogs)
“Stress at Work Very Unlikely to Cause Cancer” (good to know, but there goes that excuse)
“3 Ways to Keep Dominant Personalities from Ruining Meetings”
“Young Adults Need to Face the Harsh Truths about Their Careers” (basically, grow the h*ll up . . . or that may just be our interpretation)
“When Office Enthusiasm Gets Out of Control?” (anyone got any idea what these people are talking about . . . can’t conceptualize . . . .)

 

--J’me Overstreet

Here are a couple of excerpts from a very helpful piece up at the US Office of Personnel Management on how to manage and recognize the productive worker bees in any organization. Once you’ve gotten the basics down here, click on the headline to get the actual story on which this is based and the rest of the whole article.

The Story

Once upon a time there were two beekeepers who each had a beehive. The beekeepers worked for a company called Bees, Inc. The company's customers loved its honey and demand for the product was increasing. So Bees, Inc. assigned each beekeeper a goal for increased honey production. The beekeepers had different ideas about how to meet their goal and designed different approaches to improve the performance of their hives. . . .

Accomplishments vs. Activities

. . . Note that accomplishments can be measured at two levels in the organization the employee level and the work unit level. Employee accomplishments can be included in employee performance appraisal plans using all three types of performance elements - critical, non-critical, and additional. Work unit accomplishments also can be included in the appraisal process through non-critical elements if it's desirable to have work unit performance affect ratings (and if the appraisal program is not pass/fail), or through additional performance elements if work unit performance is not to affect ratings. However they are used in performance appraisal, work unit as well as employee accomplishments can always be recognized through an awards program. . . .

--Mike Connelly

Here’s your management pieces and articles for this week. Some are more relevant than others, as usual, but who are we to tell you what’s relevant? Fortunately for us, management is just something we get to wax nostalgic about, although waxing anything at our age isn’t all that easy and nostalgia is particularly hard. Have at ‘em. Hope they help.

“Forcing Choice May Hamper Decision-Making, Study Finds”
“Management: Defensiveness About Feedback”
“Sometimes, Negative Feedback Is Best”
“Office Space: Why Work Alone When You Can Cowork Together?” (involves leasing space for your cubicle with other folks, although some DOCs may decide to go that way if telecommuting and other alternatives start catching on more in The Storm)
“Chaos to Calm: Building a Mindful Workplace” (ommmmmm . . . .)
“4 Reasons Why You Didn’t Hear Back After the Interview”
“5 Reasons Why It Sucks to Have Power”

“Power Helps You Live the Good Life by Bringing You Closer to Your True Self” (why do we always assume that our “true self,” you know, who we are when we finally “find ourselves,” isn’t a jerk??)

“The Secret of Performance Under Pressure”
“Develop These 5 Habits to Become a More Efficient Worker”
“You’re Actually Awful at Multi-Tasking”
“6 Things You Shouldn’t Do When Quitting Your Job”
“Five Trust Building Don’ts”
“Ultra-Intelligent Electronic Agents Will Shape the Future—Is Your Company Ready?”

Since the last one doesn’t say “Department,” we don’t have to worry about it. Right?