How Rudeness Impacts Performance

Monday, September 26, 2011

You probably have concluded by now that Ben and I share a strong pet peeve regarding the practice of rudeness and arrogance, especially concerning managers' attitudes and behaviors toward new agent candidates. Like an abusive individual who is dating, an arrogant manager might attract a few desperate, insecure partners, but they're guaranteed to miss the cream of the crop.

Furthermore, new evidence suggests that rudeness impacts even more than successful hiring:

In three experimental studies, the simple act of being a witness to rudeness displayed by a peer or an authority figure toward someone, significantly reduced the observer's performance in routine tasks, as well as creative tasks. In addition to this, rudeness appeared to be contagious. The observer became less civil to others.

So why does rudeness persist? Why do we allow people, especially managers, who impact so many, get away with it and set the contagious behavior in the office? My hypothesis is that when the economy was booming, some arrogant-prone people attributed the success of their office to themselves, rather than the profound amount and frequency of money changing hands. And, like an abusive spouse, people became so attached to these people that everyone just accepted their behavior. Some of these people may never revert back to a spirit of humility and kindness to others, while some will hopefully change.

A few years ago, I had the unfortunate experience of witnessing this phenomenon first hand, while I watched the performance of my son's high school varsity basketball team over a period of three years. No one doubted the coach's knowledge and strategy when it came to basketball, and everyone was aware that he had inherited some excellent players and had the opportunity to do very well. But, the coach was a bully. Not to everyone…just to the players who weren't the stars. He clearly disrespected the players that he didn't see as huge contributors. The result was a team who consistently underperformed.

This research confirms what all of the parents suspected: The bullying of some players impacted the performance and creativity of all players.

The implications of these studies are too important to ignore. It's not just the victims of rudeness who are impacted, rather everyone. Much as second hand smoking impacts everyone within inhaling range, rudeness impacts everyone within earshot. In these current times, where we must squeeze out as much performance and creativity as possible, how much rudeness can we afford to ignore?

Source:
Porath, C. and Erez, A. (2009). Overlooked but not untouched: How rudeness reduces onlookers’ performance on routine and creative tasks, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109 (1), 29-44

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Progress Principle: How Small Successes Can Make a Big Difference

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

I’m picking up a new book this week—it is called The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. I learned about the book from an interview I read recently by Daniel Pink. In the book, Pink interviews the book’s authors, Harvard Business School Professor, Teresa Amabile, and Developmental Psychologist, Steven Kramer.

You may recall that Daniel Pink is the author of Drive, a best-selling book that I reviewed last year in WorkPuzzle, and he is an expert on the topic of motivation. He called The Progress Principle the best business book he has read in many years. Because there are more than 11,000 business books published each year, that got my attention!

The basic premise of the book explores the questions:

How and when are people most engaged and motivated at work?

To research this important topic, the authors recruited 238 people across seven companies and had each of them complete questionnaires and diary entries over a period of time. In total, they amassed over 12,000 days worth of data. In addition, they connected with more than 700 business managers to get their perspectives as well.

What were their findings?

What motivates people the most, day-to-day, is making progress on meaningful work.

I’ll share parts of the interview below. Hopefully, it will spur you on to learn more about this important topic as well.

1. Focus on small wins and incremental steps.

Q: Lots of business books talk about the need for bold, audacious goals — and deride those who “think small.” But your book, which is based on research far more rigorous than its counterparts, takes a different stance. You emphasize the power of “small wins.” Why are those so important in the performance of individuals and organizations?

A:  Try to remember the last time you – or anyone you know – had a truly enormous breakthrough in solving a problem or achieving one of those audacious goals. It’s pretty hard, because breakthroughs are very rare events.

On the other hand, small wins can happen all the time. Those are the incremental steps toward meaningful (even big) goals. Our research showed that, of all the events that have the power to excite people and engage them in their work, the single most important is making progress – even if that progress is a small win. That’s the progress principle. And, because people are more creatively productive when they are excited and engaged, small wins are a very big deal for organizations.

2. 95% of managers igore the most potent motivators.

Q: In addition to examining 12,000 daily diary entries from workers, you also surveyed a few hundred leaders — from CEOs to project managers — about what they think really motivates employees. What did you find out?

A: Our survey showed that most leaders don’t understand the power of progress. When we asked nearly 700 managers from companies around the world to rank five employee motivators (incentives, recognition, clear goals, interpersonal support, and support for making progress in the work), progress came in at the very bottom.

In fact, only 5% of these leaders ranked progress first – a much lower percent than if they had been choosing randomly! Don’t get me wrong; those other four motivators do drive people. But we found that they aren’t nearly as potent as making meaningful progress.

3. Negative events significantly outweigh positive events.

Q: Negative events have a more powerful impact than positive ones. Why?

A:  We were pretty shocked to discover the dominant effect of negative events on inner work life – people’s mostly-hidden emotions, perceptions, and motivations at work. Setbacks have a negative effect on inner work life that’s 2-3 times stronger than the positive effect of progress.

When we checked into whether other researchers had found something similar, we learned that it’s a general psychological effect; “bad is stronger than good.” The reason could be evolutionary. Maybe we pay more attention to negatives, and are more affected by them, out of self-preservation. So – because positive inner work life is so important for top performance, leaders should do whatever they can to root out negative forces.

4. Time pressure only helps those who are working on legitimate, mission-critical deadlines.

Q: I was especially intrigued by your findings about time pressure. Sometimes it helps; other times it hurts. Tell us what you found.

A:  The typical form of time pressure in organizations today is what we call “being on a treadmill” – running all day to keep up with many different (often unrelated) demands, but getting nowhere on your most important work. That’s an absolute killer for creativity. Generally, low-to-moderate time pressure is optimal for creativity.

But we did find some instances in which people were terrifically creative under high time pressure. Almost invariably, it was quite different from being on a treadmill. Rather, people felt like they were “on a mission”— working hard to meet a truly urgent deadline on an important project, and protected from all other demands.

These are all important topics that I can apply to my personal performance as well as working with those on my team. I’ll provide an update to what I’ve learned…after I finish the book.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

What is the Economy Doing To Your Candidate’s Brain?

Monday, September 19, 2011

Last week, we spent some time with the leadership team of a client who wants to retool their interviewing approach. They were excited about opening their sourcing aperture to include younger candidates, but worried they may not be able to successfully connect with these candidates during the interview process.

As we worked through these topics and provided some insight, another theme resurfaced—candidates have significant financial obstacles that appear to be keeping them from considering the real estate industry as a career option.

I want to address both of these topics today. It may surprise you that this is not a problem that is limited to the real estate industry. In a recent article in Business Insider, journalists Vivian Giang and Aimee Groth, document 13 ways that the recession has changed the way that young people view work.

There are a lot of companies trying to make sense of, what seems to be, odd behavior. I’ll list seven of the most relevant issues (in my opinion) below, but you may want to take some extra time and see what I’ve left out.

They're more risk averse. In one sense, a job is like a financial investment. You invest time hoping to get a return. So, how do young people look at investing right now? “Because they have a limited history, they are much more likely to change their behavior due to a single year’s performance in the markets than an older person, who might have several decades of experience,” says Stefan Nagel, an associate professor of finance at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Because of this, they won't invest as much — into the stock market, or any one job.
They question traditional hierarchies. When making a business deal with a member from this generation, it's essential that all parties involved act as if they are of similar ranking. In other words, if you expect to be treated differently because you are of a higher rank, think again. Younger workers are more willing to challenge managers and traditional hierarchies, so communicating on a more casual tone between equal ranks will make the meeting run smoother.
They believe luck plays a big role in success. People who started working during a recession "tend to believe that success in life depends more on luck than on effort, support more government redistribution, but are less confident in public institutions," according to economists Paola Giuliano of UCLA's School of Management and Antonio Spilimbergo of the International Monetary Fund.
They're more willing to settle. Those who graduate during a recession are more likely to compromise and start at lower-paying, lower-level positions — sometimes completely unrelated to their original career plans. But Kahn from the Yale School of Management advises Gen Y not to accept the status quo: "Be mindful that you might not be reaching your full potential right now … recessions make people fearful, so they tend to settle for jobs that don't stretch them; to overcome that pitfall, you need the right mindset."
They want answers immediately. According to CareerBuilder's Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources, the one thing that Gen Y can't tolerate is uncertainty. The savvy-tech generation expects immediate answers and instant access. "Ambiguity drives them crazy. They want an answer."
Reliance on technology also makes this generation more socially awkward. According to Mary Crane, a business consultant, Gen Y doesn't know how to dress or act appropriately in professional settings: "Over 80 percent of them own a cell phone, yet none of them use their cell phones to call people. They use them to text message. Employers are finding that when they suddenly put these people in an interview, they're not used to normal discourse. They're used to seeing questions pop up on their cell phone."
And like the generations before them, they still value hard work. Rachel Olding of the Sydney Morning Herald writes: "Young people have simply never known what proper job security is. We are so acutely aware of how difficult it is to find a job that when we eventually get one, we work incredibly hard to protect it and remain wary of how fleeting it may be. We entered the workforce when a job was a rare privilege. Some of us work with the fear of being fired and accept that as legitimate because, well, that's just the way things are these days. If you're not the best at your job then employers are entitled to get someone who is."

There is value in becoming a student of your candidates. While some of these ideas are a good place to start, do your own research. Ask questions during interviews that help you understand how a candidate thinks. Document the responses and look for patterns.

As you develop your own knowledge base, I think you'll find your interviews improve and you'll do a better job of engaging the most talented individuals.

How To Answer The Excuse: “I Don’t Have The Money”

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

This edition is intended for our recruiter clients and those in the real estate industry who actually talk to new agent candidates on a regular basis.

We have heard the common and repeated concern that candidates have now more than ever (even if they have shown initial interest in knowing more about becoming and agent): "I don't have the money." This statement has begun to take a significant toll on new agent enrollment in licensing school and new agent ventures overall.

I'm unclear how most recruiters choose to answer this objection, but I have a few thoughts that hopefully might stir some creativity and resolve in your ability to challenge this response.

What are their options? Most smart people know that it takes education and often risk and investment, to succeed at anything in life that is worth doing. Remember the old saying…"If everyone could do it, it would be too easy, and everyone would."…meaning that the competition would be too great for anyone to really succeed. But, that's not my point…

My focus here is primarily on the cost and reward of any education. Education is almost always an integral piece of the solution to being stuck with no options for growth. Education helps one figure out if something is right for them, and gives them hope and freedom for the future. These facts are so widely accepted that most households are willing to shell out plenty of money to make sure it happens.

A May 2011 Pew Research white paper called "Is College Worth It?" reports that 5% of all household debt, including mortgage, is dedicated to education. This, despite the fact that only 40% believe they have gotten their money's worth:

"Amid rising costs and a sluggish economy, many Americans are questioning whether a college education is good value for the money. A large majority (75%) of the public says college is no longer affordable for most Americans. And only four-in-ten say the higher education system does an excellent (5%) or good (35%) job providing value to students given the amount of money they and their families are paying for college."

So, from this finding one would expect, given the economy and 60% believing it wasn't worth cost, that enrollment would be down. But, it's not– It's up!

So, what's happening? The answer seems clear: People are using this moment in history to invest in their futures. They are using this time to bite the bullet and make the necessary sacrifices now, so that they can build a better future later.

Education builds hope. It opens options. It gets people out of a sense of learned helplessness and helps them build towards something new. Everyone needs this hope. There are reasons that people click on our ads and tell you that they want to be contacted. They had a moment of hope. Remember, people will often resist change and throw into your lap their worst fears, often times subconsciously, hoping that someone will help shake them out of their own self-sabotaging defenses. It's not your job to convince them… However, it is your duty to challenge them. If you believe that education in real estate is worth it, it seems a bit easier to sell. How much less does real estate licensing cost than a college education?

What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

Monday, September 12, 2011

One of my daily "must reads" is Michael Hyatt's blog. His advice is typically concise and concrete. A recent edition addressed a topic that most of us experience frequently: What to do when we don't know what to do. I don't know about you, but I tend to become paralyzed in these situations. But, not anymore… With this sage advice, from this point forward, I will always have the answer.

"Early in my career, I was the marketing director for a book publishing company. Because of my workload and the on-going pressure to produce results, I felt overwhelmed. I was certain that it was only a matter of time before my boss discovered that I was in over my head.

This produced uncertainty. I was afraid to act. Instead, I worried and spent an inordinate amount of time thinking through worst-case scenarios—something I am pretty good at.

Frustrated, I went to a wise, older colleague and poured out my soul. He listened patiently, then said something I will never forget:

'Mike, just do the next right thing.'

'That’s it?' I asked.

'Yep. That’s it,' he replied. 'You’re over-thinking it. Just do the next right thing. It will be okay.'

That simple concept simultaneously gave me relief and clarity. I have used it time and time again in moments when I have felt overwhelmed and uncertain.

Here are the three steps I take.

Forget about the ultimate outcome. The truth is that I probably have less control over the outcome than I think. I can undoubtedly influence it, but I can’t control it. Besides, before I ever get to the final destination, many of the variables will change. Projects and deals have a way of unfolding over time. There will be problems—and resources—I can’t see now.

Instead, focus on the next right action. Since worrying about the outcome is unproductive, I try to think about the next actions that will move the project forward. This is far more accessible than something in the distant future. For example, as an author, I can worry about whether or not my book will become a bestseller or I can make sure that I am fully prepped for the interview I have scheduled today.

And do something now! This is key. Something is better than nothing. Too often, we think that we have to have clarity about how it will all turn out. In my experience, I rarely have this. But, as I move toward the destination, making course corrections as necessary, I experience clarity. Therefore, it is important to get off the sidelines and into the game.

So, if you are in a situation where you feel overwhelmed and don’t know what course to take, just do the next right thing."

Retooling Your Business to Connect With a Younger Demographic

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Last week, I was able to spend some time with the leadership team of one our clients in the Midwest. These types of consulting trips always energize me because I’m able to engage those who are “slugging it out” on the front lines. The resilience, perseverance, and tenacity displayed by real estate leaders in today’s market (those still in business) is quite inspiring.

One goal of this consulting visit was to attempt to quantify what the future holds regarding the hiring of new agents. While there is an initial tendency to look to the past to try to predict what will work in the future, the future seems to have a way of moving on before the benefits of that exercise can be realized.

This leaves us with trying to envision the future and then matching the actions of today to what we believe will be tomorrow’s reality. This is what business leaders call "vision." The question I’d like to explore today is:

How do you cultivate vision in your organization or team?

The quick answer to this question is…understand your customers.

I know this sounds simple, but understanding your customers is a profound struggle for anyone who conducts business within a mature industry. There are so many paradigms, business frameworks, and even regulatory restrictions that keep a leader from seeing and connecting with what the customer wants. It is often difficult, frustrating and quite expensive to make changes.

As a point of encouragement, there are other mature industries that are also struggling with this issue. I thought it might be helpful to share an example from a recent article published in Businessweek on this topic. When I picked-up this article, I was surprised to learn that the casual-dining industry is experiencing much of the same pain that the real estate industry has been experiencing over the last few years:

“American twentysomethings are snubbing the restaurant chains their parents took them to as kids. Chili’s, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday, and other so-called casual-dining chains are already struggling to revive sales in the wake of an epic recession.

Now they risk losing an important consumer demographic group unless they remake themselves. ‘If you have a little bit of money and you’re educated, you want a boutique feel, less chain,’ says Brad Swanson, who runs the restaurant group at KeyBanc Capital Markets, an investment banking and equity research firm.

The casual-dining chains, which serve reasonably priced sit-down meals, are losing customers to ‘fast-casual’ upstarts such as Five Guys, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Panera Bread, which offer counter service, trendy menus, and not much else.”

So, the recession has knocked these restaurant companies down, but what may keep them from getting up is a generational issue. I suspect that people will continue to eat out, but they’re probably not going to eat at the restaurants that were so prominent just a few years ago.

Some of these companies are experiencing a sense of paralysis as these changes approach:

“Revenue at Chili’s parent, Brinker International, has declined for four straight years. Sales at DineEquity (DIN), which owns Applebee’s and IHOP, have slid in nine of the last ten quarters (in part because the company has sold about half its Applebee’s locations to various franchisees).”

While some companies remained paralyzed as their potential declined, others saw that changes were necessary and moved quickly to make adjustments. These changes took a little while to incubate, but they are now starting to pay off.

“Ruby Tuesday, which grew revenue in its fiscal 2011 for the first time in four years, is licensing and opening stores from Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, a Florida chain that looks a lot like a certain fast-casual competitor.

Lime Fresh restaurants feature hammered copper countertops and earth-toned walls and sell the usual Mexican fare—guacamole, quesadillas, burritos—made from ‘humanely raised’ food. The chain ‘plays on sustainably raised, better quality, more natural ingredients—not too dissimilar to what Chipotle has done,’ says Robert Derrington, a restaurant analyst at investment firm Morgan Keegan. ‘It’s clearly positioned towards a younger demographic.’ ”

While some of the changes necessary to stay competitive require significant capital (Applebee’s is currently rehabbing many of their restaurants at $200,000 per location), some of the less expensive changes can have a large impact—if they’re focued on the what the end customer wants:

“Millennials like to hit the bar after work. Hence Applebee’s “Girls’ Night Out” parties, which are advertised heavily on Facebook. Ruby Tuesday is pushing $5 cocktails made with açai berries, as well as craft beers.

The fast-casual restaurants are doing the same. Chipotle serves beer and margaritas at most locations, while beer and wine is on the menu at select Five Guys stores.”

Here is the bottom line: Since the beginning of time, businesses have had to adapt to the changes in their marketplace, finances, technologies, and hundreds of other challenges. The companies that continually recreate themselves to meet the needs of their customers will be the ones to survive. They'll earn the privilege of competing with the new start-ups that will inevitably replace the mature companies that were not able to change.