Reward and recognition? I just don’t believe you.

People do many things they’re not good at and nobody appreciates, but they keep on doing it. Golf is a good example. Far too many men golf when they shouldn’t. They’re not good at it, nobody appreciates it, but they keep on golfing anyway. If golfing relied on recognition and reward, half the world would give up playing golf. Yet the golfing industry keeps on growing exponentially driven entirely by amateurs who golf poorly and annoy everyone else. You’d think they’d quit but they don’t. What motivates them?

Dancing is another one of those things. Far too many people dance at parties. They don’t dance well, nobody appreciates it, but they won’t stop dancing. What motivates them?

Cooking is sort of in that group. I know many people who should have a restraining order to keep them away from any stove. No matter what recipe or show they watch, they can’t turn out good food. Nobody says thank you, nobody comes back for a seconds, yet they keep on cooking and trying. It’s not right. What motivates them?

Half the world should not drive. They’re not good at it, nobody appreciates it, but they just won’t take a bus. Your friends and peers should vote and decide whether you’ll be allowed to drive next year. Signal lights are not optional, the left lane on the freeway is for faster drivers, and I am going to vote you out of your car. What motivates them?


I have to conclude people do things because they are personally motivated or because they have to. People do not do things because somebody else said ‘thank you.’ If I extend that logic to reward and recognition on the job, it must be aimed at those who aren’t motivated to work and don’t have to work. Sort of a sad default place to be. We’re teaching managers to say thank you to people don’t want to work and don’t have to work.

Saying thank you is aimed at emotions, and that is what managers manage; the emotions of others. How much better would things be if you hired only people with discipline and commitment? People who are able to over ride their own emotional weakness, acted out of principle, - and you’d never have to say thank you again!

I agree reward and recognition is important, but that’s not enough to build a company with. You have to select principled people with commitment who don’t always need to hear ‘thank you’. Hire the guy who absolutely wants and needs to work only for you. The guy who forgot to ask how much his salary was going to be. The bad golfer who keeps on hitting balls even though he’s no good at it and nobody says thank you. That’s your guy. Hire him.

See you for breakfast,

Wolfgang

Nov 17th, almost full house, 130 managers. Please book your seat with Rachel now. Some individual tickets left, $135 each. Subject, what else, -

Performance Review White Paper

“It’s not about you, it’s about what I need.” My 22 page white paper on performance reviews. This is not your father’s performance review to be sure. It is restoring the idea of workplace feedback to it’s proper and rightful role before the social engineers got a hold of it and turned it into an industry. When you read my paper, you’ll agree, - he makes sense! Ask for it.

“Did you know you don’t need facts to do a performance review?”

Companies run on everything except facts. For most employees it’s a stroke of luck that companies do not have all the facts. Leave it alone. We’re all human and with a video cam following us, gathering facts, none of us would pass the grade.

I’m not against fact but I don’t believe a review is limited to facts. Everything that is valuable to a company can not be measured. And, everything that can be measured is certainly not valuable. Where does that leave us?

So often managers are reviewing an employee who demands all the facts be known, - who five years earlier was hired on a whim! (No facts in sight.) Oh the irony.

Mintzberg showed us companies don’t run on facts, or plans. Managers are valued for their experience, knowledge and intuition and not their ability to assemble facts. Facts, like philosophy, research and religion can serve us no matter what side of any argument you wish to adopt.

To the employee insisting on facts, where are you going with this? Suppose you win this one, now what? Oh happy day on the job. Your manager hates you but you’re still here because of “your facts.” Facts are whatever we want them to be.

That doesn’t make reviews an entirely subjective idea. Every manager has to have integrity and reach inside himself to do justice for each employee. Fairness is always in play. Do right by every employee that works for you. We are in charge of people’s lives and dreams. Don’t take your power frivolously and to the degree that it is possible, equip yourself with enough honest information, and even facts. In the end, it’s your intuition, your gut, that will deliver the most value to your company. Use that, use it honestly.

Nov. 17th, filling very fast. Subject is; “The No More Money Seminar!” About Performance and salary reviews.

Facts, shmacts, see you for breakfast,
Wolfgang

Ask for my 22 page white paper on performance reviews entitled, “It’s not about you, it’s about what I need.” Learn why pay cheques are the yin to the yang of the review. Why the review meeting is a monologue. Why not to evaluate the person. Why hard work doesn’t count. The connection of pay raise to the review. Why reviews annoy only poor performers. Why reviews don’t have to motivate. Why teams don’t need to be reviewed. Why “busy” doesn’t exist. Why resources aren’t an issue. Why you don’t need facts. Why your job description will bite you. How to review managers. Why employees shouldn’t rate themselves. The goals of the review process. How reviews are a form of social control and that’s ok. Use reviews for career development and training needs not. Why employees don’t need to respond or challenge the review. How to review a friend.

You may not agree with everything I say but you won’t forget it either. Email me, I’ll send you a copy. Thank you.

There is no such thing as "too busy."

You're busy are you? Overworked? Your boss just doesn't get it and keeps piling on more work? Or perhaps your boss withholds work because your team is so busy. You poor, poor people!

Years ago I too used to buy into that excuse, "we're really busy. Recently I'm having a difficult time believing "busy" even exists.

Watch young couple dating, - wonderful isn't it? Nothing is too much, they'll do anything for each other. The young man will proudly walk his woman up to the car, open the door for her, help her inside, make sure her coat doesn't get caught in the door, and gently close the door. He'll even blow a kiss while walking around to his side. Her wish is his command.

Watching TV? Any show any channel, any movie, Pookie, it's all fine. Dinner out? Italian, Greek, steak, vegetarian, Chinese, - for you it's all ok. He'll make reservations, cancel reservations, change the time, change the date, nothing is too much to ask and what's amazing is, - he's never too busy, never frustrated, always with a smile.

Want to see your young man get "busy?" . . . Marry him.

Meet your new "busy" spouse. Open your own door lady, I've had a tough day. I hate Italian food, we ate Italian last time just for you, now it's my turn to pick a restaurant. I want to watch the football game and no, I'm not changing our dinner reservation one more time, you can do it. Can't you see I'm busy? Can't you see I have a life?

What happened to the man who was never too busy? What transformed the debonair, "can-do" anything guy that she loved so much into this always tired, always busy, always grumpy, couch potato?

You see my problem with the whole "busy" thing? Busy is what we say when the love is gone. Where there is love, there is no "busy." Anyone at work who tells you they are busy has lost the love. People who are too busy, don't care anymore.

We're dealing with performance reviews on Nov. 17th. You will encounter people who are going to play the "busy" card so I'm going to equip you with the answers to get you through it.

You have to do reviews, I'm telling you, please believe me. Without reviews, seniority takes over and I don't think you want that. Without reviews great employees get worn down because they really aren't recognized. My method is a ten minute, single page performance review that works for everyone, particularly the employee.

See you for breakfast and I'll show you how to do it!
Wolfgang

1. The Performance Review White Paper. I've written my arguments and method in a 20 page white paper entitled "It's not about you, it's about what I need." Please ask me for it.

2. Single tickets for sale. You can buy individual tickets for this event $135 each. We'll invoice you or purchase online. (Members simply reserve). Our room limit is 120 managers and as always, we'll be sold out.

3. You can find people who are "too busy," and you can find people who love their job. But you can't someone who is both.

“If you can believe in the Canucks, you can believe in anything.”

What a face. Mr. Stereotypically unhappy, doom and gloom employee guy took me aside for a confidential earful, “the inside scoop Wolf, you know what I mean? You need to know what really goes on in this company!”

I can’t count how many times I’ve been down this road with the myopic disenchanted few. Their line always goes like this; “Our executives are morons, the company doesn’t know what it’s doing, we make overpriced garbage for customers who don’t appreciate it, my boss is a jerk and I’m surrounded by incompetents.”

I asked him, “are you a Canucks fan?”

He burst into a smile. “Absolutely, the Canucks are going to win the Stanley Cup this year, I’m betting on it.”

These people make this so easy. I looked him square in the face and told him; “If you can believe in the Canucks, you can believe in your company. The Canucks have never ever won a Stanley Cup, they lose constantly. Your company has been around for 30 years, employs over fifty people, pays it’s bills and taxes, has employed you for over ten years. Seems to me your company is on a winning streak. If you can believe in the Canucks, you can most certainly believe in your company. It’s not about your company, it’s about you. What you have to decide is, - are you going to be a fan of your company or not?”

And that’s really what it’s all about isn’t it? It’s not about the company being good or bad. It’s about each employee deciding in their heart whether they want to be a fan or not. Are you a fan of your company?

Nov. 17th I’m going to show you how to do a performance review in less than ten minutes using one sheet of paper. I’m also going to give you the counter points to all the pushback people are used to giving you about the company. You will make a raving fan out of everyone who goes through your review process!

We already know you will back a loser. The question is, will you back our company? Will you back a winner?

See you for breakfast,
Wolfgang,


P.s. What do you say to someone who hates the Canucks but keeps attending their games? My guess is we’re free to call them fools. And what about people who keep badmouthing the company but keep showing up? Same thing I think.