It Doesn't have to be a Daily Struggle

For too many, the workday and work weeks continue to be a continual struggle. We are facing the constant push to hit targets, unmotivated people, variables outside your control, and unrealistic expectations from senior leadership. It seems if there is no end to the grind. We feel like there must be a better way to make a living and run a business.

If any of the above resonates with you, let me offer a few primary reasons and some suggestions to not only turn around your business, but to also turn around your life. We spend too much of our lives at work to have miserable experiences. Work is too important to not do it well, but doing it well doesn't have to equate to a bad experience. We can achieve business success and still create desirable workplaces!

Here are five thoughts on this issue to consider:

• Focusing on the battle at the expense of the war: Many of us are engaged with organizations that place extreme focus on hitting daily metrics. I am all for the "win the day" concept. Win enough days and you win weeks and months. I get it. However, when organizational pressure to hit too many daily metrics that are a stretch, non-realistic expectation, or just not feasible given variables outside the control of the local team, that pressure can make things miserable for the local team. Excessive burdens are placed on people, short-term decisions are made at long-term detriment, and the culture turns to metric focus rather than sustainable success focus.

Suggestion: Senior leaders need to understand the broader concept of business. Business is an infinite game (see Simon Sinek's book). The point of business is to do well enough to keep playing the game. The point is not to hit a metric in one month or beat the competition. Those goals may feel good in the moment, if at all, but that only lasts a moment. Every day can not be the defining moment for the organization. Value your people, take care of your customers, and run your business well to deliver sustainable results. Fewer things, done better consistently, over time, may just be what your organization needs.

• Unrealistic expectations become the target/goal: What looks good on paper may not be possible. Strategy is a key element of forming or running any organization. However, when developing strategy, one needs to have a solid understanding of the market, the competition, and one's capability. A strategy that can not be executed will lead to failure. Working really hard to execute all the wrong things will also lead to failure. Expectations are just a wish, want, or desire. Expectations are based on the one in charge "wanting" oftentimes without consideration of capability or capacity.

Suggestion: Raise your standards not your expectations. Standards are the norms you operate under. It's what you want to be known for and will ultimately form your identity and help you reach potential. Those responsible for setting strategy need to be close to or the same as those responsible for execution. Strategy and execution need to walk hand in hand together! Define your win daily, but realize that all days are not the same. Standards engage people while expectations divide an organization.

• Obstacles negate opportunities: The real culture of an organization is revealed when tough times arise, obstacles occur, or things don't go as planned. So many organizations talk a good game of engagement, development, and valuing people, but throw it to the side at the first sign of operational or commercial difficulty. One-to-one's are cancelled regularly, people's opinions no longer matter, and the old autocratic system reappears. People lose faith in the organization, become disengaged, and the potential of the organization is never reached.

Suggestion: If those responsible could see obstacles as opportunities, things would be so different. Every organization will face adversity. Can you use that adversity as a differentiating factor in your competitive market? If you will see those tough times as opportunities to not only resolve the problem, but to deepen your engagement, elevate development, and grow the organization, you will be stronger because of it. Too many just want to solve the issue as quickly as possible and not only miss an opportunity, but hurt the organization in the process.

• Investments and systems are valued over people: Every organization has some type of operating system(s) and some type of investments whether its equipment or technology. Everyone wants the latest "bells and whistles" to compete. Truth is, everyone in the market likely has access to the same stuff. We don't differentiate based on equipment or systems. Sure, it may seem so in the short-term, but long-term, everyone catches up. We push new "things" on people in ways that oftentimes creates more problems than benefits. Investments and systems should help people not be a burden to people.

Suggestion: Recognize that your best approach to differentiating (long-term) in your market is through your people. Include people in your investment and system decisions, develop solid implementation plans with realistic timelines, and ensure people are benefiting from these additions. Consider investing in people development rather than just buying the latest "fad" that is guaranteed to improve your results! How many of those prior purchases really made an impact? hmm

• Goal setting, development, and financial recognition are HR processes: This one is not a knock on HR folks. These are very needed professionals in every organization. The problem lies with how goals are used in setting priorities, how development is an after thought, and how compensation is seldom tied to results. Many often look to one-to-ones, performance reviews, development plans, and merit discussions as year-end HR requirements rather than an approach to driving results every day.

Suggestion: Goals need to be input focused not outcome based. What needs to be done over the next 90 days by the individual to drive us toward the result we want. Set the goals through joint discussions, meet monthly to discuss progress and resolve shortfalls, and reset every 90 days. Development plans are woven into the 90 day goal focus and merit walks hand in hand with results being achieved. These aren't HR requirements, but key actions to drive sustainable results. Fewer things, done better consistently, over time, may just be what your organization needs!

Just five thoughts on how to change your organization and create a sustainable culture to deliver results and create a culture that engage people, retains people, and attracts people to deliver these results!