Monday, September 29, 2008
Burning the midnight oil
It’s always great when we can persuade a senior executive to drop into one of our courses to add their weight to the discussions. Hearing a Chief Executive or Senior VP discussing the importance of proposals - and offering their personal support for improvement initiatives - does wonders for the confidence of the attendees.Only, it doesn’t always quite work, no matter how carefully the exec’s been briefed. Take the following ‘praise’ offered to a group of proposal managers at a recent event:
“You guys do a fantastic job - I come up late at night and there you are”
Noooooo! That’s precisely what proposal centres should be trying to avoid!
When the security guard on the night shift drops by your desk to say goodnight before heading home - when success is measured in terms of hours worked, commitment viewed as a willingness to persevere with too few resources and an unnecessarily inefficient process - then it’s time for change.
Amen brother!
This is a tough one to resolve and takes truly enlightened leadership to overcome. The idea that long hours should be rewarded is as all as time. I recall a scene in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” wherein the main character always departs 3 minutes after everyone else, pretending he’ll be staying “as long as it takes” and then shows up about 10 minutes before everyone, scatters pizzas boxes and cigarette ashes and thne pretends to be asleep at his desk and makes it appear he’s worked through the nightas the others come in for the day. He is, of course, promoted and held up as an example of an exceptional employee.
Raise a couple of questions as to which should be rewarded -
The person who completes the job quickly and efficiently or the person who constantly has to put in additional time?
The person who continually “does whatever it takes” or the person who says, “I refuse to work in this manner. We need to be appropriately staffed to meet demand.”
I like the questions to be raised and am trying valiantly to make senior management select the right option. I’ve made it clear that “I refuse to work in this manner. We need to be appropriately staffed to meet demand.” It has taken a while, but I do think I’m finally making some progress!