Talented employees don't want to be told what to do. Rather they want to be asked for their opinions and given responsibility to achieve specific goals. With certain limits they want to make the decisions, develop a plan of action, and figure out what's necessary to move forward. The more autonomy you can extend knowledge workers to achieve their goals, the more willing they are to be involved and get results.
Too much direction and advice are insulting to today's knowledge workers. These employees have their own way of tackling projects and getting results. Knowledge workers don't want you to impose your way of doing things on them. They have a pattern and rhythm that works for them and they want to use it. Allow them to complete project in their own way as long as accomplishes the objective and doesn't interfere with other employees or processes.
Nothing annoys an employee more than being overlooked or ignored in areas where they have expertise. They are insulted when you do not consult them on decisions in areas they can offer expert advice-even if it falls outside the strict parameters of their job. The developer wants to be included when her prototype is being reviewed while a project manager wants to have a say in how his project is modified and changed. Take time to involve employees in key decisions and welcome their input.
Capable employees don't like getting mired in turf issues and destructive interpersonal dynamics. Many are not adept at handling conflicts and political infighting-they see it as a petty distraction to the work that needs to get done. Thus, they prefer to work around, ignore, and avoid dealing with conflicts and difficult personalities impeding progress. Yet sometimes the problems caused by these disruptions are too great to ignore. Knowledge workers need your help confronting difficult issues and addressing them. As a leader of knowledge workers, you must get involved, help them confront tough issues and make sure problems are resolved.
Talented employees want to contribute and make a difference. They relish learning, collaborating with colleagues and stretching their minds and abilities. As their manager you can help them succeed. When they win - you win.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, June 20, 2008
A brief opinion on soft skills...
Quantifiable technical ability is a primary attribute that gets a person hired as a software engineer. They bring needed skills to the organization and project. Developers would go to a company, do great technical work, then find that they needed to move on -- usually because other members of their project team really didn't want to work with them on another project. If technical ability is the primary characteristic that gets someone the job, what keeps them on the job? For the strategic goals of the company and the longevity of the employee, the relationships among employee, company, and the people in the organization are important. Thus, the mere presence of technical abilities does not guarantee success. Soft skills are essential for winning the race.
I find that if I don't tell employees exactly how they're going to be graded, some of them are surprised when they don't do well. They may think they've done commendable work, and technically speaking, they have often. But I want them to be part of a team, and if they're alienating their teammates, they're failing the lesson.
Companies have huge human resource departments that provide corporate guidelines on how to perform performance evaluations. They provide training for managers, and much of it is really good. Many firms, today, conduct training for soft skills internally through their own set of trainers. But the trend is more and more moving towards outsourcing this activity. Soft skills are very much a part of the quality of an employee hired, thus, HR departments are focusing a great deal on measuring the attributes of talent that it proposes to hire.
The complete engineer has both technical skills and soft skills. Unfortunately, he’s a rarity. Usually, they’re strong on one and weak on the other. In most technical industries, they’re weak on soft skills.
Leadership, listening, negotiation, conflict management—all these are soft skills by nature that underline both individualistic career aspirations of an employee, as well as, offers business advantage to the companies at large. Hence the attributes such as conscientiousness—the ability to work in a neat and orderly manner, respecting authority and keeping account of detail working in a process, would greatly enhance the efficiency of a person in that role.
Thus, communication is the most important ingredient of soft skills. Improving communication starts with awareness. It starts with understanding what goes wrong. I don’t know the source, but I’ve seen it repeated often that only 5% of the communication with another person is the words we use, 35% is the tone or voice quality, and 60% is non-verbal.
I find that if I don't tell employees exactly how they're going to be graded, some of them are surprised when they don't do well. They may think they've done commendable work, and technically speaking, they have often. But I want them to be part of a team, and if they're alienating their teammates, they're failing the lesson.
Companies have huge human resource departments that provide corporate guidelines on how to perform performance evaluations. They provide training for managers, and much of it is really good. Many firms, today, conduct training for soft skills internally through their own set of trainers. But the trend is more and more moving towards outsourcing this activity. Soft skills are very much a part of the quality of an employee hired, thus, HR departments are focusing a great deal on measuring the attributes of talent that it proposes to hire.
The complete engineer has both technical skills and soft skills. Unfortunately, he’s a rarity. Usually, they’re strong on one and weak on the other. In most technical industries, they’re weak on soft skills.
Leadership, listening, negotiation, conflict management—all these are soft skills by nature that underline both individualistic career aspirations of an employee, as well as, offers business advantage to the companies at large. Hence the attributes such as conscientiousness—the ability to work in a neat and orderly manner, respecting authority and keeping account of detail working in a process, would greatly enhance the efficiency of a person in that role.
Thus, communication is the most important ingredient of soft skills. Improving communication starts with awareness. It starts with understanding what goes wrong. I don’t know the source, but I’ve seen it repeated often that only 5% of the communication with another person is the words we use, 35% is the tone or voice quality, and 60% is non-verbal.
Look at email. Email is devoid of tone and body language. Email is typically words alone. Anyone who’s sent or received much email has probably been party to a case of misunderstanding. Someone reads something into the email that wasn’t there and certainly wasn’t intended. Take the phrase: "I'm going to have a talk with that guy on the jobsite." Now, add to it. Say the same phrase, but add the following body language…
- Grin
- Scowl
- Fold you arms
- Put your arms behind your back and pace
- Hold your hands to the side and up
- Hold your arms in front of you, palms facing out
- Scratch your head
- Wink
- Raise your eyebrows
It makes the message different each time.
Soft skills should go hand in hand along with hard skills. Absence of either of them brings down the effectiveness of the individual which ultimately reflects on the organization's overall productivity.
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