During the Great Recession the balance of influence has shifted markedly towards employers. Labor productivity increased throughout the two years, in contrast to prior recessions when it declined. Productivity increased because employers were unwilling to replace departed staff and found ways to motivate the remaining staff to redistribute the work load. Unless firms were already over-staffed by 5% or suddenly found new ways to identify and eliminate activities, this delegation of work is unsustainable in the long-run. Far-seeing firms and their best employees have a common interest in helping staff to improve their ability to negotiate a healthy and realistic work-life balance. Firms which push too hard will eventually experience costly turnover.
Many firms tend to push too hard and then back off as needed. Determining the breaking point for staff is more art than science. Employees at every level – hourly, salary, manager, director and VP – have an important obligation to push back constructively. Especially in the United States, where we have embraced the long-term benefits of free market capitalism without the need for balancing social values or government regulation, every employee has a responsibility to attain the work-life balance that optimizes their happiness. Wise managers will coach staff in this direction while at the same time asking for more!
Employees need to deliver and focus on long-term value, establish personal goals, delegate, prioritize, evaluate options, negotiate and employ proper tactics.
Employees need to actively participate in identifying ways to deliver 3-5% productivity improvements each year. This is the price of admission to the modern labor market. These short-term and long-term actions deliver the value required for organizational survival. They outline a program of activities that allows managers and staff to minimize the number of reactive initiatives undertaken.
Employees need to establish their own values, mission and goals. Without countervailing forces, the need to earn an increasing income will always prevail. A personal life plan is required to provide a counterbalance to the unlimited requests of firms today. Staff members need to accept that everyone is replaceable and that some day they will be gone and the firm will move on without them. They also need to observe that most senior managers have found ways to balance their own personal objectives.
Staff members need to become world-class delegators, moving work down the hierarchy and to supplier partners. Individuals who constantly attract and retain new responsibilities will become overwhelmed.
Staff members need to deeply understand that there are an infinite number of goals and an infinite degree of performance that can be requested. This applies to employees at all levels. It is an inherent component of the employment relationship. Employee goals need to be prioritized. Modern firms understand that they must emphasize product innovation, customer intimacy or operations excellence. They also know that customers desire varying levels of quality, speed, flexibility, value, information, risk and personal relations. They know that income statement and balance sheet goals, short-term and long-term measures, financial and operational goals, accrual and cash-flow results all matter but with different priorities. They understand the trade-offs between risk and reward. Employees must work with their managers to explicitly prioritize what matters most and to set goals based upon achievable results.
Employees need to negotiate their annual and immediate goals. The quality revolution has highlighted the need to base goals upon defined capabilities, instead of top-down requirements. Employees need to master prioritization in setting annual, monthly and daily goals. Employees, managers and the finance department need to understand that there is an optimal degree of stretch in targets and budgets. Employees and managers need to understand that there ARE short-term trade-offs between cost, quality, speed, flexibility, risk, relations and brand perceptions.
Employees need to be effective tacticians. Annual SMART goals need to be realistic. Staff members need to flex their schedules to meet peak demands and address unexpected events. They need to recoup this time in slow periods.
In a challenging environment, every employee needs to understand their role and negotiate achievable objectives that help their firm to thrive.
Good News 