"I love the company. It's my boss I can't stand."
When workers suspect that a boss is not living by the values the organization professes, their behavior begins to reflect that of someone who feels betrayed and duped. And the first sign of trouble appears in where they place their loyalty.
It's common for disgruntled workers to seek refuge by trying to align with someone else in the organization, such as a respected coworker or a high-level authority figure. Others will align with the corporate culture itself; these employees commonly say, "I love the company, but hate my boss." And in organized workplaces, disenfranchised workers focus only on the values promoted by their unions. But all these symptoms indicate employees who lack trust in, and have turned away from, their supervisors.
This behavior was evident at Morgan Stanley in the weeks leading up to the firing of CEO Phil Purcell. After thirty key producers left the company in the course of a few weeks, and some retired senior executives publicly criticized Purcell's leadership, curious board members began talking to top employees. As James Cramer reported in the June 27, 2005 issue of New York Magazine, the board heard one common message: "My allegiance is to Morgan, not Purcell."
Morgan Stanley's board is due kudos for paying attention to the warning signs. Are you paying attention?
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It's common for disgruntled workers to seek refuge by trying to align with someone else in the organization, such as a respected coworker or a high-level authority figure. Others will align with the corporate culture itself; these employees commonly say, "I love the company, but hate my boss." And in organized workplaces, disenfranchised workers focus only on the values promoted by their unions. But all these symptoms indicate employees who lack trust in, and have turned away from, their supervisors.
This behavior was evident at Morgan Stanley in the weeks leading up to the firing of CEO Phil Purcell. After thirty key producers left the company in the course of a few weeks, and some retired senior executives publicly criticized Purcell's leadership, curious board members began talking to top employees. As James Cramer reported in the June 27, 2005 issue of New York Magazine, the board heard one common message: "My allegiance is to Morgan, not Purcell."
Morgan Stanley's board is due kudos for paying attention to the warning signs. Are you paying attention?
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The New Global Balance
Work-life balance is a growing, global issue. A recent survey by human resource consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide revealed that 80 percent of workers in the United Kingdom consider work-life balance an important reason--if not the most important reason--to change jobs. That should be a concern for UK employers, since 40 percent of the people surveyed said they are actively contemplating changing employers. On the other hand, it's also a great opportunity for employers everywhere.
"Our research demonstrates that many employers may be neglecting a key factor affecting their employees' attitudes to staying in their positions," says Jake Outram, a Watson Wyatt consultant. "It is therefore important that employers understand how their employees, and in particular their high-performers, perceive their work-life balance."
When we assume that everyone wants the same things--raises, titles, power--we overlook what really may inspire our employees. Maybe an employee once hoped to earn a spot on the executive floor; then along came children and a change in priorities. Or maybe the children are now grown, and the employee is ready to resume a climb up the corporate ladder. Without knowing when changes in aspirations take place, you may continue to make erroneous assumptions about what a worker wants.
What if you actually ask your employees what they value? In other words, what if you interview them as if you were hiring--or rehiring--them? Suppose you learn that a valued employee's greatest wish, rather than becoming vice president as you assume, is to raise healthy and successful children? What can you, as a leader, do to help that employee accomplish this goal? Can you build flexibility into the work schedule that will accommodate being present for a daughter's dance recital?
You must "rehire" your workers in this way often. Stop multitasking long enough to ask your employees why they want to work here. I guarantee your employees are asking themselves that question, and that their answers will vary at different stages in their lives.
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"Our research demonstrates that many employers may be neglecting a key factor affecting their employees' attitudes to staying in their positions," says Jake Outram, a Watson Wyatt consultant. "It is therefore important that employers understand how their employees, and in particular their high-performers, perceive their work-life balance."
When we assume that everyone wants the same things--raises, titles, power--we overlook what really may inspire our employees. Maybe an employee once hoped to earn a spot on the executive floor; then along came children and a change in priorities. Or maybe the children are now grown, and the employee is ready to resume a climb up the corporate ladder. Without knowing when changes in aspirations take place, you may continue to make erroneous assumptions about what a worker wants.
What if you actually ask your employees what they value? In other words, what if you interview them as if you were hiring--or rehiring--them? Suppose you learn that a valued employee's greatest wish, rather than becoming vice president as you assume, is to raise healthy and successful children? What can you, as a leader, do to help that employee accomplish this goal? Can you build flexibility into the work schedule that will accommodate being present for a daughter's dance recital?
You must "rehire" your workers in this way often. Stop multitasking long enough to ask your employees why they want to work here. I guarantee your employees are asking themselves that question, and that their answers will vary at different stages in their lives.
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Citigroup's Credibility Takes Another Hit
According to its Web site marketing, Citigroup is fighting identity theft. In fact, the bank created a team of Internet Security Specialists to tackle suspicious credit card activity. "While Citi Cards' Identity Theft Specialists help fraud victims recover, the goal of the ISS team is to prevent cardmembers from becoming victims." Just this May, Citigroup announced its collaboration with the National District Attorneys Association to assist in the prosecution of identity thieves.
Then this week, Citigroup disclosed that a box of tapes containing information on nearly four million customers was lost in transit. The tapes contained names, Social Security numbers, account numbers, and payment histories belonging to the bank's loan and credit card customers. To be fair, Citigroup says it handed the box over to UPS for delivery to a credit bureau, but the box never arrived. (UPS spokesperson Bob Godlewski said they are "really, really, really" sorry!) But on the heals of recent consumer data thefts and misplacements--including Bank of America's disclosure in February that tapes containing information on over a million of its customers were lost in transit--Citigroup's sloppy security procedures are inexcusable.
Edmund Mierzwinski, a consumer financial security expert at the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, told the Chicago Tribune, "It is outrageous for a bank to lose unencrypted information months after another bank lost unencrypted information."
Citigroup says it is implementing procedures to encrypt financial data and transmit it to credit bureaus electronically. That's nice, but a little too late. If Citigroup is going to promote itself as a leader in data security, its management needs to Live By the Values They Profess. In other words, put proper security measures in place first--then write the marketing material.
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Then this week, Citigroup disclosed that a box of tapes containing information on nearly four million customers was lost in transit. The tapes contained names, Social Security numbers, account numbers, and payment histories belonging to the bank's loan and credit card customers. To be fair, Citigroup says it handed the box over to UPS for delivery to a credit bureau, but the box never arrived. (UPS spokesperson Bob Godlewski said they are "really, really, really" sorry!) But on the heals of recent consumer data thefts and misplacements--including Bank of America's disclosure in February that tapes containing information on over a million of its customers were lost in transit--Citigroup's sloppy security procedures are inexcusable.
Edmund Mierzwinski, a consumer financial security expert at the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, told the Chicago Tribune, "It is outrageous for a bank to lose unencrypted information months after another bank lost unencrypted information."
Citigroup says it is implementing procedures to encrypt financial data and transmit it to credit bureaus electronically. That's nice, but a little too late. If Citigroup is going to promote itself as a leader in data security, its management needs to Live By the Values They Profess. In other words, put proper security measures in place first--then write the marketing material.
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Author George Brymer's comments about the leaders who get it, and those who never will.
