Human Resources In Government

This Washington Post editorial from January 19, 2010, argues that bonuses for Wall Street are justifiable because it is an example of pay for performance. What I think is missing is any discussion of pay for performance when performance is poor. Shouldn’t the bankers be penalized, not rewarded for poor performance? This got me thinking about whether or not pay for performance is viable. If it is used only to reward and never to penalize, can it be an effective compensation policy? What do you think? Do you know of any situations where pay was reduced due to poor performance, or a bonus not awarded?

There is a natural tendency to avoid asking questions when you are uncertain as to what the answers will be. As a result, managers often avoid asking questions. Instead, they just tell the employees the answers they really want to hear. It may seem like you are giving up control when you ask an open-ended question that engages the employee. But, it doesn’t have to be a scary proposition. One way to encourage dialogue while still guiding the direction of the conversation is to use sideboards to frame the question.

Frame the question with sideboards.

Sideboards are the parameters that frame an issue. They are the “givens.” Sideboards are the assumptions you have already made that are non-negotiable. In most situations, there is background information that must be considered before a conversation can progress. Those are the sideboards. Usually there are limitations (time, money, resources, etc.) that must be noted when you are exploring options. Those are the sideboards.

The challenge is to state the sideboards clearly before asking a question that involves the employee in finding the solution. Here are some examples of sideboards in action:

Given our current budget situation…which of our projects is the highest priority?

Assuming we will meet our end of the year objectives, what additional tasks should we pursue?

Knowing that our relationship with this client is tenuous, what options do we have for satisfying this order?

Given the restrictions placed upon us in the regulations, what alternatives should be considered?

As a manager, you can establish parameters that will help employees find workable, effective, and successful solutions to issues and challenges. Considering the challenges public sector agencies are facing today, it is critical that we define the parameters of the issue before asking for input.  Think about the sideboards.

Since my last blog on this subject in July, there have been a number of developments in the national debate about health care reform. Town Hall forums throughout the country have provided forums for the expression of a broad array of views with passion, fears and anger that to many observers was a shock. Last week, the President in an address to a joint session of Congress laid out his vision for health care reform.

Some interesting points in the debate have emerged including:

• The need to control the cost of providing health insurance as a fiscal matter is imperative;
• The need to provide access to quality health care to all citizens;
• The fact that health care expenditures consumes almost 17% of GDP
• Despite the huge expenditures on health care as compared to other developed, industrial nations, we are no healthier than our counterparts

Regardless of your views of the various proposals, curiously missing from the national debate is one essential factor – that is, we need to do a better job of taking responsibility for our own health. It seems neither political party is willing to engage in a national discussion and framing future policies along the lines of creating constructive incentives for Americans to change their own personal behavior. Many citizens have fallen into the trap of believing that medical research and science offers cures for our collective failings to take responsibility for making healthy lifestyle choices.

As human resource professionals, we have tried to take a leadership role in our agencies to educate and provide positive incentives to employees to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. Simple programs such as an at work weight reduction program, a lunch-time walking club and getting rid of the sugar laden sodas and candy in the vending machines can have a positive impact on the health of employees. A few employers I know of implemented more aggressive programs that offer compensation and rewards to employees to become and stay fit – some of those programs however, have run up against discrimination laws and have been scrapped.

The point is that we as public agency HR professionals have an important role to play in the national debate about our health care system.

In my next blog, I will share with you my recent personal experience with our current health care system.

I’ve been coaching a municipal executive who believes she is inclusive and respectful with employees.  The feedback we’ve gotten from her staff is that she is a micromanager.  They say she doesn’t trust them and that she does not value their input.  Why the dicotomy?  These problems run deep and will be a challenge to overcome.  Still, there are some behaviors she exhibits that send a subtle message  that she really doesn’t want to hear from her employees.  Here’s the tip I’ll share with her the next time we meet:

Make your questions open-ended.

This concept is a bit of a “duh.” We all know that open-ended questions, those that require more than a yes/no answer, are more appropriate if you are trying to engage the other person in the conversation. Still, how conscious are you of the openness of your daily questions? Here are a few examples.

Example: “Do you like your work?” is not open-ended. You are likely to get a short, blunt answer to a question like this. An alternative way to ask the question which is open-ended is, “What about your work do you most enjoy?” The response is more likely to be robust enough to give you insights into the employee’s motivations.

Example: “Are you going to make that mistake again?” is closed-ended and will likely put the employee on the defensive. It is parental in nature and does not allow the employee to participate in the problem-solving. An open ended alternative would be, “What are you going to do next time to make sure the outcome is more effective?”

Example: “Have you considered calling the vendor back?” is a question that is really a directive. You may have a clear picture of what the employee should do. In fact, you may have several suggestions for the employee. In time, you can offer your suggestions. However, if you want to engage the employee in solving the problem or if your goal is to coach them to higher levels of performance in the future, giving them the answer, even in the form of a closed question, is not the most effective approach. Instead, use an open-ended question like, “What solutions have you considered?”

My coachee has some work to do and it will start with being conscious of the questions she asks.

A recent study from the Rockefeller Institute of Government found that state and local government employment actually increased during the recession while private sector employment decreased. According to the report, more cuts are almost certainly on the way as the full impact of the recession is felt by state and local governments.

During the past year, total state- and local-government employment rose in 30 states and declined in 16, with employment in the remaining states unchanged. Since the recession began, state and local governments have added a total of about 110,000 jobs, an increase of 0.6 per cent.

“As is the typical pattern in recessions, overall state and local government employment continued to grow after the start of the recession, although there has been a small decline since the August 2008 peak,” said Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow Donald J. Boyd, author of the new report. “Further employment reductions are almost certainly on the way.”

Is your agency planning more furloughs and lay-offs?

I recently held a benefit enrollment session with a couple of newly eligible employees.  Both employees are new to the working world, having recently graduated from college.  Neither employee  has ever worked where they received benefits before, so their knowledge base was very limited on what they even wanted, let alone knowledge as to what questions they should be asking to maximize this new era in their working lives.

I got to thinking how important it is that HR staff look at this as an obvious “educational moment” that could have a lifetime impact on this new employee.  Sometimes we get so involved in our day-to-day operations that we fail to see how important good HR services are to the staff that come through our doors.  We have many challenges in interpreting new changes that take place in employee benefit programs and I am thankful for the thoughtful staff I work with who take these opportunities to help explain the benefit programs and maximize the time we take with new staff.

I wonder if other HR staff have found “educational moments” that they would be interested in sharing as a “best practice” that would give ideas of ways to improve the benefit enrollment process.  I know  some agencies have drastically changed their “onboarding” process, and I am wondering if the benefit enrollment process has changed as part of those new technical capabilities?

An IPMA-HR member brought to my attention a new website dedicated to keeping the tax-advantaged Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).  Lawmakers are considering lowering the amount that employees can contribute to FSAs or eliminating them in order to finance health care reform.

How common are FSAs and how important are they to your workforce?

The subject of retiree health benefits has garnered a great deal of media attention. Agencies offering this benefit fall under the provisions of Government Accounting Standards Board Statement #45. The staggering long term cost of providing this benefit are coming to light and the reaction to that data by the public is predictable – newspapers, columnists and other so-called experts are outraged. In Northern California where I live, a day doesn’t go by without a letter to the editor, news report or editorial about the cost of this benefit. In fact, one area newspaper, in a recent editorial, blamed the State’s fiscal mess on the cost of providing this benefit to retired government employees.

Don’t get me wrong – this is a serious issue that requires the collective action of labor, management and elected officials to address.

But the real solution lies in health care reform. In my view, there are two fundamental issues that reform must address if it is to be successful. First is the escalating cost of health insurance. Before my retirement in 2008, the agency that I worked for had experienced premium increases over a 5-year period of more than 120% – and during the same time, benefit consumption declined! Of course the health insurance providers blamed the doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical industry….you get the message.

Second, we need to blame ourselves for the poor health choices we make. Simply put, we need to do a better job taking care of ourselves and I wonder to what degree we understand that concept.

I’m afraid that the national debate over health care reform is being controlled by the major players in the health care industry – the insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, etc. Their motivation for maintaining the status quo is quite compelling.

IPMA-HR has been at the forefront of educating HR professionals about this issue – in fact, at the last three International Training Conferences, there have been seminars addressing many aspects of this national issue. However, we need to collectively have a seat at the national table in this debate.

I would like to hear from you about this subject – tell me your insurance horror stories and your successes in complying with GASB #45. What worked, what did, how did you educate your agency’s employees? Tell me your story.

Recently I solicited feedback from IPMA-HR members about using social networking to connect with colleagues.  I posted inquiries on the IPMA-HR Facebook page, Twitter, and Linked In’s IPMA-HR Group.  I also asked the membership at an AZ IPMA-HR Chapter meeting for input. 

To my surprise, we received no response to the Twitter inquiry and no answer to the Facebook posting. We did, however, receive four immediate responses to the LinkedIn inquiry.  Some of the respondents described an aversion to using Facebook or MySpace, but LinkedIn seemed to have an appropriate appeal. 

It appears that the most popular social networking tool for professionals is LinkedIn.  It allows for a dialogue about current issues and allows members to share resources and ideas.  The Groups functions works much like IPMA-HR’s Listserv, where members can post a question or request and other members can respond.  While Facebook also has this function, it appears that LinkedIn is the professional’s preference.

We have a great opportunity to share and network via social networking tools.  Are you LinkedIn?

Part of a manager’s job is to give feedback to employees to help them meet and exceed the expectations for performance.  It should be easy, right?  Just share your perspectives with the employee and they will improve, grow, and develop. As easy as this concept sounds, most managers struggle with giving feedback that is constructive, productive, and received the way it was intended. 

Why is feedback so hard to give?  One reason is because managers often don’t really give feedback; they make judgments.  Let’s draw a distinction between judgment and feedback.  Judgments include opinions or conclusions. Feedback is a presentation of the facts.  Here are some other distinctions:

Often, when we intend to provide helpful feedback it is heard as if we are passing judgment.  And, when a judgment is lobbed, resistance usually results.  An essential principle of a Painless Performance Conversation is to recognize this important difference.  Here are some examples:

Judgment:  “You didn’t prepare enough for that important presentation.”

Feedback: “There were critical details and statistics that were not included in your presentation. For example…”

Judgment:  “You are not carrying your weight in the office.”

Feedback:  “You have completed three case files this week.  Your peers are completing an average of six case files per week.”

Judgment: “You did a great job today!  Nice work!”

Feedback: “Your ideas for solving the Jones complaint were innovative and effective.  You gave the customer several options, all of which were appropriate given the situation.”

Judgment: “Many of your assignments are not getting done thoroughly.”

Feedback:  “This month there were four projects that were not submitted by the deadline that we agreed upon.”

Feedback is the tool great managers use to encourage self-assessment and accountability.  It takes some thought but the results are more meaningful to the employee and more productive for the manager. The last time you gave an employee feedback, was it really feedback or was it judgment? How can you, as an HR professional help, help the leaders in your organization give more feedback?  I’d love to hear your suggestions and ideas.