In the interest of fairness, Fog Creek’s compensation policy is open, public, simple, and accountable. Many companies try to obfuscate the rules they use for determining compensation in hopes that they won’t get caught paying some people too much and others too little. Some companies actually consider it a firing offense to reveal your salary!

We feel that in the long run, this can only hurt us through negative morale, high turnover, and destructive office politics. Therefore, the policy in this document is publicly available. People have a right to know what the levels are and what they mean. Everybody has a right to know what their colleagues’ levels are.

It made me wonder what the Corporate Idealist crowd has to say about that approach. Your thoughts? Please share in the comments.

photo credit: AMagill

Many years ago I worked for an institution with some very bad habits about a tiny group of people making all the decisions. It felt bad when the decisions were handed down, and even worse when I was asked to participate in the method. Needless to say I’m not there anymore….and not surprisingly, neither is the management team that drove the whole operation into the ground.

Perhaps it was leftover from childhood, when Spy vs. Spy ruled our play time. We found out we could write in lemon juice as invisible ink, and require our friends to use passwords to get into the clubhouse. It was absolutely glorious fun, but kids’ stuff in a grown-up world doesn’t usually translate well.

Knowledge and Status

There are times to keep situations low-key and to keep preliminary planning groups small. Throwing open all processes to a large group from the beginning usually results in chaos and frustration. Problems arise when management fails to plan for appropriate transparency in the overall strategic effort. Your team should be defined as those upon whom you depend to help carry out change, as well as those significantly affected by the results of your decisions. This may mean administrative and executive staff, as well as clients. Rumors and misunderstandings quickly will destabilize your operational foundation once the word is out planning is happening behind closed doors.

The best thing to do is to let people know in regular staff or even client updates that management will be looking at some current issues, and then provide a general timeline for when others will be brought into the dialogue. It is important that people know up-front that their input and perspectives are valued, and will be taken into consideration if any new approach develops. Beware the intoxicating “knowledge is status” dynamic. When people are in-the- know for too long, and fully aware that others are not, they tend to want to protect that status by losing interest in transparency. Your governance team must understand from the outset that your process is an open one long-term.

Truth or Consequences

There is a familiar saying, “Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” Simply put, this approach doesn’t work. Transparent management is not about asking permission so much as being candid, respectful, and trustworthy; and about extending the same expectations to your team. If we are honest with ourselves as we evaluate our own experience, we must admit that it is rare for colleagues to forgive fully being kept in the dark about the direction of the team they assume they are on. Without full investment in the direction, even the best ideas will falter in implementation. And without that investment, there will not be much incentive or accountability for driving to the goal. In the worst case scenario, your team may have a stake in sabotaging the plan to prove management doesn’t know what it is doing.

Your Cred is Everything

Management’s personal credibility is everything to the success of your organization. Decoder rings and secret knocks are child’s play, not grown-up management techniques. Staying above board early with your team, and as often as possible, puts you at a strong competitive advantage over today’s average approach to planning and engagement with organizational teams.

The added bonus for you? It feels really good, too.

photo credit: plindberg

I was looking at a quote this morning…

Now bear with me. I know all the workplace motivational posters and feel-good quotes in email signatures get a bit much sometimes, but I still love a good quote and I do keep a collection in Evernote for reference. So much wisdom can come through in such a short space.

Such as this one I just glanced at and was struck again by:

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. – Niels Bohr

Along similar lines, I have a magnet that I keep near my desk that says:

Always make new mistakes.

I also keep a sign nearby that I was given when I worked in Germany that has an image of Snoopy (hey, it was a gift) and says (in German) something like:

As long as you learn new tricks, no one can call you an old dog.

My point is: learning and mistakes go hand in hand. What’s more, screwing up at work isn’t nearly as big a deal if you know how to recover from it. When you’ve made a mistake, if you admit to it immediately, apologize humbly, and help clean up your messes, you not only minimize the chance of being penalized for your error, but you’ve helped the organization learn from your mistake, too (even if no one else sees it that way initially).

photo credit: wotthe7734

To be clear, I’m talking about on-the-job learning and the mistakes that come from taking risks in your field, not about things like violating company policies out of carelessness, or showing up late to work.

I’m talking about facing a problem in your work and trying to think of the best way to solve it, and if the best solution you can think of is untried, try it.

Yes, you may fail.

But if you don’t allow yourself the risk of failure, how do you ever truly learn anything new?

And if you succeed, you could win big. You have not only chosen to do the thing you believed was best (something that can feel in itself like a reward), but you have shown the business something new. You and the rest of the company have learned. You might have even created a new best practice in your field.

Niels Bohr would approve.

So I leave you with this question: are you making enough mistakes?

Made any good mistakes lately? Tell us what you learned!

What’s your favorite quote? Tell us in the comments. We may feature it and credit you for sharing it!

photo credit: Editor B

It’s only fair, since we already talked about bad bosses, to give good bosses their due (via TheFinestWriter Blog):

Break the morning ice with an encouraging smile that will lighten the dense workroom aura. As the leader, you are in a very good position to influence a positive motivation among your workers. Remember that a happy person is most likely a productive one.

In my personal work experience, I’ve run the gamut from great bosses to psychotic ones. It has caused me to ponder the question which I now ask you:

Would you rather have a great boss while doing a job you can’t stand, or a great job with a boss you can’t stand?

photo credit: Witt Istanbul Suites

Raise your hand if you’ve been affected by layoffs – meaning you either had to accept one or dole them out – due to the downturn in the economy. Yeah. We thought so.

Now raise your hand if you think more layoffs are in store.

That’s likely the truth, and another likely truth is that a good many companies are probably hurting themselves and their customers by approaching layoffs poorly. Yes, layoffs stink. No one wants to get one; no one wants to give them.

That said, when they’re handled with care and caution, layoffs can definitely help a company survive the downturn. Jimmy Guterman, writing over at HarvardBusiness.org, lays out some thoughtful advice about reducing the pain of ill-considered cuts:

Thinking strategically about both groups and treating them respectfully ensures that the virtuous circle — the vital link between engaged employees and satisfied customers — remains unbroken. And it positions your company for greater success when the economy turns around.

Layoffs are going to happen. It’s a non-idealist situation, that’s for sure, but if you’re the one doing the laying off, there are idealist ways to handle the situation. You can approach the decision of which employees to let go from a customer experience standpoint, as well as from the perspective of the remaining employees.

(Of course, if you’re the one being laid off, there’s not a lot you can do to control the outcome of the immediate situation and you have our sympathies. We sincerely wish everyone the best of luck in finding even more meaningful work the next time around.)

Lastly, and this can’t be said enough, although layoffs are depressing and in some cases inevitable, that doesn’t mean they can’t be approached with respect and a forward-looking attitude:

For those who must go, the best procedure is to “lay off people as if they were future customers,” he says. “When you let someone go, try to put together a safety net, do the best you can do, provide relocation support. Treat these people as potential future customers and potential future employees — as if they will one day be in a position to send business to your company.”

The whole article is a great read.

[via HarvardBusiness.org]