Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 17, 2016 16 FEATURES LOOKING FOR A SUPPLIER OR VENDOR? Visit hrreporter.com/hr-vendors-guide a much more productive work environment. Movember Canada, a charity focused on making an everlasting impact on the face of men's health, faced the challenge of growing its team without negatively impact- ing the "Havin' fun doin' good" culture it had worked so hard to create. One poor hiring decision could throw the high-functioning team off course and hamper its fundraising capabilities. Using behavioural analytics, Movem- ber Canada developed an un- derstanding of the behaviours required for the role and imple- mented behaviour-based inter- view questions. The questions and associated processes identi- fi ed gaps between the behaviours needed for the position and those the candidate possessed. e end result was the selection of a candi- date who was best-suited to meet the demands of the job and the delicate workplace culture. Provide support, help employees make connections Creating an ongoing support and development network is essential for new employees. Establish- ing connections at a new job im- proves engagement and retention. However, the type of support each individual employee needs can vary depending on their behav- ioural makeup. For instance, one new employee may gain confi - dence through rapid connections with people, whereas another may prefer to fi rst gain a deeper under- standing of the job requirements. Ignoring each employee's mo- tivating factors and applying a cookie-cutter approach can cause frustration, stress and underper- formance. e subsequent low employee engagement becomes a precursor to turnover that is above the industry average and leads to a further deterioration of the workplace culture. Ulti- mately, this means project deliv- ery or service delays and customer dissatisfaction. Town Shoes, with 200 loca- tions across the country, faced this type of situation. With 47 per cent turnover — 26 per cent above the industry average — the retail chain was beginning to suffer from an unhealthy company cul- ture and decreasing employee en- gagement across all its locations. rough the implementation of behavioural analytics, from senior management down to the front lines, Town Shoes was able to ensure all employees were placed in roles that matched their abili- ties. e result was an immediate improvement in engagement and culture. Over the longer term, the company has seen turnover de- crease to 20 per cent, just below the industry norm. By focusing on workplace ana- lytics, companies can gain insight into employees' potential and can tailor individualized onboard and training programs based on their communication style and moti- vational factors. A data-centred approach also gives hiring man- agers powerful knowledge about how each individual will perform in a specifi c role and how she will fi t with the organization's culture. is method of hiring employees allows organizations to retain workers over the long term to build a skilled, knowledgeable and engaged staff that outperforms the competition. As more and more companies adopt this approach, the Confer- ence Board of Canada's next pro- ductivity study might just show an increase in Canada's labour productivity. David Lahey is the founder and presi- dent of Predictive Success and author of Predicting Success: Evidence-Based Strategies to Hire the Right People and Build the Best Team. He can be reached at dlahey@predictivesuccess. com or (905) 430-9788 or for more information, visit www.predictivesuc- cess.com. Gain insight into employees' potential, tailor programs ANALYTICS < pg. 15 A data-centred approach gives hiring managers powerful knowledge. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Having those tough conversations By Heather Swartz and Rick Russell H ow often do people say they wish they didn't have to deal with con- fl ict, even when it's part of their job? They wait and hope the problem will just go away. ey express concern that they didn't handle a tough conversation well the last time. ey worry they will make the situation worse. HR professionals are often called upon to have, and coach others to have, diffi cult and challenging conversations with employees and managers. If people are choosing not to have a conversation, have them refl ect on the following: Is the certainty of silence triumphing over the uncertainty of speaking up? Are they sending out negative signals? Are they convinced they are helpless? Have they confused the question of whether the con- versation will be diffi cult with the question of whether or not they should have it? If so, they're not speaking up when they should be. Conversations about unsatis- factory performance, inappropri- ate conduct or compensation are hard to talk about because they: • threaten a person's self-identity • focus on important topics • often have serious consequences • jeopardize relationships. The following best practices should conquer people's fears and hone their confl ict manage- ment skills. Prepare by considering in- terests: Consider your interests and those of the company: • Results (substantive) interests — What is the purpose of having the conversation? What would be an ideal outcome? • Process (procedural) interests — How can you be fair with the employee and perceived as fair by the unit or a third party (such as court if the employee was to sue for wrongful dismissal)? • Psychological (emotional) inter- ests — What meaning does this conversation have for you? What "buttons" are being pushed? Are you more emotional than the sit- uation warrants? Try to adopt a positive attitude to achieve maxi- mum eff ectiveness. Consider the employee's interests: • Results interests — What might he be thinking? Is he aware of the seriousness of the situation? What solution do you think he would suggest? • Process interests — What would he consider to be fair and respectful? • Psychological interests — What are his fears? What emotions might he be experiencing? How might his feelings impair his abil- ity to problem-solve? Prepare open-ended, explor- atory questions for the meeting: • "Is there anything about how we proceed today in terms of fair- ness or process that you would like to see?" • "How have you been feeling about your role?" Focus on the future: Don't ar- gue about the past. When people argue about who is "right," it leads to debate rather than explora- tion, learning or understanding. Actively listen to build an under- standing of the employee's per- ceptions. Demonstrate respect and remain curious. Acknowledge emotions: Em- pathetic acknowledgment in- cludes not just stating your under- standing of what an employee has said. Acknowledge the feelings and emotional energy associated with what he said. Explore contribution: With- out realizing it, people can get into a contest of "Who gets to wear the blame?" Instead, explore the contribution system. Take re- sponsibility for your own, or the company's, contribution. Instead of "You're responsible" try "How did we end up here?" Ground identity: During a difficult conversation, people continually have three important self-identity questions running through their minds: • "Am I worthy or unworthy?" • "Does this show me to be compe- tent or incompetent?" • "Am I good (have integrity) or bad (lack integrity)?" These questions are often poorly framed as either/or, all or nothing questions. Reality is more complex and no one is perfectly competent at everything — every- one is learning. Neither are people always honourable or worthy in every aspect of their lives. To have a productive conversa- tion, people need to make it safe for both sides to speak authenti- cally about the issues, without losing face. It's about maintain- ing focus on the problem and not making it about the person. Look for solutions: Take a col- laborative, rather than adversarial, approach towards a solution. Cre- ate dialogue through continued inquiry. Ask for the employee's point of view, rather than spring- ing a pre-packaged solution or po- sition on him. Ask if there's any- thing he would like to see change, to make him feel better about his employment and contributions. e art of managing diffi cult conversations is like any art — with continued practice, people will acquire skill and ease. Prepare by considering everyone's range of interests, stay grounded, adopt a curious stance, manage emotions, allow everyone's identity to stay intact, and focus on the future to greatly infl uence an opportu- nity for a productive "learning" conversation. Heather Swartz and Rick Russell are partners at Agree Dispute Resolu- tion in Dundas, Ont. Heather can be reached at heather@agreeinc.com and Rick can be reached at rick@ agreeinc.com. For more information, visit www.agreeinc.com. Calling in the experts Sometimes, issues arise in the workplace where a facilitated conversation, despite being diffi cult, could potentially resolve the situation. Depending on the circumstances, the manager or HR could serve as the internal facilitator. When should an external third party be brought in? When facilitators from within the organization: • come with "baggage" • aren't seen as neutral • have other roles to play in resolving the issue if the disputants cannot come to an agreement • have obligations to either the disputants, or to the organization they serve, to protect the organizational or public interest in the outcome of the negotiation. And when the issues are complex, emotions are high or the consequences could be serious, and signifi cant procedural knowledge is required.

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