Vacuuming and other theories of motivation

I have a vacuum that has a red light on it that turns green when the area I’m vacuuming is clean. The vacuum doesn’t seem to have a light on it that tells me when I should vacuum.  I suppose that is the responsibility of the crumbs, dirt and dust to tell me.  I’ll vacuum a spot forward and backward, side to side until the light turns green.  Now if the cord should come unplugged from the outlet, that’s it for me.  I’m not motivated to do any more vacuuming, unless, unless…I have guests coming.  Then that red light is calling me to finish.

I have a friend, Akee Parwaz, who manages a large used carand service company in Canton, Mass.  He pays his sales people a salary rather than on commission. Now commission or incentive pay is the classic way to motivate.  Every car you sell, you make more money.  His staff must not be motivated.  Instead they are motivated knowing that they have a secure future and they can help each other out to sell more cars without hurting their pay.  He is a strong supporter of Rotary. He schools them i

n the four way test:  Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, will it be beneficial to all concerned.  You can be motivated understanding that the goal is selling cars, but selling cars that will make you feel good at the end of the day.

I have a friend, Bruce Marquis, who runs beauty salons in Mass.  Long before Massachusetts had mandatory health insurance and even longer before Obamacare, he provided his employees with a health insurance option.  He has an employee who has been with him for 26 years.  Turnover tends to be routine in hair salons and few provide benefits.  Providing benefits that employees need can be a powerful motivation tool and as a Rotarian, he knows that it will build goodwill.

What motivates you? Do you need incentive pay to do your work? Most of us don’t have that but we keep working.

If you are interested in assistance in devising sound human resource policies, please contact me at 207-956-0244 or Ball@maine.edu

To Pay or Not to Pay

We’re almost through the snow season in the North.  A lot of the country witnessed battering snow storms.  Of course, we are all familiar with the school closings, but most other nonprofit and public employers are more hesitant about closing than schools are.  What does the decision to close mean for your employees?  That was the question one county employer asked.  For the first time ever, I witnessed a nonprofit hospital in Maine announce it was closed for a day and half.  The hospital announced that the emergency room was open but all outpatient procedures were cancelled and satellite health clinics except one were closed. 

Winter in Maine 2017

Closures for snow, or for that matter hurricanes, or other unusual situations make you look at your personnel policies.  Should you pay your hourly employees that are sent home or told not to come in?  The first answer is no.  They are not working so there is no need to pay them.  They do not get paid for other times they don’t come in.  You may be paying others overtime to handle essential functions and to pay for extra storm related work.  You calculate these costs minus the unexpended costs of not paying hourly employees.  You will be paying your salaried employees during the snow day, but they are to make up any work they miss and some of them will be able to work from home.  If you are a public employer, you need to consider the taxpayers monies in the calculation if you pay employees to stay home.

When the Maine governor, Governor LePage, came into office, he said he wouldn’t close state offices if the company in which he was once an executive didn’t close its stores.  That's an argument for solving the problem by having all employees prepared to come in no matter what the storm.  The reality is letting all state employees out during between 4 and 4:30 whether salaried or hourly causes serious traffic problems.  That idea has gradually faded now that he is in his second term. 

Another way to look at it is based upon equity.  Equity theory states that an employee will judge how much work to do compared to others.  Perceptions are important in the calculation of the fairness and the adequacy of pay.  Further, if you have hourly employees who are unionized, are you paying unionized employees but not paying non-unionized employees who are sent home?  This argument is one of equity.  Even if salaried employees can work from home your non-unionized hourly employees will perceive not being paid unfair.

Do you have a pay policy for emergency situations or do you decide each time what to do?.  Does it matter if employees are sent home for part of the day or miss a whole day?  Do have a different policy for union and non-union employees?

Alternative Facts And Other Sources Of Disagreement At Staff Meetings

I don’t usually weigh in on politics because I consult with public and nonprofit managers.  When I heard Kellyanne Conway use the words, alternative facts, it brought up and old paper a professor of mine, Robert Sahr, had written on sources of disagreement in public policy making.  Usually we think about the dynamics of staff meetings from a psychological perspective, but you can apply the language of policy making to your staff meetings as well.

 

Ms Conway wasn’t so wrong when she said there were alternative facts.  I’m not talking about incorrect, inaccurate, or confusing facts.  If your organization uses performance measures, you’ve surly disagreed about whether you have the right measure, whether you can include or exclude certain data, what outside factors affect your measurement.  Say, you train people for jobs.  You can disagree on what number characterizes the economic situation your client faces, the unemployment rate, people who are not working but are looking for a job; the number collecting unemployment, a portion of those looking for a job; or the number of discouraged workers who have given up looking for a job.  None are wrong.

Related to that disagreement is a disagreement over the interpretation or consequences of the fact.  Do any of these ways to measure unemployment have consequences for your ability to find your clients jobs.  Do you think it matters how many are collecting unemployment, nationally, in your state, in your area? 

Another source of disagreement is based upon your ideology, your belief system.  If you train prospective workers, you are probably pretty sympathetic to the difficulty of your clients finding jobs.  You may have a cynic amongst you who is a naysayer about any new ideas for training and employment.  Those outside of your program may say there are plenty of jobs available.  This program is not necessary.

As you sit around the table, you may disagree based upon your professional backgrounds. Admittedly, this is more likely to happen at your board meeting or town council meeting.  When you received your degree, particularly a professional degree, you began to see the world through that lens.  A minister seeks to solve problems through the church and god while a social worker seeks to solve problems within the family and community and if that doesn’t work through government intervention.  I sit on my town’s budget committee, a citizen review committee.  Those who have been in detail oriented careers, engineering and architecture, keep saying that the increases in the cost for our schools are unsustainable.  They look rationally at the increases each year.  Yet the voters keep approving the increases to the school budget.

Finally, your self-interest affects how you react in your staff meeting.  You want the program to succeed; you want to keep your job.  You agree with one person rather than another.  We even use the word, you act politically.  It makes political sense to agree with that person versus another person. 

Before I started writing this, I googled sources of disagreement and certainly there are others who have found ways to describe disagreement, but do any these hit home?

Nepotism. That dirty word. 

Hiring relatives. Jared Kushner, son-in-law and Ivanka Trump, daughter, are going to work without pay in the White House for Donald Trump to avoid violating any federal no nepotism policy.  

The Governor of Maine hired his daughter to be his executive assistant. A hospital dietary director said stop when too many of the same family were working in that department.  (If a wedding or funeral occurred she would have a hard time staffing.)  A friend couldn’t work at the same public school as his wife, but when the couple divorced they could work in the same school. A city manager says yes, nepotism occurs in hiring, but it can ‘t be stopped. The city can’t enforce a no nepotism policy with so many of its current employees being related.

A hospital takes a different approach. It says that it welcomes referrals of friends (that’s known as cronyism) and relatives. In the small population area it serves, it is going to hire relatives. 

Usually no nepotism policies are put into place because it is unfair to others to hire relatives. It is particularly a problematic if you are seeking diversity in your workforce.  No nepotism policies also are put into place because hiring relatives may lead to unqualified people taking the jobs. 

Many of these policies have qualifications. It’s ok to hire relatives if the relative doesn’t supervise another relative. Defining whether relatives include a son-in-law or cousin or step-child becomes the problem.

Source: Source: ABC 7 News San Francisco

What do you think: is nepotism a problem for your nonprofit or government agency? Did you ever get a job because a relative referred you or even hired you?

Is your Holiday Fair Fun?

You’ve heard the saying Shop Local, well I really put it to the test shopping ‘til I drop at the schools, churches, community centers and libraries, supporting my nonprofits.  I buy almost all my gifts at these events and then I supplement by making calendars of photos I’ve taken throughout the year.  Of course, if you have a teen boy to buy for, it may not work completely for you and you may end up at the mall.  Power tools also don’t seem to be sold. 

As a management consultant, however, I’m always thinking about what makes sense.  Of course, the first question is: do these holiday fairs raise money?  You can, of course, add up how much you make.  That doesn’t require a consultant. 

That brings me to an issue I can help you with.  Is there a purpose to your holiday fair?  I’m dismayed there are no signs informing me about a goal or purpose. I suppose they assume it is a given that the money helps the community center or daycare or library.  Of the many fairs I attended this November and December, my local high school fair was the only one with a purpose and I’m jealous; it was to raise funds for the kids to go to Guatemala.  Even the church fair, temporarily in the local firehouse, didn’t have a sign even though I full well know that the church is remodeling its kitchen and community room. 

I recently read that nonprofits are increasingly using twitter to raise money.  Since these are short bursts of information, the nonprofit must keep to the point, something like only $2,000 to reach our goal for a new gym.  A simple sign as you enter the holiday fair might do the same   Of course, I’ll still go no matter.

Maybe the purpose is tied to tradition and emotions.  It’s fun to shop, get together, and have a homemade doughnut or muffin in the morning at one fair and wind up at another fair to have chowder or soup with friends, acquaintances, and parishioners.  That doesn’t mean your nonprofit board shouldn’t look at the cost and commitment.  I was concerned when I saw one of the libarians volunteering her time at the holiday book sale.    Librarians don’t get paid much and to volunteer is a commitment. 

My question to your board is: is the holiday fair fun for volunteers and staff?  I hope you answered yes, because I’ll be there!

Is Your Nonprofit Trustworthy

It’s that time of year when individual nonprofits, the United Way, and alternative organizations to the United Way are sending letters and are working with employers to solicit donations.  New nonprofits seem to be popping up to ask for funds.  The public often assesses nonprofits simply by familiarity, word-of-mouth, the visibility in the community or increasingly by websites and Facebook pages.  Something new has popped up to turn our direction toward nonprofits, #GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  It urges us to volunteer and donate in our area rather than simply spending our money on Black Friday.   

Since the public values nonprofits because we trust them, you might want to consider what your website and Facebook page says about you.   Are you transparent in your actions and do you tell donors how you use donations? 

The first stumbling block is whether the public can tell you are a nonprofit.  This summer I donated some materials and photos to four historical societies.  I’m familiar enough to know that historical societies are nonprofit, but I’d be hard pressed, except for the donate button, to know that two of the four were nonprofit.  Some nonprofits, particularly colleges use the term private, but this confuses the situation as for-profit colleges have come under serious scrutiny.  In a study I did of 104 nonprofits, I searched for the words nonprofit, non-profit, not-for-profit, charity, tax-exempt, 990, 501(c)3, or United Way member.  A little over half had such an indication.  A visitor to your website could look for an annual report, a link or a post of 990 form, or even a page that states how donations were used.  Only 39% indicated the purpose for donations.  Perhaps, less specific, your nonprofit could have a code of ethics, a list of board members, its mission, or even historical information to let visitors know of your status.  If you are missing some of this information you are not alone. 

Could a potential donor find your executive’s name, email, or phone number?  In my study, many nonprofits made it difficult.  I think contact information is sometimes missing because we all get bombarded with emails, but if email is overwhelming, a phone number would help. 

Being transparent and trustworthy is your function.  For a small nonprofit, it will mean re-working the website to ensure you are clearly identified as a nonprofit.  Once done, the type of information I am talking about should be more or less permanent with updates yearly for, say, an annual report. You’ll be more likely to connect with young people who are less familiar with the differences between government, private and nonprofit sectors.

I visited GivingTuesday.org and GuideStar, the search that provides 990 forms of nonprofits,  I did not find any indication that GivingTuesday  was a nonprofit except that it was founded by the 92nd St Y and many people listed on the website have given money to support it.  When I emailed the website, I learned that it is a "project created and run by the 92Y Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact."

What did you find missing at your nonprofit’s website? 

For assistance, please contact me at Management.Vision 

The Decline of the Pink Collar Worker

The 37.5 Hour Work Week

I visited a vice president at a private nonprofit college one time. He seemed particularly pleased to tell me that he had no administrative assistant.  He answered his own phone.  I know another professional who is constantly photocopying and preparing report materials because there is no clerical support.  I’m sure that you have visited a government agency or university that has a receptionist or administrative assistant in the middle of the hall.  You’ve come across a locked door and had to use an intercom and be buzzed in.  You may have had to be the receptionist and talked to visitors, clients, or customers because you had no support person to do so.  Of course, we all have become accustomed to the ubiquitous, press 1 if you want…, press 2 if you would like to speak to, etc.

Some of these situations have occurred for efficiency.  We all have computers and cell phones to keep in touch with staff, clients, customers.  Some of these situations have been occurred purportedly for security.  Now with the new Fair Labor Standards Act rules going into effect Dec 1 that will require you to pay overtime to once professional exempt workers, you may be thinking about whether you need that clerical help again, this time to save money. 

We just went through an election cycle when politicians bemoaned the loss of manufacturing jobs and offered solutions.  The decline of manufacturing, however, is nothing new.  Nor is the decline of the pink collar worker, but few talk about the situation.  

Are there other ways to approach the changes in exempt and non-exempt status of your employees besides laying off?  Sure FLSA experts and Management.Vision will tell you to conduct a job analysis to consider whether the jobs are truly doing exempt or non-exempt work but, for the most part, your professionals at the lower end will become eligible for overtime. 

Think about the flip side, how much time your executives and professionals will spend on clerical work with a loss of a pink collar worker.  No executive or professional is going to  

admit the time they spend on clerical work.  Consider what impression you make not having an available receptionist. 

How about shortening the forty hour week?  There is no law that says your work week must be forty hours.  I have worked in places that have had a 37.5 hour work week and a 35 hour work week. I know some employers who have used a 39 hour work week. Who wouldn't like to go home an hour early on Friday.  I’ve seen the 37.5 hour work week successful in a nonprofit hospital including for the nursing staff. This doesn’t mean that you won’t need to pay overtime and certainly hospitals do, but you just might save a job, keep good customer relations, and keep down that expensive wage for your professionals to do clerical work.  Cutting the work week and saving jobs may not work in all nonprofits and government agencies but it might work for yours.