Letters

Welcome to Fall or, for those of us whose calendars are defined by baseball, welcome to The Off Season. Too bad it's come so early and will last so long.

A bit of explanation. The year, for baseball fans, is divided into 4 distinct seasons:

• Spring Training
  
• Baseball Season
  
• The Post Season
  
• The Off Season

Spring Training, where hope does, indeed, spring eternal, is mid-February through March. Baseball Season begins in early April. Its length depends on the prowess of one's team. For most, Baseball Season lasts into August or, if lucky, into September. If very lucky, it lasts to the end of September. For Cubs fans, it ends sometime in May. For Giants fans, it ended this year on September 24.

Then begins The Post Season, defined by October playoffs and Fox TV's insipid Joe Buck and the network's infuriating belief that a baseball game can be shown with a long string of closeups of fans praying. The Post Season culminates with the World Series.

If disgusted, a fan can move directly from Baseball Season to The Off Season. That's where I find myself. Sad, drained and wondering what-if.

Such is life of the baseball fan.

Speaking of letters from our readers (a whiplash-causing segue, to be sure), we offer the following:

Thank you for your column about 9/11. Being a New Yorker who saw the events first-hand, the photos you showed captured the day perfectly. I could almost smell the dust.

One part of 9/11 that I won't ever forget is how we slowly came back to reality. This shot of Mike Piazza says it all.

Thanks for keeping the memories alive.

Phil, New York


Your blog about companies trying to buy love was so true! My company does a lot of things to show us they care. We have all-staff meetings, company picnics, and holiday parties. But what matters most to many people here is when we get a personal note from our boss saying how much he appreciates what we're doing. It might only have a sentence or two, but it's hand-written. Nothing says 'I care about you' more than one of those notes.

Sarah, London


Here's something to share with your readers. (Do you actually have readers or am I the only one?) I work in an airport. I'm one of those people you might see in the terminal ready to help a traveler get from one place to another. My manager does a great thing. If she notices something any of us has done to really help a customer, she makes note of it and shares the story with our entire staff at our weekly staff meeting. Getting this recognition from her is more important (almost!) than getting a raise. (Don't tell her that. I need a raise!)

Jenny, Atlanta


Your blog about love at work was great! You are right about how important it is to be valued by your company. I work in a company in Santiago de Chile and it's the same here. I guess people are people wherever we live.

Pablo, Santiago


My manager doesn't have the first clue about how to make people feel valued. He's nice enough, but doesn't know how hard our jobs are. He also doesn't know why we struggle to get the work done. And then he's surprised when people leave.

David, Seattle


I would love to work for a real leader! You write about a leader having passion and having a vision. I've worked in banking for more than 20 years and have not yet seen a Real Leader. Can you please send us one?

Elizabeth, Boston


Our company has been floundering for the last few years. The economy is part of the reason. Our lack of leadership is another. We spend months planning. We're the best planners around! If there was an award for planning, we'd win it every year. Our problem is that we don't do a damn thing with our plans. We never start anything. No one ever says 'Go!' I hate it.

Michele, Toronto


You're a consultant, right? So you don't actually do anything, do you? Have you ever had to run a company? Make big bets and risk your reputation? Decide to invest in something you're not completely sure of? Lay people off?

Okay, so you have. Your bio says you've run businesses. Maybe you know what you're talking about. But let me make this clear: Leading is tough. Very, very tough.

Jim, Chicago


Let me get this out of the way: I'm an HR professional. I love what I do. I also agree with you about HR. It's not doing what it could or should do to help a company win, as you put it. Soon, there will be an app for most of what we do in HR. There will be an app to update your employee information, an app to select benefits, an app to provide feedback, even an app to begin the recruiting process. We have got to change HR so it can provide strategy about how people can, in your words, drive performance. We better do it soon, too, otherwise there will be an app for us.

Toni, Los Angeles


Your blogs are great! I don't always agree with them, especially when you write about politics. But what you have to say about what goes on at work makes a lot of sense. I finally know what you mean about 'the job' of work. It is a job! It doesn't have to be, but it is. Making work more meaningful -- even if you sweep floors or are the CEO (ha!) -- would be fantastic. Think of how much more successful every company could be if all of their people truly cared.

Kim, New Orleans


You Americans are crazy! It's just a job! You don't have to like it. You just have to do it. Then you can go home and do anything you want. What do you say to people who worry about the wrong things? Get a life? Okay, get a life!

Franco, Rome

Shana tova. May it be a sweet and healthy year and may your Off Season be short. See you next week.

Can't Buy My Love

Have you noticed that The Beatles are back? Apple Records (no relation to our Apple), at long last, released The Beatles’ complete catalog to iTunes and we’re now in the midst of a rebirth of this great band.

[Note to anyone under the age of 50: The Beatles were the hottest band on the planet if not the galaxy in the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. They defined what was known as the British Invasion: A wave of rock bands from the U.K., including The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks, among others, that become hugely popular in the States. The Beatles had their own sound, their own hairstyle, their own sense of humor and, without doubt, a near-universal sex appeal. (YouTube ‘beatles ed sullivan’ and watch the reaction of the women in the audience.) They had a zillion hits, made a number of brilliant albums (Rubber Soul, Revolver, St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album) and what many consider to be a breakthrough movie and a precursor to MTV (A Hard Day’s Night), a reasonably lame but fun movie (Help!), and the soundtrack for a full-length cartoon (Yellow Submarine). They created a phenomenon known simply as Beatlemania and may, indeed, have been more popular than Jesus. (Google ‘john lennon jesus’.) They were one of the greatest, most successful bands ever. And then came Yoko and it all went to shit.]

But the lads from Liverpool are back and again reminding us that you can’t buy me love. Advice, curiously, most companies should heed. For while some organizations and many managers try to buy our love – in a somewhat misguided way to increase productivity and retention – our love is not for sale. More importantly, it’s not our love they should try to buy. If it’s performance and retention they’re interested in, there’s something far more important. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

Yet, oh how they try to buy our love! Any of these sound familiar?

• Subsidized – or free – cafeteria food
• Abundant and ever-present snacks
• Espresso bar, complete with barista
• On-site exercise facilities
• Concierge services (like dry cleaning and on-site oil changes)
• Holiday parties, some including families
• Halloween parties – complete with costume competition and Trick or Treating for children (a Towers Perrin tradition and an absolute favorite of my sons)
• Offsite bonding ‘meetings’
• Free company gear (i.e., logo t-shirt, fleece, hoody, vest)
• Office décor that’s elegant/stylish/hip/cool, depending on industry

(On a side note, whenever a company provides a well-stocked snack cabinet, dry cleaning services, and/or has an espresso bar I immediately think: Someone expects you to be here very late, very often!)

I’m not implying that these things aren’t appreciated or undesired. They’re all great things and indicate the desire on someone’s part to make the workplace as enjoyable and as sensitive to the needs of employees as possible. But, do these things buy love? Commitment? Longevity? I think not and our data confirm it.

Don’t believe me? Ask any employee.

If it’s commitment you want, if it’s an ability to retain your top and high potential people you need, and if improved business performance is what you absolutely have to have, go beyond trying to buy love. Instead, involve your employees in meaningful ways to drive the growth of your business and, in the process, demonstrate that you value their contributions. For nothing enhances bottom-line performance and increases retention rates better than involvement and being valued.

Don’t believe me? Ask any employee.

There are two essential elements to this equation: Involvement in meaningful ways to drive business growth, and ensuring that contributions are valued. Do this and you’ll prove to your people that they are essential to the success of the organization.

And that, my friends, is more powerful and more meaningful than love. At least at work.

So, provide free food and drink. Give out nice company gear. (Who can’t use yet another fleece?) Have good parties. Include families. And while you’re doing that, go beyond love. Involve your people in growing the business and make damn sure they know they’re valued. Your organization will flourish and your best people will stay with you for years.

And when word gets out that this is how your company runs – that you give people meaningful opportunities to drive the business and value them for it – you’ll find yourself in the envious position of attracting top talent to your doorstep. Remember: The best performers have choices, even in this economic climate. They’ll choose organizations that allow them to grow and flourish. Is your company on their list?

Need help creating a workplace where employees are given a real voice and have accountability for performance growth? Get in touch with us. This is what we do. Brilliantly, I might add.

In the meantime, enjoy The Beatles’ Can’t Buy Me Love from A Hard Day’s Night. Word has it they’re back.

Ten Years After

In many ways, it seems like just yesterday...




















Do you remember how you felt as the events unfolded and, especially, in the days and weeks immediately afterward? Loss, despair, fear, anger, compassion, love. A concern for others. A willingness and readiness to help people around you. A connection, a real connection to, come to think of it, everyone. The tragedy brought us together.

Still feel that way? I doubt it.

It's been 10 years and I wonder what we've learned. A respect for first-responders. An appreciation for those whose business -- and passion -- is rescue. That we can rebuild (buildings, anyway).

New skyscrapers are rising at Ground Zero. A magnificent memorial honors the dead. Lower Manhattan will again balance the city's skyline with elegance and gravitas.

But, has any of the compassion that existed immediately following the attack remained? Have we come together as a people, as a society? Have we rallied to support those in need here and abroad? Have we become more sensitive, more responsive? Are we stronger? Are we a better nation?

I wonder.

Instead, we remain a country divided. Blue states, red states. Democrats, Republicans. The Tea Party. Christians, Muslims, Jews. North, South. Employed, unemployed. Ethnicity. Healthcare. The right to marry.

Too bad we've missed the opportunity, thus far, to learn the most important 9/11 lesson of them all: That we are better together. Stronger, more resilient, more resourceful. Better. Together.

It's not too late to learn. Say it with me, "Better together."

Good. That's a start.

This is NOT Leadership

Warning: Political commentary. Intense frustration, bordering on abject futility in the face of lunacy. Lack of respect for elected officials.
Reader beware.

So, let me get this straight.

The President of the United States, the most powerful person in the Western World and, possibly, on the planet (beside, of course, my mother), writes a letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House, requesting a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 7, to outline his approach to job creation.

The letter is protocol. In the entire 235-year history of our country, the Speaker has honored the President's request for a joint session of Congress every single time. Probably out of respect. Possibly because the President might have something useful to say.

Until now.

Boehner, in a move that can only be described as incredibly audacious -- the utter lack of respect kind of audacious -- responded to the President that Wednesday night won't work, as it isn't really a convenient time. We're busy doing other things, he said.

Like what, washing your hair?

If that didn't take the cake, the President's response certainly did. His reply: Okay, no problemo. Let's do it Thursday. Thursday good for you?

Am I alone in this, or is this completely beyond c-o-m-p-r-e-h-e-n-s-i-o-n? Something a bull might leave behind?

Let's consider how:

1. Unemployment is beyond 10.0% nationally. (The latest figure of 9.1% is soft, in that it does not include those who have given up looking for work.)

2. The stock market has been in a tizzy since Congress's shenanigans led directly to Standard & Poor's downgrading of our debt. And rightfully so, citing a lack of confidence in the existence of leadership to ensure the repayment of the trillions we owe.

3. The economy is anything but robust. Companies have not begun rehiring in earnest, as the jobs report of September 2 attests. Just about every index shows lackluster growth. Even people who are gainfully employed have pulled back on spending.

4. The threat of recession -- as if we need that -- is real and looms as long as unemployment remains high and buying slows.

5. The decline in the stock market has effected anyone who has any retirement money tied to it. Which means just about everyone.

So, while Boehner is too busy to talk jobs and the President is willing to let the issues we're facing exist another day, we suffer. They bicker, we persevere. They play politics, our savings dwindle. They joust, we look for work. And the kicker? They work for us. We pay their salaries.

Said inelegantly, this totally sucks.

Where is the leadership? Where is the concern for the populace, for the customers? We know the Republican party -- especially the radical Tea Party faction -- is devoted to the demise of the President -- even if it means that we languish in this awful economy. But where is the President's backbone?

Here's how we wish it would have gone down. Listen in on the phone conversation we would have hoped for following Boehner's refusal:

Obama: Speaker Boehner, as I mentioned in my letter to you, I'd like to address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday evening to outline an approach to job creation.

Boehner: Ah, gee, Mr. President. I don't know. (Flipping pages, maybe of his calendar.) Wednesday might be difficult. We're just coming back from a long vacation, there's a Republican presidential candidate debate that night, and we might have to vote on some other stuff. You said Wednesday, right? Did I mention that it's our first day back from a long vacation?

Obama: With all due respect, John, I'm the President of the United States. It's Wednesday that I'll speak before Congress.

Boehner: I just don't know, Mr. President. We're awfully busy.

Obama: Your call, John. If you can't swing it, I'll make the nationwide address from the Oval Office. Be sure to listen in. Your name will be used often. If I can help it -- and you know I can -- you and your party will become synonymous with unemployment. You do know what 'synonymous' means, don't you, John?

Boehner: You don't have to be mean about it, Mr. President. Let me make a few calls and see what I can do.

Obama: No, John. Decide now. Unemployment is more than 10%. Our people can't wait.

Boehner: A few calls, Mr. President. I'll get back to you later today.

Obama: Don't bother. The Oval Office will work perfectly. You and your obstructionist pals have had your day in the sun. Too many of our people are out of work. It's time for action, John. You're either for putting people back to work or you're against it. I think you're against it and, beginning Wednesday night, I will make it my mission to teach every person in this country that you and your buddies would rather play politics than create jobs.

Boehner: (A muffled sob.) Okay, okay. If it means so much to you, you can talk Wednesday night.

Obama: Thank you, John. Oh, and one more thing. Either get on board with our job creation plan or find another profession.

Boehner: Is that a threat, Mr. President?

Obama: No, John. It's not a threat. It's a promise. Remember, I am the President of the United States.

Too bad it didn't happen this way. It might have, had there been more than one spine between them.