Mentoring And Partnerships:
One Step At A Time
Last month
I initiated a conversation with Coach’s Corner readers about building and
sustaining partnerships. I invited you to engage in a short coaching exercise
that would enable you to outline a mentoring program in your office or division.
Unfortunately, I did not
receive any input from the more than 1200 federal employees receiving this
newsletter.
I am again inviting readers to tackle
these questions, see what happens, and share your lessons with us. You can find
the exercise at the end of this article.
In a group
of eight people or less, discuss these questions and provide your ideas to us at
Coach’s Corner (www.coachscorner.com). We will print all readers’ responses in
the next issue. Let’s learn from each other!
Today I
will give you the straight poop on why and how mentoring programs will actually
save your agency, time, money and people.
Recently, I
had the opportunity, to conduct five one- day teambuilding sessions for the HR
staff at Fort Riley, Kansas. With their acquisitions of other Civilian Personnel
Advisory Centers (CPAC) this Southwest Civilian Personnel Operations Center (SWCPOC)
has taken on additional responsibilities in the areas of classification,
staffing and benefits.
The good
news is as each team member accomplishes more work, the better the ratings for
the overall operation. The bad news is the more work the SWCPOC accomplishes on
time and within budget, the more tasks they are asked to perform.
Similar to
sports teams where audiences, from media to management, relentlessly push their
players to play their best, federal agencies also demand that their production
teams continue to challenge their performance. Agencies continually raise the
performance bar. The better the division performs, the better we insist they
perform.
Whether we
are talking business or sports, the bottom line doesn’t change. We want our
teams to keep scoring. Winning feels good for everyone. We love you when you are
on top; we leave you behind when you fall behind.
Production,
performance and results become the foundation upon which the SWCPOC is judged.
The better the teams play in terms of achieving overall organizational goals,
the more they are asked to achieve.
As this
SWCPOC continues to grow, in terms of taking on additional responsibilities, new
players are added to the roster. The HR division has more than doubled in the
past year and one half.
One of the
biggest issues voiced during the team trainings was from the “rookie players” in
the SWCPOC who were flailing their arms in despair as they tried to figure out
how to do their jobs. When the emphasis is on production, people lose sight of
the organizational vision. The job becomes one of operations rather than
service.
Seasoned
players, who are already stretched thin in their positions, can barely guide
these rookies around the block. In many instances, without a specific structure
in place that nurtures and educates rookies, they are left behind, struggling to
learn their jobs as they perform. Sometimes this system works; oftentimes,
rookies develop tremendous frustration and resentment that adversely impacts
their performance.
Veterans
provide only cursory explanations or immediate corrections. Rookies are sent to
research topics about which they know little. Since all of us learn differently,
blanketing the rookies with one style of learning, hoping that the knowledge and
skills take root, is ineffective and ultimately unproductive. If the office is
staffed with lots of newer employees, even if the new people have similar
experience from a different organization, the veterans feel the pinch because
they end up doing two jobs for the price of one. Frustration
mounts for both groups.
The newer
employees in the team building classes expressed frustration at both not knowing
what to do in their jobs, as well as not knowing the “right questions” to ask to
do their jobs. They wanted to jump in and play ball, except they were not sure
how.
As the
rookies spoke, some of the seasoned players remembered the time when they
provided cross training and internal training programs. Impromptu or even
specifically timed training programs assisted individuals to learn their jobs
with a sense of ease and understanding.
There must
be a balance created between production and morale. The lower the morale in the
department, the less someone produces. Stress levels rise and seasoned veterans
feel trapped to keep pushing themselves to satisfy the demands of senior
level managers. Employees feel caught in the crunch. They do their jobs and go
home. Or else they return on weekends to try to catch up. But there is no time
allotted for developing the talent pool entering the workforce.
The agency
or installation is losing the creativity, energy and commitment a well-supported
employee branch provides. Seasoned veterans do not have the time or the
inclination to bring along the newer folks. The rationale for with holding
training runs the gamut from power plays to fatigue—and everything in between.
As a result, the teams’ productivity decreases. The whole organization suffers.
The
Solution.
By slowing
down their production day and providing team players with a retreat setting
where they could relax and listen to each other, team members were able to “let
in” the concerns of rookies. Just listening healed some of the unspoken tension
between these groups. Each team began exploring alternative ways to educate the
rookies.
Team
leaders suggested that rookies could come to them any time with questions.
Rookies pointed out that as beginners, they had no idea what specific questions
to ask. This is an interesting observation and a key point. Those of us
who have been doing a job for a while no longer think about what it takes to
complete the task satisfactorily. We simply do our jobs. Not all rookies know
how to ask for help. Not all seasoned veterans know how to help or even how to
ask for help themselves.
In the
final analysis no one wanted to see another employee fail. The seasoned team
members committed to offering specific training sessions to their newer people.
Veterans realized that if they spent one hour a week teaching small groups how
to successfully address three to five basic questions regarding their particular
activities, they would be saving themselves hours of talking, correcting,
guiding, fussing, chasing people for information not completed, etc.
When team
leaders and managers do not take care of their new people by either listening
and addressing their concerns, or listening to their ideas regarding processes
that might result in the work being completed more effectively, both sides
lose.
A one- day
team building class does not a team make. However, what we were able to do is
reconnect the bridges between players so that they could see each other’s
strengths and hear everyone’s concerns. One team offered to serve as mentors to
other teams as a way to strengthen the human resource professionals’ knowledge
about the different areas pertaining to their jobs. In the midst of a production
mentality, people realized that by taking the time to assist rookies, they were
ultimately making their jobs easier.
If we do
not find ways to take care of our people, they will not be able to take care of
us. The seasoned person will end up spending a greater amount of his/her time
correcting mistakes that the rookie makes. He will also get frustrated with the
rookie’s learning abilities. Having gotten lost in a Kansas town where everyone
told me I could not get lost, I felt tremendous empathy for the rookies. What is
second nature to the expert may be totally confusing for the new person. By
making the time on site to train rookies in their jobs, we are insuring that
more of the work is distributed evenly.
Does
mentoring require a commitment of time and energy? You betcha! But what choice
do seasoned players have if it requires a whole functioning team to produce the
results upon which their overall performance is based?
If you are
interested in hosting the one day team building class at your agency, please
check my web site
www.coachscorner.com under Seminars. You will find complete information on
The Team Building Day.
For
information or enrollment call my office at 202-484-4747or email me at
rpost@coachscomer.com. We customize our classes to fit your training
needs!
Back To Top
![rhonapost[1].jpg](../jpg/rhonapost[1].jpg)
