PRADCO's Blog

By Larry Borodkin

It has really been a very satisfying experience writing blog entries for the past month.  I have truly enjoyed being able to take some time and share some observations about my work at PRADCO.  It is hard to believe, but I have been associated with PRADCO as either an employee or end-user for nearly half my life!  In April, you will be hearing from a good friend and colleague, Sam Maniar.  I am confident that you will find his writings thought-provoking.  Sam brings much knowledge and experience to the job and he is a top-notch professional.  

I thought that I would talk a little about our client satisfaction survey and its application to our work.  Sam will go into much more detail about the survey results, but I was very pleased that the majority of our clients truly appreciated and valued the information received from PRADCO.  I also am pleased to announce that Jennifer Cohen, Director of Professional Personnel at the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, was the winner of $500 of PRADCO services.  Individuals who gave their contact information when completing the survey were eligible to win the prize.  Jennifer was very lucky because the first person drawn did not give his/her contact information so Jennifer and the Federation won the prize.  In her role at Federation, Jennifer is tasked with recruiting top-notch talent for the organization.  She uses our online indexes to help determine the potential strengths and developmental needs of each candidate.  She also determines how well the candidates compare against Federation’s defined success factors.  Overall, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland has been using PRADCO tools for over 5 years as part of its selection program.

While the results were very positive from the survey, there were still areas for improvement which will be addressed.  Thinking about the client satisfaction survey results, I realize that this same approach is used in our 360 leadership development work.  It makes sense for organizations to learn how their external customers view their work.  In the same way, it is only logical that managers/executives should learn how their internal customers (direct reports, peers, etc.) view their own leadership abilities.  Just as organizations cannot predict every result a survey will yield, managers/executives also can learn things they may not have expected when participating in a 360 leadership program.  My own personal experience would support that notion.  On a recent 360 analysis, I was surprised that I was given a lower score on Coaching by my direct reports.  This was very puzzling to me.  I believed I always reviewed progress with my people, noting the successes and delivering constructive feedback when needed.  What I found out from the 360 was that my direct reports were looking to me to provide more “global” coaching.  They wanted to better understand how their performance related to their ultimate career goals.  Without the 360, I probably would not have learned this important perception of my “internal customers”.

Just as organizations need to accept the comments and/or perceptions of their external customers, managers/executives need to do the same thing.  They cannot discount the observations if they simply don’t believe or agree with them.  They need to be willing to look in the mirror, taking stock of their leadership strengths and their leadership developmental needs.  Also, just as organizations should survey their external customers on a regular basis, managers/executives should do the same.  Given that the current environment is ever-changing and extremely challenging, leaders need to get the current pulse of their internal customers.

Again, it has been a pleasure sharing some observations with you and I may offer an insight or two from time to time in the future.  I hope that you keep visiting our blog to learn more about PRADCO’s work and its staff.  Take care and keep striving to please those internal and external customers!     

By Larry Borodkin 

For many years, I believed that the following equation made a great deal of sense:  Performance = Motivation x Ability.  If you want to try to help someone perform at a higher level, you need to ensure they are motivated to improve and that they have the necessary skills to get the job done.  As a result, if you want to coach someone to become more successful, you would need to get a good understanding of their motivational level and where any deficits in required skills exist.  For the most part, this paradigm worked well.  However, it always seemed as though there was something missing from that equation.

In a recent article I read, I noticed that the equation mentioned above was modified.  For the better, I would propose.  Now the equation is stated as Performance = (Motivation x Ability) x Environment.  Why is this modification that significant?  Often in a coaching situation we focus too much on the individual without paying attention to the operating environment.  In the last couple of years, PRADCO has started including the individual’s manager and, when possible, the HR Manager.  This has really made the coaching sessions much more effective.  Who is largely responsible for the growth and development of the employee?  It is that employee’s immediate manager.  Also, who can provide additional resources for the employee’s development?  Primarily it would be the HR Manager.  When these two people add their input to the coaching meeting, much more can get done.

 The immediate manager can give many relevant examples that illustrate the employee’s strengths and developmental areas.  This person can often speak of specific critical incidents that the coach on the outside has no way of knowing.  Also, the immediate manager can help the employee prioritize his/her developmental goals. And going back to the modified equation, the immediate manager can provide the supportive environment that the employee needs to grow.  As a coach, it is not difficult to see how much the presence of the manager impacts the coaching session.  The sessions are more meaningful and the manager often picks up some good tips on coaching and how to better relate to his/her employees.

Having the HR Manager involved also brings additional context to the session.  This individual has the ability to bring additional developmental/training opportunities to bear and this can also hasten employee development.  Additionally, the HR Manager can best determine how the individual’s developmental needs are similar/different than other employees in the organization.  In a sense, these individual coaching sessions can serve as a part of a training needs analysis.

Before signing off, I want to stress the importance of the overall organizational environment.  Even if the immediate manager and the HR Manager have the best of intentions, the entire organization must support growth and development.  If the organization will not tolerate “mistakes” as people learn and grow, it will be next to impossible for the employee to take the risks often necessary to develop.  To create a learning culture where individual employees can flourish, all levels of management must be supportive.  If certain pockets of the organization only give employee development lip service and act as roadblocks, the sincere positive efforts of others will likely be hurt.

Employee development really is a team effort – the individual, the immediate manager, the HR Manager, the organizational culture and the consultant.  While the performance equation has gotten a bit more complex, the odds of helping the employee improve are definitely greater.