I was out with some friends for a meal one evening, when one of them turned to me and said, ‘Rikki, what is it that you actually do in your role at work?’.
If I’m being honest, they’d had a fair bit to drink at this point and were slightly slurry in their articulation.
It was more along the lines of,
‘Maaaaaaate, woz you do at job evreeee day….’
Despite his inebriated state, I can’t help when asked that question to turn on my ‘work’ brain and give an answer that helps people get some semblance of understanding but also, I’m quite proud of what I do, and my narcissism means that I want people’s reaction to be.
‘Wow that’s so coooooooooooooooooooooooool maaaaaaaaaaan’.
I proceeded to tell my friend whilst he tucked into his lamb chops (We were in Lahore in Whitechapel. Amazing lamb chops) that my aim is to support our teams get better with their people. A lot of that is through conversation. It might be around performance or something more process driven. But my excitement rose when I shared with him that I also love human beings, their behaviour, why they do what they do, say what they say, act how they act.
He looked at me, lips glistening from the tender lamb chops, teeth filled with gristle and responded with,
‘Oh, so soft skills yeah.’
I put down my naan bread.
‘Not quite my friend, not quite’.
I followed with a question, of course I did.
Before I tell you what I asked, the context of said friend is important. He works in a prestigious business in the finance sector and has done so for most of his adult life. I shouldn’t say the name, but let’s say that it rhymes with shmarkleys schmank.
‘What do your team think of you as a manager?’
‘Oh, they love me’.
‘Why is that’?
‘I just tell them whatever they want to hear’.
‘Give me an example’.
‘Hey Brian (can’t remember the exact name but statistically, there must be a Brian in finance, right?), love that tie you’ve got on today? How are the kids Brianna and Brian Jnr? Listen, that report you did yesterday? It’s great, but it needs to be better, I’m gonna need a revised version on my desk by close of play tonight. Thanks buddy’.
Two things sprang to mind. How ambiguous is the term, close of play? And second, I’m pretty sure Brian hates you mate.
I didn’t share those two immediate thoughts with my friend but followed up with.
‘What’s the biggest thing you find difficult when it comes to leading people today’?
‘That’s easy. Finding good people that are great at their job. Once you hire them, it’s a 50-50 whether it’ll work out or not.’
On some level, sure, hiring someone external is a little risky but the conversations you have with those new hires plays a crucial role in their success and throughout.
I continued to probe.
‘Why might someone’s performance dip?’
‘Because they can’t hack it’.
I assume they’re working with numbers all day, not chopping down a rainforest.
‘What do you think to yourself if someone regularly shows up late to work?’.
‘That they should get a new watch’.
Finance sector, Canary Wharf. Likely a Rolex then.
‘And regularly absent?’.
‘That they’re weak and can’t hack it again’.
Must be difficult to chopping down rainforests when you’ve got the sniffles.
At this juncture, I smiled, nodded along, took a giant inhale,and asked my friend to hold my Tiger beer.
What preceded next was almost like instead of inhaling oxygen, I inhaled a bullet load of questions and shot them at him like some kind of rapid-fire machine gun.
‘What do you think Brian feels about the team he works with?’
‘When was the last time you told him whether he’s doing a good job or not?’
‘I wonder whether Brian feels he’s good at his job’?
‘Why do you think Brian chooses to work at shmarkleys shmank?’
‘When Brian wakes up in the morning, on a scale of 0-10, 0 being I fucking hate this job, 10 being I love it here and would never leave schmakleys for another bank like Bantandare.’
‘What does this role mean to Brian? What is it that he’s contributing to?’
‘What does Brian do outside of crunching numbers? Does his lifestyle and career afford him the best of both worlds?’
‘How engaged is Brian with the culture and values of the team and bank?’
‘How supported does Brian feel daily?’
‘When was the last time Brian felt that he really helped someone at work?’
‘What’s the vibe like? Is Brian excited about showing up everyday or is he entering a space of negativity?’
‘Tell me Brian, how much flexibility and autonomy do you feel you have in your role? Or is it as rigid and straightforward like a credit card application?’
‘Tell me Brian, are any days the same or is there variety in what you do? Or is it as rigid and straightforward as taking out a loan application?’
‘When was the last time Brian had an amazing conversation with you or someone in your team?’
I looked at my friend, who during this barrage of questions just held onto his solitary lambchop and asked him whether he’s ever asked just one of these questions to a member of his team.
He took a bite of that delicious lamb chop and just smiled at me. Unlike the lamb chops, working with people isn’t so soft. It’s not hard. I’m not saying it’s a hard skill. It’s complex, it’s unique, it’s versatile and varied which is why I like it so much. Maybe I’m writing this to break the stigma of working in the people sector…don’t get me started on the word fluffy and its association with ‘people’ but organisations live and die by the success of their people. If anything, People Teams should touch several areas of an organisation to support and influence all aspects of its culture.
If not, it’ll be my friend aka the wannabe Wolf of Wall Street who’ll continue to hold onto the belief that people can be a commodity, a thing to which you bring into an organisation to deliver results, drive productivity, and do a job.
But people are so much more than that. They’re your culture. They’re your community. They’re what makes your organisation successful. They’re making your organisation your organisation.
There’s a lot you can know about someone by seeking the context of who they are. What motivates them, what engages them, what gets them out of bed every day to bring themselves in and deliver in their role. Who are they? Why do they say what they say? Act how they act? Believe in what they believe.
Sounds like a lot of effort, right?
Maybe don’t do any of the above, don’t take the time to invest in your people, don’t seek to understand them. Instead, treat them like a number, a commodity, an expectation to immediately deliver once they’ve signed that contract. Just purely having expectations sounds like a breeze.
Having all the expectations with no effort on your people in return?
Sounds like a soft skill to me.