Bowline Consulting

What I am learning about Staffing

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:30:00 +0000

I have been working for a staffing firm for the last several months in a sales and business development role. For a career finance ops guy like me, this has been a tremendous learning opportunity. In my past work I was assailed by collection agency sales people (sometimes 20 calls a day). This colored my opinion of sales people. I had no shortage of adjectives to describe some of these people. In what is a supreme irony to me, I am now the person I loathed in my former job.

What I have learned so far:

There is a lot of sales strategy information to choose from and some of it is practically helpful. The most important lesson I have learned so far is to be myself.
It is true that there are a lot of sales people who are narcissistic, selfish and manipulative, but there are equally as many of these type of people in other professions and job positions. It is not the job that makes a person.
I am most successful and happy in a role like this when I remember why I am doing it. If it is only for the money then I look like the narcissistic person I loathe.
Shut up and listen! It has been easier for me to remember this from my own experience as a target client than I thought it would be.
Be patient. Relationships are fundamental and essential to the sales process.

Death Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:08:00 +0000

Over the last 14 months our family has endured the death of three family members; a parent and two siblings. Despite the temptation to assume such experiences should best be left out of work related discussions there are some very important lessons we learned that are quite appropriate for any work situation.

A death is in essence a crisis. It is a sudden event that despite our best attempts to prepare for it comes upon us when we are not expecting or ready for it. In the case of my father’s death, we knew that it would come, but we had no idea it would come so fast, that more deaths would follow and that there would be so many practical details to attend to. What we accomplished as a family was amazing in retrospect and can be attributed to a couple of key skills.

Communication:

From the outset, we knew there would be a lot of emotion involved in the numerous decisions we would have to make and we did not have the luxury of time to discuss and come to consensus on everything. Each of us had to take pieces of this complex process research and make a decision on what was best. We were successful because we agreed from the outset that we would not second guess each other, and that in the event someone did the decision maker had a metaphorical FU! Button they could push if it happened. Crass? Maybe, but it helped introduce some levity into a very stressful situation. (More about this later)

Teamwork:

We recognized immediately that there was no way any one person could do everything, so we would have to work together to get this done. In families this can be very complicated as the old grudges and recriminations can make cooperation difficult. We were not immune to this risk, but the team work was successful because of the next two critical skills.

Clearly Understood Goals:

We were only able to accomplish everything because in this case we knew we had a lot of practical details to accomplish very little time to do it in and we all decided that our family relationship was not worth sacrificing for the process. Yes, there were seemingly insurmountable tasks that had to be completed but no one forgot why we were doing it and never hesitated to ask for help.

Attitude:

This is quite frankly the most essential to success on any project. As strange as it might seem, a sense of humor was one of the most important skills necessary for us to be successful. In a situation like this it is so easy to let the stress and gravity of the situation narrow a person’s vision. We had to develop tools as a family to keep the individuals from going into unproductive places; we did that with humor but also by individually making the conscious decision to remember that this was not some sort of contest to see who could be the biggest hero or the most thoughtful or caring. We also gave each other the benefit of the doubt when it came to motivations and actions. I will not say that every aspect of this experience went smoothly, but when we did encounter an issue, attitude was the only thing that made it possible to solve it.

Anyone who has gone through an experience like this will tell you that it changes everyone involved. In the end each individual determines how it will change them by deciding how they are going to participates in the process. That individual decision has an enormous affect on the outcome.

Action-Intention-Trust

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:15:00 +0000

I saw a recent post about a company who's boss is demanding the ability to access and read all employee e-mail. It sparked a lively discussion about privacy, control, trust and morale.

The reality is that all correspondence on the company's e-mail system is admissible in court. This means that all the mail can be used in the discovery process in a court case. I have personally had to fend off questions from plaintiff's attorneys while on the witness stand and it can be embarrassing and expensive for the company if employees are not careful in their email correspondence. A good rule to live by: Don't write anything in e-mail you would not want your Mom to see in the paper the next day.

In this particular case the boss (being the owner) sees it as his right to have access to this. Although he does in fact have that "right" he must be careful not to completely ruin any spirit of trust, cooperation or creativity that will likely be crushed when employees find out he has been clandestinely reading this mail.

As the boss, if you are going to do this you need to tell people you are doing it and why you feel it is necessary. If your concerns is company liability there are much more effective ways to manage this. Begin with developing a policy that makes clear why it is important to be careful while writing e-mail. If you are trying to keep a pulse on the employees it will not be effective when they find out you are reading their e-mail. If it is a control issue the victory will be pyrrhic. You may have won the battle for the illusion of control but you will have lost all the support and trust of the employees.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:07:00 +0000

My youngest son just completed the project requirement to earn his Eagle Scout rank. I mention it not because I am very proud of him ( although I am) but precisely because the project requirement is one of the most important life skills a person can learn. For those unfamiliar with the requirement, the scout is required to conceive, plan, finance and direct (not do)the work on a project. The project must be writen up, proposed and approved by the beneficiary as well as Boy Scout district representatives. All three of my sons have done this, all of their projects were different and all had different specific challenges. However, I think the lessons they learned are universal and essential for anyone no matter what career they plan to have.

1. Planning (although sometimes tedious) is the foundation and most important aspect of any project.
2. Flexibility is critical in the implementation phase because no matter how detailed the plan, there will be unanticipated events that will require plan revision.
3. Clear communication is difficult but essential as a project leader leading others. Although it is tempting (in the name of efficiency) to do the work yourself, the scope and time constraints of a project often make it impossible and if you give in to the temptation to do the work yourself, you will anger or alienate the team and likely not end up with the result you envisioned in the time frame allotted.

When you ask an Eagle Scout what they would do differently on their project it inevitably ends up being something associated with the above list. If you conducted a similar survey with project managers, I suspect their process improvement suggestions would fall into the same categories.

All the tools in the world will not make a project successful if these elementary aspects are not understood and properly executed.

Entrepeneurial thought for the day

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:32:00 +0000

If you think your idea is too small to be lucrative remember this: Merv Griffin wrote the theme for Jeopardy. It was initially 14 seconds long, so he made it 30 second long by changing the key and playing it again; just enough time for contestants to finalize their answers.

It is estimated that the royalties for his efforts exceed 70 million dollars.

Reference: May-June Edition of Mental Floss

Wishful Thinking-Perfect Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Earl Klugh put out a recording in the 80s called Wishful Thinking. If you are a fan of light Jazz it is really worth a listen. The title track of that recording has been in my head all morning. I just read an article in Compliance Week about the current state of internal fraud and what is surprising is that despite survey numbers that indicate a steady increase in employee fraud (embezzlement etc.) companies have no plans to increase their efforts to monitor or fight fraud. It invites another less pleasant image. The scene in the Movie "The Perfect Storm" where a wave (bigger than anything ever encountered in reality) washes over the boat in the storm.

It is unfortunate, because as a fraud examiner the best way I know to erode my own credibility is to try and scare people into doing audits. Worse, that it should come as a surprise to anyone that fraud would rise in a down economy.

I hope you have a survival suit.

Chosing

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:57:00 +0000

When I was working for a large company, we all tried our best to abide by the laws regulating hiring decisions. This is of course, the right thing to do. When we were in the exciting activities of a start up I learned some valuable lessons about how tricky it really was to find the right people for the jobs I was trying to fill. On Saturday, as I was leaving the field of the first soccer game of the season in the over 30 league I have played in for (perhaps too long), it became very clear why it is so hard to be objective in the hiring process.

We were beaten very soundly by the apposing team. It was not surprising because it was quite clear what the result would be. We were playing a team with very good skill, but more importantly, a team that was quite well acquainted and comfortable playing together. Although the individual skills displayed by many of the new players on our team were impressive, most of us had not played together as a team, so the game for us was more an exercise in learning to communicate and play as a team.

The way a business operates is really no different. In order for it to compete successfully, the people and working relationships have to be solid and in fact are of primary importance. This is not to say that skills are irrelevant but they are clearly not primary. In the case of my soccer team we are of an age that training will be subject to the law of dimishing returns, but the reality is that in a business a person can always be trained. The point is that no amount of training will make a business successful if the team does not share a common goal, mutual respect and an ability to trust one another and effectively communicate.

Some would argue that being preferential in the hiring process is unfair (and it can be illegal in some instances) but if we are all honest about it, we know why it is done. If we want to be successful as a team in anything, we have to chose people we know well and can trust in order to be as competitive, effective and efficient as possible as quickly as possible.

If a business is committed to the fair hiring practices that have been established, then it has to acknowledge that with that commitment comes some risk of not being as competitive, efficient in the short term (and in some instances failure). Therefore, it cannot skimp on the activities that ensure a new or growing team has a clearly defined objective, is communicating clearly and is building trust. Without these foundational elements the result will likely be much like my team's outcome Saturday. I find it interesting that this principle is obvious to everyone, but many will acknowledge that it does not happen in their work world.

The season is young for us. It will be interesting to see if we decide to build the foundation necessary for success. What kind of team are you on?

"Night" vs "Man's Search for Meaning"

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:23:00 +0000

In an effort to educate our children on the horror of the holocaust, many teachers are having the students read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. The book is a disturbing memoir of his experience in the concentration camps. I am always surprised however, that they do not have them read an equally important book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a psychiatrist who also endured the horrors of concentration camps,(the same one in fact) and ended up developing a psychiatric treatment approach (logo therapy) as a result.

It is important to read both accounts not because of their common horrific experience, but because their respective works are great examples of how such an experience can make a person view the world. Wiesel's book is documentary in its effect and leaves the reader with a very dim and hopeless view of mankind. Frankl's account does not sugar coat the events or his experience but he made a decision (in his estimation the reason for his survival) to live in hope and love and thereby discover a true meaningful existence. Wouldn't everyone benefit from reading such a powerful witnesses of hope?

Directing your passion for better organizations

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:09:00 +0000

I have been thinking a lot about the dangers of misdirected passion these days. I am a Boy Scout leader and every year we have new scouts and their parents become part of the troop. When there is a large number of people with a lot of energy and excitement that join it is always exciting. I have learned a hard lesson however. Where there is passion there is also going to be some disagreement. If that passion is not managed during the disagreement then there is great potential for dysfunction. If the energy for change from the new members (which ought to be welcomed) is seen as a threat or an insult, then there will be resistance from the existing leadership. If that energy and excitement for change is not presented in the right way then the existing leadership can end up being insulted and resistant to the change.

It made me think of the following Scout analogy. Building a fire requires several things: a spark, tinder, kindling and fuel. The spark lights the tinder and the kindling provides the ability to maintain the fire until fuel can be successfully added to sustain the fire. Watching boys learn this I often find them trying to light kindling or fuel with the spark. It is frustrating and unsuccessful. Building organizations is very similar. All organizations need that spark of new energy and enthusiasm to keep the organization fresh and healthy. But if that energy and enthusiasm is not properly applied then there are a lot of sparks and friction but no fire. The new energy and excitement has to be carefully applied and targeted so that it catches and provides the foundation for the sustained growth everyone is trying to achieve. Just as you can't light a log with a spark you can't change an organization overnight. Be patient, build the relationships and be sure that you desire for change is motivated by the betterment of the organization and not the promotion of you own agenda or your desire to "save the organization".

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:37:00 +0000

Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:06:00 +0000

“F” bombing governor looking for payoffs
Shoe throwing reporters
Wal-Mart employee crushed to death at a door buster event
Large corporations guilty of mismanagement (at least) seeking government assistance to prevent a more drastic economic disaster while
Many honest hard working people find themselves out of work with no “bail out” option

If ever the words of the Christmas Carol “O Come O Come Emanuel” made any sense they certainly do today.

So why should we be hopeful? The principal that makes it clear that prosperity will not last forever also makes it clear that economic crises will not last forever.

How can we be hopeful? Let’s start moving toward solutions to this situation. I don’t mean waiting for the government to do something. It will be impossible for it to design something effective for every community. Think of what you can do locally to solve this. Can you spare some time with a local job club helping with networking or resume review or job interview practice? Can you give time to a food pantry or shelter? What about your next door neighbor? See if you can do something without expecting a return for your effort.

I bet you will be surprised at how hopeful you become.

The Challenge of Corporate Social Responsibility

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:50:00 +0000

CSR Challenges
I have been reading up on Corporate Social Responsibility and found the most practical commentary in the following article. It is worth the time to read the entire thing but I thought I would offer the following summary.

Strategy & Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. By: Porter, Michael E., Kramer, Mark R., Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Dec2006, Vol. 84, Issue 12

The challenges of balancing a company’s obligation to its owners, customers, employees, the environment and the community in which it operates makes this question an understandably difficult. In order to keep this initiative from becoming a complete waist of time or worse a public relations disaster inside and outside the company it is important to start with some basic considerations:
Why are you doing it?
This is the most important question to ask first, because unless you have a compelling reason, it will be impossible to get anyone inside the company to pay attention to it. Everyone has more than enough to do without being saddled with another initiative that lacks the clarity and company benefit of every other activity the company is working on.

What makes the most sense to do?
There are so many activities that can be considered ‘Corporate Responsibility Initiatives’ that you could spend years determining what to do. Begin by focusing on what the biggest challenges in your business are from a cost perspective. Process improvements in this area are likely to make your company more efficient, generate less waist and therefore less cost. This contributes to one of the largest contributions a business makes to society: JOBS! These process improvements will end up reducing waist in almost every area from energy consumption, solid waist generation, to labor costs. An efficient business is stable and contributes work opportunities, tax revenue for the community in which it operates and provides products or services that meet genuine needs of individuals, businesses and communities.
It does not make sense to work on something that is not related to your business. Studies have found that companies that attempt this are not always successful making cost improvements and do not even get a public relations benefit. For instance, carbon emissions are something that all companies might be concerned with, but some are more able to affect it than others. A global consulting company that has employees flying weekly to and from client work sites has a much bigger opportunity to impact this environmental concern than a web based business. Here it is critical for the employees to set the priority. They are the most able to determine where the biggest opportunities are and how they can best be achieved. Stakeholders outside the company are important to listen to as well but they will never be able to understand the company’s abilities and opportunities as well as those engaged in running the company on a daily basis. Nevertheless, it will be important to keep employees focused on a set of achievable and measurable goals in this regard.

Can you measure it?
If you want this effort to generate any results you will need to help keep the effort focused. It is here that you can employ all of the things you learned in the TQM craze of the 80s. Not only must there be a way to measure progress, there must also be some time boundaries. Measuring the effort will need to be objective and have realistic timeframes if you hope to get any stakeholder to see the value. So every effort should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time bound. If the pendulum swings too far and you have a host of committees working on social initiative at the expense of the company’s core activities then clearly there is a problem. Such a loss of focus will end up putting the entire company at risk. The social impact of a failed business to the employees and the larger community are far greater than the social initiatives that it might undertake.

In the Log Term
Initiating such an effort should not be a fad as it will end up making the company look insincere, and there are plenty of cases where that has backfired. Studies have shown that the CSR efforts require a long term commitment to be effective. As employees and customers become more attuned to these issues the company will need to be able to balance this concern with the responsibility to make a profit for its owners. It is possible to do all of this if there is a reasoned thoughtful approach that focuses on a shared value. If companies choose initiatives they know a great deal about they stand to make a much bigger and long term beneficial impact than a charity, or government could do.

Are you really helping?

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:56:00 +0000

One of the traps that is easy for a consultant or a mentor to fall into is of letting our expertise on a subject make us forget our role. We are hired or consulted to help. Kierkegaard made a very astute observation that is easy to overlook in these situations. He said a helper is a servant not a sovereign. Whether you are asked to lead or suport it is important that the client is ultimately the one deciding your role in the process.

If we are honest about our own experience we seldom want someone to tell us exactly what to do. We want someone to listen and help root out things that might have been overlooked.

It is presumptuous of us to assume we can know more about a particular situation and its intricacies as the newest resource at the table. Better to listen and ask questions than to prescribe a formula or process before you understand the situation and its challenges.

Is your business leaking revenue?

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:33:00 +0000

No matter what stage your business is in there is always a risk that revenue is leaking. If you are a startup, the pressures to acquire and retain customers may lead you to engage in business practices that greatly increase your overall risk. If you are past the startup stage your business may have outgrown the basic processes you established to get it up and running. If you are a long established business you may have been lulled into business practices that are just not efficient and therefore are costing you money you should not have to spend. Or, (scarier) you may have employees or vendors that are taking advantage or outright stealing from you. It is always a good idea to take time to evaluate what you are doing and how it is being done to be sure that you are not leaking revenue.

Purchasing:
Are you really getting the best deal on the recurring expenses that are necessary to run your business? Have you analyzed the cost of supplies, mail, phone services over time? Do you know what it would cost you to move an office should the rent rise too much? Does your bank provide the services you need at a price that is competitive? Are you paying too much for credit card services?

Processes:
Are there processes that are too centralized giving one person a lot of control with little oversight? Is there someone who never seems to be able to take time off and who never shares the processes they do with others? Some assume it is a way to promote job security, but it is also a warning sign of potential fraud. Have you taken time to talk to the people who actually do the tasks within a given process? Chances are they have a lot of ideas on how to do it more efficiently. What kind of reporting do you do? Can you measure any of the processes you do?

These are just a few basic things you can do to get a sense of your revenue risk. I would be delighted to learn more about your business and the challenges that may make these things hard to do. Send me a note!

Freakonomics

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:59:00 +0000

I picked up "Freakonomics" this week and was surprised to see so many fraud related items in the first few chapters of the book. The story on cheating teachers was not news. Anyone with kids in school knows that there is a great temptation on the part of teachers to "teach to the test". It is the classic warning about taking care to pick what you measure carefully because it will drive behavior (sometimes the wrong behavior).

The story that I thought was most interesting was the one about the guy who quit his job to sell bagels to offices. Their assertion in the book is that there is no meaninful data on white collar crime(I am not sure that is true). The authors use the bagel man as a way to analyze this problem. Since he did business on the honor system and kept incredibly detailed records he was able to track company honesty. Some of the interetsting things he learned:

1. Weather: The worse the weather the more people cheat the bagel man.
2. Holidays: The Christmas holiday produces a 2% drop in payments.
3. Morale:The healthier the work environment the more honest they are.
4. Power:The higher up in the organization the person is the more likely they are to cheat.

I am interested in feedback:

1. Are you more inclined to cheat at work(through cutting out early or other slacker behavior) when your boss is a jerk?
2. What specific issues make it hardest to be honest at work?

Eliot Spitzer

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:49:00 +0000

If you have ever wondered about the value of internal controls, then take a look at the case against Eliot Spitzer. As a former prosecuter he is quite familiar with the Office of the Controller of the Currency's requirement that banks submit Suspicious Activity Reports for transactions that look suspicious and are over $5,000 or any transaction over $25,000. It appears that this requirement is what ended up exposing the crime.

He is likely to be charged under a statute called "structuring" where a person initiates a series of financial transactions designed to obscure the purpose of payments.

He was caught in the very net he used to catch others as a prosecuter. The FBI suspected that he was taking bribes and was surprised to discover the prostitution ring.

Processes designed to uncover fraud work even when people who know how they work try to work around them.

The mother of the problem

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:12:00 +0000

If you were required to read Beowulf in school you may recall how he was contracted by the king of a neighboring village to come and kill a monster who had been praying on the community. Beowulf does this, but quickly realizes that if he is to solve the problem completely he has to kill the mother of the monster. Killing the mother proves to be much harder, but necessary for the safety of the village.

A recent Linkedin question had me thinking about this. The question had to do with how to get an organization to adopt an internal control program. It would be easy to simply impose the program on the organization , but clearly its effectiveness would be questionable. In this instance the "mother of the beast" is the organization's cultural state. If the larger and more fundamental issues of common purpose, and morale are not dealt with effectively (and which might be driving the organization's resistance) the internal control program might reduce some of the risk, but it risks creating an environment more susceptible to fraud, and creating an even bigger more difficult problem to solve.

Internal controls are effective in managing risk in a business no matter how bad the environment, but they are much more effective if they are executed inside of a healthy organization.

Corporate Social Responsibility

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:26:00 +0000

In the January 17th issue of the Economist they tackle the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (link below). For some this sounds like the same old cynical public relations campaign dressed in environmentally friendly and low carbon footprint clothing. It is true that there is a PR aspect to the idea of jumping on the "green" band wagon. However, there are a growing number of companies taking it seriously.

The emerging work force has a more sensative social conscience and is making career choices based on a company's social responsibility track record. Companies are also discovering that making volunteer opportunities available to employees adds to their job satisfaction.

Practically speaking, happy employees are more productive and less likely to steal from their employers. Companies that behave ethically do enjoy a reputation that aids their growth.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10491077

Identity Fraud 45.3B in America

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Identity fraud is declining, (claims are down 11% from last year) in America but it is still staggering.

Most Common Victims:
Age: 24-34
Race: African American
Income: $100,000.00 plus

Tips:

Put a fraud alert on your credit report. This prevents anyone from opening a credit account without first contacting you.
Keep your information private: especially on-line and over the phone.

Average cost to repair Credit: $691.00

See the article by Jonathan Stempel below for the complete story.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSN1161861220080211

Its that time again

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Every year at this time I have to find a time to get a physical exam. It is not my favorite activity on earth but as I age it is just prudent and proactive to do so. If everything ends up being OK then it is worth the time. If something comes up, it is even more worth it since I know that my regular exams reduce the likelyhood of an issue being too big to solve.

It is a good idea to do the same thing in your business. It is not as unpleasant as a physical and can end up improving your bottom line. If it turns out your business is operating as efficiently as possible then you have the satisfaction of knowing that. If not, it gives you the opportunity to make the changes early so you have the remainder of the year to reap the benefits.

Are you a mean Boss?

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Clark) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:02:00 +0000

Are you a mean boss? If you are then you might want to reconsider your approach. As if common decency is not enough for you to consider your people management skills consider this:

The average business loses 5% of its revenue to fraud. Crime statistics indicate that most internal fraud is committed by employees who feel unappreciated, or maltreated.

People need a rationalization to commit fraud. Are you the reason they site when they finally confess to the crime?