Friday, August 28, 2009

The Journey


by Don Harkey

A company has a long time performance appraisal system that is considered to be a benchmark for the industry. The appraisal system allows the employee to chart their own course and puts gives the employee the responsibility to design their own development plan. Employees are then measured on the success against their own plan and given raises accordingly.

One employee in particular truly struggled with this approach. While it is certainly appealing to set your own expectations and spend company time on self-discovery, there was something about this system that went against the core of this employee. As the employee developed his own development plan, he became more and more frustrated until finally he sent a note to his HR director asking for help.

The HR director and the employee met and the HR director carefully laid out the benefits of the appraisal system. The HR director encouraged the employee to develop a 1-year, 10-year, and 30-year career plan. "Where is it you want to go? What do you want to accomplish with your career?", asked the HR director.

A light went on inside the head of the employee. The clouds lifted and suddenly he understood why he had been struggling. "I have just 2 questions for you. Here is the first one. What if I don't meet my career objective?"

The HR director apparently took pity on the question and offered encouragement. "Oh, come now. That is the beauty of this system. If you lay out a clear path for yourself and work hard, you are almost assured of reaching your objective. You are a smart guy! You'll get there!".

"Well, thank you", replied the employee, "but I have one more question and this one is harder to answer."

"Go ahead. That's why I'm here.", answered the HR director confidently.

"What is I do meet my career objective?", asked the employee softly.

The HR director paused for a moment. "Then you have reached your objective. You have succeeded. I'm not sure what you mean."

"My point is this", replied the employee. "If I set an objective for myself and I never reach it, I will be disappointed that I have essentially failed in my career. If I set an objective for myself and I reach it, I will wonder if I should have aimed higher and will wonder what to do next. Neither alternative is very attractive."

The HR director was silent, so the employee continued. "This is what truly bothered me because this philosophy indicates that I will not have a rewarding career regardless of what I do. I knew this couldn't be true because I have already derived enjoyment from my work. It wasn't until we started talking that I realized the inherent flaw in the performance appraisal process. It focuses on results when life is really about the journey."

The HR director was stunned. After a few seconds of silence, the HR director spoke for 30 minutes admitting that her career objective had been met and that she had made so many sacrifices along the way to meet the objective and now found herself in a job she didn't particularly enjoy working within a system that her education told her should be great, but simply wasn't. She wasn't happy.

My point here is simple. Setting goals and objectives is not a bad practice, but the real joys in life happen on the road. It's not about getting the promotion, it's about making decisions, working toward a common vision, and using your strengths to succeed and to fail brilliantly. The true measure of the output of our lives is in the ways we utilize all of the moments we are given. This is true at work as well as at home or at play.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Day of Caring 2009


by Don Harkey

Last week, employees from ESC, 3M, Missouri State, and Galt Consulting came together to work on a 2009 United Way Day of Caring project at Messiah Lutheran Church. The project involved the construction of several elements of a new playground that will be used by the church, the neighborhood, and most importantly by the new preschool/daycare ministry starting at Messiah called the Messiah Lighthouse Child and Family Development Center. For more information on this innovative program, visit www.lighthousecfdc.org.

The team worked hard building 2 playhouses, a swing set and a bridge as well as assembling furniture for the classrooms. The rain during the week presented some challenges in the form of mud and a large lake in the middle of the playground (the water drainage for the site hadn't been completed yet). The team worked through the challenges and built with great speed. We even managed to have some fun along the way!

I want to give a special thanks to Papa Murphy's, Quizno's (on Independence), and Amigo's (on Campbell) for donating food for the volunteers. I also want to thank all of the volunteers, many of whom were not paid for the day, for their time and efforts on this project!