The Difference Between Try and Triumph Is a Little Umph
Posted on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 12:00 PM
Stay tuned for more blog postings from Mary Kier.
Welcome back readers. I hope you enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday and found time to celebrate America’s birthday with fireworks and barbecue. For some people, the return to work after holiday vacation is met with about as much anticipation as a root canal.However, while companies know R & R is critical to employee happiness and productivity, the payback is an engaged and contributing workforce that returns to the office.
Over the holiday weekend I was fortunate to spend some time with my brother. He is older than I by nearly 12 years and an accomplished business man. To this day I clearly recall a piece of advice he gave me when I began my career. He said to watch out for the employee that will cost you the most: he is the one who comes to work every day, but does nothing.
Last week we examined the author Ivanka Trump and she penned a passage that dovetails nicely with my brother’s advice. In her book, The Trump Card, she says about contributing, “Time served doesn’t automatically qualify you for a raise. If you’re making the same contributions to the company in year five as you made in year one, you don’t deserve a raise. You should be happy you have a job.”
One company that deals well with the issue of contribution at work is Netflix. For example in their HR manual – cleverly titled “Reference Guide on Our Freedom & Responsibility Culture” – workplace efficiency is dealt with directly. Their document emphasizes effectiveness over effort and seeks to reward people that perform work well in less time, rather than employees that stay late and do less. Their culture also encourages letting someone go if they’re not doing their job. The idea is that if someone just wants to do mediocre work, that’s fine, but the end result is a severance package.
Let this Fourth of July holiday remind you that summer time – often seen as slack time – is a wonderful opportunity to reaffirm the values professed by our founding fathers. Underpinning our great culture are many ideas central to American life. These concepts – freedom, justice, equality of opportunity, and hard work – are as American as apple pie. Take a look this week at your level of contribution and remember the difference between try and triumph is a little umph.