We will be releasing an article on Leading Cross-Cultural Disengagement: Merger and Acquisition Failure in March and will be holding a teleclass on the topic on mid April.

Details will follow in the March newsletter.

According to 2006 SHRM Survey, 75% of Employees are looking for a new job.  Well over 35% of HR professionals implemented employee retention programs. The survey reported that employees and HR professionals agreed on the top reasons employees choose to leave their organizations: better compensation elsewhere (30 percent of employees, 40 percent of HR professionals); career opportunity elsewhere (27 percent of employees, 48 percent of HR professionals); and dissatisfaction with potential for career development (21 percent of employees, 29 percent of HR professionals).

While the reasons for leaving may seem clear, I am reminded of an old story every time I hear about retention and turnover. When I was working with CFO's, HR professionals and CIO's to create career paths for technology folks in the 80's, one company stood out beyond all others. It boasted the oldest technology and dungeon -like working conditions. Yet, it had no turnover, no matter how many recruiters tired to pry the folks away. They simply were happy where they worked. I had many long talks with their head of IT back then, Bob Banzak.  

His story was simple. Bob felt that if people were happy, challenged, respected and enjoyed and felt valued for their work, they would grow professionally in any work situation and continue to expand their knowledge and value within and outside of the organization. Bob raised the productivity level of both individual contributors and whole teams.  He also involved them as partners with end users in the development process as well as strategy implementers. He encouraged them to take time to volunteer in the community and to work the hours that best suited their personal situations and still meet deadlines and expectations. Through this approach, Bob helped the company see the value of that which his function produced in terms of bottom-line benefits to the company.  The president of the company had honored his team formally for their work a company meeting and in the company newsletter just prior to my first meeting with him. The pride that emanated from their dingy work stations was clear and memorable as I entered.
In essence, what Bob was doing was creating the kind of environment that fosters the enduring satisfiers that Howard A. Stevenson defines as those which successful people possess:

• Achievement: Do you have clear external measurements for achievement?
• Happiness: Are you content with or enjoying your life?
• Significance: Do you have a valued impact on others whom you choose?
• Legacy: What have you have left behind of impact--values, accomplishments?

...and he did it is such a way that his staff continued to take on new challenges.  He did not leave much room for complacency or stagnation.
Are you creating enduring success? How are you measuring your success? What do you need to add or change in your life to increase your happiness? Are you seeing your work in line with your inner motivation and mission? What might need to change? Are you living your values? Where is there a mismatch? In what ways do you see your life as significant? What legacy are you leaving behind? What opportunities are being presented to you that you WANT to pursue? What support do you need to exploit them?

Like the Flowing River, Paulo Coelho
...Paulo Coelho shares his musings and observations of life in a way that gently raises awareness, enables us to laugh at ourselves, grow and reach a deeper level of understanding of life.

Early this month I received this missive in my inbox from a friend that resonated with my beliefs:
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked: "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. 
The lecturer replied: "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it... If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes" He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."
So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.  Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow... Focus your attention on where you are...

As you notice tension forming in your body, irritations being aroused or negative thoughts, you might ask your self: How long have I been carrying these? Is it time to let them go?  ... and if you are familiar with EFT www.emofree.com you can always "tap on it" and let the old burdens go.
As you drive home, slow down a bit and enjoy the scenery, even the familiar scenes you pass and the beauty, even that which is found in any detours that may arise.

Pierre sunk into his chair when he came from work. He had no energy to play with his kids or talk to his wife. He was exhausted. It seems that the more he worked, the more there was to do and the less that got accomplished. He constantly wondered when this phase of the merger process would end. He clearly understood why he was putting in the hours and the value of the work, but he was still burning out. The main problem was that he didn't have any idea when life would return to a more normal pace again. He could keep it going for a while, but without a clear end in site, his nerves were on edge and remaining, focused was taking more and more energy and required an inordinate amount of forced concentration.

What was surprising to Pierre was that it wasn't the pace that was wearing him out. He enjoyed the fast pace and the work. It was the lack of closure that was taking its toll. He could not see an end in site. There was so much that needed to be done and every day more was piled on his desk in requests through email. It felt like he was he was in the middle of firing squad that never seemed to run out bullets.

It was clear to Pierre that the work would continue at this pace for a while and the organization was still in such a disarray that predictability was not about to return very quickly. He realized that he needed to do something or he would burn out. After talking through the situation with his coach, he decided that he would prioritize the work, creating projects out of the chaos and organizing it into a schedule. In this way, he could once again begin to feel a sense of control and work in time frames with beginnings and endings, celebrating closure as he finished something. While he continued to work in an environment in a state of flux and change, he began to thrive, relaxing and setting a pace he could manage and enjoy. His energy returned and he enjoyed home-life once again. Before he left the office, he made it a point to take a few minutes to reflect on what he accomplished that day, plan what he could of the following day and to leave everything else behind..

"We struggle for our dreams, but we must also know that, when certain paths prove impossible, it would be best to save our energies in order to travel other roads." Like the Flowing River, Paulo Coelho