BusinessDay 30 Jan 2018

16 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday 30 January 2018
Harvard
Business
Review
Tips
&
Talking Points
TALKING POINTS
Legal Jobs Threatened by Automation
39%: According to a survey from Deloitte,
about 39% of jobs in the U.S. legal field
might be automated in the next decade.
+
New Focus for Facebook
Offer your stressed-out colleague praise and assistance
Stay in touch with your
friends, no matter how
focused you are on
your career
When Leading a Turnaround,
Focus on the Future, Not the Past
$27 billion: After Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg said that the platform would
focus more on personal moments and
less on content from media outlets,
the company’s market capitalization
dropped 5%, or $27 billion.
+
High Rates of Harassment
90%: According to an analysis conducted
by Buzzfeed of the U.S. restaurant industry,
up to 90% of women and 70% of men
working in restaurants experience some
form of sexual harassment.
+
Raises at Wal-Mart
$11: Earlier this year, the retailer Wal-
Mart announced that it would increase
starting wages for workers in the U.S. to
$11 per hour, up from $9 per hour.
+
Investment in AI
20%: According to a survey conducted
last year by Deloitte, about 20% of established
companies in the U.S. are making
substantial investments in artificial intelligence
projects.
Talk about skills when talking
about promotions
Conversations
about promotions
can be
tense — both
for the person
asking and for
you, the manager.
Your first
instinct might
be to consider
whether the employee
is a “good
fit” for the new
role, but it’s better to focus on
their skills. Ask yourself, What
will the person need to do the
job well? Then communicate
the answer to your employee.
For example, you might say:
“You would need to develop
expertise with Tableau,” or
Excel, or giving presentations.
That is a far simpler message
to deliver than “I don’t know
if you’re equipped to be a
You know the stress case — the one
who’s always overwhelmed, overstretched
and overextended. They
aren’t easy to work with, but you
probably don’t have a choice. Whether
you regard your colleague with annoyance or
sympathy, you can help them by offering praise
and assistance. Your co-worker likely feels out
of control, so complimenting their performance
can help them form an alternative self-image
as a competent, positive professional. Cite
something specific. For instance, you could
say, “The way you handled that presentation
last week was admirable. You were so calm
manager yet.” By breaking down
the role into the required skills,
you’ll demystify the promotion
and make it more attainable for
the employee. Plus, a request to
learn new skills is much easier,
and quicker, for you to grant.
(Adapted from “How to Support
Employees’ Learning Goals
While Getting Day-to-Day Stuff
Done,” Nick Gidwani.)
c
Help overly eager employees
slow down
It’s nice to have fast-acting
employees on your team.
But some people have
such a deep need to get
things resolved that they
move too quickly and
make a mess. They may
secure a bad deal just to
say they’ve done it, or
issue a faulty directive so
that they can say they’ve
handled a problem. You
can help these people
learn to corral their sense
of urgency.
— Start by demonstrating
how their approach might
be hurting them. When
someone is urgent about
only their own goals and
tasks, others may perceive
them as being not a team
player. It’s typical for toourgent
employees to see
the upsides but not the
and collected, and the clients were impressed.”
You can also provide support by asking if there’s
anything you can do to help, which might make
your stressed-out colleague feel less alone. Don’t
overpromise, though. The message should be,
“I’m a limited resource, but I want to help you if
you are struggling.”
(Adapted from “How to Work with Someone
Who’s Always Stressed Out,” by Rebecca Knight.)
downsides of acting quickly,
so encourage them to identify
all the consequences of their
actions.
— Then put them on projects
with high-performing, longterm
thinkers so that they
can see the benefits of a tempered,
thoughtful approach.
By watching others, they will
observe how reflection and
deliberation can generate significantly
better results.
(Adapted from “How to Manage
Someone Who Thinks
Everything Is Urgent,” by Liz
Kislik.)
2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate
When you’re brought in to turn
around a team or business unit,
the deck might feel as if it’s
stacked against you. If your
predecessor failed, how will you
succeed? First off, to effectively
lead a turnaround, resist the
temptation to emotionally distance
yourself from the situation
— you are part of this team, so
embrace it. And minimize references
to your past successes;
while you should draw on what’s
worked for you before, no one in
a struggling organization likes
to hear “This is how we did it at
my old company.” To help keep
your employees’ anxiety down,
be transparent about how you’ll
make changes and on what kind
of timeline. But don’t be afraid
to push back if they offer ideas
that you don’t believe will lead
to positive change. You want to
clean up the mess, not create
another one.
When you’re returning to a former
employer, reset expectations
Returning to a company
you used to work
for can be a smart career
move. But don’t
assume you will pick
up right where you left
off. Reset expectations
— both yours and others’.
Demonstrate that
you’ve grown, and establish
yourself as a
more senior person in
the organization by humbly highlighting
what you achieved and
learned while you were away. You
might need to project maturity by
being a bit formal and reserved in
your initial reactions; colleagues
will want to see that you’ve evolved.
And don’t assume the company
has stayed the same since you left.
Power has shifted, people have
come and gone, and your colleagues
have grown too. Acknowledge that the
context has changed, and learn the
new lay of the land.
(Adapted from “What to Do When
You’re Returning to a Company
You Used to Work For,” by Rebecca
Knight.)