<![CDATA[BOLTZ & CO

<![CDATA[BOLTZ & CO - Blog]]>Sun, 12 Apr 2020 18:04:47 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Work and Society - #1]]>Thu, 11 Oct 2018 02:46:34 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/work-and-society-1by Matt Boltz

In the Work and Society blog posts I will cover a variety of topics, such as parenting, education, politics, culture, relationships, or anything else that I have thoughts or commentary on. I may link to an article I recently read that I found interesting or that needs to be refuted. I may have had a discussion with a friend or coworker where I learned something new or had my way of thinking challenged. I could also post about an experience I recently had that affected me in a positive or a negative way. Please continue reading below. Thank you.

The midterm elections are less than a month away. I have been spending some time the past few days reading my ballot information booklet and researching the candidates and issues that will be up for a vote in my state. This review has caused me to reflect on where we currently are as a society and where I would like to see us go in the future. The midterm process has also provided me an opportunity to assess my values and morals and to think about the many issues we have in this country and the world.

Some estimates have voter turnout in recent midterms at 40%. That means 60% of eligible voters chose not to participate for one reason or another. It's not my place to judge those people and in a lot of cases I don't necessarily blame them for choosing not to be a part of the process. Some of them feel their vote is worthless because their views and opinions will not be represented by the person their jurisdiction votes into office. Others are discouraged because they believe the "power elite" will continue to make decisions that increase the wealth and influence of the "power elite" on the backs of ordinary people. Even during recent presidential election years voter turnout has been estimated around 60%. However you interpret these numbers is up to you but it should at least make you wonder why so many people choose not to participate and if our current political system is meeting our needs as a populace. Has the experiment known as the "United States of America" run its course?

Elections are not just about selecting people to local, state, and federal offices but also about voting yes or no to amendments and propositions in your area. These issues are an attempt to solve a problem that legislators, organizations, or citizens have identified as needing to be addressed. Amendments and propositions offer a potential solution to a problem, ex. a tax increase to help fund education. Keep in mind when analyzing the issues on your ballot - are these the best solutions to the identified problem and could they cause negative impacts down the road if implemented? Most people I speak to want quality education for children, smooth roads, and beautiful parks in their community but they may disagree on the best ways to achieve them.

I hope people will take some time in the next couple of weeks to reflect on their personal beliefs about politics, society, and culture. We are told the two things we should never discuss are religion and politics. I say if you can approach these topics with an open mind and a willingness to hear the perspective of others then we should be talking about these things. Don't shy away from the tough questions and the big picture questions. Here are a few examples:

Are elected officials acting in the interests of their constituents or themselves?
Is the government (local, school district, state, federal, etc.) spending money efficiently before asking for a current tax increase (ex. raising income tax rates) or a future tax increase (ex. issuing a new bond)?
Do you think the "ruling class" in our society takes advantage of a two party system where each side is so distracted with hating the other that the "ruling class" can get away with stealing our wealth while the two sides fight each other? If so, why do we tolerate this system and how do the people outside of the two parties factor into the equation?
If I was in charge of organizing society would I have our current system? If not, what would my ideal economic and political system look like?
Which economic and political system provides the most freedom and opportunity to the greatest amount of people? What is the justification (practical, ethical, etc.) for your choice?
Is it moral that a 51% majority can tell a 49% minority what to do?

Good luck and get out there and vote. Or not. Like I said before it isn't my place to force my values onto other people. Either way try to use this election season as a way to challenge your views, learn why people have the views they do, and to share why you believe what you believe. Just make sure the dialogue is constructive. Stay away from Twitter and Facebook name-calling as that may not be the best way to win the battle of ideas.

]]><![CDATA[Are We Still Doing Annual Performance Reviews?]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2018 01:48:26 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/are-we-still-doing-annual-performance-reviewsby Matt Boltz

Is there anything that Corporate America loves more than the Annual Performance Review? This is the time-honored tradition where an employee sits down with his/her manager to discuss how their performance was over the past year, what they did well, what needs to be improved, and what goals they have for the upcoming year. There is probably an online component to the review where you get to rank yourself against a number of statements and your manager gets to rank you as well. Then you get to sit in a room together and discuss these results. Annual Performance Reviews are one of the most unnatural and awkward aspects to any job and may be the worst way to judge an employee's contributions to the company.

One issue with Annual Performance Reviews is the time horizon. You set goals at the beginning of the year and at the end of that year you get to assess how your performance aligned with those goals. Some companies have attempted to solve this problem by completing semi-annual performance reviews where you get to do this process twice a year instead of once. That approach helps some but it is much more realistic to achieve goals that are set and reviewed with a shorter time frame when it comes to work. If you wait until December to review your performance you may not remember the goals you set back in January and those goals may not even be relevant to your current position. It is fine to have longer term goals but in the majority of cases people are better off setting small, short term goals to work toward. You can try to align these short term goals as part of a strategy to achieve the long term goal.

Another issue with Annual Performance Reviews is the coercive nature of the review. An employee sits down with their manager and most of the communication is from the top down. Even if you have a good relationship with your manager there can still be an element of trying to justify your job to them. A common technique a manager may use is the "compliment sandwich" where they tell the employee what they do well, followed by what they need to improve upon, and end with another positive. The perception to a lot of employees is that these annual reviews are a way for your manager to document to Human Resources why they may need to fire you in the upcoming fiscal year.

Does it really take us a year to determine if someone is adding value to the organization? Of course it doesn't. Managers and coworkers know from every day interactions who is doing a good job. The same goes for the way employees view managers. Employees know from the day in and day out operations who the effective leaders are in the organization. If this isn't the case then there may be bigger issues at hand.

So what can be done to improve the Annual Performance Review process? The answers are going to be unique to the organization and the culture that has been created. It may be beneficial to have an honest 360 degree feedback process. Why is it just the manager and the employee reviewing the employee's performance? Feedback from fellow team members and employees in other departments that the employee works with on a regular basis should be welcomed. This goes for the review of your direct manager as well. Say you manage an IT team that has 10 employees and you report to the Vice President of IT. Wouldn't the VP want feedback from the 10 employees on the team when completing the manager's annual review? Maybe the manager can cover up the fact that 8 out of the 10 team members find the manager ineffective or unethical but in the VP's eyes the manager is doing a great job. This is an example of my argument that a lot of decisions in organizations get made with imperfect information.

Performance Reviews don't have to be a formal process either. Depending on the nature of the work it may be preferable to have ongoing discussions regarding goals, what is working, and what needs to be improved. You can adjust and correct when things are addressed in the moment instead of waiting for some official review process. Organizations can even have a system where this feedback can get documented at the time so it isn't forgotten down the road.

It is critical to ensure people are completing their work accurately and on time for an organization to function in a healthy manner. Addressing the bad and rewarding the good in the moment also has its advantages. It is important to create a culture that welcomes ideas, feedback, and constructive criticism. This communication of the pros and cons should flow from the top of the organizational chart down as well as from the bottom up and should be done in a respectful manner with good intentions. Communication should also occur between teams that interact on a regular basis to complete tasks. In general, members of the organization know who is doing a good job, who the best leaders are, and where the weak links are in the organization. If you build a culture that promotes communication, values people's perspectives, and resolves issues in a timely manner then there is no need for the antiquated Annual Review.

]]><![CDATA[How Many Single Points of Failure Does Your Organization Have?]]>Thu, 27 Sep 2018 00:54:27 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/how-many-single-points-of-failure-does-your-organization-haveby Matt Boltz

Every organization is at risk of the “Lottery Winner” scenario. One or more of your employees hits the lottery jackpot and doesn’t ever have to show up to work again. They are gone but the work still has to get done. Do other members/managers of the team know how to do that person’s job? Are processes documented and are the process documents up to date? Are other members of the organization cross trained on the lottery winner’s tasks? If you answered ‘No’ to these questions then your organization may have an issue with Single Points of Failure.

Single Points of Failure (SPF) are a problem that every organization should work on resolving immediately. Lottery winners are rare but people resigning their position to take a role at another company is extremely common. Most people give a notice of two weeks so that means the remaining team members have 10 business days to determine how to do the person’s job that is leaving. The team will also have to determine how to shift workload around to get these tasks done in the short term until a new employee or contractor is brought in as a more permanent solution.

How do Single Points of Failure get created in the first place?

I’ve seen organizations that consistently have layoffs or reductions in force (RIF). Employees in these types of environments will hoard information in order to better their chances of not being laid off. The mindset is “I’m the only person who knows how to do this job so they can’t get rid of me.” They are not willing to cross train anyone and will rarely document their processes in order to survive the unstable work environment. This brings us to another reason why SPF get created – lack of process documentation and cross training. Most people don’t like to create process documents. It can be tedious, boring, and time consuming. If you already have a full plate and tight deadlines where are you going to find the time to create detailed desktop procedures? If everyone on the team has a maxed-out workload who has time to cross train other people?

How do you protect against Single Points of Failure?

The best way to mitigate Single Points of Failure is through process documentation and cross training. If your teams are too busy to document processes you can bring in a contractor at a reasonable rate to complete the documents for you. Process docs don’t have to be complicated. A simple Microsoft Word file with step by step instructions and screenshots is sufficient in most cases. Another benefit of having an independent contractor create your process docs is that the employee will have to ensure they know their job to explain the process. The contractor may also see ways to improve the process since they are not living it day in and day out. Cross training and process documentation is also a great way to incorporate the 3 Principles of an Effective Workplace (Individualism, Collaboration, and Education). Have someone from Business Analytics that wants to move into Financial Planning and Analysis sit with the FP&A team and learn what they do and document the work. Or you can switch up tasks within the team if you have an Accounts Payable Accountant that wants to eventually transition to the General Ledger Accounting team.

Single Points of Failure can create short- and long-term problems within organizations. Use SPF as an opportunity to retain and promote talent at your company. If everyone says they don’t have the time to cross train or document processes, you need to find out why. If all team members are so busy and stressed with their work then they are not in a state of flow. Managers may need to re-balance workload or help with uncovering inefficiencies that are taking up time that could be used to resolve SPF. When someone resigns their position and leaves an organization it creates measurable costs but also hidden costs. The stress that can be created on the remaining team members can be too much for some people to handle which can make them also want to leave the company. It is wise to get out in front of these inevitable situations and eliminate SPF now before they create more harm down the road.

]]><![CDATA[Flow and the Workplace]]>Wed, 19 Sep 2018 03:05:06 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/flow-and-the-workplaceby Matt Boltz

The concept of flow has been around for a very long time and is commonly known as being “in the zone” or being focused, engaged, and happy with the activity you are performing. Flow is an extremely valuable concept that can be applied to many different areas of life. The best breakdown of flow I’ve heard was in an interview with mixed martial arts coach Firas Zahabi. He uses flow in terms of fitness and training his fighters, which include arguably the best mixed martial artist of all-time in Georges St-Pierre.

Firas used the example of Person A and Person B completing pull-ups. A reaches muscle failure after doing 10 pull-ups in a day and it takes A two days to recover. At the end of the week A has completed 30 pull-ups. However, B can complete 5 pull-ups in a day and doesn’t overstress their body, so no recovery time is needed. This means that B can do 35 pull-ups in a week. Over time B will be able to do more pull-ups than Person A so Person B will have more repetitions and gain more experience. To put it another way, you can’t redline the engine in your car for very long without it blowing up but if you drive it at a reasonable pace it will last a long time. Flow can and should be used in your organization to increase employee retention and improve morale.

Let’s look at the chart below. You will see the “Flow Channel” with Anxiety in the section above and Boredom in the section below. As a leader in your organization it is critical to ensure your employees are in a state of flow. If they are overworked, stressed, untrained, or isolated they will be in the Anxiety section. If your employees are not challenged, not learning, or not valued they will fall into the Boredom section. By having employees outside of the Flow Channel your organization is at risk of having high turnover, low morale, and reduced productivity which will result in negative financial impacts.

Flow is crucial for people with physically demanding jobs. In order to work a lengthy career in a physical job you can’t redline your body for an extended number of years. Your body will begin to breakdown at some point. People in these positions may need to work shorter days, take more breaks, or spend part of their time learning another role at the company to achieve their flow state. Flow isn’t just about being in the zone, it’s also about longevity.

By following the 3 Principles of an Effective Organization (Individualism, Collaboration, and Education) you can determine how to keep your employees in a state of flow. Open up communication to determine what incentives motivate each member of your staff, set the expectation that they are accountable for their work but give them freedom to fail and discover the best way to complete tasks (Individualism); allow people to work together to share information, balance the workload, and create efficient processes (Collaboration); and encourage the people in your organization to learn new things within their team and with other departments (Education). This gives people the best opportunity to achieve flow.

]]><![CDATA[3 Principles of an Effective Workplace: Principle #3 - Education]]>Thu, 13 Sep 2018 02:45:05 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/3-principles-of-an-effective-workplace-principle-3-educationby Matt Boltz

Education is the third Principle of an Effective Workplace. Once you start a role at a new organization it will typically take anywhere from 3 months to a year to get comfortable in your new position. Why does learning stop when you have been assigned a role and trained on the tasks you will be responsible for? Most people enjoy learning new things and want to be challenged. Why can’t someone in Finance learn about what the Marketing team does and possibly contribute to that team? That person in Finance may have been studying marketing in their own time or may have a skill set that is a better fit for Marketing.

Allowing employees to learn about other departments is also a great way to source candidates for open positions and retain talent. A huge benefit of this type of employee retention is that you are keeping that employee happy while also keeping their knowledge with the company. Let’s say a Financial Analyst that has been with your company for 3 years wants to transfer to the Marketing department. If they have been working and learning from Marketing over the last year then they can step in and be productive immediately. Plus, they already have knowledge about the company, the systems, the industry, and the perspective of having worked in Finance. By utilizing the principle of Education, organizations can retain talent and create a more positive culture.

I worked at a company that allowed people in the Accounting Department to work with different Accounting teams if they were interested. You could have a Fixed Asset Accountant that was interested in what the Tax Accounting team did and wanted to learn about corporate tax accounting. Many open positions were filled by people that took advantage of this program and transferred into the team they were working with. This was a fantastic program and there is no reason why this policy couldn’t be implemented across the whole company. Once again, this type of program can be a great way to source candidates for open positions, promote collaboration, keep company knowledge in-house, and boost employee morale.

Education is a great way to cross train and insure processes are documented properly. By having individuals outside of the respective role review process docs, complete tasks they are not familiar with, and learn new things you can protect against the Lottery Winner scenario or single points of failure. If a member of your organization is the only one who knows how to do their tasks, what happens if that person wins the lottery and never shows up again? It wouldn’t have as negative of an impact if other people knew how to do their job. Teaching a topic to another person is also one of the best ways to ensure you fully understand the subject/process you are teaching.

Once people learn something and have been completing those tasks for a while it is very likely they will become bored and start looking for new challenges outside of your organization. Why not build a culture that allows employees to be challenged and learn within your company?

]]><![CDATA[3 Principles of an Effective Workplace: Principle #2 - Collaboration/Cooperation]]>Thu, 06 Sep 2018 02:13:03 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/3-principles-of-an-effective-workplace-principle-2-collaborationcooperationby Matt Boltz

The second Principle of an Effective Workplace is Collaboration/Cooperation. I covered the first principle, Individualism, in the prior blog post. For a real-life example of how these two principles work together we can look at the offense of a football team. There are 11 players on offense and each one is responsible for their individual assignment. Through communication and practice these 11 individuals with 11 individual tasks work together to execute the play. The offense of a football team will not be successful if the individuals do not complete their job and if they do not collaborate and cooperate with each other.

To have an effective workplace you need to cultivate an environment that promotes collaboration. People and teams need to work together to determine the best way to complete tasks and set workplace policies. Too often organizations suffer from “smartest guy in the room syndrome.” This means you have people making decisions for others when they don’t have all the information, but they think they do. There is a reason our federal government doesn’t determine the timing of street lights in a given city. Most decisions are better left to the people doing the work.

The scope of collaboration needs to be companywide. Collaboration should occur within teams, between departments, and throughout all levels of your organizational structure. Organizations should also be open to collaborating with customers, vendors, and any other person/company that can provide value. Teamwork ensures execution of objectives, efficient processes, and the workload is balanced and being completed by the correct people. Individuals that are impacted should have the opportunity to contribute to decision-making and voice how the process will work from their perspective. This is the only way to gather all the necessary information, so the best decision can be made at the time. Employees will be more engaged and have higher levels of morale if they are collaborating and contributing to the overall direction of the company.

Does your organization have a system in place for people to submit ideas and work on the implementation of those ideas with the appropriate teams? Do you have a culture that promotes collaboration horizontally and vertically in your organizational hierarchy? Is there a communication system in place for customers and vendors to contribute and collaborate? When decisions are made with imperfect information the outcome is typically not a good one. Individuals collaborating with each other is crucial to developing and executing your strategy.

]]><![CDATA[3 Principles of an Effective Workplace: Principle #1 - Individualism]]>Wed, 29 Aug 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/3-principles-of-an-effective-workplace-principle-1-individualismby Matt Boltz

The first Principle of an Effective Workplace is Individualism. What Individualism means in this context is that individuals are the base unit in all organizations. What is a corporation? What is a government? These organizations consist of departments and teams. These departments and teams are made up of individuals. An effective organization and effective leaders need to recognize the importance of creating a culture where individuals can pursue what interests them while meeting the needs of the business.

Individuals should be responsible and accountable for their work. It is too easy to push accountability to other people or teams in a lot of organizations. Have you ever worked at a company where no one would do anything unless their boss or someone else gave them written authorization? This must be one of the most inefficient systems to work within. Once a person understands their role they should be responsible for completing their tasks accurately and on time.

There should also be a culture that allows individuals to try new things and to fail without harsh judgments. You don’t progress or learn if you don’t fail. After the individual knows what their deliverables are they should be given some freedom to complete them in the way they view as the most efficient. Give people some freedom to experiment and improve. The attitude of “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” needs to be thrown out the window.

When it comes to incentivizing your employees, it is imperative to understand the value each person places on the various forms of rewards in the organizations. Some of these drivers are money, promotions, time off, quality of work, recognition from their leaders and peers, and advancing their knowledge within the company. Leaders cannot assume everyone on their team is motivated by the same thing. Learn what the individual is motivated by and allow them to work toward that incentive. This also applies to how managers manage their teams. Some people like to be left alone to do their job. Some like to be micro-managed. Other people want to contribute to the decision-making process. Open communication is required to figure out what motivates the individual and work to align their interests with the organization’s goals. This will increase employee retention and boost employee morale.

If your organization wants to recruit and retain talent it is critical that you understand your culture and hire individuals that share the same values. It is fairly easy to find people that can do the technical aspects of a given job. It is much more difficult to find people that will fit your culture. Once your organization finds a person that is a good fit it is in the organization’s best interest to retain that person. The only way this happens is to identify what incentives the individual will respond to and ensure they have the opportunity to pursue and achieve them.

]]><![CDATA[Why I started Boltz & Co.]]>Sun, 19 Aug 2018 23:43:27 GMThttps://www.boltzandco.com/blog/why-i-started-boltz-co-by-matt-boltzby Matt Boltz

I initially started Boltz & Co. to provide temporary contractor services to existing Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis, Project Management, and Operations teams that needed some short-term help. This is still one of the main services we offer. However, my true passion and a subject I am obsessed with is corporate culture and helping organizations and their employees work together to build a better culture. We are at a point in time when we need to reexamine the role of the “workplace” in society and we need to put some time and effort into building an effective organizational culture. A number of studies have been conducted that show how dissatisfied people are with their jobs. I want to help people enjoy their jobs more and I want organizations to change policies that are increasing their costs through developing a negative culture. There were a couple of incidents in the past few years that solidified my decision to include organizational culture and development strategy as a part of the business.

Around 2013 I was dropping my son off at his daycare center. There was a woman with her daughter in the lobby. The little girl was around 3 years old and she was having a meltdown of catastrophic proportions. The mom was extremely frustrated, as most parents get in this situation, and she kept telling her daughter “Don’t do this to me today, I have to get to work.” That phrase stuck in my head and instantly made me think “How did we get to this point in society where our work obligations have a greater need over our own children?” I understand the importance of producing goods and services. I get that we must make money to pay bills, have hobbies, and save for retirement but as a society and a culture we need to find a better balance between work and personal time.

I was also seeing people around me and hearing stories of people having health and relationship issues due to work. I experienced some health issues for a few months due to work related stress as well. There is also the issue of the sedentary lifestyle that a lot of our jobs promote. The human body wasn’t built to sit in a cubicle in front of a computer screen for 8 or more hours a day. Technological advances should have made us work less hours and make our jobs easier, but it seems like the opposite is true. Checking email on your phone has become second nature to some of us. The ease of access to work and the demands of some jobs have caused problems in many relationships. There have been a number of divorces due to the friction between how best to allocate a person’s time and find work/life balance.

I have spent a lot of time over the last few years reading, thinking, and talking to people about the impacts work is having on our society. The results are not positive in a lot of ways. There are also negative effects to our children and how they are being raised. I have a ton of respect for people who work in daycare centers and before/after school programs. These are very difficult jobs. However, I believe our kids would be better off in the long run if the parents were raising their kids and spending more time with them. We need to analyze the path we are going down and rethink if this is what we want our lives and our children’s lives to be.

At Boltz & Co. we are about bold, new ideas in how organizations and their employees operate and interact. The silent generation and baby boomers are exiting the workplace and Gen Xers and Millennials are the majority in the labor force. It’s time to discuss the future of work and the effects our current environment is having on our culture and society. Does your organization have effective policies and a strong culture to manage this generational shift? Is morale low at your workplace? Why are some people leaving their jobs and why do some stay? These are the types of questions we can help your organization answer. Thank you and we look forward to partnering with you.

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