Editor's note: Those who purchased an all-access pass to AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 2023 can view this and other archived sessions and can attend a new lineup of live sessions Sept. 20 that offer CPE. If you didn't attend ENGAGE, you still can access this session.
As vice president of Reality-Based Leadership, Alex Dorr works hand-in-hand with company founder Cy Wakeman to help organizations tackle the talent pipeline problem in a decidedly different way.
Their approach? Tap into the talent already in the building.
Dorr's session at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 2023 promoted the possibility that firm leaders, by "ditching the drama," could recapture up to 2.5 hours of productivity per day, per employee.
Dorr described a Reality-Based Leadership client that, in effect, filled 300 open positions by simply increasing the productivity of existing employees.
"If your firm is looking for ways to find new resources, extra staff," Dorr said, "you might be missing two-and-half hours per day, 600 hours per year per head count."
Dorr explained how organizations can spark a seismic shift.
Vanquish venting sessions
Dorr's company has studied the impact of a work culture that enables "Have a minute?" meetings that drag on for 30-plus unproductive minutes.
"We'd listen for topic, time, and ROI," Dorr explained. "The first thing we realized is that people were liars. They very rarely needed a minute.
"Then the topic was hearsay, speculation, things that never happened, things that probably could never happen. … And the typical conclusion of that 30–45 minutes, this was the ROI: 'Please don't do anything. I just wanted you to know.' "
Dorr pushed back on the notion that sometimes you just need time to vent, arguing that it only serves to carve a neural pathway that's fueled by negativity. He likened the ego that drives venting to a pair of glasses with an inaccurate presciption that always shows you as the victim and everyone else as the villain.
The first step toward increasing productivity is simply shortening counterproductive meetings. Or, even better, turning them into short but highly productive meetings.
Stop judging, start helping
Dorr, a former college basketball player, isn't afraid to call a time-out.
In fact, he considers it a key to replacing workplace drama with workplace productivity.
"If someone is judging a client, a colleague, or some situation, judging negatively, you just call time-out and say, 'If we weren't judging, what would you be doing to help?' That clears out about 98 percent of the drama," Dorr said. "Stop judging, start helping — it's a non-negotiable in our company."
Dorr said one of his favorite approaches is, early in a meeting, using the term "given that," a turn of phrase that can turn a venting session into a solutions session. The idea is this: Show empathy for an employee not getting the help from a client that they think they need to complete a task. Then ask the employee, "Given that, what can you do to complete the task?"
That challenges the employee to quickly focus on ways around the obstacle rather than ways the obstacle appears insurmountable. And that doesn't simply change the tenor of one meeting; it can begin to change company culture.
Once employees begin to realize that venting sessions are being replaced by strategy sessions, the "start helping" part of the equation can be jump-started by using a simple tool that Dorr calls "SBAR," which is short for situation, background, analysis, and recommendations.
Dorr suggests that, at the direction of a manager, employees write down:
- One sentence summarizing the situation;
- Relevant background a manager needs to know;
- An analysis of the obstacle at hand, featuring expertise over opinion; and
- Some recommendations for tackling the situation.
"This tool, if you're working with a team, it's a culture change tool. It drives accountability. It ditches the drama," Dorr said. "Now they're empowered so that they can solve this themselves.
"And guess what? Now I'm freed up to do my job, not theirs."
Work with the willing
Dorr said that at one point in his career, human resources said he had been accused of playing favorites.
"Yes, I do actually. Would you like to be one?" Dorr responded. "Everyone's invited."
Dorr referenced a recent Gallup survey that found that more than 70% of employees are disengaged.
"Disengaged at work," Dorr said, "but they're still collecting a paycheck."
Dorr said organizations looking to grow should focus their energy on engaged workers, or "working with the willing" as he calls it.
"This was a key point of the Great Resignation that no one was talking about," Dorr said, postulating that leadership's tendency to invest much of its time in employees resisting an organizational change can lead engaged employees to consider a job change.
Before that happens, Dorr said companies should focus on their engaged employees and actually bolster their ranks by making disengaged employees acutely aware of the new company culture.
"It's our job to make sure we're making the right group uncomfortable," Dorr said. "I protect my dream teams with accountability and low drama."
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.
