Job-fit | PeopleSense Consulting

Is this as good as it gets?

On July 8, 2011 / Change, Graceful Leadership / 9 Comments

This isn't even Grace's bed, but you see who "owns" it. She's a bit snippy when she doesn't get her way. Of all her adorable traits, that isn't one of them. Do you know anyone like that?

Next weekend Grace and I will be attending a two-day class together. It’s for dogs that are fearful, aggressive or reactive. Grace can be all of them, in varying degrees. I submitted an application to have her considered as a case study and she was accepted. Since I’ve tried lots of things to improve these challenges, I’m incredibly interested to see what I learn.

But a nagging thought keeps going through my mind as I enter this course: when will we reach the point that Grace just won’t change? Or can’t change? Has she already stretched so much that it’s as good as it gets? Or is she able to continue to get out of her existing mindset of fear? How much influence do I have? Will I have?

It’s noteworthy to point out that Grace has changed A LOT since I’ve had her. One of the biggest improvements is her ability to accept new people, which happens much more quickly and less skeptically than she did in those early days. Yet her fear is palpable at times. And there are a few things she still does that, well, they annoy me. (Sorry Grace.)

I’m sure she’d be happier, too, if we could lessen her fear.

The three things I specifically want to address are her fear of children, her excessive and piercing barking in the house when anything or anyone moves by the window, and her whining while riding in the car. All these things I have been ineffective thus far in changing.

In reading another blog a few weeks ago, the question was posed: “Do personalities ever change?” It’s a question that is often asked in my line of work. On that blog, experts and novices chimed in with all sorts of answers, ranging from yes to no. I don’t have the clinical background or scientific data to validate this, but from what I’ve read and experienced, here’s my opinion. Sure, we can change. But it’s not always likely and it’s certainly not easy. The triggers that create change have to be very dramatic, and even then, it’s usually not lasting. We can learn skills that help us adjust in certain situations, but our core traits don’t move much.

When someone is in a job that isn’t working out, this becomes a very delicate question because it affects a person’s self-esteem and livelihood. How much can the person change to fit the job? How much can the employer invest in that growth and development? How much motivation exists for both parties to work collaboratively on it? I have seen situations where an employer and employee work hard to create success. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on how much each party is able to bend. I think the critical piece is to ensure that everyone is involved in an ongoing and constructive conversation about it, with mutually understood goals.

So here I am, expecting big(ger) and lasting changes from my dog. I’ve seen pretty remarkable strides in the six years we’ve been together. We’re about to see if more can come.

“When a dog makes a mistake, I don’t get rid of him.”

On March 22, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Leading / 4 Comments

A client remarked the other day about how this blog has made her think about her own dog and the correlation to the interactions she has with the employees at her company. “When my dog makes a mistake, I don’t get rid of him,” she said. “Instead, I try to find ways to avoid the mistake in the future, or I just say to myself: ‘well I don’t like that he dumps over the trash every once in a while, but overall he’s a good dog and I can live with [the trash dumping].’”

When I was telling my husband this story, he reminded me of a different situation we had recently heard about a dog owner that gave up her dog because it shed too much. Shed too much??? Dogs shed. Granted, some shed more than others, but you’ll always have some hair and dirt to content with. Shouldn’t you understand that before you make the decision to invite him as a member to the family?

Gaining access to all those wonderful smells in a kitchen trash can is a natural thing for a dog to do, just like some people have a natural inclination to do some things that we ourselves wouldn’t want to do. When you hire or manage an employee in your organization, how much tolerance do you have when they do something that doesn’t meet your expectations? Do you make efforts to give her the support she needs? Or perhaps direct her into a role that better suits her strengths? There is an appropriate time to mutually decide when an employee may not be a good fit for the position or the organization, but it’s always good to make sure other options are explored.