INTERNAL PRISONS: THE THEFT OF PRODUCTIVITYAs a professional speaker, one of my biggest challenges is to grab
attention of my audience within first few minutes of presentation- grab them by throat if you will. I do this by coming out in a suite and tie, following an introduction in which I have been described as a recent college graduate who earned both of his degrees with a 4.0 GPA and placement on Deans and Presidents List. I am portrayed as someone who was once an honors roll student, star athlete, father and family man. Upon entering stage I ask audience to take a close look at my face. “This is face, as your were just told, of a recent college graduate, a recent college graduate who earned both his degrees with highest academic honors available. This is face of a kind man, an honest man, a trustworthy man, and a man of his word. Please take a close look at this face.” Now hook- I then turn around, pull a pantyhose mask over my face and turn back around brandishing a toy pistol. I now ask them to take a look at this face. “This is face of a man who on March 20th, 1992 walked in to First Tier National Bank, pointed a semi-automatic pistol at tellers face and demanded all of twenties, fifties and hundreds. This would be first of five armed bank robberies that I would commit over a six month crime spree when I was twenty-eight years old.” I then pull mask off and explain to them that both these faces are mine. “The transformation between two, transformation from a suicidal, drug induced bank robber to what you see standing before you today took place gradually, over 7.5 years within confines of a federal prison.”
PRISON DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN STEEL BARS AND RAZOR WIRE
What does me earning two college degrees while incarcerated have to do with HR Management? It is my belief that we all have internal prisons, “prisons within ourselves” that are just as confining as those walls that held me for 7.5 years. I am talking about being a prisoner to things like fears, addictions, depression, overeating, overworking, bad relationships- list could go on and on. Only when we ourselves, and those we bring into our companies are “whole” personally can we then become better professionally.
It is also my belief that these “internal prisons” is number one cause in lost productivity and largest contributor to declining quality. If your people are worried about their relationships, their fears or their addictions, are they giving you best eight hours they possibly can? No, they’re going to be on phone mending relationships, feeding addictions and being preoccupied with their fears. If your employees bring to job with them burdens of their personal life, you are getting at very best someone who is distracted and at very worst someone who is contributing nothing to your bottom-line.
WHETHER A PRISONER OR ON THE PAYROLL
Prison is an institution and an organization. Your company is an institution and an organization. When you stop to think about their structures, they are not that different. Warden/CEO, Caseworker/Manager, Inmate/Employee. The only difference is whether you come to it voluntarily, which for many employees is in question as they feel as though they are prisoners to their profession. How did I metaphorically escape my prison? By being proactive in my work, not reactive. This is what I suggest to HR Managers. Reactive people let environment dictate what they do, and to some extent protect them. Proactive people shake things up and experiment with new ideas and procedures. When speaking to HR groups I am often asked what steps can be taken to help employees escape their internal prisons, after all they many times say, “We are not psychologists or psychiatrists.” I explain that you do not have to be, but what you do have to do is let your employees know that you care about their personal lives and that company is committed to their overall well-being. This can be done in form of personal days, having counselors available, strict confidentiality policies, and classes that can teach managers what to look for in employees who may be struggling with personal issues. If these things are in place, and if we truly create an environment in which we make our employees feel like family both during work hours and after, can you imagine effect on tardiness, absenteeism, productivity, turnover and quality?
