Sony dropped the ball when it placed a marketing specialist as the head of IT. The rumor is key positions in IT leadership roles were filled due to office politics rather than exhibited skills. There is nothing unusual about that, however, with little knowledge of the IT field, one exposes one’s organization to a number of risks. In Sony’s case, we understand they were hacked!

Hackers got into Sony’s system and were able to initially hold Sony, and some would argue, the world hostage over the movie, The Interview. Unfortunately what happened to Sony could also happen to you. Let’s see why:

1- You’re not paying attention to what your talent wants.

Talent is your key asset! It is generally the most expensive asset your company owns. Consider not only the salary’s you pay – add to this: training, benefits, equipment and tools you require for them to be able to do their job the best way possible. This may be why someone signs on with your company, however, it is not necessarily why people stay with you.

If Sony had a good talent base the situation they have found themselves in would possibly never have happened. There would have been trained IT personnel to draw on when they were looking for someone to move up into the leadership role.

Why do people leave? Generally it is for a number of reasons: compensation, perks, free time and a lack of feeling valued. That is, their ideas are not sought out, their thoughts are not given proper consideration or they are not given the kinds of responsibilities they feel they want. And, when people don’t feel valued they often want to get even with the company they just left and hacking the corporate information systems may be just one way they get even.

Stop and look at your staff, in fact, talk to your staff about what they feel they need in order to increase their productivity and you may just be surprised. By providing what an individual says he or she needs you are sewing the foundation to keep them with you as opposed to them moving on to another company.

2- You’re not promoting for performance and results, but for who you like better

People like to see people promoted – it makes us all feel good to see someone move ahead due to their competencies. Sometimes however, people are promoted due to favouritism. This drives staff ballistic! Yes, even when it is warranted. However, it is far easier for people to accept someone else’s promotion when they know they are competent in doing the job.

Any sort of perceived favouritism spells disaster. Simple things like:

• Allowing some people to take time off with pay and not allowing others to do it
• Speaking to one staff member about late arrivals or early departures and not speaking to others who do the same thing
• Accepting one person’s rebuttal in a meeting and shutting down another’s in the meeting

all spell favouritism in the mind of the receiver of such behaviour as well as those who witness the interactions.

Communicate so everyone is able to get what they want/need from the organization. Think carefully if you want to ensure you are not looked upon as showing favouritism to some members of the staff.

 3- Your compensation is not enough to keep talented people

You have given your staff a pay increase whenever possible and in some cases this may mean yearly. Traditionalists (1925 – 1946) and Baby Boomers (1946 – 1960) and grew up knowing they would never share their salary information with anyone. Not so the Gen X (1960 – 1979) or the Gen Y’s (1980 – 2000)! They share their salary information at the drop of a hat. On top of that, most salaries can be found on line today.

By not paying top end salaries you are running the risk of people moving to other companies, unless, of course, you provide other types of compensation meaningful to the individual employee. This may be in the form of extended holidays, sabbaticals, vehicle allowance or parking, or even an office instead of a cubicle. Most recently, companies are looking to fill the needs of their employees beyond the dollars they receive. Compensation doesn’t solve the problem! Think instead of providing solutions to an individual’s needs.

Compensation is not what keeps people with you, however, when other things are not going in the direction one wants it can cause people to leave. Even more so when one finds out that someone doing the same job, or even a perceived similar job, is paid more than another. This then causes people to begin to look at other reasons to be dissatisfied.

Conclusion

Sony is only one situation where a lack of retention, possible favouritism or even poor compensation could lead to challenges against the company. Speak with your personnel on a regular basis and find out what is going well within your organization as well as what would make this person want to stay and be more productive.

Simply asking the question may provide you with enough information to stave off any semblance of a situation like Sony has encountered.

This is what I’ve learned from organizations that have recently contacted me to present keynotes.