Tooting your own horn 8

[josephv]

As engineers we are constantly facing challenges in our work place. One of these challenges is receiving the proper recognition from our management.

Unfortunately, many times there are no simple tangible ways to measure our contribution to a company. Here are some examples to illustrate this problem:

1. The sales and marketing team at a software company create an excellent sales proposal. Thanks to this proposal, the company gets purchase order for over 1 million dollars. Management sees the large purchase order and everyone in the sales and marketing team receives a substantial bonus.

2. The accounting team at a manufacturing company realizes that they are spending too much in photocopies. They purchase a scanner and save the company thousands of dollars per month. Management notices the reduced costs in the financial monthly reports and award the accounting team with yet another bonus.

3. The mechanical engineering team at an electronics company run an FEA study on several of their products, and find that they can reduce costs greatly by changing the materials of a few key components. They make the changes and save the company several thousands of dollars in material costs, without compromising the quality of the products. Since this project was not widely known throughout the company (i.e. there are no reports or purchase orders), management does not take notice. And there is no bonus awarded to the engineering team.


Part of the problem is that, unlike a salesman or an accountant, frequently engineers do not have tangible ways of communicating their “triumphs”. For example, a good salesman can always say, “look at all the software I sold this month” and show the purchase orders that were received. What can a good engineer say? Certainly one can measure things like a reduction in product defects (indicating improved quality), but even this is not tangible, since what exactly reduced the defects? Was it the new design or was it the new training procedures created by the quality control department?

It would seem to me that we have our cards stacked against us, when it comes to receiving recognition. This is why it is important for us to “toot our own horn” and let management in our companies understand what exactly is it that we do, the value of our work and how it saves money and increases profit. Because if we do not broadcast our contributions, management will not value our work and we will run the risk of eventually losing our jobs. Personally, I believe that any engineer can greatly improve their career by simply sending out an email to their management every time he or she makes an important contribution to their company.

Finally, by tooting your own horn you are not only helping your career, but you are helping managers everywhere understand and value our profession. As always your thoughts on this are welcome.

 

[Beggar]

To me it's a matter of how you define "tooting your horn." I think it's very wise to help your management understand what you do and what you accomplish. People often look at the end result and have no real appreciation of what it took to get there. They may consider that anybody could do something similar.

This is particularly true if you've got just one piece of a large project. All the management really cares is that the project comes in on schedule, to specification, and at (or under) budget.

To me, the best way to toot is to generate routine updates and progress reports and distribute them to people in your chain of command (however high your relationships warrant). Keep 'em short and sweet.

They also serve as a nice record for updating your resume and if you work in an organization that does reviews and solicits participation in generating them.

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[moltenmetal]

ajack1: same here: smaller company, where it's relatively easy to attribute successes, failures and the influence each of us has on the bottom line. A niche business, offering good value and service to our clients for good compensation. But that "other place" was a small company too, also in a niche business- no guarantees.

Glad to hear that you recognize and compensate for extra skill and effort rather than merely taking it for granted. That's sensible business and good management.

In larger organizations, individual contribution to overall company performance is more tenuous and more easily lost. Greed and stupidity of management can easily get in the way. It's incumbent on each employee to make sure their efforts, skill and personal sacrifice are acknoledged and compensated. Ultimately, the only power any of us has if these are not recognized is to "walk" and find a better employer- but it's better to try to address the situation first rather than simply expecting management to figure out your dissatisfaction by osmosis or body language! In most organizations, extra efforts, uncompensated overtime and personal sacrifices freely made this year become expectations next year- not only for you, but for your colleagues as well! Let this go unchecked for fifty years and you have what our profession has become.

The challenge, as others have identified it, is how to "toot your own horn" in a way that doesn't attract the gut response that you gave to the suggestion. Skilled people do this subtly but effectively. But only a fool leaves it entirely to chance!

 

[dbooker630]

I agree with Beggar, the key is to generate short, concise executive summaries that clearly show your role. I will toot the horn of my group (Metallurgy in my case) as opposed to saying "I."

Of course years ago a plant manager told me the quickest way to move up the ladder was to get into quality. Hate to say it but he was correct!

I do appreciate the compensation I get, and I especially appreciate the freedom I have to do my job without being second-guessed or sitting in meetings all day. Those two things allow me to go home with very little stress at the end of the day.

 

[Tropx]

I agree that it is important to quantify your contributions to the ongoing business success of a company if you expect to be promoted or given monetary rewards. I think that as engineers it is easy to lose sight of the business realities because we're very mired in the details of producing things. It's not a bad idea to contain the inner geek sometimes in order to avoid what just seems neat and instead do what is required for the business. Ultimately your boss does not care about interesting ideas if those ideas do not/cannot:
1) interest a customer
2) increase productivity
3) be sold
Employees are one of a businesses flexible costs, therefore of course the employer wants to pay the minimum to obtain the labour (in this case mindpower) required to produce the end product. I think star engineers probably know better than to stick in a situation where their talents are overlooked and are more likely to go find work elsewhere.

In Canada I believe there are far too many engineers produced by universities. If the profession wants to promote its professional status then it must limit the number of people that can gain entrance to the profession. This could be gated by a post graduate examination process. Those with just an undergraduate degree and without the post graduate qualification could do just support work and going into the education process students would know that there are other hurdles to cross to get to the higher paying engineering positions. You can obtain a Peng in Canada, but this is largely a work experience and ethics gate, not a knowledge gate. If there are many comparable replacements for a person then even promoting oneself may not bring the financial reward sought.

 

[jmw]

"I am fully aware of exactly what individuals are contributing to its well being. When people go beyond what I expect of them they are rewarded to the best of my capabilities. I do not need them to tell me about it, I am fully aware of it and it is what I pay them for."

Well, Ajack1, I'm sure some of the heat would not have been generated in this thread had you stated, in the first place, that yours was a small company as we can understand the justification for such a claim.

The problem is more often one for larger companies where there is an increasing remoteness between "he who pulls the oar" below decks and "he who steers the ship".

In any sizeable group of employees there is always at least one with a brown nose.

The brown nose secures his position by praise and admiration for the boss.
This is the guy who is not content to simply claim credit for his own work (if he deserves any) or to ever admit his own errors.

He will claim credit for the the work others have done and will lay the blame for what errors he makes on others.
And, when others do make mistakes, he will ensure the boss will hear it from him.

Not all bosses are as perceptive as you.

I once made the mistake of doing a lot of very hard and very good work only to go into a management meeting to hear a dedicated brown-noser saying " Here's what I've put together" and presented my work as his own.

Sadly, he seemed not at all embarassed by my arrival at such an inopportune time (brown nose, thick skin).

So sure, you may know what everyone has contributed but I do hope you speak to each one personally some time and say to them what you know.

It certainly helps them to know they are appreciated and they may even then accept it when you say you pay what them what they are worth (though most managers lack the nerve to say this and have a stock of phrases they will use, presumably prepared by HR, such as about how they'd love to pay more and if it were up to them, but....)

In fact, reviews and appraisals are there exactly for this purpose. They are also there so the helmsman and the oar puller can examine what each expects from the other, what each has done and that the realistic expectations get sorted from the un-realistic.

Incidentally, when anyone says they know what someone is worth, I hope it is exactly because they have discussed it with the people concerned, and not because they have a very good friend with a brown nose who comes to praise Caesar and who saves them the need for talking to the nasty dirty oar pullers.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[ajack1]

Maybe I didn’t emphasis just how small very small is, I am only talking about 5 employees here. So it is very easy to be fully aware of what all are contributing here, I fully appreciate that this is not the same in a large or even medium sized company.

Despite the fact that I am nearly always the first in and last out and spend many hours in the evenings and weekends preparing quotes and doing other bits I seldom take as much money out of the company as the people I employ. The fact is I work in a global market and in certain countries I have to compete against people with comparable skills get paid a quarter or less of what I pay, that is not whinging it is purely stating facts.

I do try and reward people but unless we have made a substantial profit on a project it is seldom a large financial reward, more often than not it is small things, get some ice cream in on hot days, a couple of tickets to the match or the theatre, a meal for two an extra days (paid) holiday is we are slack that kind of thing. As well as of course letting them know personally how much I appreciate their efforts.

For any personal “reward” it is also worth saying that whilst A will be happy it may well annoy B,C and D. One worker working harder and three doing less is not a good return from the companies point of view.

I HATE “brown nosing” and see “tooting your own horn” as a form of this and I stand by my earlier post I would view this in a very bad light.

On my visits to America I do struggle with the tipping concept out there, if I go to a restaurant and have a good meal and good service I will willingly tip, if I have a great meal and great service I will tip more, however if I have a lousy meal and lousy service I will not, I see no good reason why I should. I have paid good money and what I received was below my expectations, why tip?

This is where I seem to differ from most on here, people seem to expect extra for just doing their job as a right or maybe I am just more aware of what a tight budget small companies run on. Either way I am sure I will get shot down.

 

[Comcokid]

Small company environments are definitely different. What you do is more easily noticed, and when you do something significant you can communicate the accomplishment in a quick statement that 'something has been accomplished'- more information passing rather than bragging.

Larger companies have more opportunities for politics and political players. There you may have to "toot your horn" just to get noticed over the other politics - and "tooting your horn" may be important for the company as well. I've seen quiet, reserved people in large companies laid-off because management didn't realize a person had unique skills for a critical position - to the determent of the company.

Most people really only want to be noticed and appreciated for what they are doing - a part of "fitting-in" the environment. Being noticed and appreciated is a major reward in itself.

 

[Ussuri]

Tooting your horn is illegal in the UK after 11.00pm.

Unfortunately, brown nosing is not illegal. In my experience most engineers are a quiet bunch and dont really do enough to sing their own praises. But I would like to think if I did something so unique and clever I would tell people about it. It has to be said though, particularly where I work, most of the engineering is reworking on a theme so there is limited scope for saying how good you are as its all been done before.

 

[greenone]

Not to hijack the thread, but waitrons here in the US make less than the minimum wage, and are expected to make it up with tips. They get taxed on their tips. The IRS has targeted restaurants to try to get more accurate reporting from servers so income is not hidden. "Service" is not included in the meal's cost here, as it is elsewhere. It's not the servers fault if you don't like the food. Please don't struggle with tipping here.

 

[Zapster]

“Tooting ones horn” is not much different than bragging. Be careful that you are not labeled a braggart.

Personally, I believe that I am a bit of a braggart so I can give some basic advice. NEVER try to make yourself look good by making someone else look bad. I have never seen an engineer with a brown-nose-belt in the art of self-promotion violate this rule in public. In contrast, I see most politicians use this technique quite effectively.

 

[KENAT]

& before 7am as I recall.

Trouble is brown nosers often end up managers due to their actions. This then perpetuates the problem.

Death to Brown Nosers!

Or if your company has abandoned capital punishment maybe just undermining them & winding them up until they look silly or can't take it anymore.

 

[ScottyUK]

Kenat,

No, I liked plan A better. Kill 'em all!!

 

[VeryPicky]

Sorry Guys, no time to read it all. But consider this: if you think engineers have a problem with recognition, how about poor "Quality Guys" (QA, QC)?

Putting Human Factor Back in Engineering