Recently this question was posed on a LinkedIn forum: Should you hire and fire?

Readers interpreted the question differently. Some said, “Hire slow and fire fast.” Most said, “Don’t hire anyone unless you’re prepared to invest in his/her retention and growth.”

Here’s my response (edited from what I posted):

With small companies, or companies going through fast growth, it’s best to hire contract workers rather than employees; they have a fixed term and you get a sense of who you want.

But you don’t get a completely free ride when you hire contract employees.

Performance reviews as well as decisions to put someone on probation, give written warnings, or (especially) fire  even contract workers can lead to lawsuites. Therefore, when setting up your processes, you must get advice from a good employment attorney. I’m not a lawyer so my comments are based on first-hand experience.

I’ve heard of contract employees bringing suit because they claimed they were not re-hired due to sexual harassment, discrimination or other causes. These suits will eat your time and money budgets; they cause deep rifts in a company, destroying your most precious asset: a productive group of employees.

In a growing or changing environment, be aware that reference to “age’ or “career stage” can be interpreted as age discrimination (and in fact it probably is, in my non-legal opinion). If the EEOC gets interested, they will ask about documentation, so you need to be ready.

Apart from saving the hassle of a lawsuit, you’ll save everyone a lot of misery when you do things right the first time. I’ve seen first-hand what happens when a confused manager starts inventing stories to justify a poor evaluation. It ain’t pretty.

What do you think? If you don’t see a comment box, click on the title of this post and share your thoughts.

Over the years I’ve come to believe that adapting to a corporation is a skill, just like programming computers or giving talks. What’s key is learning the unwritten rules. What do companies really want? How are employees really rewarded?

Suits, a memoir by Nina Godiwalla, offers a strong role model. Nina managed to get accepted into a mentorship program two years ahead of schedule, right after her freshman year of college. She had a successful career as an investment banker on Wall Street, navigating past the male-dominated culture.

We are introduced to many worlds -

- second generation Indian family life (her mother had 4 daughters!)
- insider peek into Wall Street
- inside view into thoughts, feelings and experiences of a woman who succeeded on Wall Street

Mostly it’s a story of a woman who was determined to be successful. You can describe her story as calculated or as strategically plotted. You can admire Nina or view her as ruthless and ambitious. Regardless, she figured out what she had to do. She understood the unwritten rules about what to wear, what to say, how to act and even what to drink. She didn’t buck the system or try to make changes. She wanted to maximize what she could gain from it.

In all fairness, Nina’s bosses and coworkers weren’t uniformly cruel. She describes the careful mentoring she received from “Steve.” She reports that her work was recognized on merit, even though she was a minority hire from a public school. And while I’d hardly defend sexism, I note that the events described here took place at the turn of the century – around 2000. Scarcely 25 years earlier, when I was in business school, women were just gaining a toehold in the workplace. Men would make a public presentation and say things like, “Women won’t travel.”

The real sickness comes in the culture, which favors wealthy Ivy League graduates like “Michael,” who “get by” on connections. Even white male graduates get beaten down, as evidenced by the public meltdown of one of Nina’s colleagues.

The company takes talented, ambitious people and puts them to work doing tasks that could be handled by a high school graduate – or, these days, a computer-savvy high school student. Nina gets berated when titles aren’t centered on a page or a graph gets printed with dots instead of stars. The sheer waste of talent can be contrasted to the wasteful spending on food and entertainment.

Although Nina excelled on performance, I can’t help wondering if this culture really rewards achievement. From what I could tell, the key is to survive two years and then use the Morgan Stanley name to move on to doing what these people *really* want to do. Nina’s colleague “Luis” tries to game the system by looking busy without doing any work; her colleague Michael is so well-connected he doesn’t bother to hide. In the end, will their fates be that different? Does Nina get a substantially greater bonus?

I also was taken aback by Nina’s actions when she discovers a colleague was posing without clothes in a magazine that seemed to be targeted to gay men. She wasted no time sharing the magazine with everyone she could find. She and her friends seemed to think there was some law against firing this colleague for his off-duty activities, but she’s far too shrewd to claim she didn’t anticipate negative consequences. She may have been too exhausted to think clearly. Still, I think this episode – which she recounts with unsparing, perhaps naive honesty – shows that she may have been absorbed into the system, and the system’s ethical values. more than she realized at the time.

Nina went on to get an MFA in creative writing and an MBA. She has a consulting company that deals with stress in corporate America.

Have you read any of those know-it-all Time Management books, where you can revolutionize your life and end procrastination with just a few simple steps? Yeah, right.

Doesn’t work for me either.

I wrote my own Time Management Makeover Guide because I believe that we each face time challenges for different reasons. Why do you need to get organized (and maybe you don’t)? Why do you need to make the calls or read these files? When you know why you want something“ — and you really want it — often your energy and focus come naturally.

But sometimes we need a way to fit a new project into a busy schedule. In my experience, one size does not fit everyone.

What’s your  time management profile?  Answer these questions to find out.

1. Swiss Cheese or Chunks

Swiss Cheese people find holes in their day – “ ten minutes here, half an hour there. They concentrate easily and actually get something done while waiting for lunch.

A Swiss Cheese person says, “I will work on this project for 15 minutes a day — consistently. And eventually it will get done.”

Chunk people need a whole afternoon, maybe even a whole day, to get something done. The Chunk person says, “I will devote every Thursday afternoon to marketing.”

2. Desktop or Filing Cabinet

Desktop people like papers spread all over a desk. They tend to have visual memories so they reach into a pile and find whatever they need. They look cluttered but they are functioning efficiently.

Filing Cabinet people demand a clear desk. “A sign of an organized mind,” they say, as they slide documents neatly into folders every evening.

3. Weekly Updates or Grand Finale

Weekly Update people like systems for accountability. They enjoy calling a coach or friend to report on how much they’ve done and they will stay focused because they know they will be reporting in.

Grand Finale people often become dysfunctional when faced with demands for interim reports. They rebel and stop checking in. “Just give me a deadline,” they say. “Stop looking over my shoulder!”

So…who’s right?

Well, everybody, actually. What’s important: Understand your style. Don’t bother trying to change because you probably won’t. Some psychologists believe the brains of Desktop and Filing Cabinet people are actually wired differently.

If you’re a chunk person with a filing cabinet mind who likes weekly updates, you can keep project notes in a file folder that you explore once a week. But if you are a Swiss Cheese person with a Desktop mind and a Grand Finale motivation style, you will get everything done…at your own pace.

Or let’s say you’re a Swiss Cheese with a Desktop Mind. You can set up little piles of projects on your desk. Your “To Do” list might be a set of stickies. If you are a Weekly Updater, you can report on how you moved the piles around. Grand Finale people feel rewarded when they move a sticky from one pile to another…every day.

Most important: Don’t waste time with an accountability coach if you’re a Grand Finale type — and hire one at once if you are a Weekly Updater. Don’t berate yourself over the state of your desk if you are a Desktop person; if the Fire Marshal leaves you alone, you’re doing fine. And don’t try to master those 15-minute maneuvers if you’re a Chunker…or waste a Thursday afternoon fidgeting if you’re a Swiss Cheese.

Download Your 21-Day Time Management Makeover.

FREE 5 Career Change Secrets Most Coaches Won’t Tell You. .

Could your career use a 30 day “Wow it’s time to do something different and I want to get out there and start winning games….instead of sitting on the sidelines and watching others score the points?”

I just opened the doors to a totally awesome new un-program. Here’s the concept:

Who?: Any midlife, mid-career professional or executive who needs to add some cometitive edge to your career game…in the next 30 days.

What?: This is Get It Done for your career. . In this totally awesome un-program we will analyze everything that’s currently involved in the complex game called your caree. We identify and refine your goals and create a plan to reach those goals without taking unnecessary, time-consuming, expensive detours.

This is a structured program. We are not going to just get on the phone and shoot the breeze about your career. We will chat about what’s keeping your career change from happening and how you can get out there and kick some serious butt. .

Just as you’d work on drills to improve your game, you will have some things to do. You will get questions before each ONE-ON-ONE call, I will walk you through a process and we will come out at the other end with a model and a plan that will help you get a head start on your career change. J

Where?: From your office, living room, patio, coffee shop, bar…Anywhere! . All you need is a phone with long distance access. I’ll take care of the rest like telling you what number to call, recording it for you, and sending you worksheets so you say things like, “Good grief…I may make a 3-point shot after all.”

When?: Over the next 30 days. Well, any 30 days that you pick over the summer. We don’t have to start right now (but my schedule gets filled up so call when you decide go get started).

Why?: There are twol reasons I’m doing this:.

One: I’m getting messages from people saying they’ve just been frazzled by their careers and don’t know what to do next. Or they spent a chunk of change on career tests and feel like they’re chasing their own tail.

And I realize that some folks are nervous about investing the going rate for career consulting because they’re nervous about layoffs or they’ve been frustrated with career planning sessions that led nowhere.

How Much?:

Like I said, I like to see a game that’s played well. The current WNBA season has inspired me. That’s why you are going to get 2 one-hour sessions with me for just $1000 dollars. NO, NO, just kidding. . Seriously you are going to get 2 one-hour ONE-ON-ONE sessions with me for $275.

Sounds like a chance to elevate your game, right?

If you want to register, all you have to do is send a message to me:
midlifecareerstrategy (a) gmail.com with the subject: Career Special
Tell me a little about you and your situation and we’ll see if It’s in my scope. If it is, you can sign up.

Spaces are limited – I can only work with a few people each month at this rate. So go ahead and sign up. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and you’ll be glad you did.

Penelope Trunk, The Brazen Careerist, says yes. Here’s a list of tips she just published in her own blog.

They’re pretty good tips, but I’d be cautious about working for free. Writing a free column is a good move because she’d win whether or not she got invited to become a paid columnist. Getting the PR value of publication in a national newspaper is huge.

But before you work for a company for free, or if you propose a project they implement, get a written memo of understanding. “Meredith” agreed to do marketing for a non-profit regional growth association. They promised they would give her a full-time job if a certain grant was funded.

Well, the grant got funded, mostly thanks to Meredith’s hard work. Suddenly everybody forgot what they had promised. They dismissed Meredith as just another volunteer. Meredith received a settlement, with the help of a lawyer. The money was nice, but she now needed a new job.

Even if you’re working for a recommendation letter, spell out the details. People have short memories.

I admire Penelope Trunk and recommend her book, The Brazen Careerist. When I disagree, it’s usually because she’s advising readers to buck the system even more than I would dare to do.

But today she published an article, Get Creative, that seems closer to the standard career counseling advice: “It’s up to you.” She defines the qualities of the creative person: “Creative people have high standards, inherent intensity and an obsession with coming up with something new.” She says we can be creative in any job. Bosses really want new ideas, although you may have to get pretty creative to sell them.

I have to disagree. In my maverick corporate days, I believed companies were eager to innovate. I was one who rushed in to make suggestions. It wasn’t till long after I’d been far removed from corporate life that I understood why my creativity had no chance to flourish. Now I believe we make mistakes when we encourage people (especially at entry level) to anticipate creativity in any job. Here’s why:

First, creativity will actually hinder performance on some jobs.

When I hire someone to fix some code in my website or go through the steps for a teleseminar, I want them to do exactly what I ask. When my cleaning service gets creative, I can’t find anything for weeks. Airline pilots follow very specific “company” policies for landing on a windy airport runway.

Second, understand if something is broken before you rush in to fix it.

More than one web designer has advised me to remove the sign -up box on the top of my website. If I have time, I say, “Sure, that box may not be aesthetically pleasing, but that’s how I earn money so I can pay you.”

Ideally, your boss will patiently explain why s/he rejects your ideas. But if you’ve got a lot of ideas, your boss will be spending a lot of time giving you private instruction. Everybody’s got time constraints.

Third, a Big Idea most likely will require a substantial investment in equipment, real estate or even cultural change.

For example, several airlines have tried to graft Southwest Airlines culture onto a traditional hierarchy. They did better when they capitalized on their own unique virtues. If you’ve got a Big Idea, you may have to go out on your own, start from scratch and get your own funding.

Fourth, creatives pay their dues to learn what works.

Take this blog post, for example. I can write anything, can’t I? But in fact I’ve taken courses from experts like the Blog Squad Jeff Herring And I know I’ll get more readership if I follow a “5 tips” format.

One of my friends said thoughtlessly, “I bet my son would be a great website copywriter. He’s very creative.” Yet I’ve invested large amounts of time and money to learn what works and what doesn’t. Sure I get creative when I apply time-tested principles to specific client situations. But I don’t sit down with a blank piece of paper and just write.

Authors follow a surprisingly long list of rules when writing novels. Some authors grasp these principles instinctively. Others learn them successfully. Still others never “get it” and, as a result, rarely attract readers and followers.

And while artists have a wide range of options, they study and apply principles of color, composition and design. I once took a drawing course, where I was surprised how much technique is involved.

Fifth, if you are going to think out of the box, be ready to end up all alone — on a desert island or on top of the world.

Recently an author sent me a book to review. She had chosen to defy the conventions of the book world by mixing genres. Her book combined memoir and how-to. Alas, readers expect one or the other. Memoir readers expect a very different reading experience than self-help enthusiasts. And bookstores won’t know how to classify this book.

Of course, if you’re a big picture thinker, and if you have the drive and access to resource to implement your ideas, you can end up like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or the others who changed the landscape of business. But I have a hunch that before they thought out of the box, they invested a lot of time studying the inside in all four corners.

Bottom line: When employees – especially entry level – seek creativity, I suspect they really want autonomy: control over their own time.

Mid-life career strategy calls for sensitivity to stereotypes about aging. One stereotype is that we take longer to learn and resist learning new things.

A recent New York Times article supports a theory I’ve held for years. As we get older, our brain holds more and more data. So we just have more to process. Thats why we may forget more easily.

I used to remember phone numbers of just about everyone I know. Now I just know a lot more people. I call them a lot less frequently (due to email). And of course I use speed dials and auto-dials.

But, says the Times, aging brains also have a broader context to place new information. We remember parallel events that took place years ago. We process information more thoroughly, so we appear to be reading and taking in new information more slowly.

Possibly.

My own view is: When you look at a group of 14-year-olds of a certain socioeconomic class, you’ll find many similarities. They’ll be in school. They’ll have certain physical capabilities

But a group of 54-year-olds and 64-year olds will have enormous variation. Just look around your local fitness center. Some folks are walking around in a little circle, moving slowly to the music. Others are running marathons.

That’s why I think we have to take charge of our own destinies as we get older, not depending on external forces for solutions to jobs and other challenges.

At my last college reunion, one of my classmates urged me, “Bring copies of your e-books and distribute them!” That was someone Unclear on the Concept. And that was also my last class reunion.

I like to listen to free teleseminars just like anyone else. I hadn’t heard of this guest, Rory Cohen, but I was intrigued by what she had to say. She talked about finding time to make career changes. She talked about getting excited about a vision and how you can sabotage yourself when you stifle that little voice you hear saying, “Maybe you need to do something different…”

Not such unusual topics, but her style really is different. She’s had training in psychology as well as coaching. She’s worked with CEOs and she’s held workshops in prisons. She has a big-company corporate background and now runs her own small-company business. And she’s got a great speaking style.

So I asked her to be on my Cat Chats series: sign up here

It’s always hard to give up a steady source of income. Experienced career counselors will caution, “Hang on to your job until you’ve got another opportunity lined up.” And you’ve heard the advice, “Don’t quit your job till you’ve got another one.”

Mostly that’s good advice. I say the same thingi when clients ask.

But sometimes you just don’t have a choice. Sometimes your job makes you sick. Or you find yourself doing things to sabotage yourself so you’ll get fired.

I caught myself doing that a few months ago. Back when I left academia, I began working with a university’s distance education programs. The work was pretty easy and fun.

But one day the university — literally thousands of miles from where I lived — decided to make some changes. First they were bought by a bigger, more bureaucratic corporation. Then they started adding time-consuming procedures and layers of administration. It wasn’t fun anymore.

One day I realized I was not following the advice I gave my own clients. I dreaded signing on to the system. I kept forgetting things. And to be honest, I didn’t need them: I’d stuck around from habit. I didn’t really need the money and I could use the time to build my business instead of treading water.

Walking away was tough and I knew I would miss some of the fun parts of the job. I have always liked. But it was time.

I would not advise someone, “This is the time.” But I can say, “Here are some signs that it’s time to let go of a job, client or city.” Family? I don’t go there.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper targeted to anyone even remotely connected to academia, Brandon Withrow ponders this question in an article “Not Your Father’s PhD.” You can read it here.

I would agree with those who say you’ll be better equipped to work with today’s students if you understand modern techo-tools. One of my friends dismisses blogs as “just diaries.” And he teaches a course in internet marketing!

One thing: This post contains advice to blog readers. I don’t think you can advise visitors on how to approach your blog. I encourage my own readers and clients to err on the side of caution.

But you never know. When you’re edgy enough to turn off some readers, most likely you’ll also attract kindred spirits. When I was an academic, my “Personal” section read “Single with 2 cats.” Always good for a chuckle on interview days…and I got jobs.