Phillip Van Hooser's Blog: Build Performance Blog, page 18

How Leaders Can Predict Employee’s Emotional Response

Your leadership success depends on how well you predict, prepare and address the emotional response from your people. Because of today’s diverse workforce, let’s discuss factors that can contribute to the emotional response your people might have to your leadership so you both can be more successful.

How Leaders Can Prepare for Employee’s Emotional Response

Every interaction you have with your people causes an emotional response from them. Whether we’re talking about your choice to say “hello” when you walk past them or not, whether you remember or forget their birthday, if you choose to promote someone other than them, or if they find out you’ve lied to them in the past…no matter how big or small–every interaction matters. Every interaction causes a reaction, and your people will react by becoming either more engaged, holding back, or checking out.

Because of the effects of these reactions, you should act very intentionally. Why? When you intentionally, accurately predict and fully prepare yourself to deal with your people’s reactions, then you will start consistently building better relationships with your people. Without a doubt, better leader/employee relationships lead to better overall performance. Ultimately, in the organization, your success and your people’s success depends on your ability to lead well. Let’s discuss three predictable emotional responses you can predict and prepare for.

 

3 Predictable Emotional Responses

Engage

Why External Motivation, Cash, Promises or Punishment Won’t Motivate Your Employees

If you or your organization have been relying on external motivation to keep your employees engaged and satisfied, I encourage you to reconsider your thinking. Here’s the truth: External motivation does work. Using external motivators — like more money, coveted promotions, threats of punishment or implied promises of good things to come — does change behaviors in the short-term. Unfortunately, it normally doesn’t change habits over the long haul. Let’s talk about why that approach doesn’t work so well and what you can do to make employee motivation last.

Why External Motivation, Cash, Promises or Punishment Won’t Motivate Your Employees

I graduated college about four decades ago. In my business classes I was taking back at Murray State University the question was asked and discussed at length: How do you motivate people? Well, after I left those hallowed halls of higher education at Murray State University, I went immediately into the business world where I have worked until today.

The Never Ending Question: How Do I Motivate My People?

Almost every day for the last 40 years I’ve been in contact with, direct contact with, and oftentimes in direct communication with managers, supervisors, executives of all sizes, shapes, and demeanors. It’s amazing how many times that conversation I first heard back in college continues to be asked the question, how do I motivate people, and discussed at length even today.

Internal Motivation vs. External Motivation

Well, I want to talk about motivation. In fact, I want to talk about two types of motivation: internal motivation and external motivation with more of a focus on external motivation for our purposes here today. Let me simply say that I believe in motivation — I believe in motivation in a big way. I believe people are motivated, but I don’t believe they’re necessarily motivated by what you or I may want them to be motivated by.

Internal motivation comes from within the individual. Internal motivation is based on attitude and values. It’s determining what I want and need and what I’m willing to sacrifice to accomplish those things. Those are things that I do in my heart, in my head, in my being, and I believe they are motivational, but for many of us, those of us in leadership positions, managers, supervisors, executives of all kinds, quite frankly, that takes too long. It takes too long for me to get to know each individual and figure out individually what motivates him or her.

External Motivation Is Only a Short-Term Fix

Instead, over the years, organizations have tried to rush the process, and we’ll call that external motivation. External motivation is something that happens from without outside of the individual to change the inside of the individual. Well, it’s nice to talk about. Unfortunately, it just rarely happens. External motivation is something that an organization can provide that an individual or an organization can provide for another individual in hopes that what we’re providing, externally giving them, will actually motivate them.

Well, here’s the truth: External motivation does work. External motivators do change behaviors in the short-term. Unfortunately, it normally doesn’t change habits over the long-term. External motivation may make a manager or a supervisor feel a feel good in the moment, but the individual, the individual is still trying to determine is this, will this help me satisfy my needs and wants and desires and all those other things long-term? Oftentimes they don’t.

(Let us help you with a plan to motivate your employees for the long-haul. Call us now.)

That doesn’t change the fact that organizations still want to change behaviors of individuals, so they continue to explore or experiment with different external motivators. I want to give you three to talk about today. Now, remember, I said external motivators will change behavior, individual behavior in the short-term, they just don’t last long-term, and number two, I said that external motivators are provided by the organization or individuals representing the organization.

3 Common Forms of External Motivation

Let’s talk about the three primary external motivators that you see in organizations today. The first one and probably the most obvious one is what I’ll refer to as rewards. Rewards. Now, a lot of people go, “Oh, yeah, yeah. That’s money.” Well, money is a reward. There’s no question about that, but it’s not the only reward. There can be other rewards like benefits, and there can be opportunity, promotion. Status and prestige — these are also rewards, but they’re only a reward if a person values those things. Believe it or not, not everybody works for money.

Oh, they accept a check, and they’re happy to get it, but that net may not be the primary motivator for one employee, money, whereas it may be the primary motivator for another, so if it’s a primary motivator for one, and we say, “We’re going to give you more money,” certainly they’re going to change their behavior, but if money is not the primary motivator, they’ll take your money, but probably the behaviors won’t change that very much.

The Beatles Were Right… “Can’t Buy Me Love”

Here’s another thing that I always tell people about rewards. No organization, none, I don’t care how profitable or how asset-laden that organization may be, no organizations has pockets deep enough to be able to continue to motivate people with money alone. Here’s the reason why: As soon as you give me some, I’ll be happy with that and thankful for it, and maybe I’ll even change my behavior in the short-term, but eventually, I want more. If you motivate me once and you condition me to expect that by way of money, then I’ll just want more money before I do more. After a while, that gets to be a tremendous… well, almost a dead end loop. Most organizations can’t continue to throw money at a problem. They have to find another way to motivate people.

Threats of Punishment

Another external motivation, when money either doesn’t work or can’t work long-term, well, this is a common one. We’ll simply call it threats. Now, some people refer to this external motivation approach as being a threat of punishment or punishment itself, but I would argue threats are far more prevalent than the actual punishment.

I mean, if you’re a parent or grandparent or you’ve been around one lately, how many times have you heard this conversation parent to child, grandparent to child, “Hey, hey, I’m going to discipline you if you don’t stop that.” Well, punishment? No. It was a threat of punishment.

Then what happens to the child? Well, the child just looks at him and continues to do whatever. “Now, I mean it this time. I’m really going to punish you this time if you continue to do that.” Well, the child continues to do it, and the punishment ever comes. The threat is what we’re attempting to motivate, externally motivate the individual.

Are You Really Willing to Be Swift and Severe?

Now, will punishment work? Well, that’s debatable. You can talk to all kinds of sociologists about the value of corporal or the value of punishment of one type or another, but even the most die-hard individuals who are against punishment will tell you the only way for punishment to work is it must be swift and severe. Swift and severe, and because most people either can’t or won’t follow through with swift and severe punishment, they fall back on the threat of punishment.

Now, will the threat of punishment motivate someone? Yeah. Remember what I said, temporarily short-term. External motivation will motivate temporarily and short-term, but for how long? Well, until number one, it’s obvious that the punishment will not come, it’s just a threat, but then number two, here’s an interesting thing:

When you threatened someone, then quite frankly, they look for an opportunity to get even with you. In other words, when you try to impress upon them and get them to do something by way of a threat, they start thinking about, “How can I get even with you because of how uncomfortable you’ve made me.”

Have you motivated that person? Yes, probably, but not in the way that you wanted. In fact, they’re not focused on what to do well. They were focused on how to get even. It’s an interesting thought.

Rewards & Threats

There are two of the three, two of the three external motivations. There is rewards. Will it motivate? Yeah, temporarily and short-term, but reinforcing it becomes difficult. The second one was threats. A punishment. Will threat’s a punishment motivate? Well, for some they will, but it may actually motivate them to do things that you don’t want them to do. What’s the third type of external motivation that organizations and individuals oftentimes fall back on? What’s the one that’s hardest for people to recognize, and yet I would argue, and to some degree, it’s the most common. What is it? Promises. Promises.

Promises

Now, you may not have thought about this one, so take just a minute to process this. Promise. Will a promise motivate someone to do something? Well, I would argue, yes, temporarily and in the short-term. Why? Because if I promise you, “If you do this, then you’ll get that,” well, if what I’m going to get is something that’s very desirable, then okay, thank you, I appreciate the promise, and that promise will continue to motivate until one of two things happen. Either you actually get what you want, and then you have to make another promise to get me to do more, or worse still, I don’t get what you promised. In other words, you promised it, but you didn’t follow through on the promise.

Do Your Employees Believe “Everything’s Going to Be Fine”

By the way, there’s such a thing that’s called implied promises. Now, this is where you don’t actually say, “I promise you blank,” but you imply that a promise is being made. For example, how many times have you heard a manager say something like this, “Keep working hard. I’m going to take care of you,” or what about this one, “Don’t worry, you’re next on the list,” or how about this one, “Trust me, everything’s going to work out fine. Just count on me.”

Implied Promises

Now, in none of those three situations did I actually say, “I promise you you’ll get this,” or, “I promise you this will end up that way,” but I certainly implied it in all three of those situations. If one or more of those three things do not happen, then who’s held accountable for it? Well, of course, the person who’s made that promise or that implied promise, and he or she is held responsible by the person who was expecting to get something as a result of the implied promise that was made.

In any event, if the behavior is changed, it’s probably only changed temporarily and for a short term period of time, but if the promise is not kept, then the relationship could be damaged simply because I don’t trust you anymore. You promised me. You did not follow through on it. I can’t trust you.

Instead of External Motivation Think about This

External motivation. It’s an interesting concept, and it’s one, as I said, that’s been talked about for decades, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be talked about for decades to come. We’re talking about it right now. I want you to think about it. I want you to think about how motivation actually works and how you can, in fact, help an individual stay motivated by trying to figure out what their actual needs are, what their actual wants are, what’s happening internal to them instead of just depending upon external motivation. I think you’d be better for it. I think they’ll appreciate you, and I know these are the kinds of things that leaders ought to know.

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#externalmotivation #moneydoesntmotivate #howtomotivateemployees #howdoImotivatemypeople #cantbuymelove

The post Why External Motivation, Cash, Promises or Punishment Won’t Motivate Your Employees appeared first on Van Hooser Associates, Inc..

Emotional Intelligence is the X-Factor

I think you would do this, but tell me if I’m wrong. If an employee came to you and legitimately asked for specific training to help them better understand how to use the company intranet, understand the policies better, or improve their technical skills — you would probably do everything you could to make sure they had the proper training so they could be successful, right?

What if there is training you could give them that either they won’t be bold enough to ask for or don’t even recognize they need it…and it’s the x-factor that will elevate BOTH success for both of you? Let’s talk about the details…

Emotional Intelligence is the X-Factor

Many leaders are quick to give opportunities to employees if it means it will improve their performance. Oftentimes those opportunities are focused on building technical skills within their team while soft skills development falls by the wayside. Although, an investment in soft skills — particularly in the way of emotional intelligence — will be an investment that checks a lot of boxes for you as a leader and for them as an employee.

Do you want to be wildly successful leader in the future? You must invest in your people’s lives. Notice that I didn’t say invest in their people’s professional lives. Why? Because those in today’s high-performing workforce are demanding that leaders and organizations invest in both the employee’s professional AND personal success — their whole life. How do we see this playing out in the real world?

 

Work-Life Integration

One part of the equation is that for decades there was a push in the workforce for better work-life balance. People wanted to be able to have enough time away from work to reasonably do what they wanted for themselves, with their family, or with their friends outside of work.

Things are changing again. Now employees are pushing for work-life integration.

What’s the difference?

Work-life balance allows you to healthily do both separately, whereas work-life integration allows you to mix both work and personal life. For example, more and more people are fine with answering emails or calls on the weekend if it means they are free to take care of something personal in the middle of Monday without using some of their 2.5 weeks of vacation time.

This should matter to leaders who want to be the best-of-the-best. Why? Because the number of leaders and companies that are making strides to meet these new desires for employment to both work within and improve their life — is growing rapidly.

Leaders, if you don’t step up to the plate, your leadership may quickly become out of date.

Your people will easily move on to a leader or a company that will invest in improving both their personal and professional life.

There are many ways you can work to meet these specific desires of your high-performing, younger generation employees. Today we’re going to talk about one investment you can make in your employees that will help them be more successful at work AND at home…and it will improve your leader / employee relationship, too! It’s a win-win-win!

 

Emotional Intelligence — A Strategic Investment

At any given point in time, employees may be handling a tough workload, preparing or giving high-pressure presentations, dealing with a crazy co-worker, celebrating a month-end success, etc. — and that’s just at work! At home, they may have any number of challenges or joys they’re dealing with.

Whether a person is at work or at home, emotions are in all of us. Those people who’ve developed the skill of controlling their emotions will ultimately be able to control their performance, job satisfaction, and well-being.

As a leader, if you choose to invest in helping improve the soft skill of emotional intelligence within your workforce then your people will be able to perform better at work and at home. Additionally, if you’re making strides toward work-life integration, then the employee will be better able to switch between the two quickly.

Finally, if all of your employees have high emotional intelligence then odds are that your job satisfaction and retention rates will increase. When you invest time and resources into improving your workforce’s emotional intelligence, you improve their professional AND personal lives!

Disengaged at Work? 1 Sure Sign Bosses Should Look For

In my work, I talk to a lot of managers and supervisors who are, let’s say, a bit frustrated that they have employees who are disengaged at work. Employees just aren’t doing what is expected of them or what is asked of them. And managers and supervisors don’t know why. Employees become disengaged at work for many reasons. And their disengagement shows up in a lot of different behaviors. Let’s deal with one sure sign of disengaged behavior you, as a boss, should look for and talk about what you can do to help your employee re-engage. 

Disengaged at Work? Here’s Why.

I hear things like, “Why would someone be so disengaged at work?” “They should take their job more seriously.” “I wish they would just do what I ask or even tell them to do.” “Why do they continue to be disengaged at work?”

To understand why an employee might be disengaged at work, I tell managers and supervisors they must understand what the employee’s needs are.

Different people have different needs depending upon what they’re doing at work. Some people work for the money, just for the paycheck. Others work for the challenge. Others work for the relationships, and others work for the opportunity to grow and progress.

You just never know what their needs are unless, of course, you pursue those needs or you try to work to find out what those needs are. But you can bet that if someone is disengaged at work, they have a need that is not being satisfied.

Sure Signs an Employee is Disengaged at Work

Now, there’s a number of things that happen when a need is not being satisfied but I’m only going to deal with one here. When an employee is disengaged in work, they most often will do one of two things.

They either quit and leave or…
They quit and stay.

If they quit and leave, that’s what I call physical withdrawal. They quit and leave. They take their ball and go home. They’ve had all the fun that they can stand working with you or your company. They’ve decided they can better fill their needs somewhere else. They quit, they leave.

But what about when a disengaged employee quits and stays? Oh, they’re still physically there, but they’re not thinking, their commitment level is not there. They’re not engaged in the process of trying to get better and help the organization get better. They just quit and stay. Some people call it retiring on the clock.

If you need in-depth training to help your managers re-engage employees, I can help. Let’s talk now.

That’s the challenge that most of us as managers and leaders have — not letting a circumstance or situation get to the point that a disengaged employee will quit and stay.

If they quit and leave, maybe we’ll be able to find someone that can fill that position. Maybe someone even better than the person that left it. But if they quit and stay, we don’t have that luxury any longer.

3 Questions to Re-engage an Employee Disengaged at Work

So how do you figure out what your employee’s need is? Well, there is the obvious way — you ask them what their needs are. There is the worst way — you ask everyone except the employee! And there is the best way — you observe the employee — engage with the employee — get to know the employee as a person, rather than just a resource to get work done.

Here are three questions that will help you re-engage a disengaged employee. Side note, I always tell people to plan, communicate, execute. Plan, communicate, execute. Plan what you want to talk to your employees about. Communicate with them, and then actually encourage them to follow up on the things that you’re planning.

Now, here are the three questions.

What is the biggest frustration you’re experiencing right now? In other words, you plan a meeting, sit down with this disengaged employee, and you ask that question: “What is the biggest frustration you’re experiencing at work right now?” Don’t go in with preconceived ideas. You may find that they’ll say, “It’s not a problem at work at all. I’m having a problem at home or I’m having some other issue.” But if they do have a problem at work, you certainly want them to tell you.
Now, the second question is an interesting question. “So how is that making you feel?” Not what’s happening as a result. “How is it making you feel?” Before someone can deal with the logical, rational solution to a problem, they have to deal with the emotions that the problem is causing. Give them an opportunity to vent.
And then here’s the third question. “So what can I do right now to help you with that?” They may say, “Well, you could help me do this or this. You can call someone or you can give me this information.” They may do that. But the chances are probably better that they will say something like this. “Well, you’re already helping me out by just listening and letting me talk through. There’s really not a lot you can do. This is my challenge. But I certainly appreciate the time that you’ve taken to give me an ear and possibly a minute of consideration.”

Understand that disengaged employees don’t necessarily want to be disengaged. But if they think they have an ally in you, it makes the process a whole lot better. Do everything that you can to figure out why your employee has disengaged at work and I’ll bet you’ll find that there’s some need that’s not being satisfied. Once the need is identified, your job gets easier.

You may not be able to resolve the employee’s need in every case. But taking the time to engage your employee, showing concern for the employee’s interests and valuing them as an integral part of the team will pave the way for re-engaging your employee!

For more thoughts on how to determine an employee’s needs — read this.

#disengagedatwork #quitandstay #quitandleave #retiringontheclock #reengagingemployees #employeeengagement

The post Disengaged at Work? 1 Sure Sign Bosses Should Look For appeared first on Van Hooser Associates, Inc..

Heightened Risk Leaders Must Address

I’m waving the red flag to you, leader. With the culture of today’s workforce rapidly changing, there’s heightened risk you have to address. Is it a new risk? No. Is it a new risk? Yes. Did you read that right? Yes. Ha! Don’t be late to the game. Don’t be the reactor, be proactive. Let’s dig into exactly what heightened risk you must address in the workplace.

Heightened Risk Leaders Must Address

The risk we’re about to discuss is heightened to a new level because of Gen Z.

Many of the leaders I come in contact with are calling the youngest generation in the workforce “Millennials”. Don’t make that mistake! The youngest generation in the workforce — those about 24 years old and younger — are not Millennials, they are Gen Z. If you’re thinking you should treat Gen Z the same as Millennials, you might be in for a rude awakening over the months, years, and decades to come.

For today’s discussion, I want to get your mind thinking about how researchers are telling us Gen Z gathers information and how it might affect the workplace.

I am using general statements in the paragraphs to come. These statements are based on what I’ve learned from studying the latest research and building relationships with all generations in the workplace. Please know that there may be outliers and the best thing you can do as a leader is to get to know your people individually, then adapt accordingly.

Alright, let’s go!

 

Old School Perspective

I posted about this very topic on social media the other day and someone commented that I should leave older generations out of this. When I asked them why they never responded. In case someone is thinking the same thing, let me start this part of the discussion by saying that if you don’t stop and consider how things used to be, then you may never realize your leadership is out of date until it’s too late. If you don’t see change coming, then you end up becoming reactive instead of proactive. It’s the proactive leaders that stay ahead of the curve and get the best results. I’m going to help you do that.

For older generations, their view of leadership was very much top-down. When employees had questions on what to do or how to do it, they asked the leader. When the leader told them something, they listened, put their head down, got back to work, and did what they were told.

In that type of environment, it was easier for the leader to manage certain risks.

How so?

If most everyone is looking to the same manager/supervisor/leader for a standard of acceptable performance, how to handle any misconduct, what the right answers may be, etc., then the risk of the answers to all of those questions becoming convoluted becomes very low. Why? Because the majority of people are getting the majority of their information from the same source — leadership.

However, as generations in the workplace evolved over the past four to six decades, especially in the last two years or so, top-down leadership isn’t as widely accepted or practiced.

 

New School Research

Gen Z is still young — approximately 7-24 years old right now — so there is still so much being developed within them and to be learned about them. Because of the stage of life many Gen Z’s are in right now, most of the decisions they are making are based around school and retail. Therefore, most of the research has only been conducted around that focus.

86% of Gen Z reads reviews before making a purchase. (The Center for Generational Kinetics)
68% of Gen Z reads 3 or more reviews before making a purchase. (The Center for Generational Kinetics)

These two statistics about their purchasing decisions could be a really good indicator of how they will make decisions in the workplace. There is a pretty strong chance that Gen Z will be looking for opinions — from peers and even people they don’t know — as they work to figure out right from wrong, what level of performance is expected from them, and other values that affect culture and performance in the workplace.

Why would Gen Z do that?

Gen Z is the first digitally native generation. They do not know a time before technology. They’ve grown up reading reviews and having better success from that vs. directly asking the company about the product. As they’re entering the workforce, they’re probably going to be more likely to lean towards what they’ve always known — as we all do. They will seek out reviews from co-workers, opinions from people in other companies and industries, all while potentially avoiding the decision-makers companies have put in place.

Hear me clearly, no one generation is better or worse than the other. We all bring our own unique value and challenges to the workplace.

 

Remaster The Workplace

To navigate today’s multi-generational workforce successfully, leaders must remaster the workplace — mix the old with the new in a way that they blend together to become the bright future we all want! To truly remaster the workplace, you must understand where you’ve been, where you’re at, and where you want to go.

Consider this…

If Gen Z is reading reviews, or listening to opinions from who knows who, potentially someone outside the office, maybe across the world, or simply someone in the office whom you’re struggling to get on board anyway…if younger generations are trusting them for guidance and answers at work, you must realize the heightened risk in regards to compliance, operations, and reputation.

When younger employees are wondering if they should speak up if they see a co-worker doing something wrong, will they follow the companies guidelines or will they follow shady-Sally’s recommendation?

Will the new generation ask the leader if they should keep pushing for more sales even though they’ve met the goal, or will they ask half way-Harry what to do?

If new employees are not getting guidance for your culture’s standards from leaders primarily, how can you as a leader take action to engage the rest of your employees so that everyone is better informed and pushing in the right direction? This is the issue that will take correct, calculated, consistent, action in order to mitigate the risk of the new workforce. Will it be hard to do well? Maybe. Will it be impossible–absolutely not!

No Action Is A Destructive Choice

So where do you even start? How do you manage this potential newly heightened risk? It starts with a conversation with your leadership team about the possibilities. Then you move forward into deeper, focused, conversations with your people to understand where their heads are at. Then you lay down the law — this is where we are, this is where we want to be, then this is how we’re going to get there.

Leading today’s workforce is not for the faint of heart — it’s a job for warriors. Those who do nothing, self destruct. Those willing to step up to the challenges and take focused action will win!

 

Does your team need guidance on leading in a multi-generation workforce? I can help. Let’s talk!

#multigenerationworkforce #understandingrisk #leadershipdevelopment #takeaction

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For Better Employee Relations Use This 4 Question Plan

Leaders within organizations, companies big and small crave better employee relations! It’s a huge recruiting tool. It leads to better performance and higher profits. Some charged with making this happen look for a magic bullet, some new, latest policy in the employee relations manual. But it takes much time and a tactful approach to build trusted, authentic, productive employee relations. Here’s a 4 question plan that can start any manager, any organization down the right path to better employee relations. But only the persistent will make it happen? Will that be you?

A 4 Question Plan for Better Employee Relations

I remember my first real job with supervisory responsibilities — HR Supervisor with a major heavy equipment manufacturer. We had a workforce of 400+ people on three shifts. And employee relations was a key part of my responsibility.

I was green and inexperienced. Every newly assigned task represented a new challenge.

But, I was also enthusiastic! I worked hard and I applied myself.

Each day I pored over every policy manual, report, and spreadsheet I could get my hands on. I was convinced that the key to my eventual leadership success was buried deep within one of them.

My job? Just keep digging until I found that key. I was at my desk early and I stayed there late. Ignoring breaks and the opportunity for casual conversations, I opted for a few more minutes of “desk time.”

I was there at my desk, working hard to be a leader, when my boss stopped by to discuss my progress.

Better Employee Relations Aren’t Found in the Policy Manual

“Phil,” he began earnestly. “I’m pleased with your overall effort. You’re making good progress learning the technical part of your job.”

I was initially encouraged — until the other shoe dropped.

“But, Phil, unfortunately, I see no real evidence that you’re doing the most important part of your job — the employee relations part. That requires spending time with and getting to know your employees.”

That day my boss challenged me to make a commitment to spend at least 30 minutes each day — EVERY DAY — in direct contact with my people. Walking, talking, connecting with our employees on their turf — on their level.

If You Have Reservations about Employee Relations…

I’m an outgoing sort of guy. But I must admit I had some serious reservations about this assigned challenge. Thoughts like these flooded my mind:

“What in the world am I going to talk about with these people? Some of them on second or third shift have never even seen me!”

“What would I say to break the ice? I’m sure they will be suspicious of my motives — so why would they trust ME to share anything of value?”

But if I intended to not only keep my job, but to be successful at the employee relations part of it, I had to make a plan.

So I formulated four opening questions I would use to start building a bridge of trust with our people.

Employee Relations is Nerve Wracking & Awkward, but…

Before I get to the 4 questions, I have to admit a few things.

Was I nervous the first time I tried this? YOU BET I WAS! But to sit in my office, hiding behind — placing my hope in — some technical employee relations policy manual would not be deemed an “HR best practice.”
Was it awkward the first few times? Unquestionably, YES. I found though, showing a sincere, authentic interest in our people soon led to a growing trust — and that’s a solid foundation for stronger relationships with employees.
Did every employee respond positively and openly on Day One? Of course not. There’s no magic bullet for building strong employee relations. As my boss said, “…that requires spending time with and getting to know your employees.” And to connect with a workforce of 400+ meant a huge commitment of time.
Did my nerves, the initial awkwardness and the seemingly slow progress discourage me? Honestly, on occasion, they did. But all relationships take time — and employee relationships are no different. So I counted every positive response — no matter how small — a win!

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A 4 Question Plan for Better Employee Relations

So here are the 4 questions I used to foster better relationships with our people. I believe you can use them to build better employee relations too!

A word of caution for the eager one ready to head out and start talking with employees…

Do not walk up to your first employee and interview or interrogate them with these questions.  If you launch into a four question “survey” with an employee, you risk creating more suspicion and distrust. The process of building trusted, authentic, productive employee relations takes much time and a tactful approach.

In your initial employee conversations, you may only get Question 1 asked. Be patient. Go slow. Don’t push. Remember, you have to earn the right to be trusted — and that takes time. 

1. What is your name?

That seems almost too basic. But believe me, employees won’t trust a supervisor, a manager, a company leader who doesn’t take time to even ask their name.

You may be thinking, “I hired and supervise this employee —of course I know their name.” Great job!

But what about those employees who contribute to the success of your department or organization? The ones you didn’t hire or you don’t directly supervise? Wouldn’t it be helpful to your success and to the organization if you forged good relationships with any employee who helps your people?

While employees may be obligated to give “an answer” when asked for their input or opinions, beware they will be hesitant to give “an honest answer” to someone who hasn’t asked their name.

Conversely, be sure you introduce yourself. Don’t presume employees know you because of your position. Humility and common courtesy are attractive assets when you want better employee relationships.

(In some cases, you may have to do a little pre-work to get an employee to engage with you — here’s a way to get the ball rolling.)

2. Tell me about your specific duties or responsibilities in the organization.

Again, if you directly supervise this employee, you may already know this. However, sometimes it’s easy for a leader or manager to lose touch with the day-to-day duties of their employees. For example, an operations manager may oversee assembly but not understand the unique duties of each assembler.

Showing a sincere interest in an employee’s role in the organization and understanding their contributions are vital, solid steps toward better employee relations.

3. What is the biggest challenge you face in your job?

Leaders and managers — if you want to be trusted by your people — your people need to know you care about their problems and challenges. Why? You are their advocate and you hold the keys to the resources they need be successful.

On the other hand, your employees know they hold vital information you need, too! Information such as firsthand observations, operational intelligence, expert insights, and best practices.

If you don’t build a relationship with them, then at a moment’s notice, your people can lockdown the critical flow of company information and throw away the key.

Investing time in employee relations helps both managers and those they lead get on the same team.

4. What do you like best about your work?

I’ve held this employee relations and motivation premise for years:

All employee behavior is directed toward satisfying some need.

Smart leaders and managers figure out what their employees like, what aspirational needs they have, and ultimately, what motivates them.

Then, the smartest leaders and managers set about helping their employees get what they want in the context of their work.

When that happens, employee job satisfaction climbs! Employee relations and retention improve! Teamwork and trust are elevated. And companies and organizations experience better performance! Who doesn’t want that?

Your Employee Relations Challenge

My boss challenged me to spend time with our employees — to make getting to know them a priority. Today I’m challenging you to do the same.

Make getting to know your employees a priority. Commit some time every day to your people. Work to get to know your employees — their likes, their dislikes; their strengths and weaknesses; their contributions and concerns.

Don’t you dare allow yourself to think of that time as wasted. Instead, recognize it for what it really is — an investment in strong employee relations and an investment in yourself.

Trust me — I know from experience, it will be time well spent!

 

#betteremployeerelations #strongemployeerelations #youwontfindthisintheemployeemanual #timewellspent

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1 Question to Better Recruit and Retain Employees

Most organizations are scrambling trying to figure out how to better recruit and retain employees. What’s the answer? I’ll shoot you straight as always — a quick-fix solution doesn’t exist here. However, I do have one question you should start asking that will automatically shift your trajectory toward greater success.

1 Question to Better Recruit and Retain Employees

Leaders across the country, across industries, are struggling with recruiting and retaining the best-of-the-best employees. Some are leaving for more money, but many are leaving for reasons other than money! Employees are leaving for increased flexibility, a better leader, a more socially conscious organization, a shorter commute, a more technologically advanced company, etc. Regardless of the reasons for the past losses, you as a leader need to know what current and future employees want if your goal is to recruit and retain the highest performers. I have one question to help you figure that out.

 

“…the least important thing…”

I was listening to a national restaurant owner talk recently and they said they finish off their interviews in their restaurant by asking employees this question, “What will it take for money to be the least important thing you get from us while you are here?”.

Think about that for a minute. It hit me deep. I stopped me in my tracks and wrote it down. How often and for how many decades have we asked our people questions or say statements like:

Tell me about yourself.
How’s everything going?
Are you happy in your current role?
Why do you want to work here?
What are you looking for in a new position?
Do you need anything?

That’s just a small sample of the things leaders are saying and asking that aren’t giving answers that will really equip you to actually be able to hire the right people and engage them in a way that will make them stick around and go all-in for you! Those questions don’t break down walls and open doors for the opportunity for people to be honest and get real with each other.

When you rephrase all of those questions into 1, you change the whole game for yourself! With that question, you are opening the door for them to give you a roadmap to exactly what you and the organization need to do for them in order to harness the most value they can bring to your table!

You may be thinking, “Hold up. This organization is not here for them.” My response is this, in today’s multi-generation workforce, Gen X, Millennials, and especially Gen Z are coming in hot with a bleeding desire to work for people who care about them personally and professionally. I feel certain that the most successful companies and leaders will be those who choose to adapt and take on a very individualistic, service-type, approach when it comes to employees.

 

Recruit and Retain Employees by Taking Money Out of the Equation

Most, if not all, your employees are working because they need money, right? We all do. Sure, there are a handful of employees in the corporate world who are working just for the joy, mental stimulation, or socialization aspects of the job. However, most would not be there if they were not getting paid. So, before you ask the question you have to make sure that money is not an issue. If you are still having money talks with an employee, you are so far from getting them to go all-in. The fact of the matter is that if money is the issue, then as soon as someone waves more money in their face then they will be gone! Get your employees to the point where the money is not the issue. When money is not an issue, employees are able to relax more. They are less likely to make unethical decisions. They are able to think and work better!

I have a business degree and I’m a realist. I understand we must manage our business and that includes finances. I’m simply urging you to do everything you can to make money a non-issue. If your employees are barely getting by at home, they’re likely to do what they must to barely get by at work.

Now, once you’ve taken care of the employee from the perspective of their financial needs, it’s time to move on to more important wants and needs. Before asking them the important question, tell them that you want money to be the least important thing they ever get from you and your organization. Just be straight up! Take that concern out of their minds for the moment and for the future.

 

Recruit and Retain Employees by Learning What they Really Want

Up to this point you’ve taken the most basic concern out of the recruiting and retention equation. Now it’s time to learn what else it’s going to take to get them in, keep them in, and earn their very best performance.

Say to the prospect or employee, “What will it take to make money the least important thing you ever get from us?”

Then, pull out your pen or your laptop and start writing!

Be aware of the fact that they may be taken off guard. They likely aren’t expecting you to ask them this question. Give them time to think. Tell them you want to achieve long term success for both of you and you know that it will take you being honest and putting in the work to make that happen. Explain that this is just the first step to a constant process of making this the place where we help people achieve their goals! Of course, put that in your own words. But, I want you to realize that companies that will be successful in the future will be the ones who focus on helping employees achieve both their personal and professional goals.

Want more insights into how the multi-generation workforce is changing the leadership game? Let’s talk!

The answer they give you to this question will likely be your specific, individual playbook for how you lead and make decisions in regards to that employee going forward. Will this be difficult because employees want different things? Maybe. Is it impossible for you to successfully execute? No, it’s not impossible — it’s possible! It will be those leaders who do this and take action that will be most likely to reap the benefits of success for years to come.

 

Recruit and Retain Employees by Following Through

What if the person answers with things I literally cannot do? Respectfully, heartfelt, and with appropriate detail tell them why you cannot do it. You need to be honest with them all the time. This will help them trust you going forward. They might not leave you because of it, instead, they might stay with you because you’re honest with them. That’s not always easily found these days!

On the other hand, if what they tell you they want is somewhat in the realm of possibilities, do what you can to make it happen. If you’re going to be bold enough to ask the question, you better be smart enough to follow through. Choosing to not follow through is choosing to create an environment that breeds failure. If you don’t follow through, that’s on you as a leader. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

 

Level Up Your Leadership

From here you have a choice to make. Will you help solve your recruitment and retention issues by asking your people the question, “What is it going to take to make money the least important thing you ever get from us?” Will you follow through with the action steps you’re given?

You have an opportunity to ask the question it in the next interview you do, the next performance evaluation you give, or maybe you even schedule special meetings with your team to get answers now. The opportunities are endless which means the answers to your needs are simply waiting to be sought out. You have the tool to help yourself now. My hope is that you level up your leadership by taking action to get better results. #LevelUp

#recruitingstrategies #retentionstrategies #leadershiptips #2020success #multigenerationleadership

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One Habit to Consistently Make Great Decisions

Hey leaders, managers, moms, dads, teachers, coaches — whoever you are, whenever you’re struggling to make great decisions… If you want to make great decisions consistently, here’s one habit you should be practicing. Here’s a story to illustrate the point.

Struggling to Make Great Decisions?

In a previous life I was formally trained as a professional baseball umpire. (At umpire school they taught us 5 decision making tools so practical I’ve used them for 40 years! Here are the 5 tools.) 

I’ve umpired hundreds of baseball games in my former life. And I was pretty darn good, too! Good, yes. But unfortunately, not great. And I knew why.

Pitches around the corners!

The fact is umpires will see two to three hundred pitches every game — 90 to 95% of them are no brainers.

Pitches that batter swings at? Those are obvious to everyone. Pitches down the middle? Piece of cake. Pitches in the dirt or pitches up in the batter’s eyes? Anyone could make those calls.

But pitches on or around the corners? Those 5 to 10% of the calls tend to separate simply good umpires from the great ones.

And unfortunately, I struggled with pitches around the corners. And that ate at me.

See, my goal was not be just a good … average … or acceptable umpire. I wanted to be a GREAT umpire. And I knew I needed help.

An Expert’s Advice to Make Great Decisions

Jack was a well-respected umpire with many seasons to his credit. So I tracked him down and he agreed to meet with me. He listened patiently as I went on and on about positioning, timing, mechanics and the like. Finally, I reached the climax in my personal quest for umpiring clarity.

“Jack,” I almost pleaded, “please tell me once and for all, these corner pitches — are they balls or are they strikes?”

I remember Jack paused and smiled, before stating flatly, “It doesn’t matter.”

What! I couldn’t believe my ears! It doesn’t matter?! Had he not been paying attention to me? I had just bared my soul. I’m getting my butt chewed with great regularity out there. And somehow that doesn’t matter?! Well it matters to me!

But before I could articulate my building frustration, Jack added his final observation.

“Phil, it doesn’t really matter because of who YOU are. Remember, you’re the umpire — the decision maker! That pitch — ultimately, it’s whatever you say it is!”

Then he paused — I think for effect — before adding,

“Phil, what’s far more important than whether a pitch around the corner is a ball or a strike, is that you call that pitch the same way — all the time!

“Remember, when you’re consistently consistent, people will adapt and adjust their behavior to yours.”

One Habit to Consistently Make Great Decisions

And there you have it. If you’re worried about making perfect decisions — don’t. But if you must worry — worry about being consistent instead.

Ultimately, I wanted to be perfect. But… perfection is a myth; consistency is a mindset.

In the course of your career, your life — like any good umpire — you’re bound to make hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of independent decisions. The majority of these will go unnoticed, unmentioned and probably unappreciated by almost everyone.

Why?

Because GOOD leaders are expected to make good, basic decisions — that’s our job.

But the majority of people will accept decisions GREAT leaders make — even questionable decisions or decisions with which they might personally disagree IF that great leader has developed a commitment to consistency. A habit practiced day in and day out — regardless the situation — regardless who is involved — in every circumstance encountered.

It’s really pretty simple.

Great leadership reputations are NOT built by being perfect at the “plate” — the straightforward, obvious calls.

Great leadership reputations are built by being consistent around the corners.

#makegreatdecisions #umpireschool #perfectionisamyth #consistency #consistencyisamindset #consistentlyconsistent

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3 Gen Z Perspectives Leaders Need to Know

Leaders, buckle up! There’s a new generation in town — Gen Z! I’ve read the research, the books, listened to the podcasts, watched videos, and talked to Gen Z themselves. Today I’m sharing with you 3 perspectives you need to know as you lead Gen Z.

3 Gen Z Perspectives Leaders Need to Know

Let me pump the brakes for a minute. Oftentimes when the topic of “generations” comes up in workforce discussion, people start painting generations with really broad brushes and have no regard for people in the generation who don’t fit the statistical norm.

Let me be very clear, as you lead ALL your employees — not just Gen Z — to my core I believe that the leaders who are going to be the most successful in the decades to come will be those who learn the stories from their people, not just the statistics about them. So, as you read this article, I want you to use these comments as conversation starting points with your people. Gen Z may fit the bill or they may tell you a story about their own experiences that shaped them differently than the majority of their peers. Either way, as a leader you must know your people so you can grow your results. Let’s dig in!

 

#1 “I’ll be involved in the decision-making process.”

83% of Gen X parents consider their Gen Z kids to be their best friends -GenZ@Work 

As I’ve studied research on generations, it’s obvious that each generation — in some way — tries to undo what previous generations did — especially when it comes to parenting. Gen Z parents are largely members of Gen X. Gen X generally did not have friendships with their parents…at least not until later in life. When Gen X started having kids, they chose to parent differently. They wanted to be friends with their kids!

You may be thinking, “Why are you talking about parenting? This is supposed to be a business leadership blog.”

Hear me out.

Parenting is one of the biggest influences that shape a person. The effects of Gen Z parent’s approach to decision-making and supervision are changing how leaders should engage these young professionals at work.

As leaders of the family unit, Gen Z parents gave them a voice in big decisions at home. Gen X asked their kids where to go on vacation, what type of house to buy, or whether or not to homeschool…and the parents listened! Leaders need to understand that the norm for Gen Z is to be included in the decision-making process. Choose to let them share their thoughts and ideas and then seriously consider them. In a world of fast-changing technology, they may have just the fresh idea you need to catapult the company successfully into the future!

Gen Z wants to be involved in the decision-making process at work — even on big things. This isn’t because they have some unfounded sense of entitlement, but because they’ve only ever known a world where, when you’re on the same team, everyone’s opinion matters.

 

#2 “I will decide what I want and when I want it.”

Attention: You can roll your eyes, but you better roll up your sleeves!

Gen Z has grown up — is growing up — in a world where most everything is customizable. They have only known a world where Amazon can deliver what you want fast, UberEats will bring you food anywhere,  everyone can customize all of your social media feeds, and they can choose the classes they want to take at school based on their own interests.

So, for leaders, it’s very important to individualize your approach to leading your people and put policies, procedures, and tools in place that allow Gen Z to customize their job when it comes to what they do and how they do it. That’s no easy task for leaders! However, the work will be worth it!

 

#3 “If it’s boring, I check out fast.”

The average attention span has dropped to only 8 seconds, according to a Microsoft study.

What does this finding mean in the workplace? When it comes to engaging and training your people on everything from ethics & compliance, to professional development training, to performance discussion…leaders have to perfect their ability to connect fast. And, to my earlier point, what is engaging for one Gen Z may not be engaging for another Gen Z. Leaders must give Gen Z options so they can customize their experience. Leaders must perfect their ability to adapt their communication style from person to person.

 

Level Up Your Leadership

I realize that all the work on adapting to the Millennial generation for the past couple of decades has exhausted many leaders. For some leaders, Gen Z will be the last generation you will work to lead well. For other leaders, Gen Z is your first experience in working to successfully navigate a changing workforce. Either way, this is the time for leaders to level up! It’s time to take leadership performance to new heights in order to crush goals through the 21st Century workforce. Wishing you massive success!

Is it time for your leaders to level up their performance?

Need a plan? Let’s talk!

                     

Do you know a leader who could use this information? Please share!

#genz #genzstatistics #generationz #leadershipdevelopment #generationsatwork

 

 

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4 Questions Smart Leaders Ask to Build Employee Relationships

If you lead others and want to take your success (and that of your organization) to the next level, knowing how to build employee relationships is critical. I’m talking about engaged, honest, productive employee relationships. But often, leaders are too afraid to ask an employee’s opinion of the leader’s performance. If you really want to be successful, you really want to build employee relationships that are strong — and you’re really brave — ask your people these four questions.

4 Questions Smart Leaders Ask to Build Employee Relationships

Before I get to the questions, let me offer a word of caution. If you really want to build employee relationships that support individual or organizational success — you must be emotionally prepared for the responses you may get. Period.

If you, as a leader, ask any of these questions then counter with a defensive, angry rebuttal, you’ve shut down any hope to build employee relationships that are honest, trusted or productive.

With that in mind, here are the four questions smart — brave — leaders ask their people.

1. How am I doing?

Your first purpose with this question is to initiate a productive conversation. And you want to discover how satisfied, how confident your people are in your leadership. But the purpose is not to get your employees to tell you how wonderful you are. Asking your followers for feedback may initially seem strange to them. They may be thinking, “Is he serious? This must be a trick question.” or “Can I trust her if I answer honestly?”

But to build employee relationships that are beyond transactional, leaders must be willing to open the door with honest, direct dialogue. Your people need to know you are serious about hearing their views. And they need to be reassured  you have their best interests and the best interests of the organization in mind. Your people need to know you have their back — here’s what that looks like.

2. What have I screwed up lately?

You want your people to be encouraged to tell you not only the good news, but most especially the bad news. Often our actions and engagements with employees are well-meant, but may be perceived in a completely different way. So leaders can’t assume “no news is good news.”

Want more engaged employee relationships and better business results but don’t know where to start? Call me now.

When leaders are willing to accept negative feedback and take action to correct their performance, employees notice! Not only does this open the lines of communication with employees, it also models behavior leaders want in their followers. When you’re trying to build employee relationships, that’s a win-win!

3. What are other leaders doing that impress you?

This question helps you tap into your followers’ experience with other leaders. The most successful leaders understand the unique motivations of their people. And this question helps you understand specifically what each follower likes in their leader — what they respect, what they favorably respond to.

4.  What can I do to help you right now?

Want to build engaged, committed employee relationships? Ask this question, then act on the response, and you clearly show your level of commitment to your people. That commitment from their leader is something highly valued by employees!

One final word of caution. Talk is cheap when leaders are attempting to build trusted, engaged relationships with employees. Being brave enough to merely ask these questions will not be enough. When employees know you know the answers to these questions — they will expect you to take action. 

 

#buildemployeerelationships #talkischeap #questionssmartleadersask #actionsspeaklouderthanwords #philvanhooser

 

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