Path to Change

Leadership Should Recognize Staff

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DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON many employers recognize employees for their hard work and contributions throughout the year with parties, bonuses and gifts. These annual rewards are important to boost employee morale, but so is demonstrating ongoing appreciation for individual excellence throughout the rest of the year.

If you have ever been publicly recognized for your workplace contributions, you know how great it can feel. Wise leaders get this and look for ways to treat people like winners.

Decades ago, both Maslow (1943 with his hierarchy of human needs) and Herzberg (1959 with his workplace job satisfaction and motivational factors) identified the basic human need for appreciation and recognition. Today’s employees rank recognition as the most important factor to job satisfaction. Mary Kay Ash (who rewarded her top performers with pink Cadillacs) astutely noted, “There are two things people want more than sex and money: recognition and praise.”

Recognizing worker contributions is the simplest motivational tool available to managers, yet it’s shockingly underutilized. Sadly, according to the Gallup survey folks, 60 percent of American workers claim they have received no praise or recognition in the past year.

Many “old school” bosses balk at giving workers a pat on the back for “just doing their jobs.” They underestimate the importance of visibly appreciating others. Times and generations have changed. Today’s youngest workers, the “millennials”(born after 1980), grew up with doting parents and receiving trophies on sports teams for showing up. This generation is positive, confident and expects encouragement and acknowledgement of their contributions. Bosses who never say thank you will drive away today’s talent. Dissatisfied workers often result in lower morale, motivation and performance and more employee turnover.

Remember that good behavior can be extinguished. If no one acknowledges efforts and contributions, employees may easily conclude it isn’t worth bothering with anymore. Smart managers understand that what is recognized (and rewarded) today often will be done again tomorrow.

An important disclaimer — give acknowledgment where it is genuinely deserved. It undermines your credibility to lavish reward or praise for mediocre or non-performance (i.e., giving someone the employee of the month award simply because it was “their turn”).

Employees tell us in countless surveys that getting encouragement helps them perform at a higher level. Yet less than half of all managers claim they actually give recognition for high performance. They say things like:

  • “They know I appreciate them.” Really, how do they know unless you tell them?
  • “I don’t have the time.” The best leaders make time to motivate their people.
  • “They’re professionals, they don’t need it.” Everyone needs recognition.
  • “I feel uncomfortable giving praise.” Practice would help.

It’s a simple courtesy to recognize a job well done. Don’t assume they know; tell them! A personal, heartfelt thank you is often deeply appreciated and motivating, particularly when it comes from the boss.

One of my favorite recognition stories is a boss who sent a brass band to a person’s workstation to trumpet what she had done to save a key client account. Now that’s recognition!

REWARDING EMPLOYEES

Consciously think about how to reward success. Make a list of all those whose work for you or with you and the things they have done well or beyond expectations. Walk around and look for what’s right. When you find it, here are tips on how to recognize it.

  • Just say it: “Thank you.”
  • Take the team to lunch to celebrate completion of a project.
  • Bring in dinner for those staying late to complete something.
  • Publicly share recognition and positive customer letters at company meetings, in e-mail, employee newsletters or bulletin boards.
  • Find an object that creatively symbolizes recognition. (Charles Schwab passes around a stuffed giraffe to employees who “stick their neck out.”)
  • Write a personal thank-you card.
  • Follow up with a worker’s suggestion to let them know their idea has been implemented.
  • For any company recognition programs, make sure the “rules” are consistent, clear and fair. Research shows that the most effective company recognition programs are ones that employees design.

Retain top employees

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IF YOU ARE a boss, you might be surprised to learn just how important your daily words and actions are to the attitude, motivation and morale of your employees. Think back to your first job and recall how one positive or critical word from your boss could make or break your day. People are hungry for feedback, particularly positive recognition and appreciation. Unfortunately, few receive enough (if any) of it.

Leadership is a relationship. As a manager, how you interact with your employees is critical to your success — and theirs. Many studies demonstrate that caring, sincere bosses have a far more positive and sustainable influence on their staff than those who lead by fear, power and control.

Sadly, in my coaching practice I see good employees who are leaving good jobs as a result of unchecked “bad bosses.” Exit interviews are enlightening (too bad few companies do anything with them), with descriptions of these bosses such as “insensitive,” “out of touch,” “negative,” “punisher,” “demeaning,” “critical,” “micromanager” and “control freak.” It’s hardly surprising these employees want to go elsewhere.

I don’t believe that most bosses wake up with an intention to treat their people poorly or want to act like a jerk. The gap lies between the intention and the delivery. Many of today’s managers were promoted into management positions because of past performance in a job or technical expertise. Regrettably, many lack the emotional intelligence, training and skills required to build productive, empowering relationships with staff.

To avoid mass exodus of good people, senior managers need to a) be a good role model, b) pay more attention to how the managers below them are treating those below them, c) set clear expectations for improvement, and d) provide training, support and coaching to help them build emotional intelligence, team building, interpersonal and leadership skills. These are learnable skills.

The good news: improving isn’t rocket science. The bad news: it’s not easy and will likely push a number of bosses (particularly those with lower emotional intelligence) past their comfort zone.

Simple (but not easy) tips for how to be a better boss:

  • Earn the respect — and trust — of your followers. This is far easier said than done. Go back to basics — acknowledge your limitations, explain your decision-making and do what you say you will do. Request input and feedback from your people. Try not to “overreact,” and remain calm during tough times. Model what you want from your people.
  • Display interpersonal warmth. A simple smile when greeting your associates goes a long way. Be mindful of how your behaviors may be interpreted — including your pace, tone (be careful not to speak too rapidly or loudly) and body posture (crossed arms or furrowed brows).
  • Acknowledge good behaviors. Don’t underestimate how motivating praise and recognition are — people are hungry for it.
  • Be approachable and open to influence (I can’t tell you how many people tell me they feel powerless to influence their boss). Establish a process for feedback. As a manager you can’t afford to have your people afraid to talk to you about their challenges or concerns. Proving to them that you are open to their feedback and can listen to it without becoming defensive will keep you in the know vs. in the dark or potentially blindsided one day.
  • The most admired bosses share common traits — they inspire unity and loyalty with hope, optimism, clear direction/vision and their sincere commitment to helping their people achieve success.
  • Finally, treat your people how you would want to be treated.

Yes, much of this is common sense — the problem is it’s not often common practice.

It’s easy to get sidetracked and take your eye off the ball. Tiger Woods didn’t develop that great swing overnight by “thinking it” — you need to take action on new behaviors and practice until they become “muscle memory” and your natural swing.

I help clients everyday (all over the world with Skype) with the people side of leadership.  Invest in your future – Phone me: 360 682 5807 or email: mmoriarty@pathtochange.com

How to reduce job stress

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WHILE JOB STRESS isn’t new, there is no doubt it’s on the rise. This workplace coach sees an alarming trend in frazzled, burned out and exhausted workers. The constant theme I hear: Everyone is increasingly challenged to do more with less.

According to a Northwestern National Life survey, one out of four workers view their jobs as the No. 1 stress in their lives (40 percent of workers surveyed said their job was “very or extremely stressful”). I help my clients find ways to decrease work stress factors that contribute to a long list of health concerns (migraines, anxiety attacks, sleep deprivation, etc.). Many report working 80-hour weeks and routinely facing morning inboxes with more than 200 new messages — with no end in sight.

The price is high: skyrocketing illness, friction between co-workers (“desk rage”) and lower productivity. Workers return home to their families short-tempered and depleted, often anxious about unfinished work, resulting in an inability to recharge.

There are many contributors to workplace stress: unrealistic deadlines, lack of supervisor support or understanding, feuding co-workers, misallocated or simply too few resources … the list goes on. Another big contributor is supervisors who fail to involve workers in decision-making that affects their daily work.

What causes workplaces to be in this state of constant overdrive? Increasing global competition, a tightening economy and excessive performance expectations all drive the ever-spinning hamster wheel. The information age is our blessing and our curse. Technology has made it easy to communicate and difficult to ever get away from the job. BlackBerrys, PDAs and laptops keep many workers tethered to their work, including on the well-deserved family vacation to Hawaii. If you find yourself sneaking out of the hotel room late at night, or slipping off the beach to compulsively check just “a few e-mails,” you might just have a problem. (If in doubt, ask your family.)

Many of my clients are at a critical juncture: continue down the same burnout path and suffer the inevitable consequences, or change.

If everyone in your company is stressed looking for efficiency or looking for cover, there may be a need to address the issue systemically. One thing experts and surveys agree on: Happy workers equate to productivity.

What companies can do:

  • Don’t expect your people to do it all. Unreasonable goals are counterproductive. They demotivate your work force and cause unnecessary frustration.
  • Watch for signs of depletion in your workers. Monitor workload and schedules to make sure they are in line with resources. Find ways to decrease the burdens by decreasing daily or excessive paperwork and approval processes. Consider outsourcing.
  • While many jobs have normal cycles of “crunch time” or heavier workloads, don’t allow this to become a yearlong constant. Appropriately acknowledge and compensate people for extra work (additional time off, bonuses, etc). Work exceptionally hard during these times to let your employees know they are valued and appreciated.
  • Survey employees and their perceptions of job conditions, stress and workplace satisfaction. Supervisors should consult with employees around decisions that affect their day-to-day work lives and responsibilities; giving them more control and flexibility over their work can yield great returns (like keeping talent!).
  • Provide opportunities for workers to socialize, have fun and blow off steam.

What workers can do:

  • If you are the poster child for workplace exhaustion and stress, stand up for your rights! Be professionally assertive and express your feelings to supervisors who make unreasonable demands. Communicate when you don’t have the time or resources necessary to accomplish the request. Ask for prioritization. If the boss demands it “has to be done,” counter with, “What piece of my other workload can I give up to get this done?”
  • Don’t inundate co-workers with e-mail overload. Clarify critical e-mails from noncritical ones. Note when it’s an FYI only or action required.
  • Avoid being your own worst “stress enemy” by setting unrealistic expectations on yourself. No, you really can’t do it all, and trying to do so more often than not means you (and your loved ones) pay a very high price. Consider establishing a great job or good enough bar vs. a standard of perfection.
  • Make yourself a priority. You are the foundation on which all else hinges. Humans need to unplug to recharge. Plan unplugged time and activities to refuel — a walk, meditation, massage or yoga class and real vacations.

I am not suggesting it isn’t important to work hard. What I am suggesting is that it’s important to have balance and to work smarter vs. solely working harder.

Obama offers leadership lessons

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THE PRESIDENTIAL inauguration last week has reinvigorated the country with renewed hope, optimism and energy. The nation’s mood seems lifted. Like many others, I am struck by the leadership lessons our new president has already demonstrated, and can only imagine what lessons lie ahead.

As an executive coach, it’s my mission to teach, coach and foster “best practice” leadership with my clients. Thankfully, we all have a new role model for exemplary leadership in the new commander in chief.

What can we learn about leadership from Barack Obama? While there are many lessons, here are a few that I suggest business leaders take note of:

Don’t underestimate the power of motivated people. Obama has faith in the American people (as business leaders need to have faith in their people) and did a masterful job in getting them engaged and productive. Obama executed a record-shattering, grass-roots campaign by taking it to the ultimate end user — the people. To get commitment, in politics or business, leaders must first involve and engage people.

Inspire vision. We are hungry for leaders who are forward looking and focused on opportunities for positive change. While mindful of the lessons of the past, Obama clearly communicated his forward focus with, “Yes we can!” Much more inspiring than leading by fear, gloom and doom. Leaders such as Obama inspire us to bring the best of ourselves forward by speaking to our highest selves.

Surround yourself with talent, including those with diverse viewpoints. Obama has assembled an experienced bipartisan team. He didn’t simply choose “yes men,” or those who would mimic his style, beliefs or strengths. According to a recent Time magazine interview, Obama expects people to “challenge him when they think he is wrong.” Healthy debate is critical for sound decision making whether in business or running the country.

Set clear expectations. Obama has communicated to his team that he expects them to “respect, empower and include” others. When egos and “kingdoms” plague teams, performance suffers. Obama gets this. He was quoted in Time, saying, “I have a low tolerance of nonsense and turf battles and game-playing, and I send that message very clearly. … If you’ve got really smart people who are all focused on the same mission, then usually you can get some things done.” Well said!

Listen well before deciding. Obama is known for asking, “What’s on your mind?” He conveys he is open to the influence of others. He seems easy to talk to. Warren Buffett credits Obama as a “listener” who can “extract from other people a lot of information and take the best of it.”

Stay connected and be authentic. We can relate to the president — as a dad who takes his kids out on Halloween or shoots hoops with his buddies. He doesn’t hide away in the inner sanctums. Senior business leaders can learn here; hiding out in the ivory tower or penthouse office isolates you and sends a message to people that you aren’t one of them.

Foster collaboration. Obama works toward finding the “win-win” solution. Given his community-organizer background, we can learn from his ability to foster dialogue and bring together diverse viewpoints toward a common vision.

Be the calm in the storm. Emotionally intelligent leaders such as Obama are regarded as predictable, stable and reliable in the eyes of followers. It reassures us. We want leaders we can rely on to be the rudder in a storm.

Model what you want. He doesn’t talk “family values” — he lives them. Likewise, he doesn’t simply talk “community service,” he lives it by deeds (painting a teen center on Martin Luther King Day). He models responsibility and action, thereby creating an environment that makes people want to be engaged. During his campaign, many states had over a million knocks on doors on Election Day by devoted Obama volunteers — now that’s what I call getting people engaged. Imagine the possibilities and implications here for business.

And now the real work begins. Hopefully we can keep learning from him.

Managing Millennials

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Many of my clients today share a common management challenge: how to lead, motivate and inspire new young employees. The Millennial generation (also known as the Internet, Nintendo or digital generation) are 80 million strong and by definition were born between 1980 and 2000. While this generation has a lot going for it, it presents generation gap challenges to older bosses and co-workers. Surveys claim 71 percent of millennials at “regular” jobs would prefer to quit their current job to work for themselves, and 60 percent of them plan to do so in the next two years.  So how does one manage them on the job?

The good news

Like no other generation before them, Millennials are well-connected, tech savvy and know how to collaborate. They are connected to each other in ways previous generations couldn’t imagine — via e-mail, blogs, text, instant messaging or MySpace. They know how to access information and each other — anytime, anywhere. If you need to access information or people, put your Millennial on the task!

They are multicultured. This generation tends to be more informed about, tolerant of and comfortable with the diversity associated with different cultures, races, sexual orientations and religions across the globe. Fairness and respect are huge core values for them — be prepared for them to stand up for them in your workplace.

They are confident and optimistic. For many the sky is the limit. Their parents nurtured high self-esteem and lofty career aspirations. Most have been told (and believe) they can achieve anything. They expect their workplaces to be optimistic, fun (like they’ve heard about at Google) and loaded with opportunities for growth and challenge. They expect bosses to actively mentor their big career plans. This can be a serious challenge for those managers of the old-school mindset of “Just do your job” and “You need to pay your dues.”

Most Millennials have little or no fear of the unknown. Information is a click away, and they are adept at creative problem-solving and confident with changing technology. Note: This also translates into their being more than willing to leave those companies where they are unhappy.

Tips for managing them

  • Keep them challenged. They have led highly structured, achievement-oriented childhoods. Soccer moms (and dads) shuttled this generation daily from karate to T-ball. Summer was spent at space camps, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or with volunteer projects. They are incredible multitaskers — the down side is that they are easily bored by menial and/or mundane tasks. They will respond best to workplace environments that are stimulating with challenges and opportunities for creativity.
  • Praise and recognize. This generation was largely raised by parents who took great care to reinforce to them how “special” they are. They will respond best to bosses (aka, their workplace parents) who give them plenty of recognition and positive feedback. Don’t ignore them or make light of their contributions. Be forewarned — HR people tell stories about “helicopter” parents who are calling in to complain about “Johnny’s performance review.” No kidding.
  • Define goals, expectations and success factors. The Millennials will respond positively to companies/bosses who provide learning opportunities and support in achieving their goals. They will resist those who solely lead as authoritarian old-school bosses.

If the boss relationship isn’t positive, odds are they will soon be looking for one that is more aligned with their expectations.

  • Let them bring some fun into the workplace. They are natural team players — put them on your social committee! They will thrive in a culture where humor and blowing off steam now and then (positively) is encouraged. One of their big challenges, however, is getting along with difficult people. The naysayers, the rigid and those unwilling to embrace change — they just don’t get them. They will need coaching and support about how to get along with difficult personalities.

My advice: Get to know them. Find out what they want to achieve. Make a conscious effort to regularly encourage and mentor them. Model professional and expected workplace behavior while challenging and supporting them. Let them know you are open to learning from and with them as well.

Baby boomers are exiting the workplace in huge numbers (half of all certified schoolteachers plan to retire within the next five years, and 60 percent of all federal workers are soon to retire). The Millennial generation, and the ability to manage and motivate them, will be critical to success.