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June 29, 2009

How to Give Your Employees the Positive Feedback They Want and Need

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — Admin @ 8:10 am

Have you told an employee what a great job he/she is doing recently? Have you received positive feedback for going above and beyond in the past month? Have you overheard others in your organization praise someone for doing more than was expected?

Positive feedback has long been recognized as a critical element in high performing workplaces. During these tough economic times, when job security has vanished and employee trust in their employers has sunk to an all-time low, it has become more important than ever.

Interestingly enough, one of the greatest problems with positive feedback is that many managers don’t feel comfortable giving it. It takes too long, feels insincere or “too soft”, or it just gets in the way of day-to-day activities. Some managers don’t like discussing another person’s behavior, or giving feedback just “isn’t their style.” Yet, few actions will do more to build trust and boost morale than ongoing, sincere feedback of a positive nature.

Humans have an innate need to seek feedback on how we are doing. Without it, people tend to make up information — almost always negative — to fill the void. Giving positive feedback helps to prevent destructive “information gaps,” and strengthens relationships between employees and their supervisors. It also leads to improved work quality, increased accountability and a higher-performing work environment.

Positive feedback starts with knowing when and how to praise employees. Specifically, it involves recognizing and praising employees for particular behaviors and accomplishments that go beyond the everyday expectations of their jobs.

For example, praise employees when they:

  • Turn a difficult customer into a promoter
  • Reach new levels of accuracy
  • Produce more than the amount produced by any predecessor
  • Develop or contribute significantly to another colleague
  • Create a new process, product or approach
  • Present an idea for doing something differently (even if the idea is not implemented)
  • Do an exceptional job of influencing internally or externally
  • Excel at a presentation
  • Participate significantly in a community event on behalf of the company

The idea is to let employees know that you are paying attention and that you appreciate their efforts. Taking a few moments to express your appreciation can have a powerful impact on employees’ self-esteem and their attitudes toward their work and the organization as a whole.

To maximize the impact of your positive feedback, make it:

  • Immediate. Give the recognition as soon as possible after the event.
  • Specific. State specifically what the person did that met or exceeded your expectations.
  • Impactful. Explain how the event or behavior affected you, the team or the organization.
  • Encouraging. Focus on the positive only. Be appreciative without mentioning other things that might need to change or be adjusted. These should be saved for times when you are giving constructive feedback.
  • Focused. State how the performance or action was positive and contributed to success. This will help prevent other messages, often made up, from taking the employee off track.

For example, “Susan, I really appreciated the way you stepped up to the plate and filled in on the XYZ contract when Richard was out with the flu. Your efforts helped us land a new customer that should increase sales by 10% over the next year.” Or, “Paul, nice job on the presentation today. You got the message across in a way that enabled everyone to have a much better understanding of our objective and why it is important.”

Most of all, positive feedback must be sincere. Never give positive feedback unless you mean it. And don’t praise employees for showing up on time or doing the basics of their job. Employees have very accurate “b.s. detectors,” and will quickly see through any false praise. Insincere positive feedback will just make recipients wonder what your real agenda is or what you are trying to hide. And the next time you give legitimate praise it will have far less impact.

Also, the time has come to jettison the “sandwich” technique, whereby you say something positive, sneak in something you want the employee to do differently, and then finish with a positive. For years, this approach was used to soften the impact of critical feedback, and it worked reasonably well with Baby Boomer and Traditionalist workers.

Gen-Xers, however, quickly saw through this strategy and openly questioned the hidden agenda behind the positive feedback. And the youngest generation, the Millennials, are so accustomed to direct (and often brutal) feedback that they see no point in wasting time by trying to sneak positive feedback into a constructive feedback conversation.

So keep your positive feedback positive, focus on specific events and behaviors that exceed your expectations, and let employees know how much you appreciate their efforts. You’ll improve morale and enhance trust while encouraging higher levels of performance. And today’s stressed-out employees will appreciate your efforts to meet their workplace needs.

June 22, 2009

Employee Engagement: Creating It and Keeping It

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Admin @ 9:27 am

Our current recession is good for one thing. Many companies are focusing on “employee engagement,” an approach to more consciously value and act on connecting with passionate employees who truly care about the company.

With businesses failing at a record rate, who doesn’t want to convince nervous workers to remain calm and hang on through the tough times? Research finds, however, that employees seek more engagement with company leaders regardless of the economic situation. Consider some facts from a recent Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study:

  • Four out of 10 workers are disenchanted or disengaged today. One-third of employees are looking for greener pastures even in this economy where jobs are scarce.
  • Only about 20 percent feel they have full discretion on how to handle their job. In other words, employee empowerment is still a distant dream for most.
  • Overall perception of leadership effectiveness is down significantly, yet a strong display of leadership is one of the most critical pieces of keeping a company viable.

Employee Engagement Is No Longer A Nice To Have

Companies like Zappos, an online mega shoe store, have learned how to make employee engagement a competitive differentiator. In 10 short years, Zappos has bootstrapped itself up to $1 billion in sales by creating service-obsessed employees.

The Zappos’ staff actually make less-than-market rate salaries and receive fewer perks compared to many high-flying midsize companies. But Zappos’ employees get something bigger in return. They get access and complete engagement in the business at all levels. CEO Tony Hsieh’s cubicle is in the sea of other work spaces where he’s available to listen to ideas and/or explain where the business is heading. The entire team is in shouting distance of invites to frequent impromptu after-work drinks or dinner.

Zappos and other employee-obsessed companies will drive competition for the best people in the future, and drive productivity and focus today.

Engagement: Creating It and Keeping It

When I work with companies to define an engaging work environment, employees universally tell me they’re looking for five simple (and mostly free) things:

  • A challenge. The vast majority of people want to make a difference; knowing they can personally impact the business, even in a relatively small way, is extremely intoxicating.
  • A little appreciation. Receiving praise for a job well done every week or so is among Gallup’s famous 12 Elements of Great Managing. The power of a simple “thank you” can’t be under estimated.
  • Accountability. Most people want to be in charge of something, large or small, for which they have real responsibility to make decisions.
  • Being included. Most people desire to be involved in something greater than themselves; in business, employees want to know how their role fits into the big picture.
  • The right work and fair outcomes. Leaders and managers have to pause long enough to define excellence up front so that they stage others for success versus catching them doing it wrong a week from now. This alignment also is the base from which a leader can get employees engaged so they voluntarily want to stretch outside their comfort zones to make an even bigger impact over time.
  • The key to extraordinary performance comes down to understanding each employee on six important levels: their spirit, identity, values and beliefs, capabilities, behaviors and effective working environment. The Six Levels of Engagement will be the focus of a future blog entry.

Engaged employees contribute significantly to an organization’s focus. Focus creates energy. Energy creates more engagement. Employee engagement contributes to a perpetually fueled winning culture that is impacted less significantly by the economic conditions outside.

Where to begin? Leaders, of course, get the ball rolling to create a culture of engaged employees. So, first things first… here are two other blog entries to help get started:

How Do You Keep Up as a Leader or Manager Today?
How to Inform, Inspire and Engage Employees in Today’s World

June 15, 2009

Are You Clear On Where You Are Going?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , — Admin @ 9:39 am

Creating Your Destination Statement: How to Get From Here to Where You Want to Go

When Roger Bannister was attempting to become the first athlete to break the four-minute mile, all the “experts” told him it was impossible. Some even suggested he risked death by pushing his body beyond human limits. Of course, we now know that not only did Bannister not die, but the week after he broke the barrier, another runner followed in his footsteps, followed shortly thereafter by several more.

Clearly, the sub-four minute mile wasn’t impossible; someone just had to envision doing it. When asked how he accomplished the feat, Bannister replied, “Physiologically impossible or not, I just saw myself doing it.” To this day, many Olympic athletes use this type of success visioning to achieve their goals. The difference in skill levels at premier levels is often not discernible. What is different is the mindset, the clarity of vision on what winning looks like.

Leaders and managers don’t often employ this approach in strategic planning or even in simple delegation today. Most of us are running so fast, we don’t take the time to get clear on winning, we just run and hope we are on the right track, running the right race. But organizations are now beginning to understand what world-class athletes have long known – if you can picture the destination and get clear on what winning looks like, your chances of getting there dramatically increase.

One tool for painting a vivid picture of where your organization needs to go is destination modeling. Designed to create powerful visions in the mind of each and every employee, destination statements provide cohesion, direction and behavioral guidance. They tell people what you are doing, what you are not doing, and what you will be doing when you get to where you want to go.

Some companies develop one over-arching destination statement for the entire company. I find it more useful to develop a number of statements, or destination points, for each critical area of the organization. In fact, I often use these statements as a starting point when working with clients.

Examples of destination statement categories include:

  • Key operating achievements (the big three or four).
  • How the workplace culture will be, including attitudes, beliefs, values and operating principles.
  • What skills, knowledge and abilities will exist in the organization? In each business unit?
  • What organizational structures will be in place, company-wide and at each business unit?
  • What work processes and metrics will be used?
  • What tools, systems and technologies will be necessary, both internally and externally?
  • What products will be in the market? What products will be in development?
  • Who will our customers be? How many will we have?
  • Who will our competitors be? What type of companies will we compete against?
  • What will be our greatest competitive advantage? Our biggest threat?
  • How will we be known?
  • What will our brand represent?

Remember, your goal as a leader or manager is to paint as vivid and rich a ‘picture’ of success or winning as you possibly can. To create your company’s destination points, draw a vertical line down the middle of a sheet of paper. On the left side, put all the categories listed above and any others you come up with. On the right side, describe for each category what it will look like when you get to where you want to go.

A few short years or even months ago, companies frequently looked out five and even 10 years into the future. In today’s fast-paced world, three years makes more sense. Recently, all of my clients are doing one year destination modeling and plans. The rate of change today is so great that anything beyond that and you are likely just wildly guessing as to what is possible.

Once you have identified your destination points, measure each one against the following criteria:

  • Consistency. Is it consistent with the mission statement (the why you exist)?
  • Clarity. Is it easy to understand? Is it easy to tell what is in and what is out? Does it tell you what you need to do (directionally)?
  • Specific. Does it provide enough details to initiate a level of measurement? Does it paint a picture employees can relate to and a place they can envision?
  • Flexible. Is it flexible enough to include evolving business needs?
  • Pride. Does it make you feel proud to be part of the effort?
  • Inspiration. Does it compel you to want to go there?

Once you have clarity on your destination points, repeat the process (using the same categories) to define your current state. This will identify any gaps that need to be addressed and enable you to plan appropriate action steps and time frames. Always start with the end state and then compare to current reality. When you work from the end state backwards, the likelihood of you getting there increases exponentially.

To get the best of what your employees have to offer, it is essential to make sure that your organization’s future is more compelling than the past. Picturing your destination and describing it in vivid language will make it easier and much more likely your organization will achieve its goals and break its own four-minute mile.

June 8, 2009

Do You Have the Right Stakeholders in Place to Profit from the Rebounding Economy?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — Admin @ 9:24 am

With small signs of an economic recovery in sight, I have noticed many companies making preparations to shift back into high gear. But simply returning to old practices could extend the downturn if one’s business is not aligned with key stakeholders and their evolving needs.

The recent economic turmoil has undoubtedly made customers, employees, suppliers or other key stakeholders look at products and services through a different filter. And new stakeholders may emerge that have greater influence in the future:

  • Do the company’s value propositions resonate in the new leaner, meaner era we’re entering? Can stakeholders get excited about it?
  • Has technology pushed the IT department above the customer service group in terms of priority?
  • Are some key customers still stumbling while new market segments are prepared to move forward aggressively?
  • Which suppliers are innovating and could provide a sustainable differentiator in terms of efficiency, pricing and/or willingness to collaborate so you both can grow stronger together?

The New Survival Instinct

By all accounts, Springfield ReManufacturing Corporation in Missouri should have gone bankrupt during the 1980′s recession. Instead, the company embraced a survival instinct born out of necessity when a few employees bought the company in 1983 as a way to save their jobs when International Harvester announced it was closing the facility.

Springfield’s core business is to bolt components together into engines that are used in cars, heavy-duty equipment, tractors, or anything else that moves. The vehicle parts industry is suffering badly these days, but Springfield remains a vibrant company because it constantly re-evaluates its stakeholders and value propositions. This preparation has helped the company quickly switch to adjacent markets of manufacturing natural gas pumps and retrofitting U.S. Postal Service vehicles as the auto industry tanked.

Three Preliminary Steps to Take

The Springfield example emphasizes how revisiting with stakeholders can drive success even when the world outside is melting down. A leader’s first responsibility is to communicate a clear vision of where the company is headed. But the right stakeholders can provide the fuel that will help drive to that vision.

  • Step 1: Every stakeholder will ask the “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM) question when evaluating a value proposition. Progress will be difficult if the company values don’t line up with the stakeholder values. Getting stakeholder feedback will help validate whether you’re on the right course or not. Help stakeholders articulate their view by using starter phrases…
    • As an indispensable business partner, we provide….
    • As a trusted source, we provide the best experience and expertise to…
    • As the leader of innovation in X, we establish the standards and…
  • Step 2: Analyze what each group of customers, staff and suppliers expect. Judgment calls are then made to determine whether expectations can meet realities.
    • Are there new opportunities or different stakeholders that offer a better promise for success? Or are these alternatives too far from the core mission?
    • What changes do stakeholders need to significantly increase the company’s value to them? What can be eliminated? Are there inefficiencies that have emerged as the business has evolved? What critical success factors must remain regardless of anything else?
    • Which stakeholders can make a lasting impact based on the mission? Which stakeholders’ roles need to be changed, or eliminated?
  • Step 3: Success can be found where the organization’s mission and value statements intersect with stakeholders’ needs. Distill the final value proposition into clear language that resonates with both internal and external stakeholders. It’s a fine balance. Make it too simple and the value proposition becomes meaningless. Too complicated and the value proposition can be misinterpreted Powerful value propositions have several common characteristics:
    • Consistency with the organization’s mission statement. Stakeholders can become paralyzed if the mission is to market “Blue Widgets,” but the value proposition screams “Green Gadgets.” Seems simple, but many companies miss this part.
    • Compelling value that answer the stakeholders’ “WIIFM” question with confidence.
    • Specific enough to be measurable.
    • Flexible to adjust to changing stakeholder needs.
    • Pride is created among stakeholders; they feel honored to be part of the effort.
    • Inspiration pours out to compel stakeholders to buy into the value proposition, either philosophically or literally.

Determining and constantly evaluating your stakeholder value propositions is an important step to thinking strategically on an ongoing basis. And in tomorrow’s economy, it is a skill set you won’t want to be without.

© 2010, The Human Factor, Inc.