by David Lee
Reprinted from The Employment Times
· April 26, 2004
This two part article is part of a multi-article series on improving morale. The first article in the series, “Are You Really Serious About Improving Morale?”[1] focused on why saying “We need to improve morale. What program would you recommend that doesn’t cost much (or anything)?” reveals a fundamental flaw in one’s understanding of morale, and a questionable level of sincerity about addressing this critical issue. It then identified key principles of effective morale-building initiatives.
In Part One of this article, we identified four actions managers can immediately take to improve morale. Those were:
1.
Focus On What You Can
Control, Not On What You Can’t
2.
Do “The Big Three”: Notice
what employees do right, Listen, and Show Appreciation
3.
Engage Your Staff In Ongoing
Conversations About Improving Morale
4.
Ask For Feedback About Your
Management Style, Especially After Difficult Interactions
In
Part Two of this article, we will be discussing four more ways managers can
improve morale. These recommendations will be of the self-reflection and ongoing
professional development genre. They are designed to help you “sharpen your
saw”. To use
Stephen Covey’s analogy of the exhausted woodcutter who would be wise to stop
and sharpen his saw, if you take the time to do these recommendations, it will
be time well spent.
By increasing your awareness of how you impact your staff’s morale, and taking the time to learn more about the factors that impact morale, you will dramatically improve your effectiveness. You will dramatically increase your ability to not only cultivate high morale, but also high productivity and high employee engagement. So, here are your next recommendations.
If
you’re not, how can you expect your staff to be? If you don’t feel inspired, if
you don’t feel fired up about coming to work, do some soul searching about why.
Are you simply tired from overwork and therefore “running on empty?” If so, it’s
hard to get excited about anything. Do you no longer feel connected to your
organization’s mission or do you even feel at odds with it? Does your job or
profession no longer enliven you? Or… have you simply been running on autopilot
and need to reconnect with what you love about your work and the value you and
your organization provide? Whatever the source, if you’re not inspired, you need
to rekindle your passion if you want your people to be inspired and
motivated.
If you find it hard to
answer that question, think about what emotions you trigger in others. You see you are - just like all
supervisors and managers - like
Pavlov’s bell. Remember Dr. Pavlov’s famous experiments where he would ring a
bell while presenting food to dogs? After awhile, just the sound of the bell
would cause the dogs to salivate. They had unconsciously associated the sound of
the bell with food, so that he didn’t even have to show them food for them to
salivate. The sound of the bell alone would do it.
You are like Pavlov’s bell to your workers. Not that they salivate when they see you (or at least I hope not), but because you trigger feelings in them whenever they see you or hear your voice on the phone. The feelings you trigger depend on the dominant emotional themes of your interactions. If the majority of a manager’s interactions with staff are focused on correcting, criticizing, bringing bad news, etc; then they will trigger negative emotions in their workers just by showing up. Haven’t you had a boss like that? The moment you saw them or heard their voice on the phone, you felt defensive, angry, and maybe even resentful.
Conversely, managers who frequently engage their workers in positive interactions automatically trigger a different emotional response in their workers. Even though being a manager requires difficult conversations and interactions, these managers make sure they offset these with positive interactions. They consciously recognize excellent work and effort, show appreciation, and show interest in their people’s professional development. Because of this, they trigger empowering emotions in their people. These emotions then fuel high productivity and fierce loyalty. Thus, to improve morale, look at the dominant emotional themes of your interactions and ask yourself whether or not they lead to inspired, engaged workers.
All competent professionals
invest time and effort in learning how to increase their efficacy. Whether a doctor, an accountant, or an auto
mechanic, they owe it to their patients, clients, or customers to know the
latest, most effective approaches to their profession. They need to know what
works. Likewise, you owe it to your employer and your staff to know what works
when it comes to morale and productivity.
To learn about what works, take the time to learn about the “differences that make a difference.” Besides talking with colleagues and members of your professional association, here are five actions you can take:
1. Attend management
development seminars that include both overarching guiding principles and
research-based practices that have been shown to bring out the best in workers.
If your employer doesn’t pay for them, invest in yourself.
2. Read the Gallup
Organization’s research on the 12 factors that make the biggest difference in
employee loyalty, performance, and engagement. You can find this information on
the web including a short article on my site[2]
or in their landmark book First Break all the Rules.
3. Read Watson Wyatt
Worldwide’s research published in WorkUSA 2002. They show how powerfully such
factors as trust in management, employee engagement, and managing change well
impact organizational profitability. In fact, one of these factors was shown to
make a 700% difference in profitability! You can find that report on Watson
Wyatt Worldwide’s website. Take this information and operationalize it, work
together with your staff to identify what your management team can do to make
these factors happen. (If you would like a worksheet I’ve created for managers
on this, email me).
4. Read magazines like Fast
Company, Fortune, and Inc. (or
visit their article archives online) as well as industry publications that
highlight best practices.
5. Draw from your own
experiences and those of your colleagues about what practices bring out the best
in people, and which ones bring out the worst. A simple exercise I do with
managers is to have them reflect on great and not-so-great bosses they’ve had,
and then list the Do’s and Don’ts gleaned from these experiences. Doing that
helps them remember the tremendous impact doing the simple fundamentals can
have. It reminds them how simple practices like showing appreciation, listening
to employees’ ideas, and showing respect pay huge dividends. By taking the time
to reflect on and discuss these factors, you increase the odds that you will
remember to do the things that make a huge positive impact, and refrain from
those that diminish morale.
Legendary quality guru Dr.
Edwards Deming once sent Dr. Peter Senge, author of the business classic The
Fifth Discipline, a letter containing the following line: “Our prevailing
system of management has destroyed our people.” In discussing Dr. Deming’s
observation at a conference of quality professionals, Senge noted: “What Dr. Deming was getting at was that
our prevailing system of management is fundamentally inconsistent with human
nature.”
When managed in ways that
are inconsistent with human nature, people operate at a fraction of their true
capacity. Furthermore, when people are managed in ways that are inconsistent
with human nature, they bring a much poorer version of themselves to work. They
are not nearly as engaged, loyal, creative, flexible, or even mature as they are
when they are working in an environment that is in sync with human nature.
To illustrate the importance of a manager understanding human nature, and the consequences of not doing this, let’s use an agricultural analogy. Imagine someone going into large scale commercial farming without learning the growing condition requirements of each vegetable they hope to raise. Imagine this person, responsible for a multi-million dollar operation, deciding that he is too busy to learn about the growing condition requirements of the various vegetables he will grow. Instead, he decides that he is just going to “fly by the seat of his pants” and “wing it.” How will the quality and quantity of his produce compare to that of competitors who understand the nature of each vegetable they grow and satisfy those conditions?
Granted, this is a rather absurd analogy. No intelligent, prudent businessperson would stake their investment and livelihood on such a haphazard, uninformed, undisciplined approach. Yet, if you are a manager and you haven’t invested time and effort in learning more about human nature and how to manage in ways that are in sync with human nature, you’re “winging it.” If you’re winging it, you – and your employer - are only getting a fraction of your workers’ true potential.
Here are a five actions you can take to learn more about human nature:
1. Attend seminars or evening
classes on psychology, human behavior, and organizational
psychology.
2. Learn about personality
styles. Whether you use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC, True
Colors, or other models, this information can make a huge difference in your
ability to bring out the best in people – especially those who are very
different from you.
3. Read a few of the many
excellent books about human nature. I’ve found over the years that each
discipline, each author, provides a piece of the puzzle. A few of my favorites
are Neanderthals at Work, The Evolution of Consciousness, New World New Mind,
and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
4. Ask colleagues about books
on human behavior or management they’ve found helpful and check them
out.
5. In the meantime, practice
managing in ways that are consistent with these following aspects of human
nature:
o
Humans have an innate need
for control and autonomy – The more control and autonomy people have, the more
satisfied, motivated, and mature they will be. Furthermore, research by
Blessing/White showed that autonomy was the number one factor influencing
discretionary effort. Therefore, work with your employees to find ways of giving
them more positive control and autonomy in their jobs. You’ll obviously want to adjust this
according to their skill level, maturity, etc.
o
Humans crave meaning and
purpose – When people believe they’re part of an organization with a worthy
mission, and believe they contribute to the mission, they’re far more likely to
be passionate and committed. Therefore, make sure you talk with your employees
about your organization’s mission, the good things your organization does, how
they contribute to it’s success, and how they can become even more of a
player.
o
Humans are energized by the
opportunity to problem-solve and learn - People are like cats. We’re curious by
nature, but if we don’t have a chance to engage that curiosity, we become bored
and lethargic. When we do have the opportunity, our energy and activity level
soars. Therefore, work with your employees to find out ways they can play a more active role in
figuring out problems, making process improvements, and suggesting innovations.
Work with them to find ways of embedding learning into their regular work
experience. The more you do this, the more animated and engaged they will
be.
Regardless of what level you
are in the organizational hierarchy, you have a huge influence on the morale of
your staff. No matter what your employees’ current level of morale, you can
improve it, if you:
The
next article in this series will focus on what CEOs, presidents, and business
owners can do to improve morale. Although each of the suggestions in this
article apply to an organization’s senior most executive, there are other
actions that only the CEO, president, or business owner can – and must – do to
improve employee morale, productivity, and engagement. In next article, we will
explore those things. In the final article, we will examine the HR manager’s
role.
About the
Author:
David Lee is a consultant, speaker, and executive coach. The founder of
HumanNature@Work, he has worked with organizations and presented at conferences
throughout North America and overseas. He is the author of Managing
Employee Stress and Safety, as well as dozens of articles on employee and
organizational performance.
For More
Information:
David Lee, President
HumanNature@Work
P.O. Box
430
Bar Mills, Maine 04004
Tel: 207-929-3344
E-mail: info@HumanNatureAtWork.com
[1] For a copy of this article, go to http://www.humannatureatwork.com/ and click the “Articles” section.
[2] You can find this list on my site http://www.humannatureatwork.com/ in the article “Your Managers: Secret Weapon or Achilles Heal?”