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David
Lee
Consultant
Speaker
Author |
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For
More Information:
David Lee, Principal
HumanNature@Work
P.O. Box 430
Bar Mills, Maine 04004
Tel: 207-929-3344
E-mail: info@HumanNatureAtWork.com |
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AR
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8
Ways Managers Can Improve Morale - Part Two |
| By
David Lee |
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| Reprinted
from The Employment Times · April 26,
2004 |
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| 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?” 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. |
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| In Part One
of this article, we identified four actions
managers can immediately take to improve
morale. Those were: |
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1. |
Focus On What You Can Control,
Not On What You Can’t |
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| 2. |
Do “The Big Three”: Notice
what employees do right, Listen, and Show
Appreciation |
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| 3. |
Engage Your Staff In Ongoing Conversations
About Improving Morale |
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| 4. |
Ask For Feedback About Your Management
Style, Especially After Difficult Interactions |
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n 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.
Ask yourself: “Am I Inspired?”
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.
Ask Yourself: “Am I Inspiring?”
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.
Learn Which Factors And Practices Make The
Biggest Difference In Employee Morale And Productivity,
And Commit To Executing These
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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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[1] or in their
landmark book First Break all the Rules. |
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| 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). |
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| 4. |
Read magazines like Fast Company, Fortune,
and Inc. (or visit their article archives
online) as well as industry publications
that highlight best practices. |
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| 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. |
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Learn More About Human Nature And How To Work With
It, Rather Than Against It
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. |
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| Here are a five actions you can take to learn more
about human nature: |
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| 1. |
Attend seminars or evening
classes on psychology, human behavior,
and organizational psychology. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 4. |
Ask colleagues about books on human behavior
or management they’ve found helpful
and check them out. |
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| 5. |
In the meantime, practice managing in
ways that are consistent with these following
aspects of human nature: |
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| • |
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Conclusion
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: |
|
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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 |
| 5. |
Ask yourself: “Am I Inspired?” |
| 6. |
Ask Yourself: “Am I Inspiring?” |
| 7. |
Learn Which Factors And Practices Make
The Biggest Difference In Employee Morale
And Productivity, And Commit To Executing
These |
| 8. |
Learn More About Human Nature And How
To Work With It, Rather Than Against It |
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Coming Up Next
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.
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[ 1]
You can find this list in the article “Your
Managers: Secret Weapon or Achilles Heal?” |
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About the Author: David Lee is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance. He is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as dozens of articles on employee and organizational performance that have been published in trade journals and books in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. For information on his programs and service, click here.
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