If
You Want To Succeed in Today's New Economy, Learn How To
Optimize Employee Emotions
By David Lee
Reprinted from HR Today
Emotions play an
important role in an organization’s ability - or inability - to compete
successfully in the New Economy. This is because employee emotions affect the
primary sources of competitive advantage:
·
Intellectual
Capital
·
Customer
Service
·
Organizational
Responsiveness
·
Productivity
·
Employee
Attraction and Retention
Thus, the more skilled an organization’s
management team is at creating a work environment where employees experience
positive emotions, the more successful that organization will be.
Knowledge about how to do this has been
around for years. The principles and practices involved in bringing out the
best in employees are neither arcane nor rocket science. They do take work and
patience, though, which is probably why only a small percentage of
organizations seem to employee them. Organizations that do the hard work,
though, have a workforce that enables them to compete successfully in the
marketplace.
Before we cover some of these basic
practices, we need to recognize the first step that makes any of this possible.
That essential first step is management having a clear understanding of the
connection between emotions and competitive advantage. Without a clear and
compelling "why," no manager will allocate time for learning and
implementing the "how."
Two final comments before
getting to the list.
First, the list is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather a
sample of what world class organizations do, to optimize employee
emotional states. Second, as mentioned previously, these practices are not
rocket science. With that in mind, as you read each item on the list, the key
question to ask is not "Do I know this?" The key question to ask is
"Are we doing this?"
Pay the Price of Management Development,
Rather Than the Price of Neglecting Management Development
Make no mistake about it, your organization pays for one or the other. They
either pay the price of cultivating managers’ supervisory and leadership
skills, or they pay the price of having managers who don’t know how to deal
with people. The impact of an ineffective or abusive supervisor is huge,
because in many ways, a supervisor is the organization to those he or she
supervises. The way supervisors treat employees sets the tone for how employees
feel about their work and their employer.
Organizations that cultivate their management
team use an array of tools and strategies, including management style
assessments, management training, executive coaching, and 360 surveys. To make
any of this work also requires a clear message from the top that a manager’s
value to the organization is dependent upon his or her ability to bring out the
best in the people he or she supervises.
Show Respect By
Asking Employees For Their Feedback
When management doesn’t ask employees for feedback, they are in essence saying,
"We don’t care what you think about how we treat you, and besides, we know
what’s best for you anyway." In contrast, when management asks employees
for feedback about their management style and practices, they communicate
respect and concern. In such an atmosphere, employees are more likely to feel
committed to their work and the company.
Asking for feedback isn’t just about
communicating respect and concern, though. It’s also about finding out what’s
working, and what isn’t. Too often, we assume we know,
when we don’t. In one study, conducted by Kepner Tregoe, less than 1/3 of employees surveyed felt their
manager knew what motivated them. Over ½ of the managers surveyed agreed.
Just as smart companies actively and
continuously solicit feedback from their customers to find out how well they
are meeting their needs, smart companies actively and continuously solicit this
kind of feedback from their internal customers - their employees.
Don’t Force Employees To
Check Their Brains at the Door
Few things kill the spirit more quickly than mind-numbing work. Give employees
the opportunity to think on the job. Encourage them to improve the work
processes they’re involved in. Not only does it make sense - people who do the
work usually have the best ideas about how to do it better - it makes work more
enjoyable and interesting.
In the customer service field, an
excellent - and unfortunately underutilized - way to engage employees’ minds, is to turn them into "customer service
detectives." Create processes and rewards that encourage them to find out
what customers want and then deliver this critical information to key
decision-makers.
Give Employees As Much Control As Possible
Over Their Work
This strategy is related to the former one. The more control and autonomy
employees have over their work, the more they’re able to use their minds. The
issue of control goes far beyond the intellectual realm, though. Decades of
research shows that when people feel they don’t have control, their
intellectual functioning, interpersonal functioning, and behavior deteriorate.
Feeling out of control creates tremendous
stress and, if chronic, leads to the condition called Learned Helplessness,
which in turn leads to depression. When employees have a say in their work, and
therefore feel in control, they become more energized, enthusiastic, and
productive. (Important Note - the drive for control is so powerful that if
employees aren’t given opportunities for positive control, they will find ways
of exerting negative control, such as calling in sick, engaging in work slow
downs, illegitimately using Short Term Disability, etc.).
Give Employees Who Serve The Customer, the Power to Please the Customer
When organizations create policies and practices that hamstring the frontline
service professional’s ability to please the customer, they are virtually
guaranteeing a demoralized, cynical workforce.
Conversely, if frontline customer service
professionals have the power to please the customer, the predominant tone of their
interactions is one of appreciation and delighted surprise. This can’t help but
create a sense of pride and well-being - the emotional foundation of world
class customer service.
Notice When Employees Do Things Right
Many managers unwittingly increase their own
frustration, while creating a demoralized workforce, by always focusing on
employee mistakes. Unfortunately, it’s human nature to notice what’s wrong more
easily than what’s right. Since we are all affected by how we are perceived,
and since "what gets noticed, gets repeated," giving in to this
natural tendency creates a downward spiral of increasing undesirable behaviors
and decreasing morale. To prevent this from happening, provide managers with
training and coaching about how to become a more consistent "good
finder."
Conclusion
By engaging in these management practices, your
organization can create an organizational climate that optimizes employee
emotions. By helping your management team optimize employee emotions, you will
be helping your organization make a significant impact on the primary sources
of competitive advantage in today’s marketplace.
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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
For More Information:
David Lee, President
HumanNature@Work
Tel: 207-571-9898
E-mail: info@HumanNatureAtWork.com
Reprinted with permission by HR Today To read other articles on HR issues, go to http://www.hr-today.com