Five Things You Can Do to Ensure Your Employees Perform at Their Best

Feb 28, 2019 | Blog | 0 comments

At some point, it seems money will solve all our problems at once. Money buys wanted things, it helps to keep up with the Joneses, and it pays for the work we do. And, for reasons lost in history, too many employers remain stuck in time and motion mindsets when they organize work.

In one form or another, management and stakeholders assumed efficiency lay at the heart of all business performance. Analysts examined and revisited worker performance to find the most efficient method of completing a task. One early study of coal shoveling workers redesigned shovels to make their arduous work even more efficient.

The idea that employers should compensate employees for the speed and quality of their tasks still informs management approaches. Inc.com, for instance, puts compensation at the top of its list of nine ways to motivate employees saying, “Pay your people what they are worth.” Of course, you should pay people what they are worth – but that certainly doesn’t make them want to perform more and better for you.The research included in my new book, In Great Company offers a significant paradigm shift proving invaluable to profitable organizations.

5 things you can do

The idea of “happy” workers can present a linguistic problem because “happy” has its subjective perceptions. But it is clear employees suffer less stress, work more creatively, and contribute more when employers remove the barriers to their working with a focus on tasks in which they can lose themselves. Our research studied such “happy” workers and the context in which they performed trying to discern a prototype of “the most loved workplace.”

Jenny Darroch, Dean and Professor at The Peter F. Drucker Management School, summarized the link Drucker made between change and success. “Change leaders ask questions, listen, and observe, filter what is discovered through the lens of who the customer is and what the customer values, place bets, abandon the old, and serve as excellent executors of strategy”

Leaders start with deep and wide observation, immersing themselves in the flow of employee work and the personalities they bring to the task. Where consensus proves weak, they fix the work or the teams. Where questions are not asked, leaders ask the questions. And where organization individuals have not met customers, leaders initiate the relationships.

The change leaders running the best performing organizations have come to share the human value in emotional connectedness, the human sense of belonging linking family members, community efforts, faith groups, sports teams, and more.

They find success in adopting the behaviors listed here:

Make collaboration a method and goal!

Systemic collaboration gets to the core of true functional collaboration, a part of the inner-workings of the organization and its decision-making processes. Employees work well in small teams where they can co-create results in sharing information and advice freely, where contributions are respected, and where their feedback is used. Encouraging and modeling collaboration creates and sustains social connections that prove emotionally satisfying to the employees.

Ensure a futures focus!

Change requires surrendering the past. All organizations tend to protect and continue the patterns they know best. They are not inclined to reinvent any wheels. But the continuity is an illusion. It only sustains a sameness which loses market demand in time. Future markets demand innovation and the passion to make it happen. And that requires workers moving forward in a unified way. To move an organization from the status quo, change must show the way, draw the map, and model the alignment.

Align the values!

As organizations move beyond values like efficiency, they aver their commitment to higher values like honesty, integrity, transparency, and customer satisfaction. The resonance with personal beliefs connects concerns and efforts. Of course, nothing happens until everyone embraces the values in common effort. Granular practices include doing what you say you are going to do or speaking truth instead of avoiding it. More conceptually challenging practices include living espoused values and ethics.

Use respect as currency!

Respect must be the organization’s language and currency. As respect becomes compensation, it values and connects persons and their capabilities. It becomes a social currency with reciprocal values in exchange. From “Well done!” to trophies and plaques to newsletter headlines, and so on. The respect is a constant, a fiber and glue holding the organization together and perhaps leaning forward. It informs practice, plans, and performance.

Deliver killer achievements!

Achievements feel hollow unless both the individual and organization get something out of them. Killer achievement delivers a combination of financial and emotional benefits amplifying the effect for everyone. Employees love a workplace that empowers people to focus on the customers and critical goals while eliminating extraneous minutia. In this case, emotional connectedness is markedly deepened when people have objectives that are simply stated and when the system removes competing interests blocking the path to success. Critical to this dimension are identifying and measuring the elements most important to the organization and allowing easy options for executive coaching, leadership and organization development.

The profit in performance

A workplace established on emotional-connectedness makes sense and dollars. Consider the likes of Zoom Video, In-n-Out Burgers, LinkedIn, Trader Joe’s, Southwest Airlines, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Wegman’s Food Markets, and more listed by Glassdoor’s 2019 Best Places to Work.

Chief among the habits of their employees is their constant willingness to brag about their workplace, affirm what it means to them, praise their co-workers, and recommend working there.

Louis Carter, MA is author of over 10 books on best practices in leadership and management including Change Champion’s Field Guide, Best Practices in Talent Management, and In Great Company. He is one of the top advisors to C-level executives – helping them and their organizations achieve measurable results. Carter is the recipient of ELearning! Magazine’s Trailblazer Award, HR Tech Conference’s Top Products Award, and Leadership Excellence Magazine’s Best in Leadership Development for his work as Chairman and CEO of Best Practice Institute. He received his MA in Social/Organizational Psychology from Columbia University

Websites: https://www.louiscarter.com http://www.bestpracticeinstitute.org

Works Cited

Carter, L. (2019). In Great Company. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Darroch, J. (2017, June 2). How to Manage through Change, the Drucker Way: Where are the Change Leaders? Retrieved Feb. 20, 2019, from HuffPost: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-manage-through-change-the-drucker-way-where_us_5930f752e4b0649fff2117cb

Economy, P. (2016, March 16). 9 Super Effective Ways to Motivate Your Team. Retrieved Feb. 22, 2019, from Inc.com: https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/9-super-effective-ways-to-motivate-your-team.html

Why Are You Still Here? 5 Ways to Keep ‘Em Coming Back Every Day

Jan 15, 2019 | Blog | 0 comments

Turnover is a real issue, even in the most employee-friendly company. Things happen and situations arise that drive the cycle of departure, but as the boss, you can take steps right now to ensure the employees you value remain as members of your team. Keeping employee motivation high may seem impossible, especially when everything in the company does not go as planned. However, the most trying times in your business may create extraordinary opportunities to reflect on organizational behavior and give your corporate culture a boost.

Exercise an Open-Door Policy

One of the easiest ways you as a manager can get your employees to want to stay is by making yourself and your counsel available. In good times and bad, some people may require more reassurance or guidance than others. Some may feel uneasy about their performance and desire feedback to improve it. Showing your workforce that you want to help gives them the chance to engage with you and get the coaching they need to perform at their best.

However, you need to strike a balance so problematic people do not take up all your time. Establish office hours and allow people to sign up for 15-minute time slots. If a matter demands more time, extend it as needed. Creating boundaries with the process makes it run more smoothly.

Take Action When Issues Arise

Allowing complaints against an employee to stand without recourse sends the wrong message to the rest of your workforce. Taking action to stop the spread of poor attitudes and behavior demonstrates that you know what is happening in the business and that you are willing to make difficult decisions to rectify any issues. If you ignore rumors and negativity too long, it can take root and affect employee morale.

Stay Away From Micromanaging

Your workers should lift each other and stay on task without you involving yourself in every aspect of the job. Empowering people drives employee motivation. It fosters an environment of autonomy and allows people to feel less fettered when performing everyday duties. It also helps promote a creative environment and may push employees to go above and beyond the norm.

Recognize and Reward the Good

When something goes wrong, it is easy to dwell on the negative, especially when it comes to a careless mistake. However, if your corporate culture practices employee-shaming, you will not spur employee motivation. On the other hand, if you flip the policy and spend more time praising the excellent work done, employees should take notice.

Rewards and recognition do not always have to be financial, although money definitely motivates. Set up a monthly luncheon and choose a top worker each week to attend. Send a company-wide email that turns the attention to the good things people do. Pointing out the hardworking members of your workforce encourages others to push themselves. Reward shows employees you recognize the good, so when something negative requires your attention, it will not seem that is all you focus on.

Take Team-Building Out of the Office

Hanging around the office day in and day out can become a drag. Get with your management team and put together fun out-of-office days to mix in some excitement. You do not need to make it elaborate; take smaller groups to the movies or maybe do a ropes course or outdoor activity. Even a simple barbeque in the park is a great way to lift the spirits of all.

Employee motivation is essential in retaining people in a competitive market. If your workforce gets the impression you don’t care about them, it can send some of your best people packing. Taking a few simple steps to show workers their worth to the bottom line can keep them clocking in day after day.

Terminating an Employee 101: How to Know When it’s Time to Let Go

Jan 10, 2019 | Blog | 0 comments

Severing an employee isn’t easy, but it can be necessary. If you have any workers who are toxic to the company, it’s time to let them go. Ideally, employees and employers come to an agreement about employee severance. Then, each party goes its separate ways. This is ideal but not always the usual. When employee motivation is down, you need to look at the employees responsible. For unsure employers, this is when you know it’s time to let an employee go and when to do it.

Misconduct and Unethical Conduct

Misconduct is serious. If an employee shows any sexist, racist or problematic behavior, let him or her go. Do not allow threats or other misconduct to go undisciplined. Unethical conduct can include the following:

Theft
Slander
Fraud
Dishonesty

Your company’s reputation hinges on your employees. Don’t let one employee ruin your reputation.

Absences and Poor Performance

Employee motivation goes down if they notice some co-workers aren’t working as hard. Poor performance and chronic absences are a reason for termination. If productivity slips, it may be time for a talk. If the behavior does not change, then it may be time for termination.

Drama and Complaints

Office drama happens. You can’t always avoid it. Some people, unfortunately, like to cause drama. If someone is stirring the pot, gossiping and always the center of drama, it’s a problem. This creates a negative corporate culture.

Complaints also matter. If your employee has customers, vendors and coworkers filing complaints, it’s time to look closely at that person.

Lack of Growth

The office is a place for personal and professional development. If your employee is not willing to improve or to train, then he or she may drag the company down. Employee motivation needs to be high. If your employee makes mistakes and doesn’t seek to fix them, he or she is not useful.

Poor Time Management

Now and then tardiness happens. Good organizational behavior is important. This is especially true when it comes to time management. Say you have an employee with a case of chronic lateness who misses deadlines. Seek to work with him at first. Let the employee know that he isn’t meeting your standards. If the employee continues to struggle, then your company might not be the right fit.

Terminating an Employee

If you determine it’s time to let an employee go, when you do it is important. How quickly do you want the employee out of the office? You also want to consider your worker’s feelings. You should never fire someone callously. Make sure that you take the time to be considerate. This also includes terminating at the right time.

In the past, employers would fire on Fridays. This is a bad idea. The weekend gives the employee time to stew on the firing. He or she can’t jump straight into a job search but has to wait all weekend. Most employers agree that it is better to fire in the middle of the week. You don’t want to fire on a Monday. This leads to feelings of time wasted. Make sure to terminate early in the day.

Remember that a crying or upset co-worker can drop employee motivation. Give the terminated employee a quiet or private space if he or she is upset. Treat him or her in a dignified way. You should always have respect, no matter the conditions of the termination.

When it comes to firing an employee, always consider the matter carefully. Some decisions aren’t as clear as others. Take into account the advantages and disadvantages of keeping an employee. Someone who does more harm than good has to be let go. Nevertheless, remember even in cases of termination to treat all employees with respect.

3 Ways To Get What You Want

Dec 5, 2018 | Blog | 0 comments

No matter how much you’ve accomplished, there’s always the possibility of increasing your productivity and effectiveness so that you can achieve more of your professional goals. Follow these tips to reach higher still.

1. Set the Right Goals

The first step to achieving goals is to set the right ones. Many leadership and organization psychology experts use the acronym SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound — to help you hone in on the types of goals that will set you up for success. Besides creating a sense of urgency, a SMART goal is clearly defined. “I’ll go to the gym for an hour before work every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” yields better results than a vague, “I’ll get in shape.”

In addition to setting SMART goals, it’s also important to focus on what you can control and not on the outcome, which is out of your control. According to Think Like a Warrior, by sports psychology expert Darin Donnelly, you’ll get the best results, and be happier, if you focus only on your effort and your attitude. Otherwise, if you focus on results and outcomes, you risk getting discouraged and giving up when something doesn’t go your way.

2. Change Your Habits

Most people know that our habits are what help or hurt us the most when it comes to goal achievement. You may be surprised to learn that one of the most effective ways to change a habit is to change your environment, according to Psychology Today.

Often people fall into negative habits due to surrounding stimuli, such as eating ice cream after dinner because you see the ice cream bowls in the cabinet while doing the dishes. In this example, you could benefit by moving the bowls so you don’t encounter them as often and can avoid the negative habit entirely. Likewise in a professional setting, correcting a negative habit could be as simple as turning your desk or working on a different team.

3. Leave Your Comfort Zone

True leaders are willing to make themselves uncomfortable at times for the sake of achieving their goals, according to Kathy Caprino, a career coach and leadership expert who contributes to Forbes. It takes courage, and a willingness to leave your comfort zone and speak up and propose changes to a system that isn’t working. When you point out flaws in the system, you’re bound to encounter naysayers who want to stay in their own comfort zones. However, when you consider what it takes to make a significant positive impact on your organization, it often requires taking a calculated risk.

Quotes from Louis Carter

Nov 16, 2018 | Blog | 0 comments

The most critical component to great sales, customer service and your performance are leading strong learning communities that are defined by respect for yourself and others.

Use laughter and beat the s&^t out of your ego to move to the next level as a leader. Let your ID fly!

Achieving goals begins with the first step and daily vigilant practice.

Sales are result of Helping someone else.

Focus on what you can change and let go of what you cannot.

Respect must be practiced and earned.

Your emotional triggers cause chain reactions that can harm or revive your relationships.

When you provide genuine appreciation, you will rarely find opposition.

Respect is the New Currency in the Workplace

Trust is doing what you say you are going to do, no excuses.

Legacy means leaving our next generations happier than we ever could be.

The future belongs to those who discovery, research and development of our grandchildren.

Instead of throwing a “no” at people or a project, use a “yes, and” then co-create your future.

State, local, federal and company leaders: Promote dialogue to create a new vision for humanity and consider these leadership practices.

Sep 14, 2018 | Articles, Blog, Leadership | 0 comments

What we need now is not more division. What we need now is not more bloodshed, violence and coercion. What we need now is more emotional connection with those in pain. We must have the courage to step in with love, rather than hatred for those in pain. History has shown us since the Civil Rights Movement, murder of JFK, murder of MLK, and the murder of RFK and the thousands of other brutal deaths in the name of civil rights, that we must lead with an understanding of the unique psychology of groups, and individuals.

Group and Social Change happens in a clear process: 1. form, 2. storm, 3. norm and 4. perform. Some storming processes are more brutal than others and some can be done with humor and even grace. The best change happens with a process of empathy, emotional regulation, alignment of common human beliefs, an offer to help and walk beside those in fear and anger, and an invitation to facilitate dialogue.

There are two methods of storming that have two very distinct outcomes. Riots cause death and destruction of property. Dialogue creates a newfound vision for a better future for all of humanity.

1. Crowd/Group Riots: Some of the worst riots in history including the George Floyd riots have led to the death of 100s of individuals, police officers, resignations, job loss, deaths and unconscionable emotional upset. Such examples include the 1992 Rodney King Race Riot, 1967 nationwide riots in most major US cities that led to over 100 deaths, and the 1968 riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr which were as widespread and deadly.

What can we learn from rioting behavior? Are there leaders who have taught us in history how to turn violence into opportunity? The second form of storming can happen when we introduce a different way of interacting without violence.

2. Dialogue. On April 4, 1968, on the eve of Martin Luther King assassination, despite concerns for his safety, Robert F. Kennedy gave an impassioned speech to call for dialogue instead of violence to a rally at 17th and Broadway in the heart of Indianapolis, IN. RFK invited compassion instead of violence, eloquently communicating the pain he felt when his brother, too, was killed by a white man.

We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization — black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King, Jr. did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.

And, Senator George Mitchell spent several days in Ireland during the Peace Accords, working through the grueling emotional pain of those from North and South Ireland. I spoke with Senator Mitchell back in 1998, and he told me that being with the people, and truly empathizing with their pain and working through the details of the pain is what brought the Ireland Peace Accords to consensus.

There are common denominators to requests for help, be it sexual orientation, race, color, or gender. The common denominator is emotional pain. It is beyond the threshold of pain to be singled out due to our genetics, to be hurt, to be talked down to, to be discarded, to be disrespected.

This kind of behavior dates back in our memories to the schoolyard bully and back in history to the stone aged man dragging “his woman” by the hair. It is not to be tolerated, however, it must not be fought with any other weapon but dialogue, consensus building, empathy, caring, and moving toward a better and more understanding human right. The human right to be seen equal in the eyes of all.

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Five Things You Can Do to Ensure Your Employees Perform at Their Best

Works Cited

Why Are You Still Here? 5 Ways to Keep ‘Em Coming Back Every Day

Terminating an Employee 101: How to Know When it’s Time to Let Go

3 Ways To Get What You Want

1. Set the Right Goals

2. Change Your Habits

3. Leave Your Comfort Zone

Quotes from Louis Carter

State, local, federal and company leaders: Promote dialogue to create a new vision for humanity and consider these leadership practices.

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