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My daughter secured a full-time job in an office this past summer. It was a new experience for her because her summer jobs in the past consisted of part-time work as a grocery store cashier. She learned a lot from going on her first formal interview to learning about the job itself and workplace technology. But she also learned about working with a team in an office environment, and communicating directly with people by phone, in-person, and by email. In addition to the people she worked with on a daily basis, she enjoyed the company sponsored Friday lunches, and the cupboards stocked with snacks.

I got a present from work!!

One time in the middle of the day, I received a text message from her and our conversation went as follows:

Can you “hear” the excitement, evident by the multiple exclamation marks? A little recognition goes a long way! And that good news story got repeated over and over again. When employees feel their efforts are appreciated and recognized, they are more engaged at work, and they bring more enthusiasm, thought, creativity, time and effort to the job. They feel their work is appreciated and recognized and that “doing good work” on a daily basis is important to the success of the team and the company.

As a mother and HR professional, I was glad her first office job was with a great place to work. She was fortunate to work for an organization that knows how to treat people right. She could have easily found herself in a workplace that wasn’t so great. She doesn’t know that in her lifetime she will more than likely experience a workplace that isn’t so great. But because she has experienced a great place to work she will know the difference and this will allow her to make choices about whether to stay or to look for a better work environment.

Great organizations encourage a culture of respect, trust, cooperation, and teamwork, and they do little things to recognize the efforts of their employees. Not so great workplaces encourage disrespectful and bullying behaviour (more on this next week), gossip and conflict, and disregard or denigrate employee efforts.

And there is a great business case to create a great place to work. Did you know that:

• companies with high-engagement grow their earnings-per-share 28% faster, (Towers Perrin, Closing the Engagement Gap: Global Workforce Study)
• shareholder returns are 19% higher than average with high-engagement firms, while those with low-engagement were 44% below average, (Hewitt Associates)
• greater productivity, customer satisfaction, profit, and decreased absenteeism, turnover, and accidents are correlated to increased levels of engagement, (Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology)
• and employees who are engaged work more efficiently, share more, find solutions, aren’t scared to speak up, provide suggestions, and meet customer’s needs more often, resulting in repeat business. (Schweyer)

Creating an engaged great place to work will help your employees feel recognized and appreciated which really benefits everyone. So what are you doing to make sure a little recognition goes a long way?

Source for the stats:

“Business Value of Employee Engagement & How to Measure Employee Engagement,” March 29, 2012,  http://blog.7geese.com/

One rainy day last month my husband and I were in Kingston, Ontario where we had two very different customer experiences in the retail setting. I worked in retail in the past, so I know that dealing with customers all day can be challenging. This is what we experienced.

1. Home Depot

My husband and I visit Home Depot looking for a specific order. We are greeted by several employees – “Good morning. Do you need any help?” We are assisted with our order and then proceed to the loading area, where we wait for the order. Again we are greeted and asked if we need help. There is a positive buzz around the place. As we wait for our order, we overhear two coworkers greeting each other.

Coworker 1: “How’s your morning so far?”

Coworker 2: (with a huge smile on her face and a bounce in her walk), “Just livin’ the dream. Just livin’ the dream.”

It made us both smile and brought the sunshine in on a rainy day. The people working at Home Depot that morning sure did bring their spirit to the workplace.

2. Coffeeco Espresso Bar

My husband and I enter our favourite coffee shop with smiles on our faces, each anticipating a truly magnificent cup of coffee. We look at one stony-face behind the counter and then look at the other stony-face. No smiles, no greeting. Undaunted, we cheerfully ask for our coffees, still no smiles. These two co-workers certainly don’t seem like they are enjoying work at all. (This by the way is very uncharacteristic of our favourite coffee shop because the staff are usually happy and upbeat, so make sure you drop in). As my husband and I fix up our coffees, we look at each other, and we are both thinking the same thing. It’s a rainy day, SMILE and let the sunshine in.

Lately I’ve been seeing many references to books on how to fix dysfunctional organizational culture and leaders not leading like decent human beings. This proliferation of organizational and leadership self-help books is extremely sad because it infers many organizations do not lead with decency and goodness. It seems that certain leaders forget about being a decent human being.

What’s going on? A recent Towers Watson Survey states that “nearly two-thirds (65%) of the more than 32,000 full-time workers participating in (the) study are not highly engaged.” Key findings of the study include: increased stress and anxiety about the future, keeping employees has more to do with the “quality” of the work experience overall, and employees have doubts about the level of interest and support coming from senior leaders.

It saddened me to read Paul Copcutt’s blog post “Do you really know how to resign?” about an employee’s resignation email. When this particular employee resigned he sent an email to all employees in his organization, and then the email was posted on Twitter and went viral with its own hashtag. The email outlines what transpired and the not so great actions of his boss, from the the view point of the employee. Sending this type of email is never a great resignation idea, but while reading it, I heard a seemingly decent human being destroyed by a leader who wasn’t. (I don’t know the facts other than the information in the email, so I can’t comment on who is the DHB or who isn’t). The email portrays a previously performing employee who is so burnt out that his well-being is at risk along with his decision making ability, hence the poor decision to send the resignation email.

When values are not in sync, eventually performance and well-being suffer.

Is your workplace a cross between a “high school (think Mean Girls … and guys) and the Mafia?” That is actually how I heard someone describe the workplace that they went to every day. Do you want to work for an organization like that, where the values of the organization and your own values are not aligned? When values don’t align it isn’t good. It destroys well-being by causing stress, mental fatigue, anxiety, and feelings of not wanting to go to work. It results in increased absenteeism, and very unproductive presenteeism at work! In fact, a dysfunctional workplace can destroy the well-being and productivity of previously stellar performing employees. And that isn’t good for the employee or the company.

When leaders are not decent human beings, productivity, profit, and company brand suffer.

Think about how this one resignation email impacted the brands of the employee, the boss, and the company they work(ed) for. Would you want to work for the boss? Would you want to work for the company? Would you hire the employee who resigned? Which brand suffered the most? Do we really know what kind of workplace, employee, or leader were involved? No, but unfortunately social media and people’s perception become the new reality.

In real life mean-spirited mafia-like workplaces are not good for anyone.  If you want to create a decent workplace, please contact us. We can help make your business an awesome place to work. I’m not talking about group hugs and fluff; I’m talking about making the world a better place one company at a time, by creating happy, healthy and productive workplaces where individuals are respected for their contributions, held accountable for their actions, and developed to their full potential. (This just happens to be our vision statement!) Oh, yes, and we’ll help train your leaders to be Decent Human Beings!

Related posts from the archives:

The Grandma litmus test for ethical behaviour,

What makes a great leader

There certainly are pros and cons to hiring family and friends. I was cited by Danielle Harder in an article in the May 2012 issue of The Canadian Employer - ”Should you hire family and friends? A successful workplace relationship depends on boundaries, communication and rigorous hiring.”

Hiring family and friends can work well if you approach it in a thoughtful and thorough way.

Tips for hiring family and friends

1. Clarify expectations by clearly defining the role and accountabilities in advance.
2. Eliminate any overlap in the decision-making structure and redirect issues back to the appropriate manager.
3. Follow rigorous screening and hiring processes.
4. Be aware of and avoid favoritism (nepotism).
5. Plan for succession with family members and invest in their development.
6. Set boundaries and keep personal and professional lives separate; don’t let family or friend dynamics spill over into the workplace.
7. Keep open lines of communication to prevent misunderstanding, and skewed perception especially with existing employees.
8. Plan for a positive exit should things not work out as expected.

You can read the full article here: Should you hire family and friends The Canadian Employer May 2012 (PDF)

What has your experience been with hiring family and friends? Please share your thoughts.

“The desire to love is not itself love …. Love is an act of will – namely an intention and an action. Will implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love. No matter how much we think we are loving, if we are in fact not loving, it is because we have chosen not to love and therefore do not love despite our good intentions. On the other hand, whenever we do actually exert ourselves in the cause of spiritual growth, it is because we have chosen to do so. The choice to love has been made.” ~ M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled, 1978

I love the above quote, which I first read in Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families. It is a powerful statement for work and for life. While learned the power of choice and attitude in my teens while working at a local grocery store, I didn’t really realize the reason why I had this ability until I read Covey’s description of our four unique human gifts.

We have four unique human gifts that allow us to make choices!

Stephen Covey notes that human beings are the only living creatures in the universe that can “think” before they act. We can CHOOSE how we are going to respond! We can decide to speak, act and behave in ways that create positive and memorable experiences for ourselves and for others.

Covey explains our four unique human gifts or attributes this way:

• Self-Awareness – Allows us to step back and observe our own behaviour!

• Conscience – Let’s us know deep down inside ourselves, whether we are harming or enhancing our relationships by our behaviour, and actions.

• Imagination – Allows us to visualize another way of acting. It lets us choose a better response, one that will have a longer-term positive effect.

• Independent Will – Let’s us take action and choose to take a positive road to enhance relationships!

These four unique gifts give us the ability to CHOOSE how we communicate and interact with each other. It gives us the power to build lasting and positive relationships at work and in life.

So what did YOU learn from Stephen Covey? Please share it here.

P.S. During our Leadership Program participants learn more about their style of leadership and communication, and learn about the choices they can make to build positive relationships with their staff, customers, and suppliers. And of course, these lessons can be applied to their own personal relationships as well. Contact us for more information.

Related posts:

What Stephen Covey taught me – The Power Pause

What Stephen Covey taught me – The Circle of Influence

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
                        ~Reinhold Niebuhr

As human beings, we have the capacity to be proactive. We can focus on the things that we can actually do something about, or we can add to the stress in our lives by worrying and fretting over the things we have no control over.

Stephen Covey, in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, introduces the concept of Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence.

The Circle of Concern is the area that we have no control over.

The Circle of Influence is the area that we have control over.

Covey tells us that in life our Circle of Influence is most often smaller than the Circle of Concern.  We can’t control the economy or a company merger. As we react, we tend to focus on the Circle of Concern, which depletes our energy, because we have no control over it. The energy focused on the Circle of Concern is negative. If you focus on the Circle of Concern and neglect the Circle of Influence, eventually the Circle of Influence will get smaller. This will add to feelings of stress and helplessness, because you cannot change anything in the Circle of Concern.

Proactive people focus on the Circle of Influence, which is the area we have control over and we can act upon. When we do this, the Circle of Influence gets bigger. When you act on your Circle of Influence you are able to reduce stress levels and increase happiness, because you can initiate and influence change.  

During my leadership program, participants share experiences of where they are spending wasted energy worrying about things they have no control over and then brainstorm ways in which they move towards proactively influencing and acting upon the things they can change. Consider an employee working for a company that is going through a merger. If that employee spends time worrying about whether he will lose his job, he will be wasting his energy and sink into a negative spiral of helplessness over something he has no control over. However, if he talks to his manager to learn how he might provide value to the new organization, ensure his skills and knowledge (and resume) are up-to-date, and increase his networking, he will be proactively directing his actions towards things he can influence and build positive energy at the same time.

This concept is easy to remember and is a great tool to direct our energy and actions in meaningful ways on things we do have control over. Are you spending your time in the Circle of Concern worrying about things you have no control over? What can you do today to expand the Circle of Influence to build more positive energy in your life and at work?

Related posts:  What Stephen Covey taught me – The Power Pause

I was sad to hear about Stephen R. Covey’s tragic accident and subsequent death. We never know when our time is up. Stephen Covey touched so many people in his life time and his work will continue to influence people in the future. I never met Stephen Covey but I can imagine what he must have been like, especially after reading a beautiful blog post in the Harvard Business Review by Greg McKeown: “Stephen R. Covey Taught Me Not to Be Like Him.” I like how the author describes Stephen Covey as living his life with intent. We should all strive to do so.

Stephen Covey, in his book “First Things First,” wrote that while wandering through a university library he came across a book with the following powerful idea:

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

He notes that we, as human beings, are the only living creatures in this world that can “think” before we act.

We can CHOOSE how we are going to respond.

We can choose to speak, act and behave in a way that creates positive and memorable WOW experiences for ourselves and for others.

I share this concept in my interpersonal communications and stress management workshops. I ask participants to resist the urge to react and try using the POWER PAUSE by counting to three between the stimulus and response, to ensure a response that builds relationships, reduces stress levels, and creates a positive experience for everyone. This is a simple, yet powerful concept, to build beautiful relationships at work and at home.

Over the next few blog posts, I’ll share a few of my favourite learning moments from Stephen Covey. What is your favourite learning moment from Stephen Covey? Please share your thoughts.

Related posts:  What Stephen Covey taught me – The Circle of Influence

Sometimes in the world of blogging it’s hard to know if anyone is ”listening,” so I was thrilled when I received a request to publish my T.A.L.K. it out to improve performance blog post in the May 2012 issue of the HR REPUBLIC magazine.  

The T.A.L.K. method is a great way to conduct a coaching meeting to lead an individual to a solution rather than lecturing and giving advice. It works beautifully. Try it and let me know how you make out. 

Click here to read TALK it out to improve performance_HR Republic_May 2012 (PDF), to learn more about the T.A.L.K. method.