monkeys – Workplace Navigator

I think so many businesses, in today’s economy, figure employees “should be happy they have a job.” The truth is that, according to Inc. magazine, 70% of your employees are job hunting. They might smile and nod and laugh at your jokes, and at night they are on CareerBuilder and asking for recommendations on LinkedIn. Their resumes are up to date and they are ready to jump ship at the first sign of a decent paying job. They aren’t just looking for more money; they want a place that encourages engagement. As Dan Pink espouses in his book Drive, “autonomy, mastery and purpose” are the ingredients for the Engagement Wizard.

The Engagement Wizard is the secret to holding onto those employees who are phoning it in while they search for greener, autonomous pastures. It is far better to employ some engagement tactics to hold onto your veteran employees than to search out a perceived better fit. I realize that some folks are too far gone to turn around and they are the poison in the kool-aid. Employing a few tactics to create engagement for those who are salvageable, is well worth the effort when you figure that turnover can cost you anywhere from 50 to 200 % of the positions salary (and the replacements likely to cost you 10 to 20% more that the incumbent anyway).

So what are the techniques of the Engagement Wizard? Here are a few:

1. Thumb. Quit keeping your employees tightly under your thumb. It’s time to loosen the reigns. As Dan Pink said at a recent conference, no one ever said “my favorite boss was the guy who breathed down my neck”. People leave bosses. If you are dictating an employee’s every movement and deed and watching the clock to make sure they are constantly at the grind stone, your employee will not be engaged. Loosen up your thumbs.

2. Don’t prescribe. You should not view yourself as the doctor who is prescribing all the answers. As Liz Wiseman said in her book “Multipliers”, you want to shift from being the Tyrant who has all the answers to the Liberator who is listening. Listen; don’t talk. This encourages the autonomy that Dan Pink prescribes. If your employee is thinking for themselves, they are happier. If you don’t believe me, tell your partner how to make the bed. See how that goes over; and if they ever make the bed again. Don’t prescribe.

3. Learning. One of the downfalls in the recent economy is the slashing of training budgets. We keep the Sales and Marketing budget status quo, and cut the non-essential training and development budget. This, especially for Millennials, is a bad idea. Employees, who have a “Growth Mindset” as espoused by Carol Dweck, are constantly looking to learn new skills. “The Investor” as written by Liz Wiseman is the leader who is investing in resources for their team. Encourage learning so that your employees are gaining “Mastery”.

4. Monkeys. Delegate the monkey (as in task, project or duty) and check up on their care and feeding. Leaders need to delegate and give ownership to their team. This is another trait of Wiseman’s “The Investor”. You can’t develop Pink’s “Mastery” without letting go of the monkeys. This doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for checking in on the monkeys, however you shouldn’t be the one filling the water dish. Delegate the monkeys.

5. Big Picture. Does your team know the big picture? Jon Gordon at a recent conference suggested handing out 3 X 5 cards to all your employees and asking what the purpose of the company was. What would your team answer? We all need to know the purpose of the organization for which we work. It is much easier to align with an organization and be engaged when we know what the purpose it. If you answer, “To make money”, your team is not engaged. Make sure they know the Big Picture.

6. Non-Commissioned Work. One of the best examples of how effective autonomy is to creating better outcomes was a study that Pink refers to in his book “Drive”. They found that in a blind evaluation (they didn’t know which art work was commissioned versus non-commissioned) paintings that were commissioned (i.e. I want it to match my couch, I want flamingos and it needs to be 6 feet wide) were of less quality and creativeness as opposed to non-commissioned work. So make sure your team has some time to just create instead of keeping them “in the box.” It’s not practical to have all non-commissioned work all the time, however some time left to one’s own devices is critical to engagement.

Once you’ve found your magic wand, get out of the way. You will be amazed at what folks can do if they are given the freedom to find their own path. Find your Engagement Wizard and start waving the magic wand.

I was recently at a Peer-to-Peer Human Resource group at Elinvar in Raleigh, NC. They had an interesting speaker, Santo Costa, Esq., who spoke to the group about workplace integrity. The surprising observation he made was that integrity in an organization can be determined by how a manager handles mistakes. He brought up the example of General McChrystal stepping down after comments some of his staff made to a New York Times reporter and contrasted that with Janet Reno saying she was “taking full responsibility” for the Waco Siege but went back to her office and kept her job. I think any political example can be fraught with misinformation (press versus one party versus another party) but it does illustrate that the person who takes the bullet for his staff can dictate the culture of the organization.

In most organizations that I have worked in, if the leader isn’t willing to take the heat for his direct reports mistakes, there is inevitably a lack of trust. If the leader is constantly throwing their reports under the bus for every error and misstep, it will be a culture of CYA squared (covering your butt). If you want to build a culture of trust and integrity in work or your life, you’ll need to fall on the sword whether it’s for a direct report or your child or your spouse.

Here are some ideas on how to boost your integrity:

1. Consistent. Show up in your relationships in a consistent manner. The ability to control one’s emotions is a basic tenet of Emotion Intelligence. Being a hot head or moody, can put people in your life on edge. “Hmmm. I wonder if Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde is showing up for this budget meeting?” Working towards authenticity involves people’s expectations being met in that they can be confident that you won’t overreact or fall off the deep end. They know what to expect when you interact with them. Consistency is important to building trust.

2. Humility. Being humble in front of the team is important. No one likes working for the leader who is constantly tooting their own horn. The leader who does so is much less approachable. The humble leader makes sure their entire team gets credit for the project and makes sure the organization knows it. The humble leader is not trying to build their resume. They are building everyone else’s resume.

3. Rationale. Sharing the rationale with the folks around you builds integrity. If you are looking at new software to make the transaction process easier, make sure the folks that will be impacted by the new software, understand the rationale. There won’t be any buy-in if you don’t communicate the rationale. More likely, there will be dissent and mistrust and folks might try to thwart the process. Share the rationale.

4. Punches. Don’t pull punches. If there is bad news, craft the message and deliver it. Don’t drag your feet. Having information in limbo causes everyone to be in limbo. The gossip mill will certainly get a tidbit of information and turn it into catastrophic conclusions in the blink of an eye. Grab the tiger by the tail before it gets loose. Don’t pull punches.

5. Private. When someone makes a mistake, talk to them in private. Figure out what went wrong; maintain their self esteem and move on to some solutions. Don’t call someone on the carpet in front of the team. The best practice for a leader is to critique in private.

6. Public. When someone or the team gets something right, celebrate in public. It’s so important to identify milestones in a project or when you finally attain the millionth customer that you celebrate. Let everyone bath in the glory. They will seek more of it. Others will want to be on your team. Make sure you celebrate success in public.

7. Monkeys. Once you have delegated a monkey (a task or project), don’t take the monkey back. If you have assigned a monkey and the person has gotten off to a rocky start; don’t take the monkey back. You want to check in on the monkey (make sure it’s being fed and scratched), just don’t take it back. If people are unsure if they will keep the monkey they are much more likely to fail. Keep the monkeys where they belong.

Building trust and creating an authentic relationship is a long process. This cannot be created overnight. Take responsibility for those that work for and with you. There are times when you will need to fall on the sword but your team will be there to support you and you will create a culture of integrity.