Enough with the rules! Creating a framework for engagement.
In this series of blogs, we’ve talked about how the information age has changed how we should approach employee engagement, the keys to engagement in this new environment, and the individual actions leaders should consider when engaging employees. Today, learn how your individual actions can create a culture of employee engagement. After all, a recent TINYpulse study found that “employee happiness is more dependent on co-workers than direct managers” with peer relations showing a much stronger relationship with employee happiness. We agree. However, the key is to establish the kind of culture that creates strong peer relations.
Put me in coach.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Lakers was a storied NBA franchise that had four NBA superstars–including Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone–on their roster and the legendary Phil Jackson as their coach. After a 1-1 exchange in the first two games, the Detroit Pistons went on to sweep the next three games to win the championship. Everyone considered Detroit the underdog team. After all, they had excellent players but few breakout superstars. All the pundit theories about Lakers injuries aside, they won because they played as a team. They showed the world that teamwork drives success over individual superstars.
How to put together productive team.
Trust is the foundation.
Employees don’t trust management. It’s that simple. According to author Stephen M.R. Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust, only 51% of employees trust senior management, and only 28% believe CEOs are a credible source of information.
If team members don’t trust management and each other, you will fail. Covey goes on to write: “Think about it this way: When trust is low, in a company or in a relationship, it places a hidden “tax” on every transaction: every communication, every interaction, every strategy, every decision is taxed, bringing speed down and sending costs up. My experience is that significant distrust doubles the cost of doing business and triples the time it takes to get things done.”
While Mark Cuban is the type of leader who would quickly give his players full credit, the rise of the Dallas Mavericks is at least partially due to his establishment of trust. He consistently demonstrates his loyalty to his team and his coaches. Your team leaders can do the same by advocating for his or her employees with upper management and quickly expressing gratitude to team members for doing their jobs well.
Create a culture that encourages employees to express criticism if they need to; with the provision they are prepared to work on solutions rather than just complain.
Demonstrate your own vulnerability by immediately admitting your mistakes. Challenge them to do well, but don’t hound them. It demonstrates that you trust them with their responsibilities.
Create a framework instead of policies.
It’s impossible for a leader to make sure each individual customer is satisfied, right? There’s just not enough time in the day. The same can be said for your employees. So you develop processes and train employees to do it the way you would do it.
Nordstrom’s offers their empowering rule for customer experience: “Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.”
Of course Nordstrom’s has an employee manual and training programs and other set processes, but they’ve established a framework that allows associates to adapt in the face of challenges, when they’re forced to deviate from the set course. Objectives, strengths, problems, challenges, and customer emotions are unique different to each customer, so you’re enabling your employees to make instant decisions using their own intuition and creativity. Sometimes they are the right decisions, sometimes not so much. As a leader, you can trust the right decisions will outweigh the wrong ones if you’ve done your job: sharing a common vision.
Be clear.
First, employees must understand his or her goals. Secondly, every team member must understand how their goals effect into the goals of co-workers and the organization as a whole. Finally, every employee and every team must have a clear understanding of the specific techniques, tools and processes they’ll be expected to implement to reach these goals.
Also be sure to establish clear lines of communication between employees and with management.
Make it fun!
By investing every employee in the goals, you are giving them a sense of pride in doing it well. It also gives them an opportunity to work together. So give them some incentives to encourage cooperation and positive peer pressure.
Setting daily, weekly and quarterly goals for teams to meet can turn everyday tasks into a team-based games. Who can manufacture the most products (error-free, of course)? Who can generate the most leads or sell the most policies? Who can garner the most customer experience accolades? Give away prizes, but more importantly, establish a weekly recognition meeting for all to celebrate the wins.
Cut your losses.
Disgruntled employees eat away at company morale. Try to provide solutions and alternatives and give the employee a means to change, but be prepared to cut these malcontents loose. Even if they’re superstars. A top salesperson with a self-serving attitude will cost you more in lost productivity and dysfunctional teamwork than they will earn you in revenues. Remember the Pistons.
There is a path to productivity.
While every group is different, we encourage our clients to follow a set of steps to begin the creation of a culture that nurtures “intrapreneurial” employees. These employees tie their success to the success of their co-workers and the company as a whole. Just like an owner.
- Step 1: Understand the individual personalities on the team. Learn about their work styles, who they like to work with, their motivations and what they personally view as success in the workplace. And remember, when the boss asks them these questions, they’ll tell you what you want to hear. So consider hiring a third-party with experience in digging deeper than a simple satisfaction survey.
- Step 2: Construct successful teams. By better understanding employees work styles and motivations, managers can create mini-teams that blend people who compensate for others weaknesses to encourage teamwork. Don’t forget to communicate each individual’s strength to the entire team. It helps clarify why you’ve assigned them to a particular team role and what is expected.
- Step 3. Set the rules. Establish written rules, including rules you think would be common-sense like “No Gossip” or “No Bad Ideas.” Post the rules, reinforce them consistently and establish repercussions for those who repeatedly violate them.
- Step 4: The Kickoff Meeting. Don’t spend time building a 132-page PowerPoint deck for a half-day meeting. Instead invest that time in creating a simple and clear communication of the overall goals of the company or a specific project. We’ve discovered the longer the kick-off meeting, the less clarity your employees will have.
- Step 5: Team building retreat. No, I don’t mean long training meetings or clichéd team-building exercises. We encourage our clients to use exercises that mimic real-life scenarios like our “Box Factory.” Your teams should be able to actively apply what they’ve learned to a team-based tasks.
- Step 6: Reinforce. Hold weekly meetings to monitor the progress of your team, to assure everyone is on the same page and to share successes in a public forum. Review the goals, the rules and the roles.
- Step 7: Reward. Not just for meeting or exceeding goals, but also reward for demonstrations of commitment or teamwork to encourage this positive behavior. Remember, monetary bonuses and gift certificates are great, but time off can actually be much more motivating for today’s employees. For example, we provide our employees a Patio Pass (thank you, Cameron Herold) as a reward. Team members get a few hours off to personally bond over a libation on a nearby outdoor patio, when the weather is nice.
Once you’ve established this sort of culture, you’ll find that co-workers motivate each other. Teams are driven to success by the fear of failing each other and themselves. And productivity becomes a natural part of doing business.
