WHICH OF THESE 7 INDICATORS IF NOT SATISFIED AT WORK, WILL DRIVE YOUR PEOPLE TO DISTRACTION AND TAKE THEM OFF-FOCUS?
In my experience of leading enterprise level sales teams and change programmes over the last 25 years, I’ve found that if any one of these indicators is amiss, it can impact negatively on employee energy, commitment and productivity levels.
If a combination of them is off target however, it can derail individual, team or even organisational performance completely.
If this is the case across a team or business you lead, then you’d better head for the hills or find a fix quick because these indicators drive their inner psychology, which in turn, drives the behaviours that delivers the end results.
Employees who are highly engaged however, are more likely to stand out as high performers too because they have these need indicators satisfied and have the underlying statements for each indicator met satisfactorily.
People who are well led:
Feel Valued — they feel appreciated and appropriately rewarded, not just financially but psychologically — people believe in them — they’re made to feel special and hence they act special.
· Others listen and take me seriously
· I get the support I need
· I get the appreciation I need
· My strengths, abilities and contributions are recognised
Are Open — they’re receptive to new ideas and engage in genuine two-way open, honest and yet respectful communication — can talk freely about a wide range of topics including delicate and difficult issues.
· I can be open and honest
· My suggestion are welcomed
· I can express my needs
· I am able to challenge freely
Engage in Feedback — they recognise the importance of regular constructive two-way feedback for improving performance levels.
· Feedback is encouraged
· I receive regular constructive feedback
· I feel free to give feedback
· I feel able to ask for feedback
Are Positively Motivated — their abilities are recognised and utilised — they have positive feelings about the job and their colleagues, and have an intrinsic drive to achieve and support each other.
· I enjoy coming to work
· My work makes a meaningful contribution
· I have the tools to do quality work
· I have time to do quality work
Manage Differences — they create collaborative relationships with colleagues, customers and management to ensure differences are not allowed to get in the way but are seen as a source of strength.
· Differences are welcomed
· My different needs are taken seriously
· I feel understood and accepted
· I feel confident in dealing with differences
Take Ownership — they take ownership for getting their needs met rather than moan behind the backs of their managers. They view leadership as a partnership and take joint responsibility with the leader for being led.
· I initiate conversations about my specific needs
· I have support and authority to make decisions
· I feel free to talk about sensitive or difficult issues
· I am encouraged to take the initiative
Are Conflict Free — they engage in proactive dialogue and hence, any risk of dysfunctional conflict is minimised so time and energy is not wasted.
· Conflict is dealt with and not avoided
· My conflicts are resolved satisfactorily
· I feel confident in dealing with conflict
· Team members are willing to negotiate
If you’re a manager or business leader, do you really know for sure if these indicators or underlying statements are being met for your people?
If not, you might just want to ask them because it could well lead to improved engagement, higher performance and better results.
The key of course is not just knowing if these need indicators are being met but then knowing what to do about it and how to change things if they’re not.
This is where the value of new tools like the ‘Satisfaction @ Work Diagnostic™’ (S@W) come to the fore because they do much of the ‘heavy lifting’ for management, freeing up time to ensure people are fully engaged + productive, resulting in far less people and performance problems.
NB. The S@W diagnostic enables employees to give honest feedback so you can measure the ‘needs-driven’ satisfaction levels of your workforce at regular intervals. It also supplies senior management teams with dashboards to monitor the culture + climate in relation to performance, broken down by team, function, division, region, country or whatever criteria is required.
There are lots of employee satisfaction type surveys in the marketplace today but few that focus so much on the needs of the employee rather than the needs of management and the business, the latter is where honest insights often get lost because employees just switch off from this kind of focus.
Getting the right diagnostic solution means you can ‘Meet the needs of management and the business without having to neglect the needs of your people’
Best,
Reece
For more information, you’ll find details HERE.
‘Reece is an award winning enterprise level account director, sales leaders and change maker, and author of the self-management psychology book + online course Strong Minds. He now spend his time providing mid-large organisations with ‘Blended Online + Offline Solutions That Transform Cultures’ specialising in turning around poor –average performing ‘Sales & Customer Service’ channels.
