When people are demotivated they get emotional and if managers and leaders don’t recognise or understand how to manage emotions, then they don’t really understand people leadership.
Most people that know me well also know that I have a real beef about lousy managers, lazy, ignorant or toxic ones especially — but also the masses of average managers who don’t take the time to develop themselves so that they can in turn better develop their people and importantly, inspire them to higher performances.
A key question that always bugs me is ‘Why is it that employers (bosses) so often miss the mark in terms of understanding what their employees really want?
If you’re a young manager or aspiring future leader, the message within this blog could serve you well and help you avoid the critical mistake that many managers that have gone before you have made and still make.
I came across a piece of research that highlighted the gap in understanding between management and employees through a company called Taraci Motivation based in New York, USA a few years ago, it shows the findings of a study conducted to identify what things were most important to employees at work and what employers thought were most important to their employees.
There were 10 key areas or rather values that came out as priorities and the top 3 for employees were:
1. Full appreciation for work done
2. Feeling in on things or inclusion
3. Sympathetic help on personal problems
Guess where employers, i.e. management had these same three values?
Yep, you guessed it, they had them down at numbers 8, 9 and 10 which meant they thought them to be the least important on the list of priorities they thought employees valued!
Not surprisingly, management had money down as the number one priority, showing that they judge others based on their own priorities maybe?
Having managed teams and sales channels, been responsible for the development of first line managers, leading step change projects, collaborating across multi-functional departments and business units and running a company myself, these findings resonated with me.
Why — Because from my exposure to such a wide range of situations, I noticed one common theme across the poor performing companies and teams… and that was how management and HR in a lot of cases too, so often get it wrong in terms of understanding what people valued and therefore motivated them at work.
The disparity in values from the study highlight this and I think the key message is even more true today than when it was first published many years ago, namely; there is a disconnect between management and employees that hinders performance.
For sure, there are other considerations that affect performance such as technical competencies and these all make a difference of course but the overriding factor for teams that I’ve seen excel and stay as top performing teams or companies has been around empathy between management and employees, a mutual understanding and respect based on aligned values.
Ultimately, we all instinctively know that the fundamental truths of how people want to be treated remain constant don’t we, as human beings and not commodities to be bought, sold or manipulated by money alone, right?
Senior management teams will continue to set the vision and strategy for the business but execution lies firmly with those employees dealing with customers on a day-to-day basis. These are the true heroes of the business and management need to invest more time understandings them, if they don’t do this they’re screwed and it’s likely their company’s performance is screwed too.
The classic phrase coined by Stephen R Covey springs to mind ‘’Seek first to understand, then to be understood’’
A prime example is closely aligned to how I came to leave my corporate career after receiving a rather large bonus, far from the money keeping me there, it actually helped me move on to something new, more stimulating and personally challenging.
I was working on an interim role for a business intelligence consultancy and a partner shared some insights with me for a well known aerospace company that were comparing data insights with soft skills benefits. One of the key findings was that many High Performing Employees actually left the company after receiving a big bonus rather than staying with the company. It wasn’t about the money and so in effect, the payout became a freedom payment instead of what the business expected would be a retention tool.
‘’High pay won’t make people stay… if employee values like those at the top of the list I mentioned aren’t being met’’
When people have enough money that they don’t need to worry about money, other factors become the motivators or in fact, de-motivators and new managers or aspiring future leaders would do well to take heed of this factor and the findings of the study.
With this in mind, all levels of management should take particular note in understanding the top three employee values on the list of ‘What employees say they want’, namely:
1. Full appreciation for work well done and not as an incentive or monetary reward (manipulation) but because it’s genuinely appreciated and seen to be of value to the team, department or organisation as a whole. Instead, so many managers take it for granted and view it as ‘this is what they get paid for anyway’ and hence, miss the point and importantly, miss and opportunity to show sincere gratitude that inspires continued or improved performance in future.
2. Feeling in on things doesn’t mean you have to manage like a democracy where everyone has a say in the direction of the business or key decisions, it simply means that managers and leaders involve their people in some way, communicate with them, let them know what’s going on, how they can contribute, providing a platform to voice their ideas, solutions, innovation. In effect, an open and honest exchange of information without fear of judgment or reprisals.
3. Sympathetic help on personal problems because the whole person is coming into work and not two separate bodies. It can just mean listening, understanding and being sensitive to the impact that personal problems have on stress levels and the potential impact on productivity at work. It doesn’t mean that management have to solve people’s personal problems but understand how to support people with the work-life balance side of things.
Too many managers today don’t really understand these because they’re too far removed from the trenches, they rely on ‘data’ alone for insights and ignore the ‘feelings’ that you get when speaking with and investing time with the real heroes delivering customer service.
I’ve heard it from managers I’ve coached and it echoes from some boardrooms too ‘this kind of ‘fluffy stuff doesn’t really make a difference or therefore matter’ or ‘we already know the answers’ or ‘we’re just too busy’ to do this.
Frankly, all such attitudes stink.
Yes, this ‘fluffy soft-skills stuff’ does work, you need to understand that you’re not managing people, you’re managing their emotions and their emotions are driven by their values, which may be very different to yours.
No, you don’t already know and I’ve worked for a few CEO’s who assumed they did and they got it so wrong, one in particular accelerated the decline of the company rather than turn it around. Assuming you know and just surrounding yourself with numpty ‘yes men or women’ who won’t challenge you isn’t clever, it’s plain ignorant and damaging.
And as for the ‘too busy’ bit, too busy doing what exactly… sitting behind laptops looking at dashboards, sending out emails, making check-up phone calls and maybe just managing from spreadsheets?
So what’s the alternative or at least one of the alternatives that could make the most difference in making step changes in performance in the short-term and provide the springboard to an improved culture in the longer-term?
It’s a bit radical I know but how about investing some time with your people and actually asking them for their feedback, opinions, and ideas for a better working environment.
Here’s one example of how doing this created a step change in performance worth millions of pounds and which broke down barriers between management and employees.
GREAT MANAGERS AND LEADERS HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE CALLED OUT
Be a manager that has the COURAGE TO BE CALLED OUT by the people that matter most as a way to improve yourself, your direct reports and ultimately the collective results.
REAL LIFE SITUATION:
A team of over two dozen sales managers take part in a coaching program where they’re asked to rate themselves (self-image) against core competencies and then have their people (reality) rate them.
From this, key development areas are identified, the sales managers enlist the help of their people to keep them on track with honest but respectful feedback but also, they identify areas that their direct reports can improve on too.
RESULT: Collaboration, moral, productivity and culture all improved at lightening speed and sales revenues improved by 9% equivalent to over £4m on the bottom line for the business.
Interestingly, the majority of improvement came from the 60% of the previously middle performing managers and their teams, and not the top 20% or bottom 20%.
This middle 60% are often the very group that gets ignored by managers who spend most of their time praising the top 20% and trying to move out the bottom 20% and yet, it’s this 60% group that can offer some of the best opportunities for business improvement.
You can read one of my previous articles on this subject ‘Here’s to the quiet ones who make a difference’ for more details about the competitive advantage of developing the 60% in my blogs on this website.
There were some reservations from some managers at the start of the program that were a bit concerned about asking their people to rate them because they deemed it the managers job to be making judgements.
Emotions also ran high with some managers as their egos were going to be challenged too but frankly, these had to be put aside for the benefit of the bigger picture, which was a critically needed turn-around in performance and this meant a wholly collective contribution rather than relying on just a few to join in.
Even so, there was still some early resistance to this exercise from some of the managers who made ‘lukewarm’ attempts to get involved instead of immersing themselves into the initiative.
These were overcome partly by coaching and support of the change manager but more so because of the results other managers were getting. The change manager even got calls from these ‘reluctant’ managers saying how inspired their teams felt and feedback they received from the people, like ‘ have you had a brain or heart transplant or something’ as the changes were so impactful for both sides. Individual reports of previously poor performing people (demotivated by lack of management empathy perhaps) came flooding in about how they’d ‘suddenly’ hit targets even though their technical competence hadn’t changed.
QUESTION: Here’s a challenge of your courage in this respect if you’re up for it…
1. How would you rate your management or leadership skills on a scale of 1 -10 (10 being top notch) against competencies like Organising, Planning, Communication, Delegation, Coaching, Counselling, Directing, Supporting, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Inclusion & Team Participation, Giving Sincere Praise and Recognition, Stress Management, Motivating, Inspiring, Integrity, Empathy, Judgement or any others relevant to your role.
2. And then, are you courageous enough to ask your people to rate you and what they value most from you as a manager or in fact, value least?
You’ll find out what drives your people to be and do more, what they value most (and it may differ person to person, which is why 121 management is so critical) and also what you may be doing or not doing that demotivates them and stops them giving their best.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had the view that ‘you don’t need to motivate good people, just stop demotivating them’ and you’ll get better work and better results. I’m not sure if I read this, heard it or created it myself as a result of stimulation from all the material I studied to help me get where I wanted to go. Either way, it’s ingrained in me and has served the people who’ve worked for and with me well.
We need to remember that as human beings, we’re all different and can’t assume one fix fits all, e.g. grouping generations like millennials or baby boomers into lumps and treating them all the same isn’t the answer!
Employers, i.e. managers at all levels must do their own on-going or regular research and not rely on cosmetic company employee surveys or HR data.
Managers much seek on-going feedback as a temperature gauge of how they and their team are doing, i.e. get close to your people and stay close, they’ll reward you for it handsomely with great results.
In this respect, the climate and culture of the business will be positively impacted when research and feedback is done correctly because you’re able to see ways to eliminate the psychological barriers to success, the demotivators.
IN CONCLUSION:
a) Employers, i.e. this means managers at all levels must invest time truly understanding what helps drive people to go out of their way to do good work and, with a balance between data analytics and manager-by-manager feedback. And, get HR in the trenches too because too many people in HR have always been in HR and never done a proper job if you’ll excuse the expression. They can’t get true empathy from just listening to management.
b) Develop employees so they get better at explaining to employers (their managers) what they value and what a difference it will make to them and how they work. Some managers will obviously find this harder than others but they simply must drop their egos and open themselves up to be better.
It’s been said that you have no griping rights if you don’t speak up but I also know that many people listening to this will work for utterly terrible bosses that they can’t talk to and I’ve had my fair share of these too. I’ve stood up against some of these and it’s backfired on occasions so beware rather than be cowardly about it.
Choosing your battles and how to go about giving feedback to less than desirable bosses is a minefield and I could write a whole new article about how to deal with these kind of situations and idiot bosses (and in fact I may do) but will leave this aspect for another day. In effect though, consider the plus and minus consequences before deciding what to do!
All The Best,
Reece
Originally published at reecepye.com.
