วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 5 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2555

What Are Your Employees Saying About You?

Overheard in a conversation around the water cooler: Do you know what my manager said to me this morning? She said I just can't do anything right! Can you believe it? What's wrong with her?

The same employee who said this also wrote the following comment recently in a 360 degree assessment of her manager:

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She is a great manager, very supportive. She gives me great feedback.

What Are Your Employees Saying About You?

Okay ... you may be thinking, "What is wrong with this employee?" Well ... nothing is wrong with her, other than her level of trust. It seems that she does not feel safe giving this feedback directly to her manager. So, what kind of feedback are you getting from your employees? What does it take for you to hear the truth?

Here are five things you can do to create a climate in which the truth can be told.

Trust is a two-way street.

Overheard in another conversation: My manager is like my shadow! We set goals, but she can't wait for me to complete a goal. She checks in with me constantly to see what's going on. It makes me wonder what she's up to!"

For your employees to trust you, you need to first trust them. This does not mean "casting a blind eye". It means establishing clear boundaries about your expectations and trusting that your employees will do what you expect without your watching over them every moment.

No employee will tell you the truth if they feel they can't trust you.

Respect pays off.

An unhappy employee once told me, "I respect my manager, but I graduated from business school, and he treats me like I'm still in high school. I may not have much experience, but I really do know what I'm doing!

Mutual respect is key to a great manager/employee relationship. Winning your employee's respect is about acknowledging their professionalism, believing that they will do what you expect them to do to fulfill their professional responsibilities, and assuring that they know you will provide the support, resources and tools they need to be successful as professionals

Integrity - no matter what.

Integrity is something all managers say they have, but when "push comes to shove" not all actually do. Take the manager who received an award for great customer service. The organization's most important customer had written to the CEO praising their customer service. The CEO called the customer service manager to his office, thanked him and gave him a significant reward. The manager did not inform the CEO about the employees who had actually delivered the service. While the manager basked in the limelight, behind the scenes his employees talked about what had happened, with the result that they would no longer "go the extra mile" for him when he requested that they do so.

On the positive side, going to bat for your employees when they are overlooked and unrewarded is a powerful message and one they will long remember.

Stress - let it go.

In that original water cooler conversation, we heard the hurt and anger in the voice of the employee, but what was not so obvious was the level of stress the manager was exhibiting. Stress is a killer. It can kill people, and it can kill careers. And the leading cause of stress is change. Change is a way of life in most organizations today. Organizations that cannot change will not survive in today's highly-competitive world of business. Managers today more than ever need to effectively manage stress. One of the tenets of effective stress management is work-life balance. Work-life balance is not the same for everyone. For some, it means not working for more than 45 to 50 hours per week, every week. For others, it means working 80 hour weeks from time to time, and total escape from work at other times. And it is not only where you spend your time, but also how you spend it. It is about making life your first priority, with work being an important part of your life. If you are so stressed that you can't control your emotions, as may very well have been the case when the manager in the water cooler conversation said, "You just can't do anything right!", then you need to take action to find an outlet for your stress that does not involve lashing out at your employees.

Motivation matters.

Finally, motivation is the driver of great performance. If your employees understand and accept why you do what you do, they will support you. And the same goes for you. If you understand and accept their motivation, you can leverage what's in it for them to their benefit and yours.

The bottom line? If you create a climate of trust, you will open the door to honest communication. You can then ask your employees directly what they think about how you manage them ... and they will tell you the truth.

What Are Your Employees Saying About You?

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