I recently ready the Gallup article by Ryan Pendell outlining these ‘8 Habits’; they are very ‘right on’, so here they are to share with you, along with my thoughts and suggestions. More suggestions are continued below.
5. Discover what motivates people besides money.
One manager, who works in engineering, describes what he loves about being a manager:
“I really think when you get to the right spot with an individual, you find out what trips their trigger, what gets them excited — getting the next order, beating the competition, solving a hard problem — that lets you light the fire in them … Once you figure that out, it becomes fun.”
Exceptional managers are curious about the inner motivations of their employees because it’s the key to high performance. Does your employee enjoy meeting new people? Mastering new skills? Bonding with a team? Working in the background?
To motivate your employees, figure out how to reframe projects in a way that is uniquely compelling for an employee.
Naturally, this requires getting to know an employee in a deep way. Discover what they care about, what they find fun, what they hate. Observe the types of work projects that inspire them and help them find similar work.
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia:
What are the individual ‘Values’ of each of your team members? Ask the team to give you specific Values that mean most to them. List those ‘values’ on the left hand column of a chart. So that you don’t just have a set of ‘words’, then ask the group to define each value with an In / Out Behavior.
Here is how you do it / create a chart: For example, if one of their values is ‘meaningful work’: What does that value mean to them (this becomes the In Behavior / write to meaning to each value, down under a middle column on the chart). Next, then ask them for the Out Behavior / what does it not mean to them / write each out behavior next to each value, down under a right hand column on the chart).
Now you have a complete set of Values with In / Out Behaviors, written down on a chart, that all can refer to.
6. Explain why your team matters and celebrate excellence.
One manager described what she did when she first started leading people:
“I started as a supervisor in our billing department. A lot of people in the company did not look at them as an important aspect of the company, but they really are. I went in and showed them how important they are and the role they have in the company. And within three to four months I had employees come in my office to tell me what an impact that made.”
How many employees show up to work for years and never feel like they matter? Only three in 10 U.S. employees strongly agree that in the last seven days they have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
If you are a new manager with a demoralized team, it may take some time to uncover the source of that discouragement. You must show them that you respect them and that they matter. You must be able to identify and celebrate successes — even if they are small at first. Even if nobody else believes in your team, you must — and show it often.
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia:
Gallup Poll mentions that $ 500 billion a year is wasted in low levels of employee engagement. That’s a lot of money.
A “Levels of Engagement” Exercise is a great way to ask your team, where from 1 to 10 each team member is on a continuum line. #1 being ‘Actively Disengaged’ (10-20% of employees) to ‘Low Engagement’ (30% of employees) to ‘Sweet Spot’ (30% of employees) to # 10 Actively Engaged (20%).
Ask each group member to put their ‘number’ on a sticky — without looking, mix up the stickies (keep confidentiality for all, including yourself), and place stickies on the continuum line. Ask the group in mass, how can we work together to improve our engagement ‘numbers’, both as a team and individuals. You’ll have a lively conversation! (for more details on this exercise, please email Alysia Kehoe -alysia@kehoeconsultants.com).
7. Realize that you have to care about your employees’ lives outside of work.
Several managers mentioned that being successful as a manager means thinking beyond the workplace:
“You’re more than managing on their job performance. You’re there for them if they have a sick child or a sick parent. I think a lot of people outside of management don’t realize the impact we make on their lives, dealing with all the experiences beyond the job. It’s not just ‘here’s your job description’ — it’s everything beyond that.”
Another sales manager described her vision when she started:
“I committed to my team when I started … I want to help you build the best life that you can.”
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia:
“The Crazy Cycle in the Workplace” program by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs explains how employees want to feel “Personal Cared for” from their employer, and Employers want to feel “Respected” from their employees. When that doesn’t happen, both employees and their employer go for a spin on the ‘crazy cycle’; and communication / engagement comes to a stand still.
I have seen great results with this program, as I conduct this program with my clients; let me give you some insights on how it works. (for more details on this program, please email Alysia Kehoe)
Life happens. And life also impacts work performance in a huge way. For this reason, managers need to understand their employees as people with full lives. Managers should know, at an appropriate level, what’s going on in an employee’s life. Are they buying a house? Adopting a child? Cleaning out a flooded basement?
Ultimately, the manager’s job is to get the most out of their people. But great managers find ways of adapting, adjusting and individualizing roles to fit the needs of employees. Small tweaks can make a big difference in how much an employee loves their job. And simply knowing that your manager cares about you has a strong correlation with engagement at work.
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia:
Here is a great resource and story of how one company helped make the dreams of their employees come true, and hugely improve employee engagement; “The Dream Manager” by Matthew Kelly.
Ask an employee, ‘How can I help you reach your dream?’ You don’t need to give them money, just resources / suggestions on who they need to contact / network with to get answers.The book is chock full of ideas.
8. Always be on the lookout for new stars to raise up.
What’s a top goal for exceptional managers? Identifying and developing new leaders.
“I want to start working on developing other managers, identifying people in the department who can take over things, not being responsible for everything.”
When we asked great managers what their top priorities were for the coming year, several mentioned:
- “succession planning”
- “promoting others”
- “developing other managers”
- “identifying people who can take over”
Clearly, their minds were on these questions: Who has potential for future leadership, and how do I prepare them to get there?
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia:
Make your ‘stars’ shine. Have your up and coming employees / managers / leaders / coaches, present a favor work topic as a ‘Lunch & Learn’ program. It gives the leader an opportunity to increase their communication skills in a safe environment, everybody gets lunch, and you see how to assist the individual in the next step of their development.
Bad managers focus on the past — what can’t be changed. Average managers focus on the present — the issue at hand. But the best managers focus on the future — what does future success look like?
Great managers see themselves as coaches, developing players to maximize their potential over the long term.