Culture to Engage

Listening For and/but/or Listening To

Right before last week's LISTEN! Audio Conference, it occurred to me that listening resides in two distinct areas: listening to and listening for.

Both listenings contribute critically to building and maintaining a successful organizational culture. (My definition of a "successful organizational culture" is one that demonstrates and profits from the behaviors, attitudes, and values it commits to, visually and verbally.)

Why do these two listenings make a difference to your organization's culture?

• Listening for means anticipating what's to be said, attentively awaiting the message or information. A savvy manager is always listening for telltale signs of success or difficulty. Listening for can be a very proactive behavior, giving you the chance to take early action, whether congratulating an employee's achievement early or offsetting a pending problem before it occurs.

• Listening to means giving attention to what is being said/shared at this moment. A savvy manager listens to everything s/he hears. Whether an employee comes to ask advice, lodge a complaint, share an emotion, or offer a suggestion, fully listening to what you hear gives you the chance to demonstrate your engagement in your employees. You already know how (much) that contributes to their engagement.

How do we distinguish between the two listenings?

• Listen for by applying attention to what you suspect is coming.  You do want to be on the ready, yet you do not want create negative self-fulfilling prophecies.  How do you achieve the first and avoid the second?

Open up your receptors to either/or. Do not lock into, "I know what's coming. I'm listening for it. I'm ready to deal with it as soon as I hear it." Open your thinking to, "I'm listening for signals of Worst Case Scenario and I'm listening for messages that the best is about to happen. I aim to listen to either one that occurs." 

Example: A new physician-owned boutique hospital is planned for your community. Concerning information and opinions from your suppliers, patients and community leaders, you want to listen for whatever they say. Listening for the bad news can limit how clearly you listen to how new competition might engage your people in better service, greater efficiency, higher morale. Listening for how good the new addition will be can prevent your listening to information that might help you enhance your employees' engagement in the face of competition.

• Listen to by allowing yourself to listen without filters, distractions, and reactions getting in the way. Make time to know what prevents you from listening openly and completely to others and  you increase your listening skills. Some common  obstacles to clear listening are
  • I know what s/he's going to say...
  • I've heard this before....
  • This won't affect me....
  • I'd rather be doing (watching, hearing)....
  • I've got so much already going on....

You may have an obstacle or two uniquely your own. Objectively identifying what limits your effective listening increases how well you listen to.

Listen to what is said, identify your reactions (emotional, conceptual, practical), and then hold them. Unless absolutely necessary, refraining from voicing at once what comes to your mind (or feelings) allows you to continue to listen, to attend the entire message, and to determine the appropriate time and manner to present your response.

Listening for and listening both provide great ways to carry your organization's culture forward by engaging you (and your people) in that culture.

[A more spiritual, somewhat different take on the same topic is at my Prosperitee weblog.]

Photo sources:
Windmill ... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2323739125_a5c2a9e025_m.jpg
Waterfall ...www.flickr.com/photos/laffy4k/105507127/

Culture Eats Strategy Every Day of the Week

OK. The title should be in quotes and accredited directly to Carleen Haas, VP of Human Resources at Humana, the Kentucky-based health insurance company. (Heck, my health insurance company!)

I'm delighted when a senior manager puts culture and engagement together. In her interview with Talent Management, Haas makes clear that leadership at Humana is expected to create a culture of engagement.

My question is how?

What is expected of leaders when it comes to implementing continually a culture of engagement?

How do we want those leaders to engage those expectations?  (Interesting, isn't it, that expectations and engagement are of concern regarding leaders just as regarding front-line employees.)

Humana offers a one-day orientation for employees that touches cultural expectations, values and mission. That's a good start for any organization.

But what's the leader's role in continuing employees' awareness and appreciation of the specific culture? What's the leader's role in maintaining the culture?

I come back to my four components of building the CORE of an organizational culture. These should be on every leader's List of Responsibilities.

Communication: Every leader, every manager must hold herself accountable for regular communication with employees. This communication should, among other things, (re)vitalize the organization's culture. For quite a few postings about communication, click Communication in Categories to the right. 

Opportunity: Every leader, every manager must ensure that specific opportunities are made available for employees to engage in aspects of the organizational culture. An opportunity, by the way, requires a time and place. For examples of opportunities, check this earlier posting.

Resources: Every leader, every manager must see that the resources employees will use to take on effective engagement are made available. Resources include tools, information, mentoring, training, and more. Here's an earlier posting and here's a downloadable pdf.

Engagement: Every leader, every manager must be certain that every individual who supervises employees does so with an "engagement commitment." The objectives of the organization are more successfully achieved when employees are engaged. Managers/supervisors should give ample attention (and encouragement) to employee engagement.

Carleen, I append to your statement: "Culture eats strategy every day of the week to the CORE."

Another Word for R

That other word is recognition*.

I worked last week with a clinic staff. Warm-up discussion brought out comments that they'd appreciate it if the powers-that-be knew who they were, recognized them, and paid them a bit of attention.

These people were neither whining nor pouting. Their matter-of-fact message was, "We do our jobs. We work hard. In fact, we probably cannot work any harder. Still, it'd be nice to get a pat on the back or a 'thank you' from our leaders every now and again."

There's never too much employee recognition from an organization's leadership because

• A cared-for employee feels better about himself, his work, his managers, his company.
• An appreciated employee associates more happily with her job, her company, her associates.
• A noticed employee behaves and performs more energetically than one who's ignored.

And so

• Feeling better, being happier, and having more energy make it easier to do one's work. Yes.

Maybe employees feel they cannot work any harder. That work intensity alone warrants recognition by management and leadership.

There's a greater ROI. Recognition from leaders creates room for greater employee engagement. As my Gram used to say, dishing out heaping servings of banana
pudding, "There's always room for extra." Employee engagement means working more, working smarter, working better.

How can you make this recognition happen? Here are 3 suggestions:

• Thank You Notes. Every leader should have a box--a large box--of Thank You notes in her desk drawer. It should become second nature to write, sign, and mail a quick TYN every time good news is brought to her attention. Fact: the more TYNs she sends, the more good news she'll receive. I'm willing to assume that means more good work is being done. A victorious circle. (Quint Studer didn't invent TYNs but he's given them great press and high value in his Hardwiring Excellence.)

• We've Done Good! Any entity within an organization should feel free to toot its horn. A one-page "newsletter" that boasts of the department's (and its individuals'!) successes can be published and distributed (upward) every month. Tip: if the leaders need a little push to reply to the good news, leave a blank 2x2 inch square in one corner of the page, headed Your Note Here.
  

• Look What I've Done! If/when your organization's culture is ready for it, allow individuals to send notes (e-mails?) of specific accomplishments to the leader(s). If leaders want employees to be proud of the organization, and if leaders recognize the organization depends on the employees, it follows the leaders want employees to have pride in themselves. Why not express it? Hint: A savvy manager carefully sets the stage for this, ensuring employees carry it out appropriately.

*About this posting's title. My CORE of Employee Engagement features Resources as its R. I'm sticking with that, for great principles can't be implemented without necessary resources. However, recognition is a more-than-worthy substitute for the R in CORE.

Is There More to Engagement than a Story?

While the mind looks for proof, the heart looks for engagement. While the mind looks for information, the heart looks for passion. While the mind looks for answers, the heart looks for experience. The mind makes a decision, and it's the heart that makes a commitment.
                                                                               Terry Pearce

I want to take a micro-shift in focus on communication, communication as a component in the CORE of employee engagement. Please note that it this shift is of macro-significance.

As Terry Pearce's statement above (taken shamelessly from Crainer and Dearlove's article "Because They Take You At Your Word," The Conference Board Review March/April 2008) people make their engagement from their heart rather than from their head.

I'll add this: the heart says, "This is good. Let's do this." The head then adds its analytical approval with, "Yeah. It's OK."

And the magic of the story is the quickest and surest way to touch people's hearts.

I am not concerned with how well one tells their story/stories. Stage presence, gestures, dramatic pause, building to climax--while good and valuable if you want to both engage and entertain your audience--are beyond my focus here.

I want us to our share our personal experiences, our personal stories...and so share more of ourselves. Since that can happen in every setting imaginable, I'm just looking to raise our comfort level, not our expertise. (If you want to get good at telling a story as part of your presentation or from the platform, I can offer you several excellent coaches and resources.)

Whew. Here are 5.5 things I think it's good to know about story telling:

1. You Have Stories Aplenty. You have volumes and volumes of stories from your life. Plenty of these are share-worthy stories. Sometimes the best stories to share are the ones you don't have (or know yet) the specific reason for sharing. Keep a notebook with you all the time. When you recall something from last week or elementary school and it strikes you, write it in your notebook.

2. Experience Means More than Ego. Let go of any feelings like, "Oh, I can't talk about myself." or "No one wants to know that (or anything) about me." People want to know other people...much more than they want to know just others' thoughts. We know one another by knowing one another's experiences. Put ego (or ego-fear) aside. Just tell the story. If you're the hero of the story, congratulations. Those who hear your story will admire that. If you're the butt of the story, they will admire that, too. Because you shared it with them.

3. Serve a Full-Course Meal. Don't eliminate details or excitement or emotion. Don't assume people are in a hurry for you to finish. The setting, the situation, the emotion--the way the playroom sunlight made the dust motes sparkle at that moment in your eighth summer--add life and vitality to your story. Don't skimp. Skimping cheats the listener. It also cheats your story.

4. Share A Story; Request A Story. You have many reasons to encourage others to share stories with you. You'll learn something about that person. That person will appreciate your attention. You will both get enjoyment from the simple act of sharing. The story-telling will contribute to the culture of your relationship, making story-telling a natural component of that culture.

5. Know YOUR Story. While you do have an abundance of personal stories, for the specific major parts of your life (work, family, community...) one story is YOU. One story is the clear-view window by which others can see and understand you in that life-part. You may not need (or want) to script it or rehearse it or refine it. But you do want to know it. You do want it to be the story you rely on when you want people to see YOU immediately, clearly, completely.

5.5 Authenticate Yourself. The best way to let those who don't know you know you are authentic is to tell a story on yourself. Everyone of us as screwed up more than once. And some of those screw-ups have had wonderful results: instructional, grounding, insightful...and probably humorous. Comb through your mental file of stories. Select those about you and about your screw-ups. Pick the one(s) you are comfortable sharing that others might laugh at you, with you.

If you're interested in more information, more insight about making story telling a natural part of your communication skills, consider my Make Magic with Stories audio conference.

Talkin' Inspiration

A leader/manager can choose to be the continuous source of inspiration to her employees, or she can opt to provide inspiration they might own for themselves.

Given that you have a great deal of work to do, I'm betting the second option is more appealing.

Keeping in mind the distinction between inspiration and motivation, I offer you 4 conversation techniques you can use to plant the inspiration seed (or spark the inspiration flame?)...and then turn it over for your people to nurture (or fan) themselves.

These techniques are based entirely upon communication with your employees. The communication is very definitely two-way; it is not at all your telling them the inspirational.

Take a look:

Talk about the company. Whether it's early in one's time on board or not, it is never too late (or too often) to talk about the company, its goals and objectives, its plans, its structure, its policy and procedures, and more. Once the conversation is rolling, ask the employee for his insights, his observations, his perceptions of the company. This encourages his sense of ownership of the company's meaning and matter, and it provides you the opportunity to clarify and expand as necessary. Both an ownership sense and an increased awareness can fuel his inspired view of where he works.

Talk about expectations. A key to successful employee engagement is clear understanding of what is expected. You can move to inspired engagement by expanding employee perspectives on expectations. You may express what the job expectations are and what the general company expectations of those in its workforce are. Then ask the employee for her expectations. What does she expect from the company? What does she expect of herself and her performance? What expectations does she have of her manager/supervisor?  This, too, is not just an orientation conversation. This can happen any time (and more than once) in an individual's career.

Talk about can do. Don't allow the job, the job description, the job function to limit any individual. As manager/leader you have the power to engage an employee in discussion of what he can do to make his work more productive, to expand his performance parameters, to contribute more (or better) to the company. The individual who wishes to realize dreams as part of his job (or career) is part-way inspired already. You can stimulate similar dreams in other employees as well. Ask a variety of "what if" and "if you could" and "would you like to" questions. Allow/encourage the employee to voice without regard for the possible/impossible.

Talk about the good. Sometimes we get so accustomed to where we are, what we do, and with whom we do it that we lose track of what makes it good. The rediscovery of the good has greater value when one recalls it for herself, rather than being reminded of it. Open-ended discussion may begin with some praise or compliment to set the stage. Then all you have to do is ask for her reflections on the positives of the company, the team, the job, her performance. The answers of what is good allow you opportunity to offer additional support that continues--even increases--the positives.

You want to engage your people in these conversations. You want to draw them into the conversation by patiently inviting their input. And it may well require your patience to allow them to become comfortable elaborating their points of view, their desires and dreams, their appreciations.

But when it makes them feel inspired for the place where they work, the people with whom they work, and the work they do, your patience has paid off. Big time, I'll bet.