The Orange Chair Online

Waiting at airports

I don’t know about you but my regular life seems to be filled to the brim. So when I’m thrown a curved ball – which happens – it brings with it a healthy dose of perspective.

Right now I am sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight. I may not be able to deliver the workshop I am flying over for. I can choose to fret pointlessly or I can use my time productively. Not much of a choice!

So here I am writing this blog and doing one of my favorite things – people watching. It’s not often we get to observe our fellow travelers in life. Given the flight was scheduled to leave at 7 am there are a lot of suits and Blackberries.

Everyone is trying to reschedule meetings. The man seated next to me needs to deliver a sealed tender document. There’s a missed funeral and a divisional meeting that’s going to go ahead without its senior leader. Despite all this juggling people are remarkably calm.

It’s astonishing the different stories evolving in this cramped little room; everyone is on a journey – aside from the actual flight we are all trying to make. Hopefully soon we will all be joined in making a common journey. When that happens there will be a great sense of camaraderie and shared experience. Organizations too need to find ways to make sure all their employees are getting on to the same flight.

Clinton tells the story of her roots

Hilary Clinton is re-energizing support in Pennsylvania. In part, according to an article by Steve Denning, because she is starting to tell the story of her own roots. Her grandfather lived in Pennsylvania and worked in a lace mill. Her father grew up there too and played football for Penn State.

Our militaristic leadership model (and media portrayals) leads us to assume that the ideal leader must be aloof and invioable. A new theory of leadership is emerging, namely that leaders embody the principles of the people they lead. As such effective leaders work hard to understand the values and opinions of their followers—rather than assuming absolute authority—to enable a productive dialogue with followers about what the group embodies and stands for and thus how it should act.

Hilary Clinton shows her leadership skills by tapping into middle American values and "telling her story".

Business leaders can no longer afford to remain aloof - they need to make the connection with employees. Stories are a wonderful way to show humanity and connect in a meaningful way. But beware - everyone knows a faker - perhaps Hilary was wise to speak about her roots in Pennsylvania - home is always a good place for passion.

 

Employee Engagement: It's as easy as A B C ...

David Zinger, host of the Employee Engagement Network, a while back posted his A to Z of employee engagement and challenged others on the network to do the same - with the intent being to publish a collective eBook of the various responses....a great idea we thought so....

...Nicky, Jennifer and I took up the challenge - approaching it from the perspective of an employee...we would love to get your feedback on this.

Engage Me If You Can - It's as Easy as A,B,C...

ASK:  Ask me questions, ask me for ideas and ask me to participate - in doing so you will get my attention and be on your way to capturing my heart.

BEHAVE:  How you behave towards me and others we work and interact with conveys a great deal to me...treat me like an adult and someone who can assist, treat all those around me in the same way and we have a chance at moving ahead here.  Treat me as overhead, as a resource or as human capital (whatever that is) and I will drift off to another place.  Yelling and screaming...that won't work. Ignoring except when I mess up...that won't work either. 

COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE:  If you want me to be engaged help me understand what is going on around here and let me in on the context (another 'C') that led to or must shape our decisions.  That is called communicating with me.  And once we have that in order - well let's work together - you and I and the others on our team - to clarify the opportunities and and determine how we will succeed.  We call that collaborating.

DELIVER: Too often you make promises or indicate you will get back to us on something - please remember that by delivering on those promises you build credibility and trust  - and if we can rely on you, rest assured you can rely on us.

ENCOURAGE AND EMPOWER: It is actually a simply concept.  Let me know when I have done well and I smile a little more, I learn and I carry that perspective forward.  Let me know also that you trust me to get the job done in the way that makes the most sense to me and my smile will lead to a willingness to do more.  Encourage me and empower me - keys to my long term engagement.

FEEDBACK: Tell me how I am doing - not once or twice a year - but all the time.  Tell me when you like what I have done; tell me what didn't work and why.  Providing me feedback - both positive and constructive (but please don't yell!) on a regular basis will do so much to help me improve you will be surprised at what can be achieved.

GOALS:  Give me goals to work towards.  Better yet, let me in on developing goals that make sense for me, for us and for the company.

HELLO and HOW ARE YOU?: Stopping by every now and then to say hello and ask how I am doing, how my family is doing or to talk a little about nothing overly important (did you know I play golf?) - what could be simpler?  It shows you care.  More importantly it helps build the bond we need to enjoy our time at the office.

INTEGRITY: Earn it, keep it and reap the rewards.  I'll do the same and so will our team mates.  Just imagine!

JOURNEY: I am on a journey - and so too is the company - can we please find a way to link the two?  That will take a bit of work of course.  You will have to get to know me a little. Well, maybe a lot! Find out what you can about me and my own goals and ambitions, about my hopes and dreams and about where I hope my journey will lead me. About who I am...outside of work as well. I will return the favor by getting to know you and your hopes and dream and....  Ah yes, don't forget to share with me the journey the company is exploring.  Only then will getting engaged become a possibility.

KNOWLEDGE:  Share with us what you know.  Allow us to share with you what we know.  And ensure we share what we know with each other.  And help us apply that knowledge in a way that leads to success.

LISTEN: Listen. Listen actively.  Listen with your ears....your eyes...your mind. Let me know what you heard and check that what you heard is what I said or intended.  If you do that, you will be surprised at what you learn..

MEANING: My work has to have meaning.  I am here for much more than a pay cheque and to spend my day with others.  I want to contribute and in return I want to gain.  Work with me on building that meaning, on linking it together with our goals and you will really begin to capture me, my heart and my mind.

NOTICE: Take notice of what I do and how I do it.  Better yet - take notice of what all of us do - individually and collectively - and give us credit for our efforts and achievements.  Taking notice goes a long way.  Oh...don't forget that taking notice means that you actually share with me that you noticed.

OPPORTUNITY:  You know who I am and what matters to me.  Please consider opportunities for me to get involved in places I may not otherwise have the chance to get involved with.  Special assignments, leadership roles, cross organizational work, training, development and what have you - give me opportunities to deepen my capabilities and contributions.  I will succeed!

PASSION: Show me yours and I will show you mine.

QUESTIONS: Questions, questions and more questions.  Ask, consider, answer, probe, challenge.  They are indeed the gateway to deeper levels of awareness, understanding, knowledge and potential. 

RECOGNIZE, REWARD and RELATIONSHIPS:  If we can have the ABC's then we can redefine the 3 R's.  Recognizing what we do and rewarding us appropriately is key to engagement.  Building relationships with us on a personal and work basis is a darn good idea as well.  Forget the 3 R's at your own peril.

SMILE:  As the saying goes "a smile goes a long way!" Try one on for size - and see just how far.  You will be surprised.

TRUST:  Showing that you trust me - and giving me reason to trust you is maybe the most important of all the ABC's - without the rest just means so little.  Understand that trust is earned and earned over time.  Understand also that it is not all that hard to earn - but once lost, very hard to get back.

UNIFY OUR TEAM: Work with us as a team and let us work as a team (there is a difference Mr. Boss).  Allow us to share in building our vision, in setting our goals, in having some ownership.  Let us participate in the way that makes most sense - by allowing us to do what we can in the way we can.  Let us share our hopes and dreams and fears with each other - so we can then work together as one.

VICTORY:  Celebrating our wins - large, small and anywhere in between is important to us - it let's us know that our efforts have paid off, that some cares and that you have noticed.

WE: What is that old saying...many hands make light work!  We are here - let us in on what is happening and we can succeed together!

X-TRAORDINARY!: The results we can achieve will indeed be extraordinary...let's try!

YES...AND...not YES BUT: When you say "yes but" as you so often do you have the impact of shutting down our conversations and creativity.  And that's just not good.  How about trying "Yes...and..." for once.  You will be surprised and where that may lead and how it will make us feel!

ZENITH:  Follow the ABC of Employee Engagement and our full potential and commitment will be yours forever!

and that's it for now.......go forth and engage!

Employee Engagement: A Messy State Indeed - Only 1 in 3 Engaged says BlessingWhite

At some point business leaders must start to understand the importance of engagement!  I'm beginning to wonder if the concept will actually catch on as the single most important issue facing companies today as yet another significant research effort points to an awful state of affairs....

“The State of Employee Engagement 2008,” issued by global consultants BlessingWhite has found that fewer than one in three North American workers are fully engaged. Moreover, 19 percent are completely disengaged, and a further 13 percent are disillusioned and at risk for becoming disengaged.

Based on a survey of more than 7,500 employees and interviews with 40 human resource and line managers on four continents, the study identified five levels of employee engagement in the workforce.
There is a strong correlation between engagement and retention, said BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice. “For instance, we found that 85 percent of engaged employees plan to stay with their company during the year ahead. The study underlines the observation that engaged employees stay for what they give, while disengaged employees stay for what they get.”

Among the key findings were:

• There were no significant differences in engagement levels of men or women.
• Sectors with the largest number of engaged employees are HR consulting/training (46 percent), energy/utilities (40 percent), legal and business services (34 percent) and association/not-for-profit (34 percent).
• Industries with the fewest engaged are academia/higher education (23 percent), high technology (24 percent), chemicals (24 percent), retail (24 percent) and government (25 percent).
• Among functions, HR and sales departments have the most engaged (36 percent each), and finance and IT have the least (23 percent and 22 percent respectively).
• Virtual employees are slightly more engaged than their peers who work with their entire team present (34 percent vs. 28 percent).
• Engagement levels decrease somewhat as workforce size increases, with 32 percent of respondents from organizations of 1-999 employees compared with 25 percent in firms of more than 10,000 fully engaged.

It is time to face the music and start investing...the future of your business is at risk!

Generational expectations - implications for the world of work

My 15-year old daughter and I buy music in very different ways. She finds the notion that that someone would buy a physical object that contained a finite number of songs arbitrarily selected by someone else - rather quaint. My daughter is very clear about what her purchases and her expectations are high.

Businesses are beginning to catch on - music sellers, networks and studios are adjusting to a new world view where the customer is not only right, but expects to be able to exercise that judgment with a click of the mouse.

Clay Shirky,  an adjunct professor at New York University’s graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program  and the author of a new book, “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.”  http://www.shirky.com/ suggests that the web is not competition for traditional media, but a completely different system that empowers groups and individuals, a place where choice is not only an option, but an imperative.

As a communications professional and engagement specialists I have to ask myself what this will mean for the workplace of the future. Portal-based web sites and customized benefit packages are just the tip of the ice-berg.

I was chatting with a young woman the other day – an engineer.  One of her key motivators for becoming involved in volunteer activities within her organization is that she is able to exercise her creative design abilities. Can we expect to see a world where employees and managers co-design the job function?  Take that one step further and one can envisage interactive strategic planning. Exciting or terrifying – depends how you look at it.

The stories we tell about ourselves

Marshall Goldsmith writes about negative self talk in the April issue of Extended DISC® Newsletter, http://www.extendeddisc-na.com/newsletters/pdf-08/Extended_DISC_Newsletter_April_2008.pdf . He makes the point that often the  chatter that goes on in our head is often not based in fact but a mish mash of misconceptions – many gleaned from what others have told us over the years. 

Where there is a vacuum we will fill it with our own stories. And how unfortunate when those stories come from the opinions of others who may not know us very well and may have their own agendas.

How much more positive to create our own life stories – stories that build on our strengths and if we are in a position to do so – hire to our weaknesses.

What's your bedside manner like

This story on healing. A friend was hospitalized and at one point a doctor entered the ward with a group of student interns. The doctor and students did not greet any of the patients or request permission to review their cases.  Instead they proceeded to discuss ailments, pointing at body parts and reviewing charts, never once looking acknowledging these people.

Horrible. Yes indeed, amazing that our doctors are still being trained in this antiquated fashion.

Scratch below the surface of many North American corporations and you will find much the same sort of behavior, with employees being viewed as no more then a resource with an associated productivity number.

Healing happens far more effectively when there is a human element to care. Likewise employees are far more productive when their unique skills and talents are acknowledged. If your manager primarily  ignores you - your chances of being actively disengaged are 40 percent, where the national average is 18 percent. 

When opportunity knocks

Imagine - if you do not already have this - that the most perfect person walks into your life. This is your soul mate. He or she is gorgeous and meant for you in every way. Do you:

1. Jump in boots and all

2. Decide you can't possibly get involved because he/she is not in your social circle

3. You really like this person but you are too busy right now - you will get to him/her later

4. Check your bank balance and decide you don't have enough money to ask out your soul mate

5. Take nine months checking the person’s credentials by which time he/she has found someone else.

What has this go to do with business? Quite a lot actually. Often we come across strategies, tools and processes that we instinctively know will work for our organizations, but for a variety of reasons we brush them aside; we're too busy, it's too much money, need to do more research, have never worked with this company before. And so the opportunity passes by.

A fellow I know who works for a large bureaucracy found a process he loves. But he said no because the supplier was not on the preferred vendor list.

John Baldoni opens doors to conversations about staying confident through a downturn

John Baldoni has posted a fine little conversation on The Harvard Business School site entitled Staying Confident through a downturn.  In just a few short paragraphs Baldoni outlines the current state of affairs and points our efforts towards 3 actions: Keep your door open, Encourage creativity and Cheer lead.  As I read through the various responses to the article I was amazed at the various directions the conversations went - the only thing that seemed to be missing - although it may well have been implied on some of the responses is the entire notion of building contextual understanding for staff...the rest is bang on and I love the way the conversation is flowing - all readers of this blog are encouraged to read the starter and related conversation. Thanks John for sharing the thoughts....

Internal Communications - McDonalds Launches Employee Blog

I read with interest on Brandweek.com that McDonalds has recently launched Station M - a blog for intended to stimulate interaction between McDonald employees in the 15000+ outlets across Canada and the US and between employees and HO. 

"Station M allows employees to post content and begin online discussions on a variety of topics, including new McDonald's products, promotions and operations, as well as general, non-business related issues. Each post contains a 'comments' section where users can insert their reaction to, or questions about, a given topic. Content is provided in English, Spanish and French to facilitate the greatest level of participation across the U.S and Canadian markets."

With a major corp like McD's on board (finally!) it will be interesting to see how long the rest of the fast food industry (and other businesses for that matter) takes to move into the current world.