Are You Building Trust? Are You a Cat?

In the last few posts, I’ve talked about benefits of having happy, engaged employees, but what drives that kind of engagement beyond providing challenging, purposeful assignments? Trust is high on the list.  

Important! If you’re a cat, please stop reading.
You will never gain the trust of your employees. Nobody trusts a cat.

Stephen M.R. Covey (son of the the other Stephen Covey) makes the argument in his book The Speed of Trust that employees will stay at an organization longer and be more engaged when there is a high degree of trust.

Unfortunately, we’ve all seen firsthand how leadership can send signals of mistrust in many ways, without even knowing it. Closed-door meetings, overly scripted or choreographed speeches to employees at all-hands meetings, inconsistent messaging, and a penchant for lurking around, can send signals to employees that something is amiss.

Psychology Today offers three trust basics when it comes to leading or managing teams of employees: give trust first, communicate effectively, and be genuine. Simple enough, right?

Here are several other simple reminders for building trust—dos and don’ts of building trust:

Dos:

• Do invite your employees to play Candy Crush Saga….Wait! Don’t do that...Never do that.
• Make eye contact. Really look at the other person as they talk to you; not at your phone, at your note pad or out the window. And try to keep your gaze above the neckline.
• Be fair. Don’t show favoritism or treat one employee better than another, especially publicly. That’s a trust breaker no trust fall exercise will fix.
• Apologize. That’s right, apologize when you screw up, because you will (unless you’re super-human, but that’s another blog post.)
• Be consistent. Show up on time, don’t cancel or move meetings very often, and be there for guidance when your employees or teammates need you.
• Show trust to get trust. Comes across as someone who’s trustworthy and dependable, and you’ll better foster it in others.
• Always keep change in your pocket. I don’t know why—it’s something my Grandpa always told me.

Don’ts:

• Don’t lurk in the bushes of your employee’s homes after midnight.
• Don’t waffle. Wafflers don’t gain trust. Know what you’re talking about, know where you’re going and show confidence in that. Also, don’t wear waffles as hats. That’s a terrible thing to do.
• Don’t stomp around when you’re having a bad day. Just as you’d prefer your employees not act like children; you shouldn’t either. Especially don’t eat erasures.
• Don’t ask for things outside the reasonable needs of the business, e.g., washing your car, or massaging your bunions.
• If you ask for expertise, use it. Don’t discount it. (See “show trust to get trust above.”)
• Don’t lie. Duh. We all learned that in kindergarten or earlier. It’ll bite you in the pants every time.

Keep your eyes and ears out for the signs of mistrust amongst your employee base, and coach your leadership team on being authentic, addressing issues head on and directly, and using the language and the body language of trust.

Challenge Check, Part 2: Engaging a bored employee; special assignment time!

So, you conducted your Challenge Check across the organization, and just as you suspected—heck, you knew—you’ve got a few bored and disengaged drooling-melvins in your midst. Now what?  

Well, because we know that a challenged employee is likely to be a happier and more engaged employee, if you feel like your dis-engaged employees (the ones who scored 16 or higher on the Challenge Check Scorecard are ultimately good eggs who are capable of more, then try giving them a special assignment that taps into their unique skill set, adds value to the organization and feeds their sense of purpose.

A purpose-driven assignment, however big or small, is an excellent way to push a bored employee outside of their boring-as-of-late comfort zone. “We leave lucrative jobs to take low-paying ones that provide a clearer sense of purpose,” said Daniel Pink, who for years has researched and written about the topic of motivation. (See Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.)

Ask your dis-engaged employees the following questions by giving them this super-short employee survey, another one of my 5-Minute Tools.

“What Motivates Me?” survey

If you can get creative, think outside the box, and give your disengaged employee a special project that makes him feel just that, special, you’ll be on your way to re-engaging that bored employee. And you might start to crack another tough business challenge at the same time.

This week’s “What Motivates Me?” survey is just one of my 5-Minute Tools for maintaining a healthy and happy employee base. For more, check out 8 Things That Make for Happy or Unhappy Employees and the Anatomy of a Happy Employee desk art.

Challenge Check, Part I: How many of your employees are bored at work?

Here’s a not-so-fun fact for the year: less than one-third of employees in the U.S. reported being “engaged” at the office, according to a 2015 Gallup study. Because we all know challenged employees are typically more productive, engaged and happy, why not run a fairly regular diagnostic or “challenge check” on your employees for the classic signs of bored or unengaged behavior. As you know, acknowledging there’s a problem is half the battle! The other half is to stop wearing underwear that’s too tight, but we’ll cover that in another post.  

One way to get a snapshot of the situation is to have your managers complete the Challenge Check Scorecard for each of their team members.

A score of 16 or more is the danger zone for a bored or stagnating employee. Code red! Make these guys your priority. They need some immediate attention to get them back on the right path. For those who score between 8 and 15, take steps to re-engage them in activities that are meaningful to the organization and to them. Of course, we always suggest a Marathon Donut-feed, but that’s just us.

Next post, I’ll share some ideas for how to engage that bored employee right out of her complacency and into hyper-contribution mode!

This Challenge Check Scorecard is just one of my 5-Minute Tools for maintaining a healthy and happy employee base. For more, check out last week’s post on 8 Things That Make for Happy or Unhappy Employees and the Anatomy of a Happy Employee desk art.

8 Things That Make for Happy (Or Unhappy) Employees

By now you’ve likely seen or heard about the New York Times exposé on Amazon’s grueling, pressure-cooker culture—and all of the residual chatter. While the piece delivered a healthy bruise on the retail giant’s arm, it’s nothing they won’t recover from. It’s already turned that weird yellowish green that let’s you know it’s healing.

“As my dear ol’ Grammy used to say, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. This was fine except for Grammy would sprinkle said flies on her melba toast.”

For those of us in the brand engagement and communications business, it once again raises the recurring, head scratcher: What is the secret to a healthy, happy, high-performing employee?

While I’m a believer in a workplace that pushes for curiosity, creativity and innovation, I also believe there are better ways to achieve positive results than fear-based feedback and performance tactics or an “eat or be eaten” approach that may be commonplace at Amazon and other companies.

As my dear ol’ Grammy used to say, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. This was fine except for Grammy would sprinkle said flies on her melba toast. To be honest, we were all happy when they came and took Grammy away.

The recent buzz on the wires prompted me to put pen to paper (not literally, that would be archaic) and unpack common elements of a happy employee versus an unhappy one. It looks like this:

1. Challenged vs. Bored

It’s very likely you have employees who are bored and don’t realize it. Because challenged employees are typically more dedicated and engaged, you’ll want to conduct a regular “challenge check” with your team. Arm people managers with a checklist they can use to grade employees, and look for the classic signs of boredom (late and leaving early more often than usual, sloppy work, phoning-it in behavior, puddles of drool on their desk, etc.) One easy way to turn a bored employee into a challenged one: give them a tough assignment outside their comfort zone, and watch the magic happen.

2. Included vs. Left Out

Everyone needs to see the shiny, bright end of the rainbow. All employees should see how their day-to-day efforts map to your company goals. This takes time and effort to put yourself in your teams’ shoes, but it’s worth it. First you have to share your company’s long and short-term plans with the organization at large, in ways they can relate to, remember and act on. Second, you must make sure every single member of your organization is focused on achieving the goals.

3. Trusted vs. Mistrusted

Leadership can send signals of mistrust in many ways. Closed-door meetings, overly scripted or choreographed speeches to employees at all-company meetings, inconsistent messaging, and a penchant for lurking in the shadows, can send signals to employees that something is amiss. Watch for the signs of mistrust amongst your employee base, coach your leadership team on the language of trust and staying on message, and address issues head on.

4. Inspired vs. Complacent

As much as you wish it weren’t so, you know that not every people manager in your organization is an inspirational leader. So, how are you making sure your employees are motivated? Identify the individuals (characters) in your organization who motivate teams, and give your employees access to these individuals through lunch and learns, beer-thirty chats, focused team project sessions, and so forth. Exhibit A: CEO Howard Shultz’s email to Starbucks employees last week.

5. Heard vs. Ignored

You know your employees have a voice, but do they feel heard? This is a tricky area for many leadership teams to get a handle on. If employees feel as though their feedback, grievances, issues and input fall on deaf ears, they are likely to become disenfranchised, and take an us-versus-them mentality. Check out these handy ideas from a recent Fast Company piece on how you can enable and empower your employees to communicate openly.   

6. Recognized vs. Anonymous

No one wants to be just a face in the crowd. Find ways to honor and celebrate everyone, not just the extroverted overachievers. The quiet cube mate who keeps her head down and works hard deserves—and needs—recognition also. Take 20 minutes and listen to Susan Cain’s TED Talk on the power of introverts, if you haven’t. For extra credit, read her book about how to harness the influence of your quiet force.

7. Rewarded vs. Penalized

Whether perceived or real, if your employees feel there are more rules than rewards, they’ll gripe about it at the water cooler. Along with the necessary guidelines that keep your organization running strong, throw in some perks. Keep a mental tally—if you banned pets in the office after it got out of hand and tightened your vacation policy in the same week, balance that with a perk—offer an employee education benefit, bring in an expert on a topic of interest, or close the office early on a sunny summer Friday.

8. Collaboration vs. Isolation

Teamwork is more than a buzzword. It’s a fact that group efforts, in the right balance, can stimulate productivity and enhance individual creativity. The French language has an excellent expression to describe it: esprit de corps. This means a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities, as developed among a group of persons closely associated in a task, cause, enterprise, etc. We, oui?

Want to keep these eight qualities of a happy employee top of mind?
Download my snappy, easy-reference “Anatomy of a Happy Employee” desk art.

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Steve Klinetobe is the founder and creative director of The Cartoon Agency, a not-so-traditional content marketing agency with a method for extraordinary results.