Lately I’ve been thinking about the simple things leaders do, or fail
to do, that have profound impact on their employees’ perception of
them, and on their employees’ commitment and productivity.
Then today I was speaking with someone who mentioned how a leader in
her organization had recently lost a lot of credibility with his folks.
When I got curious, she explained the situation: he had told them last
fall that if they worked really hard to get a new product deliverable by
a certain date, it would be reflected in their bonuses. They did, and
it wasn’t. Now he’s going through the same thing with the 2.0 version
of the same product, and his folks are (understandably) much less
willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.
Then today I got a press release about an interesting study conducted by
Keas,
a company that focuses on employee health and wellness. They
interviewed over 100 HR professionals in the US on a variety of topics,
most of them health and wellness-related. However, the finding that
caught my eye (given my recent thinking about what CEOs can do
differently), was this question: “
In your experience, what are the top three Human Resources mistakes that every CEO makes?” And the top-scoring three responses:
- 64% – CEOs don’t recognize what truly motivates employees
- 41% – CEOs fail to lead by example in key HR initiatives
- 32% – CEOs don’t make company culture a priority
I think these HR people are exactly right. Because all
three of these actions (or non-actions) send a loud, clear message to
employees:
you are not that important to me.
That may sound brutal, but it’s true. Let me offer a couple of
examples. This first one is about the dangers of not recognizing what
motivates (or un-motivates) employees. Earlier this week a client
mentioned that when they moved into a new building recently, employee
parking, which had been free in the old building, was going to be about
$100/month per person in the new building. The CEO wanted to make
everyone pay – he didn’t think it would be a big deal for people. The
man I was speaking to, his COO, convinced him that it would be
hugely
demotivating – that for someone making $30-40,000 a year, $1,200 a year
for parking was definitely going to be a big deal. He also pointed out
that the overall cost was going to be a wash; the rent in the new
building was actually cheaper because parking wasn’t included. He
finally convinced the CEO that any savings realized would pale in
comparison to the ill-will that would be generated by suddenly springing
this added financial burden on his employees, and they decided to
subsidize the parking fee, at least for the first year. Because
$100/month is barely worth mentioning to the CEO, given his income, he
thoughtlessly assumed it wouldn’t matter to his employees. A great
example of not understanding what’s important and motivating to
employees.
Here’s another example, this one about the negative impact of not
making company culture a priority. I’ve watched, with sadness, over the
past few years as many of the best people have left one of our client
companies. I believe it’s primarily because the CEO refuses to
recognize that she has allowed (and in some cases even encouraged) a
very toxic workplace culture. Her people are overworked and
under-communicated with; they feel pretty continually afraid of being
yelled at, frozen out, or fired; they’re asked to work long hours
without being acknowledged; they don’t have the tools or training they
need to do their work well. Not surprisingly, performance and
profitability are suffering. The CEO and board think the problems can be
addressed by cutting costs, putting a few new people in key roles and
finding new revenue streams: I think they’re doomed to failure.
In both instances, the CEOs actions clearly carry that core message
of “you’re not that important to me, employees.” And there’s a simple
equation attached to that: if a leader’s people feel that they’re not
that important to him or her, then guess what – that leader, and the
company, and the company’s success
are not going to be that important to them.
So what’s a leader to do? Very simply: start by doing the 3 things
those smart HR people in the Keas survey are saying you don’t do:
Recognize what motivates your people. Get
curious: Ask. And be willing to hear things that differ from what’s
motivating to you, or from what you think ought to be motivating to
them. Talk to your HR people, if they’re good and you respect them (and
if they aren’t and you don’t…why are they working for you?) about
what’s most meaningful to people, and how you can incorporate that into
your reward systems.
Support key HR initiatives by example, not just talk. Model the things you expect from others. Period. Here’s what happens when you
don’t
do this: Let’s say you’ve just put in place a new performance
management system, and you introduce it with great enthusiasm – but then
never review your own direct reports, or promote and reward them based
on your own whims, vs. according to the criteria you’ve established for
the rest of the organization. You’re communicating 1) this may be good
enough for you people – but I get to live by different rules, and 2)
this (and you) are just not that important to me.
Create a strong, positive company culture. Start by finding out what your
current culture
is. There are lots of good employee survey mechanisms out there you
can use to get a sense of what’s going on. Then really take in the
information – don’t deny, avoid, or dismiss it. Sit down with trusted
advisors and decide a handful of key things you can start doing, stop
doing, or do differently as an organization to begin to address the
biggest problem areas.
If you consistently do these three things as a leader, people will
feel they matter to you, and they’re much more likely to support you in
achieving great business results. AND – big bonus – in tough times,
they’ll be there to help you and the company make it through.
_______________
Check out
Erika Andersen’s latest book,
Leading So People Will Follow, and discover how to be a
followable leader. Booklist called it
“a book to read more than once and to consult many times.”
As part of the mandate and target of
the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to create wealth and generate
employment opportunities through technical, industrial and
entrepreneurship skills development, the training agency of the Federal
Government (ITF) is set to graduate 1000 resident youths in Ogun state.
