A crisis in employee engagement has been building for a long time, with employees increasingly being treated as interchangeable objects. As the economy recovers, the American workforce is going to go into active revolt.  Some of the best people will be energized to pursue situations where they will be treated as an intelligent Human being with a brain in their head, and… those who stay may be so worn out from feeling used, they will only give enough to earn their pay (if we’re lucky) and deny businesses the creativity and energy that can only happen when they are voluntarily committed to their work.

Recently the question was posed to me: “Is it already too late to engage unhappy employees?“  (Sigh. I feel like the boy who cried wolf, when there was indeed a wolf all along…)

It is not too late, but the intent must be sincere and sustained.  There are too many companies that will get it too late (if at all) about how Human beings work, what they need at work, and how to address that practically and affordably.

And as for the possibility of a quick fix? It sorta depends on how deep a company is in the hole with their employees. With my clients, if their intentions are good, i.e. they truly value the contribution the Human beings in their employ can bring, we look at daily activities, communications, decision-making and interactions with employees and infuse ways to demonstrate basic respect and value for employees’ contribution.

For some companies, their strategy will require delving deep into personal development for their key players to open their eyes. This can move relatively quickly if there is genuine desire to take responsibility and make a change. Otherwise, there are no quick fixes here, and in fact, quick fixes made without a foundation of respect and value for the employees can make things worse.

So what are we left with?  It’s not about a program-of-the-month, but a new commitment to work with each other as human beings and adults with not only responsibilities to a company and stockholders, but also to each other.

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“They say there’s not enough communication…”

This is one I hear a lot of from managers.  Their staff is complaining that there’s not enough communication going on.

As a manager, you don’t want to hear this.  For goodness sake, aren’t you doing enough already to communicate?  There’s weekly staff meetings.  You forward announcements from the boss.  And for heaven’s sake, if people think they are missing something, they should “ask.”  After all, you do have an open door policy.

But you take your staff’s complaints seriously, so you  dive into solution mode.  Maybe a newsletter.  Or more Q&A sessions with the Director.  I’ve got it − an all-day off-site team-building.  (BTW, I’m conducting a free call, Apr 29 on “5 Cases When Team-Building is Not the Answer.”)

You jump into fix-it mode, wanting to be responsive.  But the truth is, you could waste a lot of time by assuming what “more and better communication”  looks like to your staff.

I’m not suggesting to not be responsive to your staff’s complaints, but don’t base your response, and all the time you’d invest, on a guess.

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I’m going to play my 2-year-old self today.  “No-no-no-no-NO.”  What brought that on?  Hearing the proposal for a new website called “Unvarnished.”  It allows for employees to be reviewed anonymously, for the world to see, with no way of removing a negative review.

Like the sites RateMyProfessors or RateMDs, the intention is to reflect a truly unvarnished perspective of a person’s professional reputation, versus those that are carefully managed, like on LinkedIn for instance.

I won’t even go into all the ways this could harm good people, despite the stated safeguards to prevent abuse and defamation.  My professional (and personal) reaction is, I would do everything possible so that the Human beings in my organization would not feel the need to resort to this.

It’s imperative that organizations have mechanisms in place to make it safe for people to give feedback - feedback ranging from awkward to that which has serious consequences.  It’s imperative for managers to get a range of real perspectives when evaluating employees’ performance.  And it’s also imperative that employees understand and trust the system by which their performance is evaluated.

If your constituents don’t have internal means to say what they really think, safely… if there are not checks-and-balances to support their trust in your processes… you’ve got problems.  And a mechanism to blow off steam online is not going to make it better.  We as HR professionals and managers need to attend to the Human need for an internal place-to-turn so that no one feels cornered enough to choose a more harmful option.

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Do You Know Diane?

Diane is both the supervisor and project team leader for her group. She is finding it hard to count on one of her employees, Robert.  He has a hard time juggling multiple priorities.  He gets bogged down to the point where he’s paralyzed and doesn’t know what to do next.  He shows up in Diane’s office worked up, but unable to take action.

Diane is as patient as she can be, but her endurance is wearing low.  She reminds Robert of the deadlines, and his responsibilities, but that only seems to make things worse.  As usual, she ends up picking up the slack.  After all, it’s not fair to expect the other employees to cover for Robert.

Having coached hundreds of managers, I find that many times their own motivations (to be a good manager) get in their way, and at the same time these motivations support a breakthrough.  (To learn more about how your own motivations as a manager can work for you, get my People Management Personality(tm) assessment here.)

Now Robert is indeed responsible for his performance, but often what a manager like Diane overlooks is that her good intentions, in this case to not burden her team, will build resentment toward Robert.  She’s already getting impatient that he’s not “getting it” and now she’s putting in extra hours to pick up the slack.

In fact, this resentment can cloud her thinking as how to get Robert past this block.  And she might be tempted to take impulsive action with Robert, when she’s finally hit her limit − when it all could have been averted earlier with some different coaching.

It’s great to have good intentions, and understand where you motivations comes from. At the heart of Diane’s intentions is to not burden others unfairly – that should include herself.   In being aware of this, she might have been motivated to find another way to get through to Robert so he could get unblocked.  And in this way, she can use the approach that comes naturally to her to make room for other possibilities.

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Being a People Person Doesn’t Mean Being a People Pleaser

Managers labeled as being a “people person” sometimes get a bad rap.  Some almost view it with disdain.  As a manager it certainly helps if you are friendly or “approachable.”  But being a people person does not mean you have to be “friends,” go out after work, or be “all in their business.”

Granted, taken to its extreme, the compassion and familiarity you feel toward your employees can get in the way of making good decisions.  But no matter what your natural focus is, there are benefits, and there are risks.

But that’s not the “people person” kind of manager I’m talking about anyway.  I’m rooting for all managers to be people persons in this way  − having a certain amount of understanding of Human nature.  Accept that Human dignity and Human nature matter at work, and then… act on this.

Even if you are more organization-focused or self-focused as a manager, this can be incorporated into your manager mindset, in a way that still feels in integrity for you.   (Want to learn more about how your natural focus can work for you as a manager of people? Get my People Management Personality(tm) assessment here.)

You don’t have to embrace being a “people person,” but don’t ever forget what it really takes to get the best from who is actually getting the work done.

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I have a bone to pick with team-building.  In my experience, it often involved ropes, boards, puzzle pieces, the wilderness or all of the above, and I didn’t really get how it would help.  It seemed like it was setup with a hope and a prayer that we would all end up liking each other more.  Oh, is that the point? to like each other more?  Seemed like it.

I understand the legitimate point of team-building.  You build an enjoyable or challenging shared experience.  It can allow team members to get to know each other, and appreciate each other differently.  Then you may reap the benefits of them actually working more as a team.

A Bad Rap?

To me team-building often seems hokey because it is not designed to address the “real problem” – and participants KNOW it – or are equally oblivious.  Either way, employees are wondering, “We’re doing this?  Really?” and the event does not deliver the desired effect.

When considering team-building, ask yourself why you really want to do this.  Many times you choose it as a response to a deeper seated problem that requires a more direct, courageous and well-designed solution.

Believe me, there are more direct and expedient ways to deal with many issues that don’t even require corrective action (as HR would say).  When managers approach me asking for team-building, I always ask, “What is the specific issue you are trying to “fix?”  And even then I don’t take that answer at face value.

Step Into Your Leadership

I don’t want you to hang your hat on a hope and a prayer that “team-building” will work for you.  Let’s instead design a response to help you step into your leadership and deal with the issue in a way that not only takes care of it, but also helps your employees view you with more respect… and minimizes eye-rolling.

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