WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:03.960 Hey, this is Chris with Hacking Your Leadership. On today's discussion on employee 2 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:07.960 engagement, we're gonna go over number four in our five rules, the five 3 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.359 new Rules for employee Engagement, based on this article from Forbes by Tracy Brower. 4 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:15.560 Please go back and listen to the last three Thursdays if you haven't yet. 5 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:20.120 On this episode, we're gonna be talking about the fourth rule for employee 6 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:24.359 engagement, which is just simply titled pizza. And when I was reading this 7 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.519 article, I saw this, this rule, this new rule for employee engagement, 8 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:32.359 and I immediately became a little triggered by it, you know, the 9 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:36.039 pizza. I mean, we've we've talked on the on the podcast many times 10 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:41.880 about the ways that some leaders in some organizations try to, you know, 11 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.799 get away with doing as little as possible from a leadership and an employee wellness 12 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:52.240 standpoint, and you know, the not not treating employees like they should and 13 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.479 then thinking that the way to solve all of those ills is with you know, 14 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.399 a gift card or a Hawaiian shirt Friday or a pizza party. And 15 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:03.120 this is what I thought of when I saw this. But the article is 16 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.200 a pretty good job of making sure that you, as a leader reading this, 17 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:12.239 understand that this can't be a substitution for the things that people need, 18 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.719 the other things that people need in order to feel engaged. It has to 19 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.040 be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. But cake tastes 20 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:23.760 better with icing, and so having that there is a good thing as long 21 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:26.640 as you know that it can't be the whole thing. It has to be 22 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:30.640 something that's additional. Yeah, I completely agree with that. Like, I 23 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:34.200 think there's an element where you can do things to show appreciation for your team. 24 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:41.200 You can do things that are sometimes either scheduled or surprising, Like I've 25 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:46.439 done plenty of pot lugs. I've done plenty of you know, food calendars 26 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.840 things like that, where people are aware of it, they're engaged in it, 27 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.040 they look forward to it, they can plan for it. And I 28 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:56.719 think, again, like those are super cool things to do when people really 29 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.439 appreciate those things. But if that's all that I did, I was just 30 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.640 always like, you know, there's a free pizza every second Friday, there's 31 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.640 gonna be a pot like we're gonna do and that's all that we have, 32 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:12.599 and not recognizing and not connecting with people and engaging with people, not even 33 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.080 including them in the planning, Like instead of doing pizza, is there another 34 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:20.439 food or you know, thing that we can do that would that would allow 35 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.120 us to feed our teams but also include them in the dialogue. Like those 36 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:30.039 are the types of things that really create the environment creating engagement within a team. 37 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:31.759 I think you know, you and I always laughed about like the whole 38 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:36.759 Hawaiian shirt Friday, and it's just like now we're just now we just hate 39 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:38.199 our jobs, but we wear a Hawaiian shirt on Friday. Now, you 40 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:43.680 know, like nothing changes. But it's like this this silly idea of like 41 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.840 that's what gets people to be engaged. And I think that that's you know, 42 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:50.479 this day and age, that that's not it. You know, that 43 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.639 is not it. What was soever? I don't think it ever was it, 44 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:53.680 to be honest with you, Like, I don't I don't ever think 45 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.319 that. Yeah, it was like casual Fridays is not like this is what 46 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.960 makes our culture great. No, that's just one day a week that I 47 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:04.879 don't have to like dress up in a suit and tie right right, It 48 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.080 doesn't change anything at all in regards to like the work or the culture of 49 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:10.759 the environment, and but but I think it does add a piece. I 50 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.319 love what you said, like cake tastes better with the icing, right, 51 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:19.199 it does. So like it. These are things that people do enjoy and 52 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:24.479 they do appreciate, but it's a small small portion of a much larger slice 53 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:29.879 of what you should offer them when it comes to engagement, dialogue, connection, 54 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.520 empowerment in those types of situations. Right. And that's that's a perfect 55 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.479 example because you know, you said, you know, it was never the 56 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:40.919 thing, and I think that when it was appreciated more it was when people 57 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.479 didn't feel as they had the same level of mobility in their jobs as they 58 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.400 do now. You know, nowadays people know they can just up and leave, 59 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.080 you know, they can, they can walk out if they want to, 60 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.960 and a lot of people do. But at the very least they can 61 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.080 start searching in front of their job and they know that their resume is not 62 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:01.639 going to be hurt by having you know, three jobs in a three year 63 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.919 period on their resume. You know, twenty five or thirty years ago, 64 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.439 that would have been that would have been really bad to have a resume showing 65 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.000 three jobs in three years. And so when you when you have a leader 66 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.519 that provides pizza in lieu of all the things they should be doing. Then 67 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:21.120 if you have employees who don't feel like they have anywhere to go anyway, 68 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:24.680 they can't they can't leave, they have to stay where they are at their 69 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.759 only option, then I guess the pizza can add an element of you know, 70 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.600 some little bit of joy. But this is amongst a group of people 71 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:38.240 who are already actively disengaged. These are people who would rather be elsewhere already, 72 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.319 and so you know, giving them the pizza is like, I guess 73 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.920 that's something. It doesn't turn around engagement at all. It doesn't make them 74 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:47.040 more engaged. It just you know, lets them save ten dollars on lunch 75 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:54.560 that day. But that's the only time when it adds something positive is when 76 00:04:54.600 --> 00:05:00.920 the the the the environment as a whole is already so negative that there's really 77 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.839 nothing that's being done to change it. But they can't go anywhere anyway today. 78 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:10.439 If you start trying to make it so that these these extras are a 79 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.160 substitute for the true things that people really need in order to be engaged, 80 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:18.759 your people just start leaving. And because organizations know that it's typically not something 81 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.759 you want to do in fact. In fact, I've been consulting with organizations 82 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:27.560 for a while now, and there was an organization that I did some work 83 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.000 for a few years back, and they were talking about trying to do something 84 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:34.839 like this, like you know, pizza and other things to try to increase 85 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:41.959 engagement. And because the because the environment was so bad at the time, 86 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:44.680 one of the things I told them to do was not to do those things 87 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.800 at all. It's better to do nothing than to do these things, because 88 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:54.079 all that does is call out the lack of those other things that are really 89 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.759 needed. It reminds people of the things that are not there that really should 90 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.879 be there. And I said that you spend spend six months or a year 91 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.519 really focusing on the things that really need to happen first, and then then 92 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:08.160 you can start you know, kind of kept peppering in the things like pizza 93 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.959 parties and Hawaiian shirt Fridays. But if you start with that, you're not 94 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:14.560 going to get any goodwill from it. You're just going to get people being 95 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:16.399 reminded of how poor the environment is. I want to talk a little bit 96 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:20.160 about the things that people do in organizations where this has done well, But 97 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:24.199 first I want to get word from our sponsors. All right. In the 98 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:28.279 places where I've seen this done well, the leaders they have a mix of 99 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:30.639 things that they can do in order to make sure that, you know, 100 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.800 have a pizza party or something like this is received in the right way. 101 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:38.399 The first is to make sure that it is not in response to something. 102 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:41.639 Hey, you did well on a project. Here's pizza. Hey we did 103 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:44.920 really great last weekend on these this performance, these numbers, these metrics, 104 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:49.680 here's pizza. You'll always have people who will figure out or or or believe 105 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.079 that what you did for them was not up to par for with what they 106 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.920 did for you, what effort they put forward for you. If you make 107 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.120 it in response to some thing, it needs to be a just because thing. 108 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:04.199 Hey, I appreciate you. Here's what we're gonna do just because, 109 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:09.959 not in response to something. But that also has to come with not surprising 110 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:12.319 them. There's a lot of people who if you're going to you know, 111 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.600 bring donuts in the morning or pizza for lunch or something like that, that 112 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.040 they will plan to not bring their own food because they know that you're going 113 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.879 to bring it. And in organizations where people try to surprise the you know, 114 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:26.360 employees by doing these things, you'll always end up with some people who 115 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:29.319 grumble because they weren't told in advance and then they ended up you know, 116 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.279 bringing their own lunch or their own breakfast. And then lastly, you need 117 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.279 to make sure that you are talking to your people about it in advance so 118 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:40.639 that you can take into account any particulars they might have. So if it's 119 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:44.720 a you know, if you're going to do a pizza party and you tell 120 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.680 people in advance that you're going to do it, so they don't bring their 121 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:49.000 lunch that day, but every single thing is a meat lever's pizza, well 122 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.959 you might have three people on the team that are vegetarians who then now they 123 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:56.240 can't participate, And so you want to make sure that you incorporate an element 124 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:00.439 of inclusion and belonging into the process. You want to make sure that it's 125 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:03.040 not a surprise, and you want to make sure that it's not in response 126 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:05.120 to something specific. If you can do those things, then I think it's 127 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:11.839 a great element to include in a broader employ engagement strategy that can actually raise 128 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:13.759 employ engagement. Yeah, and you know, I think for a long time 129 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.920 and even to this day, you probably have leaders that may roll their eyes, 130 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.240 like, what do you mean I can't just surprise my team with pizza 131 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:24.639 or food? Oh, Like they gotta they have to know ahead of time, 132 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.279 or they're upset about that. Like there's there's the take on the world 133 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.799 that can be kind of a negative or pessimistic take around, like you know, 134 00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:37.320 not understanding what real engagement looks like, Like you should be happy that 135 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:39.519 I got this for you, you know, like I did this out of 136 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:43.360 my goodwill, and you're not, you know, responding the way I want 137 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:48.080 you to. And I think what we've learned over time is that if you're 138 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.799 going to create cultures and environments of belonging and being inclusive, a part of 139 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:58.279 that, A big part of that is in the collaboration and dialogue that you 140 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.279 have with your people and with your teams, and how you can just as 141 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.000 easily say, hey, you know, I want to do something special for 142 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.679 you all, you know, next Thursday, like you were saying, like 143 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.840 we're gonna you know, I'm I'm gonna take care of lunch next Thursday. 144 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:11.559 So but I want to give you heads up. Normally I would I would 145 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:15.080 you would love to have surprised you and showed up with a whole bunch of 146 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:18.799 food. But I know that some of you may bring your own lunches, 147 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.440 some of you may have been planning to be out of the office that day 148 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.039 on something, some of you may have some dietary restrictions, And out of 149 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.759 respect for all of those things, I want to let you know that I 150 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:31.000 do have something planned. So I would like to get your thoughts or your 151 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.039 feedback or your information or whatever it might be, so that we can enjoy 152 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:39.559 this lunch or this food or this pizza or whatever next Thursday. But it's 153 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.320 but it is just because like, like just I just wanted to say thank 154 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.120 you and I appreciate you all. Like you can still do that, and 155 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.399 it can still have that feeling and that meaningfulness and that element of something that 156 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.799 that was not expected, but done in a way that brings people along, 157 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.759 that allows them to be a part that respect the fact that they have things 158 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.919 that are going on, that that they have their own routines, and so 159 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:09.360 like again, it's just it's just a way in which we have to be 160 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.559 more conscious as leaders that that we do want to do these things. These 161 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:18.679 things are appreciated, you know, in a high degree when they are layered 162 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:22.480 on top of an already great cultured environment. And what I would believe is 163 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.360 that if you have a great cultured environment, you're probably already doing those types 164 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.720 of things. Like you're probably already head of the curve on this. You 165 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:31.519 probably already know you know what the dietary restrictions you might have on the team 166 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.120 are. You know, you know, like you know their routines. But 167 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.279 this is a good reminder of the importance of that when it is something like 168 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.399 pizza or food or surprises when it comes to building culture and engagement with your 169 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:48.279 teams, right, I think I think human beings have a natural tendency to 170 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.320 want relationships to be reciprocal. You know, there's this this tendency to to 171 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:56.480 lean into reciprocity. And so what that means is that you know, they 172 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:01.279 you want the relationship to have balance. If you feel like the other person 173 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.519 is doing more for you, your natural inclination is going to be to give 174 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:11.080 back. And and if you, as a leader are doing things in response 175 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:16.679 to something, then you're not doing something in a way that will lead your 176 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:18.480 people to feel like they need to do more. You're doing it in a 177 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.480 way that leads your people to feel like you're trying to be reciprocal to something 178 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.559 they've already done. If you want to increase employee engagement and increase productivity, 179 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:31.080 the things that you do for them need to not be in response to things 180 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:37.240 they've already done, but rather just because because the employees who are who are 181 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.039 generally good people and the ones who enjoy the job in general and who have 182 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.440 a good relationship with you in general, those are the people who will take 183 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:50.639 these things that you're doing for them and the response will be, Oh, 184 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:52.720 you know what, I need to maybe do a little bit more. You 185 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:54.720 know, this is something my leader is doing for me. Maybe I'll try 186 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.240 a little bit more today or this week. Because of that, you want 187 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:03.679 to create the environment where they feel like they need to do more in order 188 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:07.320 to make the relationship more reciprocal. Again, thank you all for joining us 189 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:09.200 on this episode. Join us next week we will wrap up this article on 190 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:13.360 the new rules for employ engagement. Have a great day.