WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.360 Hey, this is Chris Attacking your leadership. On today's discussion on employee engagement, 2 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:08.359 we're going to be wrapping up this Forbes article called the New Rules for 3 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:12.519 Employee Engagement written by Tracy Brower. We've been going through this article for the 4 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:17.039 past four thursdays and there's some you know, pretty good conversations on the different 5 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.600 rules for employee engagement that are kind of, you know, popping up as 6 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:24.120 being things for leaders to consider. On today's episode, we're going to go 7 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:28.399 over the last one, which is purpose. And you know, I have 8 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:31.640 to admit we'll put the link to the article in the podcast description, but 9 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.560 I have to admit that, you know, this is the one where the 10 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.679 writing of the article I don't one hundred percent agree with, where I kind 11 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:41.039 of want to, you know, pick it apart a little bit because I 12 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:45.479 think there's some good stuff in here in theory, but in practice, I 13 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:48.799 think there's more to it than just what the article states. You know, 14 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.079 it is absolutely true that when people have a sense of purpose, they're going 15 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.479 to feel more engaged in their job. There's no question about it. When 16 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:00.960 people feel like they're contributing towards a greater good or something that's bigger than themselves. 17 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.480 They are more engaged when doing it. There's the data is clear on 18 00:01:03.519 --> 00:01:08.760 that, and so making sure that your people feel a sense of purpose around 19 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:14.120 what they do is really important for you as a leader in order to make 20 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:18.920 sure that employee engagement is increasing. But I also think there's an element of 21 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:25.519 reciprocity here. There's an element of the responsibility being on the employees as well, 22 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.519 not just on you as a leader. But we can get into that 23 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:30.480 in a little bit. Yeah, I think it's definitely, you know, 24 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.840 being really really conscious about when you're when you're looking at engagement and building culture 25 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:45.159 to recognizing behaviors that you have yourself seen. There's always the easy way is 26 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.920 always look at the outcomes and the results and be like great job. Like 27 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:49.439 great job, you had this oulcome, you have this result, you met 28 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:56.159 this deadline. Great job. But the real element of engagement is in recognizing 29 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:02.159 very specific observable behaviors and understanding what it is that each person brings in recognizing 30 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:07.840 for those types of things, and that requires a good amount of heavy lifting 31 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.879 on the leader. But to your point, it also requires an element of 32 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:15.960 you know, someone doing a level of work that is kind of you know, 33 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:20.159 should that should be recognized from a unique standpoint. Yeah, I think 34 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:23.080 that's that's a great way to say that. If there's if the the article 35 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:30.240 states that creating purpose by reinforcing a bigger picture and clarifying how each employees contribution 36 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:36.439 is making a unique contribution to it, I think that's true. But if 37 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.680 the employee isn't making a unique contribution and you try to word slid it into 38 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.240 it being a unique contribution, all that does is they it's patronizing to them 39 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:52.319 because they can see through it. It devalues the actual unique contributions being made 40 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.000 by people who have taken steps to make a unique contribution. And I think 41 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.360 it does more to disengage people than to engage people. But if you, 42 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.439 as a leader have employees who are making unique contributions, then you need to 43 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:09.000 be recognizing those things if they if you're not in a position to notice those 44 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.400 unique contributions, then you need to be. And this is this is your 45 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.719 responsibility as a leader. But but it's not your responsibility as a leader to 46 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:23.800 take an employee who is doing exactly what the job description is, which is 47 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:28.240 which is not unique, Like it's the same for all their peers as well, 48 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.840 and and then trying to make sure that that that they know that they 49 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:36.960 have a unique contribution to the to the business. You can appreciate their contribution 50 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.319 to the business, and they need to feel appreciated for it, but trying 51 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:46.520 to make it seem like it's contributing towards a greater good or or a bigger 52 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.479 picture is much harder when a person hasn't taken the steps to, you know, 53 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.159 kind of raise their hand and say, hey, I want to do 54 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:54.400 more. I want to do more than just what this job is because I 55 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:59.120 want to make a unique contribution. That really has to start from the perspective 56 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.680 of the employee. And as long as you, as a leader are doing 57 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:05.479 right by the people who have raised their hands, that will kind of spur 58 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:10.599 that on in people who are considering it. If they can see that no 59 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:15.319 one is getting any recognition for the unique contributions they are making, they're less 60 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.839 likely to raise their hand and decide they want to make one as well. 61 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:19.959 But that's where the responsibility of you as leader comes in. I want to 62 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.800 go over some of the things that people do in organizations where this is done 63 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.199 well, But first I want to get it towards one of our sponsors. 64 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:28.759 All right, if you're a leader of people and you want to do this 65 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:31.040 well. The leaders that I know who do this well, they do two 66 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:38.000 things. One, they don't mix up making a unique contribution with just making 67 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:43.319 a contribution. So if someone has made a unique contribution and there's some bigger 68 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.519 purpose around it, absolutely recognize those people for what it is they're doing. 69 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:50.920 And if they're not making a unique contribution, they're just doing their job well. 70 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:57.199 Being able to look and see where the potential for making a unique contribution 71 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.000 is. That's where your role as the leader comes in and where you can 72 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.920 make this happen better. And so if you see your one of your employees 73 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:09.439 having an interaction with somebody, a client or a customer and it appears that 74 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:14.279 the interaction went well and the employee has said something that you maybe haven't heard 75 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:16.120 before in an interaction, going up to that employee later on and saying, 76 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.240 hey, I noticed you said this. That was really good and it seemed 77 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:21.720 to work well. Have you have you used that before? Have you said 78 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.639 those things before? And if they say yeah, that's what I say to 79 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.600 my clients or my customers, and we have great conversations being able to say, 80 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:31.639 you know, I like that a lot, would you mind sharing that 81 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:34.240 with some of you some of your team members, or can I share it 82 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:38.680 with some of the team members as something that you've done and we can see 83 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.879 if it works for other people as well, and then if that grows into 84 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.560 something where their team members or the people start using it and it changes something. 85 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:49.000 Now they've made a unique contribution. Now that you've taken that little thing 86 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:53.199 that someone has done which is just their job, and you've helped fan the 87 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.959 flames on that little spark and it turns into a fire, and now they 88 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.639 have made a unique contribution to their team. But trying to take something that 89 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:04.839 they've done that is not a unique contribution and shoehorning it into something that is 90 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:09.800 what it sounds like that they are making a unique contribution and that they will 91 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:13.480 have greater purpose behind it. That doesn't go over very well. So, 92 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.959 you know, find out where the contributions are being made, recognize people at 93 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:21.639 the level that is deserved of the contribution they're making, but do your best 94 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:26.519 to figure out where you can grow those things, because because growing them is 95 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:30.480 your responsibility as a leader, and you'll have more and more employees making unique 96 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.720 contributions. Yeah, this is one of those things that sounds really good on 97 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:35.319 paper when you read it, like, yeah, that makes total sense. 98 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:40.279 Like we want to recognize the uniqueness of every individual person. It is not 99 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:45.839 an easy thing to do because you can get caught up and being too general. 100 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.160 You can get caught up in giving credit where honestly it's not due yep. 101 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:54.879 And you have to spend a lot of time in the spaces to not 102 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.879 only again observe what you see with the behaviors, but also like be attentive 103 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.079 enough to understand what you were mentioning, which is like, how do you 104 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:05.839 how do you cultivate this? How do you help this to grow as a 105 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:10.959 behavioral aspect of your team or as of the individuals, And you have to 106 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.680 meet these things where they're at. There's gonna be those major elements where somebody 107 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:19.079 has a unique contribution that dynamically shifts the outcomes or the team or the strategy, 108 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.959 and you want to recognize that in a big way. And then you're 109 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:27.319 going to have those moments where somebody is figuring something out for themselves, where 110 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:31.600 they are approaching something in a uniqueness that you know works for them, but 111 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.000 it works well for them. It's not scalable necessarily, you can't say, 112 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.079 hey, can everybody do this like how Chris is doing this? May maybe 113 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.920 this only works for you, but it is something that's working for you, 114 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.879 and it's helping you to achieve goals, exceed goals, be more productive. 115 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:50.480 There could be things like that where that's also extremely important, and you know, 116 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:55.839 you want to recognize those types of things so that you will continue to 117 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:58.639 do those types of things. And I think that you know, if you're 118 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.160 really trying to con or this from an engagement standpoint, you're gonna have to 119 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.519 spend a lot of time considering each of these things with each person on your 120 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:09.360 team. And then this is where when you're a leader of leaders, when 121 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:13.319 it becomes way too many people and you have layers of leadership, this is 122 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.040 where you're have to spend time teaching these things and role modeling these things with 123 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.120 your leaders and showing them and giving them examples of how this comes to life. 124 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.720 Because you can't do this when your team exceeds a certain amount of number 125 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:28.680 of employees, Like you just can't personally do it. You have to work 126 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:33.639 through others. But they have to be attuned to your filters, to your 127 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.559 approach, and to the strategy to make sure that they're not maybe you know, 128 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:41.200 pushing somebody up who should not be getting the credit or didn't do the 129 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:46.159 thing, or whatever the case is. So like it is a tricky strategy, 130 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.639 but it's definitely you know, you can do it, but you really 131 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.759 have to be attuned to what's going on and spend a lot of time making 132 00:08:52.799 --> 00:09:01.240 sure that you're not either overdoing it with credit for everybody or or giving credit 133 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.879 when it's not due. Right, I think it's bought on. I think 134 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:05.480 the last thing and not to a another element to this, but it is 135 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:11.200 important to consider as a leader is it has to be recognition for something that 136 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:16.600 the employee themselves believes is worth recognizing or that is important to them. And 137 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:20.919 so if you want, if you start recognizing an employee for their contribution and 138 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.919 the contribution was to the bottom line, well, this person did this number 139 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:31.480 of sales and this amount of margin and this amount of profit to the bottom 140 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.720 line, and that employee doesn't care about the bottom line margin because they're not 141 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.039 a shareholder. They don't they don't get profit sharing. They make a salary 142 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:45.120 and that's it, and what they care about is doing right by their customers 143 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:48.840 or their clients. They care about creating a good experience for those people. 144 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:52.519 And you start recognizing them based on the financial outcomes, that's not going to 145 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.120 land well either. So you have to know what's important to each of your 146 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:58.840 people and make sure that the recognition you're giving them is around those things. 147 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:05.000 If they're making a contribution to the financial aspect of the business, but they're 148 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:09.759 doing it through the behaviors that they are that you can see with their their 149 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:13.600 clients are customers, and what's important to them is how they treat their clients 150 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:16.200 and customers. Then don't recognize them for the financial outcome. Recognize them for 151 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.919 the great experiences that they get they're giving their clients or their customers. It 152 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:24.879 needs to be important to them, not just important to you, or it's 153 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.080 not gonna lamble either. Thank you for joining us for this episode. I've 154 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.639 liked this series a lot, and I think we have some good conversations about 155 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:33.840 these new rules. Again, read the full article it's in the podcast description 156 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:39.279 for the Last you Know five Thursdays and you Know send us a message if 157 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.360 you have comments on any of the discussions we've had about this. Have a 158 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:41.759 great day.