iClarify | Simplify | Engage

Walk around the office and chat one-on-one with people, ask them about themselves, their day-to-day work, their kids, how their weekend was. If you make time to also walk around your corporate office and talk to people individually, they remember that and will cut you a little slack when you’ve got to rush out the door the next time. It also allows you to get to know your people well, what makes them tick and what makes them successful or what makes them do their best. Knowing your people and having a relationship or personal connection with them, however small, allows your organization to want to perform better. Those employees become a lot more willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for you. Just make sure you are consistent. You don't want to be that manager who tries something once or twice and then gets too busy to keep it up.

When you visit other areas of the business, operational units or the field, actively connect with everyone you can. Blowing by other business units in a hurry in your suit and tie with your Blackberry buzzing, but not talking to employees on the way, sends the message that your current business is much more important than they are and that they do not matter.  People understand when leaders and managers are busy; when this happens all the time and you never stop, they start to think you don’t care. When you visit other business units and especially units in the field, try to avoid being too important to talk to them, or only talking to the other managers because you don’t have time. Stopping for a few minutes from time to time, or regularly would be even better, to say hello, shake someone’s hand, or thank them for doing a great job can:  boost an employee’s morale increase engagement and  send a powerful and positive message from you to employees t...

Giving employees a way to voice their thoughts, opinions and suggestions about the business has multiple impacts. Offering opportunities for employees to give feedback allow them to: Become more engaged as they feel someone is listening. Come up with creative solutions to operational problems. Share intelligence to which leaders are not exposed. Inform leaders of what employees are thinking and what their needs are. Ignoring employee input makes as much sense as ignoring customer input. If you’ve ever watched the reality show UNDERCOVER BOSS , you’d know that until executives get their hands dirty, it’s difficult for them to run their business well. The show follows high-level corporate executives as they slip anonymously into the lowest level jobs within their companies to find out what their employees really think about the business and to discover/uncover ways to improve the business. It’s tough for leaders to conduct an undercover boss operation in their own organizat...

When employees do a good job and receive acknowledgement both from their managers and sometimes from senior leaders, it shows them that leadership is paying attention, that what they do from day-to-day is important and contributes to the company’s success. Acknowledgement from managers also shows employees they matter, no matter the size of their pay cheque. Recognition does not have to be awards, cash prizes or trips; although any of these items will always be welcome. Employees want to feel special and leaders can achieve this outcome in so many small ways. Synonyms for the word ‘recognition’ are ‘notice’ and ‘acceptance,’ according to dictionary.com.  Think of the many ways a leader can notice an employee or show them how they have been accepted into a company. Sometimes a handshake or a shared warm conversation can have more impact than an email sent to all employees sharing achievements.

Engagement is the intellectual and emotional inspiration that an employee feels in an organization, which propels them to always do their best at their job. It is also a state of mind that encourages employees to want not only to remain in the same workplace but also recommend it to their friends and family as a great place to work. When your employees are engaged, they are more productive and your business is made stronger and more profitable, as a result. Your employees also become your most important ambassadors of your company’s brand. Engage them and keep them engaged and it will be tough for you to fail. Engagem ent is not a one-time deal. “If you aren’t always moving it forward, you’ll end up slipping back,” says Peter Mayne, Director of Culture and Engagement from Farm Credit Canada. Farm Credit Canada scores more than   80% every year on their engagement survey, as established by Hewitt’s Engagement model. Treat employees the way you’d like to be treated. T ...

Can you overcome family riffs, marriage troubles, difficulties in school or financial troubles through communication? You can if you use sincerity and patience to develop trust. Reaching out to people in your life is the beginning of communicating to overcome difficulty. Calling or emailing a relative when least expected can have a powerful effect if the message and the action are fully sincere. “Jane, hi, I just thought I’d give you a call. I know it’s been a while but…” A conversation opener that is sincere opens a positive conversation. If you have a history of difficulty with your co-communicator, you may need to be patient. “What are you calling for?” Before you respond, think: Sincerity. Remove tone from your voice. Ignore the tone in his/her voice. Clear your messages of inflammatory words/phrases like: always, never, fault, blame, hate, stupid, ridiculous, etc… in other words, avoid saying things that can back people into an emotional corner where ...