Writing a goal down on paper has always been recommended by experts as the best way to use all your resources for achieving the goal.
Writing the goal incorporates all your three brains or centers of intelligence. This is especially true when using my goal planning form that is free to download.
As you think through the goal planning process you use your intellectual brain to think through each component of the goal.
As you write and think of the benefits you engage your heart brain or emotional center of intelligence. The visualization and affirmations section further stimulate the emotions.
The act of writing the goal incorporates the physical or instinctive brain and the section on acting is where this movement center will know what to do through your instinctive nature.
Writing the goal down using the goal planning worksheet does take more time than just thinking of a goal and visualizing it. But you can see that using all your brain resources is such a powerful way to work on something so important as a goal. It gives you a fully balanced approach to the process.
I am seeing more and more people using titles like director of Employee Happiness or Head of Corporate Culture these days and it points to the importance leaders are placing on the culture of their company and the experience of employees.
There is a fierce competition for good talent and especially knowledge workers as technology continues to drive change and innovation. While some sectors are suffering due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, others are thriving and lack the personnel needed to meet demand.
I have been noticing this trend not only in large companies where they can have a person in HR dedicated to employee happiness and engagement, but also in smaller firms. In small and medium size companies this person probably wears many hats but deliberately uses a title that shows their focus on people.
This made me think of how effective this approach is to gain the engagement of employees and create a culture focused on people. After all, the role of employee satisfaction and engagement is not that of one person. It is the responsibility of everyone as the interactions between people can quickly impact a person’s experience and satisfaction with their work environment.
Engagement on the job begins with one’s work. People need to enjoy what they are doing, have sufficient challenge and feel that they are growing and contributing.
The next level of engagement revolves around the relationships they have with their boss and co-workers. Trust is the foundation of fostering good relationships and this is where the company must ensure that people are treating each other with respect and openness to get their work done.
Another level of engagement and job satisfaction comes from people’s perception of top management. This is where ongoing communication is of utmost importance especially during uncertain times. People want to be kept informed of the health of the company and plans for change so they can prepare themselves accordingly.
Another important element of engagement and satisfaction is investment in ongoing training and development. As it is extremely hard to predict the future, people need to feel they can market themselves with an up to date skill set. Ongoing training should include whatever technical skills are relevant to the job and may become important in the future. Teamwork and interpersonal skills are also important as the ability to collaborate with diverse people both locally and virtually has grown in importance.
Providing or taking on a people-oriented title for a director or executive is a good idea but a title does not produce a culture that values and invests in people. A good strategy and action are required based on a good understanding of the needs of employees. As well, everyone especially managers need to be committed to the strategy and taking the necessary actions.
I have been reading about a lot of companies who have put the focus on their people to assure their needs are being met during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a business practice, will putting employees needs first have them become more productive, engaged with the company and boost profits?
When we think of people, we first think of our employees. Of course, their needs must be met in order for them to perform well and to feel motivated. But employees are not the only people associated with the company and whose needs should be met.
We must think holistically when it comes to people and consider the needs of all stakeholders. This means employees, customers, suppliers, and shareholders.
A good exercise to do with managers is to list the needs of employees that must be met for them to perform their work well and be productive. Then discuss the list and determine how well their needs are being met by management. You can also form focus groups made up of managers and employees and conduct the same exercise.
A more holistic approach would be do the same for the other stakeholders including customers, suppliers, and shareholders. I suggest involving employees in these discussions as this would raise their awareness of how what they do daily affects everyone concerned.
By doing this exercise you will identify gaps in meeting the key needs of stakeholders and you can then prioritize items to work on to improve and narrow the gaps.
When working with teams of employees on team training, I have often discovered that employees lack the understanding of how a business works and what goes into making profits. Providing employees a perspective on meeting the needs of all stakeholders might change their view of the impact their performance has on everyone.
It is important to take a balanced approach to meeting the requirements of people so that all needs are being met.
When an employee withholds their thoughts, feeling and information it is as if they are lying about something. Holding back expressing a feeling about someone or a situation means that the person is hiding something that is affecting them negatively and it must come out. Otherwise it will have an impact on their performance and productivity or could affect the team or a co-worker.
An example would be if someone is a subject matter expert and knows that someone is having a problem that they could help solve with timely information. But because they do not like the person for whatever reason, they hold back the information, and this affects productivity. Withholds are lies and result from anger or fear, which are both negative emotions.
Prevention
The best way to deal with employee withholds is prevention and this should be part of employee development and teamwork training. Often employee training is focused on skill development such as technical or software skills, but personal development skills such as communication, attitude and teamwork also need to be delivered as part of a holistic approach to employee training.
Team training for employees that incorporates discussing withholds and lying should bring awareness along with ways to deal with negative emotions and situations that could be the cause. This could be how to confront somebody or how to express feelings when feeling hurt or mistreated by someone.
Another way to prevent employee withholds and lying is to have regular one on one discussions with employees. These conversations are about how the employee is feeling about their job and their experience in the workplace. It is a time to let employees express what is on their minds and unload any negative thoughts through open discussion. It is also an opportunity to build trust. The more these types of communications happen the more employee will feel safe to express themselves.
Just recently I experienced two situations in my personal life where people withheld something from me, and it escalated into them no longer speaking to me. The strange thing is I could not find out what caused them to act this way. One of them is a neighbour who I was quite friendly with and now will not look at me. This person is withholding something and has let this destroy our relationship. Rather than come forth and express what was bothering him he chose to withhold it and keep it secret. This a good case of self-deception as he must have found a way to justify his behavior to himself.
The bottom line is we are adults who sometimes behave as children and need to learn to act as the adults we are.
