Category: People & Relationships

By Steven D. Goldstein

One of the elements of a truly engaged workplace is the asking of questions. The fact is that most people are afraid to ask questions; whatever natural curiosity we had as children tends to get discouraged in most large organizations. Leaders assume following the status quo is the right way to go and are not interested in trying to challenge anything, especially if it seems on the surface to be going along just fine. And the lower-level employees just try to do what’s asked of them and stay out of trouble—believing that people who ask questions may be sticking their necks out.

Getting people to ask questions requires effort and energy. It means changing what may have been part of a process for years. Change is almost always very hard. Questioning actually means choosing the path of resistance, instead of the path of least resistance. But when people get into the habit and realize they won’t get their heads chopped off for asking questions–that in fact their questions will be welcomed–everything gets better.

The best way to teach is by example. Buddha and every other great leader throughout history taught by showing or doing, not by telling. When your people see you, the leader, asking questions (i.e., questions about how and why things are done, not questions regarding people’s individual intentions and/or productivity), they will begin to feel comfortable answering your questions, and they will start asking similar questions with their folks. And those folks, in turn, will start to realize that challenging things and offering information about what is really going on in their department is something that is encouraged. When you are willing to admit in front of everybody that you don’t know a particular answer, and you are the boss, then that makes others understand that they also can admit they don’t know. This enables free flowing information, which is essential to the health and productivity of your organization.

This sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? So why does this reticence, this reluctance to ask questions, occur so often? Why is it so hard for leaders to know what’s going on at the lower levels of their companies? The main reason is that leaders are fundamentally not interacting well with their employees.

Obviously most leaders don’t promote a closed-door policy or a bad environment. They just don’t actively promote the opposite. But the absence of a positive message is still a message, just as making no decision is actually making an important decision—a decision to do nothing. The process of questioning is actually hard—and it is a process.

Getting your employees to ask questions starts with you letting your hair down. Start a dialog. Begin with your own engagement.

So how do you begin to practice this? There are many different methods to encourage people to open up so you can get to the nitty-gritty of what’s going on. If engaging does not come easily to you — if you are someone who is not comfortable talking to lots of people and asking lots of questions – try employing one or two techniques from the following list that suit you the best, ones that feel the most natural to you. (Note: You can’t do this superficially. If you are not truly involved in this process, it will not work.)

A Few Simple Ways to Encourage the Free Flow of Information:

— Have a conversation with your assistant and ask him how things are going. If you have never really done this before, with someone you know, you will find out immediately that there are things he will tell you (and hopefully also things he will ask you) that you never knew—and will want to know.

— Ask your assistant if he can suggest a few individuals he thinks would be willing to be open with you. Then you can reach out to them and arrange to meet with them individually. These chats do not have to be more than fifteen or twenty minutes, but be sure to make it clear you are there to answer questions as well as gain information.

— Make yourself talk to one new person every day—no matter who it is. Choose someone you would not normally talk to. At the end of the week, ask yourself, “Did I do this? Did I engage with someone new?” Believe it or not this will be fun, and you will almost always learn something that is beneficial. Once you realize it’s not a waste of time, you will naturally do more of it. Starting small is the way you begin anything new, whether it’s learning the saxophone, training for a marathon, or getting your people to ask questions.

— Convene a small group of employees into a conference room in their department (not your conference room) and say something like this: “I just wanted to come down and visit with you to see how you are all doing. I’d like to hear from you about what’s working in your department, what’s not—where you think we can improve, etc. I will probably take some notes to make sure I can address the items you bring up.” Go around the table and ask them to tell you their name and what their job is. Usually before people finish introducing themselves, someone will make a comment that sparks a conversation among the group members, and you’re off to the races.

About the Author

Steven D. Goldstein is a proven leader who has held executive positions with leading global brands, such as American Express (Chairman and CEO of American Express Bank), Sears (President of Sears Credit), and Citigroup, as well as several early-stage enterprises. He currently works in the private equity industry as a Senior Advisor with the consulting and advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, serves as Chairman of US Auto Sales, serves as a Senior Advisor to Milestone Partners and an Industrial Advisor to EQT Partners (a global private equity firm based in Stockholm). 

He has also advised CEOs and private equity owners providing counsel on performance improvement with their companies in addition to acquisitions and merger integration opportunities. 

He has served on numerous boards, such as: American Express Bank, Jafra Cosmetics, Union Bancaire Privée, Pay-O-Matic and Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. Steven has been an investor, advisor, and interim CEO for more than 10 venture backed e-commerce companies. Steven holds a Bachelor’s degree from City University of New York City, and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He lives in New York City.

Article Contributed by Dr. Joey Faucette

It’s as familiar as the chorus of American Pie by Don Mclean, only instead of “the day the music died,” it’s “the day the employee died.”

It begins with something like, “She’s just not working out…” and wraps up with “It’s just hard to find the right person today.”

Whether you’re a small business owner or a C-Level Executive of a Fortune 50, you’re in search mode 24/7 for the right person in the right place at the right time for the right reasons. The conundrum lies in focusing too much on the person with little regard for the place, time, and reasons in your business.

Here are four questions you must ask to discover your Work Positive Dream Team:

Where is the Place?

Place refers to the position on the team. Every football team has one quarterback, one center, two guards, two tackles, etc. Their places are defined clearly. Their assignments emerge from their places on the field. They are trained to know what to do when.

Does the position you’re seeking to fill have a complete description? Did the team participate in writing it? Is everyone’s mind clear about how the team Works Positive once it’s filled?

The largest deficiency I discover almost weekly in my coaching and consulting business is an inadequate understanding by leader, team and candidate of, “Where is the place on the team that this person fills?” Incomplete position descriptions are typically discovered by the candidate in the first 90 days when the “other duties as assigned by leader” take over the previously understood primary tasks.

When is the Time?

Time refers to a couple of realities. First, what happens once the person is hired? Is there a prescribed process for assimilation and integration?

Second, and this is most important, who will take the time in this process to train the new team member? When will the leader receive feedback from the trainer to monitor the process? What are the benchmarks for appropriate progress?

Even if all of the dominant tasks are exactly the same as the candidate performs currently for another company, your business culture is different. That means training is required for team and task integration to occur. Neglect training and you install a revolving door on your team.

What are the Reasons?

Reasons refers to an evaluation of the team opening. Why is this position open on the team now? What was the impact of our relationship with the previous team member on this opening? Is it a new position designed to increase capacity? Then what are the ripple effects on the team, i.e., who relinquishes what and how?

Discover the reasons for this opening by looking back at former teammates’ experiences gathered from exit interviews or a strategic planning process that led to the creation of the position so you forecast accurately for maximum effectiveness.

Who is the Person?

Finally you arrive at the person. Diagnostic tools are readily available to determine the person’s fit and finish with place, time, and reasons. You previously defined place, time, and reasons. Now you define who the person is that fills the position best.

Pursue an understanding of the person and who she or he really is by using case studies and role plays. Do personality indicators. Dig deeply into second-generation referrals. Examine social media content. Inviting someone on your team is analogous to getting married—for better, for worse. The key is to assure as many “better” experiences as possible.

You do just that as you positively ask these four questions and invite your Dream Team to Work Positive.

About the Author

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), Positive Success Coach, & speaker who helps business professionals increase sales with greater productivity so they get out of the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.GetPositive.Today.

How happy are your employees? The answer to that question can determine how productive they are and how much revenue your business brings in.

Through hundreds of studies researchers have found that happiness begets success, not the other way around. Employees that feel happy at work are more productive, creative and motivated. There’s such a strong correlation that it’s now being dubbed the “happiness advantage”.

The problem – only 47.7% of employees are happy, and a Staples study of small businesses found that over half of employees feel overworked. It’s time to turn those frowns upside down and give your business a serious boost with a few happiness-inducing additions.

An Office Entertainment Space

There’s a reason why watching television is America’s number one pastime – people enjoy it. Creating an entertainment area where employees can unwind is an effective way to boost happiness. All it takes is adding a few comfortable seats, mounting a flat screen TV and signing up for an affordable service like the plans found at http://satellitetv-deals.com/directv-internet.html.

Free Snacks

A recent survey from Peapod revealed that offices that offered free snacks and drinks had happier employees. Stocking up on healthy snacks can also help employees avoid brain fatigue. Research from Florida State University has shown that as people make decisions throughout the day glucose levels decrease and mental fatigue sets in. A snack can bump up the glucose levels and restore energy reserves.

Flexible Scheduling

Creating flex schedules may take a little effort at the beginning, but once a system is set in place this is an easy way to make employees much happier. Study after study shows that employees who are given the freedom to work from home are more productive. There are a number of reasons, including less break time and sick leave, but happiness is also a factor. Another residual benefit is that employees who have more control over when and where they work are less likely to quit.

Give Praise Often

Positive feedback on a regular basis has proven to keep employees happier than less frequent, grander forms of praise. Small words of encouragement and signs of appreciation once a week are enough to keep employees happy and motivation all year long.

Create a Meditation Room

Meditating for just two minutes can provide benefits for the brain and body. Up that to 20 minutes of meditation and the benefits are far greater. Researchers from Harvard found that meditating for 20 minutes a day decreases stress while increasing focus, productivity and creativity. Any space can work for meditating as long as it’s quiet and free of distractions.

Encourage Breaks

Half of employees in small companies feel like they can’t step away to take breaks during work. Burn out is going to make even the best employees disgruntle from time to time. Taking breaks during the workday has been shown to increase productivity and can significantly improve happiness. Encouraging employees to take breaks is often enough to help them avoid burn out and unnecessary stress. Bonus: when employees take breaks they socialize, which can make them even happier and fosters teamwork.

Do Away With the Majority of Emails

Employees get bombarded with emails these days. It creates stress and is cited as a reason for always feeling like they are “on” even when they aren’t at work. Not to mention it can significantly hinder productivity. Make an effort to reduce the number of emails that are sent out to employees. It’s also a good idea to create a prioritization system for emails. Come up with designators like “URGENT” that can be used in the subject line so employees feel less pressured to open everything immediately.

Surprise Employees With Special Treats

Surprises make more of a mental impact because they aren’t expected. Surprising employees with lunch every now and then or giving everyone a few hours off one afternoon will dramatically improve everyone’s mood. These nice surprises make employees happier and also help to offset the occasional bad news.

Your employees are the most valuable asset of your business. These eight simple strategies will help ensure that they are as satisfied and productive as possible, which makes everyone happy.

Employee engagement at a startup is one of the hardest things to get right.

The startup life isn’t for everyone, and as anyone that has worked in a startup knows, there’s a ton of pressure, long hours, and almost too much stress.

Burnout and depression are very real things in the startup community, making employee engagement even harder.

We’ll often see TV shows or read news articles about startups in the valley with cool offices, great perks, and enough skateboards and beer to make you forget you’re at work.

But a hidden side to all of it is the intense work that is required when you’re at a startup.

One of the key components of employee engagement is work-life balance and making sure employees are able to take as much downtime as they need to recharge and refuel.

Unfortunately, most startup employees don’t have this luxury. Again, startups aren’t for everyone.

In terms of engaging employees, this is the biggest challenge that a startup faces.

Another huge challenge that startups face is obviously lack of resources (like money), making it tough to buy engagement from employees.

But there’s a bright side. You can use the fact that you’re a small, nimble team to your advantage.

Using The Startup To Your Advantage

There are several reasons why it’s actually better to be a startup when it comes to employee engagement, and we’ll go through each of them while giving you tips to use to make your team happier.

1. Smaller Teams Are A Family

This is the biggest advantage you have as the leader of a startup.

You can make every employee feel special and like they matter, and not like a cog in a machine.

You should be spending time getting to know your employees and taking a genuine interest in their well-being, even outside of work.

Ask them often how they’re doing and what you could be doing better to make them enjoy work more. Since it’s a startup, there likely aren’t many defined processes yet.

Let employees play a role in developing those.

2. Employees Want Free Things

Many people confuse engagement with spending money, like on fancy perks and foosball tables, and beer taps in the office.

While those things are nice, that’s not what employees truly want.

What employees really want is respect, for you to listen to them, and to be taken seriously.

As a startup, you can easily give that to them.

3. More Autonomy

Since you’re limited on resources anyway, you can give employees more autonomy.

Employees want to be autonomous and have more responsibility at work, so this is a perfect opportunity for you to give it to them.

Giving employees that sense of ownership is a guaranteed way to increase employee engagement.

4. Professional Growth

This is tough one to do, because everyone is so busy, but there are lots of opportunities for professional growth at startups.

If you can help employees explore different options and mentor them in areas that you know well, you’ll be doing yourself and them a favour.

Professional growth is by far the most important factor when it comes to employee engagement, so try to take the time to focus on this one.

5. Transparency

One way your startup can differentiate itself from larger, more bureaucratic organizations is by being radically transparent.

Include your employees in decision making, and share as much as you’re legally allowed to share with them.

It will make them feel like part of the family, and like they have a say in how the company is run.

This is one of the easiest ways to increase employee engagement.

6. Money Doesn’t Motivate

The research is very clear about this. Money doesn’t motivate employees to work harder.

As a cash-strapped startup, you should be happy about this and instead, focus on giving employees autonomy, helping them master their skills, and make them feel like the company they work fro has a valuable and meaningful purpose.

7. You Can Do Things More Frequently

If there’s one common theme with all of the research out there about employee engagement, it’s that employees want things frequently.

As an agile, nimble startup, you can easily do this.

Frequent employee engagement surveys, frequent one-on-ones, frequent performance reviews, etc.

Take advantage of the fact that you’re small and can move quicker.

What Are Some Ways You Engage Your Employees?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Article Contributed by By Ian Cowley, Managing Director, cartridgesave.co.uk

Running your own business can feel like it’s you against the world. Especially in the early days.

However, no one has to fly solo. Help is out there and it’s just a matter of knowing where to find it.

Cultivated properly and nurtured frequently, business mentors and friends can turn into some of the biggest assets you have, outside of your own staff. Their guidance, ideas and counsel can help your business grow and turn you into a better leader.

Here are some tips that have worked for me:

Get out there

No matter your location or your industry, people like you will already be meeting up regularly to share experiences and ideas.

Networking does not come naturally to everyone. However, even if you are as naturally shy as I, you must put aside any fears and embarrassments to capitalise on the opportunity.

Find a local networking meet-up that looks relevant and go. Introduce yourself to everyone you can, chat and see if you have common ground with them.

You may not find your mentor at the first time of trying, but this is a long game. So keep going and making new contacts until you get that ‘click’ that you know is going to benefit your business in a meaningful way.

Cultivating a mentor

If you have an idea that someone you’ve met might prove useful due to their experience suggest you meet for coffee or lunch and introduce some questions that you’d like answers to in this casual environment.

Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help. Chances are, the person you’re talking to has been in exactly the same position themselves and will be only too keen to help.

After repeating this informal meet-up a few times, you may find that you have a fully functioning business mentor without even asking for one!

Make it easy

If you have questions you’d like answered by your business mentor, don’t wait for a right moment to ask them. Just do it. If you think they can help you in a specific way, request their assistance. This might be an introduction to a supplier, for social media support or assistance with a roadblock you just can’t see a way past.

Whatever the question, don’t be impeded by politeness.

The point is, you make it as easy as possible for your mentor to help you by being as open as you can with them and using their experience and insight to the full.

Give and take

Some people you befriend in business won’t scratch your back without theirs being scratched too. You may need to decide to what level you want to invest in a relationship that is turning transactional.

The best and most productive friendships do have an element of give and take about them and it’s healthy that you will offer insight, tips and supplier information to those who give it to you.

It’s an unwritten rule of business that people look out for one another. Once you start networking, you will find there is a real sense of community. To be a fully functioning member of the community, it’s good to give back as well as take. Once you are established, this could take the form of you mentoring someone who is just starting out. Use your judgement to ensure that the balance is right and the benefits are always there for your business.