DEVELOPING

05 |

2016

®

The Maga zine of WorldatW ork©

MANAG ERS

© 2016 WorldatWork. All Rights Reserved. For information about reprints/re-use, email copyright@worldatwork.or g | www.worldatwork.org | 877-951-9191

A Key to Employee Happiness

resources plus

For more information, books andeducation related to this topic, logon to www.worldatwork.org anduse any or all of these keywords:

■ Employee engagement■ Recognition Communication■ Total Rewards

Managers don’t have it easy. They are expected to be responsible for the lion’s share of recognition and employee engagement at any organization, but they rarely get recognized themselves, and are oftentimes left to their own devices, lacking the proper tools and resources to engage their teams effectively.

Gallup tells us that highly engaged employees can increase productivity and profitability by 21 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

The difference between highly engaged and disengaged employees can be measured in manager training. An employee’s relationship with his/ her

direct manager wields considerable influence over his/her on-the-job happiness and productivity and is a top driver of engagement. Managers have always been the key to employee happiness.

But in the past decade, their roles as engagers have become more complex. The nature of work has evolved in leaps and bounds since the advent of the 21st century. Employees today are much more empowered, independent and socially conscious, and they judge organizations harshly by their workplace culture and their level of commitment to employees as individuals.

Taking care ofyour managers

is essentialto employee

engagement.

A Key toEmployeeHappiness

DEVELOPING

MANAG ERS

By Cord Himelstein, Michael C. Fina Recognition

In other words, it’s not enough tojust mail an award anymore — theIn other words, it’s not enough tojust mail an award anymore — theemployee’s overall experience mustbe engaging and memorable to keepthe connection with the employerfront-of-mind. To do that, managersneed hard skills like communications,public speaking and emotionalintelligence, and they must use themdynamically throughout each day tocreate their own recognition opportunities. This is a challenge in its own right, but it’s made next to impossible without proper training.

Managers represent one of thebiggest training gaps organizationsface today. Out of the number ofrespondents in a WorldatWork survey,only 12 percent of organizationsprovide managers some training inrecognition, even with nine out of 10(88 percent) saying they have a recognition program in place. Managers say they feel lost as well with 26 percentof respondents in a CareerBuildersurvey claiming they weren’t readyto become leaders when they started,and 58 percent saying they didn’treceive any leadership training whenthey got the job.

To make matters worse, managersare rarely recognized or engaged inthe workplace. Root Inc’s America’sWorkforce Study found that 69percent of senior leaders don’teven believe there is a strong linkbetween manager training and businessperformance, and 57 percent ofmanager training programs are notdirectly supported by them. Addinginsult to injury, a full 32 percent ofrespondents say they didn’t think

their company viewed managers ascritical to success. This is a tune thatneeds to change, and some notablecompanies have taken bold stepsto do just that.

Manager Training at Zappos Contributes to High Engagement and RetentionZappos, the popular Internet storefrontand subsidiary of Amazon.com,rigorously trains and prepares all ofits employees and serves as a modelfor engagement with an extraordinarystaff retention rate of 85 percent.Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh wants hisemployees to think of their jobs as acalling instead of a career, so he putsa hefty amount of resources towardtraining, development and culturebuilding, maintaining a talent pipeline of current employees in everydepartment and promoting almostexclusively within the organization.

The type of training provided isalso crucial to being an engagingmanager, focusing on areas likecommunications, emotional intelligence, workplace recognition andempathy. Specific training is uniqueto each department, and in manycases there are required coursesto take in order to be promoted tomanagement; e.g., Zappos History,Zappos Culture, Delivering Happiness,Public Speaking.

With such a myriad of helpfultopics, it’s easy to imagine how wellprepared a Zappos manager mustbe to recognize his/her employees.Even “gimme” subjects like publicspeaking are consistently overlookedby many other companies. Even “gimme” subjects like public speaking are

Managers say they feel lostas well with 26 percent of respondents in a CareerBuildersurvey claiming they weren’t ready to become leaders when they started, and 58 percent saying they didn’t receive any leadership training when they got the job.

1. Attitude Treat employees as partners, show respect/kindness, and be flexible

2. Communication Give clear instructions,constructive feedback, and tailor praise to the individual.

3. RecognitionGive timely recognition, create your own opportunities, and get your employees recognizing each other.

Three Keys to Beingan Engaging Manager

When talking to employeesDO:■ Make eye contact■ Occasionally show your palms■ Remember to smile■ Make affirmative gestures.

DON’T■ Fold your arms■ Stand with your feet close together■ Close your fists or keep your hands in your pockets■ Look at the floor..

Positive Body Language:An Essential SocialSkill for Managers

© 2016 WorldatWork. All Rights Reserved. For information about reprints/re-use, email copyright@worldatwork.or g | www.worldatwork.org | 877-951-9191

© 2016 WorldatWork. All Rights Reserved. For information about reprints/re-use, email copyright@worldatwork.or g | www.worldatwork.org | 877-951-9191

consistently overlooked by many other companies. By making a substantial seven-year training and development commitment for each employee, Zappos keeps a full pipeline of talent for each department contained within its organization, and it creates clear expectations for employees looking to develop their careers.

In many cases, managers elsewhere simply don’t have the same level of commitment or allotted time by their employer to develop these skills.Several organizations also make thefatal mistake of assuming the titleof “manager” automatically confersthe bearer with the skills necessaryto recognize and engage employees.Nothing is automatic with recognition— public speaking, leadership,and engaging and empathizing withothers are all hard skills that must bewell developed before their benefitscan be enjoyed. Zappos is way aheadof the curve on this.

Top-Down Commitmentto In-House Developmentat Costco Makes aHappy Place to WorkAnother leader in the field is Costco.The world’s largest warehouseretailer has gained admiration andrespect over the years for being atop company to work for and wasrecently named one of the 2016Top 50 Happiest Places to Work byCareerBliss. The company has doneit in part by paying employees anaverage of $17 an hour and covering90 percent of healthcare costs for full and part-timers while consistentlyincreasing their profits and stockvalue year after year, a true unicornof the retail industry.

However, much of Costco’ssuccess also can be attributed toits commitment to make employeeappreciation its No. 1 priority fromthe top down. Co-founder and formerCEO Jim Sinegal famously said “whenemployees are happy, they are yourvery best ambassadors,” a tenet thatis carried on by current CEO CraigJelinek. Today, every decision Costcomanagement makes first takes into

account the impact on employees Some might argue that this simple act — putting employee happiness above shareholder happiness and developing a work culture that emphasizes individual recognition — has an even bigger impact on culture and retention than competitivewages and benefits.

Like Zappos, Costco recognizes theprudence of developing managerialtalent from within, rarely lookingto outsiders to fill key warehousemanagement positions. While it doesn’t have as rigid of a talent pipeline as Zappos, it will always provide training and consider current employees before looking elsewhere to fill management slots, but it rarely has to look elsewhere.

A good example of this was detailedin a case study by Quest Consulting,who helped Costco grow 5,000 newleaders from its own ranks when faced

with a plan to add 35 to 40 new stores over a five-year period. The company built what became known as Costco University, an online resource that uses cases specific to Costco’s business to trainpotential warehouse managers onbest practices, critical thinking andinterpersonal skills. Most important,however, the employees were heldaccountable. As a result, Costco wasable to fill every new warehousemanager position internally over thepast six years.

Thanks in large part to a top-downcommitment to in-house developmentand training, Costco thumbs a measly5 percent voluntary turnover rate atits competitors, an extraordinarily lownumber for the retail industry.

Investing in ManagementCulture (or Development)Is Crucial to EngagementOrganizations like Zappos and Costcothat invest heavily in defining andestablishing a curriculum for theirown management cultures fare muchbetter in the areas of profitability,productivity and retention thanthose that don’t, and it’s no surprise.Employee recognition is a top driverof engagement, but many frontlinemanagers lack the training or supportfrom their companies to make meaningfulconnections with employeespossible. The skills required to makethose connections are the life force ofa company, the fabric of its organizationalculture and the beating heart ofemployee recognition.

Cord Himelstein is Vice President of Marketing and Communications of Michael C. Fina Recognition in Long Island City, N.Y. Contact him at chimelstein@mcfina.com

resources plus

For more information, books andeducation related to this topic, logon to www.worldatwork.org anduse any or all of these keywords:

■ Employee engagement■ Recognition Communication■ Total Rewards

Two acronyms managers:

(A)ssist – Provide any and allassistance your employeesneed within your reach.

(I)nform – Keep theminformed of strategy changes,important company news, andgive regular feedback.

(D)efend – Defend them from things that may impede their progress, distract from their work or add stress.

(C)all – Talk to employees on the phone or in person. Real interactions are always more engaging.

(A)sk – Ask about their life outside work every now and again.

(R)emember – Remember theirmajor milestones (birthday,service anniversary, etc.) andcelebrate accordingly.

(E)mpathize – Always showrespect and attempt to see things from the perspective of others.

AID and CAREfor Employees