The HR Whisperer

Read a great article in the February 2010 edition of FAST COMPANY magazine about Volkswagen’s “drive to succeed in America.” 

Author Ellen McGirt asserts that if Volkswagen wants to be the world’s number one auto maker, it must first win over America. 

Tough stuff.  America that is. 

By the way, how many beans do you think are in that car? (The answer is at the end of this post…) 

Anyway, the article caught my eye as I grew up in a Volkswagen household, so nicknamed “King Gee” for our old 1968 VW bus noise which made a “king-gee, king-gee” sound as the engine turned over (which was great to fall asleep to as kids laying on top of the engine, which was in the back of the vehicle in those days) and subsequently turned into an adult user with three VWs to my name before I jumped the Autobahn to Honda. 

Why Honda, you ask?  

Because it met my needs. 

More from the FAST COMPANY article: 

“Volkswagen, originally a beloved, albeit quirky, counterculture brand, has never seemed to fully grasp the American market. When Jacoby took over the U.S. operation in 2007, Volkswagen (including Audi) was clinging to a 2% share of the U.S. market, down from 7% during its Beetle heyday in the 1970s. (VW is now at nearly 2.9% — a significant increase, but slightly less than Hyundai’s market-share jump from 2.9% to 4.3% during the same period.) The dealer network was in disrepair, fatigued by shipment delays, product complaints, and a confusing and occasionally short-lived parade of brands. The German reputation for design and engineering excellence sometimes came across to distributors as arrogance: You will accept the perfect cars we give you, not the rolling living rooms you ask for. Except the cars weren’t always perfect, especially for Americans…” 

Guess when I switched brands – you got it, 2007. 

What I take from this article is that in order to get Americans to drink the VW bug juice (yes, pun intended!), Volkswagen automakers have to recognize and meet their needs.  I don’t know about you, but I spend a TON of time in my car and so my car needs to (a) have a place for my diet Coke, (b) have a trunk big enough to load four deck chairs, six backpacks, 20 towels, two 20-packs of Gatorade and enough protein bars to feed a swarm of hungry swimmers, (c) have a decent air conditioning system so my drive is cool and comfortable, and (d) be sturdy enough to not have to be in the shop every other month.  Oh, and I forgot – be AFFORDABLE.

But I digress – those are my needs, not all Americans. 

Back to the story.  I’m reading this article and it got me thinking about recognition and meeting needs.  And making the leap – doesn’t recognition need to meet employee’s needs for it to be effective?  You bet. 

Various motivational theories tell us that all people have different degrees of need for acceptance, approval, and appreciation.  It’s up to the supervisor to figure out what those degrees of need are and craft a individual recognition plan that will compliment recognition provided from an organizational perspective.  For example, a 2007 survey conducted by  Accountemps found that a simple thank you wins over most employees.  They also found that 35% of workers and 30% chief financial officers cited frequent recognition of accomplishments as the most effective nonmonetary reward, followed by regular communication (20% for employees and 36% for CFOs).  

Now, notice the difference in the statistics – CFOs appear to have less need for frequent recognition of accomplishments, but a higher need for regular communication.  So, would a CFO care to be told everyday that the he/she is doing a great job?  Maybe….or maybe not.  It depends on the individual. 

Here’s three things to consider when giving recognition to individual employees: 

1. Recognition it must be respectful, timely and attached to a specific goal achievement or outcome. Not everyone likes goofiness and sometimes goofiness can overpower the intent of the recognition. Reminds me of when my sister-in-law hired a singing gorilla to sing to my brother at their wedding reception. Totally true story.  Goal? Check.  Timely?  Check. Respectful?   No check. The guy was thrilled mortified.
2. Keep recognition as a mix between public and private.  Some people just love, love, love jumping on a stage to receive their kudos.  Others don’t.  The occasional recognition in the boss’s office can pack just as much punch as an announcement in the company newsletter.  Find out from the employee what they prefer.  One of my favorites is a hand written thank you note.  I still have one note from an employee of mine who told me I was the best supervisor she ever had.  I treasure that thing.
3. Ensure you have a balance between formal and informal recognition.  Not only is it good practice, but it helps to meet a broad range of needs.  Cost can be an issue for formal programs, but there are many inexpensive ways to recognize service anniversaries, employee of the month, etc.  Check out the cool ideas, here, here, and here.

So, how did I get from Volkswagens to recognition?  Oh yes, it’s all about recognizing and meeting needs.  Once I’m done hauling Gatorade and towels, I think my next car is going to be a VW Bug!

And how many beans did you say?   There are 1,612,462 beans in the bus – gotta love their advertising!

With the new year beginning, I started thinking about what the year might hold for the workplace and employees.  Well, I’ll be honest; I was really thinking about snow and skiing.  Those two are at least fun —  I know,  I know.  Unless you have to get on the roof with the hairdryer to de-ice the gutters before the second storm hits and the snow wrecks the house (true story).   Been there, done that.  Sunny Florida beckoned.  I went.  Still miss snow, though.

But it did get me thinking about employees and their needs.  There’s this old adage that says, red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky at morning sailors take warning.  Meteorologists and sailors alike know that a red dawn means high water content from an approaching low pressure system.  Simply put, a [snow] storm is brewing.

Well, we have a red dawn coming.  Employers have enjoyed loyalty from their workforce, especially with the down economy.  While 2010 may still be a downer, things seem to be looking up job-wise, which means that employees will soon be on the move again.  There’s a tempest coming and with it new work ethics, attitudes and priorities.  It’s the perfect storm.

But, in spite of record unemployment, a dismal economy, and Gen Y entering the workforce, employees still have the same expectations they always did.  Spherion points out in its 2009 Emerging Workforce Study that despite the significant change workers have witnessed over the past few years, there is surprisingly little change in how they perceive the employment relationship.  While people may stay at an organization because the current economy demands they do so, holding a job and being motivated in that position are two vastly different things. 

So, how can organizations prepare for the stormy employer-employee relationship in 2010?  Three things: 1) concentrate on the social-emotional connection, 2) offer developmental opportunities that link to the organizational mission, and 3) take advantage of social media.

          Focus on the social-emotional connection.  One of the greatest causes of misery for employees is the feeling that the organization they work for isn’t interested in who they are and what goes on in their lives.  Combat this by training supervisors in social-emotional intelligence.  No matter what the business climate, the generation of the worker, or the technology available, all people want to feel important.  The Hawthorne Studies of 1924 found that if managers paid more attention and cared about employees, it raised morale and increased productivity.  That still holds true today: a recent worldwide engagement study that found that organizations with the highest percent of motivated employees increased income 19% and earnings per share 28%.  Creating the social-emotional connection also means that basic HR programs have to be in place to meet employee needs.  This includes having a decent compensation and benefits package, providing accommodations for the disabled; offering flexible work arrangements, establishing special-interest networks, and presenting good career prospects.

          Provide developmental opportunities that link to the organization’s mission and vision.  The “perfect storm” of the emerging employment contract implies that there will never be job security, that employment will be contingent on added value, and that workers have the right to demand the freedom and resources to do their jobs well.  So, if workers are to add value, help them by providing ample opportunity to improve skills and capabilities.  There are many ways to do this such as through education and training, job enrichment or enlargement, coaching and feedback.

          Take advantage of social media.  Social media is the new way of connecting and tech-savvy workers are using it to keep in touch with friends and family, share information, surf for a new job, and provide opinions on their work and their workplace.  Social media is a virtual conversation and because of this, business is now a virtual conversation.  With the advent of social media, an organization’s brand or reputation can be literally one comment away from disaster – from a Twitter blurb, Facebook post or Epinions review.  Someone out there is talking about the organization and they can say whatever it is they want.  What you can do though, is help manage the conversation.

Managing the conversation however, does not mean telling employees what to say.  It means creating an authentic atmosphere where people can initiate a conversation.  In the era of business transparency, empowering people to tell the truth can be risky, but also rewarding.  Think about how your organization can use social media to its advantage.  Introduce rules of engagement for employees and encourage them participate with an understanding of those rules.  Use social connections to share information about the company – create organization Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, or company wikis and blogs where people can share information, celebrate accomplishments, trade opinions. If something bad pops up, have a person in the organization accountable for responding to it appropriately.  Just keep the conversation going.

While workers may be staying in their respective jobs due to the economy, if the relationship is not a strong one – or is abused – when the storm is over, employees will leave for greener pastures.  Whether it’s today or tomorrow, organizations that invest in their people will find that their people will invest in them.

You know, as the HR Whisperer, I’m really enamored with the whole idea of creating top performing organizations through positive behavior change. One of my favorite mentors, Cesar Millan, says, “A dog that doesn’t trust its human to be a good pack leader becomes unbalanced and often exhibits unwanted or antisocial behaviors.” It struck me that the same is true for people in organizations. We need to have strong leadership because in many cases our very business survival depends on a stable, organized and motivated team. Business survival instinct is perhaps one of our greatest natural motivators in the workplace and if a person is not guided well, it can not only result in unwanted behavior but total chaos in the long run.

So, I’m digging this concept and working it through in my brain as to how this relates to human capital and wouldn’t you know, I web-stumbled across an article recently published by Harvard Business Review (September 2008). Written by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis, “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership” discusses new studies of the brain that show that business leaders can improve team performance by understanding not the psychology, but the biology of social intelligence. How cool. It struck me that scientists have discovered a biological underpinning to what makes a good leader great, which could toss more fuel on the fire in the “leaders are born, not made” camp. (Which I don’t subscribe to, by the way. I believe that anyone, given time and effort can change their behavior – even interpersonally. That’s why I’m in the business I’m in. Oh, I feel another blog topic coming on! <huge grin>)

More on the biology of leadership from Harvard Business Review:

“The salient discovery is that certain things leaders do—specifically, exhibit empathy and become attuned to others’ moods—literally affect both their own brain chemistry and that of their followers. Indeed, researchers have found that the leader-follower dynamic is not a case of two (or more) independent brains reacting consciously or unconsciously to each other. Rather, the individual minds become, in a sense, fused into a single system. We believe that great leaders are those whose behavior powerfully leverages the system of brain interconnectedness…If we are correct, it follows that a potent way of becoming a better leader is to find authentic contexts in which to learn the kinds of social behavior that reinforce the brain’s social circuitry. Leading effectively is, in other words, less about mastering situations—or even mastering social skill sets—than about developing a genuine interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support you need.”

Wow. The idea that leaders need good interpersonal as well as functional skills has certainly been around for quite some time. As a matter of fact, Goleman coined the phrase, “social intelligence” to discuss this very thing. But what he and Boyatzis are talking about here is different – they’re saying that we have these things in our brains called mirror neurons that mimic what another person does. As social beings, when we “consciously or unconsciously detect someone else’s emotions through their actions, our brain’s mirror neurons reproduce those emotions and allow us to instantly share that experience.” Ever notice when two people are deep in discussion they tend to hold their arms the same way or cross their legs at the same time? That’s the mirror neurons in action.

 So, how can leaders take advantage of this brain interconnectedness? If it stands to reason that followers will create a social connection with their leader, it also stands to reason that they will emotionally feel whatever it is the leader is feeling and behave accordingly. If leaders are emotionless, don’t smile or otherwise engage their followers, they will not activate the mirror neutrons in a positive way, leading to distressed and nonperforming followers, and thus the potential for business chaos. Body language plays a great part also. If a leader’s body language doesn’t jibe with what is being said, the follower will go with the body language. Bodies don’t tell lies, mouths do.

 The bottom line is that when people feel good about what they are doing, when they have a social connection with their leaders, when they feel part of something that is bigger than them, those mirror neurons come in handy. Reinforce the brain’s social circuitry — if you want to motivate those around you, create a positive atmosphere. If you want higher performance or enhanced creativity, be in a good mood and show you care.

If you truly want the best from your followers, kick those mirror neutrons into high gear and create an environment where sincere respect, fun, laughter and performance are a serious part of your business operations.