When you love someone, you typically want to please him or her, and go beyond what they expect from you. Likewise, Bob Kelleher from the Employee Engagement Group talks about the magic dust as the discretionary effort of an employee, when they go above and beyond what is expected. So, how can we create some of this engagement (magic dust) in our employees?
5 Secret Why’s, What’s and How’s:
- Give them the ‘Why’. Just as you and your partner like to have a common vision of your relationship, your employees also like to know the vision of the company/team. Further, it is true, that if their goals are consistent with the organizations’, then they spend more time on them.
- Give them the ‘What’. When you ask your partner to meet you at a restaurant for dinner, you need to give them clear specifics on time, directions, etc. Likewise, with your employees you need to give them clear expectations of what you want. Remember that you may need to adjust your ‘What’ and customize the language to the individual in person.
- Leave out the ‘How’. You would not think of telling your partner ‘how’ to kiss you. Individuals like some freedom and autonomy on how they carry out a task. The only ‘How’ for your employees will be, “How will we know you have completed the task”. This is important in terms of accountability.
- Find out ‘What’ motivates them. As the ‘5 Love Languages’ can help you to talk your partner’s language, David Rock’s neuroscience SCARF model, based on minimizing danger (threats), and maximizing reward, can help you to figure out what best motivates each employee.
- Find out ‘How’ they learn best. Is it visual (diagrams), verbal (reading), tonal (listening), kinaesthetic (doing) or numeric (Numbers)? If you wanted to teach your partner to cook a new meal, would it be best to give them a book, tell them about it or have them do it with you?
To find out more about improving engagement and improving performance, come to my FREE Webinar below. To sign up, simply go to my web site www.nicolamccrabbe.com and complete the sign-up form.
Free Webinar: Turn Your Employees into Star Performers (stop losing sleep over poor performance)
Date: Tuesday February 21st 2017, 12-1pm MST, 2-3pm EST
Details: Is someone on your team not performing to expectations? It’s every manager’s least favourite part of the job. Are they not taking responsibility for their work? Maybe this is affecting team morale, overall results and taking up too much of your time. Are you frustrated, and not sure where to turn to for help