Three employee engagement strategies that every leader must know

 
Three Employee engagement strategies and Employee engagement importance every leader must know.

The business world today is challenging. Global competition, flatter organizations, the fast pace of change, the scarcity and competition for good talent, continuous disruptions, and so on are just some of the challenges. The acronym VUCA nicely describes the current business environment – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. A VUCA world creates both opportunities and risks.

 

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Why is employee engagement important?

 
Large companies today have equal access to capital, technology, talent, or other resources. What, then, is the differentiating factor? What makes the difference is whether the company can engage the workforce to put in the discretionary effort. We all have heard the famous phrase – “people are our greatest assets.” While it may have been an excellent slogan for Human Resources or C-suite executives in the past, it is absolutely true in today’s business environment. People will be the greatest assets of any company – as long as they are engaged!

 
We have moved from the factory and mass production of the industrial age to today’s knowledge economy and knowledge work. The 20th-century paradigms of command and control or carrot and stick management approach are becoming outdated and ineffective. Companies realize that they need to develop a new kind of relationship with employees. Employees aren’t merely replaceable cogs in the machinery but valued, respected, and contributing partners. Companies know that to deliver business results, they need engaged employees. Hence business strategy must include ways first to establish a culture of high employee engagement.

 

Read:  Diversity and inclusion at the workplace

 

What is employee engagement?

 
The concept of employee engagement is relatively new. Before the late ’90s, hardly anyone used the term employee engagement. Back in the ’60s or ’70s, organizations thought that people worked only for salary and benefits. Obviously, this line of thinking is now outdated. Employees do care about pay and benefits. But employee engagement takes a lot more than just financial benefits. Today there is a shortage of talent in many specialized fields.

Employees can choose where they want to work for similar pay and benefits. Employees consider the values, culture, growth opportunities, and many other factors before deciding to join a company. Companies have to work hard to create an environment that engages employees. Not doing so can be costly. Companies will not attract and retain the top talent. This has high financial and opportunity costs.

 

 

Employee engagement definition
 

Here are a few employee engagement definitions:
 

“The extent to which the employees thrive at work, are committed to their employer and are motivated to do their best, for the benefit of themselves and their organization.” – Stairs.

 

“Engaged employees are those who are “mentally and emotionally invested in their work and in contributing to their employer’s success” Czarnowsky.

 
Employee engagement is a relationship between the organization and the employee. It involves both the attitude and the behavior of the employees.

 
Employee engagement is not the same as employee satisfaction. A company may be able to raise the employee satisfaction level through financial rewards. But it may be costly, raise expectations, create complacency and instill an entitlement mentality.

 

Companies cannot buy employee engagement with money! They have to earn it through the behaviors and climate those behaviors create.

 

Employee engagement importance

 
Here is a list of attitudes and behaviors exhibited by engaged employees

 
· Are committed to the organization
· Are positive about the job and take pride in working at the company
· Treat other employees with respect
· Put is discretionary efforts
· Stay longer with the company
· Care for the greater good and not just personal benefits
· Look for opportunities to learn, grow and improve their performance

 

What does DIS-engagement look like?
 

On the other hand, take a look at these behaviors of disengaged employees.

 
· Lack of discretionary effort (do enough not to get fired!)
· No initiatives, no sticking their necks out
· Lack of communication and helpful feedback
· Defensive and disruptive behaviors
· Self-interest ahead of the great good of the team or company
· Increased bureaucracy and friction
· Conflicts and silo mentality
· Increased stress and low morale
· High attrition rates

 

Steven M R Coven nicely outlines the consequences of disengagement.

When the bond of trust is broken between the employee and the employer, speed goes down, and cost goes up.

Engaged employees increase the rate at which business gets done and reduce the cost of doing business. On the other hand, disengaged employees reduce speed and increase the cost of doing business.

 
Employee engagement importance – The business case

 

What company would not want their employees to exhibit the behaviors in this list routinely? But these are “soft” measures. Is there any hard evidence that employee engagement really matters?

 
· Highly engaged employees deliver 26 percent higher employee productivity (SHRM, 2011a)
· Companies with top engagement scores are 21% more productive than those with low levels of engagement. (Gallup)
· Companies with top 25% engagement scores delivered 2.6 times earnings per share and 12% higher profitability than those in the bottom half of engagement scores. (Flade, 2006)
· Engaged employees deliver 44% more productivity than workers who merely feel satisfied (Bain & Company)
· Organizations with above-average employee engagement exceed the financial performance of their peers by 73% (Wharton)

 

Higher levels of employee engagement are correlated with a variety of positive business outcomes. Having engaged employees is a significant competitive advantage.

 
 
The current state of employee engagement in organizations

 
Gallup organization conducts annual employee engagement surveys around the world. Their latest State of the Global Workforce Report surveyed employees in 155 countries.

 

Only 15% of the global workforce is engaged. 85% of employees worldwide are not engaged or are actively disengaged in their job. 67% were not engaged, and 18% were actively disengaged. A disengaged workforce is a barrier to performance. An enormous amount of human potential is wasted.

 
The top 25% of the global engagement scores had 17% more productivity and 21% more profits than the companies in the bottom 25%.

 
Employee engagement levels are a deficient level worldwide. Cultivating employee engagement is a strategic advantage in a competitive business environment.

 
Read: Psychological safety at work – Why you need it and how to develop it

 
Three employee engagement strategies that every leader must know

 

Engaging employees takes time, effort, and commitment. But the efforts are worthwhile. Gallup’s State of Global Workforce found these factors common in organizations that maintain a high employee engagement level. These are the three employee engagement strategies that every leader needs to know.

 

 
Employee engagement strategy 1: A clear and straightforward approach to performance management

 

Companies that have high levels of employee engagement use intrinsic motivators routinely. Intrinsic motivators like recognition, praise, valuing the employee’s contribution are part of the performance management process.

They also take the performance conversations approach instead of once-a-year performance management.

They schedule regular coaching conversations between the manager and employees that help the employee stay the course and stay motivated. They do not focus much on vanity metrics and employee engagement scores for the sake of measurement.

They understand that these surveys barely scratch the surface of how engaged the employees are. It is the simple approach to managing performance that drives results and engagement.

 
 
Employee engagement strategy 2: Managers are held accountable for both engagement and performance

 

Gallup found that 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores can be attributed to the manager. In organizations with lower employee engagement scores, managers are held accountable for results only. Often it results at the cost of employee engagement. Short-term focus on outcomes usually costs a lot in the long term due to employee engagement loss.

 
Progressive companies hold managers accountable for both performance and engagement. They put it in black and white as the key performance indicators – based upon which the manager’s performance is evaluated. The company also invests in regular training and coaching of the managers to make them aware and support them in changing their approach and managing them more effectively.

 
 
Employee engagement strategy 3: Engagement starts at the top

 

High levels of engagement are seldom an accident. It is a result of the consistent commitment of the top leaders in the organization. The top leaders clearly understand that high performance is a clear result of highly engaged employees. Employee engagement is a strategic priority for them.

These leaders routinely identify and rectify barriers that stifle employee engagement. They are transparent, communicative, and open-minded in their approach. They work tirelessly to create a culture where the right people get hired and are motivated to do their best work.

 
Progressive leaders do not pass on the responsibility for employee engagement to the Human Resources department. They themselves take ownership and pride in cultivating engaged employees in their organization.

They consistently improve their own behaviors through feedback, self-reflection, and executive coaching. They then role model the right behaviors so they cascade down the line to the front-line employees.

 

Read: How to create and implement an organization-wide leadership development plan

 

Conclusion:

 
Employee engagement is a vast topic. But there are a few simple things that are key driving factors. The first factor is the leadership behaviors at the top. The second major factor is the behaviors of managers and team leaders.

When leaders role model and cascade the right behaviors, and when managers are held accountable for both business performance and employee engagement, they are on the right path to achieving high employee engagement levels.

Supporting the leaders and the managers through training and coaching is key to changing long-ingrained behaviors.

 

Read: Coaching achieves multiple talent development needs. 

 

 

Employee engagement strategies for your company

 

The leaders and managers are the key drivers of employee engagement and employee engagement importance. One of the best employee engagement strategies is to enroll your leaders and managers in our executive coaching and team coaching interventions.

Our NAL triple advantage coaching takes your leaders and managers through the process of awareness of their behaviors, acceptance of the need to improve specific behaviors and take consistent action toward achieving the goal of improved behaviors to increase employee engagement.

 
NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching – your best employee engagement strategy

 

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study of 11000 leaders on four continents).  It is used by companies ranging from start-ups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

 
Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

 
Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

 

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

 

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

 

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

 

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

 

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s team members.

 

Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you don’t have to pay us.
 

References

State of the Global Workplace: Gallup survey and Employee engagement importance

Why is Employee Engagement So Important?

5 reasons about employees engagement importance

Developing leaders to thrive in a VUCA world

 

The pandemic has hyper disrupted workplaces.

 

To say that the pandemic has disrupted how we live and work will be an understatement! It has hyper disrupted how we live and work.  As CEO’s COO’s and CHRO’s  – you have already handled the crisis. You have quickly stabilized things and quickly adapted to the new normal. Great job so far! 

 

• Now, how do you leverage leadership to thrive (not just survive) in the new normal?  It is already a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world.
• Disruptions create both threats & opportunities.  What will it take to create an opportunity out of this crisis?
• Are you playing offense or defense?  Is your focus on merely surviving, or are you planning to thrive in the “new normal”?
• Is your leadership ready to exploit the opportunity in this disruption? Are you supporting your leaders and setting them up for success?  Or is it a SINK or SWIM approach? 
• The statistics on the effectiveness of leadership development initiatives are both shocking and depressing – How do you maximize the ROI on leadership development investment in the new normal?

 

Changes at work after the pandemic

 

We have all observed a multitude of changes at our workplaces.  Work from home, remote teams, Zoom and MS Team meetings, virtual teamwork and related issues, work-life balance issues, and many other changes.  The pandemic has impacted every employee as it altered their work-life in some way. They had to adjust and adapt. 

 

But CEOs had the most crucial job of adapting and stabilizing to keep the business running.  What are their challenges and priorities going forward?

 

 

The top 3 CEO challenges & priorities for the new normal – Survey of 160 CEOs by Predictive Index

 

The Predictive Index surveyed 160 CEOs (in late 2020) about their top priorities, concerns, and challenges.  The survey report was titled – Understanding the future of leadership, teaming, remote work, and strategy.  You may read the entire report here.

 

I am going to share some highlights of the report.  There are three main themes.

 

1. Executive strategy and work to be done

 

• Pandemic has forced companies to change their game plan – 96% of CEOs said that they had shifted strategic direction in some way since COVID-19.  It is a new normal, and leaders developed new ways to cope.
• CEOs are laser-focused on strategy development, and it is their number 1 priority,  especially for the new normal.
• But most CEOs think – Employees are less clear on strategy – especially after the pandemic.  Firstly there is a change in strategy, and secondly, the difficulty in communicating the strategy down the line due to remote work.
• Less than 80% of CEOs believe in their employees’ ability to communicate and cascaded the strategy to others.

 

Key takeaway:  As organizations look to bounce back from the pandemic, many CEOs have ambitious goals. Achieving them requires a strong business strategy and execution.

 

2. Team stress and the need for team cohesion

 

• Executives are leading all-new teams. Why? – First, 69% of companies restructured their teams during the pandemic. Second, most teams worked remotely during the pandemic.  This is an entirely new experience for both executives and employees.
• Remote work and work from home (WFH) are here to stay. Once considered an employee perk, now it is likely to be part and parcel of work.  97% of CEOs believed that remote work would continue in some form even after the crisis is over and things go back to normal.
• CEOs’ No. 1 challenge is helping their remote teams work well together.  They are concerned about employee productivity, especially of their remote teams. CEOs doubted the remote team’s ability to hit strategic goals.
• Senior leaders are struggling with team cohesion. – remote working has made it worse.
• Team conflict stems from people’s problems. CEOs are spending precious time mediating people issues and interpersonal conflicts.

 

Conclusion – Remote work and team restructuring have caused team stress, people issues, and conflicts. CEOs are concerned about the productivity of remote teams and their ability to achieve strategic goals.

 

3. Building dream teams, developing leaders, and talent optimization

 

• While focusing on business strategy, executives can’t afford to neglect talent strategy. Businesses don’t run themselves; people do.
• People are any company’s most expensive and the most potent assets. Most CEOs and executive teams recognize the need for developing leaders and talent optimization.
• Besides, CEOs themselves need help in their own leadership development—91% of CEOs required outside help to develop leaders (themselves included) and optimize talent. 
• CEOs and executive teams want to develop leaders so that they can inspire performance and get the strategy executed. A majority said that they need external help for their own leadership development.

 

Conclusion – C-suite executives want external help for their own leadership development to inspire and develop leaders and build dream teams to execute strategy.  They don’t have enough confidence in their internal talent development processes and prefer help from external consultants.

 

Read:  CEO coaching – the what why and how of it

 

 

How were things before the pandemic?

 

The Predictive Index survey was conducted late last year in 2020 when the world was deep into the pandemic.  How were things before the Covid crisis?

 

In a recent study (conducted before the covid crisis), McKinsey found that the average life-span of companies listed in Standard & Poor’s 500 was 61 years in 1958. Today, it is less than 18 years. And that is not all.  McKinsey believes that, in 2027, 75% of the companies currently quoted on the S&P 500 will have disappeared, only 25% will remain.  Things are no better for small and medium enterprises.  Only 25% survive their 10th birthday. 75% close down before that.  Even for successful companies, it is a challenging environment to survive, thrive and sustain.

 

It was already a VUCA world!

 

Even before the crisis, we were already in a VUCA world.  Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.  Global competition, the fast pace of change that is getting faster, flatter organizations, new technologies, continuous change and disruptions, and then the pandemic.

 

The pandemic only hyper-accelerated the already VUCA world.

 

The change and disruptions that were likely to happen in 5-10 years have been squeezed into less than a year.  For example – In normal times,  the transitioning to remote work may have taken at least a few years.  Pandemic forced most organizations to get it done in a few months!  It only accelerated what was already a VUCA world.

 

Covid crisis is a wake-up call

 

The VUCA world has been a reality for at least a decade or more.  Companies holding on to their old strategy and their outdated leadership paradigms of the 20th century are now exposed. Although Command and control are outdated but old habits, die hard.  The status quo is remarkably resilient.  It resists any attempt to change it.  The pandemic was a serious wake-up call for leadership and organizations stuck in the past.  The new normal means it is now a case of a change or die!

 

To quote Warren Buffet – Only when the tide goes out to do you discover who has been swimming naked.

 

Many companies and their leadership teams are still stuck in the 20th-century beliefs.  They may have been doing OK before the crisis but are now both exposed and vulnerable.

 

The new normal may be the opportunity of the decade – Are your leaders ready to leverage it?

 

Is the pandemic a crisis or an opportunity?

 

The first order of business for CEOs and their teams was to adapt, stabilize, and survive quickly. So what is next? Under normal circumstances, the status quo is resistant to change.  The dismantling of the status quo and unlearning the long-ingrained habits is a tedious and lengthy process that takes immense effort and many years.  The silver lining of the pandemic is that the crisis has already dismantled the status quo.

 

The opportunity of the decade?

 

This pandemic may be a once-in-a-decade (or even once-in-a-lifetime) opportunity. It is an opportunity to rebuild leadership, culture, and processes from scratch.  It is time to put the final nail in the coffin for the old paradigm of Command and control.  It is time to take advantage of its quick demise due to the crisis and rebuild for the new normal. The question is, are you now playing offense or defense.  Playing defense will only help you in the short term.  Revamping leadership and culture will help survive, thrive, and sustain in the long term.

 

You may be leaving money on the table.

 

The pandemic hurt some industries, some were neutral, and some benefitted.  Even if you are a successful company and navigated the crisis with flying colors, you may be leaving money on the table.  You may not be leveraging the business performance to the full extent.  And there are always issues of sustainability in the VUCA world.

 

We already know about the classic examples of Nokia and Kodak.  Extremely successful companies who could not sustain and be almost out of business.

 

But there are more recent examples also. Think about Intel.  They practically had a monopoly in making microprocessors for PCs and laptops.  Do they make any processors for mobile phones? They don’t!  How about Microsoft?  Do they have an operating system for mobile phones? They don’t!  Think about Google.  They had the first-mover advantage, and they could have been the next Facebook and the next Netflix.  They already had Orkut and YouTube years before Facebook and Netflix.  They could not capitalize on these opportunities and “left money on the table.”

 

If you are not optimizing business strategy, leadership development, and talent strategy, you will definitely leave money on the table in a VUCA world.

New normal will need a new kind of leadership – Are you developing the right leadership skills?

 

What factors are needed to THRIVE?

 

What is needed in such an environment to survive, thrive and sustain it?  Speed, flexibility, experimentation, learning faster than the pace of change, collaboration, and utilizing your diverse teams’ collective intelligence to stay ahead of disruptions.  Learn more quickly than the speed of change.  Create a culture of high performance.

 

 

Which matters more? Culture or Strategy?

 

A strategy is cool and sexy.  Changing culture is complicated and messy.  You can ignore culture at your own peril!  Growing talent to implement the strategy is critical.  And yet, many CEOs underestimate the need for it. 

 

To quote Peter Drucker:  Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

 

Culture will eat your strategy for breakfast, employee motivation for lunch, and change and innovation for dinner!  Any strategy that doesn’t account for implementing a supportive culture is likely to fail.

 

Read: Culture eats strategy for breakfast

 

What drives profits – Korn Ferry study

 

Here is a study by the Korn Ferry Hay group.  What factors impact any company’s bottom line?  They found five factors that influence a company’s bottom line.

 

• Strong franchises: Think of an Apple or a Coca-cola.
• Munificent environment:  Supportive of favorable environment like in the Silicon valley
• Intellectual property: Think of a Qualcomm or Pharma company.
• Regulatory barriers:  Protective tariffs and obstacles imposed by countries
• Massive resources:  Think of Google or Proctor and Gamble.

 

These five factors combined account for 65% of a company’s bottom line.

 

What about the other 35% of the bottom line?

 

Leadership behaviors drive organizational culture – and corporate culture drives business performance and bottom line.  It is the only factor that is entirely under the circle of influence of the company!  Thus developing leaders is the best way to improve the bottom line. 

 

 

The linchpin of team performance – A culture of psychological safety

 

Google spent two years and millions of dollars and resources to find out what makes real work teams effective.  Google conducted over 200 interviews, studied 180 real work teams, considered 250+ variables (team composition and dynamics), and used Google’s immense intellect and computing power to run statistical and other analytics models to hone down on factors that impact team effectiveness.

 

Google found that team composition, who was on the team, didn’t impact team performance much.  They honed down on five factors that affect team performance, and all five factors were related to how the team interacted.  The single most crucial factor was psychological safety.  Google called it the “linchpin” of all other factors. 

 

Watch the webinar  

 

The Leader’s Role in Creating Psychologically Safe Workplaces 

 

 

New leadership culture for a new normal

 

VUCA world and new normal needs a different leadership.  The pandemic has accelerated volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.  A new style of leadership is imperative in the new normal. 

 

• We have moved from Command and control to empowering and nurturing talent.
• We have moved from the leader as a boss to the leader as a facilitator.
• We have moved from team members do what they are told to team members are vital contributors of knowledge and insights.

 

To thrive and sustain in the hyper VUCA world’s new normal, organizations need to unlearn and relearn faster than the rate of disruptions. 

 

To quote Alvin Toffler – The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

 

Which of these is the most difficult? Learn, Unlearn or Relearn?  Usually the unlearning is the most difficult.  Thanks to the pandemic and the disruptions, the unlearning has already started!  The status quo is already dismantled.  It provides the decade’s opportunity to create a culture that will help thrive and sustain for the long term.

 

In business environments with complexity, uncertainty, and interdependency – you need to create a culture of psychological safety so that you can utilize the collective intelligence of your talent.   Amy Edmondson’s research has shown that psychological safety lacks in many work teams.  Developing leaders in the new normal should include teaching them skills to create a culture of psychological safety.

 

Who and what creates the culture (of psychological safety)?

 

The level of psychological safety varies on teams, even in groups within the same organization.  This is true even for organizations that have a “good” culture. The research also shows that the single most crucial factor contributing to the level of psychological safety on teams is the team leader’s behaviors.   It is a critical competency for a 21st-century leader.  A culture of psychological safety is essential for high-performance culture, where teams learn faster than the pace of disruptions. The collateral damage of lack of psychological safety is immense.  Many progressive organizations now focus on developing leaders to thrive in the new normal by systematically focusing on teaching them how to create a culture of psychological safety in their teams. 

 

Read: Psychological safety at work – Why you need it and how to develop it

 

Sink, swim, or set up to succeed – How are you developing your leaders in the new normal?

 

Leaders have huge responsibilities.  A lot is riding on leadership.

 

Think about your executive leadership team.  Who reports directly to the CEO, and who reports to those people.  This is your senior leadership team.  How many leaders does your organization have on the senior leadership team?  Now, what is the total employee count of your organization? It is not uncommon to have a senior leadership team of 30 leaders responsible for driving results through 1000 employees.  Leaders need help and support. CEOs, CXOs and CHROs, and CLOs need to take up this challenge and responsibility.  Are you using a sink or swim approach to developing leaders in the new normal?  Or are you supporting them and setting them up for success?

 

Is leadership development working?

 

Typically companies develop leadership by sending leaders to a B school or an in-house leadership development program. An estimated $62 billion were spent worldwide on leadership development in 2014.  That figure is now likely to exceed $100 billion. 

 

One would think that with that kind of money spent, leadership should be at an extraordinary level.  But it is not!  The numbers on the effectiveness of leadership programs are both shocking and depressing!

 

While 89% of CEOs consider developing leaders their top priority – only 10% think their leadership development has any business impact.  Kristi Hedges wrote an aptly titled Forbes article –  If you think most leadership development programs are a waste of time and money, you may be right!

 

HR, talent management, and leadership development departments have failed to deliver programs that have a clear business impact.

 

And then there is E-learning. E-learning is a fantastic tool, but often it is overhyped, especially for leadership development.  To assume that E-learning will teach executives leadership is like believing that you can teach someone to swim by having them watch a video on your LMS!! 

 

The way most organizations are developing leaders for the new normal and the hyper VUCA world is not working!

Ten tips to get a measurable ROI from your leadership development initiatives

 

Here are ten tips to get a measurable return on investment from your leadership development initiatives.

 

 

Stop sending a few people to episodic leadership development programs (internal or external)!

 

Disjointed internal and external leadership development programs do little to alter their actions and behaviors at work.  A hypothetical case study at a B school may look good in a simulated environment – but does it have real relevance to the job?  Some companies spend millions and many years before realizing that the check the box leadership development programs contribute little.  Don’t make that mistake. 

 

Have a comprehensive long term leadership development strategy

 

Leadership development is a process, not an event.  It is not something that is “done.”  Without aligning leadership development to strategic direction, even an effective leadership program will underperform.   A comprehensive strategy for developing leaders is needed.  The leadership development plan should span many years and cover the entire population of leaders.

 

Align leadership development to the organizational context, strategy, and strengths

 

Every organization has a strategy and strengths aligned to the strategy.  Think of two very successful companies – Starbucks and Walmart.  Starbucks has built the business on providing superb customer service.  Walmart has succeeded due to its ability to run a lean, low-cost operation to pass on the savings and offer the lowest prices.  Would a one size fits all B school leadership program help them both leverage and align their leadership strengths?  Obviously not.  Leadership development needs to align with organizational context, strategy, and strengths.

 

CEOs and C-suite teams need to take responsibility for leadership and culture.

 

Developing leaders start at the top. It begins with the CEO and C-suite team. They have to be personally invested and involved in the leadership development initiatives. CEOs cannot delegate this critical responsibility solely to the Human Resources and the talent management departments.  They can certainly help in the process, but developing leaders’ primary responsibility remains with the CEO and the C-suite team.  Their primary responsibility is to create a culture that allows others to do their best work.  Developing leaders and role modeling the behaviors is the best way to create a high-performance culture. 

 

Customize leadership development to the individual leader

 

Standard curriculum and competencies(one size fits all approach) don’t work in leadership development.  Covering broad themes in leadership programs doesn’t work.  Instead of focusing on 1-2 specific individual skills needed to improve the leadership performance at work. 

 

Utilize the collective intelligence of diverse teams

 

Leadership is a relationship.  Leaders and teams both need to take the journey of development. Involve the team throughout the leader’s development.  The team’s involvement helps utilize the collective intelligence of the groups.  When the leaders’ role models their own growth, the team usually goes along.  This has a multiplier effect on engagement and performance.

 

Connect leadership learning to the application at work

 

Many B school leadership programs rely on case study methodology.  A hypothetical case study may look good in a simulated environment – but does it have real relevance to the work?  Leadership frameworks and theories appear elegant in the classroom but have little practical application.  Besides, most leaders don’t need to learn more.  They have undergone several leadership programs and understand the theory very well.  They have difficulty in applying the learning to the actual work with their real work teams. 

 

Measure what matters-not vanity metrics!

 

There are many vanity metrics—person-days of training, percentage of leaders, covered, number of training programs, etc. Then there are surveys – “nice” place to work etc.  And there are awards! Best-in-class training or leadership development – awarded to so and so company or individual.  These are vanity metrics and don’t really matter much.  What really matters is the impact at work. What matters is the behavior change at work – as observed and anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

 

Focus on changing both mindsets and skillsets

 

Any program that doesn’t help with skillset,  toolset, and mindsets is unlikely to deliver lasting change in behaviors. 

 

Start with and include the entire executive team.

 

Start with and include the entire C suite team.  You are always leading by example – whether you know it or not, believe it or not, like it or not, want it or not!  What message are you sending to others when you say that – hey, these guys under me need leadership development, not me!   Including the entire executive team in leadership development also has a multiplier and a cascading effect.

 

Keep these 10 tips in mind while designing your leadership development programs. 

 

Read: How to create and implement an organization-wide leadership development plan

 

Leverage your leadership THRIVE in the new normal

 

Take advantage of the opportunity of the decade to reset your leadership and organizational culture.

 

 

Are you ready to play offense and not just defense?  Are you prepared to thrive and not just survive in the new normal?

 

NAL Triple Advantage Coaching delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from start-ups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

 

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Coaching

 

• Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.
• Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader – Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader are aligned to the business strategy.
• Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.
• The leader becomes the coach for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams.  It is like kaizen for your leadership development.
• Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short duration leadership program at any reputed B school
• Guaranteed, measurable leadership growth as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.
• No growth, no pay: We work with many of our clients on a no growth no pay basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t grow, you simply don’t have to pay us.

 

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today: no cost or obligation and no sales pitch.

9 Reasons Why Executive Coaching Fails in Organizations

 

Executive coaching is the most effective leadership development tool available, bar none. And yet, year after year, companies waste enormous amounts of money and time on executive coaching that doesn’t deliver results.

 

The negative impact of failed coaching initiatives

 

Consider these negative impacts in terms of loss of time, money, efforts, and lost opportunities.

 

• High potential employees will miss a chance to improve upon 1-2 critical behaviors needed to move up the career ladder
• Management will criticize another highly advertised human resources initiative that didn’t live up to the hype
• Human resource department wonders what went wrong – how an initiative with so much promise could fail so miserably!
• Leaders and teams will miss development opportunities
• The organization will miss out on utilizing its potential and maximizing performance

 

Read: Which is the best leadership development program?

 

[lwptoc]

 

What are the reasons executive coaching fails to deliver results in organizations? Often, companies jump on the coaching bandwagon without a systematic thought process or clearly defined action plans. These are essential for the success of any executive coaching initiative. Here are 9 questions to ask, corresponding to the 9 reasons why coaching initiatives fail in organizations.

 

 

Read:  Is your leadership development effective? Or is the money going down the drain?

 

 

9 reasons why organizations waste their money on executive coaching

 

Here are 9 reasons and questions that will guide you through the process to maximize the ROI on the coaching dollars. When you answer these questions, you will go through the entire thought process that allows you to plan, implement, manage, and get measurable results from the executive coaching intervention.

It will also allow you to answer questions or objections and convince the decision-makers to get buy-in and support for the coaching intervention. If you answer no to six or more of these questions, it is a cause for serious concern as there is a good chance of the executive coaching intervention may fail to deliver results.

 

1. What is the organization’s strategy?

 

The strategic direction the organization has decided will dictate what competencies will be required of the leaders and hence need to be developed through executive coaching. Although many details go into deciding the strategy,

I will take a simple example to elaborate on this point. Think about two different companies – Walmart and Starbucks. Walmart has a strategy of low-cost operation so that they can provide the lowest prices to customers. Starbucks, on the other hand, is built on outstanding customer service and a fabulous customer experience.

If you only rely on standard competency models, you may end up developing some leadership competencies in both organizations, but probably not the ones that will provide your organization with a strategic advantage.

 

We help companies to assess their leaders on 15 Global leadership competencies using Global Leadership Assessment or GLA 360. We then compare your leaders with the norm group of global leaders. We then help you align the competencies to strategy to leverage leadership development.

 

 

2. Do you have the support of the senior leadership team?

 

The senior leadership team ultimately decides whether to allocate the budget for coaching or not. And that is just the beginning. Their support is also essential throughout the implementation of coaching.

The CEO and the senior leadership team have to be convinced of the value and ROI of the coaching investment. If the CEO is unwilling to support the executive coaching, chances are she has seen prior executive coaching (or other leadership development initiatives) that failed to deliver any business impact.

One of the best ways to convince the senior leadership team is to first think of these questions and answer them thoroughly. Then make a presentation that answers these questions and clearly outlines the impact and ROI of executive coaching.

We will sit down with you to help you answer these 9 questions honestly and thoroughly. When you have done your homework and can clearly show the measurable ROI of the coaching investment that has an escape clause, you are better equipped to convince the top leadership to go ahead with the investment and provide ongoing support during the process.

 

3. Who should you include and how to decide?

 

If an organization had no budget constraints, then every leader at any level will benefit from executive coaching. But we live in a real world where most organizations have a limited budget. So decisions have to be made on who will be included in the executive coaching program.

Here are some thoughts on the decision-making criteria. Without having clear criteria, individual leaders may end up nominating their “favorite” employees to coach instead of the most deserving or the ones who will have the most impact.

 

1. Include senior leaders first:

 

It is best to start a coaching program with the senior-most leaders. They have the maximum impact on the organization. They set the direction and execute the strategy. Hence investing in them will result in the highest payoff. Leaders who are at least at the director level, and/or in charge of entire departments or divisions are the right candidates. Besides, when senior leaders role model the desired behaviors, they cascade down to their team members, multiplying the benefit of executive coaching.

 

2. Include high potential leaders:

 

Whether it is through performance management, assessment centers, or succession planning, most organizations have a process of identifying high potential employees. All the high potential employees identified through such a process can be included in the executive coaching intervention.

 

3. Include leaders willing to change:

 

While this sounds obvious, we often meet leaders who are unwilling to change. This can be because of many reasons – the leader is close to retirement, she is not the right fit for a particular role, or he may have a derailing behavior that he is unable or unwilling to change. Changing the well-entrenched behaviors of successful leaders is difficult even when the leader is ready and willing. Trying to change the behaviors of a successful leader who doesn’t want to change is a waste of time and money.

We will help you select the right candidates for leadership coaching so that you can maximize the impact.

 

4. How will you measure success?

 

It is not uncommon to see organizations use the likability criteria to measure the success of executive coaching. Feedback from the leader being coached usually only means that the leader liked the coach and the coaching process. It hardly has anything to do with the business impact of the coaching! And because of these success criteria, many coaches tell the leader what they want to hear, and avoid telling them what they really NEED to hear! The coach and the leader may have great intellectual discussions around the issues, but not much will happen in terms of the behavior change at work.

 

The only criteria for the success of executive coaching should be a positive behavior change of the coachee at work. And this behavior change should be anonymously rated by the leader’s stakeholders – the direct manager, peers, and subordinates.

 

We believe that the only measure of success should be real behavior change at work. We administer 3 leadership growth progress reviews (LGPR’s) during the coaching intervention. LGPRs are anonymous surveys by the leader’s team members whether the leader has improved their behavior at work or not. This helps measure both the progress and sustainability of the desired behaviors at work.

 

 

5. How long should the executing coaching process last?

 

The ultimate goal of coaching is to help the leader make a sustainable change in behavior at work. The coach’s role is the support of the leader until she can do it on her own. Often, organizations enlist coaches without a clear deadline for delivering results. This is counterproductive for the leader and the organization. The coaching may go on and on as the coach is being paid by the session.

Ideally, the coaching engagement should last long enough for the leader to form habits that will sustain the behavior. A coaching process that lasts less than six months may be ineffective. Six months is not a long enough time period to sustain behavior change. The ideal time period to convert new behaviors into lasting habits is 12 to 18 months. On the other hand, if coaching takes longer than 18 months, the coaching goal may be too ambitious, the coachee may not be putting in the efforts, or the coach may not facilitating the process professionally.

Instead of feel-good coaching that may go on and on, we have clearly defined time limits. 6-12 months to sustained behavioral change at work.

 

6. Which coaching methodology(or process) to use?

 

Unfortunately, many human resources professionals themselves are not clear about their choices of available coaching methodologies. Even when they are aware, the choice is based on which coaching agencies or providers have marketed themselves well enough! There are just a few large-scale scientific studies available to measure the effectiveness in terms of behavior change at work. Most coaching agencies cite the studies that measure the likeability of the coach or the coachee’s perception if the coaching was helpful. Now, any coaching is likely to be helpful when compared with no coaching at all. But is that enough? If the coaching does not help the leader change her behavior at work, it cannot be considered effective.

Coaching methodologies can be classified into two main categories. Research has proven one method to be significantly more effective than the other. Unfortunately, most leadership professionals are only aware of the less effective method and hence tend to prefer it due to the common knowledge bias.

 

1. Psychological coaching

 

The focus of psychological coaching is to find the reasons for a leader’s behaviors. It often includes personality assessments that will shed light on the “personality” or “tendencies” of the leader. The popular assessments used are FIRO-B, MBTI, 16PF, HPI, etc. These tools allow the coachee to understand why she behaves in a certain way and helping her change it. The premise is that if you understand why then you can work on the how. The coach is the “expert” and often at the center of the coaching process and is responsible for behavior change.

 

2. Behavioral coaching

 

Behavioral coaching methodology assumes that

1. we exhibit behaviors that are rewarded and
2. we tend to avoid behaviors that are discouraged or punished.

 

Our current behaviors are developed as a result of interactions with friends, family, colleagues over time. We do more of what is rewarded and tend to avoid what is “punished” or dissuaded. Although behavior coaches agree that every individual is born with certain traits and tendencies, they don’t worry about the past and why the leader behaves in a certain manner.

By the time you are a grown adult and a leader in the mid-forties, there is little use in finding out I am this way because of my parents and wanting to blame them! Behavioral coaches’ focus is to help the leader change future behavior while interacting with the stakeholders.

In the earlier part of an employee’s career, the behaviors that are rewarded are based on individual achievement. As the employee moves up the career ladder, these same individualistic behaviors may become a hindrance in getting work done by others.

Behavioral coaches work from the premise that a leader will develop new or different behaviors through the same process they learned their current behaviors! Through reinforcement of desired behaviors and dissuasion of the undesired behaviors. The coach interviews the leader’s team members and conducts 360-degree feedback of the leader to understand which behaviors are useful and which ones are derailing.

 

Can you guess which of these two methodologies is effective? Most human resource professionals get it wrong. As I mentioned before, it is in part due to the constant advertisement, halo effect, and common knowledge bias.

 

A comprehensive study among 11,000 business leaders on 4 continents by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan found their behavioral coaching process to be 95% effective.

 

The effectiveness is measured in terms of on job behavior change of the leader as anonymously assessed by the leader’s own team members. The study was then extended to 86,000 leaders with similar effectiveness numbers.

 

Unfortunately, there aren’t any large-scale studies that measure on job behavior change of leaders who have undergone the psychological coaching process.

 

We use a stakeholder centered coaching process developed by World’s number 1 leadership thinker Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. It is a clearly defined process that delivers guaranteed and measurable results.

 

 

7. Which executive coaching provider to use and why?

 

Although the previous questions will help narrow down the list of the coaching service providers, there are a few important questions that you should consider.

1. Availability of coaches locally across geographies

 

If you prefer local coaching (as opposed to virtual coaching via video calls), the availability and reach of coaches across the locations your company does business with will become a criterion. For multinational companies, having local coaches also helps with language and culture. Even if you decide to have virtual coaching, it is good to have a pool of coaches to choose from.

2. Are the coaches full-time employees, or are do they freelance

 

Relatively few consulting organizations have full-time executive coaches on their payroll. Most consulting organizations work with a network of qualified and experienced coaches who are freelancers. This allows the client to access a larger pool of global coaches across geographies. The flip side is ensuring the uniformity of the coaching process.

We are the largest executive coaching network in the world. 3000+ coaches in 200+ cities in 55+ countries. All of the coaches are certified in and use the exact same process. We also support the coach, leader, and the entire process through a single online platform. This provides clarity, transparency, and uniformity among all the coaches. It also helps the leader with accountability and habit formation.

 

Read: What are the best executive coaching programs? Which are the top executive coaching firms?

 

8. How to maximize the ROI in coaching: Investment and performance guarantee

 

1. Investment

 

Coaching is the most effective tool available today. However, coaching also requires significant investment, time, effort, and support from senior leadership.

Depending upon the experience of the coach, and the level of the leader coached, the investment amounts vary. For example, for a CEO, you may want to hire an experienced coach. On the other hand, for a mid-management level, a coach with a decade of experience may be appropriate.

Executive coaching for a period of 6 months onwards starts at around $5,000 per leader. It can go to $50,000 and upwards for a CEO of a large multinational. If we look at the coaching investment in terms of the leader’s annual CTC (10% can be spent on coaching) and impact on the organization’s performance, it more than justifies the investment.

For levels below mid-management, long-term training interventions and/or team coaching may be useful and cost-effective.

 

2. Performance guarantee

 

One of the salient points of our behavioral coaching model is performance guarantee. We often work with our clients on a no-growth no-pay basis. The payment is deferred to the end of the coaching intervention. If the leader does not measurably improve (as anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members), there is no charge! Yes, you read it right! Instead of wishing, hoping, and praying that a training or coaching intervention will deliver results as promised, you can be assured of the results.

 

3. How involved should HR and top management be in the coaching process?

 

Coaching is a one on one and confidential relationship between the coach and the coachee. Due to this reason, many HR and top management professionals are not in the loop of what is happening with the leader. They have little idea about what the leader is working on and whether the leader has improved or not.

But this should not be the case. At the start of the coaching assignment, the coach should clearly outline the areas she will work on with the leader. HR should also get monthly or quarterly updates on the leader’s progress. While it is ethical for the coach to maintain confidentiality, if the coach finds anything illegal or unethical during the process, the coach should immediately report it to HR and the management.

 

Our 6-12 month long coaching process often costs less than sending a single leader to a short duration (a few days) leadership development program at a reputed B-school.

 

You don’t have to send your leaders to a program. We come to you. Virtually or in person. We offer no growth, no pay clause. If the leader does not measurably improve (as anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members), we will not charge you! We provide monthly progress reports from our online platform and 3 anonymous leadership growth progress reviews. This keeps HR, top management, and sponsor in the loop and updated on the progress.

 

Read Case Study – How we delivered Guaranteed measurable results delivered for our FMCG client

 

9. How to scale organization-wide the benefits of coaching?

 

There is a difference between leader development and leadership development. The focus of leadership development is to develop individual leaders. The focus of leadership development is to create conditions within the organization so that more and more leaders are created.

One of the best ways to leadership development is to enroll the entire senior leadership team in executive coaching. A leader is always leading by example – whether they know it or not, believe it or not, or like it or not. When leaders invest time and effort in their own development, the benefits cascade down to the entire team.

Many organizations start with leadership coaching for the entire leadership team. Then the coaching is extended to leaders one level down. Eventually, this helps create a culture of feedback, transparency, learning, collaboration, change, and innovation. Team members are more engaged, and performance improves.

During the coaching of the top leadership team or the 2nd level leadership team, if several leaders have the same or similar improvement areas, then some further actions may be warranted. Better recruitment, better training, clarification of values, competencies, and desired behaviors are some of the things that can be done to prevent undesirable behaviors and hence reduce the need for coaching.

Instead of just developing individual leaders, let us help you scale to organization-wide leadership development.

 

We will help you scale and cascade leadership development across the organization and create a culture that is conducive to developing more leaders at all levels.

 

Read: Developing leaders vs. leadership development

 

In Conclusion

 

These 9 criteria and the related question will help you select the right coaching program and vendor to maximize the value and the ROI of your coaching investment.

 

Tired of coaching programs that didn’t deliver?

 

Tired of coaching programs that didn’t live up to the hype?  Tired of management asking you to demonstrate measurable ROI on leadership development investment.

Ready to create the most impactful organization-wide leadership development program with measurable ROI with a no-growth no pay clause?

 

 

NAL Triple Advantage Coaching with Guaranteed and Measurable results

 

We offer our New Age Leadership – NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching that delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth. It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on four continents). Companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 use this process to develop their leaders.

 

NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

We offer our New Age Leadership Triple advantage coaching that delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

 

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

 

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

 

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

 

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

 

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

 

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

 

Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you simply don’t have to pay us.

 

Schedule a 15-minute conversation: no obligation and no sales pitch  

SCHEDULE NOW!

 

Reference – MAKING COACHING WORK: Ten Easy Steps by Marc Effron

Conflict management at workplace is one of the essential skills for managers and team leaders. Having the right conflict resolution strategies can make the difference between a constructive conflict – where the goal is to come to the best solution for a particular issue.

A destructive conflict – where emotions run high, tempers may flare, relationships are strained, and performance suffers. Unresolved conflict is expensive. It wastes time and money. It is often the case in many workplaces. Fortunately, with proper conflict management at the workplace, it is also easy to address.

Here are some examples of workplace conflicts

 

• Manager and subordinate disagree on the performance evaluation

• Manager gives detailed instructions on tasks, but the employee hates the manager’s “micromanagement”

• During discussion, one employee, tends to raise his voice, other feels insulted, and it starts an argument

• Heated arguments and hurt feelings between departments – during the budget discussion meeting

• Giving feedback on an assignment – boss thinks it was bad, the employee completely disagrees

And there are many more that may you see at your workplace.

Conflict management definition

 

Conflict is a serious disagreement between two or more people or groups, usually because of the differences in their opinions, intentions, needs, or interests. Conflict arises when opposing parties are not able to come to an agreement or a compromise.

Conflict management definition – the process and techniques of managing conflict at the workplace to reduce the negative impact of conflict while taking advantage of the positive impact of any conflict.

Is conflict good or bad?

 

That brings us to the next question. Is conflict good or bad? Can conflict have a positive impact?

The work we do today is complex, uncertain, ambiguous, and constantly changing. There are no clear answers, and there are no decisions that are 100% correct.

Any plan or strategy is a hypothesis and the best guess based on the information available at the time. It has to be proven right through the process of trial, error, learning, and course correction.

Hence, conflict of ideas is essential to fostering learning, creativity, and innovation, better decision-making, and improved performance on the team.

On the other hand, destructive conflicts in organizations can lead to a variety of undesirable outcomes. Stress, anxiety, strained relationships, decreased productivity, missed deadlines, poor customer service, and higher turnover are some of the negative effects of a destructive conflict.

Conflict management at the workplace and having the right conflict management strategies are essential to ensure that team members have a balanced outlook on the conflict. Conflict is inevitable. Conflict of “ideas” is even desirable.

Conflict is not a problem. Conflict can be good, or it cannot be good bad. The way team members perceive conflict and the way leaders approach and manage conflict makes all the difference.

Patrick Lencioni’s concept of the conflict continuum

 

Patrick Lencioni, the author of the book – The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, proposes the conflict continuum concept.

At one end is artificial harmony, where everyone agrees, only superficially. At the other end is destructive conflict – where people are at one another’s throats.

Artificial harmony

 

If people remain silent and avoid conflict, it leads to what Lencioni calls artificial harmony. Everyone on the team agrees to everything, but only superficially. They avoid conflict in the meeting. They hold back their ideas and opinions during the meeting.

But then there is the meeting after the meeting! Around the water cooler, at the coffee break, where they question the ideas and decisions made in the meeting. Needless to say, they are not committed to the decisions and course of action.

They may even sabotage the decisions and course of action taken, especially because their ideas were not heard in the meeting. Artificial harmony has a negative impact on the engagement, commitment, and performance of the team.

 

 

Image Source – https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSIBr6aEE4I/VuCvaMGBntI/AAAAAAAADH8/LHSKtIXAaWk/s1600/Lencioni-5.png

Teams have to learn and be comfortable to engage in constructive conflict. Conflict allows all ideas, opinions, points of view to be put out in the open.

They can then be listened to, discussed, and debated. The ultimate goal of the team is to come to the best possible solution to a work problem.

Unless different points of view are considered and evaluated, you may leave many good ideas on the table.

Destructive conflict

 

However, conflict can also get out of hand if it is not managed properly. Tempers may flare. People dig in their heels. They want to get their way. They are unwilling to listen to the other’s point of view.

There are personal attacks and insults. Relationships are strained. Opposing parties not only avoid collaborating on future projects, but they may also even attempt to sabotage others’ efforts.

The ideal conflict point

 

Somewhere between the two extremes, probably right in the middle, is the ideal conflict point. Everyone’s ideas are considered and debated, and decisions are made. The benefit of ideal conflict is that it allows a better commitment from the team to the final decision.

When everyone’s ideas are considered and listened to, people commit to the final decision, even if it was not the decision they had proposed.

Lencioni observes that people tend to err on the side of artificial harmony not to spoil their relationships with team members. He suggests that teams should try to move towards the ideal conflict point and not fear going a little beyond it to the other side.

The real test of a team’s health is when teams can go past the ideal conflict point and then return to normal without any collateral damage. Once teams have done this, performance accelerates.

Differences are inevitable – destructive conflict is preventable

 

Why does conflict arise? We all have different backgrounds, education, experiences, attitudes, perceptions, needs, and abilities. No two individuals are exactly alike, and no two individuals will always have the same opinion in every situation.

We see the world through our own unique perspective. It is through the lens of opinions, assumptions, experiences, and biases.

Unfortunately, our unique perspective is subjective, incomplete, flawed, and distorted. We think that we see reality as it is. The truth is that we all see our own little version of reality.

 

 

 

Five blind men and the elephant

 

A fantastic example of this is illustrated by the story of five blind men and the elephant. The first blind man holds the elephant’s tail and concludes that the elephant is like a rope.

The second blind man grabs the elephant’s leg and proclaims that the elephant is like a tree’s trunk. The third blind man leans against the elephant’s side and declares that the elephant is like a wall. The fourth blind man holds the elephant’s ear and thinks that the elephant is like a fan.

The fifth blind man holds the elephant’s trunk and concludes that the elephant is like a python.

Each one of these five blind men is both right and wrong. Right because from their perspective and their lens of the world, their assumptions are correct.

However, they are also wrong. To get the whole picture, we must look at the elephant from all perspectives. To resolve the problem, we need to consider all perspectives (each one of them is probably partially right) and understand the whole problem (be able to look at the whole elephant)

Two main sources of workplace conflicts

 

The main sources of workplace conflicts are interpersonal reasons and organizational sources. Here are a few examples of both

1. Interpersonal sources of conflicts

 

a. Difference in personalities of the people involved
b. Difference in communication styles
c. Difference in motivation
d. History of working together
e. Difference in education, background, experience, approaches, etc.

2. Organizational sources of conflicts

a. Unclear job descriptions
b. Ambiguity in roles
c. Competition for limited resources
d. Company politics and silos
e. Perception of inequality (or favoritism)

 

 

Conflict management at the workplace – Conflict resolution steps

 

There are many tools and frameworks available to understand and resolve conflicts. I am going to discuss two popular tools and their conflict resolutions steps

Conflict resolutions strategies with the LECSR Tool

LECSR is an acronym

 

L – Listen
E – Empathize
C – Clarify the issue
S – Seek Permission
R – Resolve

The LECSR tool allows conflict management at the workplace through both conflict prevention and conflict resolution. As soon as you see the signs of a disagreement turning into a conflict, call the involved parties and apply the six steps of LECSR to the situation.

Listen

 

When we speak, we are only repeating what we already know. In the example of five blind men and the elephant, each person may end up repeating what they know.

Listening allows others to share their perspective so that the listener can consider other perspectives. It also conveys to the speaker that you are interested in their perspective.

Listening is one of the key leadership skills. Listening is an active process. Almost all of us can become better listeners at any age or any stage of our careers.

Listen without interrupting. Listen without judgment. Keep an open mind and be curious. Listening does not necessarily mean that you agree with the other person’s perspective. It means that you understand their perspective.

Paraphrase what the other person said and get a confirmation of your understanding of their perspective. If emotions are high, allow other parties to vent their feelings without interruption and without taking them personally. Be genuinely interested and concerned.

Here are some pointers

“Tell me more about….”
” Can you give me an example of that?”
“When, how, where, what happened….”

Empathize

 

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. To see, understand, and feel things that the other person is experiencing.

Again, it does not mean that you agree with their perspective or position. It means that you understand them. Empathy is not sympathy.

Sympathy is when you feel compassion or pity for someone’s predicament. Empathy is experiencing the situation as the other person sees, feels, or understands.

With most reasonable people, they want to share their inputs. They want to be heard and understood. This is a critical step. Unless this hurdle is overcome, people may not be able to move to the next step.

Here are some pointers

“I understand where you are coming from.”
“If I were in your situation, I would probably be doing the same thing.”

Clarify the Issue (conflict)

 

After listening and empathizing, the next step is to clarify the conflict situation.

Before resolving the conflict, establish a clear understanding of the situation from all sides. Paraphrase the situation and explain the positions of the conflicting parties.

Here are some pointers

• “What you’re saying is… is that correct?”
• “If my understanding is right, this is what you are proposing.”

Seek Permission

 

If you are lucky, you may end up diffusing conflict just by listening, empathizing, and clarifying. The involved parties may now be ready to sit together and resolve the conflict themselves.

However, if the conflict is not yet resolved, avoid the tendency to jump in with advice. Unwanted advice is almost always unwelcome.

Too many managers and leaders tend to jump into “advice” and “problem solving” mode. There is a critical step here to seek permission first.

When you seek to understand, you may find you tend to problem-solve instead of listening. Keep on track by being someone who seeks permission.

Before you ask questions, make sure that you have asked the person if they are ready for you to ask. (Perhaps they have more to share first.)

You can wait to tell your side after the other person has expressed all of his/her concerns and feels clearly understood.

Here are some pointers

• “May I bring up a few points that you may have missed?”
• “Can I propose a couple of ideas to consider?”
• “Now that we understand each other, can we brainstorm some ideas to move forward?”

Resolve the Issue

 

Now that both parties have listened, empathized, clarified the issue, asked for permission, and discussed options – they can start to resolve the conflict together.

A conversation framed in this way prevents escalation of conflicts and allows the issues to be resolved. Sometimes we may have to agree to disagree or have a solution that does not satisfy all the parties completely.

With the conflict resolution steps in LECSR, conflict can be brought out instead of suppressed. Conflicts can be diffused, and they may seldom turn into destructive conflict.

 

Read: Everything you ever wanted to know about executive coaching and leadership coaching

 

 

 

Conflict management at work – Conflict resolution strategy

 

Conflict resolutions strategies using the Crucial Conversations framework

Another viral and research-based tool for resolving conflict is the framework of the Crucial conversation. It is from the best-selling book – Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by authors Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzer

What is a crucial conversation?

 

The book defines a crucial conversation as – “A discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong.”

In other words, a crucial conversation is a situation prone to conflict. Managing crucial conversations is akin to conflict management at work.

Crucial conversations have three characteristics.

 

• The stakes are high – may be a budget allocation meeting or a performance appraisal conversation

• Opinions vary – each department thinks that they deserve a larger portion of the budget, the employee thinks she deserves the promotion – boss may think otherwise

• Emotions run strong – High stakes and varying opinions are often accompanies by strong emotions. If not handled properly, things may quickly get out of hand during a crucial conversation.

Examples of crucial conversations (or conflict situations)

Crucial conversations are part of our professional and personal lives. Apart from the examples shared earlier, here are some examples from the book or conflict situations or crucial conversations

• Giving the boss feedback about her behavior

• Critiquing a colleague’s work

• Talking to a team member who isn’t keeping commitments

• Talking to a coworker who behaves offensively or makes suggestive comments

• Giving an unfavorable performance review

• Talking to a coworker about a personal hygiene problem

• Ending a relationship

• Asking a friend to repay a loan

• Asking a roommate to move out

Read:  The Collateral Damage of Poor Leadership Behaviors

 

Three possible outcomes of conflicts aka crucial conversations

 

1. We can avoid them.

2. We can face them and handle them poorly.

3. We can face them and handle them well.

This is akin to our fight or flight response that is programmed in the primitive parts of our brains. Our brains are continuously scanning our environment for any danger.

This comes from the time when early humans lived in the African Savannahs. This is a survival mechanism that has helped humans survive against stronger and faster predators.

When you see a sabre tooth tiger – taking quick action – either be ready to fight the tiger or flight – run-away was the key to survival. In our modern world, we rarely face any life-threatening situations. Crucial conversations and conflict situations trigger this response.

We can fight the situation. We run away from the situation. We can get violent, or we can remain silent. Neither of the two options is productive.

We have to learn to manage crucial conversations well and learn conflict resolution strategies.

The crucial conversation framework offers a research-based conflict resolution strategy.

 

 

 

Image Source – https://www.thinksmarterworld.com/crucial-conversations/

 

7 step process for conflict management at the workplace

 

Here are the 7 steps of conflict management strategy using the framework of the Crucial conversation

Step 1: Start with Heart

 

In the heat of the conflict, we sometimes lose track of the desired outcome, and things may get personal. Start with heart means asking the following questions and keeping them in the forefront during the conflict resolution process.

• What is the outcome that I desire?
• What is really at stake here?

Here are some more questions to ask before going into conflict resolution discussions

• What do I really want for myself?
• What do I really want for others?
• What do I really want for the relationship?
• How would I behave if I really wanted these results?

Almost always, our relationships at work are not transactional. Ideally, we would want to resolve the issue and maintain a good working relationship. Knowing this allows us to keep our emotions under check.

Step 2: Learn to Look

 

Look for signs of a crucial conversation between yourself and others. Indicators can be physical, emotional, or behavioral. Tightening of stomach muscles, anger or fear, shouting, pointing fingers, etc. We want to identify and reinforce the mutual purpose and create a dialogue around how to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome.

Monitor the conversation – are we in dialogue more, or have we moved to attack or defensiveness. Use statements like “It seems like we have moved away from dialogue into being stuck in our positions” or “I’m sorry. It seems I haven’t allowed you to explain your point of view.”

Step 3: Make it Safe.

 

When emotions tend to run high, and conversation has moved away from dialogue, do something to get back to safety. Offer apologies, humor (self-deprecating humor – a joke on self and not at other’s expense), a tea break, or a 10 minute time out are good ways to diffuse tension and make it safe again that the dialogue can proceed.

Read my article on – Psychological safety at work – Why you need it and how to develop it

Step 4: Master My Stories

 

As human beings, we cannot perceive reality as it is. We tell ourselves stories about the situation and make up our own version of reality in our heads. This stirs up emotions based on our interpretation of reality. And then we act accordingly. For example – Let’s say your spouse is late from work. What would be your reaction? It would depend on how you interpret the situation and what story you tell yourself.

If you tell a story that he/she may be involved in an accident, then your emotions may be of concern and worry. If you tell a story that he/she doesn’t care about you and cares only about work – you may feel angry and upset. If you tell a story that he/she is late because he/she may be cheating on you – you will probably have emotions of jealousy, anger, despair. How you behave when your spouse arrives home depends on the story you have told yourself.

It is very important to realize the stories we are telling ourselves about the situation during a crucial conversation. We may end up twisting facts, ignoring data, and living in our own imaginary world. Here are some pointers

• What is my story? How has my story led me to these conclusions and emotions?
• Do facts support my story?
• Separate your interpretations from the data and facts
• Change your story and revise your response accordingly

Step 5: State My Path

 

Start by stating your perspective and your interpretation of the event. State clearly that this is your version of the story. Use mitigating phrases. Use I statement instead of you. State facts, not opinions. Here are some pointers

“I have noticed that you arrived late three days last week.”
“I did not get any response from you for my last four emails.”

Step 6: Explore Other’s Paths

 

Just as you stated your path, the next step is allowing others to state their paths – how they arrived at their position in this conflict or crucial conversation. Be curious and non-judgmental. Listen with empathy. Paraphrase what you understand. Here are a few statements that will help you explore other’s paths.

“Here is how I see things. Do you see this differently?”
“What’s going on that makes you come to this conclusion?”
“I’d really like to get your take on this”
“This is how to see it. Have I misunderstood?”

This will allow both parties to understand each other. Emphasize the areas where you agree. Clarify areas where there is a difference of opinion. Once again, emphasize mutual purpose and mutual respect.

Step 7: Move to Action

 

Agree on the next steps. What will happen? Who will do it? By when? How will we report/monitor progress?

 

Read:  Psychological safety at work: What is it and why do you need it

 

Conclusion

 

Conflicts at work and in personal lives are commonplace. Conflicts around ideas are desirable to find the best solution to a particular problem. However, conflicts may get out of hand if not managed properly. Conflict management in the workplace is an essential managerial and leadership skill.

The two conflict resolution strategies discussed were the LECSR tool and the framework of the Crucial conversation. Use them both to sharpen your conflict management skills in the workplace.

 

Get the best leadership coaching to improve conflict management skills for your leaders and teams

 

We offer Marshall Goldsmith coaching in India, the middle east, and southeast Asia.  It is the best coaching program in India because it is the same executive coaching process used by Marshall Goldsmith to coach CEOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. We guarantee measurable leadership growth or don’t pay at all. 

 

 

 

NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching.

 

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you simply don’t have to pay us.

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below.

SCHEDULE NOW!

 

Reference

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/crucial-conversations
https://sourcesofinsight.com/crucial-conversations/ The crucial conversations framework for understanding and resolving conflicts
Velsoft – Conflict resolution – LECSR framework

Diversity and inclusion at workplace yield “dividends” in many respects. Lack of diversity and inclusion acts as a “tax” on work teams’ engagement and performance.

 

Diversity and inclusion at workplace – the backdrop

In just the last four decades, we have witnessed significant advancements in computers, the internet, mobile phones, technology, logistics, supply chain, and many other related areas.

The end of the cold war between the Russian Federation and the United States, signified with the fall of the Berlin wall, opened up relations and trade between the two superpowers and the rest of the world. Business is now global, and the world is now interconnected.

Large multinational companies now have the luxury to produce goods (or provide services) wherever it is inexpensive to produce and sell them wherever it is most profitable. As a result, the workforce also has become diverse and global.

It is now common to see diverse employees in all aspects of the word – gender, ethnicity, language, religion, country, race, color, age, sexual orientation, political beliefs, or any other ideologies.

In a global and interconnected business world with a diverse workforce, diversity and inclusion have become essential leadership competencies. Research has shown that diversity and inclusion at workplace improve both employee engagement and financial performance.

 

What is diversity?

The dictionary definition of the word diversity means having or being composed of different or diverse elements. Diversity at the workplace refers to a mix of diverse employees in terms of race, religion, gender, physical ability, language, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, etc. However, diversity is also about openness to any differences – intellectual, political, ideological, social, cultural, beliefs, attitudes, abilities, physical attributes, or even preferences.

 

Similarity and differences

We are similar in many aspects. As human beings, we all have similar needs and wants. We want to earn a good living, take care of our families. We want to be loved, accepted, and be happy.

We are also different in other aspects – No two human beings are exactly alike! We are all unique and one of a kind. We can notice the visual differences immediately. Race, disability, language are some such examples. There may be differences in ideas, opinions, preferences, life experiences, approach, and so many other areas if we go further.

 

Diversity – The anthropological perspective

 

Nomadic age

For over 100,000 years, human beings and early humanoids lived a nomadic life as hunter-gatherers. They had no permanent structures and moved from place to place in search of food and shelter. They stayed in their own groups and didn’t trust other groups, especially if they looked and behaved differently.

 

Agricultural age

The discovery of agriculture allowed humans to settle in one place and form societies. The agricultural age lasted about 10,000 years or so. Human beings learned to settle down, form bonds with other people, and agriculture and trade flourished. We learned to live and interact with different people. But their interactions were limited to within the geography or their villages or kingdoms they lived in.

 

Industrial age

Then came the industrial age. Most farm jobs were lost due to mechanization. People moved to cities to work in factories. They learned to work and live with people from different backgrounds and cultures. This was probably the beginning of diversity in the workplace. The industrial age lasted about 200 years.

 

The information age

In the last four decades, we have moved from the industrial age to the information age. The rapid advancements in computers and technology in the ’70s and the ’80s started shifting from the industrial age to the information age (or the digital age).

By the late ’80s and early ’90s, internet and mobile technologies accelerated the shift digital or information age from the industrial age.

Thomas Freidman’s 2005 book, The World is Flat, captures this shift quite comprehensively. The convergence of technology (transatlantic cable with high internet speed) and events (the Y2K – the year 2000 computer problem that needed programmers that the US did not have enough of) allowed India, China, and many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing.

Soon, India became the back office of the western world. The global shipping, supply chain optimization, and relatively cheaper and reasonably skilled labor force; allowed China to become the manufacturer of choice for the entire western world.

The last decade – 2010 to 2020 – has brought even better technology for global communication and collaboration. As a result, the workforce in multinational companies is now even more diverse and even more global. A manufacturing company may have plants on several continents.

A software company may have employees collaborating on the same project from several different countries. Companies, both large and small, have to learn to employ and deploy a diverse workforce, often worldwide.

 

What is inclusion?

Here is a good definition of inclusion from SHRM “the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success.” Inclusion is a culture and a workplace environment where diverse employees feel comfortable and included and can contribute and thrive.

In the United States, equal opportunity and affirmative action laws have mandated companies to follow fair practices in hiring and promoting employees. There are penalties for any systemic discrimination based on any attribute of Companies took notice and made some progress in diversity by hiring people from varied backgrounds. For many years, companies considered diversity as something that they had to put up with. However, in the last decade or two, companies have started understanding the benefits of a diverse workforce and their inclusion.

Diversity by itself doesn’t lead to inclusion. Organizations need to do much more than hiring people with diverse backgrounds. They need to establish practices, policies, culture that allows everyone to feel that they belong irrespective of their backgrounds. It is about valuing people for who they are and what they bring instead of focusing on differences. It is about being intentional to overcome our unconscious biases. It is about systematic and concerted efforts towards the goal to include everyone irrespective of their background. It is about challenging the status quo and business as usual.

 

What is the opposite of diversity and inclusion?

The opposite of diversity and inclusion may be discrimination based on race, religion, gender, physical ability, language, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, etc. Companies have made some progress in terms of diversity, but a lot more needs to be done.

For example – Gender inequality in the workplace. Although women comprise over 50% of the population, there are just a few women CEOs or board members in companies worldwide. Women get paid less than men for doing the same work. The World Economic Forum’s gender gap index’s worldwide average was at 68%.

Companies are making a concerted effort in the right direction. You can see titles of chief diversity officer or chief inclusion officer in large companies to foster diversity and inclusion at workplaces.

The impact of Millennials on diversity and inclusion at workplace

Millennials have entered the workforce in large numbers, and they have seriously challenged the work practices that have spilled over from the industrial age mentality. Millennials demand workplaces where everyone is respected, treated with dignity, and has equal opportunity to learn, grow and prosper. Millennials are more purpose-driven, and they care less for profits at the cost of social justice. Millennials are a now significant percentage of the workforce in the western world. Companies have changed a lot of policies to accommodate them.

Impact of Social movements on diversity and inclusion at workplace

The world has seen several social movements that have either helped or hurt diversity and inclusion at workplace and in communities.

Divisive politics and policies: Politicians use divisive tactics to shore upvotes and gain power. One prime example is President Trump in the USA. His divisive politics and policies have encouraged fringe elements to commit discriminatory practices. His administration has also encouraged divisive politics and led to divisive parties’ rise with extreme views across Europe and Asia.

Black lives matter movement

The video of a white police officer choking a black man George Floyd despite his repeated pleas, “I can’t breathe,” spread like wildfire across the world. It brought to light many aspects of racial discrimination and infuriated people from all around the world. It was a tragic incident, but it sparked a movement that will surely help the cause of diversity and inclusion at workplace and communities. The Black Lives Matter movement has compelled and empowered companies to address racial disparity and take positive actions.

Me too movement

On October 15th, 2017, American actress Alyssa Milano sent a message to her follower on Twitter’s social media platform. The tweet read – “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted, write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”
Within 24 hours, the post went viral and generated thousands of replies, comments, and retweets. Ordinary women and celebrities from around the world shared their personal stories of sexual harassment or assault.

A majority of them spoke up for the first time about being raped, fending off aggressive bosses or co-workers, and having to remain silent for fear of losing their jobs.

What are the benefits of diversity? (Why is it needed?)

For many years, companies thought of diversity as something to be “dealt with.” Talent acquisition departments had diversity quotas. They did their best to check the boxes and report annual diversity numbers. For example – if a company hired an employee who is female, belongs to a minority race, and is partially disabled – it meant that the company could check off three separate boxes against their diversity quotas!

However, in the last couple of decades, research has shown, and companies have realized the benefits of diversity and inclusion at workplace. Diversity and inclusion at workplace is not just the “right thing to do,” but it also has significant business benefits.

 

Larger talent pool:

Diversity starts with hiring practices. Hiring a diverse workforce allows companies to tap into a larger talent pool. It can be people who understand the local culture, speak a local language, or are familiar with a particular country’s statutory requirements.

 

Varied perspectives:

Diversity fosters a larger variety of ideas and approaches. If you have employees from the same college or cultural backgrounds, it can lead to groupthink and stifle change and innovation.

 

Better team performance:

Research has shown that diverse teams perform better. However, there is a catch. It is inclusion and psychological safety on the team. To take advantage of diverse teams and workforce, leaders and organizations must drive fear out and create a psychologically safe workplace.

The business case of diversity and inclusion at workplace

Diversity and inclusion are humane values. Any human being who means no harm to others deserves to be treated fairly and respectfully. We also feel that diversity and inclusion at workplace should help engagement, change, innovation and performance. Can we make a business case to be for diversity and inclusion at workplace?

In an article in 2015, Mckinsey’s research found that top companies (those ranked in the top 25% for diversity in terms of gender, race, or ethnicity) are more likely to have above-average financial returns to their industry average. On the other hand, companies in the bottom 25% were statistically less likely to achieve above-average returns.

In the United States, EBIT earnings before interest and taxes rose 0.8% for every 10 percent increase in racial and ethnic diversity on the senior-executive team of a company. In the UK, higher gender diversity on the senior executive teams brought in the highest financial returns. EBIT rose by 3.5% for every 10% increase in gender diversity.

Mckinsey concluded that diversity is probably a competitive differentiator that gets better with time. Many other studies have found a correlation between diversity and inclusion and better organizational performance.

Diversity and inclusion at workplace – a core leadership competency

Diversity and inclusion have become a core leadership competencies for the 21st-century leader. Without this competency, the leader will have a difficult time utilizing the talent of the diverse workforce.

Organizations have made significant progress with diversity. Inclusion remains a challenge. One of the essential ingredients of a diverse and inclusive workplace is the leader’s behaviors.

Our Global leadership 360-degree assessment, GLA 360, includes the competency of “Appreciating diversity” as one of the emerging competencies. This assessment allows the leader to gauge herself on 15 different competencies, including the competency of “appreciating diversity.”

Read more about the Global leadership assessment (GLA 360)

We also offer leadership coaching that helps the leader develop the essential competencies of a global leader. In fact, we are so confident of our coaching process that we often work with our clients on a no-growth no pay basis. If the leader doesn’t measurably improve – as anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members – you don’t have to pay!

Read:  Three employee engagement strategies that every leader must know

Ways to foster diversity and inclusion at workplace

Here are some of the multiple ways organizations can foster diversity and inclusion at workplace

 

Organizational policies

• Recruitment and performance management are two essential policies to ensure both diversity and inclusion at workplace. Have a clearly defined recruitment process to reach out to diverse communities and colleges to attract and hire diverse talent.

• Ensure a good performance management process that eliminates any biases – gender, race, age, etc. and promotes and rewards people based solely on performance.

• A good onboarding process allows a new employee to know and work with all the team members quickly.

• Acknowledge and celebrate a variety of religious and cultural practices. Allow people flexible holidays for the festivals they celebrate.

• Regular training on sensitivity for all employees and team leaders.

• Clearly define anti-discriminatory policies and enforce them publicly and visibly. This encourages the right behaviors while discouraging and punishing any inappropriate behaviors that violate the policy.

• Having a forum to discuss diversity issues openly and report problems anonymously.

 

Foster a culture of psychological safety

Here are a couple of definitions of psychological safety.

“Being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career.”

“Psychological safety is the belief or perception of the team members that one will not be punished, humiliated, or face any consequences for openly sharing their half-formed ideas, silly questions, concerns or mistakes.”

Simply put, psychological safety is the answer to this question – Can I be myself, or do I have to hold back on this team? Inclusion and a sense of belonging are enhanced in a culture of psychological safety.

Here are a few ways to foster psychological safety on your team

• Be inclusive in interpersonal settings & in decision-making
• Conversational equality and role rotation in meetings
• The leader role models vulnerability
• Demonstrate curiosity and listen genuinely

Read:  Psychological safety at work – Why you need it and how to develop it.

To quote Dr. Amy Edmondson, the pioneer of the research on the topic, “Psychological safety at work takes effort. It’s not the norm. But it’s worth the effort,”

 

In conclusion

Diversity and inclusion at workplace are not just about headcount numbers and recruitment policies. Progressive companies know that diversity and inclusion are a competitive advantage that allows them to outpace competitors. Diverse and inclusive workplaces result in higher employee engagement, lower attrition rates, higher commitment, openness to change, and higher innovation levels. Diversity and inclusion is a critical leadership competency for the 21st-century workplace. Coaching leaders on diversity and inclusion is one of the best ways to improve your organization and stay ahead of the competition.

References

The inclusion dividend – Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off – 2013

Feedback is a gift! Leadership feedback is a huge favor! I am sure you have heard the phrase – feedback is a gift. What is the feedback? Why is it a gift? And why is leadership feedback a big favor? These are the points I am going to cover in this article.

 

What is the feedback?

Simply put, feedback is any information you receive about yourself. Feedback may be subtle, or it may be obvious. Any of the following fits the bill of feedback.

• Review of your cooking by a friend
• Your spouse’s comment about your outfit!
• When your son’s eyes light up when he sees you in the audience at the school play
• When you are the last one to be picked on a team!
• When you wear a sweater that your mom knit
• When the colleague doesn’t invite you for her b’day party
• How many likes (or not) on social media
• Your boss’s feedback on your work
• Your annual performance review
• A formal 360-degree feedback

Feedback is what gets ranked, judged, thanked, commented on. In fact, feedback is everywhere if we observe closely.

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History of feedback

The term feedback originated as a scientific term in the 19th century. The feedback loop was used in electrical and sound circuits. After the 2nd World War, industrial relations and performance management were started in organizations. The management version of the feedback started then. Feed corrective information back (to the workers) – and hence the feedback. Today the term is widely used in both personal and professional contexts.

 

 

Why is feedback a gift?

Let us think of a successful consumer product. How do you improve it? The simple method to improve it is to ask some representative sample of consumers. Ask them to rate the product. Then ask them for suggestions on how to improve the product. Without feedback from customers, there is little chance of improvement.

As it is true for a consumer product, it is also equally true for us as individuals and employees. How do I become a better friend? Ask my friends for feedback and suggestions to become a better friend. How do I dress better? Well, ask for feedback from others on your dressing. Then ask how you can dress better. How do you become a better spouse? A better father? A better sister? Well, you get it by now. Ask for feedback on how you are doing currently, and then ask how you can become better.

Feedback is a gift because feedback allows you to improve. There can be no improvement without feedback. Feedback is essential for learning and growth.

In today’s workplace, feedback plays a crucial role in developing talent, improving morale, aligning teams, solving problems, and boosting the bottom line.

 

Leadership feedback is a huge favor.

As we move up the career ladder, the quality and quantity of feedback go down. When we are in a position of power, people avoid giving us honest feedback in managerial or leadership positions. We only get watered down feedback or even plain flattery. Why? First of all, we are uncomfortable giving honest and candid feedback to someone to their face. Secondly, they may be in danger of facing the consequences. The leader may retaliate, punish, or give a lower performance rating, or hold back a promotion.

When a team member gives honest feedback to a leader on her face, he is doing the leader huge favor. They are overcoming two things. First is the discomfort of telling someone the unpleasant truth. Second, they are taking a risk to their standing, reputation, punitive consequences, or career growth. Hence their leadership feedback is a huge favor. Feedback is a gift.

What is even more interesting is that they could have chosen to share the same feedback to others – behind your back and unknown to you. They chose to give you feedback on your face. Probably because they care and they want you to improve. If they talk behind your back, you would not know. And it will deprive you of the opportunity to get better.

Read: Leadership feedback and the CEO disease.

 

If feedback is a gift, why is it so painful?

If feedback is a gift, why does it feel more like a dentist appointment to pull out a tooth? Why do we tend to avoid it? Why are we afraid of it? Why do we tend to reject it?

We often complain about a spouse’s snide remark on our dressing. We hate our mother in law’s critical review of our cooking. We may dislike our colleague’s candid comments on our presentation. As employees and leaders in organizations – we dislike performance reviews and 360-degree feedback.

Read: Leadership lessons I learned from my son about feedback vs. feedforward

Feedback sits at the intersection of these two basic human needs.

According to author Sheila Heen, receiving feedback sits at the intersection of two basic human needs.

First is our drive to learn. Human beings are naturally wired for learning. A human baby comes into the world with just a few basic survival skills. And yet, we teach ourselves to walk, to talk, and hundreds of other skills. We love learning. But learning about ourselves, especially honest and critical feedback, is not a pleasant experience. And the culprit is our second basic human need.

The second need is our longing for acceptance.

We all want to be loved, cared for, respected and accepted for who we are. Candid feedback makes us feel like we are being rejected. We feel like we are not enough. It hurts our pride and wounds our ego.

The tug of war between these two basic human needs – our need to be loved and accepted as we are and our need to learn and grow – is the main reason for the unpleasantness of receiving feedback.

 

Accepting feedback is a gift.

Do you remember a special teacher or a mentor in your life? Why are they special, and why do we remember them fondly? Because they taught us a lot. They helped us learn and grow. How? By giving us feedback in a loving, caring, and supporting way. The way they gave us feedback didn’t cause resistance. In fact, it may have challenged or inspired us to do better. It is great to have such teachers and mentors in our life.

But they are a rare breed. The rest of the people in your life who will give you feedback are mere mortals, just like you and me. If we reject feedback from everyone else, we are depriving ourselves of learning and growth. We cannot hold back our learning waiting for such special mentors. We need to learn to accept feedback as a gift – from everyone else around us.

 

How do we learn to accept all feedback as a gift?

By recognizing the three triggers that stop us from doing that. The three triggers are

 

1. The truth triggers:

The content of the feedback itself sets truth triggers off. We think that the feedback is wrong, unhelpful, or simply untrue. We think that their advice is wrong, their evaluation is unfair, who they are to tell me about this, don’t know the whole story, etc. We may go into the defensive mode or even counterattack. Sometimes we do it in real conversations, but almost always in our minds! We replay the tape again and again – with our own editing.

When your spouse tells you that you were aloof during the visit to the in-laws – it triggers a defensive mechanism. You may retort by saying, was I supposed to tap dance and greet everyone?

2. The relationship triggers

The relationship triggers are set off by the person giving the feedback. The feedback is tainted by the relationship between you and the feedback giver. What authority do they have on this topic to give me feedback? Or after all the things I have done for you, this is how you repay? The emotional baggage and the long history of the relationship may come in the way of our ability to listen to and understand the feedback. We go into counter-attack mode and discredit the feedback giver.

When your boss criticizes the report, you delivered, do you start thinking, why is he such a jerk? Does he always do this? His own reports are the second rate. And on and on.

 

3. The identity triggers

Identity triggers are unrelated to both the content of the feedback and the relationship with the feedback giver. Something about the feedback stirs up a deep pain from inside – mostly from our past. Someone may make a casual remark that you are clumsy. It may bring up painful childhood memories of how you always dropped things, and everyone ridiculed you and called you clumsy. We may feel overwhelmed or threatened – as this relates to our own identity.

 

Overcoming the triggers and accepting feedback as a gift

It is human to have these triggers for feedback. However, they keep us from engaging in a conversation and learning more about the feedback. They deprive us of the opportunity to learn and grow. We lose an opportunity to understand the other party and improve the interaction and the relationship.

Being aware of these feedback triggers is a good way to learn to accept feedback as a gift. Remember that there is no improvement without feedback. One of the best tools is to ask for feed-forward – which refers to asking for future suggestions.

NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching.

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you simply don’t have to pay us.

 

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below.

SCHEDULE NOW!

 

 

Culture eats strategy for breakfast is a quote attributed to Peter Drucker, the management guru. What is the meaning of the quote? Peter Drucker was talking about organizational culture and how it impacts the execution of strategy in organizations.

Culture not only eats strategy for breakfast, but it may also eat change agility for lunch and innovation for dinner. Any strategy that doesn’t take into account the culture of the organization is likely to fail.

Leaders in organizations tend to focus more on strategy. The strategy is relatively easy to understand and create. Culture is complex and intangible and hence tends to get less attention from top leaders. But ignoring culture leads to underperformance and may even lead to the organization going out of business.

 

What is strategy?

Strategy can be defined as the method or plan that the organization chooses to achieve its long-term goals. The strategy is deciding the direction and choosing the path to get there. The strategy is often decided by the top management and communicated to all organization levels to execute it. One of the important aspects of deciding a strategy is to consider the organizational culture.

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What is culture?

Here are a couple of definitions of organizational culture.

Stated, organizational culture is “the way things are done around here” by Deal & Kennedy, 2000

“Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations.”

It is how people in organizations do things. It is the attitude of the people. It is also the unwritten rules and norms that employees follow. Just as every individual is unique, every organization has a unique culture. Starbucks, Google, Tata group, etc., are some examples.

When we talk about these companies, we have a perception of the culture – how the employees in this particular company get things done.

Starbucks may bring to mind a culture of customer service. Google brings to mind the casual way of work, the open offices, the employee perks, and a culture of innovation. Tata group may bring to mind their values, ethics, and care for employees.

 

The unwritten norms

Culture is the way people do things in an organization. Those are the unwritten rules that exert influence on the behavior of the employees.

For example – let’s say you join a new company. The work timings are from 8 am to 5 pm. That is the written rule probably in the HR manual.

However, if you see most of your team members working late till 6 pm or later, what will you do? Will you leave work at 5 pm? Probably not. You will learn to follow the unwritten rule to stay at the office until 6 pm.

Culture is often invisible and intangible. But it exerts a powerful influence on how employees think, feel, and act. Over time and with reinforcement (either intentional or accidental) from the leaders, it becomes self-perpetuating and self-sustaining.

 

The culture iceberg model

Edgar Schein, professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and an organizational culture expert, has proposed the culture iceberg model. Culture lives at three distinct levels.

 

1. Artifacts:

Artifacts are the things at the surface level of the organizational culture. It includes “visible” symbols of the culture. Things like offices, furniture, how people dress, language, tone, practices, ceremonies, etc.

Often people misunderstand the artifacts as the culture – as it is the visible part. But there is much more. Just like an iceberg, the majority of the culture lies beneath the surface and is not visible.

2. Espoused values

Values are often advertised on the company office walls and the company websites and brochures. Edgar Schein calls these as espoused values.

Often, there is a discrepancy between the values on the wall and the actual behavior of leaders and employees in the organization.

3. Basic assumptions

These are the beliefs and assumptions that people refer to when doing their work and interacting with others. These beliefs are often unconscious. They may even be perceptions and feelings that are taken for granted.

This is the deepest level of the cultural iceberg. It is the most difficult level to understand and improve.

How culture eats strategy for breakfast

Culture has inertia and loves the status quo. It resists all attempts to change. Even if the strategy is brilliant, it cannot succeed without considering culture as a factor. Is the culture supportive?

Then the strategy has a good chance of getting implemented. Otherwise, it is quite likely that the culture will eat the strategy for breakfast! Culture and strategy are two sides of the same coin.

Often strategy gets attention, and culture doesn’t. Companies pay a heavy price for ignoring culture while working on their strategy.

Planning a strategy without considering the culture is like planting the soil without considering the type of soil. If you plant the right seed in the wrong soil, the seed will die.

Similarly, if you have a strategy for which the culture is not conducive, it will fail miserably. Culture and strategy are interrelated, and they reinforce each other.

 

How do we create a culture where change, innovation, and growth?

Successful companies invest time, money and effort in creating cultures that differentiate them from others. Culture is a strategic advantage and a competitive differentiator. Culture impacts the performance and productivity of the organization.

It dictates how employees interact with one another, how they treat customers, how they think about quality, and how they deliver value to customers, investors, and society.

 

Industrial age vs. information age

In the last three to four decades, we have rapidly moved from the industrial age to the information age. In the industrial age, the value was delivered by standardization.

There was only one right and most efficient way to do things. And everybody had to do it the same way. The pace of change was slower, and there were relatively long periods of stability before there was a change in process, technology, competition, or customer demand.

In such an environment, the culture of command and control leadership thrived. Employees had to be controlled to maximize efficiency. They were rewarded and punished using the carrot-and-stick approach to management.

However, in the information age, the pace of change is frenetic. Competition is global. Advances in technology create continuous change and transformation.

Customers constantly demand more and better value and service. The best way to deliver value in the information age is to learn, change, and innovate faster than the competition.

Employees need to contribute. Management has shifted from control to empowerment. Command and control generate fear. And fear inhibits creativity and innovation. Companies have realized that culture is an important driver of performance and hence there is now a consistent focus on creating a culture where employees volunteer their discretionary effort instead of doing just enough to keep their jobs.

In fact, no 21st-century organization can afford a culture of fear. In fact, the opposite is true. Organizations create “psychological safety” so that they can maximize the contributions of their talent.

A good culture is where employees feel motivated, empowered, and rewarded. In return, they treat customers with care, concern, and respect. This becomes a self-reinforcing cycle. It can also work in the opposite direction. Unmotivated and disempowered employees take out their frustrations on customers. This creates a toxic culture that impacts the performance and profitability of the company.

Today, in a competitive and global business world – both customers and employees have a lot of choices. If they don’t feel valued, cared for, and respected – they may prefer to engage with a competitor who does value them.

Read  “Psychological safety – What is it and why do you need it?” 

Culture as a strategic and competitive advantage

Several research studies have indicated that companies that proactively focus on creating and managing their culture significantly outperform companies that let culture happen.

Instead of culture eats strategy for breakfast, the new approach is to think of culture as a strategic and competitive advantage.

Companies like Google have found that creating the right culture is key to attracting and maximizing the talent pool. Google’s spent 2 years, millions of dollars, immense brainpower, and analytics ability to find out what makes teams successful. To their surprise, they found that who is on the team didn’t matter much.

What contributed to the team’s success was the team culture and team norms. Now, this is true even for Google where most of the work done is highly technical and all of the employees are highly intelligent and carefully recruited.

 

How leaders contribute to creating a high-performance culture that drives the strategy

Leaders have a critical role in creating a culture that supports the strategy.

One of the best ways the leader creates a culture is by role modeling the desired behaviors, coaching the next level of leadership, and ensuring the right structures that support the right cultural norms.

Read: Your Executive Leadership Development – Sink, Swim or Setup for Success

One of the best examples of a leader driving organizational culture change and creating a high-performance culture is Alan Mulally’s turnaround of Ford Motor Company.

When Alan took over Ford, it was on the way to reporting a $17 billion loss for the year. In his 8 years as the Ford CEO, he steered the company through the Financial crisis of 2008 (without taking a bailout), restructured the massive global company, returned the company to profitability, and doubled the stock price.

And he didn’t do it just by cutting jobs and laying thousands of people off. In a company where unions rule – his approval rating stayed at 90% or more during his tenure.

This is a fantastic case study on how instead of a culture eats strategy for breakfast, creating a culture can drive it.

Read Organizational Culture Change – The Ford turnaround story by Alan Mulally 

 

What kind of culture are your leaders creating?

The first step is to assess the leadership behaviors that create the culture.  Are your leaders creating the culture intentionally or accidentally? 

Are they exhibiting the behaviors that create a high-performance culture?  Or do their behaviors stifle engagement and performance? 

Assess your leaders for the behaviors which are creating your company culture using our Global leadership assessment GLA 360.  Find out more.    

In conclusion

The culture eats strategy for breakfast is true for many organizations. Leaders love talking strategy. It is tangible and visible. It is easier to understand and to create.

Culture, on the other hand, is intangible, invisible, and difficult to understand. Consequently, it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. But it exerts a powerful influence on every aspect of the organization.

Culture lives at multiple levels. Often culture is confused with artifacts. Just changing the artifacts is NOT changing the culture.

Casual Fridays or ping-pong tables may be good. But they are just the visible part of the cultural iceberg. Changing culture means changing the underlying beliefs and assumptions – the deepest part of the cultural iceberg. Leaders play a critical role in creating and sustaining the organizational culture.

One of the leader’s most important jobs is to create a culture that supports the strategy they want to implement. In fact, organizational culture is a strategic and competitive advantage.

Reference

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329140215