Calling Forth The Best From Folks Working For You

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“I like coming here!”  was confessed with a smile. The speaker?  A highly skilled professional who is undertaking a major refurbishment project for me in my home.

It hit me that this is the fundamental ask. Every professional including those who deal directly with customer and shape the customer experience is looking to feel-think “I like coming here!”

I say that this is the most fundamental ask because only those folks who as they show up for work AND find themselves confessing to themselves “I like coming here!” are likely to give of their best. It is necessary to feel good – about oneself, about one’s colleagues, about one’s manager/leader, about one’s work – if one is going to find oneself doing great work.

How is it that we arrived at this stage: “I like coming here!”? I can tell you that I did not turn to HR specialists. Nor did I make use of the kitbag of tools/tricks called employee engagement.  I didn’t even set up a reward and punishment framework – commonly labelled performance management.  So how did this come about?

Here’s my contribution:

  1. Made sure that my drive was free so that John (the skilled professional) could park is van without any hassle;
  2. Welcomed John each day when I found myself at home;
  3. Asked my wife to do that which I would do if I were home;
  4. Gave John a key to get in the house when nobody was at home;
  5. Asked John and his assistant what they wished to drink – each day, every few hours;
  6. Made John a tea (his favourite drink) and poured the assistant his favourite drink – an orange juice – at least four times a day;
  7. Occasionally, took up slices of cake and some biscuits – without being asked;
  8. Offered to make John and his assistant a sandwich lunch – which they declined;
  9. Regularly checked in with them to see how they were doing and if they needed anything from me;
  10. Actively looked for the opportunity to strike up a human conversation and create a human relationship with John and his assistant;
  11. Listened to John’s point of view when tricky matters came up, discussed the matters, and jointly came up with an appropriate solution that worked for both of us; and
  12. Jumped into my car to go to the store and buy urgently needed supplies that John had forgotten to buy; and
  13. I did not make John wrong (including in my speaking of him to myself) for forgetting / not doing that which he was supposed to do.

In short, I sought to transcend the conventional role based performance (customer – supplier, employer – employee, manager – subordinate) that folks so easily fall into.  Instead, I focussed on cultivating a genuinely human to human relationship: a relationship of equality of dignity whilst recognising inequality of expertise and power.

Whilst all of the above has been necessary in calling forth great work from John it is not sufficient. It is a new age myth and fashionable nonsense that folks will do right by you if you treat them right. Some folks will simply walk over you if you take this approach with them – they will see your generosity / friendliness as a weakness that they can exploit.

Perhaps, the most important thing that I did is to take my time in selecting the right person. I asked around to find a true professional. Then I met the professional and experienced how he worked. Finally, I waited – I waited six weeks for him to come free despite the fact that the work needed to be done urgently.

Summing up, I say:

If as a manager you are not receiving great work from the folks that work for you then you either recruited the wrong folks and/or you are not treating them right – as fellow human beings worthy of equality of dignity.

If as a customer you are unhappy with the performance of your supplier then I say the same to you: you didn’t select/recruit the right supplier and/or you are not treating this supplier right.

Transcend the default roles (customer – supplier, employer – employee, manager – subordinate) and plays. Instead strike up a genuine human to human relationship – its the key to calling forth the best, including loyalty, for human beings no matter which role they are playing.

Read the original post here.