While waiting in the airport recently, I noticed that the guy sitting next to me had taped paper over the webcam at the top of his laptop. I chuckled to myself at first at his apparent paranoia. Then I thought about that kid in Philadelphia who sued his school for taking photos of him on his laptop without his knowledge. So who could blame this young professional at the airport for being cautious? It is more than a little creepy thinking that your boss might be watching you in your hotel room on a business trip. Which got me thinking about trust.

Trust is lacking in many workplaces today. Employers don’t trust employees. Employees don’t trust employers. We see it in the survey business all the time. Clients hire my firm to conduct their employee surveys in part to ensure anonymity of respondents and confidentiality of results. And yet no matter how it’s communicated some employees will never believe their survey responses are anonymous. And so, with the fear of big brother looking over their shoulders, many employees miss the opportunity to provide honest feedback that might improve their workplace….(more)

“Can I help you find anything, sir?” a young employee asks me as I enter the store.

“Nope.  I’m good.  Thanks.”

“Can I help you find anything?” another employee asks me twenty seconds later.

“Nope.  I’m good.  Thanks.”

“Can I help you find anything?”  Another employee.

“Nope.  I’m good.  Thanks.”

It was at that moment—thirty seconds before another “Can I help you find anything?”— that I asked myself “can there really be too much of a good thing when it comes to customer service?”  I think, the managers at this retailer and this particular location must take a lot of pride in servicing customers well.  They definitely understand the importance of the customer experience and employee accessibility and attentiveness.  They’ve trained the staff well…and the staff is following through.  I should be proud.  This validates the work we do every day at Questar.

And yet my answer to that question “can there really be too much of a good thing when it comes to customer service?”  A resounding yes!

Because if another employee asks me that question…well, I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’m not happy about it.

All too often, I think we get so caught up in creating best practices and turning those best practices into standard operating procedures at the store level—it’s how you turn data into action—that we forget to actually listen to what the customers are saying.  Typically, most customer satisfaction surveys will ask some variation of “were the employees attentive?”  My answer to that question based on my experience above is yes, they were every attentive.  But if given the opportunity to provide open-ended feedback at the end of the survey I would probably say something like “Employees were friendly and attentive, but I don’t need every employee in the store to ask me if I need help, especially when I’m in a hurry and already know what I want.”

So when you’re turning data into action, be sure to listen to all sources of customer feedback.  Try to ease out the underlying sentiment in order truly understand not just the behaviors that make for a positive customer experience, but the intricacies that make every customer experience a great one.

I leave you with this cliché: silence is golden.  Got it, young lady about to approach me in the aisle?  You can’t help me with anything, okay?  I already know what I want.

– Joseph Stanton | Vice President

One of my stories related to this is from a client I worked with years ago.  The main character in this story is an up and coming young executive – we’ll call her Sarah (not her real name).  Sarah was a go getter, recognized by corporate leadership for her achievements, her performance and her potential.  She was just 33 years old when she got her first chance to truly lead.  She was named president of a small division within the large global corporation for which she worked.  And boy was she ready – this was her chance to really prove herself.

This part of the business was new to her.  But Sarah was a quick study and knew just what to do.  She wasted no time evaluating the competitive landscape and identified some “quick hits” to gain market share.  She worked hard developing plans, securing resources, contacting clients, and informing key stakeholders.  She found places to cut costs, introduced efficiencies, and pushed ahead with some innovative product development.

There was just one problem.  Morale on her team was very low.  Sarah could sense it, but she couldn’t name it.  Something was amiss in the work environment.  Silos were strong.  Conflict was high.  She had lost one of her most experienced managers.  She knew she had to get people working as a team or all her hard work was for naught.

The news – and the solution – was not at all what Sarah expected.  You see Sarah had forgotten to lead.  She worked hard – early in the morning, late into the evening, weekends – she was always at work.  Her strategies were sound.  Her solutions were practical.  But she wasn’t leveraging her team.  Her team could see how hard she worked – alone – which left them feeling less than valued.

It was then that Sarah learned to let go.  She had been promoted for being a doer, but that wasn’t going to cut it anymore.  She had to learn to trust, to delegate, to empower.  Were her team’s ideas as good as hers?  Often no.  But Sarah learned to take some risks.  At times there were failures.  There’s learning in that as well.  And now her leadership team was learning together.  They would dust themselves off.  They would try again.  And they would accomplish much more as a team than Sarah ever could have imagined.

Today Sarah is a much better leader.  She’s still a brilliant, innovative, and hard working.  But she’s learned to forget how smart she is, let go, and let her team carry the torch.  As every good leader does, she learned the story was never really about her.

Anna Erickson, Ph.D. | Director, Consulting Services

Gallup does not provide a historical comparison in the article posted on their website.  But I have to believe this has increased – if not in the past few years, certainly when taking a longer term perspective.  And on the eve of SIOP’s 25^th anniversary, I like to believe that the contributions of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists have played a key part in this improvement in person-job fit.

• Accessibility of career decision tools and processes increase the chances that individuals have carefully chosen the their career path based on values, interests and abilities.
• Effective employee selection processes that include job analysis, valid testing and structured interviews increase the likelihood an employee will have the skills needed to be successful.
• Widespread implementation of employee engagement programs have helped employers remove common barriers to success on the job.
• Recognition of the negative impact of stress, incivility, and discrimination on organizational performance has led to a focus on eliminating these from the workforce.
• Research on the importance of performance feedback has improved the ways in which managers provide feedback to their employees.
• Better processes for talent identification and leadership development have helped organizations better recognize individual potential and support employee growth in the workplace.

There’s still work to be done.  The differences that Gallup found between ethnic groups, income, and education levels make it clear that not all employees are benefiting equally from advances in the workplace.  Yet we’ve come a long way since the days of Taylorism and Scientific Management.  What will we accomplish in the next 25 years?

Anna Erickson Ph. D. | Director, Consulting Services

The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Conference is taking place this weekend in Washington D.C. (if you are interested in attending there is still time to register).  The conference will be a great place to network, learn and celebrate healthy, high-performing organizations.

Some of the key note speakers include:

• Nico Pronk, PhD, FACSM – Vice-President and Health Science Officer, JourneyWell, HealthPartners, an expert on worksite health promotion and multi-component interventions
• Benjamin Schneider, PhD – Senior Research Fellow, VALTERA, an expert on employee engagement
• Cali Williams Yost – CEO and Founder of Work+Life Fit, Inc. and author of Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You, an expert in work flexibility and work-life issues
• Rich Cober, PhD – Senior Director of Talent Management Analytics & Solutions, Marriott International, an expert on employee assessment and selection, performance management and hiring effectiveness
• Fran Melmed – Owner, context communication consulting llc, an HR communication consultant and blogger at free-range communication and Fistful of Talent.
• Roy Saunderson, MA, CRP – President, Recognition Management Institute, an authority on employee recognition
• Judy Martin – Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist, speaker and founder of WorkLifeNation.com
• Howard Ross – Founder and Chief Learning Officer, Cook Ross, Inc., an internationally recognized speaker on diversity, leadership and organizational change
• Tonya Vyhlidal, M.Ed., CHPD – Director of Wellness, Safety, and Life Enhancement, Lincoln Industries, an experienced health and wellness professional with a track record of success
• David C. Munz, PhD – Professor of Psychology, Saint Louis University, a recognized expert on organizationally-based stress management training
• Michelle James, MBA – Health Communication Manager, Intel Corporation, an experienced communications professional with expertise in wellness program development and health promotion
• Matthew J. Grawitch, PhD – Chair of the Organizational Studies Program in the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University, an expert on healthy workplace practices

For more information please visit: http://www.phwa.org/conference

In order to participate or learn more visit Asia Society’s 2010 Asian Pacific Americans Corporate Survey | Asia Society

It may take a few years before these kids will learn to truly function as a team.  It’s not easy to pass the ball.

Your employees are probably a little more subtle.  But don’t they really want the same thing?  We all want a chance to contribute – our opportunity to shine.  Yet many managers struggle to fully leverage the skills on their team.  Caught up in the day to day, they may forget to take time to develop employees, provide challenging “stretch” assignments, or take a risk with an employee’s innovative idea.

• Fewer than half (44%) of all employees give their boss tops scores on “encouraging people to participate when they can make a contribution.”
• Even fewer (35%) say their boss excels at “taking appropriate risks in letting others make decisions.”
• Just over half (around 60%) say their job provides an opportunity to do what they do best (while only 21% strongly agree with this statement).
• 61% agree that they are recognized when they do good work.
• Fewer than half of all employees say they feel good about opportunities for career growth and development with their company.

I’ve heard managers complain that 80% of the work is done by 20% of their staff.  A few key team members do all the work.  And what do employees say?  Many report that the boss has favorites – a few select employees who get all the choice projects.  Those who don’t get selected, eventually give up.  And those selected for those “special projects” often feel their hard work is rewarded with more work.

Like a good coach, a good manager understands the strengths of each individual employee and uses those strengths to the benefit of the team.  Taking time to understand and develop those strengths does take time – but the payoff comes with a better performing team and a more committed workforce.  And who knows – you might even work up the nerve to pass the ball.

Anna Erickson Ph. D. | Director, Consulting Services