On the face of it, he appeared to have a very good #job: decent pay, a prestigious company, interesting work. Yet he decided to join the ranks of #jobseekers asking for coaching support.
When discussing what was missing in his current role that he was hoping to find in the next one, a number of little stories emerged. All of these stories echoed what I hear from other clients. All point to the same issue driving away employees: a lack of recognition.
Showing respect and recognition, or lack thereof, can take many forms: Formal measures, management decisions, even day-to-day interactions. And most slights and omissions are inadvertent. This makes it even more important for #humanresources to teach corporate #leadership how to show respect and recognise team members.
Here are nine phrases to spot managers with low #emotionalintelligence who need to learn about how to respect .
1. “I can’t ask for a formal promotion, because HR rules say…” At the formal level, job title, pay or perks are important to many: Team leaders need to be seen to challenge #Humanresources to make sure the highest performers in your team are duly recognised.
2. “Why should I thank someone for simply doing their job?” A working relationship is a relationship, not a stage for inappropriate power moves.
3. “…” (Saying nothing and thinking: if I haven’t criticised, that is praise enough.) Err on the side of too much positive feedback. (There are significant cultural differences here: This tends to be a far greater issue, for example, in French corporate culture than in the US.)
4. “Great job” Expressly recognise good work is important, but be specific, authentic and include constructive criticism. Phony platitudes and generalities make you look dishonest. Constructive criticism shows you are also interested in developing your team member’s talent.
5. “Bob, why don’t you come up on stage! Don’t be shy!!!” Choose a form of recognition that the team member appreciates. Some may bask in the mention at a major meeting. For others a personal word is just fine.
6. “They didn’t need to be in this meeting” Not including previous participants may feel like a demotion, if it is a formally senior meeting or a meeting where important decisions are made.
7. “My boss asked only me to come” Yes, but you could ask if you could bring along your colleague because he really did most of the work and you want this to be recognised.
8. “Recruiting new staff is purely my role” But does it hurt to listen to the people who will be working with this person?
9. “I like to be closely involved in the work of all my team members” Micromanaging the able and motivated staff member may be interpreted as a lack of trust.