6 Strategies for Disarming Internal Terrotists

By Barbara Burke, January 31st, 2011


The term “terrorist” conjures up images of evil-doers like Osama bin Laden. But did you know that you have internal terrorists bent on sabotaging your best efforts?

When the Gallup Organization measured engagement levels of 80,000 employees they found that:

  • 28% of the employees were engaged.
    Engaged employees work with passion.  Because they feel a strong connection to the organization, they work hard to innovate and improve.
  • 54% were not engaged.
    Employees usually meet. the minimum standard for performance, but do not put in extra effort.
  • 17 % were actively disengaged
    Employees in this category are not only unhappy; they are spreading their unhappiness to other staff.

According to the Gallup Management Journal, “Actively disengaged” employees — those fundamentally disconnected from their jobs — cost the U.S. economy between $292 billion and $355 billion a year.”

Six Strategies for eliminating internal terrorists

1. Get them on your side.
Many unhappy employees are talented “informal leaders” who have a knack for influencing the opinions of their co-workers. Put their talents to work by giving them an opportunity to get involved in new initiatives.
2. Communicate, communicate, communicate and then communicate some more.
Get out in front of the rumor mill by sharing information. If you don’t provide the facts and information your employees crave, you can bet that your local terrorist will gladly fill that void with damaging dis-information.
3.  Have a friendly chat.
Many unhappy employees feel that they are not being heard and are misunderstood. If you haven’t met with these individuals one to one recently, do it soon. Every unhappy employee is dissatisfied for a combination of reasons. Find out what those reasons are and see what you can do to help.
4. Consider the possibility that they could be right.
It’s easy to pigeonhole an employee as troublemaker or pain in the rear. Try putting judgment aside and listen to what your unhappy employees have to say. It is very possible they could be right.
5. Thwart toxic talk and gossip.
If left unchecked, chronic negativity (often driven by disgruntled employees) kills morale and can destroy organizations. When you overhear employees making negative comments about another department for example, let them know that is unacceptable. The same applies to gossip. Don’t do it and don’t tolerate it.
6. Help your disengaged employees make a “career decision.”It’s entirely possible that these unhappy people are in the wrong job. If so, help him or her find the right match. They will be happier and so will everyone else.U

In a nutshell, the best anti-terrorism strategy is to communicate with employees frequently and listen closely to what they have to say.

Be happy,

Barbara

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.

Ditch the stories, jammies and bunny slippers

By Barbara Burke, January 24th, 2011

The Tale of Maxine and Cyndie

Supervisors Maxine and Cyndie worked for the same company, had similar education and number of years on the job. For the last year both their teams struggled to meet their performance goals. Believing that part of their problem was a lack of coaching skills, their manager sent them to a workshop. Both supervisors completed the class and were very excited about going back to their call center to apply what they had learned. Maxine and Cyndie left the class convinced that it was just a matter of time before their teams would be wildly successful.

As it turned out, Cyndie was successful. Maxine was not.

For reasons known only to her, Maxine choose not to venture out of her pre-workshop comfort zone. Contrary to what she was taught in class, she held on to the belief that in order to get good performance her people needed to be coerced and controlled. Her authoritarian style continued to put the burden for improving performance on her shoulders. After a few weeks Maxine felt disheartened and very discouraged. Her boss was disappointed that the training “didn’t work.”

Cyndie had an insight during the class that changed everything. She realized that her reps had the necessary training and skills to do their job extremely well. But it was the negative “stories” she told her self about several low performers that biased her behavior toward them and became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stories such as: “Mark shouldn’t be in this job in the first place. He’s about as good as he’s going to get.” “Renee is just putting in her time until she can retire.” “I’ve tried everything I can think of to motivate Lori. Nothing works with her.”

Cyndie wanted her team to succeed and was committed to changing her approach. It was difficult at first. Since she had history with the majority of her team there were plenty of stories that needed to change. Some team members didn’t believe her shift in attitude was “for real” so it took several weeks for them to realize she was sincere. Eventually, Cyndie’s efforts paid off. Her team’s performance made a complete turnaround. She is now happier and less stressed and so are the reps on her team.

There are at least two morals to the Tale of Maxine and Cyndie:

1. The story you tell yourself about an employee influences your behavior toward them. Change your perception, i.e. your negative story about him or her. You change your attitude, your behavior changes. When your behavior toward your rep changes, they change.

2. Attending a training class does not immediately change behavior. The real learning and behavior change occurs when we get out of our comfort zone and apply the ideas learned in class to real life situations. It can be hard work. But the pay-off is well worth it.

And yes, it just might mean that you’ll have to change out of your bunny slippers and comfy jammies and get to work.

Be happy,

Barbara
Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke.All Rights Reserved.

Make Your Workplace a Gossip-Free Zone in 8 Steps

By Barbara Burke, January 17th, 2011


Take the Pledge to Reduce Toxic Talk

Some conscientious employees can commit to not engaging in harmful gossip about their co-workers and refraining from talking negatively about their customers.
But, as a manager you have the power to reduce, or even eliminate toxic talk where you work. Depending on the severity of the problem, you may discover that there is an immediate boost in morale when you let it be known that you are committed to creating a “gossip-free zone.”  That’s because many employees are just waiting for “somebody” to do something. (In fact, according to last week’s survey, employees lose respect for leaders who see toxic talk as a problem, but don’t do anything about it.)

8 Steps to Reducing or Eliminating Toxic Talkhttp://barbaraburke.com/take-the-no-bad-mouthing-pledge Where You Work

  1. Make it known that you are committed to having a gossip-free workplace.
  2. Get everyone involved in finding a solution. If you see gossip as an issue, chances are good others do too. Brainstorm some ideas for creating a gossip-free zone at your next team meeting.
  3. Discuss the negative impact that toxic talk is having on employees’ work life. Whether it is in the form of idle chatter about a co-worker’s private life, negative comments about a customer or speculating about the future of the company gossip destroys morale, erodes trust and reduces employees’ willingness to be fully engaged.
  4. Organize a No Bad Mouthing Pledge campaign.
    My friend Carrie Kelly, a manager at Vertex, shared the pledge idea with me a few weeks ago. I loved it so much that I worked on some strategies and suggestions over the Holidays.
  5. Get creative. Jeanne O’Brien, Customer Service Manager for Mile Hi Foods shared her creative strategy in a recent email. “A couple of years ago I ran into a few individuals who took the responsibility upon themselves to become “Department Critics.” Not Good! I gave each person a small plastic trash can with 100 pennies. As anyone in the Section heard a negative comment regarding a customer or another associate they were allowed to remove a penny. The CSR with the most pennies collected at the end of the month received an award and a set of wax lips. By the end of the month, CSRS were volunteering pennies as they realized they were speaking negatively about someone or a contact. It was fun and truly brought about a renewed focus on the positive. Follow up programs focused on best practice habits as well.”
  6. Model the right behavior. According to my recent survey, 60% of the respondents said that their leaders engage in harmful gossip about fellow employees. 
  7. Be patient. It’s never easy to change old habits. Your employees will sometimes forget and let a negative comment about some body slip. That’s when a gentle reminder from you can help them get back on track.
  8. Note the positive impact. Keep the idea alive by discussing the positive changes you’ve noticed since your campaign started.

Some final thoughts about implementing change.
Isn’t it interesting how a good idea whose time has come can gain traction? If you’ve ever tried to make an organizational change that you thought made perfect sense only to have it fail, you know what I mean. Conversely, as if by magic, good ideas that have merit and arrive at the right time can catch on, get a groundswell of support and sweep along with little effort. I hope you have that experience with your campaign to create a gossip-free workplace.

Let me know how it goes and please share what’s working. With your permission, I’ll pass the best ideas along in future Monday Aha!s. Contact.

Be happy. Barbara