Who did you recognize with a HIGH FIVE today?

High Fives are seen regularly in both professional and amateur sports, but do you share them in the workplace? Since today is National High Five Day, celebrated annually on the third Thursday in April, it's appropriate to ask, "Who did you recognize with a High Five today?

According to Punchbowl, "While the first National High Five Day can be traced back to a group of University of Virginia students in 2002, no one knows who invented the High Five itself."

According to Maki Performance Training, "The High Five is a key part of North American sports culture and beyond. The High Five is often seen and used as a gesture of greeting, elation, celebration, or congratulation in our society. However, once you look at it more closely, the High Five has a deeper meaning and a wider effect.

Have you ever noticed what happens in a basketball game after a player makes a free throw? Regardless of whether they make the shot or miss it, the players around the teammate who's made the shot, give him/her a fist bump or High Five. Why is that?

A study was conducted on professional basketball players (NBA) which recorded the number of times they touched one another in a game (fist bump, high five, or a pat on the backside). In 50 minutes of play, they saw a total of a minute-and-a-half of touches made between teammates. Now, given the fact that each touch was maybe a hundredth of a second, you can see that this adds up to a lot of touches overall. What researchers found was astonishing. They looked at the teams with the largest number of touches and saw that these teams actually placed higher overall in the standings. Not only that, but teams with the largest number of touches also had better stats on passing. In other words, their team-interaction had improved their performance."

So, for those of us outside of the professional basketball arena, why should we give each other High Fives? Here are five important reasons why:

(1) It's a great way to communicate and display positive feedback.

(2) Similar to a handshake, the action of slapping your hand on someone else's signifies a physical connection.

(3) Athletes who High Five others are known to perform better.

(4) A High Five is an instantaneous way of telling a person that they are important.

(5) As illustrated by the NBA study, tactile communication increases cooperation.

SHARE THIS: You have to create a culture where everybody has an opportunity to be recognized. ~John Mackey #NationalHighFiveDay #LeadershipTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Image Credit: Maki Performance Training.

If you didn't give someone a High Five today, send one with an e-greeting. Here's the link:

https://www.punchbowl.com/ecards/d/national-high-five-day/design/front

Feedback and Talent in the Post-Covid Era

Do you know what today is? If you answered, “National Compliment Day,” then you are correct. In 1650, the Italian noun “complimento” determined the spelling, and its definition is “an expression of respect and civility.” Do you compliment your team, co-workers, and other employees? It’s amazing what a few positive words can do to improve employee morale. To celebrate today, I’ve invited Julie Winkle Giulioni to return to my blog for a discussion about employee feedback, leadership, and the overall employee experience. Highlights follow Julie’s introduction.

Julie Winkle Giulioni has championed workplace growth and development throughout her career. She operates with the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential – and she works with organizations and leaders who want to make that happen. She is the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want, which has been translated into seven languages; and recently launched her second book, Promotions Are So Yesterday: Redefine Career Development. Help Employees Thrive. Julie is a sought-after keynote presenter and contributes articles on leadership, career development, and workplace trends to numerous publications.

QUESTION: There are many new titles for the head of personnel, aka Human Resources, including: Chief Happiness Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Talent Officer, Chief Encouragement Officer, to name a few.

One of our leadership/employee engagement/workforce culture colleagues, Marli Rusen from Canada, has said, “The title of Human Resources covers the myriad of responsibilities performed by the HR department. The other titles you mention are too limited in scope and fail to recognize the many roles and responsibilities assigned to those who work in this field. For me, what’s more important than the title is that employees and leaders clearly understand the mandate of the HR department in their organization.”

What are your thoughts to change the title in order to improve the position’s value to all employees?

JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI: Human resources was a popular improvement over personnel, the term commonly used in the past. It was intended to elevate the role and acknowledge that people were as valuable and important as machines, materials, and other resources required to meet an organization’s mission. In recent years, I sense that many feel that the resources part of the title has been emphasized over the human part.

While I personally like to see terms like ‘people’ and ‘talent’ in the new and evolving titles, what matters more to employees than what it’s called, is what it does. Is the function ensuring fairness in treatment, compensation, and the like? Is it promoting equity? Is it keeping them safe and secure? Is it facilitating meaningful work and enabling the growth and development that people crave? If the answer is ‘yes’, then those in this role will be called heroes regardless of formal titles.

QUESTION: You appeared on my blog in April 2021, in an inspiring Q&A about employee engagement and leadership. During our convo, you said, “The most effective leaders are the ones that enable excellence.” What are some ways that effective leaders accomplish this?

JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI: Enabling excellence isn’t a “one size fits all” exercise. Leaders who do this do it one person at a time, getting to know individual motivations, needs, talents, and aspirations. They can then create an environment uniquely suited to allowing individuals to shine.

Some practices that leaders may want to consider when putting together their custom cocktail include:
•    Setting a clear vision, laying out the big picture, and painting individuals into it.
•    Cultivating a culture of collaboration because, given the complexity of today’s workplace, excellence is rarely a solo endeavor.
•    Model authenticity, transparency, and respect.
•    Build and extend trust.
•    Listen hard and nurture generous feedback loops.
•    Engaging people in the decisions that affect them.
•    Offer the resources and support people need to thrive.

SHARE THIS: Enabling excellence isn’t a “one size fits all” exercise. ~@julie_wg #EmployeeExperience #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: During this challenging time of “quiet quitting” and the “great resignation,” what are some ways that leaders can support their employees who work from home?

JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI: During the covid pandemic, and since things have begun to return to normal, remote and hybrid work raised the stakes for leaders everywhere. And when we add the current dynamics around engagement and retention, it’s only elevated the importance of the manager’s role in organizational success.

The good news is that the practices required to capture the hearts and minds of employees haven’t changed. We just need to practice them with greater discipline, care, and intention.

We can support those who may be working remotely by:
•    Getting to know them on a human level – understanding their broader lives, priorities, and motivations.
•    Understanding how they’re really doing – monitoring for stress, burnout, and the need for greater support.
•    Appreciating that many people want and/or need a different relationship with work – and offering the flexibility, sense of purpose, or whatever else is required to make that relationship work.
•    Demonstrating appreciation – because without those organic opportunities in the office, ‘thank you’ may not be agendized the way it should.
•    Ensure humane workloads (and stress-loads) and the resources required to enable them.

QUESTION: During this challenging time of “quiet quitting” and the “great resignation,” what are some ways that leaders can provide feedback to their employees who work from home in a constructive and non-combative manner?

JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI: Offering the helpful information people need to remain aligned and on track (which is essentially what feedback is) has only become more vital in remote and hybrid workplaces. The lack of environmental cues and organic opportunities means that managers must apply the same skills and sensibilities they’ve developed working with co-located employees to those who work at a distance – but doing so even more proactively, frequently, and intentionally.

This means:
•    Initiating the conversation as promptly as possible after an event worthy of feedback.
•    Stating your positive intent for sharing the information.
•    Succinctly (in 60 seconds or less) offering specific observations and the impact of the employee’s behavior or performance.
•    Making it a dialogue by quickly engaging the employee with questions like, “How do you see it?” or “What was your experience of that?”
•    Collaborating on a plan as necessary and offering the support required for success.

It’s also important to remember that feedback doesn’t come in just one flavor. We tend to default to associating feedback with problems, issues, and performance shortfalls. But, if feedback is simply the information people need to remain aligned and on track, then generously calling out what’s going well and working for the employee is helpful – regardless of where people might be working.

SHARE THIS: Feedback doesn’t come in just one flavor. ~@julie_wg #EmployeeExperience #LeadershipTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: As you explain on Twitter, “For decades, promotions have been the default definition of career development, setting unattainable and unsustainable expectations for employees.” Can you please explain other ways to grow from your book #PromotionsAreSoYesterday?

JULIE WINKLE GIULIONI: Research I conducted for my latest book, Promotions Are So Yesterday, suggests that there are seven other development dimensions that offer more interesting ways for employees to grow than the classic climb up the corporate ladder.

They include:
•    Contribution: Making a difference, being of service, or aligning with purpose.
•    Competence: Building critical capabilities, skills, abilities, and expertise.
•    Connection: Cultivating relationships, deepening networks, elevating visibility.
•    Confidence: Enhancing confidence, certainty, and trust in one’s talents and abilities.
•    Challenge: Stretching beyond what’s known and comfortable.
•    Contentment: Finding satisfaction, ease, balance, and joy in one’s work.
•    Choice: Exercising control, autonomy, flexibility, and decision-making authority.

These seven dimensions offer leaders who are committed to ensuring that everyone grows the tools they need to facilitate meaningful development – even with those who have little interest in promotions. For instance, a new role is not required to introduce interesting and meaningful challenges into someone’s work life. People don’t need a different title to expand their network and learn from and through different people. A position change isn’t a prerequisite for changing up one’s work to offer greater value or contribution. Employees don’t have to go anywhere to experience the powerful learning that comes along with making greater or more complex decisions.

And the good news is that these seven dimensions – unlike promotions – are completely within a manager’s and employee’s control and offer development opportunities that are available right within their current role.

SHARE THIS: A new role is not required to introduce meaningful challenges into someone’s work life. ~@julie_wg #PromotionsAreSoYesterday #DebbieLaskeysBlog

My gratitude and appreciation to Julie for sharing her inspiring perspective about feedback and the employee experience.

Image Credit: Sheri Silver via Unsplash.

Check out the previous Q&A featuring Julie here on my Blog:
How Can Leaders Become Architects of Unbeatable Brands?
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/04/how-can-leaders-become-architects-of.html

Connect with Julie at these links:
Website: www.juliewinklegiulioni.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliewinklegiulioni
Twitter: @Julie_WG
Facebook: /JulieWinkleGiulioni.Author

The Intersection of Employer Branding, Workplace Culture, and Leadership

 

As a member of the Twitterverse for more than 13 years, I always enjoy meeting new people and learning from them. To quote Matthew Kobach (@mkobach), "Twitter is a key that unlocks thousands of doors, some of which you never even knew existed." Recently, I connected with Michael Kerr from Canada, and invited him to appear here on my Blog in a Q&A discussion about employer branding, workplace culture, and leadership. Highlights of our conversation follow a brief introduction.

Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame speaker who speaks on inspiring workplace cultures and businesses that leverage their humor resources to create outrageous results. He is the author of 8 books, including, “The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank,” “Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire,” and “The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace.”

QUESTION: The employee onboarding process starts the moment an open position is advertised and reflects the employer brand. How can C-Suite and other top leadership teams understand the importance of employer branding?

MICHAEL KERR: 90% of the job of getting your culture right is making sure you invest in your recruitment, hiring, and onboarding. Leadership teams need to embrace the idea that if you are truly looking for the best possible candidates for any position, then in theory, if they really are the best, they can work anywhere they choose!  

So, you need to champion your distinct cultural advantage and brand and sell the benefits of why employees should work with you. And by bringing your cultural norms to life on your website and everywhere you recruit candidates from, you can start the process of teaching your cultural values and norms before employees have even begun working for you.

Finally, leaders need to embrace the chicken and egg relationship when it comes to having a strong culture brand – you need to hire top talent to help you strengthen your brand, but having a strong brand also helps you become the hunted – in tight labor markets you do not need to sweat as much to find employees because employees will be tripping over themselves to come and work for you!
   
QUESTION: There are many new titles for the head of personnel, aka Human Resources, including: Chief Happiness Officer, Chief People Officer, Chief Talent Officer, Chief Encouragement Officer, to name a few.

One of our leadership/employee engagement/workforce culture colleagues, Marli Rusen from British Columbia, Canada, has said, “The title of Human Resources covers the myriad of responsibilities performed by the HR department. The other titles you mention are too limited in scope and fail to recognize the many roles and responsibilities assigned to those who work in this field. For me, what’s more important than the title is that employees and leaders clearly understand the mandate of the HR department in their organization.”

What are your thoughts to change the title to improve the position’s value to all employees?

MICHAEL KERR: I also know of a Human Resources Manager whose alternative job title is “The Queen of Fun and Laughter,” so yes, there are an increasing number of alternative job titles popping up.

I’ve never been a fan of the phrase “human resources.” I actually find it somewhat dehumanizing and impersonal, so jazzing up the titles to make them more fun or to help redefine what the actual role is, or can be, is a good thing. Words matter. Labels matter. So, how we define roles at work is important. The crux of this, though, is making sure that this isn’t merely gimmicky window dressing. Actions speak louder than words and talk is cheap, so if you change job titles but nothing else changes, or those new names don’t reflect the reality of what the label conveys, then you are going to do nothing more than raise the level of cynicism amongst your employees!

TWEET THIS: Words matter. Labels matter. So, how we define roles at work is important. ~@HumorAtWork #WorkplaceCulture #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: During this challenging time of “quiet quitting” and the “great resignation,” what are some ways that leaders can provide feedback to their employees who work from home in a constructive and non-combative manner?

MICHAEL KERR: I think offering feedback is essentially the same whether employees are working at home or in the office. With remote employees, however, leaders need to be far more intentional about how often and how they communicate and connect with their employees. Leaders need to understand as well, that there’s a difference between checking UP ON remote employees versus checking IN with remote employees (anyone with teenagers at home understands this important distinction).  

When it comes to giving constructive feedback, leaders need to be more aware than ever before about how different forms of communication might not work as effectively. One study found, for example, that 50% of email messages have a “tonal issue.” Half the time respondents aren’t sure how to interpret the tone of the sender. So, leaders need to be extra careful about how they phrase feedback via email or even over the phone, where the employee doesn’t have the benefit of reading body language clues. Ideally, reserve any feedback conversations with remote employees for video meetings, or, even better, for longer conversations, make it a priority to meet face-to-face whenever possible.  

QUESTION: Which three leaders, from history or business, inspire you, and why?

MICHAEL KERR: That’s a tough question, there are so many options to choose from, and most of the ones that come to mind are leaders I’ve interviewed over the years from around the world for my work. Here are three that aren’t going to be household names!

One that comes to mind is Bill Strickland, author of Make the Impossible Possible. I met him and heard him speak over 10 years ago, and his talk was one of the most powerful talks I’ve ever heard, where he described how he, as the principal, turned around a poor, inner city school in Pittsburgh. It’s such an inspiring story of how leaders with a powerful vision can inspire massive change.

Another leader that inspires me is Mike Easton, the President and CEO of Argus Industries. Easton embodies so much of what I speak about regarding workplace culture: treating employees with respect and dignity, valuing the family members of employees, and embracing a workplace culture that values fun. In fact, one of his mantras that I love is, “Work is hard enough as it is without making it any harder, so let’s have fun while we’re working hard to achieve our goals!”

And finally, I’d name Kim Axelson, CEO of AFA JCDecaux, who I had the pleasure of interviewing in Copenhagen, Denmark. Axelson was a leader who, well into his 60’s, rather than retiring, decided to revitalize his company with a re-imagined workplace culture that launched their business into a new level of success, again, by embracing fun and humanity in the workplace. He had a child-like enthusiasm when he spoke about his employees and clearly was having the time of his life leading a re-invigorated company.   

QUESTION: According to Chelsea Castle on Twitter, “The number one way you can be a great boss? It has nothing to do with being in charge. It’s being a great teammate.” What are your thoughts about this concept?

MICHAEL KERR: I agree…but with a caveat. We’ve heard the phrase “servant leader,” and I think most people understand the importance of adopting a service mindset as a leader – that the job of a leader is to serve their employees and create more leaders, not more followers.

The danger, I suppose, in distilling it down to being a “great teammate” is that leaders still have a responsibility to well, lead, to make tough decisions, and to hold employees accountable for their work. Those duties can become challenging if everyone considers you one of the gang.

The notion of a boss as being a great teammate makes me think of one of the world’s worst fictional bosses, Michael Scott from The Office, who so desperately wanted to be liked by his employees that it constantly got in the way of his ability to lead them.

Now, I do agree with the notion that being a great leader has nothing to do with being in charge. There is a difference between being “the boss” and being a true leader. Your position as a boss or manager comes with your job title – it’s your business card label. But true leadership has nothing to do with your job title or what’s on your business card – true leadership is earned. It’s about your character and who you are as a person, not what’s written on your business card.

TWEET THIS: True leadership has nothing to do with your job title or what’s on your business card – true leadership is earned. ~@HumorAtWork #DebbieLaskeysBlog

My thanks to Michael for sharing his workplace and leadership insights and for appearing here on my Blog.

Image Credit: Eugene Golovesov via Unsplash.

Connect with Michael at these links:
Website: www.MikeKerr.com
Inspiring Workplaces YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UCeaRB1AE5C_RWBjK87wwRYg  
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkerr3
Twitter: @HumorAtWork
Facebook: /HumorAtWork