“They [business schools] rarely allow room for students to
develop intra-personal skills, or the skills that come from being a self-aware
person.” – Elad Levinson, Senior Organization Effectiveness Consultant
I read the above statement in Mr. Levinson’s blog titled “Training
is a Necessity, Not a Luxury.” As an
advanced facilitator who owns a professional development consulting business, I
of course was intrigued with much of what Mr. Levinson wrote. Granted he was also selling his program, but the
content of his blog is very much in line with what I experience in marketing my
program – organizations have a difficult time understanding the importance of
developing their employees through training, especially as it impacts their
bottom line.
I am passionate about helping people realize their potential. My work is not just a job – it’s filled with
purpose and it is tremendously rewarding to watch my clients gain insights
about themselves that help them to be better leaders, team members, family
members, etc…. The challenge is getting
potential clients to see how their misconception of the importance of training
and coaching employees is having a detrimental effect on their
organizations. Over and over managers
can be heard using the following descriptions of their staff: “lazy,
unmotivated, unskilled, unwilling, disengaged….” the list could go on and
on. While it’s true that there is a
percentage of employees who honestly do deserve those kinds of descriptions, I
would offer a different perspective for managers to think about in how they
interact with their employees.
In my equine assisted action learning workshops, I hear many
of the same descriptions noted above when clients are interacting with the
horses. What I know about horses (after
30 years of working with them) is that they react to what is communicated (or
not communicated) to them - both verbally and non-verbally. And how we
communicate with them is highly dependent on how we interpret their behavior. If we interpret the horse’s reluctance to do
something as being stubborn or lazy, then our reaction to them will be
reflected as such. How do we generally
react to someone who we interpret is being stubborn or lazy? Usually with some
kind of strong pressure, with the intention of making that person do what we want.
And when they don’t do what we want, we decide it is they who are the problem. This reaction
rarely is successful with horses or people (when they are given the choice of
whether to engage or not). What if, just
for a moment, we consider that what we perceive to be stubborn or lazy is
actually protection or calm assertiveness?
Is it possible that someone’s “stubbornness” or “laziness” is actually
their way of communicating that we aren’t being clear in what we want? If we changed our perception of a behavior to
reflect the latter, how might that change our interaction with the employee?
The only way for managers to gain a thorough understanding
of how to see situations differently is through training that helps them gain
awareness of themselves and how they interpret the behaviors of others. If organizations want to reduce turnover,
especially with non-management staff, then they need to invest in training
their managers to develop the skills needed to realize that employees who are
reluctant to complete a task, may not be stubborn, lazy, unwilling, etc…. They
may need to be communicated to more clearly and coached on how to complete the
task.
Communication is a key component in successfully leading and
managing team members. And learning to
coach employees through effective communication is a skill that is critical in
today’s work environment. Are you
investing in your managers? If not, you
may be affecting your bottom line and impeding the ability of your organization
to stay competitive.
Wager’s Way is offering a full day workshop on “Coaching
Employees to Maximize Engagement,” July 17, 2015. For more information, visit our website at www.wagersway or e-mail me at
ginny@wagersway.com.
