David J Paul Project Management Professional, Management Professor, Author and Small Business Manager
During our 10-year research program into individual Caring Items, it became clear that 15 of the original 33 Caring items were consistently more ‘productive’ than others in improving engagement. To help you improve high mutual Regard at work, we identified those Caring Items and our research team documented each caring items’ industry “best practices”.
C1. I feel encouraged and supported–REGARD
C2. At work I am productive–RESPECT
C3. I am given increased responsibility–REWARD
C4. My thoughts and opinions are valued–REGARD
C5. I feel important–RESPECT
C6. I feel a high degree of personal interest or connection–REGARD
C7. I am professionally acknowledged-REWARD
C8. I receive professional growth opportunities–REGARD
C9. Generally, I am listened to–RESPECT
C10. I am complimented–REWARD
C11. I am allowed to lead–REGARD
C12. I often have an opportunity to input into decision-making–RESPECT
C13. I am often given opportunities to do my best–REGARD
C14. People trust me–RESPECT
C15. I am praised at work—REWARD
The following list describes two of the (sometimes many) best practices available for each of the first top ten caring items, C1 through C10, of the list above. You can find more caring items and more caring recommendations in the book.
C1. I feel encouraged and supported (REGARD):
“Effective leaders display positive attitudes about their employees and the work that they produce; and ensure that their employees feel they are appreciated and valued for the work that they produce for their organization.” (D.P. Noe).
1. Promote innovative thinking—ask for ‘out of the box’ suggestions about how to improve work processes and outcomes. Maybe put together a process improvement team.
2. Provide benefits and programs for employees—Remember that “abundant life” program that was instituted during the period of downsizing?
C2. At work, I am productive (RESPECT):
“Every company and every job has a number of once meaningful but now worthless tasks. Think about all the ‘that’s how we’ve always done things’ stuff. If a task doesn’t directly impact sales, quality, productivity, or safety, get rid of it and free up that tie. Get rid of the stupid stuff and every employee gets more time to be a superstar.” (Jeff Haden)
1. Flexibility in job roles—Some people enjoy being that “utility infielder”, or the person who can play a number of positions.
2. Cross-training for employees to perform a number of jobs (Griffin, Ricky. Management: Principles and Practices. 2013)– See if your employees want to focus on a single task to be productive or whether they want cross-training for a number of tasks.
C3. I am given increased responsibility (REWARD):
“There are many things to evaluate before delegating duties. Consider your employees’ skill level, motivation, and dependability. Remember, not every employee is created equal. Certain people will be more efficient than others depending upon the facet in which they thrive. At the same time, try not to typecast your employees. Give them opportunities to broaden their horizons and become more valuable to the team.” (Karen Schweitzer)
1. Growth opportunities can strengthen skills for motivated individuals. One of my team members said, “I want to become the best possible System Engineer”, so we made sure he got to participate in the International Council on System Engieering. Honor your employees’ aspirations.
2. Increase individuals’ control over their own work (Honold, 1997). Make sure you honor the significance of their work as well. One scientist proposed advanced data compression techniques for our satellite. We kept that open as an option throughout the contract even though the customer was not paying for it at first. Later on, they loved it.
C4. My thoughts and opinions are valued (REGARD):
“Praise your staff regularly for company accomplishments. Let them know that their initiative, hard work and loyalty comprise the cornerstone of the company’s success. Maintain an open-door policy to encourage feedback on how you can make things better.” (Christina Hamlett)
1. Policies for listening to employees. Do you have any policies whether written or unwritten that require managers to listen, respect, and regard employees and their opinions? If not, you should take it upon yourself to make it a personal goal.
2. Positive feedback-Keeping feedback positive, encouraging, and uplifting engages and encourages the heart and is one of the important Leadership qualities.
C5. I feel important (RESPECT):
“Involve employees in decision-making and planning. While most of the important decisions will, by necessity, be made by senior management, there’s no reason that employees cannot be consulted for their opinions first. This is especially important for decisions that directly relate to employees’ jobs; there’s nothing more disempowering than decisions that affect your life being made seemingly anonymously.” (Justin Schamotta)
1. Public thanks or gratitude from company to employees. Either individually or as a team, being honored for a significant achievement imparts the feeling of importance.
2. Celebrating individual and team successes. Bring food—good food. Food always encourages an element of ‘togetherness’ and makes people feel important.
C6. I feel a high degree of personal interest or connection (REGARD):
“Good managers watch their employees to see what they do best. They talk to their employees about what brings them the most joy at work, and then they seek out ways to leverage the employee’s talents.” (Bill Bryan)
1. Team-building activities—especially out and away from work. Getting people involved with their team and focusing on teamwork, away from work, is motivating and encouraging.
2. Communication with employees about personal matters; getting to know the employee. Focus on what is important to them. Remember the powerful question, “What can we do at work to help make your LIFE better?”
C7. I am professionally acknowledged (REWARD):
“Know what your employees are working on so that you can acknowledge what they are doing. Too often, especially in larger businesses, the head of the business doesn’t know what employees are working on and relies on their managers to acknowledge employees’ hard work. That’s great—and they should do that certainly as the direct supervisor—but imagine how the employee feels when the “big boss” knows what they are doing and offers praise for their work!” (Gina Abudi)
1. Establish perks and benefits—Help people become engaged in their professional associations and send them to seminars to establish connections.
2. Provide employee feedback—Talk to people about their strengths and if they need to improve in specific areas, identify those areas as ‘needs improvement’, not as a disaster.
C8. I receive professional growth opportunities (REGARD):
“New projects or responsibilities—give employees the chance to take the initiative to develop their own opportunities. Allow them to “break things” and learn from those mistakes. It provides a great opportunity for learning, innovation and professional growth.” (Allison Barrett)
1. Learning and further training opportunities. Most responses indicate that learning and growth are powerful ‘caring’ elements that produce strong engagement.
Education or Fee Reimbursement programs. What better way to help learning and growth than to send your people, free, to the local college for additional training and development?
C9. Generally, I am listened to (RESPECT):
“Your employees may possibly understand their duties better than you. Listen to the ideas your employees bring to you to make their jobs easier. Credit the employee who presents an idea you chose to incorporate. Publicly and privately acknowledging the employee increases employee morale.” (Rose Johnson)
1. Regulations in the workplace to heed employees’ input. Similar to helping employees feel cared for through thoughts and opinions valued, this emphasizes the importance of listening. Do you have policies for listening?
Provide training sessions for employees and managers, especially focused on listening. Some of the most important training these days applies information theory to the science of listening. Take advantage of the offerings.
C10. I am complimented (REWARD):
“Before giving your employee a compliment, observe his progress for about a week and each day write down honest evaluations of that person’s performances. Then, compliment the employee based on these observations to ensure that your compliments are not insincere.” (Thea Theresa)
1. Be Positive or constructive. Don’t make the person wait for the “But”, as in, you did a good job here, BUT (over there not so good).
2. Public praise. Best kind of praise
The Cameron Group, Inc. 