Get to Know Your People Personally
This comes from Michelle Peluso, CEO of Travelocity. She says, “If you treat your employees as unique individuals, they’ll be loyal to you and they’ll perform—and your business will perform, too.”
–— Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Like father like daughter
Her father is one of her guiding examples: He knew his employees and what was happening in their lives… “Sally’s gotten accepted into an MBA program,” he’d say excitedly, “and we’re going to figure out how she can do that part-time.” Or… “John’s wife just had a baby girl! We’re going over this weekend to see her.”
How does Michelle apply this principle as a CEO?
“At a 5,000-person global organization, I simply can’t know everyone personally. But I can apply my dad’s techniques in a scaled-up way that lets me know as many people as possible—that encourages managers to do the same, and that makes our employees generally feel that this is a place where someone’s looking out for them. I often visit our different offices; I hold brown-bag lunches every week; I regularly e-mail the whole staff about what’s going well and what needs to improve; I hold quarterly talent management sessions with my direct reports; and I constantly walk the halls. When anyone at Travelocity e-mails me, I respond within 24 hours. I read every single word of our annual employee survey results and of my managers’ 360-degree performance feedback—and I rate those managers in large part on how well they know and lead their own people.”
Up Close and Personal
One of my favorite leaders, David Payne, applied this principle to his management of a failing factory (losing over three million dollars a year when he took over). Under his leadership, the factory not only became a profit center for his company, it eventually became the leading profit center of his company! A key element of his successful leadership was his ability to make personal connections with his workers.
David used MBWA* time to interact daily with his factory employees and learn what was happening with them personally. He discovered important milestones in his workers’ lives (e.g. a new baby; a community action award; educational achievements). This gave him the opportunity to affirm and encourage his people—which sent the message to them: You are unique! You are important! You matter to me! I CARE!
*Managing By Wandering Around
Do you hire for this ability? Maybe you should!
Don’t ever underestimate the power of personal connection! One top executive I know won’t hire a candidate for executive responsibilities without taking them to lunch or dinner. Why? She wants to see how the candidate treats the restaurant staff! She wants to be sure that every executive on her team will treat every employee with respect, no matter where or how that employee serves in the organization.
How do you reinforce a personal connection with your people? It can be as simple as a birthday greeting in the hallway, or a hand-written note of acknowledgement, or even the mention of a milestone in a team meeting accompanied by appropriate words of congratulations.
Start small; start simple
This is easier to do than you might think. Start with your own subordinates. Use formal and informal settings to encourage the sharing of information. For example…your regular team meetings can incorporate an “ice-breaker” style check-in time. Start the sharing process with simple questions like:
- Does anyone have any personal news to share?
- What’s the latest news on the family front?
- Does anyone have anything positive to report?
- Is anyone facing any challenges and could use a little support or encouragement?
In addition to formal team meetings…informal moments like lunchtime chats or MBWA offer the opportunity to ask the same questions on a one-and-one basis. KEEP IN MIND: You’re not conducting interrogations to reveal deeply personal issues! You’re just checking in to get the latest news.
Team up with your leadership staff (and your own Boss!) to make this even more widespread!
If you serve on a higher leadership level (remember CEO Michelle Peluso?) ask your management team to help you with this. Tell them, “Let me know if you run into any information about your team members that I can affirm or encourage. I’d like to reach out with a personal note or even a simple word or two in person.”
HERE’S THE TRUTH: One of the best things a manager can do for their team (and for themselves!) is to engage their Boss in providing their team members with simple expressions of recognition and congratulations for their good work and success. Many studies have shown that a simple act like that (whether verbal or written) can have a measurable positive impact on employee morale, engagement, and productivity!
If you want to become a leader who makes a powerful emotional connection with people, we can help! Even if you don’t think of yourself as a “people person,” coaching sessions over the phone can equip you with strategic “people skills ” that will enable you to build rapport, loyalty, respect, and undying support–with your team, colleagues, and boss. Give us a call today! And stay tuned to this blog—we promise to keep supplying you with practical help to improve your leadership impact!
Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!
