Retain and engage your team with mindful stay interviews

Retain and engage yur team with mindful stay interviewsRetain and engage your team with mindful stay interviewsWe all have conducted behavioral interviews to uncover the mindsets, values, self-awareness and coping skills of prospective hires. We use questions such as, Tell me why you want to work here? or There is no rule book for navigating an organization to connect with people inside and out. Tell me about a time when you did that? But why do we stop asking questions that help our teams think through their personal strategy?EngagementMost leaders want to have a conversation with their direct reports about engagement and fruchtwein employees welcome it. The truth is most managers dont know where to begin. Engagement is a 50/50 proposition with the organization unlocking the door and the employee stepping inside. We cant push them through the door. But we can create an environment that invites them in with purpose, freedom, the responsibility that comes with freedom and the fulfillm ent that results in being their best.ManagementMarcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their classic book First Break All the Rules show that the managers role as a catalyst is to 1) select the person, 2) set expectations, 3) motivate and 4) develop. If you cant do all four of these well their Gallop research shows that you will never excel as a manger. Companies spend a small fortune evaluating employee engagement via surveys, culture initiatives, workplace wellness, and more. Basically, as a leader if your employees can answer yes to their six closed ended questions, chances are you have the beginnings of engagement.Do I know what is expected of me at work?Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing a good job?Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?Is there someone at work who encourages my d evelopment?But this baseline is not enough to build high performance. Research shows that people need to hear six specific compliments before they will register one negative comment as helpful and not personal criticism. Knowing that, how do we mindfully remember to continually give specific accolades about the small wins of our employees when often we, as leaders, dont need or get positive reinforcement for high achievement. Great job doesnt cut it. What I see in my coaching practice is that while most Jedi executives dont need positive feedback to strive, they do find negative criticism difficult to take. The message they hear is Im not good enough. Guess what? Your employees hear that too.Your connection to your employees is your lifeline to your success as a manager and the success of your organization. Be human. You need not be perfect. Allow employees to be imperfect so they feel safe to disclose mistakes. Process improvement will grow instead of failed outcomes. Healthy tensi on is a good thing. Beth Comstock, first chairwoman of GE told The New York Times that she asks her team,Tell me one thing I dont want to hear. Its OK to give me some bad news. In fact, I want it.Stay-interview, open-ended questionsThese questions demonstrate to employees that you care about their development, recognize their talent, and want to position them for successWhat about your job gets you out of bed in the morning?Where is our organization letting you down? Lifting you up? What needs to change?If you won the lottery tomorrow and left your job, what would you miss most?Where am I letting you down as a boss? Helping you? What needs to change?Do you feel you belong here? Why/Why not?Where do you see yourself making the greatest difference? Where would you like to?What talents do you have that we are not fully using?What keeps you here? What might entice you away?Where do you feel you are growing/stagnant in your role?If you could work on one thing that you loved what would th at be?The goal is for employees to have ownership of high impact work. Listen to them. Take Cant off the table. Engagement will follow.MaryLeeGannon, ACC, CAEis an executive coach and corporate CEO who helps busy leaders get off the treadmill to nowhere to be more effective, earn more, bemore calm and enjoyconnected relationships with the people who matter while it still matters.Watch her FREE Master Class training on Three Things to Transform Your Life and Career Right Now atwww.MaryLeeGannon.com.

5 Common Email Issues and How to Solve Them

5 Common Email Issues and How to Solve Them5 Common Email Issues and How to Solve ThemFrom the CEO to the entry-level new hire, we all struggle to manage our inbox - and our schmelzglas issues appear to be only getting worse.According to one study, we already send and receive 121 business schmelzglass every day on average, a number set to rise to 140 by 2018. Thats a lot to read - and leaves plenty of room for miscommunication.Tone, nuance and intent can be hard to convey over email. Perhaps thats why companies report an increase in workplace etiquette breaches. What defines appropriate behavior in the digital age is evolving, but good manners will always be in fashion.Here are five of the most common email issues and ways to deal with them to become a better communicator1. The silent treatmentYour boss still hasnt responded to that perfectly crafted elende you sent three days ago. What do you do? First, stop stewing about it. Your next move will vary depending on how urgently you need a response. Can you move the project ahead or come up with a solution on your own? If not, send a polite second email Wondered if youve had time to consider my request regarding Sometimes the boss has so many emails that yours may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Or perhaps pick up the phone or knock on the door.2. The one-worderThe volume of our email may be rising, but the length of responses is undoubtedly shrinking. Mobile devices are making our digital communications shorter and less precise. If a cryptic one-word response just isnt enough, dont be annoyed. The sender was probably tapping away between or during meetings. Again, pick up the phone and go straight to the source.Learn from these five tips if you think business writing is not your forte. 3. The too-big-to-send fileDont assume your correspondent can receive a big attachment. Send a preliminary note to check that it will get through on their system before you attach it. If not, services like Dropbox let you share large files through their servers. (Be sure to check your internal policies on this before uploading anything confidential.)4. The off-topic offenderA back-and-forth exchange over days or weeks can mean the topic drifts from the one originally specified in the subject line. This can create email issues if you are corresponding with more than one person. If the discussion has moved on, make it clear what matter is on the table by changing the subject line to summarize it.5. The impersonal touchEveryone has a personal style. Some people appreciate a warmer tone, which often translates to more conversational written style. Others prefer that you get straight to the point. With some, attempts at humor can fall flat or get misinterpreted. Pay attention to the styles of others and adapt yours if necessary. Also, no matter what your opinion on using reply all, remember many do not appreciate being copied unless its absolutely necessary.Beyond email issues that crop up in correspondence, a general one we all face is inbox fatigue. One final piece of advice If possible, when you go on vacation, let yourself be out of the office, even electronically. platzdeckchen up your out-of-office message with alternative contacts who can respond on your behalf while youre out.Dont want to miss our hot-off-the-press career insights? Subscribe to our newsletterWhen you subscribe to the Robert Half newsletter, youll get articles and resources to help you build and manage a winning accounting and finance team - all sent directly to your inbox. Click the button below to sign up todaySUBSCRIBE NOW

U.S. Military Base Profiles

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