What is trust, and why is it important in the workplace?

Trust (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) is the “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.” However, the definition of trust also needs to include the expectation of “ethically justifiable behavior” – that the person is trusted to do the right thing. But trust isn’t just a nice thing to have in a team or working relationship, it is central to effective organizational performance.

Trust is often referred to as the foundation of what the rest of the team interactions are built on. It defines relationships between individuals and groups and is the cement that binds people together. Over the last two decades, organizations have been flattening their structures to remove unnecessary layers of management, developing team-working and empowering employees to take responsibility for their own performance. In doing this they have relied more and more on their social capital, moving from a rule-bound, authoritarian organization to one based on the commitment of employees to each other and the organization.

So what happens when trust breaks down? Teams low on trust tend to fall apart whenever there is a challenge or difficulty. Members are unwilling to freely and candidly share their views or even information. Offline, they tend to dismiss other teammate's competence or the value of the team. Even when there is apparent agreement in the room, the outcomes are dismissed, gossiped about, and not acted upon by the membership. This leads to a myriad of other dysfunctions within the team such as forming of cliques and factions, and no camaraderie. A low trust team is also ineffective in conducting meetings and struggles to go beyond discussing issues to deciding actions. And it doesn’t stop there. Low trust teams respond poorly to change, won’t take innovative risks, avoid debating important issues, avoid any form of conflict, treat communication as a low priority and don’t share a common vision and lack alignment on the team’s mission.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Creating a high trust organization is the challenge faced by all leaders. Trust doesn’t just happen overnight, it requires an inter-related set of policies, such as promoting a relationship orientated culture, creating opportunities to meet informally and a day-to-day management of workplace competencies.  On the other hand, inconsistent messages, inconsistent standards, not guarding the backs of your teammates, a failure to trust others, elephants in the room (some dramatic action that no one will discuss), rumors from the grapevine and consistent corporate underperformance all serve to reduce trust.

So how do you measure trust in your team and take action?

It is easy to ask people “Do you trust your manager?” but this is not a very reliable indicator of trust. Partly, this is due to the effect of personality on trust and partly due to people’s different definitions of trust.

We measure trust along with six other dimensions of an effective team through an anonymous, online assessment that asks people to rank their team’s effectiveness. This becomes measurable and is based on observed behaviors. For example, one question asks, “Rank your team on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being low effectiveness, 5 being high effectiveness) on how effective it is in being open and honest with one another without fear of creating unwanted difficulties.” As mentioned previously, we also measure other areas including:

• Team Alignment

• Communication Effectiveness

• Conflict Management

• Innovation

• Team Process

• Team Orientation.

The gathering of this important information gives leadership insight into specific areas that may be having a negative effect on team performance. After measuring the critical dimensions of a high-performing team, the survey is intended to provide teams with a snapshot of how the collective members perceive the team to be performing along these dimensions. Although the discrete scores for each dimension can be telling, what is more important is taking collective and deliberate action to improve and enhance those dimensions called out through the scores. After working to improve the team’s interactions, the Team Performance Survey should be used to measure progress.

A high trust team is critical to productivity, performance and effectiveness within an organization. Teams high on trust are flexible and resilient in the face of controversy and challenge because the members support each other and openly share their ideas, concerns, and beliefs in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the team. They know each other's capabilities and count on each other to deliver. Agreements in the room are genuine and openly supported and acted upon by the team members.

Is this the kind of team you want?

If so, take the first step and request a Team Performance Survey today from The Vantage Group. Contact us today at info@vantagegroupinc.com or call us at 616-676-3330 to find out more.

Tough Love At Work

If you're a leader in a company, how do you motivate your team? Some companies give endless praise, and awards for every insignificant accomplishment. This may not be the recipe for a productive and motivated workforce. Finding an effective way to motivate people and create a culture that values excellence may be as simple as what I discovered being a Scoutmaster for a struggling Boy Scout Troop.

Our troop needed discipline, standards to follow, and goals to reach to help the scouts go from being an undisciplined troop to a great troop. The scouts were frustrated, they weren't getting advancements, and the troop meetings were chaotic. When I became Scoutmaster, there were some things I discovered helping the boys achieve excellence:

Don't give empty praise.

While learning things like tying knots, care of uniforms, keeping tents tidy and orderly, I wasn't quick to praise and allowed other boys in the troop to give feedback on performance. When it came to the general responsibilities required of every scout, there was not an overabundance of praise, but a reminder of how they were getting closer to the goals. Constructive feedback was important, even though it was sometimes difficult for a young man to receive. But if you want a high performance culture, expertise can only result from constructive feedback. 

Set clear goals with high expectations.

As a leader, you need to set a high standard. In our troop, safety was drilled, practicing setting up tents and packing them properly was drilled. We sometimes made a game of it and had the patrols compete against each other. We even did some creative drills in complete darkness to learn how to set up a tent on a dark night. We would keep doing this until the technique was perfected.

Even assembling at the beginning of a troop meeting needed some discipline with getting patrols to line up in an orderly fashion with each patrol leader learning to inspect his patrol for uniform code and how well they lined up for assembly. It eventually became a matter of pride to have a patrol that knew the drills and had their uniforms worn properly. The standards that were set in our troop were uncompromising and built upon previous skills learned. 

If your employees are not doing quality work, you need to be honest while giving feedback. When setting goals, be as clear as you can. If a sale or a meeting goes poorly, you need to ask your employees what went wrong, how they will prepare for next time, and how they will improve. You need to "articulate intermediate goals" and encourage employees to stretch their abilities.

We can learn from failure.

Failure doesn't mean defeat. One of the most difficult things parents in the troop had to learn was letting the boys fail. One time the boys didn't prepare adequately for a weekend campout. They didn't have very much food. Even though they didn't starve, they were wishing they had more food as they smelled the bacon and eggs cooking in the Scoutmaster's and the other adult's cook pots. One of the dads wanted to go to the store and get some more food to bail out the boys. However, I stopped him and told him they wouldn't starve, but they needed to learn from their mistake. The boys never forgot that, and they did a better job preparing for campouts in the future. In fact, they got so good at cooking, that they did an annual Dutch Oven cook off contest to compete to see which patrol had the best recipes. I ate well at those contests! 

It's never wise to punish employees for failure, but rather teach them how to get up and motivate themselves to try again. The scouts, and their parents, learned that failure was part of the process to becoming a great troop—not an end point. It was an opportunity to learn how to improve the next time. I also gave the boys responsibility to find correct solutions and implement self-discipline. My job was simply to guide them. 

Say thank you.

The last piece of creating a great troop was showing gratitude. In our busy lives, being thankful can be the first thing we forget to do. Being tough is not enough, thanking boys and their leaders for being great examples was very important. Make sure to say "thank you" when your employees do great work, push themselves, and help make your job easier.

The results.

At a campout with other troops, I overheard a scout from another troop ask a scout from our troop who his Scoutmaster was. When he told him, the other scout exclaimed, "I hear he's a tough scoutmaster, and not a lot of fun!" 

The scout from our troop responded, "You're mistaking toughness for not being fun. Mr. Crawford is tough, but we have a great troop, and I love being here. Besides, he is a lot of fun in the way he teaches us."

That warmed my heart. 

Our troop grew from nine scouts to over fifty in a four-year period and became known as the top troop in our region. Additionally, District Superintendents brought other Scoutmasters to our troop meetings to show them how a troop should be run. They came expecting to see a Scoutmaster barking orders and cracking the whip. What they saw instead was a 14 year old boy leading a troop of 50 boys in a meeting, assigning responsibilities, patrols planning campouts and scouts confronting each other when a boy didn't adhere to the troop's high standards. They were an award-winning troop not because of empty praise, but because of tough love. My job was easy, I just needed to guide them to the troop they desired. To be in Troop 311 meant you were at the top of scouting.

Does your company need help in achieving its goals? We are here to help. Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve your goals and become a top performer.

How is Technology Effecting Emotional Intelligence?

In 2012, the average number of corporate emails sent and received per person per day was 110¹, with over 90% of those emails being legitimate communications. That’s over 2,000 emails every month. Add to that a whopping 9,000² text messages being sent and received each month by adults in the US, and you’ve got to wonder how these thousands of electronic messages are affecting our emotional intelligence.

But wait — the advent of communication tools such as smartphones, tablets and instant messaging was supposed to make it easier for us to connect, share and communicate, right? Yes, perhaps it’s easier for us, but unfortunately e-communications such as text messaging, instant messaging and even email have contributed to a decline in the quality of communication in the workplace.

The dimensions measured in an emotional intelligence assessment include Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills — all of which are important for improving communication. In the case of the EQ assessment Vantage offers, well-developed Social Skills refer to a proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. Some of the specific skills that fall under Social Skills proficiency include the following:

• Wielding effective tactics for persuasion
• Listening openly and sending convincing messages
• Negotiating and dissolving disagreements
• Inspiring and guiding individuals and groups
• Initiating or managing change
• Nurturing instrumental relationships for building bonds
• Working with others toward shared goals
• Creating group synergy in pursuing collective goals

Is it possible for our workforce to develop these skills in such e-heavy environments? Digital communication in the workplace isn’t going anywhere, so we must work to maintain and develop our EQ. Emotional Intelligence workshops can help teams better understand themselves and their co-workers. Leaders who make a point to pick up the phone or walk into a colleague’s office will set an example for staff to limit digital messaging to simple, non-emotional issues. A simple awareness that our emotional intelligence is affected by our reliance on digital communication is a first step in improving the 21st century workplace.

To learn more about how Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assessment and training can affect the workplace, contact the Vantage Group for more information at 616-676-3330 or email us at info@vantagegroupinc.com.

¹The Radicati Group, Inc.
²Experion

Skills Telecommuters need for their 21st Century Work Environment

Today about one in five workers around the globe telecommutes frequently, and nearly 10% work from home every day (Ipsos/Reuters). Most telecommuter employees will say that their ability to telecommute provides them with greater job satisfaction, improves their work-life balance and reduces their expenses. According to Mobile Work Exchange, nearly three out of four employees reported increased productivity while teleworking. Meanwhile, two out of three will give preference to positions that offer telework and 16% will not even consider jobs without telework.  

But it’s not just employees who are reaping the benefits of telecommuting. Organizations that foster telecommuting workplaces are seeing increases in productivity and reduction in real estate costs, as well as reduced absenteeism and turnover. Global Workplace Analytics projects that United States businesses alone could save over $500 billion a year, which equates to roughly $11,000 per employee per year, and additional savings could come from utilities, janitorial services, security, maintenance, paper goods, coffee and water service, leased parking spaces, transit subsidies, ADA compliance, environmental penalties, equipment, furniture, and office supplies.

Yes, there are potentially huge cost savings for businesses and improved morale for staff, not to mention the thousands of tons of pollutants spared, but before managers start approving telecommuting requests from staff, it’s important to consider some of the competencies, or soft skills, that might be required for a 21^st century career perk like telecommuting:

• Self-Management. Does the employee demonstrate self-control and an ability to manage time and priorities?
• Planning and Organizing. Does the employee utilize logical, systematic and orderly procedures to meet objectives, regardless of the environment?
• Interpersonal Skills. Can the employee effectively communicate, build rapport and relate well to all kinds of people in a variety of settings?

Thinking about some of the competencies you might want a potential telecommuter to have, how does this impact your decision to hire? What if even before hiring your next employee, you could understand which competencies he or she has well developed, and which competencies require further development throughout his or her career? Our job benchmarking process effectively matches the right candidate to the right job, however unique the job’s circumstances might be.

To learn more about implementing job benchmarking in your company, call 616-676-3330, or email us at info@vantagegroupinc.com

Understanding Email Dos and Don’ts with DISC

Consider the ways you communicate for business in the 21^st century. In all likelihood, you meet with people directly; you call them on the phone; you email and instant message them from your computer, smart phone or tablet; and you’re probably also using social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter. We now have more ways than ever before to communicate with our networks, and we have the capacity to communicate clearly and effectively, or to be misunderstood.

The Huffington Post publisheda comical, yet relevant, article featuring the six ways you can offend, anger and annoy your coworkers via email. Not surprisingly to those of us who study behavioral science, the number one and number two offenders were “sending a novel” and “sending a two-word email.” Think about the last few emails you’ve sent in the workplace. Had you ever considered that your lengthy message discussing your position on a current issue might be better received as a face-to-face communication where multiple parties can give and take? While you may feel your robust, yet professional, communication is effectively defining your opinion, what kind of conversation might you be encouraging or discouraging? Whether the communication is occurring between team members or between employee and supervisor, there is the opportunity for you as the writer to come across as overly opinionated, controlling and even self-promoting.

The two-word emails, however, can perhaps cause more unnecessary stress on an employee-supervisor relationship, particularly if the employee is on the receiving end of a brief response.  Picture a new employee spending a number of hours on a project, and her proposal comes back from her supervisor via email with two words: “It’s fine.” From the supervisor’s perspective, that’s all that needs to be said. The work is good, and there’s much in his division that needs to be done. The supervisor is happy with the proposal and wants his employee to get going on the project, not realizing that his abrupt response of “it’s fine” may cause his employee unnecessary stress. “Is it just fine? Do I need to improve it? Is my work meeting his expectations?” — These are just some of the concerns that can easily sprout from a simple, two word email, particularly if the employee prefers more in-depth responses.

There are very few businesses today not using email to communicate internally, so if you manage others, what can you do to ensure yourteam is communicating effectively with each other? While the Huffington Post article pointed out a few of the more common e-communication culprits, there’s so much we can learn about our own communication style (and the styles of our employees) that will help us be more effective in the workplace.

The study of Behaviors (DISC) can quickly and easily provide teams with an avenue to make intentional adaptations in communicating with others in the workplace. If you’re interested in understanding how behavioral styles impact workplace communications, start by taking a DISC assessment: http://vantagegroupinc.com/contactform.html

Hiring (not Firing) for Soft Skills

When you’re in the process of reviewing potential candidates, it’s easy to fall prey to common biases, especially when you rely on resumes and interviews. According to a study by Michigan State University, employment interviews are only 14% accurate, and yet 90% of all hiring decisions are made from interviews.  So how do you select the best candidate to serve your company and ensure tangible results that elevate your brand and mission as an organization?

Some of the most commonly overlooked factors in the hiring process are a candidate’s competencies, or soft skills. For many jobs, soft skills are as important as technical skills in producing superior performance. In fact, soft skills are often transferable to different jobs, whereas technical skills are usually more specific.

Let’s say a candidate you’re considering has been using your CRM system for most of her career. In the short term, you may be confident that she understands the functionality of the system. Perhaps even she’s developed mastery of the system. She can run a query, invoice a customer and import/export data. However, do you know if she has developed personal accountability, a measure of the capacity to be answerable for personal actions? Does her problem solving ability require further development as she anticipates, analyzes, diagnoses and resolves problems? What about her flexibility? How agile will she be in adapting to change if the company were to switch CRM systems, and does she posses the initiative in learning and implementing new technologies that comes from having the well developed skill of continuous learning?

By identifying the soft skills that will make a person excel in a specific position within your company, you will help ensure proper job fit. Your employee will shine, and when she shines, that resonates throughout the organization, and your customers will see it too.

To read more about our selection process click here: http://vantagegroupinc.com/toptalent.html

Does Your Training And Development Plan Produce Tangible Results in Your On-Boarding?

If you’ve ever wasted a day sitting through a completely unnecessary training, especially one you easily could have taught, you’ll likely agree that great employee development is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Time and money are wasted when training isn’t personalized to each individual’s verified needs, causing more individuals to tune out or become frustrated. Sophisticated talent management systems offer development options that address the distinct needs of each individual; therefore, personalized training and development plans can be made to meet that person’s specific needs. When employees are in the wrong positions, or are lacking key skills necessary to succeed within the company, the affect on the company’s bottom line can be catastrophic.

One of our DISC-certified consultants was hired to help a company that had experienced three consecutive years of poor performance. In one year alone, the company’s losses totaled $2 million, and the company’s lender had given them 18 months to reverse the trend. Under these extremely volatile circumstances, the consultant had a keen action plan to realize significant change:

•   The turnaround process began with job benchmarking. All employees needed to be in a job based on fit, not emotion. Benchmarking positions created a foundation for superior performance, and if the employee or candidate didn’t align with the benchmark, it wasn’t a good hire for the company.

•   Two new sales people were hired using the job benchmarking technique, and the VP of sales was replaced. The rest of the sales team all matched the skills, behaviors and motivators that the sales benchmarks required, and results from DISC assessments indicated that the revised team fit the profile required for star performance potential.

•   Development plans were customized for each employee, including tasks for each person to address the skill gaps the assessments identified. These resources expanded the employees’ understanding of their own capacity beyond their current performance.

•   In some groups within the company, weekly professional development seminars were used to establish a common language of performance. For other teams, single event workshops were delivered to quick-charge skills for an immediate return.

By the time the client reached the lender’s deadline, the company had experienced a $2.2 million turnaround, posting a profit for $200,000 for the following year. From that point forward the consultant has worked with the company to ensure that onboarding of new hires automatically has an employee development focus so the type of turnaround necessary in the past never happens again.

 To learn more about using assessments in your company’s employee training and engagement, contact us at darrell@vantagegroupinc.com or 616-676-3330.