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It’s Only Common Sense: Getting More with Gratefulness

Where did we get this idea that bosses and business owners have to be tough, or that we shouldn’t show our employees that we appreciate their efforts to make our company better? Whenever a company gets into trouble the first thing they do is “cut heads.” For some reason this makes the owners feel like they are doing something (anything), that they are strong enough to “cut until it hurts.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt them; but talk to the people who are suddenly without a job and you’ll see it hurts them more than just a little bit.

Wall Street loves it when public companies let thousands of people go. The price of their shares goes right through the roof! Think Al “Chainsaw” Dunlap and that most-overrated CEO of all time, Jack Welsh.

The thing that is the most unfair about laying people off is that it is the leaders’ fault the company is failing, not the employees who are losing their jobs. The employees usually had nothing to do with it.

There are also the owners who like to keep their people on edge by keeping them in constant fear of losing their jobs, to the point that they agree with whatever the boss says, never daring to state their own ideas and opinions. This causes a company to be only as good as one person, the boss, rather than the combined capabilities and brainpower of the entire team.

Well, guess what? The times are changing. It is getting more difficult to find and keep good people to the point that it has quickly become an employee’s market. We are entering a time when employees will be able to choose where they want to work. This means that the old ways are not going to work anymore. The old ways of managing by intimidation just won’t be tolerated. Leaders must find a new way to manage their employees. And all I can say is that it’s about time.

In the new book, Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results, authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton provide an excellent guide to getting your employees engaged in the success of your company, simply by showing them appreciation and giving them the latitude to think and bring forth their own ideas. Helping your employees see it as “their” company is a first step for an owner who wants to become a true leader; get rid of the pronouns “I,” “me,” and “mine” as in, “this is losing me a ton of money” and “my business is suffering”; replace them with “us,” “we,” and “ours” as in, “We all have to pull together and make our company great.” I can ‘t help but cringe every time an owner points out that it is “his” company, and the rest of the people are just hired hands serving at his pleasure. That is no way to build a team!

If you want to get the best out of your employees, you have to treat them as engaged partners, as part of a team that is trying to make the company, their company, the best it can be. They have to feel appreciated and valued. It is a fact that most people leave a company because they feel unappreciated.

Even worse, most managers have been taught that letting their employees know they are doing a good job can be “dangerous,” it can create a “perilous” situation in the event they have to lay them off. How stupid is that? Really, step back and think about it. Making sure that you don’t let your employees know they are appreciated is a strategy? Just in case you have to let them go? Talk about a strategy based on eminent failure.

The right way to manage today is to let your employees know the following:

• Let them know that you appreciate their contributions
• Ask them for their opinions
• Encourage them to share their ideas on how your company could be better
• Praise them when they do a good job
• Be encouraging and help them do better when they make a mistake
• Create an “we are all in this together” atmosphere in your company
• Treat everyone as equal human beings, with respect, and most of all with honesty
• Be open about the company not only the way it is today but the future as well
• Ask them their ideas for the future of the company
• Make sure they know that they are an important part of the company and that you (and the rest of the team) are counting on them to be there for a long time
• Honestly care about their role in the company, and their career path with the company
• Show them true empathy regarding the challenges they are facing
• Find ways to make their job easier so that they will operate more efficiently

Finally, go back to that good old rule of treating your staff as you would want to be treated.

Oh, and one last thing. You should never, ever hear yourself saying is, “Can’t anybody in this company do anything right? Do I have to do everything myself?” If you say that, soon enough you’ll be stuck actually having to try to do everything yourself.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.