People Leadership Made Simple(r) Part 3

Use Personal encounters within the “People Slice” of the Welch Business Triangle to lead more effectively

People Are Complicated

In my last two articles, I wrote about the endless possibilities for humans to misunderstand each other – in contrast, for example, to songbirds. 

I also wrote about a specific situation in which my company failed to manage employee performance, resulting in a new rule that governed how we managed performance from that moment on: discuss non-performance frankly, work to cure it, and never end employment with surprise. But, importantly, we missed recognizing the underlying breadth of our failure in this employee’s circumstances. 

As an executive coach, I realize now that our response only recognized part of the picture. The full picture is revealed when examined using both the Atmospheric and Personal encounters that our employees all experience when interacting with our companies. In the instant example, we had failed the employee in both the Atmospheric and Personal encounters.

The People Slice of the Welch Business Triangle – Atmospheric and Personal Encounters

As business executives, we seek constructs that can inform our decision-making in the here and now when people events are happening. The Welch Business Triangle is created to help executives recognize the situation they are in when they are in it, so they can respond appropriately. Within the People slice of the Triangle are two types of encounters our employees have with us.

The Atmospheric encounters between the employee and the company are ephemeral, frequently invisible, yet clearly understood by employees. These encounters were the subject of my previous article. 

Today’s focus, though, is on Personal encounters between the employee and the company. These are highly specific and connected to situations that are loaded with emotion for the employee. The common denominator for these situations is the sense of exposure or vulnerability being experienced by the employee. 

Personal Encounters Explained

To examine your own company’s Personal encounters, look at your interactions with employees when they are most impressionable, most uncomfortable, uncertain, or in some sense, vulnerable and exposed. These moments are truly “moments of truth” when your company has the opportunity to make a great impression on the employee … or a terrible one. 

Here are common examples that loosely follow the career progressions of nearly every employee. Yet rarely have I seen an employer fully recognize and maximize the opportunity inherent in these situations. Put on your employee’s clothes and observe how they experience your company as you Recruit, Integrate, Develop, and Encourage them.

• Recruit and Newbie – Everyone remembers those moments when we were on the outside looking in. Whether those minutes were during recruitment or during our first hours, days or weeks, we remember the uncertainty and nervousness. So, ask yourself, is it obvious to Recruits/Newbies that they are valuable? Do we show them respect in our communications, our recognition of their individuality, or our organization’s welcoming of their arrival? Do we show our respect for them in our readiness to receive, orient, and initially train them?

• Integrate – Once they are on-board and oriented, do we help them gain a desire to join our team? Do we work specifically to instill a spark – conveying that our work matters and consequently, their work matters? Once the spark is there, what do we do to help them actually join their team and become a part of it?

• Develop – Once we’re all familiar with each other, what do we do to develop them? Do we give them challenging work assignments? Access to people who could expand their perspectives? Access to appropriate knowledge or educational opportunity? 

• Encourage – Throughout their career, how do we provide them with praise, meaningful guidance, rewards, recognition, compensation, and incentives?

When facing important real time decisions, remember to ask, “Are we maximizing the opportunity in these Personal encounters?” We have a chance to powerfully connect the organization’s aspirations to the employees’ aspirations when they are most receptive. 

Moral to the Story

In my case, relating to the terminated employee, at a minimum, we failed in the employee’s Personal encounters with us by failing to develop our employee when it mattered. Had we recognized our failings in these terms, our response  – instead of a simple rule – would have been significantly more comprehensive. Today, I work with executives on explicitly informing managers about what it means to manage and be responsible for others, especially in their moments of greatest vulnerability. When we are responsible for others, it is our obligation to address our employees’ situations as we recruit, integrate, develop and encourage them.

Do you have questions about how to improve the Personal encounters employees have with your organization? Feel free to reach out with any questions.