Like much of the country I was snowed in at home for a few days last week. With food stocks running very low, children being hungrier than usual because of all the outdoor activity and shelves in the local shops becoming bare, the inevitable trek to the supermarket had to be done. It felt much like Christmas Eve with the crowds, the queues and fellow customer temperaments switching easily between joyful and grumpy.
When I was next in line for my turn at the till I watched a gentleman approach each till. While he was still some distance away I asked the young man at the till who he was. He replied that they had been told that one of the senior directors of the company was at the store today as he lived close-by and no trains were running, so he hadn’t been able to make it to London. The assumption was made that this was the senior exec.
Once the gentleman was closer I overheard his discussions with the till staff. He thanked each of them for making it into work and enquired about their journey, how they would be getting home, the shifts they were working, and finished each conversation by thanking them again. I observed a customer who appeared to be wanting to use the opportunity to complain about something to this exec; who listened and acknowledged what the customer was saying and then turned the conversation around by asking the customer how wonderful he thought the staff were for managing to make it into work to keep the store open in such awful weather conditions.
The whole scenario made me think......
• How many other leaders have expressed their gratitude to their staff who have made huge efforts in recent days?
• How often those very senior people hit the shop floor and speak to the “ordinary” staff and the “ordinary” customer?
• What impact that exec’s gratitude will have on the engagement and loyalty of the staff?
As an “ordinary” customer I was impressed with what I observed that day as I expect were many others. Will it increase my loyalty and commitment as a customer? Yes, probably it will.
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An interesting scenario that must make that company a good place to work. Will the staff go that "extra mile" next time there are travel difficulties or staff shortages .... they almost certainly will !
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a number of occasions during my long career with a FTSE 100 company. When a new manager (I won't call them a leader, as will become clear by reading on) would state early on in their new position "I am not here to be popular, I am here to get results". I always understood what they meant but sighed to myself internally because they had missed such a crucial point. That they will only get outstanding results IF their team want to work there ... want to go that extra mile for that person ... i.e. in today's speak - is fully ENGAGED to be there.
Many of these managers in my experience (but not all), were relatively inexperienced but were well sponsored and therefore had a good chance of succeeding .... except they didn't all value their people as their ASSETS ! The ASSETS that were going to make then succeed, or fail .... or more likely ... just do what is required - "If they have little interest in me as an individual, well, I will concentrate my enthusiasm in another direction".
Churchill was a successful leader during WWII even though he was widely unpopular, rude, arrogant and sometimes abusive. Was he a great leader? Most would say "yes". In that period of time with events unfolding as they were, history has proved that the right person was in the right job at the right time. Is this the kind of leadership that commercial businesses need today? I would say sometimes, but generally only in crisis situations when the future of the business is in doubt. NOT, because an 'intellect' or 'well connected' individual are promoted for the wrong reason into the wrong job at the wrong time.
Fortunately I have seen the world changing (slowly) over time to a point where the value of an individual is recognised for the right reasons ... however, this is usually when the person in the leadership seat has also got there for the right reasons !
Still a lot to learn and a long way to go !
Indeed Ian's experience is not untypical sadly.
ReplyDeleteHaving also worked in a FTSE 100 Company, I have seen the effects that increased distance between the top layers of management and the "front- line" employees can have.
As the top- level leaders become more and more removed from their key customer- facing people,so their understanding of the real issues and also their willingness to "get their hands dirty" can diminish and sometimes even, vanish altogether.
In addition to this, the managers immediately around them may want to convince them of certain things that may not be quite true, and so that disconnect from reality becomes greater and greater.
I think we all know the effects such situations can have on employee engagement and also buy- in to the vision, mission and strategy the organisation is working towards.
The ability and indeed the discipline of top leaders to go straight to this front- line level and thank, congratulate, speak with and engage people will not only have a significant impact on motivation, but can also keep a clear view of the reality, issues and opportunities that exist.
And of course, next time it snows, well I guess those employees you described will be ready and willing to make the effort again...