Recently I executed an employee engagement survey across a client organization. When I compared the senior executive team with the blended front-line results I discovered a very troubling outcome.

The senior executives were almost unanimous in the belief that they had done an excellent job of communicating the core values of the organization — yet results from the front-line indicated exactly the opposite.

Even worse, some of the comments indicated that the values the front-line were observing were inconsistent with the “advertised” values.

Too many organizations believe that the values are clear in their organization. However, all too often, the values that are communicated are coming via actions rather than words — or the actions speak louder than the words.

Here are few questions to ask yourself.

• Have you crystallized your values and written them down?
• Does everyone at the senior level of the organization agree and commit to live by these values?
• Did you involve your employees? Were they involved in establishing the organizational values? Do they feel ownership?
• Did you solicit buy-in across the organization and give them an opportunity to discuss them and what they mean in their daily lives?
• Do you regularly communicate the values? Do you explain your decisions in the context of your values so everyone understand how the values come to life?
• Do you live your values? Actions speak louder than words — are your values being demonstrated on a daily basis in your decision-making?

My Perspective: If you don’t have clearly defined core values, this is a missed opportunity to influence and engage employees. Too often organizations have a communications plan — but it doesn’t do a very good job of communicating internally.

Having a clear set of values also let’s people know what kind of organization is being built and they have an opportunity to decide whether they want to belong to that kind of organization. And in return, you have the evaluate people for a good fit with your team.

Clarity is key.

Are you finding that you are not hearing the fresh ideas and new thinking in your organization that you would like. Are you often faced with sitting through presentations that sound like the same ideas rehashed again and again.

Well maybe you are burying good ideas under a bad process.

Before you hear their ideas — are your teams spending time getting them “right”? Are they vetted, reviewed, revised and debated around in circles until all the edginess and excitement has been “fine-tuned” right out of existence.

Imagine if ideas for the iPhone had been fine-tuned to death before they were presented to the boss. Of if space travel had been fine-tuned before making the suggestion to president Kennedy?

My Perspective: As a leader it is your job to foster an environment where good ideas become great — not where good ideas get ground down into mundane ideas.

Instead of insisting that ideas are thoroughly vetted before your hear them, instead find ways to be part of idea generation sessions where you have the opportunity to hear raw, unfiltered ideas that need championing, not fine-tuning.

Skip the fancy presentations, remove the filters, roll up your sleeves and create idea incubation sessions where people present raw ideas and concepts that aren’t well thought out, but still hold the promise of greatness. Then embrace some of these ideas and help them grow with your support.

Just think, one of those ideas might turn into the next Google, Zappos or iPhone.

Just imagine

It’s essential that staff receive support or they can’t do their job properly. Support isn’t limited to merely work-related aspects of the job but to other things such as morale and recognition as well.

There are plenty of different ways employers can support their staff. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind in your work environment.

Training is vital
It’s crucial that staff receive all necessary training when they start a job and also ongoing training as often as required. It’s also essential that training is consistent for all staff members. It’s not acceptable for answers to vary from one employee to another because this can cause confusion and further problems. Proper training is inevitably what makes better quality employees.

Positive work environment
Whether you work in a call centre, an office or a retail store, it’s vital that you have a positive work environment. If employees dread the thought of going to work each day, they’re not going to perform at their best and they may even feel resentful for being there.

There are many ways to create a positive workplace. Attitude is essential — people should be respectful and friendly towards one another. Bitchiness or backstabbing should not be tolerated. Not just by supervisors, but among colleagues as well. If anyone has issues, the supervisor/manager should always be available to help resolve such problems so they don’t linger and taint the rest of the workplace.

Décor and proper equipment also contribute to your environment. Do you have ergonomic chairs and desks? Do you have a proper lunch room where staff can take breaks away from the public eye? Is there somewhere you can store your personal possessions if you don’t have a desk? All of these things contribute to a harmonious working environment.

Motivation is an individual thing
Employers should know what motivates their staff and use that knowledge to build stronger relationships. People are motivated by different things and so it’s important to learn what motivates each individual if that’s possible and incorporate that into your overall leadership strategies.

Take the time to get to know what motivates each member of your team. Having a staff suggestion box is a great way to get ideas and suggestions. Motivations change over time and if you want to keep your team working at peak efficiency, it’s vital that you learn what’s important to them.

Recognition and rewards
Staff have to be acknowledged and rewarded for the good work they do. Financial bonuses are always great if they are available — but they’re not your only option. You could have an employee of the week or month plaque that is presented and then displayed on the wall for everyone to see. Acknowledgement for most improved staff members could be another idea. When staff do something wrong, managers are quick to admonish them so they should be just as quick with their praise, in whatever form they choose. Like motivation, your team can also suggest great ideas on what works for them.

Scope for advancement
Most people don’t like to feel trapped in a dead end job. Internal promotions should always be considered before advertising externally. Staff are more motivated to excel in their work if they have a vision for the future growth and development.

If you’re not seen to be actively supporting your staff, you can’t expect them to perform at their best. Everyone wants to feel appreciated and to be a part of a team. If you do that, you can’t lose.

Many people are familiar with the expression, Start, Stop, Do Different from personal evaluation processes — those regularly scheduled reviews by our supervisor. They will often use this outline to give us feedback of our performance.

But I also think it should be used more regularly, both personally and with colleagues.

No leader improves without feedback and personal introspection.

So rather than waiting for a formal review by a supervisors, consider asking your colleagues these questions.

1. What should I start doing? What activities or behaviours should I add into my daily activities to provide more leadership to my team?
2. What should I stop doing? What behaviours are unproductive or are interfering with my ability to positively influence others?
3. What should I do differently? What can I do differently to lead my team to achieve greater success?

Lastly, don’t forget to ask what you should keep doing — what behaviours are working and should you continue to demonstrate? In your effort to improve don’t forget to reinforce the positive attributes and behaviours that are working. So be sure to confirm those as well and make sure they don’t get lost in the quest for improvement. After all growth is about building on top of versus replacing.

My Perspective: Whenever I am asked to speak, at the end of every presentation I ask the question, “Beginning tomorrow, What will you Start, Stop, Do Different, as a result of what you have heard today?”

It might be worthwhile asking yourself and others these questions on a more regular basis if you want to become the leader of your dreams.

Best Practices. Another great business term we all know and love. We love to throw out in meetings because it sounds good and rarely will anyone disagree.

It’s safe. But is it wise.

Who said that adopting best practices is right for your business? Maybe it’s the wrong thing to do in your case.

Sacrilege? Maybe, but here are few thoughts to consider before deciding whether to adopt best practices or develop your own best practices.

Are They Transferable? If the best practices are to work effectively in your business, then the businesses have to have similarities. Do you share similar strategies, customer groups, work forces, business models, margin structures. Before deciding if adopting best practices make sense, make sure you are not trying to jam a square peg into a round hole.

Is there a Downside? What happens if you are wrong? Can you respond quickly and refocus? Make sure that you have an escape plan if you don’t see the results you anticipate. However, don’t bail too early since any new initiative may initially reduce productivity. Ensure that you have a clear set of evaluation criteria, aligned with a time-line when you expect to see some deliverables that will confirm you are moving in the right direction.

Are the Best Practices the Success Factor? Companies may succeed — or not — for many reasons. Don’t be too quickly assume that the success of a company is because of their “best practices”. Some companies succeed in spite of themselves because of a host of other reasons. So before you adopt their best practices, be sure to examine other reasons for their success. If there are not evident in your business environment, dig deeper before making a decision.

My Perspective: Studying best practices is great input to your own thinking. It is always good business to look at other businesses, both inside and outside your industry. But don’t fall in love too quickly with the success of others.

Evaluate and test anything you see as a best practice against your own business model to make sure it makes sense. Selectively choose those that make sense and then adapt versus adopt to your business. That way you create your own best practices based on the best thinking that is applicable to your business model — and they will be uniquely suited to your business.

And then other companies will look at you and want to copy your best practices.

Remember, even best practices were once a new way of thinking that drove success in a business — that’s why other people copy them.