Get connected
November 24, 2008 · Print this post
I recently got my virtual hands on a copy of “The Connection Culture”, a manifesto by Michael Lee Stallard proposing that fostering a sense of connection among people at work has a direct impact on employee engagement, productivity, and business success.
One measure of connection is Gallup’s Q12 survey that asks questions such as whether people care about you at work, encourage your development, and seek and consider your opinion. …[T]he research showed that business units with higher Q12 scores — in other words, higher connection — experienced higher productivity, higher profitability, and higher customer satisfaction as well as lower employee turnover and fewer accidents.
– from The Connection Culture by Michael Lee Stallard
The connections Stallard describes have a powerful and profound impact on people and companies because they are how people behave with each other in ways that get the job done better. Management is behavior: all the good intentions or business acumen in the world won’t make a speck of difference in your company if people don’t behave in ways that help everyone work more effectively towards common goals. Managing humans well makes them feel more connected to their job, their team, their company and to themselves. That’s when you get people’s best ideas, best effort, and their most consistent results.
For those who are suspicious of “fuzzy stuff” at work, let me point out that Stallard is not advocating (as an HR friend of mine says wryly) “linking pinkies and singing Kumbaya.” You don’t have to sing, I promise. As a manager, what you have to do is make it possible for people to engage — with the work they do, and the people they do it with — in ways that keep everyone focused, effective and productive even in chaotic and frightening times.
In fact, I submit that it’s in such times — like now — that we most need to be engaged, to be connected with each other and our common goals rather than hunkered down in defensive silos. It’s by working together that we’ll find ways to move our businesses down this stretch of very rough road.
I definitely agree about getting people connected at work because doing so helps build a team mentality and strong morale. This was the case at the last job I had. Management knew how to connect team members which created a very fun and helpful environment. It’s a shame I couldn’t stay there longer, but senior management decided to kill off the team, and I was only there for a brief time. I have had a taste of a great work environment, and I hope I can find another such place to work in the future.
Speaking of getting connected, I added a link for Humans At Work in a links list on my blog, as well as adding an RSS feed to the Humans At Work blog to my blogs list.
I did this because right now with the economy tanking the way it is, is when the “Little Hitler” type managers reach their zenith because they know people are desperate for work and will endure almost anything. Eventually the economy will turn around and companies will have to undo what these managers have done, and will be looking for a place and philosophy to turn to, and I believe Humans At Work is what they will need, so now is time to get the the word out.
Cheers ~ Jim
Jim, thanks for adding the link, I appreciate the support.
I’m sorry the team couldn’t continue. That’s a hard transition to make, and I hope you’re doing okay with it. As I said to Barbara in a comment elsewhere, I recommend the book Managing Transitions by William Bridges to anyone interested in how the stages of change affect people emotionally as well as “organizationally.” I don’t know if you’d find it helpful, but I do.
I hope that bad managers won’t be allowed to flourish in these times. Right now is when we need good managers more than ever, because it’s so much more challenging to keep people engaged and moving forward when they are scared, and when times are tough.
One reason I put the program details up for free is that if people are willing to do the work of reading and following up (in the forums, or through outside reading, online research, etc.), they can find ideas and skills that can help them — whether they are managers or not. If anything here can help someone who’s having a hard time, I count that a success.