The Behaviour Effect

In Julius Caesar , when the surpreme commander Caesar moves thrugh the city of Rome, the people throw notes at him, which Caesar’s aides pick up.  This was a way of informing their leader what they needed fixing in the republic.

How often do you provide an opportunity for your employees to talk to you?  To let you know what they are thinking?  Worried about?

In this uncertain times, little is more important than communication.  And here’s the clinker, the bit that makes communication actually work….it must be two-way! It is all to easy to be isolated from your employees, to be so wrapped up in running the business and making strategic decisions that chatting to those at the ‘coal-face’ comes very low on your list of priorities.  Yet, being seen by your employees, being visible is incredibly important.

If you are likley to appear at any time, your employees are likely to make an effort and be productive the majority of the time.  And you are less likely to create a deathly silence when you actually do walk into a room!  So regular visits at varying times are important.

Also, the more regulary your visits, the easier it will be for them to open up to you, share information with you.  Yes, you may have an open door policy, but are employees using it?  It’s a great thing to be promoting but you need to make yourself approachable as well as accessible.  Have you considered that employees may find it very difficult to come to speak to you, to leave the comfort of their work station?  Taking yourself out of your office and allowing yourself to bump into employees can create a more casual opportunity for them to tell you things.  Things they may not have wanted to bother you about previously or wanted to be seen bothering you with.

So, do you want to learn about your business, know what actually happens on the floor….step down from your throne and into the Warehouse…the benefits are insurmountable!

How many of us speak before we think?

It is true to say that we all say things without first thinking them through. Ever answered an employee’s question only taking that individual employee into consideration and not the very likely probability that, that same employee may recount the conversation to others?

Gerald Ratner had makes jokes about his merchandise previously, just provoking friendly laughter but he didn’t consider the breadth of his audience during a speach to 6000 fellow members of the Institute of Directors in 1991.  He claimed that his stores sold earrings for under a pound, which is cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks & Spencer – but probably won’t last as long!  Not content with this he went on to describe his sherry decanters as ‘crap’.

The result? In two minutes the reputation of a company was in tatters, £500 million was wiped from its stock exchange value, Gerald Ratner personally lost £6 million and his £600,000 a year job and the company had to rebrand to try and save themselves from total disaster.

Clearly Ratner did not consider his audience, in particular the fact that the Daily Mirror were present.  When speaking to others we are often thinking of how we will answer them instead of listening carefully to what is being said.  We also, occasionally become so embroiled in what we are doing that we forget the outside world.  We are told that our brain thinks four times faster than we speak….so we use that time to consider what we will say next.  We should be listening to what is being said and considering our reply in relation to not only the current conversation but also in how it will be perceived by others.   If Ratner had taken his audience into consideration, had thought through who was listening and who would potentially hear his comments….he may not have been so quick to make his flip remark.

Learning point – always consider your audience, both immediate and future….and use that wonderful extra thinking time wisely!