It's about the people, people

By Mary Helen Gillespie, 2/9/2004

Work/life benefits play a crucial role in every employer-employee relationship. But perhaps the time has come to re-balance this notion with more focus on the work side and less on life.

This is not meant to deride the wonderful options available today, such as child, elder, and contingency care, wellness incentives, and transportation subsidies. Personally, I vote to add animal-companion reimbursement to this list. As a non-parent who is a valued contributor to the global marketplace, I'd love to be able to deduct the cost of the dog nanny who visits Martha, Clementine and Winston each workday. Sigh. That wishing well is dry as a bone, and will be for awhile.

But truly it's a treat to think that employers are so concerned about the whole person behind the paycheck that they are willing to add these big-bucks benefits to the compensation package. And of course, satisfied employees are far more productive and engaged than those who are not. Industry studies show that work/life benefits offer employers a return on investment as much as $10 to every single dollar spent on these perk-filled packages.

But let's take an honest assessment of what individuals truly need to help their organization meet and exceed strategic goals. We managers have all drunk the Kool-Aid when it comes to real-time competitive market skills, including state-of-the-art training and communications that allow the employee to do his or her job better. And this doesn't just mean the day-to-day stuff about best practices in core competencies for tactical expertise. We make a yeoman effort to provide tools and technologies to our teams and ensure they are deployed efficiently and effectively. This is especially true when training is required for certification to meet industry or regulatory requirements.

But we are not doing enough to ensure that everyone has the "soft" skills, and boy, does it show.

Listen up, people: It's all about the people.

Somewhere, somehow, we forgot how to help our teams think. Maybe they wouldn't need those EAP programs as much if workplace survival stresses were reduced. We've been so busy cramming every color of the rainbow down their throats, exhorting the need to be sensitive and respectful of everyone's uniqueness, that mastery of basic relationship skills have been tossed in honor of super-duper politically-correct messages.

It's okay for Heather to have two mommies AND two daddies. But no one is helping any of her parents learn the best ways to be effective professionals. They need to refresh, remember, and reflect on how to:

Make decisions
Communicate
Resolve conflicts
Lead individuals and teams
Listen, and
Laugh

Personal effectiveness has dropped off performance evaluations in favor of buzz words like "flexibility" and "accomplishments".

If difficult conversations are an employee weakness, we just plow ahead and let them continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Yet the hardest place in the world to have a conversation is at work. Think about it: delivering focused, demanding responses in a clear and concise manner. Polite but prolific. Patient but passionate. These conversations will likely be critical, urgent, and disruptive in order to be effective. Delivery options vary, and the channel can influence the contents. We talk face-to-face, in group settings, by electronic or telephonic channels, with hard copy memos and even in some cases via third parties.

These messages often must negotiate or mitigate conflicts that may be mired in as much office politics as they are in competitive advantage. And no matter what we say, or how we say it, or to whom we say it, the bottom line is that those conversations will end up influencing customer/client satisfaction in either a positive or a negative way.

This is the organizational equivalent to the pink elephant in the living room.

So, for managers, the challenge is to provide employees with a sense of comfort around these critical areas. First and foremost, set examples by modeling correct behaviors. And if you as a manager need a class in workplace problem solving or a similar arena, take it. Practice what you think.

Second, analyze what your teams need. Communications workshops? Mediation seminars? Figure out what is holding them - and you as the leader - back from performing.

Third, have a heart-to-heart talk with the human resources office about the realities of professional development in your organization. Assess what is available, what your team needs are, and reconcile the differences. If the expertise is not available in-house, push for external support.

It's okay to drink the Kool-Aid. It's not okay to dribble.