Managers need to develop organizational sensitivity

Betsy dislikes her coworker, Jon.

One day in the office, Betsy whispers to another coworker that she thinks Jon is weird and standoffish.

Jon overhears the conversation and is surprised to find out Betsy feels that way about him. He doesn’t know how to react so he just stays silent.

However, he can’t shake off that comment and begins to feel uncomfortable at work. His productivity at the company starts to decline, even though he was typically a top performer.

Maryanne is Jon’s manager and she notices his work is slipping and he’s quieter than usual. She’s been meaning to talk with him about it, but been too busy to schedule a sit down talk with him. 

After feeling increasingly more dissatisfied at work, Jon starts sending out his resume to other companies. He eventually gets a job offer, and leaves the company.

Betsy is happy, but Maryanne is distraught, confused, and now has to go through the process to hire someone to replace him.

If Maryanne had taken the time to find out what was bugging John, she might have been able to keep a top performer.

Productivity suffers in workplaces characterized by criticism, gossip, and a lack of teamwork, according to a new Right Management poll of 1,404 HR professionals and senior business leaders.

The survey find that 61 percent of organizations suffer from negative behaviors that, in turn, makes employees struggle to focus on their work, with 36 percent saying negativity sometimes impacts productivity. Only 3 percent say their employees are staying positive and not affected by negativity.

If negativity catches hold in an organization, it can become contagious. This negativity emerges itself in sarcastic remarks, lack of productivity, and other behaviors. And it is hard to stay motivated in that kind of work environment. 

You don’t want this negativity to result in turnover, so it is crucial for managers to be aware of what is going on within their group or organization. Managers can’t afford to turn a blind eye toward internal politics and complex interpersonal issues. 

And while the reality is that not everyone will like one another, the manager needs to ensure that everyone at least respects one another and finds a way to work as a team.

This is why organizational sensitivity is a key managerial trait. Here are a few ways to develop it:

• When people seem to be experiencing low morale or having difficulty, talk with them to find out what is going on. Sometimes people will not want to say much, but they will appreciate that you noticed and showed concern.
• Identify and prioritize longstanding or unresolved conflicts within your team. Develop a strategy to address them. People may welcome the opportunity to talk openly about issues that have been simmering and will have excellent ideas for solving them.
• Notice if there are things in the work environment that you can change. Not all problems require financial or upper-management solutions; many can be resolved through addressing them creatively.
• Ask your employees what you can do to be a better leader or a better boss for them. Implement some of their recommendations to show that you take their input seriously.

What are your thoughts about this? How do you handle workplace gossip?

Lead under pressure

One of my favorite shows on TV is Top Chef on Bravo. Okay, so the show has not turned me into a gourmet chef, and most of the time I watch it while eating takeout, but I still enjoy viewing what type of meal the chefs come up with each week.

Each week, chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges in extremely high-pressure situations. Some chefs yell, flame out, and make rookie mistakes, and others maintain their cool and cook some fantastic meals full of creativity and inspiration.

Competing to win tons of cash and the title of ‘Top Chef’ can bring out the worst in certain chefs. Interviews with these chefs reveal their bad behaviors and pushy attitudes toward other contestants were due to the competitive atmosphere. However, it could just mean these chefs act like a jerk under pressure, and who wants to work with that?

The need to work well under pressure is not just reserved for kitchen competitions; it is a fact of life for many organizations.

Working under pressure is tricky. Emotion, pressure, and passion, can easily be used to excess. Many leaders fail to understand how to apply pressure effectively, and often their efforts can undermine employee motivation.

Most work requires cooperation with other people so mistakes are bound to happen among teams. Leaders who push too much and are overly critical of mistakes might fall the risk of alienating people. On the flip side, leaders who are too easygoing or are overly tolerant of mistakes may be perceived as too forgiving of below average work.

The solution? Understand when to use push and pressure tactics in the workplace.
Pressure is an important tactical skill that should be used to communicate urgency, importance, and accountability. Effective leaders must push occasionally, and it is important they learn how to do that successfully.

Here are few tips:
· Pressure is a skill that should be used sparingly and strategically. Are you comfortable using pressure at strategic moments? Experiment using pressure and get feedback about its impact on your peers.

· Help peers maintain timelines for achieving goals so that extreme push is not needed as the deadline approaches.

· Monitor how others perceive you when you are excited or expressing passion about a particular idea or action. Sometimes passion becomes confused with excessive drive or aggressiveness.

· Look at your goal setting and planning processes to see where you can stress the importance of achieving goals.

· Study ways to critique work that are constructive rather than perceived to be destructive by others.

How do you lead under pressure?