Archive for category Motivation
Do our nation’s leaders need more leadership training?
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Commitment, Communication, Employee Passion, Engagement, Federal Agency, Government, Ken Blanchard, Leadership, Leadership Development, Motivation, Relationships, Supervisor, Teams, Training on May 16, 2012
I work for a leadership and training development company. I am constantly surrounded by best practices on leading a team, leading in a situation, and even leading myself. I am continuously exposed to the skills required to develop an individual into a great leader, motivate a team member, and generate empowerment in a direct report. So when I read reports like The Federal Leadership Challenge from the Partnership for Public Service (PPS), I have to remember that not everyone has the same daily experience that I have. PPS conducted an analysis using the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and uncovered that leadership is the lowest ranking category in the Federal Government. The report states that out of 10 workplace categories, leadership has the lowest ranking, scoring only 54.9 out of 100.
More about the report
The leadership category of the analysis was broken down into perceptions of empowerment, fairness, and senior leaders and supervisors. Out of these sub-categories, empowerment and senior leaders reflected the lowest ratings with government employees.
- 46.3% of respondents felt personal empowerment
- 42.6% feel their senior leaders instill motivation and commitment
- 48.1% are satisfied with the information they receive from management about the state of the agency
- 50.7% feel they are involved in decisions that affect their work
- 52.9% believe senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity
- 54.3% trust there is fairness within their organization
Making improvements
A particular agency that has made a concerted effort in improving these numbers has experienced a positive increase in their employee’s perceptions of leadership within the organization. The U.S. Mint, an agency that is part of the Department of the Treasury, made some necessary changes on how they communicate and empower employees and it’s reflected in their scores. The agency had a 21.2% increase on the Best Places to Work Index from 2010, empowerment was ranked 34.5% higher than last year and senior leaders received a 41.5% spike from the same time frame. The report states that this positive increase came about from strides taken in increasing communication with employees, working more cooperatively with unions and by fully explaining the challenges faced by the organization and the reasons why decisions were being made. In addition, the Mint has been having regular town hall meetings, giving employees the opportunity to voice their concerns, and responding to those issues.
Researchers at The Ken Blanchard Companies uncovered that strategic leadership directly influenced operational leadership, which in turn directly influenced employee work passion and customer devotion. Strategic leadership indirectly influences organizational vitality. In addition, they found that employee work passion and customer devotion influenced one another and that when employees were passionate about their job and their organization, they tended to interact with the customer in a more positive manner.
Want to learn more on empowering and motivating employees? Register for an upcoming webinar that will show you 3 ways you can create a culture where everyone feels a sense of ownership, empowerment, and ability to make a difference. You’ll learn:
- The importance of sharing information freely throughout your organization. People without information—or incomplete information—make poor business decisions. People with access to complete information make better decisions and feel more committed to them. Ongoing communication is imperative.
- How to create alignment and get everyone moving forward in the same direction. Recent research shows that only 14% of people are truly aligned with their organization’s key goals.
- The role empowerment plays. Drive empowerment as close to the customer as possible. Make sure that reward and recognition practices encourage people to take action. Instill a sense of meaningful work in every employee.
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Creating Positive Work Environments
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Attitude, Employee Engagement, Employee Passion, Government, Leadership, Morale, Motivation, Performance, Productivity on May 9, 2012
This week marks the 27th year of celebrating Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW). Although we should recognize our public service officials everyday of the year, this week gives everyone the opportunity to honor and celebrate those that give of themselves on our behalf. The goals of PSRW include educating citizens of the work going on within the government, enriching the perception and morale of all public servants, and encouraging the next generation of government employees. Celebrations and other appreciation ideas include employee recognition activities, community and education outreach, private sector partnerships, media events, and other online resources.
The idea of a recognition week is not a new one. There are numerous programs that recognize individuals both on and off the job. Incentives like Employee of the Month, top producer awards, and sales incentive trips provide employees with a sense of motivation knowing that the work they do and efforts they make are appreciated by the organization. Culture is also a key factor in providing an empowering environment for people. Organizational culture makes up the values, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and practices of the company.
Chris Edmonds and Lisa Zigarmi, authors of #Positivity at Work, understand the importance of a positive work environment. In their book, they share how positive workplaces drive employee work passion, which drives customer devotion, which drives organizational success and vitality. If organizations focus mainly on profit, they miss the opportunity to provide employees with the means to achieve well-being. Enabling positivity, incentives, and empowerment is not simple. Healthy work cultures happen by design, not default. Each member of the organization is responsible for creating a positive environment. After all, we spend more time weekly with co-workers than with our family and friends. Positive workplaces enable life-long service, joy, and success.
How are you influencing the positive environment in your workplace?
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From Vegas to Colombia: Scandals Impacting Government Leadership
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Conflict, Federal Agency, Government, Leadership, Leadership Development, Management, Morale, Motivation, Trust on April 25, 2012
Scandal is nothing new to the White House. Many of us can recall several “mishaps” involving former presidents. This time, however, it’s the Secret Service. On April 11th, a dozen Secret Service agents and eleven military personnel were involved in an incident that involved partying at a local nightclub in Cartagena, Colombia, heavy drinking, and involvements with prostitutes while preparing for a visit by President Obama. Since that event, two supervisors who were involved in the scandal have been identified and removed from their positions. The case has been all over the news and has been causing quite a stir for the agency responsible for the well-being of the President of the United States.
Just as they did with the GSA scandal, lawmakers, citizens, government workers, and the media have been questioning the integrity, ethics, and accountability of the agency. So who is responsible? Who will ensure behavior like this will never happen again? President Obama has said that he has full trust in the Secret Service Director, Mark Sullivan, to continue the investigation and take the appropriate corrective actions needed. That’s all fine and dandy, but what about the trust that the American people, who are losing millions of their tax dollars due to these scandals, have lost for our government? Randy Conley, Trust Practice Leader at The Ken Blanchard Companies, says that leaders must purposely engage in four trust-building behaviors in order for individuals to maintain confidence with their leader. Those behaviors include:
- Demonstrate competence
- Act with integrity
- Care about others
- Maintain reliability
After reading many articles and watching several news stories about both scandals, I can’t say that those involved with the GSA and Secret Service events practiced these four behaviors. So what corrective actions can government leaders now take to ensure that debauchery such as this won’t continue at other agencies? After all, people do make mistakes. Even with the best of intentions, leaders make mistakes that impact the commitment, morale, and performance of the people who work for them. With investigations in both cases still underway, we’ll have to wait and see the effects that these scandals will have on the future leadership and behaviors of our government.
Want to learn three actionable steps leaders can take to self-diagnose, assess, and change unwanted behaviors? Take a break at 9:00am PST/12:00pm EST today to listen to best-selling author and consultant Chris Edmonds share insight on how leaders can avoid making some common mistakes.
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Nine Strategies for Implementing Change
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Buy-in, Change, Communication, Government, Leadership, Morale, Motivation, Results on March 28, 2012
The first amendment allows Americans the right to free speech, an establishment of religion, to peaceably assemble,
and to petition the Government. In the past, petitioning the government was somewhat of a daunting task. In order for more Americans to be heard on topics that are near and dear to them, the Obama administration created We the People, a platform that allows Americans to create and sign petitions that, if enough signatures are collected, has the chance to be reviewed by the White House staff and receive an official response. The overall purpose of the platform is for government to address important topics the American people would like to see changed.
Lately, the platform has been getting unfavorable reviews regarding the lack of response to the petitions that have been accumulating on the site since its inception in September 2011. Originally, the Obama Administration promised that any posted petition to receive 5,000 signatures would be reviewed and an official response would be issued. After an overwhelming response, the signature requirement was increased to 25,000 back in October 2011. There are currently approximately one-third of the petitions that date back to the first two weeks of the site launch that are still waiting for a promised response from the White House.
Many companies have open forums or launch surveys to gain feedback from their employees about the state of their business or impending changes. Implementing a way for employees to make their voice heard gets individuals involved in shaping the organization and any changes that may incur. This involvement helps raise morale and motivation for employees to adopt those changes. Subject matter experts on leading change, Pat Zigarmi and Judd Hoekstra, developed a change model to help leaders successfully overcome a typically complicated process. This change model promotes nine strategies and outcomes when dealing with change:
- Expand Involvement and Influence
- Select and Align the Leadership Team
- Explain the Business Case for Change
- Envision the Future
- Experiment to Ensure Alignment
- Enable and Encourage
- Execute and Endorse
- Embed and Extend
- Explore Possibilities
As I was learning about these strategies, I felt that the Obama Administration hit a bump in the road when it came to Stage 7, Execute and Encourage. This stage is for impact and collaboration concerns. One reason change initiatives fail is because those leading the change are not credible, they under-communicate, and give mixed messages. Execution on what the Administration promised back in September last year is critical. Without it, the petitions that Americans are posting on We the People just falls on deaf ears.
Learn more about the nine change strategies and the reasons why change efforts typically fail.
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Mobile Management – A Good Strategy or Just Disruptive?
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Attitude, Change, Conflict, Federal Agency, Government, Management, Morale, Motivation, Productivity on February 8, 2012
Today’s post was written by guest blogger, Jim Atwood, Director of Government Solutions at The Ken Blanchard Companies. Jim also presented on last week’s webinar, A Situational Approach to Leadership.
Last week’s webinar on taking a situational approach to leadership created a lot of discussion around the concept of mobile management. Several participants related to the idea and shared their experiences with mobile management within their agencies. I am most familiar with this type of management as it relates to the military… where a leader is usually only in a particular position for 18 months to 3 years. However, following the webinar, I received several comments about how it also is a significant issue in other government agencies as well. It was particularly evident with leaders who are in direct political appointee positions or those who report to political appointees.
For me, mobile management is the planned periodic rotation of managers. I know there are a great number of positive elements that can result from a well executed mobile management plan…unfortunately I have seen very few that were either well planned or well executed. My experience has primarily been with individuals who, knowing that their position is short-term, have made immediate large-scale organizational changes to be able to “make their mark” on the organization. Unfortunately, it appears that often the change was only for the sake of change…to be able to say that things were different from the previous manager. The results of many of the changes I observed were rarely to enhance mission capability for the organization as a whole and often had a negative effect. I recall one such individual who believed in this kind of change and said, “I like to really shake things up when I arrive…change everything. I believe that dust settles at a higher level.” He definitely shook things up but had a negative effect on morale and commitment to the command and its mission.
I really am hoping that my experiences are not common…that I just had the bad luck of interacting with inefficient leaders initiating ineffective change. But are my experiences the anomaly?
What have been your experiences with mobile management? How big of an issue is mobile management within the government? What positive experiences have others had…and what were the resulting effects on the organization?
If you missed the webinar on taking a situational approach to leadership, you can still listen to the recording and hear more about how to lessen the negative impact of mobile management.
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“My Performance Sucked”: Leadership at the NFL Playoffs
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Feedback, Leadership, Motivation, Performance, Teams, Trust on January 25, 2012
Empowerment is what leaders give to their people.
Today’s blog post was written by guest blogger, Doug Trainor, Consulting Associate with The Ken Blanchard Companies and Co-founder of Leadership Vanguard.
I know that many of you reading this might be Baltimore Ravens fans. For those folks, I’m sorry about the playoff loss on Sunday. I hope you will bear with me despite the fact that the leadership I am writing about comes from Tom Brady, quarterback for the Patriots. After the Patriots win in the AFC Championship game Sunday, Brady was being interviewed and the reporter mentioned how great Brady played, leading his team to a fifth Superbowl while he was quarterback—and tying a record doing so. To which Brady responded, “I sucked today—fortunately the team did better than I did.”
Is that leadership? Yes! I think we need more of that type of leading in organizations across America—both public and private sector. So please tell someone you were a poor performer today! It may sound a bit funny but there is something to it. A lot to it, actually. The first thing is candor. We need candor to make our agencies and departments better. Leaders address reality—even when it is tough to do and with upcoming budget pressures and the sometimes extreme political dialogues we hear on TV—candor will serve you well with those you lead.
The next quality Brady displayed with his comment was accountability. He took personal accountability for his performance and he did it publicly. When leaders do this it builds credibility with those they lead and with the customers they serve. It can be a powerful way to increase the trust in your organization. A side benefit is that makes it easier to give difficult feedback to people around you when you admit your own failings. Something that makes feedback easier? Who couldn’t use some of that?
Last, but not least… it promotes humility. Humility is a leadership quality that will serve you well in every way. Not thinking poorly of yourself; but realistically. And realizing our teams are the reason we succeed in our leadership roles and giving credit where it is due.
A Resolution Worth Making…and Keeping
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Change, Commitment, Federal Agency, Government, Ken Blanchard, Leadership, Leadership Development, Motivation, Performance, Productivity, Training on January 4, 2012
When the New Year rolls around, most people have good intentions and make resolutions to kick-off the year; unfortunately, most people break their resolutions less than a month into the year. However, some don’t wait until the clock strikes midnight to make a positive change and continue working on and improving those changes well into the New Year. The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the government agencies that set a resolution to retain their employees. The government agency has helped many of its employees improve their skills and has provided them opportunities to grow within the agency. Despite budget cuts and pay freezes, the agency created the VA Learning University (VALU) to offer employees an outlet to improve development, leadership skills, and personal growth while aligning to the agency’s mission and goals. This initiative has helped the VA save $200 million in turnover expenses in 2011. For 2012, the agency has made a goal to support the Obama administration’s drive to add more veterans into the civilian federal workforce. They plan on increasing the amounts of veterans they have on staff to 40 percent in 2012, up from 32 percent currently.
Perhaps the VA is on to something. A survey recently conducted by Federal News Radio to 49 chief human capital officers (CHCO) showed that most CHCOs are concerned with recruiting and retaining employees due to tight budgets and limited resources. VALU is proof that not all incentives to recruit and retain are monetary. The ability to grow professionally and personally is a coveted benefit at any agency. The Ken Blanchard Companies believes that individual learning is a key element to a high performing agency and is essential to self-leadership. Agencies that do not encourage people to learn are less likely to be high performing, because the skills of an agency are no greater than the skills of its people. When individuals learn, the agency learns. High performing agencies use formal training, mentoring, and on-the-job support to develop the skills and competencies of their people.
As a leader, why not help your direct reports make the most out of their learning experience. Learn the six keys on how to ENGAGE your staff so they can apply what the learned in real-life work scenarios.
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