Does Anybody Even Care...?
Question No. 5 of the Gallup Q-12 survey is, “My Supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.” Well—it’s really not a question. It’s a statement. And, when posed in an engagement survey, an employee is asked to respond with a “yes” or a “no.”
But first, who is Gallup? Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, DC. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide.
Among other surveys, Gallup’s worldwide research resulted in the Gallup Q-12 survey for employers. Employers whose focus is to retain talent and determine opportunities for improvement often administer Employee Engagement surveys based off of Gallup Q-12. When an employee can respond with a “yes” to all 12 questions/statements, there is a high probability that an employee is highly engaged.
Surveys Say … (do you hear a little ding-a-ling?) four in ten employees report that their Supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about them as a person. As a leader, we care about the work produced, we care about attendance, we care about quality … but do we care about each person beyond what they can do for you, your team, and/or the company?
An employee can choose to do the minimum – just enough to stay employed – or an employee can choose to take a genuine interest in his/her work and go above and beyond. There are multiple reasons for employees being motivated to give that additional push (often called discretionary effort). A leader or supervisor who genuinely seems to care about each individual has a tendency to foster a positive environment and show sincere appreciation. And Whoomp – There It Is – that discretionary effort!
You say you DO care about those who look to you for leadership! How do you show it? In our electronic world, we seem to have minimized the need for human interaction. We don’t “have to” hand out paychecks anymore. Once I overheard a leader sharing (bragging actually) how excited he was about their new “people system” as he shared, “We can do performance reviews without even seeing the other person!” Seriously? Is this really forward progress?
So HOW can we genuinely show we care about the individual members on our team? An investment in your time would be to work with other leaders in your organization and brainstorm the responses to this question. Here’s a hint – things that do not cost money are ironically the best!
And, one more hint – if you don’t want or need positive feedback, please don’t think other people are like you. No one knows better than Gallup, employees need a leader that seems to care about them as a person.
Let the brainstorming begin!
“Feeling gratitude, and not expressing it, is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”