Canadian HR Reporter

STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK'S PANEL of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. eir commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. CANADIAN HR REPORTER July 10, 2017 EXECUTIVE SERIES 11 www.scnetwork.ca Join our professional community of Canadian HR & Organizational Leaders: • Connecting @ monthly events • Collaborating with peers • Challenging conventional thinking The Power of Human Capital CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP FOR 35 YEARS Great Leaders GROW www.scnetwork.ca PANELLISTS: • Jan G. van der Hoop, president of Fit First Technologies in Toronto • Tracey White, owner and managing director at Strategy in Action in Toronto • Paul Pittman, founder and president of the Human Well in Toronto • Silvia Lulka, director of coaching at Rogers Communications in Toronto Paul Pittman Jan van der Hoop Tracey White Silvia Lulka Disengagement a costly issue Companies still struggle to properly recognize employees – to their detriment Tracey White: In her presentation to SCNetwork, Sarah McVanel of Greatness Magnifi ed started and ended with the observation "Solution- focused leadership requires the ability to notice the extraordinary things that people do in their ordinary lives." She focused on delivering action- able strategies that managers and people leaders can practise, and I left the event with this simple, yet vast idea resonating in my mind. After decades of management theories and leadership develop- ment strategies, we still struggle with little things like recognition that can make the diff erence be- tween engaged and disengaged employees. According to Gallup, we are faced with the reality that around 70 per cent of employees are dis- engaged from their work. The problem is widespread across industries and it's a global epidemic. Research from Purdue Univer- sity in West Lafayette, Ind., tried to quantify it and reckoned that disengagement costs upwards of $200 million in lost productivity annually for a typical Fortune 500 company. ese numbers are staggering. Not only do they represent seri- ous fi nancial loss, but also the hu- man costs are adding up and play- ing out in numerous ways. McVanel is one of several speakers at SCNetwork this year who has spoken about the frus- tration of generation X who are now moving into leadership posi- tions, and the lost motivation of the millennials, who entered the workforce in a period of economic turmoil. It's been said that human na- ture is driven by the desire to be important. Perhaps we over-complicate people management? Could the answer to engagement be as sim- ple as recognition? Paul Pittman: Any technique for removing personal bias from a coaching discussion is to be welcomed, and these types of ap- proaches have become more rel- evant and necessary as we fi nally tackle the long-regarded-as-in- adequate annual performance review. However, highlighting an in- dividual's "awesomeness" every time you speak runs the risk of circling the drain of patronization, which will result in less engage- ment rather than more. Trying to screen out personal biases is a more rewarding and valuable fi rst step by addressing the request or issue in question with objectivity, while recogniz- ing positively a subordinate or teammate's hard work, initiative and creativity — however mis- guided it may initially appear. Whether this helps improve engagement remains to be seen but it can't harm. Anything that attempts to represent a lack of engagement in terms of cost is, in my view, imprudent. Firstly, we never had that ad- vantage or benefi t to spend, so it's hardly a cost; lost potential, added value may be a better description. Having said all of that, any at- tempt to measure it is fundamen- tally bogus. Engagement is a good thing, we know it when we see it, and intuitively we know more is good — but, like a golf game, there is no perfect. Jan van der Hoop: To your question, Tracey — do we unnec- essarily complicate people man- agement? Yes, we do. It's made worse by the clutter of snake-oil salespeople mak- ing great promises about their systems and products (yes, we consultants own a piece of this) and a lot of well-intentioned but meaningless mumbo-jumbo per- petuated mainly in the areas of leadership development and per- formance management. McVanel's comments rein- forced many of the same themes we've heard this year: We all (re- gardless where we sit in the or- ganizational food chain) share a common need — as humans, we crave authenticity, connection, and what I'll call real-ationships. (I just coined that, and if some consultant or author wants it, I'll license it). In this hyper-connected tech- nological world and hyper-lean- and-competitive business con- text we've built around us, we've inadvertently starved our organi- zations of what people crave the most: A connection to something real and enduring. To echo your point, Paul, I think these approaches are even more relevant in today's workplaces — connection builds trust, relieves tension and uncertainty, inspires followership, stimulates curios- ity and innovation, and releases energy. And it doesn't just happen by locking people into a training ses- sion for a day. In my experience, these types of solution need to start with your managers. Managers need to be wired to do it (you need the right people in roles that manage others — you can't train authenticity), they must want to do it, you need to help them carve out the time to do it, and they must be rewarded for doing it. Silvia Lulka: Picking up on Tracey's comments, that quote resonated with me as well. We are all good at something, we are all passionate about something, and when both we and the leaders we work with take that lens, we can fi nd the extraordinary. e other quote that resonated was "My job is to keep the faith while you sort things out." We've all been on both sides of that. I can clearly recall what those moments felt like, and the impact it had on my performance, when my leaders have had faith in me when I've been stuck or when I've stumbled. Likewise, I know I've done the same in others. As Paul says, there is no perfect. e next best thing is to focus on how tomorrow can be better than today. What stood out for me the most though was being coached by McVanel while speaking in a diff erent language. It showed the value a leader can have by being present, cu- rious and believing in the other person. Without knowing me, or what I was talking about, McVanel's solution-oriented questions such as "What do you most want?" and "What is working?" helped me re- alize something I hadn't realized before. Tracey: Yes, Silvia, the im- promptu demonstration of coach- ing technique while McVanel asked questions and you respond- ed in Spanish was one of the most memorable live demonstrations I've seen. It clearly showed how simple gestures communicate so much. We've all been told that com- munication is less about words and more about body language, but to see it in action was very powerful. It clearly underlined the point about authenticity, recognition and creating "real-ationships" (I stole your word, Jan.). And Jan, your observations about the kind of business orga- nizations we've created are right on target. Author Daniel Pink has made a handsome living by observ- ing that we humans are far more powerfully motivated by intrinsic drivers and having purpose in our work. The message is not getting through. Perhaps we are witness- ing an historical break point. Many of the challenges we face in business and society are too complex to be tackled by top-down management systems and bureaucratic organizational structures designed to support mass manufacturing. New technologies such as so- cial media and economic changes such as global trade are chal- lenging both the system and the structure. For many workers, the discon- nect is too stark and they become disengaged. Business has spent billions of dollars on leadership develop- ment, and yet organizations still struggle to fi nd the right formula to grow leaders. Harvard University's Barbara Kellerman observes that histori- cally the trajectory of leadership has been about the "devolution of power." McVanel showed us that change starts small. How we be- have towards each other matters if we want to engage minds and hearts. McVanel showed us that change starts small. How we behave towards each other matters if we want to engage people's minds and hearts.

• Cover