by Karla Brandau, CSP

How organizations can increase productivity and keep top talent

The “elephant stomp” is a popular dance in organizations. Unknowingly, with only a word or two, non-savvy managers will stomp out innovation, stomp on fledgling communication efforts all the while decreasing productivity and increasing the likelihood that top talent will stomp right out the door.

Consider Sean, the VP of sales for a mid-size company. Sean was in an executive meeting to discuss sales & marketing direction. The president asked for suggestions to improve marketability by improving existing products. Sean suggested changing a certain feature on one of their products with only an average sales record. The change had been suggested by many customers and had been relayed to him through several of his reputable sales professionals.

The VP of Research & Development was first to speak: “From and engineering perspective, that won’t work.” The Finance Director said, “Why changing that feature would be EXTREMELY costly. Why would we incur that expense?” As other people in the meeting chimed in with negative initial responses, Sean felt stomped on. His mind raced back to phrases he had heard before: “I’ll review that and get back to you” followed by absolute silence on the issue. He remembered the façade of listening: “That is a pretty good idea” paralleled with conversations leaking back to him that the manager thought it was a stupid idea. Sean wondered if he should take the idea to a small, entrepreneurial, fledgling company where a buddy worked.

Not only did he think about taking his intellectual property somewhere else, but he was unproductive and distracted all afternoon wondering how he could get other members of the management team to listen to his ideas. Precious hours of productivity were lost and other people’s work was thrown off schedule as they waited for answers from Sean.

Has this scenario ever happened in your organization?

Solutions

Savvy managers in an organization built on Culture Integrity™ increase productivity and keep top talent by stopping the “elephant stomp” and implementing the “elephant dance”. The “elephant dance” is responding to ideas with honest, straightforward discussions. Leaders refuse to let employees rubber stamp management ideas. They prefer honest, straightforward discussions on merits, benefits, liabilities and limitations of organizational choices. In these discussions, they try never to stomp on creative ideas and choose words and phrases that support innovative solutions to problems, stretch the entrepreneurial part of minds, and encourage deeper level of commitment and loyalty to the organization.

In the Culture Integrity™ environment, managers encourage frank discussions, knowing that employees will have strong, differing opinions. As the strong differing opinions are spoken, managers demand respectful dialog and ask employees not to stomp on the ideas of others, but instead take the idea to the dance floor and see what happens. The right to say what you think is the ultimate expression of individual liberty and to have that opinion respected is the ultimate compliment. Respecting opinions and listening to ideas keeps your top talent on your side and not looking over the fence at greener pastures.

Phrases that open dialog and encourage out-of-the box problem solving are:

• “Tell me more about that idea.”
• “How would you see that working?”
• “How would that improve what we are doing?”
• “How can we cost-justify that change in the equipment?”

Once ideas are voiced and opinions acknowledged, then comes the huge “elephant dance” discussion that finds the best road for the organization.

Through the “elephant dance” process of listening to the honest opinions of employees, acknowledging those ideas and using what is applicable to the problem at hand, employees feel heard and valued. Disgruntled employees become more loyal with consistent work habits that increase productivity.

Recent surveys document that as many as 60-80% of employees are unhappy at work and have the intention to seek new employment. Our training reduces the “elephant stomp” in your organization and encourages the “elephant dance” of communication. It is effective in helping you reduce the percentage of employees in your organization who want to look for greener pastures due to the great economy we are experiencing.