CASE STUDY 18 - People Engagement, Empathy and Leading Teams

Case Study 18 – People engagement, empathy and leading teams

I actually have a school report from an Art Teacher that basically states that I could do well in class, but I had to make a choice between the class and engaging with the people in the class. I chose people. Yet there were no report cards for people engagement.

People Engagement

There is a big difference between telling someone to do something and giving someone something to do. Bit of a hint here as to the mind sets behind each. The neurolinguistics. Telling and giving.

Most people know what is expected of them in the workplace, but sometimes need a little direction. Here are a couple of examples of what not to do and another couple with a more positive directive.

a)????? What not to do:

When in the Employment sector, I had a micromanaging boss. On one occasion, they wanted me to follow up on an email. The email was of little significance, as there was already action in play around it. But the manager was insistent. They were insistent while I was with a Job Seeker during their scheduled appointment. They stood over me while I attended to it and while my Job Seeker was cringing at the behavior. This was the tone of working under this manager. Constant demands for actions.

I had one Job Seeker who was going through a very sensitive time. My manager harangued me to badger this Job Seeker to attend a meeting. The Job Seeker; whom was overwhelmed by the harassment, asked to be given a different case manager. I obliged, but my manager would not allow it. Not long after, the Job Seeker told me they have sought legal counsel and he was not allowed to talk to me. I conveyed this to my manager. Not too long after, the manager gave me a list of phone numbers they wanted me to call. That same Job Seeker was on that list.

As part of my role, I had to ask Job Seekers who had acquired work, to submit a copy of their pay slips as evidence of employment. One Job Seeker had told me that they haven’t been paid. This went on for a couple of weeks before my manager told me that the Job Seeker was a liar and I had to acquire the pay slips. Five weeks had gone by in total with me chasing up the pay slips and my manager chasing me for action I have already taken. I had advised the Job Seeker that he should contact Fair Work. He did. On week six, he received his pay but left the company. The pay slips showed that he wasn’t lying. My manager had a belief that all Job Seekers were liars.

Despite this manager telling and demanding, I was already doing my job. They just created tension and inhibited my ability to actually do my job. It was debilitating/crippling.?

b)???? Here are a couple of examples of giving:

In the absence of management, I stepped up to lead. Rather than tell people what to do, I assessed what needed to be done and asked who would like to attend to which task.

The focus was not on telling an individual, but on identifying what work was available to the group and each of us sharing the responsibility for those tasks. Team work.

On another occasion I was put in charge of a workgroup because of the way I go about the facilitation of the workgroup. I had brought some materials to a group of casuals and instructed them as to what had to be done with them. One of the new casuals took exception to the instructions, but one of the other casuals jumped in quickly with; “Don’t worry, he is one of us”! With that, the whole mind set changed. The casual who took exception now saw the instructions for what they were. It was refreshingly warming to have another in the group acknowledge my intent and that I was not there to govern them; but assist them. I was there to give, not demand. Instruct, not tell.

Empathy

When I was finally given a chance to do Recruitment, I had demonstrated that I was a good fit. The business owner; having listened to my phone manner, stating that I “have the tone”! As first point of contact, that is critical to building rapport and helping the applicant feel at ease.

But this isn’t where I truly demonstrated rapport. On a number of occasions, in various environments I had demonstrated comprehension of what was being shared/expressed. While an acting Logistics Manager, I attended our logistics provider’s worksite. Upon having a conversation with the service provider’s team, one of them stated with a sigh of relief; “Finaly, someone who gets it!”

During an interview with a job candidate, while in Recruitment, I could see that same look in his eyes as with the previous example. This was a person who felt understood. He had asked how long I had been in Recruitment. I told them it had only been a couple of weeks. He was gob smacked; stating that “I thought you have done this for years!”

So, yeh, genuine empathy is one of my things. Not the engineered techniques. The real thing.

This is something I also used a lot while in the Employment Sector. My case load felt at ease with me. Which, is a big part of what being an Employment Consultant is all about. I loved it, but it only took one micromanager to spoil that for me. Driving me out of the industry.

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Dealing with difficult situations

a)????? When I was doing some door-to-door sales, I had booked an appointment to return to a residence and properly present the product. It started out fine. That is until the client’s face was a wash. Their mind had vacated the premises. I pondered on what I should do. If I left this person before the vail had lifted, what effect would that have on the prospective client. I sat it out because I didn’t want to abandon them.

However, they did not come back. They were schizophrenic and it was someone else who presented in that same body. They were a little confused to see me sitting at their dining table and asked; “Who are you”? I explained who I was, why I was there and that I was invited. Then followed up with; “Would you like me to leave”? They did, so I did.

Could I have stayed on and try to make a sale? Absolutely not. (While some would), It would be unethical and a disregard of dignity.

b)???? While a casual Factory Hand, I came across a very grouchy individual who displayed an intolerance for anyone who would walk into the factory. But I wasn’t buying into it.

Every Morning I would say “Good Morning, (let’s call him Frank), Frank!” To which he would reply: “What’s so good about it!” I think I either said; “I’m here!” or “You’re here!” Maybe even both. This went on for months.

One day, I unlocked my car and was having a chat with someone in the car park. There was another worker I would give a lift to the train station. We both got in the car. I looked in my revision mirror and there was Frank in my back seat. “Where are we going Frank?” “Just to the station!”

I cracked that nut.?

How did I do it? Partially persistence, but there was more to this story. Having seen casuals come and go, Frank valued competence. I was competent. While another factor was the fact that I was so competent, the Leading Hand got me to mentor another worker that had been there for years and couldn’t get their head around how to set up the back stop on brake presses, as well as needing guidance in other work processes/practices. He eventually got it under my tuition. All the while, Frank was watching. But the clincher was my contributions in Tool Box Meetings. After a while, I would put forward a point and Frank was right behind me echoing my sentiment.

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c)????? While a Casual unloading shipping containers at one client, one of my co-workers began to become abusive toward one of the client’s workers. The co-worker turned to me and asked if he was out of line. I told him he was. Having already built a report, he then turned his aggression on himself and started talking about suicide. I changed his mind set. But this isn’t the only time I have had to do this.

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While working at another client site, a co-worker; who was unloading pallets from a shipping container dropped a full pallet of passata. It looked like a murder scene. (It’s all right Andy; it’s just Bolognese”! Just a little ‘Hot Fuzz’ humor to break the tension), Anyway, this co-worker had gone on a self-blame spiral that needed interjection. So, I jumped in and pulled him out of his self-blame vortex. Yes, it was his fault. But that’s not the point. His reaction was detrimental to his mental health and he needed another voice in his head to be positively reassuring and cut through the toxic negative affirmant.

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d)???? Conversely, while in Employment Services, I had one Job Seeker who was extremely reluctant to attend his initial interview. It took a lot of work to pursued him to come in. Once he had attended, a colleague along-side my handed me her phone. As I don’t answer mine while in a scheduled meeting. The call however was something they could have managed themselves. Not for me. I then quickly explained to my colleague how to handle the call. However, my Job Seeker started to abuse my colleague; telling them they were rude. I had to redirect the Job Seeker’s attention back to me. This one required a firm hand. We didn’t have much time to get the task completed, but somehow, I managed to complete the assessment and affirm their responsibilities as a Job Seeker.

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I also had another that required a firm hand. This one kept using disempowering dialogue: “I can’t!” “I haven’t done that before; so, I can’t!” So, my job in this instance was to stimulate a different mindset that promoted an ideal whereby the Job Seeker was more open minded to more job possibilities. I was making progress until my manager jumped in and hijacked my Job Seeker.

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The bottom line with all these examples, is that empathy and people engagement is very much a strength of mine. One thing lacking in many who practice HR. Something that is needed in HR.

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If we have approach anxiety, there are only so many roles one can play in HR and all of them are in HR Administration. Other aspects of HR require people who can engage and consult with workgroups. That’s part of the job. If we fail to properly engage with workgroups, we are doing a disservice to our employer and not worthy of the role.

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