People Management, or in other words - ‘Hello, how are you?’

This is not the best article you will read about people management.

But this article will allow you to think about people. This is the promise.

There are millions of Leadership Training where you hear smart hints and tips about how to feedback your employees in a constructive manner or how to boost their motivation and increase engagement, or how to coach team members on their performance, etc. Hundreds and hundreds of approaches are available. Here is why: employee is human and human is a complex creature and managing human is difficult, respectively. Probably you find no news in this but let us deep-dive:

Here is thing #1

It is human to feel unsafe in many situations and circumstances. We naturally strive for safety. We try to protect ourselves from all physical and physiological threats. Now, let us go practical and link this to people management.

Can you imagine number of things a Manager should care about to achieve highly productive and motivated employee? And, who said being a Manager is easy? It is not. But, here is a thing. There is a short and a simple question, usually serving as the key to smart solutions Managers can bring to employee safety. The question is: Hello, how are you (Ann)? The more the frequency and sincerity of the question, the better - the consequences. Many employees lack hearing this question from their Direct Manager, signaling to them that they do not really care. In fact, Ann may have a problem with the printer, stressing her a lot lately; or her pet was not well yesterday and she is not in the mood; or she struggles with the current task of preparing presentation in front of the colleagues; or she feels bullied by peer about her hair color. So, how is Ann? Unsafe. Can a Manager learn about this? Yes, if Ann is bold enough to start speaking. But, if Ann is not, she will be left in uncomfortable situation which later may lead to more undesirable conditions. “How are you (Ann)?” is a magic question which can open up many concerns that Manager may not know and bring solutions to Ann’s satisfaction level, gratitude and ultimately, her performance.

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Here is thing #2

It is human to strive for self-esteem, too. We are naturally willing to achieve. We want to be valued. Now, let us go practical and link this to people management. It is better to provide stretching goals (with necessary resources like knowledge, time, budget to achieve it!) to employee rather than easy, because it allows employee to learn and grow, to prove herself, to reinforce self-esteem.

Manager: How are you Ann after the presentation?

Ann: I was a little scared. Though I rehearsed, I was shaking. I felt most comfortable with the ratios’ slide because I calculated them on my own.

Manager: You seemed nervous, which is OK as you did it for the second time. Knowing you are not very comfortable with public speaking, you have progress, especially with explaining things in a simple language. Your timing was also better. I suggest inquiring more information about the slides, prepared by other departments. This will help your confidence during Q&A session.

How is Ann after she completed the task is a simple question to ask, but unleashing a meaningful conversation leading to realizing the progress made, further improvement areas, building confidence and experiencing achievement which Employee usually awaits from a Manager. ?

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Here is thing #3

It is human to need affiliation. We naturally seek for relationships, for warmth, for trust, for friendship. These values are valuable. Now, let us go practical and link this to people management.

It has been a long time since authoritarian leadership style proved to be fueling disengagement rather than engagement. Employees tend to leave organizations because of poor management practices and one of the indicators for poor management practices is never asking the question - How are you (Ann)? Genuine interest in understanding emotional or mental state of an employee is an open door to feeding their need of affiliation. It is an opening page to building healthy relationship process, leading to trust and strong ties with the company. For example, employees who have a chance to nurture friendship in organizations are most committed to their work, according to one of the leading analytics and advisory company, Gallup. ?

When hearing recommendations, people managers often ask: how shall I do it? The answer is - start with curiosity; learn how is the employee and you will gradually receive information from where you can start bringing effective solutions for their safety, self-esteem and affiliation. Employees know best what they need to be better, feel better and work better. Solving their concerns earn their trust, commitment and high performance for businesses, in return.

What about you, how are you?