Question: Are you talking about work?

Are you talking about work? I do not mean the tasks and responsibilities that need to get done. I assume that you are and that is another discussion for another day. ?I am talking about what it is like to work on your team, in your business, for your company.

It is true people leave bosses, but what I have found is that most bosses are a reflection of the company culture. I read the other day about a company whose hiring practices were so discriminatory that hiring managers would throw away resumes if they had a female name on it. And here is the understanding of the year, “That is a bad company cultural.” ?If it has been one manager, we could excuse the company, but it was a nationwide problem and it was not being addressed.

The company culture is the unwritten rules, and behavioral norms that the employees follow. The company culture is seen in the daily interactions between employees, customers, clients and vendors. IT tells the people working in your company what is acceptable behavior and what is not.

And a lot of time it isn't discussed.

So I ask again, are you talking about work with your team?

If not, here are questions you can use to get started.

• Do you feel like you can do my best work here?
• Do you feel like you belong here?
• Do you feel like you are respected by your teammates?
• Do you feel like you can meet your career aspirations at the company?
• Do you feel like you contribute to the company’s mission?
• Do you feel like your purpose intersect with the company’s purpose?
• Do you feel like your contributions are noticed by the company’s leaders?
• Do you feel like this can be your long-term company?

Yes, I purposely added the phrase “Do you feel like…” to each one of these questions because in my experience we (managers, leaders and human resources professional) think that an employee feels respected by their team, or that the employee can see how their career aspirations can be met. But at times, the employee doesn’t feel it. This is why it is important to ask not what the company line is but how do they truly feel.

It is harder for middle managers to express their concerns because they feel it is their responsibility to tow the company line more so than even employees. This is why, having them work with external coaches where they can express their frustration and learn how to best handle it in a corporate setting is critical to an organization success.

This week’s assignment: Talk to your employees and ask them how does it feel to you to work here? What is good about it? What is frustrating about it? What would you change if you could? Asking the questions is the easy part, listening and not beginning defensive is the hard part.

I can’t wait to see how it goes.

If your team needs help having these conversations, please reach out to me and we can work out a plan to provide you insights into what is happening at your work.

Have a wonderful week.

John