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Training Soapbox: Carrots in a Crisis
January 22, 2009
Great leaders use recognition as a way to build confidence, focus employees on the right behaviors, and retain and engage their key people—especially during tough times such as these.
By Chester Elton
The economy may have your business down, but does it have you down, too? When recession, competition, or any other crisis strikes your organization, do your fingers reach for the panic button? It's human nature. Instinctively, as leaders, we might want to curl up in fetal position and wait until the storm passes. But when fear and doubt replace employee trust and encouragement, panic escalates fast.
It's too bad, because the key to getting through trouble is right in front of you: your people.
Great managers know their teams have the energy, ideas, and commitment to get the company out of troubled waters. After all, they are the same people who made the organization strong in the first place. But when managers shut down—when they stop communicating and encouraging their people—it sends a message:
Brush up your resume.
Great leaders, instead, use recognition as a way to build confidence, focus employees on the right behaviors, and retain and engage their key people, especially during tough times.
The airline industry knows all about turbulence, so to speak. The entire industry is flying into strong, economic headwinds these days. We recently spoke to the senior leadership group of regional airline SkyWest. Russell "Chip" Childs, president and COO of SkyWest Airlines, explained how soaring fuel prices and other serious competitive factors have forced all of their 11,000 employees to look for ways to act more efficiently. But, he added, in these difficult times their airline would increase—not decrease—its focus on recognition. He explained it was SkyWest's unique culture and dedicated people who would carry them through the turbulent economy; and personal, specific recognition was essential to keeping their people engaged.
We also listened to SkyWest, Inc. Chairman and CEO Jerry C. Atkin, who said, "It's a simple formula. We need to take better care of customers than anyone else, which means we need to take better care of our employees."
SkyWest's People VP Lori Hunt then explained that the focus on appreciating employees was one of the priorities that emerged during a recent assessment and survey process. In fact, taking time to assess your workforce situation and then developing plans to improve engagement is a best practice among those wishing to thrive during any crisis.
SkyWest's leadership wisdom is rare. But these executives realize the bottom line for any company in turmoil—recession, merger, organizational or system change, competition, etc.—is that recognition done right can inspire employees to engage in the cause of your organization and understand their important role in its long-term success.
So, in the current landscape of crisis, do yourself a favor. Sit down. Take a deep breath. Look around you. Yes, there are challenges, and they may seem overwhelming. But as you look around, see the people who can help the organization survive and, with a little recognition and encouragement, do more than survive: thrive.
Chester Elton is senior vice president of the O.C. Tanner Company and co-author of New York Times best-seller "The Carrot Principle."
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