The Supervisory Relationship is the Key to Employee Engagement

I begin this blog with a declaration that I intend to validate throughout the body of this entry: The key to employee engagement is emotional commitment which is in turn most closely linked to discretionary effort. Rewards, transactional positive reinforcement (supervisor occasionally using verbal reinforcement), and incentives in general do not change behavior in the long term; the biochemistry of the brain—serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters—the chemicals of employee engagement, of emotions and learning—are most effectively catalyzed through ongoing manager activities and attributes. Reinforcing work dialogs, which in turn build reinforcing manager-employee relationships, are the most effective means of eliciting employee emotional commitment to the job and the organization.

In 2004, the Corporate Leadership Council published a study—Driving Employee Performance and Retention through Engagement: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Employee Engagement Strategies. They surveyed 50,000 employees in 59 organizations within 27 countries. These data support the results of many other studies on employee engagement: Individual acts of reward and reinforcement do not compensate for a negative relationship with one’s organization or one’s manager. The best way to achieve emotional commitment from employees is through the creation of an emotionally nurturing organizational environment—a “reinforcing environment,” a history of reinforcement--a reinforcing relationship.

Neuroscience and neuropsychologists—through new technologies like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission topography (PET), and wave analysis can study reward and fear centers in the brain—in real time. The results of their research are finally being translated into management practices. The March, 2008, issue of H.R. Magazine has an article entitled, “The Brain at Work.” The article describes what happens in the brain when we have differing experiences at work—when someone says or does something positive or does something we don't like.

The article reports that when employees experience “social fairness and respect,” the neurotransmitter serotonin is released in the brain’s “reward pathway” creating a sense of well being in much the same way drugs and alcohol do. The association between a pleasant sensation and an environmental stimulus (someone saying or doing something we like) conditions a positive association with the stimulus (the person who said or did something we like). We feel good about that person—the positive emotion that facilitates emotional engagement.

When we are exposed to positive stimuli—when serotonin is coursing through our axioms and dendrites—the brain is in a positive mode to think, decide, create, and learn. Negative stimuli—someone criticizing, mocking, berating, or disrespecting us—create an opposite effect; our brain falls into a fetal position and its efficiency is crippled. Learning is facilitated by the neurotransmitters that are secreted when employees are provided some ownership in change processes; if they are told what to do, facilitative connections are repressed and resistance is evoked. Neuroscientists seem to be corroborating what our intuition tells us.

Since positive emotions are associated with high levels of employee engagement, and subsequently discretionary effort, it is clear that effective positive reinforcement enables that emotion-building process. Although the article states that “social fairness and respect” create serotonin-induced positive emotions, the author neglects to point out that social fairness and respect are abstract concepts which cannot be directly observed. Only the verbal behavior that represents them can be directly seen, heard, and perceived. I only know that you are fair if you “say or do” (a behavior) something that I hear and interpret as fair; that’s when the neurotransmitters start to flow.

My perceptions of being fairly treated and respected are cumulative; if you say 10 thoughtlessly critical things to me, one positive comment does not lead me to feel respected. Many organizations are trying to use rewards and recognition strategies and management positive reinforcement policies to compensate for negative organizational strategies and policies or for dysfunctional supervisory-employee relations--circumstances that create negative employee emotions and disengagement. In the end, it does not work. It is expensive and you add a new problem; the institutionalization of tactics that do not solve your original problem and money off the bottom line.

A supervisor, manager or leader is in a pivotal position to compensate for punitive organizational policies and practices through diplomatic verbal comments—using reinforcing work dialogs. Similarly, supervisors with poor interaction skills can destroy the well-intended efforts of organizations who have committed to positive employee strategies and policies. Conversely, a supervisor is well positioned to help employees sidestep the negativity of a toxic organization. No matter what you do to make your organization one that fosters employee engagement, the failure to create meaningful dialogs between your supervisors and employees will restrict your best efforts. The issue will not go away.

The Reinforcing Work Dialogs I have been discussing in the past few blogs are a powerful tool for creating employee emotional engagement in the organization. They provide a vehicle for continuous, interactive, participative feedback and communication from one’s supervisor or manager. The dialogs provide a comfortable, credible context for positive reinforcement—positive comments about employee performance and contribution—for demonstrating respect for the person and valuing of his or her job.

Positive reinforcement, properly delivered, is a continuous source of performance-encouraging, relationship-building serotonin. The neurology of fairness and respect reside in one’s history of interactions with one’s boss. Sparse contact, little or no communication or feedback, autocratic social style—all this creates a context that makes transactional reinforcement (the occasional positive comment about one’s job) destructive instead of constructive.

The reinforcing relationship created by effective work dialogs, creates the foundation to optimize employee emotional engagement and to support and facilitate all the key employee engagement drivers. It provides supervisors with an opportunity to reinforce discrete contributive behaviors--one behavior at a time.

How to Deliver Positive Reinforcement That Works!

Most supervisors want to be well-liked by their employees. Many of us don't have a likable personality; we are not well suited to be supervisors. We either don't have the social skills or we are too impatient or we are too perfectionistic. But, we have the job and we're doing our best.

We're told supervisors who get the highest levels of performance from their employees use positive reinforcement (R+). The problems is, positive reinforcement does not work--your efforts to R+ someone are not effective--if you have a poor relationship with the person you are trying to R+. Your relationship with an employee does not improve just because you try to positively reinforce them.

There is a way to build your relationship with employees and deliver positive reinforcement at the same time; you can follow a self-development strategy that I outline below and achieve both objectives simultaneously. For instance, suppose you see an employee doing something good, you see Allison walk over and remind Dave to stand in a different position while he is working. Currently, he is standing in the line of fire. If the valve he is closing were to experience a surge in hydraulic pressure, it might blow the seal and send the handle shooting at him like a bullet. So he needs to stand along side the valve, not in front of it.

This is great! The behavior-based safety system your company has been implementing over the last two months is working. An employee is looking out for a co-worker. That’s what it’s all about. So you do what your consultant has taught you to do, you walk over immediately and say to Allison—“I saw you help Dave by asking him to move out of the line of fire. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to help him. That will prevent a possible injury and our safety data will look good this month. Good job.”

You’re feeling pretty good about this--thinking your consultant would be proud if she had seen you deliver this positive reinforcer. That was a great example of verbal positive reinforcement—you have to admit it.

But, something is wrong; Allison doesn’t look all happy and flattered and satisfied. She has been positively reinforced; she’s supposed to look happy and appreciative. That’s what the book says; that’s what the consultant says. Why doesn’t she look like she liked it? She actually has a sarcastic expression on her face. You think, "I knew this positive reinforcement stuff was not going to work for me. Well, I not doing it anymore; it's not me--it's not my style."

The preceding scenario is played out every day where supervisors are trying to change their approach--where they are trying to have a more positive impact on the performance of their employees. The response Warren received is one of the reasons that it is so hard for supervisors to develop the R+ habit. When they first attempt to use positive reinforcement with an employee, they have a negative experience—it is punitive for them.

Books about how to use positive reinforcement can make it sound easy; you see an employee doing something outstanding—a behavior that adds-value, that keeps a coworker safe, that avoids a problem, that ensures quality--then you say something positive about what they did. The employee will be encouraged to behave in that way more often. R+ing people for extra effort means you will see more extra effort.

There are a few factors that explain why this simply model of positive reinforcement (R+) does not always work:

1. Your history with that employee has been negative. You have not said positive things in the past; you have been over-critical of the employee. You have no relationship with the employee; you have only talked to them when there was a problem.
2. You do not know how to say positive things about the work of others; you have never done it and think they should be doing their best without any reinforcement. When you attempt to make positively reinforcing statements, it always feels uncomfortable, like you are reading from a script. Both you and the employee are uncomfortable.
3. This employee, like many who work for you, does not appear to like attention. Words of praise seem to embarrass him or her. You think they are afraid that other employees will think they are trying to be the supervisor’s-pet. They may be afraid of being rejected by their peers if you say positive things to them.
4. Everybody thinks you are being fakey. You used to be quiet and only talk to employees when they needed instructions or they made a mistake. Since the behavior-based safety initiative started, you have started saying positive things to people about their safe behavior and they think you are only doing it because the program requires that you do it. They don’t trust your motives.

If we could overhear Allison talking with her friend and coworker, Barb, in the break area after your attempt to R+ her we might hear some thing that would help us understand why she looked unresponsive to Warren.

“Barb, did you see Warren come over and talk to me about an hour ago?”

Barb is preoccupied with “General Hospital,” but she tries to look enthusiastic for Allison’s sake.

“Oh yeah, I saw him headed in your direction and wondered how bad you’d screwed up.”

“Well, that’s what I thought when I saw him coming; I kept thinking—what’d I do this time?”

“Well, what’d you do?” Barb was getting interested now; she started really listening and ignored the soap opera on the TV—it was one of her favorites, but this had all the signs of juicy-gossip that could be repeated to her other friends.

“Turns out I didn’t do anything wrong. He wanted to compliment me because I told Dave to get his ass out from in front of that valve he was working on.”

Barb knew Dave had been here so long he was getting sloppy about the safety rules. He had never been hurt so he thought he was superman or something.

Barb said, “Well, I’m glad you’re looking out for him, he needs a safety momma.”

“Shut up. I saw you telling that new guy how to fill out the observation sheet yesterday.”

“Yeah, but he’s cute and he ain’t old as a dinosaur—and he don’t have unsafe habits yet.”

“Well anyway, Warren is going through this little speech that the new consultant gave him you see, and I’m thinking he must be squirming on the inside ‘cause he never had much to say before this. So I know he’s in new territory—doing all this talking.”

Barb knew what Allison meant. “Yeah, he never had anything to say to me before unless it was to tell me something I messed up or I was going to have to work overtime or something like that.”

“Well, I didn’t make it easy on him. I had an expression on my face like I smelled something bad and he noticed. I don’t care what kind of lessons he is getting from that new consultant—she should have been here a few years back when he got promoted; he needed some lessons back then.”

Barb said, “Yeah, I don’t trust him—getting nice and attentive all of a sudden. He’s ignored all the good things we’ve done over the years and now, all of a sudden he’s seen the light?”

Allison thought he might be going for the Employee of the Month Award, except they stopped that last year because all the employees had gotten it at least once and it was getting old.

If Warren had heard this conversation, he would have understood exactly what they were talking about. He knew that was not a great supervisor; he had some negative habits. The only time he talked to his employees was when there were instructions to hand out or a problem to discuss. Warren also knew that they would be suspicious of him saying anything positive about their work, but he was trying to get over his anxiety. He wanted to get on better terms with his employees. He wanted to try to use positive reinforcement, but they weren’t making it easy—looking at him all funny every time he tried to make a positive comment about their work.

Supervisor and managers are told that they need to R+ their employees, but they are not told how to change their own behavior—how to use positive reinforcement in a manner that does not create credibility issues, raise questions about their agenda or make them feel ridiculous. Nobody teaches them how to get over the R+ blues--how to overcome the anxiety of saying new things to your employees.

Most of us do not have a history of positively reinforcing those around us; we do not consciously apply R+ to our peers, boss, employees, children, customers, or people on the street. We want people to do certain thing more often; we want others to do things we like, that benefit us, more frequently. We even know how to make that happen. Positively reinforce the behavior and the behavior will happen more often in the future -- that's what research tells us.

Looking for errors, making critical comments, being "bossy" and telling people what to do, not listening--these are all negative verbal habits that take years to develop. Your subordinates tolerate this, because they have to; they don't like this kind of behavior and if they can transfer or find another job they will often choose to leave. Positive reinforcement--seeing the value-added, noticing improvement, commenting on employees' strengths--this style of supervision can become a habit that replaces other less desirable habits. But scripted positive reinforcement statements will not do the trick. It's not natural.

Nobody ever told us that even though we use verbal reinforcement—even though we say positive things and try to say them in the right way—they may not be well received. The new verbal behavior we are practicing conflicts with our behavioral history—we have old habits; we’re trying to develop some new habits.

So, how does a supervisor who has been quietly inattentive or loudly negative change their style and behave like a positive supervisor--naturally. Well, if you have read my past blogs, you know that it goes something like this. When you learn about the value of positive reinforcement, and you know that it is the right way to get the highest levels of performance from you employees and you start trying to use it, follow the sequence presented below and you will develop R+ as a natural habit.

The Best Method for Delivering Positive Reinforcement

1. You don't have to start saying positive things (attempting positive reinforcement) immediately. Start your self-development process by going out to talk with your employees every day or two. Your objective is to ask them a question and "listen." Make it specific—about something that is relevant to their jobs: “Did the tech guys get by to work on that computer problem you were having?” “Did purchasing let you know if they can get those parts in by next week?” “Can Maya cover for you next week so that you can take your daughter to the doctor?” “Is there anything I can do to help today?”—ask a credible question. Make it brief. Start getting comfortable with brief encounters.
2. After your employees are comfortable with your informal visits, start extending the discussions by asking more questions about their work. What do they need? What barrier to performance can you help they remove? Slowly work up to longer conversations. Pay attention to their non-verbal behavior. If they appear anxious or uncomfortable, cut it short. As they become more comfortable talking with you about the work and their job, draw them out. Do more listening than talking. Nod you head to show that you are breathing. Practice your active listening skills.
3. When your employees are comfortable with work discussions, occasionally make a positive remark about something they have done. Comments like, “That will work,” or “It’s a good start,” or “We got to try to do it that way every time,” or “OK,” or “That’s going to save us a bunch of time.” Make it brief. Mention what they did and the effect it had on their job or the department or the product. Keep it short.
4. Extend your work discussion; give them more positive feedback and some neutral comments (tomorrow, you will need to make that change about 2:00 PM.) By this time, you should be able to talk openly with them without creating suspicion. You have had many discussions about their work, their job, the department, etc. You are building trust.
5. Finally, when it is appropriate when you have developed a relationship with an employee, then you can interject comments about things they can or should change to improve their performance. Don’t throw a bunch of stuff that you have been sitting on at them at one time. Balance your work discussions. Positive comments (positive feedback), neutral comments (factual stuff about the job) and one or two corrective comments.

As you go through this self-development process, you need to pace it in accord with the employee’s readiness. They will give you non-verbal cues that tell you how comfortable they are. When the comfort is there, move to the next level. You are not on a schedule, so take your time; move at a pace that is comfortable for you and the employee.

During this series of steps, the employees will be changing their expectations for you—building comfort, building trust, reducing their suspicions about your intentions—your agenda. Your comfort level with your own behavior will change as well. When you are ready, when it feels right--when it feels natural--start experimenting with short, positive expressions of satisfaction and appreciation about the employee’s performance. At this point, you have developed a reinforcing relationship with them, and when you attempt to R+ them for a behavior it will have the desired effect.

Positive reinforcement works with employees who trust you, when the employee is not suspicious about your motives—when your comments about their work (the behavior that deserved reinforcement) are reasonable. Short, factual, accurate observations about job performance are acceptable to employees. They need to get both positive and negative feedback about their work; it is the only way they can continuously improve.

Learning how to use positive reinforcement--making R+ a natural habit takes time. A supervisor, manager or leader must have a self-development plan in place to make the change. The 5 step development plan I presented above, will work for anyone. We are all suspicious of "quick" changes in people's behavior. When change happens incrementally--over time, it seems natural, substantive, and real.

Preparing for Management Self-Development

In my last blog, Engaging Supervisory Interactions, I presented the rationale for having productive conversations with your direct reports. Most supervisors will have to gradually develop the ability to talk with employees in this manner; it is a new skill set for most of us. If you are fortunate enough to work for a company that implements an initiative surrounding this process, it will be much easier.

I recently spent several days in a manufacturing plant in America—in a company that says and does all the things fashionable to create employee engagement. As I had occasion to talk with the front line employees, they expressed dissatisfaction in regard to supervisory interpersonal behavior. The supervisor’s peers corroborated the employee’s concerns.

Because it was a rural manufacturing site, employees treasured their jobs; the site had almost zero turnover because this was the only employer around that paid decently. Supervisors recognized that employees were highly motivated to keep their jobs. Supervisors who had a punitive supervisory style had no motivation to change or improve their interaction habits; employees tolerated the behavior because there was no other place to work. If they had other employers to choose from, they would leave.

Trying to implement a rewards and recognition or positive reinforcement system in this kind of environment is futile. Beneath the rhetoric, smiles and positive talk, the employees sense a deep hypocrisy; management talks the talk, but they do not walk the walk. Employee engagement and employee performance potential will never be fully realized in this environment.

The most critical component of a rewards culture is the relationship that exists between supervisor and employee. This is where the system breaks down, and climate surveys reflect broken systems throughout the nation. Employee engagement is only an illusion until supervisors know how to create real partnerships with employees--partnerships with mutual respect – collaboration, unity, and a mutual commitment to the company’s mission.

Many progressive companies survey their employees and use the information for supervisory/management development, promotions, bonuses, and raises. In these environments, the consequences for subtle abuse – for disrespecting employees by word or deed, is highly probable. The transparency of their interactive style encourages supervisors to either develop positive interpersonal skills or face frustration and ultimate job performance failure.

Assuming that you have concrete, effective checks and balances in place that motivate supervisors and managers to work on their interaction skills, and that you have feedback mechanisms in place to provide them with quantitative information about the effect their verbal and non-verbal behavior has on others, then you are prepared to move through the 5 step process. Keep in mind, that a frontline supervisor’s boss should be using the 5 step self-development process himself or herself. So, the supervisor’s boss will be talking with the supervisor frequently, giving him or her positive reinforcement for their interactive behaviors; they should be going through the same self-development process.

Preparing the Environment for Management Self-Development

The best way to start any change effort is to involve the employees. Gather your employees together and explain the objectives of the change initiative – what you will be doing differently, the benefits to them, and the role they can play. Management and supervisory anxiety and resistance to change is reduced when organizational change tactics are clear and employee suspicion has been removed through effective communication and participation.

The 5 step self-development process is accelerated in a business unit where upper management (or department management) brings all the employees together to communicate and more importantly to involve them in the process. The structure of this meeting is dependent on the culture, climate, trust levels, history of employee involvement in problem solving and improvement, and labor relations, to name a few.

You can begin the kickoff meeting by telling employees that starting next week, supervisors will be stopping by to talk with them more often. The reasons for increased contact are to:

• Discuss safety issues that are causing you concern. Conditions, equipment—anything that you perceive as a risk to you or your coworkers
• Opportunity for you to get faster, more accurate information about what is going on in the department and business unit that might effect you or your work
• Discuss any problems you may be having with your equipment, the availability of performance-critical information, the tools you need to do the job effectively
• Talk with your supervisor about things that are going well; identify new ways of doing things that could be shared with others to help make a better product (or deliver better service or satisfy customers better)
• Have a discussion with you that helps him or her understand how our processes and systems may be helping or hindering your work
• Discover real-time adjustments that need to be made to avoid anticipated problems that your experience allows you to foresee
• Help your supervisor anticipate situations that may require the system wide, immediate involvement of other work groups or departments and take action

You might also lead into an exercise that involves everyone in the process as follows:

There are a lot of benefits to all of us for knowing more about what is going on -- problems that are evolving and opportunities to improve our systems and processes. More timely, open discussions will help us identify barriers to performance and resolve them more quickly.

In the next few weeks, we will be trying to determine the most important points to cover when we talk with you. We will need your help in assuring that we focus on things that are important in helping you get the job done. We hope to create a mutually beneficial discussion that helps us work together more effectively.

You can help us get a good start on this. At each table there is a tablet and pin; if one person would be the scribe, please brainstorm a list of things that you might want to cover routinely when your supervisor stops by to talk. Think about the times when you have had an improvement idea that you thought would make your job work better, or when you have had a need for something that would help you. Maybe our current processes or procedures are creating a problem and they need overhauling to make them better.

Safety is an important to us we want you work in a comfortable, secure environment. We want to know when the equipment, a task, or hazardous conditions pose a threat to your safety. Maybe you wanted maintenance to check on something but you didn’t want to go through the procedure for getting them there. Or, you need a tech guy to keep from losing valuable time, but you know it will be two days before he gets to you.

We want to identify what’s working; we want to know our strengths. So, please take a few minutes and put down a list of things that you think will help us become more successful. Tamara and Russell will be moving around the tables to coach you through any problems you may be having. Thanks for your help.

If you are a supervisor or manager attempting personal development, you may not have the advantage of a leadership sponsored company initiative to create a climate that supports your efforts. You can still be successful if you follow the self-development steps. The change process I have developed is directed toward supervisors who have been negative in the past, but have decided to develop positive management habits. Negative managers – toxic bosses – anyone who feels that they have been doing things one way and they want to try another, have nothing to be ashamed about.

No one chooses to behave in ways that create problems for them. Supervisors who have an ineffective style have a learning history that created that style. It is not about bad people and good people; it is about learning. Supervisors, managers, and leaders can relearn – they can change verbal behavior and change the effect they have on their employees and others around them. The steps we are reviewing create a nurturing environment that guarantees successful behavior change.

I would encourage any supervisor, manager or leader to consider self-development as job security. The world of work is going to continue to reward supervisors who can create productive partnerships with their employees. Supervisors who can create reinforcing relationships with their employees are more profitable to the organization. Their employees have fewer injuries, lost time, absences, better quality, service and timeliness. Supervisors who encourage discretionary effort through effective, positive interactions are valuable assets. Generation Y is accelerating the need for supervisors and managers who can build positive relationships with their reports – who can provide positive and corrective feedback in a positive way.

In my next blog, I will present 5 steps to self-development.