Thursday July 17, 2014
by DR MICHAEL HEAH
Question: In our recent staff morale organisational survey that was conducted, we were perplexed to discover that the findings do not have any connection with the performance results of the organisation.
The survey results revealed that our staff morale is well below our expectations. They are unhappy with their superiors, but, except for a few, are still achieving the results that the organisation wants.
This is a classic case of ‘one plus one does not equal to two’! Can you enlighten me on this?
Answer: When a survey attempts to go into too many details to measure every ‘nook and cranny’ it usually ends up measuring nothing.
The same applies to our daily lives; some parts are more important to us than others. We would not want to pay much attention to these parts.
Every area of measure carries different levels of weightage.
If, for instance, the same weight is attached to the leadership style and the cleanliness of the manager’s room, you will get some confusing results if the manager scores an ‘A’ for good leadership style and an ‘E’ for room cleanliness. I think this is what has happened in your situation.
If the survey is really meant to measure the manager’s effectiveness as a leader, then you’ll need to confine the survey areas to the few key factors that have a huge impact on morale, relationship and performance.
The areas could be: role modeling of what they preach, clarity of expectations, support given to staff, and the efforts made to develop them. This will take into account what matters most.
Powerful questions you can ask yourself:
• What is your vision of an ideal leader?
• What do you want others to see them doing?
• How can you communicate these to the managers beforehand?
• How can you support them for displaying good results?
Article by Dr Michael Heah, an ICF Master Certified Coach with www.corporate-coachacademy.com