By Randy Hain

One of the many things I admire about my father Steve is his consistent habit of complimenting good work, encouraging others and sincerely sharing gratitude. He is now 85 and over the course of his long life, I witnessed countless times him telling the people he encountered in his daily travels when they were doing a good job with specifics about what he observed that inspired him to offer his compliment. He would also often ask to speak with their manager when possible and let them know what a good job the employee was doing. He would always strive to offer a warm smile, be patient and encourage people who may be new in their job or struggling in some way. His old school comments of “You are doing just fine.” or “Keep at it, I know you can do it.” provided kind reassurance we rarely hear anymore. Finally, he has always been the most grateful guy I know. He never fails to let people know how appreciative he is to everyone from his old work colleagues before he retired to the check-out person at Publix or the team member at Chick-fil-A who sells him his coffee. Having observed my father in action over the years, I have seen with my own eyes the positive impact he has had on others through their smiles and heartfelt appreciation for his kind words.

As inspiring as it might be, this post is not the story of a kind older gentleman who has spent his adult life being a good human to the people he encounters each day. I shared this brief observation about my father because what he does so effortlessly and authentically is a powerful and much-needed example for all of us in today’s business world. I am concerned that we are forgetting the timeless importance of my father’s mindset and the need to positively interact with our work colleagues at all levels of the organization. I don’t often observe consistent behavior like this from leaders and aspiring leaders. It certainly exists, but seems sporadic at best.

The Great Disconnect

If you are reading this post, regardless of your job title or generation, you have been the “new person” at some point in your career. We all know what it is like to start a new job after college, be assigned to a new team or switch jobs and join a different company. Maybe this was a great experience for you…maybe not. Under the best of circumstances, starting your professional career or entering a new company environment can be difficult to navigate for the first few years and we all could use a helping hand. In today’s U.S. workforce, all generations of employees (especially Generation Z) are feeling more disconnected than ever. According to a 2023 survey by Gallup, only 33% of U.S. employees felt engaged at work: “Employees still feel more detached from — and less satisfied with — their organizations and are less likely to connect to the companies’ mission and purpose or to feel someone cares about them as a person.”

What can leaders do?

If you will indulge me, I would like to share a very simple take on the role of leader: the role of a leader is to coach, guide, and inspire others to do their best. That’s it. This basic definition has guided me my entire career and as much as I love to read books on leadership to expand my understanding of the subject, I keep coming back to this clear and basic take as my guiding light. Many leaders I encounter today may intellectually agree with me, but are often struggling to overcome these three obstacles:

  1. Prioritization. Leaders are faced with a barrage of business issues each day. It is easy to get hyper-focused on the broken process, poor revenue numbers, launching the new product, etc. But can any of these be improved or accomplished without good people doing great work? An old boss of mine told me many years ago that the number one responsibility of a leader is to focus on “getting the people right”…everything else follows in terms of importance. Where does engaging, inspiring and developing your team members sit on your list of priorities each day?
  2. Time. If we are struggling with prioritization, we are likely struggling with time. Most leaders I know are in often unproductive meetings the majority of the workday. If we want to change, we have to be intentional and willing to try new approaches to creating time and space on our calendars. When do we meet 1:1 with each direct report? When do we conduct skip level meetings with more junior team members? Do we create time for “managing by walking around” and showing up to visit our team members on the front lines? Are we sincerely seeking candid feedback on how we can be better leaders? Are we asking the right questions? Listening to their needs? Do they know we care? Are we investing in their development? TIP: Looking for guidance on better time management? Read this post.
  3. Finding an approach that works. The bigger the organization, the bigger the challenge for leaders to have meaningful interactions with their team members. A senior executive leading a 300-person organization will likely struggle to have frequent 1:1 meetings with every employee. That is obvious. Here are a number of effective approaches I have observed from effective senior leaders to combat the disconnectedness and lack of engagement in their teams and companies:
  • Town Halls. Frequent use of town hall meeting formats with small groups and the whole organization on a quarterly basis. Don’t over script the events and allow plenty of time for audience participation/Q&A.
  • Weekly communication. Find your medium. Some of my clients do a weekly 90-second video clip and others stick to an email format, but they are sure to personalize it, talk about key priorities, cast vision, and inspire. They find a way to be vulnerable which is one of the most attractive traits of a leader.
  • Get your Assistant to organize skip-level 1:1 meetings every month. Perhaps a goal of meeting 5-10 people a month 1:1 from the newest employee to someone who reports to your directs? Ask questions and carefully listen in these 1:1 conversations. Make it psychologically safe for them to be open with you. People feel valued when they feel heard. Share your appreciation for their efforts.
  • Host monthly lunches and coffee meetings with small groups of team members you infrequently encounter. This approach works with virtual teams as well.
  • Expect more from your direct reports. Hold them accountable for the same activities you are trying to do yourself and for teaching their directs to do the same. Make this an ongoing topic of leadership team meetings and your 1:1 meetings with your directs to encourage implementation and practice. The most effective and successful senior leaders I know enthusiastically embrace the roles of coach and mentor for their teams and they teach/encourage their direct reports to do the same.

It is easy to look at this problem of workplace disconnectedness and feel overwhelmed. The issue is complicated and this brief post barely scratched the surface on how we can move forward. Perhaps, we can make meaningful progress by simply returning to the basics. Maybe my father’s lifelong practice of noticing and complimenting good work, patiently encouraging people who are new or struggling and sharing his sincere gratitude with a warm smile are all the inspiration you and I need to make a positive difference each day in the lives of those we encounter at work and in our personal lives. He has always known something profound that today’s leaders should more carefully consider: team members want to be heard, they want to be encouraged, they want to know we care about them, they want to know what they do matters and they want to be appreciated. Maybe, just maybe, my dad figured out long ago how to solve the problem of disconnectedness in the workplace.

Lesson learned…I hope we will all make the effort to emulate his approach and the other ideas I shared in the days ahead.

Good luck.