Using DISC to Improve Employee Engagement

Are you sitting comfortably? I’m Nicola from The People Mentor, and today I want to talk about how you can use DISC to improve employee engagement.


Employee engagement is one of the main predictors of business success. Engaged employees are happier in their jobs, more productive, and more motivated, yet according to a Gallup report, only 15% of employees across the globe feel engaged in their jobs.
Disengaged employees are bad news for your business. A lack of engagement translates into lower morale, lower productivity, and ultimately, lower profits.


So what should you do as a small business owner to improve employee engagement?

The most important thing you can do is to show your employees that they matter. Employees are more likely to want to do well in their job, go the extra mile, and want to continue working for you if they feel valued.


To make people feel more valued and increase motivation, you could try things like giving them financial incentives or organising more social events outside of work, but the truth is that most people are motivated to do well for other reasons like they find their work interesting and challenging, or because they like to feel they’re a part of something that’s bigger than them.


Trying to find ways to increase employee engagement might seem bewildering, but there’s one useful tool you can use which can help you work out how to create a workplace where each and every employee is engaged and motivated to do their best.

The tool is DISC.


DISC theory is the study of personality traits that can give you an insight into what makes people tick, what motivates them, what their fears are, and how they are likely to behave in a conflict situation or under stress.


The theory suggests that there are four personality styles:

  • Dominance
  • Influence
  • Steadiness
  • Compliance.


Dominance personality styles are competitive and assertive. They make decisions quickly and like to be in control.


Influence personality styles like recognition and are talkative, enthusiastic, and optimistic.


Steadiness personality styles don’t like change. They are friendly, supportive, and patient people.


Compliance personality styles have very high standards and tend to be very precise.


You can imagine that being able to understand your employees in such a way will help you work out how to communicate with them better and motivate them in a way that they’ll respond positively to.

When employees feel understood on that kind of level, it makes for a much more harmonious and productive workplace, and a thriving business.


So let’s look at how you might improve employee engagement using DISC.

Your first step is that you need to know the unique personality styles of your team members. Then, follow these quick tips to improve engagement for each personality style.

With dominant personalities, you should:

  • Always be direct
  • Give them autonomy
  • Focus on results
  • Allow them to experiment with different ways of working

With an influence personality try:

  • Giving them opportunities to lead
  • Allow them to innovate and collaborate
  • Giving them a range of different tasks

With Steadiness people:

  • Give clear direction
  • Give them plenty of time to complete tasks
  • Give them a sense of security
  • Allow collaboration
  • Ask for their opinions

When working with compliance personalities:

  • Explain the purpose of the tasks
  • Listen to their opinions
  • Give them lots of facts and figures
  • Give them plenty of time to weigh up information and make decisions
  • Allow them to have some independence

As a small business owner who wants to achieve success, creating a motivating environment where employees can flourish is a great place to start.


DISC can help you understand your employees and how to help them work better, both individually and collectively, for the good of the business.

How to deal with Employee Attendance Issues as a Small Business

How to Deal with Employee Atendance Issues as a Small Business

Are you sitting comfortably? Welcome to my series of podcasts that will help you to navigate those inevitable difficult events at work that are part of being a small business owner

Today I want to talk about employee attendance.

When you run your own business, you might feel like you spend a lot of type firefighting and solving workplace issues as they arise. Whether it’s dealing with an underperforming employee or interpersonal conflict, the buck stops with you, and like many workplace issues, some have a more significant effect on a small business.

Absenteeism is no exception.  While it’s true that people get sick, emergencies happen and you should make allowances for this, if absenteeism becomes a habit, it has to be dealt with. Once it becomes a habit, or it’s seen as an accepted behaviour, it can be more difficult to deal with.

So what are the effects of absenteeism on business performance?

Firstly, employees who are frequently absent become a financial burden, whether it’s because of reduced productivity or the cost of bringing in someone to replace them temporarily. Their absence also affects morale when other employees are burdened with extra work.

Absenteeism also affects continuity. It can be hard to continue business as usual if you have to hire temporary staff and you’re unsure of their exact skill set and how quickly they will adapt to your ways of working.

I spoke about how absenteeism affects the morale of other employees; it actually does more than this. It can reduce the performance of other employees who might resent the fact that the absent employee is ‘getting away’ with being absent so frequently, and they might even try to play the system themselves.

But the absent employee can actually harm their career by being absent. An employee is hired because of their qualifications and experience, which in most cases, they are expected to develop in their time with the business. How much can a frequently absent employ be expected to develop in a way that will help your business grow?

Finally, absenteeism is a common cause of workplace conflict. If some employees are disgruntled at having to cover for others all of the time, this can cause open conflict and resentment. This can make for a tense and much less productive working environment.

How can you deal with attendance issues?

The first step is to make sure you have an attendance policy. You might not have a big HR department to deal with these issues for you, but you can put down in writing exactly what you expect in terms of attendance at work, the procedure for reporting an absence, and the procedure for dealing with frequent or chronic absence.

In the policy, deal with different types of absences like sickness absence, scheduled absence (for an operation for example), unauthorised absence, and absence in special circumstances such as bereavement or a family emergency. Mention procedures for requesting or reporting an absence and also disciplinary measures that will be taken if appropriate. Make sure the policy is written clearly, it doesn’t need to be complicated. Your attendance policy should be readily available for employees to read, and they should sign it to say they have read and understood it. Make sure they know that attendance is a shared responsibility.

But it’s not enough to just have a policy filed away in a ring binder somewhere, make sure that you enforce it. Enforcement doesn’t mean that you can’t show some empathy when someone’s child falls ill, but make provision in the policy for situations where ‘emergencies’ become a regular occurrence. For example, you could state in your policy that you’ll have a review meeting with an employee who is absent for an emergency twice in a short space of time.

The next important thing is to keep track of absences. It’s a good idea to use a time-keeping system, an employee performance tool, or a spreadsheet which allows you to see absences at a glance. This will help you to see if one-off absences are becoming a pattern. Make sure you record the reasons for absence too as this will help if you have to resort to disciplinary action.

Emergencies can happen and employees can need time off at short notice, but if an employee simply doesn’t turn up for work, address the issue as soon as possible. Try to establish communication with them and when they return to work, meet with them to talk about what happened and what is expected of them if they need time off in the future. If necessary, decide on an action plan with them which will help reinforce that you have noticed their absence or absences and that it impacts negatively upon the business.

If you do notice patterns of absence like if an employee calls in sick frequently on a Monday or a Friday, confront them with your documented evidence and try to find out why their absences fall on certain days. Don’t be accusatory. Go in with an open mind; there might be a valid reason why an employee calls in sick on certain days. Do they have trouble getting childcare on certain days, or do they have caring responsibilities for a relative? Work with them to get to the bottom of it. Could you do anything to make their working hours more flexible? It can be more difficult to accommodate needs when you’re a small business, but it can be worth the effort if it helps a valued employee.

Remember too that it’s not just about punishing poor attendance, rewarding good attendance and performance is important. When employees feel appreciated, they tend to work harder for the business and stay loyal. Why not start a quarterly attendance reward scheme, where those with the best attendance get some kind of token to show they are recognised and appreciated?

Dealing with attendance issues is never easy and you might not be able to prepared for every potential attendance scenario, but if you have a clear and fair attendance policy, track attendance patterns, address absenteeism promptly, have a plan of action for excessive absence, and reward good attendance, hopefully you’ll see a marked reduction in absence which affects your bottom line.

I hope that you got some good tips from today’s podcast, and I’ll see you next time for the next one in the series.

This is The People Mentor, signing off.

How to Deal with Confrontational Employees as a Small Business Owner

 

Are you sitting comfortably? Welcome to my Workplace series of podcasts that will help you to navigate those inevitable difficult events at work that are part of being a small business owner, Manager & Leader.  Today I want to talk about how to deal with a confrontational employee.

Confrontational and antagonistic employees are a drain on the energy and resources that should be used to run a successful business. These types of employees range from those who are passive-aggressive to those who are basically bullies. Either way, their behaviour can cause problems with working relationships and can even lead to more serious situations such as physical violence, which, it goes without saying, can all have a huge impact on a business and its people. This is why you must deal with hostile situations sooner rather than later before they become much more serious.

The confrontational person will likely annoy you more if the rest of your team gets on well and they always do their best for you and the business but don’t lose your composure, even though it may be tempting because there are ways to deal with a confrontational employee.

There is a caveat here though, confrontational behaviour should not be tolerated, especially if it’s coupled with threats of physical violence, or the behaviour is causing you or someone else emotional harm or distress. If this is the case, you’ll have grounds to terminate an employee’s employment. You must protect yourself, your other employees, and your premises. In cases of physical threats or intimidation, always inform the police.

So back to the steps you can take as a business owner, firstly, let the employee know that they can speak to you about any issues they might have. If there’s an underlying reason for them being confrontational or hostile, such as frustration with a work situation, you’ll have a chance to nip it in the bud.

When you do speak to them, be understanding but be firm. Explain that they need to be professional in the workplace and make sure that they understand how their behaviour is affecting you, the team, and the business.

It’s a good idea to note down instances where the employee’s behaviour has been hostile, whether it’s a complaint from another employee or they’ve been openly confrontational with you. This way, when you speak to them about their behaviour, you’ll have facts and they won’t feel as if you are just coming up with accusations (which is likely to make them even more confrontational).

Another good tip is to keep your feelings out of it. Even though it’s hard to deal with people who are difficult, it’s important to be objective and professional. There may be a reason for the hostility that the employee thinks is completely justifiable in his or her mind, and nothing is going to be solved if you engage in a shouting match.

Next, think about how you can help in any way. Maybe the employee has underlying issues or something stressful going on in their personal life that is causing them to overreact to situations at work. Let them know that you are available to talk and suggest counselling or other sources of help if it’s appropriate. This is a better bet than losing a good employee, who even though they can be antagonistic, might add value to your business.

Confrontation can’t always be avoided, but it can be managed-sometimes. If your employee refuses to work with you or other employees to improve the situation (and his or her behaviour), written and verbal warnings, eventually leading to termination of their employment may be the only solution you have left.

You owe it to yourself and your other employees to create a positive, productive, and harmonious working atmosphere, so if you know that you have given a confrontational employee every chance to improve their behaviour and they’ve failed to do so, you’ll have to make a hard, but necessary choice.

I hope that you got some good tips from today’s podcast, and I’ll see you next time for the next one in the series.

This is The People Mentor, signing off.

Dealing with Difficult Managers

Are you sitting comfortably? Welcome to my series of podcasts that will help you to navigate those inevitable difficult events at work that are part of being a manager.
Today I want to talk about how to deal with a difficult manager.
Having a difficult manager can really affect how you feel about your job overall, and you may even consider looking for another job. Never underestimate the negative effect that having a difficult manager can have on your mental and physical wellbeing; you can go from loving what you do to feeling sick to your stomach about going into work every day very quickly if issues aren’t addressed.
Research from Denmark has suggested that many people leave jobs not because of stress or being overworked, they leave them because of bad or difficult managers. The study of 4500 public sector workers found that workplace depression was more likely to be related to having a bad manager than being overworked.
But before you take any drastic action and leave a role you enjoy, ask yourself if there are ways that you can better deal with the manager you have.
All managers, good and bad, can teach you things about leadership, even if it’s what not to do when you’re managing people.
What makes a manager difficult?
These are just some of the traits a difficult manager might have; you might just recognise a few of them!
They have a ‘do as I say but not as I do’ attitude
They never want to get their hands dirty and delegate tasks they really should be doing
They insist on being in control of every detail, so much so that they get in the way
They never accept responsibility and blame others when things go wrong
They don’t listen to others
They tend to be generally unkind and unapproachable
Many of you probably just conjured up a mental image of a manager you’ve encountered, though fortunately, not many managers have all of these traits!
So how exactly can you deal with a difficult manager?
You can try to understand what they do and why- What do they care about? What does success mean to them? If you know what motivates your manager, you can better understand their values and priorities, which leaves less room for misunderstanding and more room for cooperation and collaboration.
The next thing is try to help your boss succeed- If all you do is point out the shortcomings of an incompetent manager, you risk making yourself feel worse about your job and it’s not going to be great for your reputation. Instead, help them out by supporting them. If your manager is disorganised, find a way to help them keep things in order, or if they tend to take an age to reply to your emails, work on tasks that you can do while you wait for a reply.
Helping someone do better can lead to more success for you; it doesn’t go unnoticed.
If being successful in your job is what you want, try not to let the fact that you have a difficult manager make you lose interest in your work or slack off. Stay focused on doing well. If you want to complain about a manager, complain to friends and family; don’t do it in the workplace. Stay positive and fully engaged in your work, even if the people around the water cooler try to draw you into conversations about how bad things are. Be professional.
It’s important to be calm and professional when dealing with a difficult manager, even if they’re shouting or resorting to being petty. You’ll learn important lessons and you never know who’s watching.
It takes far more courage to address the fact that you have issues with a manager than it does to just complain to co-workers. Speaking to the manager may not be easy, but it opens up a channel of communication, gives you the chance to voice your concerns, and offers the possibility of finding a solution. Don’t make assumptions about how they are going to take what you have to say and be respectful, and you might even be able to achieve a better level of mutual understanding.
And to achieve a better level of understanding, you can go even further and try to match your manager’s communication style. Do they prefer to communicate via email or in person? Do they like to make decisions quickly or do they prefer to take their time? Matching their communication style will improve your chances of getting heard and understood.
But if you feel that you become unable to deal with a manager, despite trying to take the high road, don’t complain to anyone who will listen. Speaking ill of others, especially those you work with doesn’t portray you in a very good light. Instead, put in a formal complaint with HR and always follow procedure. Remember to document everything that happens if you want to make a complaint. If you bring up a lot of issues but don’t have evidence to back them up it can make things more difficult for you.
You can always talk to other managers too. Bringing in an outside perspective is helpful, and it can even help to reign the offending manager in.
If after all, you decide you can no longer work with your manager and you’re looking for another role, it’s a good idea to research the culture, management, and working practices of a potential new employer before you apply for the job. Does the company seem like they have good values, and do the managers inspire people or inspire fear? It’s worth knowing just incase you end up in the same situation, or an even worse one, in your new job.
I hope that you got some good tips from today’s podcast, and I’ll see you next time for the next one in the series which looks at how to coach.
This is The People Mentor, signing off.

Dealing with Emotions at Work

Dealing with emotions at work podcast

Are you sitting comfortably? Welcome to the second in my series of podcasts that will help you to navigate those inevitable difficult events at work that are part of being a manager.

Today I want to talk about dealing with emotions at work.

The workplace can be a challenging environment at the best of times. There’s constant change, increasing workloads, and conflict to deal with, and that’s just for starters. During the course of a working day, we can experience a range of emotions, which is normal. But the way we deal with emotions determines how we perceive a situation and how much we’re affected by it. You’re always free to choose how to react.

This is why knowing how to manage and deal with emotions at work is an important skill to have, especially for managers. You can’t manage others well until you know how to manage their emotions at work, and your own.

So how do you become better at handling emotions?

Here’s some general advice;

Learn to accept emotions at work. Emotions can’t be prevented, but it’s okay to have emotions as long as they are dealt with properly. Emotions at work aren’t necessarily a weakness, they can be a strength.

Question your perceptions about a situation. Are you reacting to a situation in a certain way because you’ve already made a judgment about the person or people involved? Ask yourself whether there’s any evidence to suggest that your perceptions are correct.

Keep your emotions in check. You don’t need to avoid expressing emotions at work, but next time you experience a negative event, or you’re faced with a difficult situation, take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself what you can do to make things better, rather than just reacting. Can you see a situation from someone else’s point of view? Can you offer help? This is using emotion in a positive way by turning it into positive action.

Educate people on handling emotions. Putting on workshops or courses on how to deal with emotions is a proactive step you can take to reinforce the importance of understanding emotions and responding to them in a healthy and positive way.

Encourage engagement in the workplace. If staff are encouraged to contribute ideas and are fully engaged at work, they will be more comfortable sharing their emotions and will better understand what makes others tick.

So, they were some general tips for dealing with emotions at work. Now let’s look at the most common negative emotions that people tend to experience at work.

In 1997, Bond University in Australia conducted a study called “Emotions at Work: What Do People Feel, and How Should We Measure It?”

According to this research, there are some emotions that many people commonly experience at work. These are:

Frustration or irritation, worry or nervousness, anger or aggravation, dislike, and disappointment and unhappiness.

Let’s look at each of these in turn and think about strategies to deal with them.

Frustration or irritation often results from feeling stuck or trapped in some way. One example could be being kept on hold on the phone for a long time when you’re busy. Dealing with frustration quickly is important because it can turn into a more serious emotion like anger. How can you deal with frustration?

Well, you can stop and look at the situation. Is there anything positive you can do about it? For example, if you are being kept on hold on the phone, can you put it on speaker and carry on working while you wait?

You can also think about the situation differently and don’t take it personally. If it’s a person who’s annoying you, take heart from the fact that they probably aren’t doing it deliberately. Don’t get angry, just move on. Dwelling on feelings of frustration will only make you feel worse.

Then there’s worrying and feeling nervous at work, which will happen to everyone at one time or another. This can impact on your performance, productivity, and mental health if you allow it to get out of control. Deal with it by avoiding people who add fuel to anxieties, like talking about job cuts in the staff room for example. Try focusing on your breathing for a few moments when you feel overwhelmed which will trick your body into feeling more relaxed. You can also try writing your worries down in a notebook so they’re not going around and around in your mind.

Anger can be very destructive in the workplace and if it gets out of hand, you could find yourself in a situation where you’re in danger of losing your job. Learn to recognise the signs when you are becoming angry and remember you can choose how you react. If you feel anger building, just stop, and take a deep breath. Imagine how you appear to others when you’re angry; would you want to work with someone like that?

Hands up who has disliked someone they work with. I bet almost every one of you has been in that situation. Unfortunately, we can’t choose our colleagues, but we can choose to remain professional. Be respectful of the person you don’t like, and if they behave unprofessionally, it doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. Be courteous, but also be firm if the other person is rude towards you. Explain that you aren’t going to be treated that way and remove yourself from the situation. Take the high ground.

Lastly, if you are disappointed or unhappy, it can affect your performance at work, probably more than any other factor. If you feel disappointed because you missed out on a promotion for example, just remind yourself that things won’t always go your way in work, or in life. There’s more than one way to achieve what you want, and sometimes a perceived setback is a blessing in disguise.

If you’re unhappy at work, identifying what is making you unhappy can be the first step to solving the problem. You always have the power to change your situation.

 

Understanding and managing your emotions and those of others, is the first step to improving your emotional intelligence. Better emotional intelligence makes for a healthier, happier, and more productive workplace.

I hope that you got some good tips from today’s podcast, and I’ll see you next time for the next one in the series which looks at dealing with a difficult manager.

This is The People Mentor, signing off.