Workers morale plunges because ...

For those of you that are regular readers of this newsletter, the front page article in this Monday’s issue of USA Today will come as no surprise. Either way, please take heed of what the article says.

The headline is: “Workers antsy as morale plunges – But employers think everything is just fine.” Some of the things the article states are: Employee loyalty is at a three-year low, but many employers are precariously unaware of the morale meltdown. Businesses are understandably focused on expenses but they’re taking their eye off the ball with human capital issues, notably what drives employee satisfaction and loyalty.

As a result of employers not focusing on the people that run their businesses, as we talk about all the time, the article states that fed-up workers are seeking greener professional pastures and more than 1 in 3 hope to find a new job this year. What’s sad for these employees is that they likely won’t find those seemingly greener pastures any greener.

What’s sad for the employers who are unaware of this reality is stated clearly in the article: that the impending exodus could wallop employers who have to pay for recruiting and training replacements, as well as deal with lost productivity as they seek personnel.

I hope the solution is evident. It’s a reality of life that people don’t care about you until they know you care about them. If you are reading this as an employer, get to work letting your employees know you care about them and their future. Keep them informed. Encourage open communication. Ask them what they want out of their jobs and how you can help them achieve their goals. Share with them your vision for the future and ask them what role they would like to play in its fulfillment. Treat your employees like the most valuable asset of your organization, because the fact of the matter is, they are.

If you are reading this as an employee and your employer isn’t doing the above, send them a copy of this article. Better yet, go talk to them about it. It’s only the ego voice of fear that tells you you’ll get fired if you open your mouth. Not true. Most employers appreciate hearing what they could do better. And you know what: if you get fired trying to help, that should convince you there really are greener pastures waiting for you!

The viciousness of the ego

I continue to be stunned by the viciousness of the ego and how determined it is to sabotage people. You do know by now that the ego is vicious and does not have your best interests at heart. Correct? If not, you really do need to wake up to this reality. The ego is suspicious at best and vicious at worst. The more you try to free yourself from its grip, the more vicious it becomes.

For example, the ego loves being in control of your life. It will do anything to keep you ignorant of how great your life really could be and, if you run a company, how fabulous and successful you could be if you stopped listening to its conversation of fear and scarcity. And fear and scarcity are its dominant messages. As long as that conversation is running you, it will do anything to keep you in your comfort zone.

Every time I get to speak to a large convention, this aspect of the ego demonstrates itself big time. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke in Louisville, KY, at the Pumper and Cleaner International Environmental Expo. Over 12,000 people in this business came from all over the world to learn and see the latest equipment in their field. I did 5 hours of workshops and spoke to many hundreds of people.

Since my commitment is to represent the voice of hope and possibility, the opposite of the voice of the ego, it didn’t surprise me that over 40 people expressed interest in the work we do in organizations and gave me their cards with a request to follow up with them. But predictably, it didn’t take long before the ego voice of fear took over and all the hope, possibility and excitement that got generated in my sessions disappeared.

The vast majority of people, when called to follow up as they requested, simply didn’t take our phone calls. Those that did, because the ego had not fully taken over yet, actually had conversations with us and about a half dozen agreed to a course of action which would have made a huge difference in their lives and in their companies. But by the time the contract arrived, the ego was in full charge and they all backed out. So in the final analysis, of the over 40 people who got excited about our message of hope and possibility, all but two sold out to the ego.

Is the ego really that vicious? Is it really that committed to being in charge of your life and keeping you stuck in your comfort zone? You had better believe it. Which is why over 90% of the people on this planet spend their entire life and nothing changes. I truly hope you’re not one of them.

More on difficult people

In last week’s post, in discussing how to deal with difficult people, I explained the following:

When a human being wakes up, a conversation boots up that determines how the human being operates and what it can do. For the vast majority of people, the conversation is that of the ego and, as Deepak Chopra says, the ego mind believes you are an isolated individual trying to survive in a hostile world. Wow. Said another way, when we listen to the voice of the ego, it has us believe that you are over there, I am over here, we are separate and you are the enemy.

There are many other things you want to know about the ego’s conversation, all of which further explains the behavior of many people. Everyone has a conversation about themselves. That conversation is formed mostly from the early childhood messages we receive which, unfortunately, are mostly negative and critical. The ego latches on to these messages and generates a conversation that has three themes: I’m not good enough, I’m not worthy, and I’m not loved.

If you are a human being, you have that conversation playing in the background. The ONLY question is: how loud is it and how much do you listen to it. What you can generally conclude about “difficult people” is that this conversation is loud and they listen to it.

So what does a reasonably intelligent person do when they think they are not good enough? They adapt and a very common adaptation is to become very aggressive, so you don’t see what’s going on with them, and to put others down and be critical of them to somehow make themselves feel better by comparison.

Here too there is a solution, but it’s often not very obvious. What these people really need is a lot of appreciation and understanding. After all, they spend so much time beating themselves up, they surely don’t need you to do that too. Treat them like a wounded bird. Be gracious and compassionate. Go out of your way to look for the good in them and find every opportunity you can to acknowledge them. You’ll be amazed at how well this can work.

I’m reminded of a story told to me by Robin Duncan, my former coach, who I dedicated my book to. She worked for a company where one of the managers had a horrible reputation, treated people really poorly, and nobody wanted to work for him. And then, Robin was transferred to his department. Understanding what I have written here (I probably learned it from her), she treated him like gold. She didn’t buy into his negativity but treated him like a wonderful human being. The result: while he continued to treat others poorly, he treated her like a queen.