“Next, we congratulate 13–time winner Intertech, which shares the title of most Best Places to Work awards with (one other firm)” said the emcee at last week’s Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Best Places to Work Awards.
My thanks to our tremendous employees and loyal customers for making us possible.
Did you like the movie “Rudy”? The coach gets the team psyched by acknowledging challenges and sharing the plan to overcome them. In business, this works too. In fact, professors at Texas A&M studied motivational language theory (MLT).
In a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article they share “most winning formulas include three elements: direction giving, expressions of empathy, and meaning making.”
Here’s a succinct summary of the three elements: Direction giving – People want to know what’s expected of them. Empathetic language – You’re talking with a human… act like it. Meaning-making language – Answer why this is important.
After much anticipation, my wife and daughter finally got their new kitten, Stanley. Watching this ball of energy chase its tail reminded me of a recent article in The Harvard Business Review called “Crazy Busy: The New Status Symbol.”
In summary, Americans don’t respect leisure time.
In the old world order, leisure was a status symbol. Today, according to research shared in the article a lack of leisure time causes “one to be held in high regard.” To me, this is backwards. Poor organization, lack of delegation, not being surrounded by a top notch team, and/or not leveraging technology are common causes of a crazy busy life.
Michael Gerber, author of the eMyth, states “work should give life, not take it.” I agree. Every year, we take an extended spring break. When working, I have two standing days a week that I work from home allowing me to enjoy little things like lunch with my wife or talking with my kids while doing a school drop off or pick up.
There are times where I have “crunch time.” But whether for me or those who work with me, if crunch time is all the time, it loses its meaning.
Work smart!
Intertech has been named to the 2017 Best Companies to Work For list by Minnesota Business magazine. My thanks to all of our loyal customers and dedicated employees for making us possible.
Employee engagement, like the word leadership, gets overused. What is it? What are the results? And, most importantly what are specific actionable ways to increase engagement are all covered in my latest Business Journal article 10 ways to foster employee engagement.