Choose words carefully
Empowering employees can’t just be talk — but it does start with what you say and the kind of language that you use to say it.
For example, when Dameris stepped in, he did not adopt a transformation plan. It was called, instead, a revitalization plan.
“We recognized that we needed to revitalize what was a good business, not transform it and [not] that the business wasn’t any good,” he says. “[We] really put the power in the hands of the people who created the relationships with our customers and let them believe that we were betting on them versus criticizing them.”
Although most financial cuts had affected the field, that’s where Dameris reinvested. While he expanded the customer-facing work force, he kept reminding the front-line employees how important their positions are.
“We constantly express to them that it’s their business and that the changes that they make and the ideas that they have make a real impact on our business,” he says. “This stuff isn’t being developed in some sort of ivory tower and then communicated down.
“We use the analogy [that] we always want to be looking through the front windshield of a car, not through the rearview mirror. [We want them] to understand that they’re not in the backseat, that they’re driving the car and that the direction of our business is dictated by what they’re seeing in the field.”
Make sure your language reflects the inclusive culture you’re trying to build, whether it’s extensive as the car analogy or as simple as referring to the company as a collective team.
“We try to build a sense of community versus it’s ‘us versus them,’” Dameris says. “I use that exact language.”
Communicating that message also means being honest and straightforward and thanking employees for their efforts.
“We acknowledge that it’s an honor every day that they elect to invest their talents and efforts with us,” Dameris says. “We tell them that my job is easiest when I get to brag about their efforts. I didn’t generate the revenues; I just have t
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privilege of bragging about them. So they really feel as if it’s their efforts.”
Publicizing employees’ ideas and successes also encourages them to get involved. On weekly field calls, Dameris does “shout outs” where he recognizes employees whose ideas have been implemented. Through that, you encourage others to get engaged so they can be recognized.
Speaking out from the podium with careful word choices can usher a lot of empowerment. But showing employees personal attention is a crucial piece to make them feel valued.
“As a group, you’re communicating to 100 people and you don’t know how each person’s going to interpret your words,” Dameris says. “But on a person-to-person basis, you see their reaction; you see their feedback. And that then multiplies as they go back and feel good about themselves and the next day talk about how they had a great conversation.
“So be out and about and talk to all levels of the organization. Understand the power of the chair — that most people are going to be intimidated to speak to the leader and sometimes the leader’s going to have to make the outreach.”
When employees see, through your language and attention, that you care about their efforts, they’ll be more likely to offer their feedback.
“What we try to do is not stymie innovation or stymie constructive dialogue,” Dameris says. “So we’re constantly trying to involve people and make people feel as if they’re recognized and their voice is heard.”