Reach employees in their workplace. Try to talk to as many as you can. Make a point to step out of your comfort zone and cross paths with them as best as you can in their environment — not in your environment, in their environment.
You say hello to them, get to know them, maybe what some of their hobbies are.
It shows that you’re willing to reach out to them.
For example, we have locations in multiple states. I was in three locations in West Virginia. I talked to several employees one on one and a whole group of employees.
We had had some layoffs, which obviously impacted some people, and understand that those are unpleasant things to have happened. However, it’s in the best interest of the company and everybody else because it strengthens their position.
I didn’t tell them anything they didn’t know. But the fact is that we weren’t running away from our responsibilities, [we were] taking them head on, whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant.
Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. I’ve done most of the jobs in the company, so you go back on that experience and try to remember what it was like.
You may have that passion or ownership interest, but to an employee, it may be a paycheck. So how do you get through to them? It allows them to do the things that they enjoy.
Some companies actually put some of their managers or people through a rotation, encouraging your managers to be out there. For example, we encourage our managers and dispatchers to ride with the drivers and even our salespeople, so they see what it’s like. If they see the manager willing to do the same things they’re doing, I think that sends a good signal, whether it’s the CEO or a manager or anybody.
It doesn’t mean the CEO should be out sweeping the floor. But, for example, if I’m walking through a warehouse and I see a piece of a pallet sitting in the aisle, I pick it up because I would expect my managers, if they were walking through the warehouse, to do the same thing.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Part of that may be humility and understanding. Just because you say it doesn’t make it so.
How to reach: Peoples Services Inc., (330) 453-3709 or www.peoplesservices.com
