If you are a leader in your company/organization, I’d encourage you to take a look at a 2013 study conducted by Gallup, a company that’s well-respected in the field of employee engagement and retention research. The study is titled “State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders.” Here’s what Gallup’s CEO writes in the introduction letter:
“Here’s something they’ll probably never teach you in business school: The single biggest decision you make in your job — bigger than all of the rest — is who you name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits — nothing.
Great managers engage their teams on several levels. First, they display genuine care and concern for their people… Second, great managers care just as much about performance as they do about their people as individuals.”
Gallup has also shown in multiple studies over the years that the single biggest factor affecting turnover is the manager. People don’t quit their company, they quit their manager.
I thought about this information while I was pondering an eloquent letter I received recently from a regional manager in New York. He noted that “living our faith out loud and in plain sight can be difficult.” Amen, my friend, I could not agree more, and as I thought about ways that we could live our faith at work (without eliciting a visit from HR), I thought about a conversation I had with my manager early in my career.
At the time, I was the advertising manager for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, and my manager, the executive director, and I were visiting various newspapers around the state. I remember three things about the road trip. One, we had one of the first-ever car phones wedged between us. It was encapsulated in this blue padded bag, and so massive that if we had been traveling by plane instead of by car, it would not have fit beneath the seatback in front of us; in fact it may have been too big for an overhead bin. It was insane.
The second thing I clearly recall is that my prescient boss was convinced that the days of the paper newspaper were numbered. “Someday”, he said, “in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to be able to plug a gadget the size of this spiral notebook into your computer, and the newspaper will be transferred onto it! You’ll be able to read the paper on the train without bumping elbows with your neighbor!” He gave this warning speech at every newspaper stop, and nobody—not one person—paid any attention to his crazy rant.
The third thing I remember is the content of our conversation during our six-hour excursion. My boss was a devout Mormon. I grew up in a totally secular home and had joined the Catholic Church in college, but prior to that, I had learned about a few of the world’s religions. Why people believe what they believe has always fascinated me, so I barraged my boss with questions. Over the entire six-hour trip, I probably spoke a total of six minutes. The rest of the time I listened to the equivalent of a very cool college course on the history of Mormonism.
As we exited the car, my boss turned to me and said with sincere delight, “You are an excellent conversationalist.”
I smiled, and tucked away my new piece of knowledge. Listening is powerful. The simple act of listening makes others feel valued and appreciated. Listening, really listening without distraction and without interruption is underappreciated, and unfortunately I’m afraid, a dying art. The demands of modern day life, coupled with the constant intrusions that smart (and MUCH SMALLER) cell phones afford, are, I think, preventing many managers from really listening to their employees, and this can have expensive consequences in the workplace. It’s generally estimated that replacing an employee costs a business one-half to five times that employee’s annual salary.
I didn’t know the Bible very well when I took that Wisconsin road trip, but I’ve since learned that this advice, to put people ahead of task, and to really listen, was a lesson Jesus taught in Luke 10:38-42:
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalemthey came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home.Her sister Mary sat on the floor, listening to Jesus as he talked. But Martha was the jittery type and was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing.
She came to Jesus and said, “Sir, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it—and I won’t take it away from her!”
As a working mom, this story speaks to me on a lot of levels, but it absolutely has business application. The newsflash is this: people over task. Sit. Listen. Don’t let the work that awaits prevent you from focusing on what is even more important, your people.
Office Depot gets it. As I understand it, they’ve taken the word “Depot” and made an acronym out of it. They tell their associates that when they are replenishing the merchandise, if a customer comes into their aisle, they are to pause their efforts and offer assistance, or put another way, they are to D.E.P.O.T.: Drop Everything. People Over Task. 5 Words.
So maybe, one powerful way we can “live our faith out loud” is to be silent, to simply listen, to be like Mary, and put people over task. In this day and age, that alone would be a miraculous feat, a great show of faith.
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Deanna Ricke has been in sales and marketing for more than 25 years, including executive positions with The Walt Disney Company and FOX Cable Networks. She writes from Kansas and may be reached at Deanna@CatholicBusinessJournal.biz. Read a more robust bio here: www.catholicbusinessjournal.biz/content/deanna-ricke