Make the Negative Positive
On December 01, 2009 in Thought for the Day
Listen to the holiday language – it is upbeat, happy and celebratory. Think how it makes us feel. Though the best performance comes from inspiring employees with upbeat and positive language, studies indicate the language used by managers is mostly negative.
This is due partly to a carryover from the industrial age. Working on machines, employees were not always excited and passionate about what they did. Management included watching for slackers. Then, the language used to correct the behavior focused on the negative. That approach is now ineffective and negatively impacts employee performance and loyalty.
Today, employees must feel supported and connected in the workplace. And for the holdouts who think this is coddling employees, review the studies that support the direct correlation between (bottom line) results and employee engagement (contentment and happiness in the workplace). Part of this happiness comes from your communication with employees.
Here are some of the recurring negative statements used. Consider rephrasing them to make the negative positive.
Negative: You never have any ideas to make things better.
Positive: I need you to come up with two ways to improve _____________.
Negative: You are so disorganized.
Positive: Organizing your workstation will help you find things more quickly.
Negative: You can never seem to get to work on time.
Positive: Being on time each morning is important to me and to customers.
Negative or positive. Disengaged or engaged. Productive or unproductive. How you start the conversation determines how employees end it. Be positive. It drives engagement, loyalty and results.
For more great information on maximizing employee performance by the way you manage -see www.LifeFiredUp.com.
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