Kevin Kennemer, MA, is a great workplace advocate who, based on research, life experience and serving as CHRO for a large international energy company, strongly believes winning organizations create workplaces where employees are treated with trust, respect and dignity. Kevin is currently director of benefits and compensation at Gateway First Bank in Tulsa, OK.
If you could choose one superpower, what would it be? According to Ranker.com, a totally unscientific but incredibly interesting website for list ranking, the number one superpower we desire is teleportation. Forget the nuisance of flying with that ridiculous cape, teleportation allows you to simply vanish from point A and quickly materialize at point B, and you don’t even need a funky looking suit with a leotard.
I miss my dog.
Holly, a fluffy white Bichon Frise, was my faithful companion for over 15 years. She followed me throughout the house, not too far behind. When I sat down, she jumped on my lap. When I went outside, she followed me. When I went to the bathroom, she scratched on the door, wanting to be let in.
Having been in good health most all her 15 years, she became very ill in April and we had to make an extremely difficult decision to euthanize her. As she quietly departed, my heart sank in despair.
Some CEO’s get it — most CEO’s don’t. Treating employees with respect and dignity while working to gain their trust; this is the secret sauce to begin an organization’s path to a great workplace.
It is not complicated. The CEO must live by these basic principles.
The One’s Who Get It
I admire the passion of Cesar Millan, star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer. Cesar works with man’s best friend to help create a much more positive and enjoyable home life. I have noticed a common thread throughout the Dog Whisperer’s work: bad behavior in dogs is not necessarily the fault of the dog, but the OWNER!
Work habits of leaders tend to filter down through the troops. That is why it is important for leaders to develop a productive and positive work style. Motivated to please their boss, employees may unconsciously emulate their leader’s positive and negative work styles. Unfortunately, I have met leaders who make you think they would rather work, work, work and eventually drop dead at their desk rather than in the loving arms of their spouse or close family member.
There was an unscientific experiment conducted in the 1950’s by Candid Camera to determine the impact of group behavior on individuals. The experiment took place in an elevator in what appears to be an office building. Without knowing they were being filmed, each subject walked into an elevator with complete strangers.
How would you like to keep track of trending topics within your distributed workforce at any given moment in time? This valuable tool would give the chief human resource officer the ability to apprise the CEO of internal workforce trends. Important workforce and operational decisions could be made quickly by taking advantage of this Internet technology.
Few would argue the pace of change is increasing, especially in business and technology, along with their impact on the workplace. Wise company leaders sense these changes, and adjust, adapt, plan and execute. Each day brings an evolving convergence of many external influences that shape upcoming days, weeks and years. The workplace is greatly impacted by this convergence of external influences.
Let’s imagine for a minute: You’re the new CEO of an established company. Its performance has been average, customer loyalty is falling and your best employees are leaving every week. The previous CEO subscribed to a command and control management style allowing for little flexibility and no room for mistakes. The employees lived under an ever-present fear of doing something wrong.
