Rally
ral·ly
/ˈralē/
verb
come together again in order to continue fighting after a defeat or dispersion
recover or cause to recover in health, spirits, or poise
When it comes to surveying employees, no one comes close to the Gallup organization. They’ve been doing it for more than 80 years, they have 35 million workers in the survey database, and 90% of all Fortune 500 companies use their CliftonStrengths. When they say something about what the average employee is thinking or feeling, we would all do well to pay attention.
We reference their annual engagement survey all the time. You could read more about in our blog post, Drag. You should really be familiar with that if you aren’t already.
Gallup says that then universal needs all employees are:
Trust
Compassion
Stability
Hope
Those are, by the way, universal in every season and environment. It is especially true in times of uncertainty like these. And none of that should surprise any of us. Think about how those needs land with you right now or think back to another time of economic uncertainty or any season of the unknown in your personal or professional life.
If you are not addressing those needs with your employees, it is seriously costing you in terms of engagement, productivity, and commitment to your company and its’ mission. Gallup says that when you check these boxes, particularly in challenging times, there is an incredibly resilient “rally effect” that takes place among teams.
Every great sports movie has some version of this from Miracle (1980 U.S. Hockey team taking on the Russians) to Hoosiers (the boys from small-town Hickory, Indiana taking on the state’s biggest schools) to the kids from The Sandlot (confronting “the beast” to get their Babe Ruth signed baseball back!)
Gallup sent out a very short “pulse” survey to their massive database to get a sense of how workers were doing right now. They created a list of 5 essential things that leaders should be doing in this season.
1. Have a clear plan of action - their survey indicated that only 39% of employees said they felt management had a clear plan of action
2. Make sure employees feel well-prepared to do their jobs - 54% of employees felt like they are well prepared to do their jobs in this environment - we are adapting well to the change
3. Keep your employees informed on what is going on - only 48% of survey respondents felt like their direct supervisor was keeping them informed about what is going on
4. Make sure your employees know you care about their well-being - only 45% of all employees feel strongly that their employers care about their well-being. (Gallup says there are five areas where you can express care for their well-being: career, social, financial, community and physical)
5. Make sure you are setting high standards for social distancing - this is the quickest way to “flatten the curve” and employers need to set the standard and improve safety for all their employees
Patrick Lencioni says that no company will return to the way things were before this crisis. All will be changed. Some will be better and some worse. Addressing these issues is how you emerge stronger and riding the wave of the “rallying effect” that happens to all great teams in times of difficulty.
Consider
Do you feel like you typically do a good job of addressing the four universal needs Gallup mentioned above?
How well are you are doing in this season of addressing the five essential things that Gallup recommends?
What is the one thing you need to do that you aren’t currently doing that could help rally your team?