A colleague of mine was talking about the challenge of getting employees to look on the bright side — or as he put it viewing the “glass as half-full rather than as half-empty.” Encouraging employees in good times can be tricky because employees sense you are seeking to manipulate them. But in bad times it is downright daunting. The signs of economic decline are pervasive. With revenues dropping, companies closing, and employment numbers rising, it is hard to convey any sense of optimism. Doing so can make a manager seem foolish rather than well-intentioned.
Yet getting employees to focus on the positive is essential. Positivism is an orientation toward what you can do rather than what you cannot do. In management, positivism is more than attitude; it is initiative. For example, a front-line employee cannot control corporate cash flow, but can control the effort she puts into her job. This sense of control stimulates more positive feelings because the individual can influence outcomes. So how can a manager encourage feelings of positivism? Here are three ways:
Never sugarcoat reality. Employees know things are bad. If you seek to hold back information they will assume the worst, not the better. The company “grapevine” thrives on rumors, especially bad ones. Talk frankly about the business and emphasize an employee’s role as a contributor. I use that word deliberately. Address employees as contributors, not as costs.
Challenge people. Now is a wonderful time to re-think the business. Invite employees to come up with ideas for improvements. Give them the authority to turn good ideas into action steps. Slow economies provide time to reflect on ways to re-engineer processes and products. Pull out the proverbial plans for what you would do if you had more time and resources. Ask your team to see how they might implement them; you have the time, perhaps you can find the resources.
Look ahead. The downturn will not last forever. This is the time to think about who is capable of leading the organization. Simon Callow, the managing director of Personnel Decisions International (UK), said organizations “must focus on leaders who can guide them through these turbulent times.” Such leadership is not reserved for those in the C-suite. It will fall to the men and women who demonstrate by virtue of their ideas and their actions that they can help their companies survive, and even thrive, now.
Cold, hard reality reminds us that thinking positively will not save a business, or an employee’s job. Plenty of well-intentioned, hard-working and optimistically minded individuals have lost their jobs in the automotive, financial services and pharmaceutical sectors through no fault of their own. But even in good times, this can be the case — an employee’s company can always be sold or downsized for reasons beyond his personal control.
Dwelling on the negatives is a spiral to nowhere; it leads to nihilism. Encouraging employees to focus on the positives is an act of leadership. It shows a faith in individuals as well as a faith in the organization. “Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith,” urged World War I ace and aviation entrepreneur, Eddie Rickenbacker, “and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in experience and achievement.” That is an attitude worth maintaining and nurturing especially when times are so severe.