I love the Gallup Organization. As far as pollsters go, they have a long history of providing credible information, but that’s not what I love about them.
I love Gallup because they like to measure one of the most interesting, messy, complicated subjects any organization can tackle: people.
Let’s face it, people are a wonderful mix of contradictory emotions, impulses, and motivations. As professionals in a people driven economy, we must understand our clients, our co-workers, and our neighbors if we want our business and communities to thrive.
This is where Gallup has made our lives a little easier. Drawing from a massive in depth study of great managers across a wide variety of organizations, Gallup developed twelve simple questions to ask employees about their experiences. The way that team members answer these question is highly predictive of their satisfaction and productivity.
The Top Five
Here are the top five of the twelve:
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment to do my work right?
- Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
- Have I received recognition (or praise) in the last seven days for doing good work?
- Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
With these five simple questions you can begin measuring your team’s engagement.
Dealing with the Results
Of course once you ask these questions, you have to be prepared to deal with the results. After all, the only thing worse than not asking for people’s opinions is asking and then ignoring what they have to tell you.
So, are you the kind of person who is interested in creating a more engaged workplace? Do you want to maximize your team? Are you concerned with improving your Emotional Intelligence? Are you interested in decoding the secrets of body language?
These are challenging topics. They require a mixture of thinking, self-reflection and intentional action. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this work alone. At Shafer Leadership Academy we Create Great Local Leaders.
Shafer Leadership Academy wants to help you with your messy people.
Click here to see our upcoming opportunities.
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About the author:
Mitch Isaacs was named Shafer Leadership Academy’s Executive Director in May 2015. In this role, he works closely with the organization’s board of directors to fulfill the mission of the organization. He is responsible for creating vision, connecting with stakeholders, administering program offerings and leading the organization in meaningful ways. Learn more about Mitch »