Leadership Update - June 2006

Leadership Update is published by the Bresnahan Group in cooperation with the Integro Leadership Institute. It is designed to provide information on what organizations are doing to get employees engaged and committed to achieving the company vision.

Do You Know What Your Employees Expect?

I was having a discussion with a group of managers in a leadership program a few years ago about the psychological contract that exists between an employee and their employer. When an employee accepts a job with an organization, there is an unwritten psychological contract based on a set of beliefs that each party has about what they are entitled to receive, and what they are required to give in the relationship.

So, from an employee's point of view the psychological contract is what they expect in return for providing their skills and talents. The interesting thing about this psychological contract is that employees feel that a promise was made to meet their expectations even if those expectations have never been fully discussed.

In fact, it seems that openly discussing these expectations is the exception rather than the rule. It is not unusual for an employee to become very unhappy and leave an organization because their expectations have not been met even though they have not communicated their expectations.

The CFO in this group I was working with got quite agitated at that point and called out, "Why do they do that?" He continued, "I had a person working in our accounts department, a really good employee. She just resigned all of a sudden - out of the blue. I was really happy with her work, then when she resigned, I said, "Why are you leaving? What's wrong?" She told me that she had never felt that she was really appreciated, that nobody appeared to value what she did, and because she never got any appreciation she just wasn't really happy here. So she had decided to look for another job." The CFO was shocked. His response to her was, "I had no idea you were unhappy. Why didn't you say something? We can change things to make sure you know how much we appreciate you and, if you stay, I'll give you pay rise."

She didn't stay. She had already accepted the other job and there was no way she was going to let her new employer down. In fact, emotionally, she had already left because the decision had been made some time ago.

Back to the CFO's question, "Why do employees do that?" There are so many potential answers to the question... what is more important is to understand the fact they they do. When Inscape Publishing, Inc. was researching employee expectations a few years ago, they came across a study of exit interviews showing that 76 percent of people who had left their organization because their expectations had not been met, had also not told anyone what those expectations were. Interesting, isn't it?

The Power of Expectations

Whether spoken or unspoken, expectations have a powerful impact on how people think, feel, and behave. They play a big part in determining their attitude towards work. People who have clearly defined, well-communicated expectations will get much more satisfaction out of their work and be far more successful in their work even if all those expectations cannot be met. The opportunity to express one's expectations and discuss them is actually more important than having the expectation met.

Identifying Your Employees Expectations

Since most employees don't speak up, one of your challenges may be: How do I determine what my employees' expectations are? Which expectations are being met, and which expectations are not being met? I have been using Inscape Publishing's Work Expectations Profile with my clients since 2001, and it has had a significant part to play in helping leaders understand what each of their employees need to be more passionate about their work.

I believe all employees should have the opportunity to take this profile and be able to discuss their expectations with their immediate manager or supervisor. Then together they can develop a plan to create a more motivational work environment. Maybe employees should just go to their immediate manager and speak up about their expectations, especially those that are not being met... but most will not do it. Think about each of the people reporting to you. How many of them have actually spoken up and told you that their expectations are not meing met?

So the accounts clerk in the story above did what most people do when their expectations are not met, she left. Should she have spoken up? Well, you could argue that people should speak up when their expectations aren't met, but since the research shows that the majority don't, you have a choice to make. As a leader, are you going to be proactive and find out what your employee's expectations are and whether or not they are being met, or are you going to just hope they are?

If you would like to take a free paper version for trial of the Work Expectations Profile, just send me an email with "expectations" in the subject line, and we will set you up to complete it.

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