The Climate for Success

Today’s organizations are complex, quickly changing, financially pressure and typically facing more work with less people. All too often leaders find themselves asking people to “do more with less.” What leadership alchemy does it take to engage people to dig deeper and reach further quarter after quarter? Every leader can improve the “people side of performance” by understanding the emotional drivers that bring out the best in people.

New research on organization climate shows a powerful link between feelings and performance. Assessing customer service, productivity, and retention, our most recent study finds 57.7% of the difference between low and high performance is predicted by five climate factors plus trust. In other words, climate is a bell-weather for financial and programmatic success.

When employees feel good about coming to work, they perform better. When they are disengaged, energy drops, quality suffers, communication is compromised, and good people start looking to leave the organization. These feelings are costly -- both in immediate financial loss and in longer-term impact on the organization’s reputation that come with reduced quality and lost customer/client relationships. Fortunately, there are sophisticated, low cost, and creative methods to improve and maintain this essential area of organizational viability.

To illustrate this challenge, let’s look at two fictional employees on their way to work:

Carl is looking forward to doing his best work; he’s engaged and excited. Partly because he’s “just a positive guy,” and partly because he’s part of a great team – his boss listens, the work seems to matter, and his team is supportive.

Joan is dreading another day on the grindstone. She’s experienced, skilled, and a good worker, but there’s something about this organization that rubs her the wrong way. She doesn’t think her boss cares, and she’s just not connecting with the team.

How will they each perform today? How will they affect others? And what do they each need to remain productive and engaged?

Based on our research across hundreds of organizations and dozens of countries, there are specific drivers that will provide a tremendous improvement in Joan’s performance, and different drivers that will keep Carl’s high level of energy and commitment.

The first requirement is organizational leaders to commit that a healthy and positive climate is a strategic priority. Today, the “people side” is not a “soft” area that gets attention when business is booming. Climate is one the top, if not the highest, priority of the best leaders. Great leaders provide a “container” that incubates exceptional performance.

“Why I didn’t I know??”

All too often, leaders become isolated from their teams – they don’t have close relationships with the people two or three layers down. This gap can easily become a source of distrust and organizational dysfunction that impinges on the organization’s ability to provide superior services. In two independent studies of multi-state behavioral health organizations, for example, there were significant gaps between the way executives and others experience the organization (See Figure 1). While not necessarily a problem, this gap is a warning sign.

Employees frequently tell us they don’t know their top leader. Leaders tell us they feel disconnected from the front line. Unfortunately, this isolation is usually accompanied by a loss of trust and performance. All too often the people at the top of the organization receive “filtered” information – when more than anyone else, executives need the real story.

Leaders need to hear the “voice of the people,” not a biased perception filtered through layers of management. And they need to hear it on a regular basis. Would a manufacturing company only check their quality metrics once a year? Would a sales organization only check their conversion rate annually? Likewise, climate metrics should be part of the regular “dashboard” for evaluating the organization’s health.

An effective employee survey is an excellent tool for gathering unbiased opinion. The Organizational Vital Signs (OVS) Climate Index has been designed, tested and validated to help executives re-connect with their employees and identify opportunities to improve organizational climate. The assessment is called “Vital Signs” because it helps leaders keep their fingers on the pulse of the organization.

Understanding the climate lets leaders into the hearts and minds of their people. With this insight they can make more effective decisions about their own leadership as well as set strategic direction for improvement.

Now I Know!

How much does climate matter? Our research shows that trust alone predicts 46% of the difference between low and high performance. In the area of customer service, 37.9% is predicted by trust.

Sherry Thornton was the COO of one of the behavioral health organizations we researched. She intuitively saw the gap between departments and between management and line, so we quantified the issues for her with the climate assessment. "The Organizational Vital Signs process helped focus our change effort and increased buy-in from staff,” says Thornton. Sharing the results with each facility team, staff “felt heard” and could support efforts to improve the workplace environment.

After measuring the climate and finding a need for improved accountability and collaboration, we focused leaders on connecting and following through in an “emotionally intelligent” way. Walking through a facility and eating lunch with line staff is not enough – both intention and action are required. Thornton executed a simple strategy: Listen to people, identify their needs, commit to meet the needs, and then deliver. At the same time as tactical needs are being met, attention to the underlying emotional needs is key. Employees who care about their jobs and their clients have good ideas, they are committed, they want to be part of the team, and they want you to hear them.

After 11 months of training, coaching, and effort by the executive team, census (sales) increased by over 25% while incidents, accidents and operating costs where significantly reduced. We helped the management team develop and use emotional intelligence to better understand their organization and connect more effectively with their people.

One Size Fits All?

While a generally positive climate helps, our research shows that targeted efforts are the most productive -- different groups have very different predictors for performance.

In a recent study, we examined how climate influences customer service. To understand how climate affects groups differently, we compared satisfied versus dissatisfied employees.

For example, let’s go back to “Joan” and “Carl” and see what will improve their customer service.

• For dissatisfied employees like Joan, collaboration is the key to customer service – it predicts 30% of this group’s customer service score.

• But for engaged people like Carl, collaboration only accounts for 3%. For this group alignment (having a connection with the organization’s mission) is by far the most important factor (See Figure 2).

In other words, understanding the climate of different groups lets a leader make tactical decisions focused on the real drivers of performance. Rather than one size fits all approach, an in-depth understanding of climate lets leaders customize their interventions to get better results with less wasted time and effort.

Now that I know – What do I do?

So far we’ve seen that organizational climate has a major effect on performance, and that different groups have different needs. A tool like OVS (the Organizational Vital Signs climate index) helps measure the climate and provide data – but how do you improve it?

First, it helps to recognize that organizational climate arises from a web of individual relationships and feelings. Traditional leadership and management skills become less significant and effective in dealing with climate factors. Studies, as well as leading leadership authorities, agree that emotional intelligence is the one leadership ability that has a measurable difference in strengthening relationships and improving organizational climate. As Harvard Business Review reported in 2003: “It's a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success.”

Everyone has emotional intelligence – but we don’t all use it. Emotions are data that can help us make better decisions, but most of us have been conditioned to “leave emotions at the door” (which no one can actually do anyway). To get the benefit of emotional intelligence, we need to let feelings in – to actually feel – and to recognize that emotions are valuable sources of information and energy. Leaders who learn to notice and manage emotions immediately gain the benefit of “looking beneath the surface” at the emotional drivers. They gain insight, they make better decisions, and they influence others more persuasively.

Let’s go back to Carl and Joan. What are they feeling? What feelings will let them excel? In some organizations, the knee-jerk response is “fire Joan, hire someone like Carl!” Sometimes that is the best answer – but more often it’s not. If we accept that emotions provide useful data, Joan’s frustration is an asset. It’s certainly data, and it might even be a force that can be harnessed to make positive change.

In many organizations, her dissatisfaction would lead people to isolate her – the exact opposite of the emotionally intelligent response. As we learned from the OVS analysis, collaboration is a driver for people like Joan. She probably doesn’t feel connected to her team. It might simply be a bad fit – or it might be that Joan’s feelings are a signal that something is not right in the team. Between your survey results and your own emotional awareness, you’ll begin to see what’s really happening with Joan and you can then address the root cause of this issue.

At the same time, all too often, Carl will be ignored – he’s doing fine, right? But will you keep him fully engaged while you deal with Joan? According to the OVS, people in his group have dramatically different emotional needs. Alignment is an important predictor of performance for people in Carl’s group. So to leverage his strength, an emotionally intelligent leader will recognize that need. They’ll help him remain connected to the vital mission of the organization.

The organizational climate is made up of relationships. You improve the climate by attending to the Carls and Joans, one at a time. Attending to feelings at an individual level ripples out to shape the climate – the feelings of the organization as a whole.

One of the most powerful tools you’ve got for influencing others’ emotions is your own emotion. Whether conscious or not, people respond to the unspoken emotional messages you’re sending. To know what you’re sending, self-awareness is key. As the Harvard Business Review cautions, “Executives who fail to develop self-awareness risk falling into a deadening routine that threatens their true selves. Indeed, a reluctance to explore your inner landscape not weakens your own motivation but can also corrode your ability to inspire others.” With increased awareness of yourself and others, and new insight into the emotional drivers of organizational climate, you will deal with your people more effectively. The positive feelings will ripple out, creating a healthier, higher-performing climate.

Emotional intelligence is not a “silver bullet.” There is no simple formula or prescription. Instead, and EQ leaders are aware of the emotional subtext. They perceive what’s happening with Carl and Joan, and use that data effectively. They’re sensitive to the emotional messages but aren’t overwhelmed by them. They use their own emotions to engage their team members and create a context – a climate – where a diverse group of people can do and be their best.



The Climate for Success - To learn more about this author, visit Joshua Freedman's Website.

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