.... Then make sure you're showing them YOU care....

When you show your employees you care, they pay you back by:

- caring about helping you and your organization succeed
- wanting to go the extra mile
- giving great service (i.e. caring about their customers)
- wanting to make the greatest contribution they can
- telling their friends about what a great place they work at

Here’s what Marcus Buckingham, former co-lead of the Gallup Organization’s landmark research on employee engagement has to say about the bottom line implications of caring:

“I’d like to replace this skill (managers caring for their employees) with one that is more hard-edged, more tangible, but there’s no getting around the data. A multiple of research studies confirm that employees are more productive when they feel that someone at work cares about them.”
“Employees who feel cared about are less likely to miss work, less likely to have accidents, less likely to file workers compensation claims, less likely to steal, less likely to quit, more likely to recommend the company to friends and family.”

Source: Marcus Buckingham in “The One Thing You Need to Know: About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success”

Here are a few examples of what leads employees to not feel like their boss, or their employer, cares about them:

1) Talking at them, rather than listening to their point of view.
2) Implementing changes without asking for their input or letting them know about the change until after the fact.
3) Not bothering to show appreciation when a person works late, on the weekend, rushes to get a project done on time (despite the unrealistic deadline)
4) Interacting in an “all business” manner

Here are ways supervisors show they care:

1) Asking employees for input about changes
2) Letting them know about changes in a timely way – especially those that directly affect their jobs
3) Knowing something about each employees as a person
4) Asking for feedback on their supervisory style and actions, including how they can improve
5) If they’ve had a difficult conversation with the employee, asking the employee later how they are doing.
6) Apologizing if they acted in a disrespectful way.

To unleash the power of caring, you need to:

1) Find out from your employees what you (individually and as an employer) do that creates the perception that you don’t care – the little things as well as any big things.

2) Find out from your employees what you do that let’s your employees know you do care.

3) Find out from them what other employers and supervisors have done that made them feel cared about.

4) Practice being more mindful of the many moments of truth that, if handled well, lead employees to feel that their boss does care about them, and when in these, ask yourself: “Does this communicate caring and respect or indifference and/or disrespect?” If you do nothing else, do this.

Since 55% of employees report not being highly engaged – i.e. not caring about helping their employer succeed and - Since showing you care is one of the best ways to inspire employees to care - Get good at showing you care!