Association Leaders: Here’s What Your Employees Wish You Knew

Every year Gallup releases its State of the American Workplace report  (opens in a new tab), which details the dysfunctional condition of workplaces in America. Gallup’s chairman and CEO, Jim Clifton, summarized the 2017 report well: “These figures indicate an American leadership philosophy that simply doesn’t work anymore. One also wonders if the country’s declining productivity numbers point to a need for major workplace disruption.”

I found Clifton’s words confirmed by my own research. One of the greatest insights from a survey of almost 600 U.S. adults came from an open-ended question: What is the one thing you wish your boss knew that they might not already know?

Based on those responses, four themes emerged that encapsulate issues voiced by employees and faced by management teams everywhere:

Insufficient appreciation. Employees do not always feel appreciated by leaders. Instead, they feel as though they are machines being told what to do, and they say they don’t receive enough praise for what they do well but instead are told only what they do wrong. They don’t believe that leaders care about them professionally or personally.

Low morale. Employees find the workplace environment demoralizing. They may or may not be overworked, but they sense that conditions are not conducive to a strong and healthy team culture. Employees don’t see how what they do fits in with the big picture in the organization, and they don’t believe their personal efforts make any difference. They often think their colleagues aren’t pulling their full weight.

Association leaders must help their team members believe that they genuinely care about employees and take an active and ongoing interest in their professional and personal development.

Incompetent management. Employees have a poor view of management’s ability to lead. They don’t think leaders are capable of doing what’s in the best interests of the organization and don’t believe that leaders trust them to do a good job.

Ineffective communication. Poor communication leaves employees feeling left out and forgotten. They say that leaders don’t do a good job communicating important information and aren’t interested in listening to their concerns. They often suspect that leaders are being untruthful or that they’re holding information back.

Fortunately, leaders who embrace four core values can minimize these problems and build a positive workplace culture:

Tenderness. Association leaders must help their team members believe that they genuinely care about employees and take an active and ongoing interest in their professional and personal development. Leaders must regularly give praise for what the team does well and compassionately give constructive feedback to help them improve. And they must place a premium on flexibility in the workplace and be willing to change.

Teamwork. Leaders must ensure that everyone understands and identifies with the vision of the organization and subscribes to its core values. They must explain the importance of the work the organization does, help everyone on the team see that their individual performance is important to moving the organization forward, and show that all their colleagues are doing their part.

Trust. Leaders must instill confidence in how they are running the organization. They must provide sufficient autonomy for assignments and the tools that team members need to do their jobs effectively. They must also ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

Transparency. Leaders must communicate authentically with staff and ensure that communications are understood by everyone. They must also be willing to share information—in person as often as possible—and clarify responsibilities so that everyone understands what is expected of them.

By intentionally designing a workplace culture based on tenderness, teamwork, trust, and transparency—and consistently living those values—association leaders will engage and inspire their employees and enhance their impact.