We’ve all heard that words matter, but in the bottom-line-obsessed corporate world, that lesson is rarely heeded. Lost in the drive for higher quarterly profits and the need for faster electronic communications, people seem to have lost the skills necessary to talk to one another, and as a result, to understand each other.
GUELPH, ON—We’ve all heard that words matter, but in the bottom-line-obsessed corporate world, that lesson is rarely heeded. Lost in the drive for higher quarterly profits and the need for faster electronic communications, people seem to have lost the skills necessary to talk to one another, and as a result, to understand each other.
But according to Juice Inc., a Guelph, ON-based communications trainer to Fortune 500 companies, re-learning the art of good conversation isn’t a wishy-washy concept—it’s just plain good business.
“After training corporate leaders and their employees for 17 years, we discovered that conversations are essential to every organization and all relationships,” says Juice Inc. co-founder Brady Wilson. “The right kind of conversation will engage employees and provide them with a sense of purpose, freedom, significance, belonging and security.” These feelings, says Wilson, lead to improved productivity and profitability.
But these bottom-line results can only happen if we have the right kinds of conversations. And most of us are doing it wrong, because we tend to push our views on to others. Instead, we need to step into the other’s world by using an inquiring conversation. In this type of dialogue, called a pull conversation, each person will uncover the other’s reality, and find common ground. According to Juice Inc., in most situations we are much closer than we think to finding common ground, but are communicating so poorly we don’t even realize it.
“When we stop to think about it,” says John Wright, Senior Vice President of pollster Ipsos Reid, “we all know that the empathy of human relationships and the ability to motivate people have been sucked out of almost every dimension of the workplace as technology has made it easier and faster for us to communicate our thoughts and information.” As a result, employee engagement levels may be at an all-time low.
“Organizations must pay closer attention to the important motivators, and these will differ from person to person,” says Juice Inc. co-founder Alex Somos. “It’s not just about higher pay or more time off.” Somos points to studies like those conducted by U.S. management consulting giant Towers Perrin which found that feelings matter more than any other factor in engagement.
Sending out a terse directive or giving the troops their marching orders isn’t going to work, and will just create negativity and resentment. So does that mean organizations should put an end to e-mails and have lengthy fireside chats instead? No. But it does mean that people—whether at work, at home, or in any social setting—should acknowledge that they often don’t know what the other person is really thinking. But if we want the relationship to succeed and the results to unfold, we had better find out.
Last year Wilson published a book outlining these concepts: JUICE: Release your Company’s Intelligent Energy through Powerful Conversations is currently on its second printing and is available at bookstores across Canada.
Juice Inc. was formed in 1999 by Brady Wilson and Alex Somos following many years of training business leaders from around the world. Juice Inc. works with companies to engage employees to increase commitment, improve productivity and achieve better financial results while creating an enjoyable work environment. The company is based in Guelph, ON and counts large and fast-growth companies in the financial, pharmaceutical, healthcare and technology sectors—as well as government and not-for-profit—among its many clients.
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