Welcome back to Relationships At Work – the leadership mindset guide for creating a workplace we love. I’m your host Russel Lolacher
I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better. If you’re a leader trying to understand and improve your impact on work culture and the employee experience, you’re in the right place.
This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information on top of our regular show.
So for our R@W Note I’m passing on to you…
Big Moments need to be Earned Through Small Gestures
Big events at work are great. It's an opportunity to bring everyone together, connect in new ways, hear from leadership, have presenters sharing new ideas. It's awesome.
But if organizations are doing grand gestures without laying the daily ground work to ensure staff feel heard, supported, and valued, then these employee engagement events at best won't have the impact we want. And at the worst, just feel like hollow attempts to ignore ongoing issues.
We can't have big events without a strong foundation. And strong foundations are built from those every day small gestures that matter most.
Picture a team member frustrated at the direction of the organization, feeling like their concerns fall on deaf ears. That team member that usually sits in a cubicle at the back of the floor with not a lot of interaction. They feel disconnected.
Then that same person is invited to a day or multi-day event that brings everyone together, talking of amazing cultures and visions and values of the future.
How connected would that team member feel to this?
Or that same person sees the leadership they can't seem to get to listen to them, standing on a stage once a year, saying how great they all are, how they can't do it without you and that we're all one big family. Yep, the “family” word.
No. Just no.
First, we have an organization hosting an event with little understanding of their employee’s experience.
Second, they’re showcasing leaders putting on a façade enabled by the organization, basing their leadership on their title, not based on their actual ability to lead.
These are grand gestures…. devoid of reality.
I’m sure it’s all meant well and with good intentions but it’s all about intention rather than impact.
How do you think that team member will feel? About that leader? About the organization?
What’s a small gesture - a thank you note, stopping by a desk to say hi and asking how their weekend was (and care about the answer), remembering someone's birthday, congratulating someone on their hard work, a wave, a smile, an acknowledgement, etc. These gestures can lay the groundwork to make those big moments meaningful. Here's a few ways small gestures matter:
1. Building Trust: It shows leaders notice and care about their well-being and contributions. Over time, this establishes trust, making employees more likely to engage in open dialogue, provide feedback, and express their ideas and concerns.
2. Acknowledgment and Validation: Praising someone for a job well done or recognizing an individual's efforts in a team meeting, can make employees feel seen and valued. This acknowledgment boosts their self-esteem and motivation, and that can lead to higher productivity and dedication.
3. Creating a Positive Atmosphere: Keeping these small gestures consistent sets a tone for the entire workplace. Such an atmosphere encourages peer recognition, mutual respect, and a culture where employees actively support and uplift each other.
A note I want to make, if leaders are going to do this properly, they need to Break Hierarchical Barriers. I don’t care where you sit in the org chart or where your office sits, regularly connecting with employees at all levels of the organization is vital. Employees will perceive them as more approachable and relatable, rather than distant figures in a hierarchy.
Leadership comes from leaders making effort every day to motivate and connect with their teams.
Big gestures can't just wash away a lack of that daily effort.
We have an amazing opportunity to get it right and show up for our teams every day.
