Adrian Gostick

As leaders, we can learn much from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, which details how President Abraham Lincoln formed a team of cabinet members who preserved a nation and freed the country from slavery.

It’s important to note that “prairie lawyer” Lincoln was not the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860. Most pundits predicted a veteran politician such as William Henry Seward, Salmon Chase or Edward Bates would receive the nod. When Lincoln was selected by the delegates and then eventually elected President, he chose each of these rivals to be on his cabinet, believing he “had no right to deprive the country of these great men.” In fact, he created a cabinet comprised of radicals, moderates and conservatives, arguing that a team with just one philosophy might as well be made up of just one person. Lincoln’s brilliant leadership enabled him to herd these cats and keep them focused through one of the most difficult times in American history.

So how did he do it? First, Lincoln was steadfast in his purpose. He gave his team a vision of their goal that was unchanging, but he was utterly respectful of the opinions of those on his cabinet in how each of them would accomplish their parts. Next, he had a superb ability to communicate with all levels of people, from his colleagues to the general public—his Gettysburg Address, for example remains, one of the most poignant speeches ever given, and it was but two minutes long. And finally, he had a tremendous ability to ignore personal slights and continue to work with those of different ideologies.

As leaders, what can we take away from Lincoln’s legacy? Our vision should be clear and inspiring to our people, our communication must be succinct and open, and our skin should be thick as we welcome divergent ideas and opinions.

In this economy, we are spending more hours on the job than ever before. Faced with a shortage of good jobs, increased competition, demanding executives, layoffs and off-shoring, most of us are plugged into work at all hours through laptops, wireless connections, cell phones, and other digital devices. In fact, some 25 million U.S. workers today report working an average of more than 50 hours a week, with 40 percent of those workaholics logging more than 60 hours a week. An average American or Canadian worker puts in a full month of hours (160 to be precise) more each year than a generation ago, more than the citizens of any other Western/European country, and even longer hours than medieval peasants did in servitude.

In the 1990s, many employees looked at hard work as a means to an early retirement with appreciating stock options, bulging 401(k) accounts, or big cash rewards from impending IPOs. Then came the startling realities of the dot-com crash, 9/11, and the recent economic collapse. All of which leaves many employees disillusioned, doubting the dream of any out—let alone an early one. In this month’s edition of HR Magazine, the Society for Human Resource Management says wage loses from this meltdown may be long lasting. In fact SHRM predicts some of us may not recover in time for retirement. Gulp.

Here’s the bottom line: our people are nervous and overworked. As managers we must learn from these macro trends and be sensitive to the pressures and attitudes of those who serve our customers. Employee engagement is paramount to our teams and our organizational ability to survive, and it is more important now than it has ever been before. A new approach is urgently needed. It’s time to gather your people together to assess where you stand and set clear goals. Communicate openly and honestly. Is this the time to foster a “need to know” communication policy? Only if you want to lose the trust and commitment of your people.

And don’t forget to appreciate when you see great work. Most of us who manage others are poor at recognition in our employees’ eyes, but recognition is the accelerator that will spur smart ideas, extra effort and greater teamwork.

This week, Chester and I spoke at the international gathering of the Meeting Planners International. Two of our team members were passing out Carrot books in a booth in the exhibit hall. A couple of women hustled up to our folks and asked if they would give a copy of The Carrot Principle to their boss who was coming along just a few paces behind. “He really needs it,” they whispered quickly, then moved away to watch.

The manager when handed the book shook his head and said, “Don’t need it. I’m good at that stuff.” Hmmm. How do you say, “Your employees want you to have this?” Actually, just like that. And our team members say the honesty felt great.

This mistaken manager is not alone. We recently conducted a survey of 10,000 working adults for the second edition of The Carrot Principle. Here’s what we found:

Percent of managers worldwide who believe they are above average at recognizing their employees? 67 percent.

Percent of employees who agree? 23 percent.

Sorry to say it, but there’s a very good chance you aren’t as good as you think you are. It’s time to go back to a few of the basics: recognition is frequent, specific and timely. Recognition is for individuals, celebrations are for teams. We praise effort, but we reward results.

We receive stories from readers all the time. Some are of great, touching recognition moments and others are, well, let’s just say they’re not so touching. Brian Dickinson, UK Strategic Project Facilitator with Piramal Healthcare in England sent in a great story. We really liked how his company leadership found a really cost-effective but high-impact way to recognize their people when there was a really tight timeline for a really big project. Says Brian,

“Piramal Healthcare manufactures, packages and distributes our products to over 100 markets worldwide. We had a quality issue with a recent batch of packaged tablets that were required to go to a customer within a couple of weeks of detecting the issue. As a result we needed to perform a 100% inspection on the batch, meaning every strip needed to be removed from it’s carton, checked for accuracy and then returned to their carton.

In order to hit the deadline, we asked staff from all areas of site to volunteer for the inspection. We didn’t have the budget to pay overtime so everyone who helped did this on their own time, without any payment. The batch size we were inspecting was approximately 80,000 tablets. With our staff’s help, we hit the deadline and got the batch to the customer as promised.

As reward for their efforts, everybody who gave up some time to take part was entered into a drawing. First prize was a £50 voucher at a restaurant of the winner’s choice. Second prize was a bottle of bubbly. The drawing took place in the cafeteria over lunch where most people were available to watch. The winners were delighted and the mood of the staff was great.

Next time something similar comes along, there’ll be staff rushing to volunteer, as the motivational effect was very high for such a small cost.“

I love the creativity and was impressed to hear how well this worked. Obviously, Brian works with a great team to begin with and I’m sure that’s in large part to how they feel about their employer and managers. Great story. If you have anything you’d like to share, send me an . I’d love to feature it.

I was asked this week to comment on some workplace trends for the Meeting Planners International annual conference where Chester and I will keynote in July. Here are the questions and answers.

Q: Is the economic downturn significantly curtailing the importance organizations show to recognizing their employees and clients?

A: Ask yourself: When would appreciation from your manager be more valued—when times are great and raises and bonuses are flowing freely, or when there’s been layoffs and heightened competitive pressures? It’s an easy answer: Recognition is more important now than ever. To prove that point, in late 2008 we conducted a global survey to study the importance of recognition and employee engagement in a down economy, and we published the findings in a revised edition of The Carrot Principle. What we found is that wherever you are in the world—from Europe, to North America, to Asia to South America—when people feel appreciated they give their best work. In an environment of fear, layoffs, shrinking bonuses and raises, employees need to be valued to stay focused on the right behaviors. Nothing is a stronger indicator of what is important than gathering people together to celebrate great work.

As speakers, we actually get busier in down economies, as organizations don’t have a lot of money to spend retaining and motivating their workers. What they ask us for are simple ideas to keep the work environment positive. An important step we recommend is training managers on recognition basics. Typically, leaders are promoted to positions of authority because of their technical abilities, tenure or education, not because they are great at inspiring a team. Most managers have to learn the hard way how to motivate their employees, and our surveys show less than 25 percent of teams are actually operating anywhere near their best capacity. Recognition training is the best place to start.
Q: How has the makeup of the current workforce, being as multi-generational as ever, impacted (positively or negatively) the ability for organizations to really engage with employees?

A: We were speaking last week in Illinois at a large healthcare firm, and a manager told us he is frustrated with the new generation of worker. One woman in her 20s was among 100 people who applied for an open position. Because she was the daughter of family friends, the manager went out on a limb and recommended her. She got the job. A week after starting, the manager bumped into the young woman in the cafeteria and asked, “How’s the job going?” Her response was a shrug and a: “It’s just a job.” To the manager, her lack of commitment to the work was an indictment of her entire age group.

If you’re like many managers, you have several people on your team under the age of 25 (Gen Y or Millennials), others who are Baby Boomers or Gen X, and at least one who may be nearing retirement. Does this pose challenges for engaging your team? Of course. In our 200,000-person study for The Carrot Principle first edition, we found generational, gender and cultural differences regarding engagement and how each age groups prefers to be recognized. But one constant remains in all the data—whether we are 20 or 60, we all need to feel valued for the work we do. The magic is in tailoring your recognition for individuals, versus throwing out one-size-fits-all appreciation.

Q: What were your thoughts upon initially being referred to as “the carrot guys?”
A: Our favorite actually was when Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper called us “the Apostles of Appreciation.” A leader we worked with also called us the “Dalai Lamas of Workplace Trama.” That was funny. But we don’t mind at all the “carrot guys” tag, because Carrots is an important metaphor for engaging and motivating in a positive way. Our goal is to create a revolution of employee engagement through the simple Carrot icon.