Of the five leadership categories, I rated myself the lowest in the "inspire a shared vision"
category. I rarely speak of long-term future at my job and when I do, it is typically in a negative
way. Therefore, I determined that the goal I could focus on is starting to speak positively about
the future. I identified self-awareness and self-motivation, two emotional intelligence skills, as
behaviors to work towards developing or utilizing. Self-awareness requires inward reflection to
identify emotions. Self-motivation will be critical to remaining committed to achieving
success.
Self-awareness will be necessary for company leadership as well in an effort to improve
employee satisfaction survey scores. Specifically questions regarding fairness, such as
"provides leadership who act in just and ethical ways," will require a level of self-awareness.
Company leadership will need to re-evaluate their behaviors and notice what actions could
imply injustice.
Leadership behavior: Creating a rewards program for employees
Leadership skill: Motivation
Employee survey: “When people work extra hard to meet our goals they are rewarded
accordingly.”
When employees feel their accomplishments are appreciated, they are more likely to work
towards new goals and achievements. The reward program would help motivate and inspire
employees towards reaching individual and team objectives.
Leadership behavior: Addressing potential issues before they become problems
Leadership skill: Communication
Employee survey: “I believe the company mission and vision drive the decisions that are made.”
Closely monitoring your staff, you will notice areas that have the potential to develop into a
problem. Leaders can establish a steady flow of communication by making themselves
available to discuss issues and concerns with employees. Employees would feel more engaged
and embrace the organization's strategic focus. f
Leadership behavior: Attending to the needs of the employees
Leadership skill: Creativity
Employee survey: “My Supervisor talks with me to help me determine my training and
development goals.”
By monitoring your team members for potential issues, leaders can attend to employees' needs.
Supporting professional development and growth would allow employees to develop their
skills and capacity to be more productive. Leaders can use their creativity to approach problems
and deliver innovative solutions and ideas.
Leaders can act by keeping employees in the loop about the survey results to inform them about
the shortcomings and the steps to achieve a way forward for improvements. This will
demonstrate how valuable their insights are while showing that the organization is forward-
thinking and dedicated to advancement. Employee feedback would improve positively, they
would feel encouraged to take the next survey, and the organization would achieve better
favourable results. Overall, enhancing leadership behaviors and skills in all categories would
increase employee quality of work and improve their productivity and performance, thus
improving the organization's performance. This can positively impact the next survey since
there would be an increase in the number of employees who take the survey and positive
favourable responses. The organization will benefit from stronger leaders and a more engaging
employee experience.
Rationale - Job Satisfaction
"I am very satisfied with my job" - When job satisfaction results are increased, it will, in turn,
lead to increased organizational productivity, increased employee retention, and boosted
employee morale. When employees feel that job satisfaction is a top priority within an
organization, it will lead to a cohesive workplace which is vital when revenue is at stake. I know
for myself; job satisfaction is a huge selling point when not only choosing a job but staying at
one as well. I personally just made a major career move that had to do with job satisfaction. I
went from a job where made a decent amount of money, was my dream job, and I always
wanted to work for this organization. However, my daily commute was 1.5 hours one way, my
co-workers were not cohesive, my skillset was not being utilized, and my concerns were not
being acknowledge. My new position is less money, a 20-minute commute, my co-workers are
always ready to jump in and help, and my input and skill set are valued. Even though I have
taken a reduced role within the new company, I am much happier and satisfied with my new job.
I can see myself being a long-term employee who will continue to grow professionally within
the company.
Rationale - Praise and Recognition
"When people work extra hard to meet our goals, they are rewarded accordingly" - When a
leader gives employees praise and recognition for a job well done, employees will respond by
appreciating the acknowledgment of their excellent work because it reaffirms that they are
valued at the organization. When employees feel that their work is valued, it leads to motivated
employees who aim to produce the best work. This is why leaders need to have advanced
communication skills. Communication allows leaders to share what they would like to see from
their employees, what goals need to be achieved, and how to meet those goals. Leaders can then
use praise and recognition to acknowledge a job well done. For me, being recognized with
anything I do makes me feel valued. It could be something as simple as my manager saying
"good job" or "thank you for taking on that project". This is where leaders need to show
empathy. When a leader shows empathy in the workplace, they can make connections with their
employees which allows them to not only share positive feedback, but constructive feedback as
well.
Rationale - Training and Development
"I have received the training I need to perform my job responsibilities" - The proper training and
development allows all employees the skills and knowledge needed to do their job. When a
leader focuses on training and development, this will lead to improved confidence, which will
lead to improved performance because the employees know how to do their job and do it well.
When a leader invests in making sure their employees are getting the training needed, it will
improve the organization's overall growth. I believe that training and development is the
foundation to any organization’s success. I really appreciate when an organization invest in
their employees. This could be anything from tuition reimbursement, online training modules,
or monthly workshops with guest speakers. I tend to take advantage of all three because more
training leads to improved professional growth.
Do the leadership skills and behaviors identified for improvement align with a specific question
in the engagement survey?
Yes, the behaviors identified above for improvement align with with a specific question in the
engagement survey.
How will improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors you have identified positively
impact the results in the next employee engagement survey?
Improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors that I have identified will positively impact
the results in the next employee engagement survey because employees will see that their
concerns matter. By using an employee survey, it will allow key measures to be improved from
the employee perspective and is also used to find out what the needs and goals of the department
are and how best to meet them. The organization will continue surveying employees to make
sure the employees' requests are being met. The employees will welcome the managers'
attentiveness and provide valued responses about what could be improved or disregarded.
For our Module 6/1 assignment, I have identified three leadership skills and behaviors Job
Satisfaction, Praise and Recognition and Training and Development.
JOB SATISFACTION:
A crucial cog in any organization is the satisfaction of its employees. Employees are the true
“doers” of the work. Employees job satisfaction have dramatic end results, such as the quality
of the product, which results in greater satisfaction of the purchasers, which results in the
product being sold a greater rate and with greater frequency.
Employees Job Satisfaction also allows for the retention of an excellent workforce. Currently,
employees are looking to move from one company to another simply because they are not
happy with their current employer. The problem with this is that the organization has lost not
only a valuable employee, but they lost the experience and learning that they invested in that
employee too.
In addition to retaining an excellent workforce, the retention also turns into a great recruiting
tool to attract talent from other organizations.
Improving Employee Job Satisfaction should be a constant priority with any organization. To
answer the question of
Do the leadership skills and behaviors identified for improvement align with a specific question
in the engagement survey?
In this scenario, yes. This comes from my personal experience have led multi-levelled staff
(from mailroom clerks to Director). Each individual role needs to have overall satisfaction of
their job.
How will improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors you have identified positively
impact the results in the next employee engagement survey?
The question is always, how do I ensure my team is satisfied? f Utilizing satisfaction surveys are
the beginning to address concerns of staff discontent. Specific questions within a survey, such
as “how would you rate the work conditions” and “does leadership provide Recognition of a job
well done?” leads to such vital information to address and ensure employees become more
satisfied with their jobs.
Praise and Recognition:
During my time in the military, I never sought-after Praise nor Recognition for a job well-done;
this was a direct result of the training I received…if you didn’t receive negative feedback,
consider that the job was a success. f Each military person takes direct orders and if those orders
are followed correctly, then the mission is usually a success. The Praise and Recognition is
usually coming from self-realization that you were able to accomplish the task at hand…as one
task leads to another as part of the military team you are a part of. However, over the last 20
years, I have exhaustively worked hard on changing my militaristic mindset in Praise and
Recognition.
Working with executive coaches and learning consultants, I have had to relearn leadership,
which includes the need to provide Praise and Recognition – periodically. f And, I have seen the
results first hand following my announcing a promotion or a spot-bonus or a raise which were
due to jobs well done. f I have also found such in smaller doses such as during team meetings by
providing a “Thank you for all your hard work” to a specific team member. And this not only
makes me feel good but you can see it on the team member’s face.
Do the leadership skills and behaviors identified for improvement align with a specific question
in the engagement survey? In this scenario, a resounding yes! There is an overwhelming need
to provide Praise and Recognition to team members. It is plain to see from the survey results,
without it, this just leads to the prior issue of Job Satisfaction and its negative impact on the
employee, which then leads to the negative impact of the organization.
How will improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors you have identified positively
impact the results in the next employee engagement survey?
At my current organization, we are conducting employee surveys as I write this and I’m so very
optimistic about the improved results I expect to see due to my working more directly with the
team and providing the positive feedback to them – with a nice amount of Praise and
Recognition.
Training and Development
Let us be honest, without Training and Development, how we can, as leaders, expect to see
improved results in work product and overall job satisfaction?
Training and Development (“TD” is essential to each employee within an organizational. Some
of such TD should be mandatory so that everyone improves in the specific areas at the same
time. And, additional opportunities for individuals who are looking to climb the “corporate
ladder” should also be offered. Thereby the organization can retain the talent and promote from
within which is also a great motivator for all employees!
Do the leadership skills and behaviors identified for improvement align with a specific question
in the engagement survey?
Again, yes! Training and Development is an essential behavior identified above for
improvement align within the survey engagement survey.
How will improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors you have identified positively
impact the results in the next employee engagement survey?
The improvement in the needed area of Training and Development based on survey results will
help leadership identify and define areas for needed improvement specifically for this area.
Whether it be for overall job performance or a focused skill-set that an employee needs for their
specific area. Employees will identify the efforts made by leadership and this will also assist in
the improvement of employee Job Satisfaction.
Across many categories of the employee satisfaction survey the questions relate to subjects that
are usually discussed between employees and supervisors. Responses could be improved if
interpersonal communication was better between the manager and the employee. Opening two-
way communication channels may change the culture of the company in a positive way.
Rational: Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is going to be an important component to improving next year's survey
results. Management is going to have to learn to display empathy and compassion to manage
large teams through transitional periods as change has a wide variety of effects on people.
Additionally, the survey asks several questions about respect and ethics and values.
Rational: Strategic Thinking
Strategic Thinking is a critical leadership skill that should be used to implement the changes
needed to achieve the goals we have. Leaders needs to have a clear plan forward. Strategic
thinking requires leadership to challenge the conventional wisdom of the organization to
position the company to reach forward moving objectives.
Do the leadership skills and behaviors identified for improvement align with a specific question
in the engagement survey?
No. The skills and behaviors I have identified align with the survey as a whole and do not lend
themselves to one specific question. f f
How will improvement in the leadership skills and behaviors you have identified positively
impact the results in the next employee engagement survey?
Improvement in these areas will positively impact the results of the next employee engagement
survey because employees are going to feel valued and supported. Most of the questions will
receive answers that vary based on how the employees feel. For instance, the question "Provides
employees with a sense of security in their job" would be answered differently for an employee
that receives regular feedback about their performance than it would for an employee that never
receives feedback. Questions like this will benefit both from better communication and
emotional intelligence. The skills listed above will incorporate the employee in different ways.
Communication will allow the employee to be heard and to receive the feedback they need to
grow. A strategic plan will set the pace for growth and allow the employee the opportunity to
evaluate their own contribution based on the well-established expectations of the organization.
