The Fine Art of Appreciation
By Valarie D. Willis

A couple of years ago, I visited Paris and, of course, I had to go to the museums. One cannot visit Paris without admiring the exquisite and unique artwork. I found myself at home among strangers as we all lingered, admired and appreciated the fine art pieces.

This made me think about how much time we spend on things that we enjoy and how we can engage in discussion with total strangers. The question now, is how much time are we spending with those we lead?

Are we asking our employees for their opinion about the business, their work, the processes or the culture? Or are we more familiar with works of art, theatre, movies and plays than we are with our own employees?

In these tough, difficult and challenging leadership times, we may be spending too much of our energy focusing on the bottom line and not enough time focusing on the people who help to achieve results. Motivated and engaged talent can move businesses forward, even in the tough times.

In a recent survey, it showed that the number one business challenge is the "financial pressure to cut costs". The number two business challenge is "rapid market decline". A year ago, the top two challenges were, "achieving top growth" and "talent management." In comparing these challenges, "talent management" has fallen by the wayside.

It would be a mistake for businesses to take their eye off of talent management during challenging times. Leaders should look at managing profitability and talent like a balanced scale. Both sides will always exist and periodically get out of balance. The leader's role is to balance the scales to ensure great performance, profitability and talent.

Leaders need to learn to appreciate the talent in their organizations. When speaking with great talent, most feel they are self motivated; however, appreciation from their leaders is cherished and uplifting.

According to a study by the Hay Group, only fifty percent of the people they interviewed felt that their companies cared about their well being. If employees do not believe that the companies care about them, how is it that leaders expect the employees to care about the company and their work?

Appreciating and caring for talent is an essential leadership behavior. If you think that you are too busy to care, think again. Great talent is the core of great businesses. The talent is the key to solving complex business problems, generating growth, and delivering outstanding service.

Now is the time to trim non-productive talent and acknowledge and appreciate key talent. Gone are the days when companies should value and appreciate loyalty over performance. Remember to only acknowledge and appreciate behaviors that represent excellence or commitment to shared values.

This economic slowdown is giving businesses the perfect opportunity to focus on the talent. Don't miss this opportunity to build and strengthen relationships with your people. Find out more about talent appreciation and building organizational community.

I will share with you the top ten tips to creating higher employee engagement in my upcoming webinar on May 27th at 1:00EST. See you there!