¶ … leadership pitfalls observed in the Value of Valuing Employees. Comaford described common means by which organizational managers end up communicating the exact opposite of the message to its workforce that it genuinely and consistently showing that it matters to the organization. Pursuing the matter further, she presented ways by which they can avoid these pitfalls, which give the wrong impression to employees, to the effect that their management has absolutely no regard for them. Comaford's six pitfalls include: not responding to workers' emails, not providing either negative or positive feedback, not celebrating victories, burning out workers, acknowledging employees only when they commit a mistake, and showing favoritism (The Value of Valuing Employees).

Considerable focus on employees' feelings is, for a large number of leaders, a foreign concept. However, when Comaford's strategy is adopted and significant positive results ensue, managers are highly willing to transform their leadership approach.

Examples

1. Not Responding to Worker Emails- Preparations for a major, upcoming corporate event were underway. It was supposed to affect future company revenues positively. Emails began going back and forth between employees. However, we were clueless as to how we must receive the VIP guests at the event. We sent constant emails to our employer, concerning event details, such as timeframe, venue, etc. However, we received absolutely no response from our employer (Writer Thoughts). Following a flood of emails, all we were told was to do our best. Hence, we prepared as best as we professionally could. On the day the event was supposed to occur, we were faced with an angry employer, who stated that our preparation was not according to his expectations. How were we to know what was on his mind exactly if he never responded to our queries? Ultimately, our employer was displeased with our effort, and it gleaned only minimal additional revenues. If successful, we would have obtained a lot more. The employer ought to have replied to our emails if he had some specific plan for it. A constant flow of communication is essential (Writer Thoughts).

1. Not Providing Either Negative or Positive Feedback- A majority of us feel we give proper feedback. Positive remarks are more beneficial and better than negative remarks. If an error is to be pointed out, one must begin by commending the employee for his/her effort, then broach the issue, and end the conversation effectively. This, however, is not as easy as it sounds. People who have investigated the problem have discovered that positive feedback is not always constructive and negative feedback is not always detrimental. It is frequently stated that managers forget feedback's intent -- feedback aims at making people do better, not feel better. Shutterfly's Chief Design Officer, Laura Ching, discovered that by pleasing employees, she was definitely not helping them out (Tugend, 2013). Earlier, when she was a Walmart employee, Ching experienced a situation wherein she was supposed to communicate to a staff member that her performance was not up to the mark. However, rather than spending 90% of the meeting highlighting what improvements were required and 10% of it providing encouragement, Ching probably spent 50% time on each aspect. The employee only heard the positive. Consequently, in her yearly appraisal, the employee found she did not meet expectations and a great disconnect obviously ensued. This "praise sandwich," in which the negative message is stuffed between slices of positive statements is where leaders go wrong, as employees typically only grasp at the positive. Being straightforward would be a better way to go about such situations.

1. Only Acknowledging Mistakes -- A member of the family working for a medical organization is faced with such a scenario. The boss has, of late, started doing nothing but pointing out employees' mistakes (Writer Thoughts). Consequently, an overall negative atmosphere has been created in the organization, affecting, in turn, employee attitudes. The employer must highlight both positive and negative aspects of employees.

1. Not Celebrating Victories- VaynerMedia accrues big wins on a daily basis. It scores large new accounts daily, and great awards are won. Yet there is no sign of encouragement or praise but silence. When anybody sees the leader's personality and the way he rolls, they will be surprised. He does not directly announce any victories, but humbly boasts. He may bring up any win in hindsight, and apparently, his ego is huge. If VaynerMedia or any organization wherein he has invested bags a big victory, he remains silent. Consequently, the organization has been slightly held back (Vaynerchuk). When a leader deals only with the company's nitty-gritty parts, he will not possibly concern himself much with victories but only focus on the next mountain to be scaled. This might be dangerous, particularly as not every employee will have the boss's attitude. Simply moving on to one's next...

Managers ought to pause, and acknowledge the good things that are happening in the company.
1. Favoritism- My maiden experience of nepotism and favoritism at the workplace was at my very first job. As a newly-graduated, naive individual, I had, for long, dreamt of pursuing a career in commodity trading (Young, 2008). Upon receiving a decent offer, I optimistically went West with my wife and was assigned to a little trading office, comprising of a manager and three other traders. I quickly became aware of the politics played out in the workplace. The leader at the place was an accomplished individual who had held the managerial post for a decade. I heard tales of his creativity and strategic shrewdness. What I was unaware of was his favoritism. The adverse "advantages" of employee nepotism and favoritism are numerous, potentially combining the following points (Young, 2008):

Poor Personal Accountability -- What is the point of good performance that doesn't get you anywhere?

Poor Employee Accountability -- Why go the extra mile when others don't?

Poor Productivity -- What is the point of effort that goes recognized?

Low Employee Morale -- Life at this job is unfair. Why?

Weak Trust Relationships -- How am I supposed to trust a manager who is biased and shows favoritism?

Diminished Client Experiences -- A disengaged workforce gives rise to disengaged clients.

Turnover of High Performers - High performing employees will seek greener pastures where they will receive fair treatment.

Hence, the following things are recommended (Young, 2008):

1. Develop and strictly stick to an anti-nepotism corporate policy.

1. Develop employee scorecards in which the scoring system is unbiased and every team member is accountable.

1. Consciously take into consideration and eliminate the possibility of "less overt" kinds of nepotism within teams and the overall organization.

1. Under the periodic personnel engagement survey, pose the following question to employees - "Do you, at any time, feel that the company suffers from the malice of nepotism?" Be proactive, not reactive, when dealing with areas of concern.

1. Managers need to steer well clear of favoritism. Middle-level managers need to be monitored for any signs of favoritism.

1. Burning out Workers- Marissa Mayer, Chief Executive at Yahoo and former Google employee, found out how employees can be saved from being burnt out and quitting the job. She narrates a tale of how she saved Katy, a Google executive, from quitting. Mayer states that Katy enjoyed her team and her job and had no issues with working extra hours. Her problem was something totally different. Quite frequently, she admitted to reaching late at events of her kids, thanks to unnecessarily long meetings (Lutz, 2012). She simply hated the looks on her children's faces when she was always late, and began getting burned out, to some extent. How could this be solved? The solution was extremely simple, according to Mayer. A rule tailored for Katy was established. If Katy informed her that her attendance was required at a soccer match at 4 p.m., Mayer would ensure this was possible. Even if the meeting would conclude in just five minutes, and even if Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google himself, was speaking, and Katy was meant to answer his questions, Mayer would step in and state that Katy needs to go. Katy would then simply leave the meeting, and was allowed to respond later to the questions posed to her, via e-mail, after putting her kids to bed.

References

Homework Market -- Your Homework Helper. (n.d.). The Value of Valuing Employees. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.homeworkmarket.com/sites/default/files/q4/09/07/value_of_valuing

Lutz, A. (2012). Business Insider. Marissa Mayer Tip On Preventing Employee Burn Out - Business Insider. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-tip-on-preventing-employee-burn-out-2012-9

Tugend, A. (2013). The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. How to Give Effective Feedback, Both Positive and Negative - The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/your-money/how-to-give-effective-feedback-both-positive-and-negative.html

Vaynerchuk, G. (n.d.). GaryVaynerchuk.com. When You Don't Celebrate Your Wins, You Hold Your Company Back. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/when-you-dont-celebrate-your-wins-you-hold-your-company-back/

Writer Thoughts

Young, C. (2008). The best sales personality aptitude test and sales recruitment search to hire the top sales people. Employee Favoritism and Nepotism - Employee Morale Cancer. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.therainmakergroupinc.com/human-capital-strategy-blog/bid/91330/Employee-Favoritism-and-Nepotism-Employee-Morale-Cancer