Paul L. Marciano - Lets Talk About It

If you enjoyed this book, discover your next great read with the following excerpt.

T here are times in our lives when what may appear to have been a terrible decision turns out to be a great learning experience and blessing in disguise. Early in my career I spent three months as director of research at a small consulting firm. Although I didnt realize it at the time, this brief experience would profoundly shape my understanding of employee motivation and engagement and provide the insight that led me to create the RESPECT Model. I share some of that experience with you now in the hope that it will highlight for you the critical role respect plays in keeping employees engaged.

As anyone might be, I was excited and also a bit nervous for my first day of work. I arrived forty-five minutes early and found the door locked. I waited forty-five minutes before being let in by Sherry, the companys receptionist. She asked if I had a meeting with someone. I had apparently not made much of an impression when introduced as the new director of research two weeks earlier by Mary and John, the owners of the firm. I proudly announced I work here! and reintroduced myself. She replied, Oh yeah, youre the new guy and proceeded to hang up her coat, get coffee, and begin the days crossword puzzle at her desk.

I assumed that Mary or John would be in shortly to show me around, introduce me to the staff, and discuss more fully their specific goals and expectations. Not knowing quite what to do, and receiving no direction or assistance from Sherry, I simply waited in a chair across from her desk, which served as the reception area. After thirty minutes, I finally asked if she knew when Mary or John would be arriving. Oh, theyre not coming in today, she replied. What? Could I somehow have screwed up my starting date? Confused and embarrassed, I began to put on my jacket and leave when the office phone rang. Sherry handed it to meit was John. He apologized for having been called away for a last-minute meeting and assured me that Sherry would take good care of me. I put Sherry back on the phone and she nodded a few times and hung up. She picked up a manila envelope that had been sitting on her desk and said, Here are the new employee forms for you to fill out.

Recognizing that a hard surface would be useful, I asked where I might find an available desk. She walked me around the corner and said, The last guy sat there. To the left of the desk were a few dying plants and my new officemate, TJ, who warmly introduced himself and welcomed me to the company. He then offered to take me around and introduce me to the rest of the staff. Now we were getting somewhere! As we went around the office my new team members appeared engaged in a number of different activities, including conversations on sports and stocks, surfing the Web, and playing online solitaire. There was a college intern, Elaine, who did appear to be working.

After the tour, I went back to my desk and completed the forms. I handed them to Sherry and asked if John had said what I should do next. He had not. So, I asked TJ if he needed any help. He smiled and said no. As I walked around the office reiterating my offer, I received several bemused looks and no takers. I returned to my desk and thought: Have I been inserted into a Dilbert cartoon?

Committed to doing something productive, I found the janitorial supplies and cleaned my desk and some bookshelves. I then picked dead leaves off the plants, gave them a good watering, and moved them closer to a sunny window. I looked at my watch and thought, How could it only be 10:30 A.M.? What am I going to do the rest of the day? I remembered having come across several boxes of pencils in my desk and took to sharpening them. When finished, I carefully packed the pencils back into their boxes according to their length and placed them back in my desk. It was to be one of the most satisfying and productive experiences of my tenure there.

TJ had been watching me work while talking to his girlfriend on the phone. When he hung up I told him that I was bored out of my mind. He suggested that I learn to pace myself. Taking pity on me, he handed me a stack of reports and said, You can read these over for typos if youd like. He then grabbed his coat and said that he had to run out. Running sounded like a good idea.

At noon Sherry came into my office and said that she wanted to show me something. She walked me to the front door and pointed to a small magnetic whiteboard with everyones name written down the left side and two columns labeled In and Out. My name had been added to the bottom of the list and a small magnetic circle indicated that I was In. Everyone elses circles were in the Out column. Although I had actually brought my lunch, there was no way that I was staying In and went to move my circle to Out. Sherry then explained that team members took turns answering the phones during her lunch break and, as I was the only one left In, that would be me today. She put on her coat and walked out.

I prayed for the phone not to ring. Mary called first. We chatted for a minute, and then she asked me to transfer her to TJs voice mail. Of course, I had no idea how to do that and hung up on her. Nor was I of any help to a client who called to schedule an assessment for one of his employees. Yes, I told him, I am new. I then did the only reasonable thing and took the phone off the hook. As I sat there, I had to consider the very real possibility that I had made a very bad decision. Six years in graduate school at Yale and here I was answering phones. I had walked away from a tenure-track position at one of the best schools in the country and was now sharpening pencils. I felt a wave of nausea rush over me and considered simply walking out and leaving a note. Of course, I would be sure to push my magnetic circle to the Out column.

The time from 1:00 to 5:00 passed more slowly than any previous four hours of my life. As I sat at my desk, I thought of the Seinfeld episode where George had gotten a job but had been given nothing to do and spent the day sharpening pencils and throwing them like darts into the fiberboard ceiling. I seriously doubted anyone would notice. I glanced over at the dying plants and realized that this was not an environment in which plants or people could thrive. At 5:00, I pushed my circle to Out and went home. I slept little that night as my thoughts raced between What have I done? and Surely things will get better once I meet with John.

On the second day, I was the first to arrive at 8:30 and again waited for Sherry to unlock the door at 8:59. Upon seeing me, she looked surprised and said, Youre back. Apparently, she gave me more credit than I deserved. I checked In.

I spent the first part of the morning visiting the office plants and staff. The plants seemed livelier than the day before. I could not say the same of my colleagues. I had brought in my laptop and replied to e-mails and read the news. When John checked In at 10:30, I felt an incredible sense of relief. He greeted me enthusiastically and congratulated me on finding my desk. I twitched as I realized that the bar was even lower than I had imagined. He told me that he had a great idea; he was taking me shopping to get office supplies for my desk. I assured him that I had plenty of well-sharpened pencils.

We retuned an hour later with several bags of supplies almost all of which I knew to be well organized in the stock room. John suggested that I get my desk outfitted and then come in to see him. I was so anxious to actually get to work that I left most of the supplies in their bags and shoved them into the desk drawers. Five minutes later, I was standing in front of Johns office; he was on the phone but motioned for me to come in and sit down. I sat and waited, and waited. I picked up a book on his coffee table and started reading. He kept holding up his forefinger and gesturing, One more minute. Thirty minutes later he wrapped up the call and said, Time for lunch. Come on, Im buying. I smiled at Sherry as I walked by the board and signed Out.