FMS @ a Glance
January 9-13, 2017
Eight ways to Foster Trust
Eight Ways to Foster Trust
In this Harvard Business Review article, Paul Zak (Claremont Graduate University) reports on his findings on engagement and trust. “Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer…” he says. “They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance.” In ten years of field research on employees’ cognitive and affective indicators, Zak and his colleagues pinpointed what managers did to foster engagement and trust:
• Recognizing excellence. This has the biggest impact on trust “when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it comes from peers, and when it’s tangible, unexpected, personal, and public,” says Zak. “Public recognition not only uses the power of the crowd to celebrate successes, but also inspires others to aim for excellence. And it gives top performers a forum for sharing best practices, so others can learn from them.”
• Assigning challenging but achievable goals with a concrete end point. Leaders should also check in frequently to assess progress and adjust targets so they’re at the Goldilocks level of challenge – not too hard and not too easy.
• Giving people discretion in how they do their work. “Being trusted to figure things out is a big motivator,” says Zak. “Autonomy also promotes innovation, because different people try different approaches.” Of course monitoring and looking at results are essential, as is debriefing on what’s working and what isn’t.
• Enabling job crafting. Motivation and trust are enhanced when people have some latitude to work on what interests and energizes them and choose their teammates.
• Sharing information broadly. When everyone knows the organization’s goals, strategies, and tactics, stress is reduced and buy-in increases.
• Intentionally building relationships. Social ties at work improve performance, and these can be fostered by managers expressing interest and concern for team members and structuring lunches, staff parties, and fun off-site activities.
• Facilitating whole-person growth. “Numerous studies show that acquiring new work skills isn’t enough,” says Zak; “if you’re not growing as a human being, your performance will suffer… Investing in the whole person has a powerful effect on engagement and retention.” Leaders need to have a growth mindset about developing talent, giving frequent feedback and discussing work-life balance, family, and career plans.
• Showing vulnerability. “Leaders in high-trust workplaces ask for help from colleagues instead of just telling them to do things,” says Zak. “Asking for help is effective because it taps into the natural human impulse to cooperative with others.” He quotes CEO Max
De Pree: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.”
In a sidebar in this article, Zak says the sweet spot is employees having a sense that they’re working toward a higher purpose in a trusting organization. “Trust and purpose then mutually reinforce each other, providing a mechanism for extended oxytocin release,” he says, “which produces happiness. So joy on the job comes from doing purpose-driven work with a trusted team.” A quick and easy way to measure an organization’s culture is to ask people, “How much do you enjoy your job on a typical day?”
“The Neuroscience of Trust” by Paul Zak in Harvard Business Review, January-February 2017 (Vol. 95, #1, p. 84-90), https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust
CORRECTION: EARLY RELEASE not Late Start
MLK Day
January 16th MLK Day celebration - FMS will be running under a 2-hour EARLY RELEASE schedule. Ms. Peterson will be informing the staff on the schedule for the MLK Celebration. Thank you Britta for your extra efforts putting this program together.
Reminder: Band Solo/Ensembles
Site visits and AMLE Conferences
Deadlines:
Site visits - asap, let Mrs. McDermott or I know right away if you want to attend so we can finalize details with Chaska Middle School.
AMLE Conferences - January 13th
Field Trip reminder.
Hello All,
I hope you all had a great holiday. I am writing to ask you to please help in reminding your staff that the nurses in your building need at least a 10 working day notice for field trips. We continue to have some last minute field trips that were planned in advance where students with medical conditions such as diabetes are attending. There needs to be a nurse go with on these field trips for diabetic management and administration of the insulin. Nurse subs are sparse and it takes time to find and coordinate this coverage. I have sent out two district wide emails so far this year. Most are doing great but the issue just came up today for 2 full day field trips next week needing a nurse to attend both. Parents dont want to attend, my parochial nurse is on medical leave, my asst. Correen is on maternity leave, my nurse sub is subbing at a school already, and Im subbing at the Parochial. So Im a little stretched already. LOL
If anyone has a list of field trips that they okayed in their buildings in the beginning of the year that they can send me I would greatly appreciate it. If you could also remind staff during monthly meetings, etc. about this that would be great. The more notice I have the better.
Thanks for your teamwork!
Amy Schak RN, BSN, LSN, MA
District Health Coordinator
Faribault Public Schools
Weekly Calendar
NWEA Reading Tests conducted
Monday, January 9
2:00 pm PST meeting
5:00 pm AVID Parent Night
Tuesday, January 10
8:30 am Leadership meeting
3:30 pm District Staff Development meeting
Wednesday, January 11
9:00 am SSS Team meeting
Thursday, January 12
Homebase visits
9:30 am AmeriCorp site visit
1:00 pm FMS Geography Bee
Friday, January 13
Homebase visits
Upcoming Events:
1/16 Curriculum Committee meeting
1/17 SITE Council meeting
1/18 Department PLC
1/19 Department Chair meeting
1/20 FMS Technology Committee meeting