An employee who really feels like part of the company family, regardless of global location, is usually a happy, productive employee. Kennametal’s Bob Richards talks to Jennifer Miller about his philosophy on creating employee engagement, despite the barriers of distance created by leading team members from across the world.
- No micromanaging.
- Address the exception to the rule; don’t make up a bunch of rules.
- Know which behaviors to encourage, discourage, and ignore.
- Establish boundaries and then get out of the way.
- Get to know your team and match their strengths to projects.
- Remove the distractions of pay inequities.
- Have fun.
Read the original post in its entirety when it appeared on Smartblog on Leadership as ‘Lessons from an award-winning leader: 7 ways to improve workplace morale and employee engagement.
Jennifer V. Miller is a writer and leadership development consultant. She offers up tips for leading yourself and others at her award-winning blog The People Equation.
Bob Richards is the global director of operational excellence for Kennametal, a supplier of tooling and industrial materials based outside of Pittsburgh. His team oversees the functions of lean manufacturing, quality, and environmental health and safety for the company’s 72 manufacturing facilities. Richards previously led teams for global manufacturers Herman Miller and General Motors. In 2011 EHS Today Magazine named Kennametal one of “America’s Safest Companies,” and, in 2012, Richards’s team won the award for employee engagement for the company’s internal annual Voice of the Employee survey. These survey results put Bob in the top 2 percent of Kennametal’s managers for employee satisfaction and accountability.
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