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ON THE MOVE CAROL P. LOWE ELECTED TO THE EMCOR GROUP, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS EMCOR Group. Inc. announced the election of Carol Lowe to the company’s board of directors at its annual meeting of stockholders at which the company’s incumbent directors standing for re-election were also elected. Lowe is the senior vice president and chief financial officer of Sealed Air Corporation, a

global manufacturer of innovative packaging and hygiene solutions of widely recognized brands such as Cryovac brand food packaging solutions, Bubble Wrap brand cushioning, and Diversey cleaning and hygiene solutions. Stephen Bershad, chairman of the board of EMCOR Group, Inc. commented, “We are pleased to welcome Carol to the EMCOR board of directors and look forward to

leveraging Carol’s strategic, operational and financial vision and leadership for EMCOR as we continue to grow our business and drive value for our shareholders.” Lowe joined Sealed Air in June 2012 and previously held executive operational and financial positions at Carlisle Companies Incorporated, a diversified global manufacturing company.

WILLIAM SCHIEMANN, from page 3

we control 60 percent of our own happiness. But over time, many employees develop learned helplessness, often at the hands of leaders who have constantly said “no” or taken con- trol away from people to manage actions and performance. If you listen in to 90 percent of focus groups I have conducted with employees over the years, the amount of learned help- lessness is mind boggling. People have just given up attempt- ing to change things because they feel stupid trying to make an impact when they just keep hitting barriers. Resilience is one thing, but repeatedly running into the same wall is the definition of insanity. Try passing more authority and ac- countability to employees – but also empower them to take actions to accomplish the results. “Developing resilience to setbacks or grit to push through barriers is increasingly important in a multitasking and rapidly changing world. As we cope with a relentless increase in demands to remain competitive, it is more important than ever to develop these compensatory strengths.” 4)Train engagement at the leader and employee level. En- gaging others comes naturally to some, but to many new and even experienced managers, it is difficult. Few were given en- gagement training when they took oversight responsibilities. And for managers, one of the biggest culprits is sameness. It is far easier to assume that everyone should be treated the same – something HR has dictated for years. You can’t get into trouble when you treat everyone alike. But that assumes people are robots (who knows, robots may even resent it!). When we studied great leaders in restaurants, for example, we found that the best managers were those who got close to their people and helped their team and individuals achieve their goals. Not just their work goals, but their life goals. They knew who was dealing with child or adult care, who attended school, who had challenging commutes and so forth, and they formed their teams to engage people by accepting and lever- aging their differences. They treated people as individuals – the way most of us want to be treated. Employees too can be trained on how to take greater control of their engagement. What are they passionate about? What saps or fuels their en- ergy? What elements of the workday can they control better? These four simple steps will put you and your employees on a far better road to creating a highly engaged workforce. WILLIAM SCHIEMANN, PH.D., is CEO of Metrus Group. He is a thought leader in human resources, employee engagement, and fulfillment and author of Fulfilled! Critical Choices – Work, Home, Life . For more information visit, wschiemann.com.

come up during their workday. This pressure detracts from their engagement because it feels one-sided. One thing that must be recognized in our interconnected lives is that good or bad issues traverse all spheres of our lives – work, family, friends, hobbies, health. One HR professional in a financial services company said, “I got so caught up in my job that I constantly felt guilty about neglecting my family,” and an- other reported, “I was constantly torn between being success- ful at work and being successful with my kids.” This constant tension leads to debilitating stress and burnout, which can be avoided by updating policies and educating leaders on how to help employees integrate different sectors of their lives. For example, smart firms are focusing on results, not time, and are frequently reviewing workloads to ensure that people – especially the high performers – are not becoming overloaded to the point of burnout. 2)Help employees build resilience. Developing resilience to setbacks or grit to push through barriers is increasingly im- portant in a multitasking and rapidly changing world. As we cope with a relentless increase in demands to remain compet- itive, it is more important than ever to develop these compen- satory strengths. Roughly 95 percent of people interviewed in a recent Metrus Institute study had major setbacks at some point during their lives and many intermediate ones yearly, but very few had the coping mechanisms to quickly recover and get re-tracked in their lives. Over time, many discovered techniques to accelerate the process of recovery. For example, those who had mentors and a deeper network of good friend- ships – not simply Facebook friends – were able to weather storms better. Another technique that companies can use is a “pull the switch” option, an employee friendly and open way for someone to say “enough” and that they need support. This was an approach which was employed quite successfully in high performance safety environments for years – why keep the line or individual going when they are becoming less and less effective? It does not mean they are not good employees, but rather that they need support – guidance, resources, in- formation, skills – to continue moving forward. “A large majority of workers today respond to texts or email at night or on the weekend, or work feverishly to finish a report or presentation. And yet many are frightened to address personal issues that come up during their workday.” 3)Empower your people to take charge. Engagement is not something that can be given to people – they have to feel it. Research on happiness and fulfillment has shown that

THE ZWEIG LETTER August 7, 2017, ISSUE 1211

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