Benioff doesn't like what he's seeing.
That's the message Benioff sent to company employees on Friday when he posted a message in a company-wide chat questioning the productivity of new hires and the company's current culture.
How do we increase the productivity of our employees at salesforce? New employees (hired during the pandemic in 2021 & 2022) are especially facing much lower productivity. Is this a reflection of our office policy? Are we not building tribal knowledge with new employees without an office culture? Are our managers not directly addressing productivity with their teams? Are we not investing enough time into our new employees? Do managers focus enough time and energy on onboarding new employees & achieving productivity? is coming as a new employee to salesforce too overwhelming? Asking for a friend. (Im leaving this open ended to get the broadest level of response.)
The message is short, but it teaches important lessons about leadership and how to give feedback. A leader's value is not just in what they say but how they say it.
You can apply the lessons at your workplace. If you want to learn how to build emotional intelligence in yourself and your team, I will give you a seven-day course for free.
The message starts with a simple question.
How do we make our employees more productive?
A question like this makes a lot of sense.
Don't tell other people what they've done wrong when you need to give feedback. They should be invited to share their thoughts and perspectives.
The Ikea effect is when you make your people part of the solution, they will be more invested in trying to make the solution work.
The issue is clearly identified by Benioff.
New employees are facing lower productivity due to the Pandemic.
This statement shows that he isn't being critical. This isn't a case of needing more. It's not a matter of seeing the same results as before.
Constructive criticism can be done the same way. Define what makes a situation negative or good. What do you want to see, but not what you see? Everyone gets on the same page with this.
Be cautious as you do.
This is where the message really begins to excel.
New hires could be to blame for the problems. He could have criticized leadership. He does not. Benioff attacks the problems through a series of questions.
Manager, trainer, and other leaders are called out by Benioff. He uses words like "we" and "our" in order to attack the problem with them.
Through all of these questions, Benioff shows empathy, takes pressure off of new hires, and puts the onus on company leaders to show how they can support those new hires.
It's possible to do the same thing. Don't blame the problem when you look at it. Instead, include yourself, speak with others, and focus on solutions.
Benioff said at the end of the message that he was asking for a friend.
It can accomplish wonders by lightening tension and reminding everyone that "Yes, I may be the CEO, but I'm a regular person."
It can be difficult to use humor at work, and some are more gifted at it than others, but don't be afraid to show others that you aren't too serious.
This is the final comment from Benioff.
I left this open to get the broadest level of response.
The use of a company-wide communication tool to encourage inclusivity and crowd-sourced information from everyone is an amazing use of a company-wide communication tool.
The more feedback and perspective you can get on a problem, the better.
Next time you need to give feedback, take a lesson from the CEO of the company.
Your people will see that you are trying to help them. You'll make sure that your feedback is constructive and smart.
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