Shaking Employees’ Hands: Low Tech, Low Cost, High Return
Touching can enhance relationship building. In the workplace, some touching creates problems. However, the handshake is generally acceptable and is an extremely effective morale builder when used regularly with employees.
While frequently used to greet new people or re-acquaintances, it’s normal for employees to go with unshaken hands for long periods. For example, a fourteen-year veteran machine operator with a 150-employee manufacturing company had never had his hand shaken by a company executive.
I advise that every employee receive a handshake from a company executive (or senior manager in larger corporations) at least once every three to six months. Executives should be able to do this on a regular basis for their top 100 reports.
Shaking employees is usually easy and fun. Extending your hand often encourages the employee to do likewise. Sometimes, when it’s unexpected, I’ve had to keep my hand extended for as much as 10-15 seconds before the employee extended hers. Thus, I often play off the technique’s novelty by saying:
Hello Anne, how are you [extend hand]? [As hand is extending continue uninterruptedly.] It has been a while since we talked. What’s going on with your (client, market, family, vacation, etc.)?
I’ve also had employees ask:
Did you want something in particular?
To which I’ve responded with something like this:
No, I just wanted to see how you were doing and to thank you for your efforts.
Touches influence people’s feelings and in turn their thoughts. For instance, a patient touched by a doctor will tend to think that the doctor spent twice as much time with him than she did. We need to remember that people are not light switches. Over time, handshakes work and lay excellent ground for future initiatives.
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I tell you another one…knowing their spouses and kids names and asking them about their families. I have had employees tell me that they have NEVER had a boss who did this. Another item that was meaningful to me was remembering them on their birthday. I put each of the birthdays in my Outlook calendar and send them a note on their birthday.
Bottom line – all the jobs with dogs and trees are gone. We work with PEOPLE and they want to be treated as such.
Thank you, Daniel, for the comment. Yes, those are extra credit if there is such a thing. There’s a novel thought: treat people as people. Who would have thought! Again, thank you. Good to see you here again.
Shake hands always gives good result in one way or another, we need to know and feel that we are taken into account, we exist.
Yes, you’re right about that, Daymond. Ignoring people is often worse than reprimanding them. Thank you for visiting. ~Mike