Is your organisation "smiling"?
Don't laugh - it could be the difference between a strong, respected brand image and one that potential employees and customers instinctively avoid. Allan Pease, an expert in body language and author of several best-selling books on the topic, says a corporate culture can be visible through the attitudes and actions of individual staff members of all levels. And a negative one can be deadly on the recruitment trail.
That's why body language is so important for HR professionals in particular. "HR's business is people," Pease says. "They need to be able to reach one person or a million." By improving communication skills and developing policies that incorporate Pease's suggestions, HR departments will enhance not only corporate culture but also help employee attraction and retention.
Body language for organisations
Pease says effective communication and positive body language is something that can also be learned by entire organisations. Indeed, it can be the difference between a successful corporate culture and one that stymies progress. "A company just consists of people. And a corporate culture just consists of those people's attitudes."
Pease sees examples of different corporate personalities every day. He's convinced that positive attitudes and friendly demeanours among staff of all levels can have a significant correlation with business success. It creates a brand that people go out of their way to deal and engage with, he says.
Getting an organisation to 'smile' is as simple - or as difficult - as getting all of its staff, from the CEO to the interns, to smile themselves. Pease says a person can tell if someone is smiling by the way they use their voice. So they need to maintain the good cheer even on the phone. A smile puts energy into a conversation and means the participants are more likely to consider the organisation as one they want to be involved with.
"(Smiling) is what open doors in the business world," he says. It's something his grandmother taught him when he was just a small child. "People must feel relevant. If you make a person comfortable, they will be open to hearing what you have to say and more likely to help you."
The power of compliments
Energising the voice is just one way of improving communication in the work environment and making people feel important. But it's only one of many possible steps. The power of a simple compliment can bring even the most hardened personality around. Pease quotes research that shows a pleasant, positive conversation can help endear a person to someone's cause.
"When you pay someone a compliment, they remember you as taller, thinner and younger," he claims. "If you make them feel important they'll follow you wherever you want them to go."
People react instinctively to body language and the states of mind that it expresses. Just as extending a positive demeanour can help win friends and influence, a sad, angry or stressed state of mind will almost always fail to impress. "People will avoid that organisation wherever they can," Pease warns.
But changing a corporate culture in this way is much easier said than done. Pease has helped many organisations through the process but admits there is often an easier, if somewhat abrupt, way.
"Get new staff," he says simply. And he's serious. "The reality is that the culture must become the important thing - not the people."
Of course, not every organisation is able to conduct such a complete overhaul of its employees. The alternative is to hold some very intense training on people skills and body language. Changing someone's natural demeanour and body language is never easy. Changing the attitude and image of a whole group or company takes commitment and determination from everyone involved.
The first lesson appears easy enough but Pease says it can often be the most confronting. He takes a group of people through a role playing scenario, using typical business situations. A week later, he replays the video and asks participants to guess what their colleagues may have been thinking at particular moments. The results, he says, can be astounding."Some people come across as mean or sneaky," he said. That can happen even when they are speaking positively - the body language speaks louder. Pease says it is an important lesson that highlights just how much people might need to change their demeanour. "It's quite entertaining and fun," he says. "But very powerful."
Body language as the peacemaker
Although HR spends quite a bit of time creating goals and, of course, achieving them, resolving conflicts is also a crucial responsibility. When a conflict arises in the office, Pease says HR needs to try and resolve it before it has a chance to escalate. Body language is, again, vitally important to help ensure a neutral and fair process.
"Ensure that the meeting environment fosters communication between parties so that it is as productive as possible," he suggests. If you are in a meeting room, use a low round table so that no one can hide behind it or take a dominant and aggressive position.
"Let the parties use chairs that swivel so that when people are feeling uptight, they can swivel and release negative energy."
Once you have the environment organised to promote optimal communication, there are also issues that the participants need to consider. Pease says the following steps can help ensure any communication - even in a conflict situation - is positive, non-threatening and geared toward creating a resolution. Participants should:
Ensure that their head is tilted toward the person speaking. This shows they are interested in what the other person has to say. It is instinctual for humans to tilt their heads to the side when they are interested in something.
Smile and make sure their teeth are visible. If they have a tendency not to smile with their teeth - as many perfectly happy people do - they should drop their jaw so that the teeth are on display. Smiling shows pleasure and will enforce the interest shown by tilting the head.
Nod their head as others talk to indicate an affirmation of what is being said. Nodding is a universal symbol for 'yes' and will work to further enforce the head tilting and smiling.
Keep the body language in the room open. Watch the energy in the room and notice if anyone has crossed their arms or legs or is sitting far back in their chair. Participants or mediators can work to get rid of this negative energy by verbally asking people to lean forward or by offering them something to drink or eat.
With the depleting supply of labour in Asian markets, particularly Singapore, employers need to do all they can to keep their employees and their business partners onside. Increasing employee communication skills is therefore no longer an elective but a vital tool of modern business. Although Pease believes that everyone can learn to use body language to improve their communication, he says it takes practice to understand the techniques and constant repetition to turn them into everyday habits.
About Allan Pease
Having positive energy is essential for HR and people management and Allan Pease has it in abundance. He states that not only does positive energy encourage others to pursue their goals but it also helps to promote physical health. It's a statement that is hard to argue against given that Pease's own positive attitude and determination has helped him to successfully fight cancer - not once, but twice.
Today, Allan Pease is one of the world's most successful international speakers and non-fiction authors. He has written 14 bestsellers including 'The Definitive Book of Body Language' and the 11 million seller 'Why Men Don't Listen & Women Can't Read Maps'. What makes Pease and his life story particularly interesting however isn't just where he is now - but how he got here.
Rags to Riches
Allan Pease began his entrepreneurial career at the tender age of twelve. Realising that people were using rags to clean because there were no synthetic sponges available, he went to a local upholstery store and bought their leftover foam which he then cut into small squares and sold as sponges door-to-door.
Through his experiences in sales and with the advice of his grandmother, Pease learned how to use body language to gain the trust of potential clients and make sales. Wanting to share this information, he co-wrote more than a dozen books with his wife Barbara and today they share their knowledge with people and organisations all over the world.
Although Pease is known as a writer, and has been producing books for a long time, there is one passion that has stayed with him even longer. Music has always been a major part of his life and guitar has always been his instrument. Back in 1969, Pease was a founding member of the 'Trench Traveling Blues Band' - a heavy metal outfit developed by him and his friends. These days, he owns an Australian recording studio and still plays as a session guitarist for various events.
When he is not practicing his music or traveling around the globe, Pease can be found on the Gold Coast of Australia playing with his two youngest children or lounging in the sun.
Allan Pease will be presenting exclusively at the HR Summit Singapore on the 6th & 7th of May 2009. Full details at www.hrsummit.com.sg