Blog Post

Management Is About Emotional Connections—Not Rules

Cornerstone Editors

Once upon a time, the threat of job loss or a pay cut from upper management was all it took to influence employees and keep them on the straight-and-narrow. Today, however, the employee-manager relationship depends more on collaboration than it does on top-down ruling. Person-to-person, emotional connections are essential for engaging and inspiring employees in today’s workplace, says workplace coach Jay Forte.

Some see this new management tactic as a fancy way to describe "handholding," but Forte argues to the contrary. "Actually building a personal connection with employees is one of the most significant ways managers can activate performance and inspire loyalty," he writes on Human Capitalist.

How should managers add a higher level of emotional intelligence to their employee relationships? Make the effort to understand each employee and share information that will help improve performance.

He offers a sample letter for managers to send to their employees, asking them to keep improving not only in their day-to-day tasks, but also as people. The letter encourages them to improve: their work, their contact with customers, their workplace culture, their communities, the planet and finally, themselves.

"Do more than just manage your talent: Engage and inspire it," Forte says.

Want to connect with your employees and raise their personal standards? Read the full letter on Human Capitalist.

Related Resources

Want to keep learning? Explore our products, customer stories, and the latest industry insights.

Tap into your team’s development by enabling their career

Blog Post

Tap into your team’s development by enabling their career

In today's job market, one roadblock organizations often deal with when trying to hold on to employees is a concept called “talent hoarding.” Talent hoarding occurs when a manager holds tightly to an employee because they view that person as an essential asset to their team. Losing this person would likely create a hole in the department that the manager may consider challenging or inconvenient to fill.

Schedule a personalized 1:1

Talk to a Cornerstone expert about how we can help with your organization’s unique people management needs.

© Cornerstone 2023
Legal