Onsite Insites by SatisFacts Research 2014 - 4th Quarter | Page 10

All summer, before my daughter entered the first
grade, she was hoping and praying that she
would be assigned to a specific teacher’s class,
who I’ll call “Ms. Jones.” When she found out she
was going to be in Ms. Jones’ class, she was so
excited that she screamed and jumped up and
down. A good teacher makes such a difference,
doesn’t it?
Think about it-did you ever have a school
teacher whose class you just dreaded going to? I
had a teacher like that in fourth grade. Her
reputation as the “mean teacher” preceded her,
so she was the one teacher NO ONE wanted.
Consequently, I was thrilled when I was assigned
to Mrs. Abraham’s class for my homeroom and
felt sorry for my friends who were assigned the
“mean teacher”, who I’ll call “Mrs. Hee.” My joy
was short-lived, however, when I found out that I
was assigned to Mrs. Hee's reading class.
#OhNo!
Let me tell you, the stories of Mrs. Hee were
true. She was mean! She was also
argumentative, dismissive, harsh and could make
you feel one foot small whenever you made a
mistake or made a bad decision. I can remember
kids crying in her class after she dressed them
down, and we all lived in an atmosphere of fear.
I don’t mind saying I was a good student and
always loved school-but man, the thought of
having to go to her class was enough on some
days to make me feel sick, or to pretend being
sick, just so I didn’t have to go to her class!
The Good Teacher
Then, there was Mrs. Abraham. She was my
saving grace in my fourth grade year, and to this
day remains my favorite teacher. Mrs. Abraham
was kind, supportive, fair and firm. She never
hesitated to correct us when we were out of line
(sometimes with a stern word, often times with
just “the look) but even when we were being

corrected, we could feel that it came out of love.
While I paid attention in Mrs. Hee’s class (out of
the fear of swift retribution!) I paid attention in
Mrs. Abraham’s class because I wanted to. And
when I needed a hug, extra support or just a
little more “TLC” she never hesitated to offer
that to me as well. I wanted to give her my
attention, my loyalty, my best because it felt like
the least I could do for her, since I knew she truly
cared about me, and so did my classmates.
Which approach do you t hink worked better?

Who was your favorite teacher? What qualities,
attributes and actions made that teacher so
special to you? Contrast that with the qualities,
attributes and actions of those teachers that you
just wanted to run away from!
Then remember, the same principles that were
true for you and me in fourth grade are still true
today in the workplace! After all, if you lead
people, you are their teacher, aren’t you?
Do They Know You Care?
I have done some work recently with a large
national company, with a stellar reputation for
outstanding product and great people. In all of
my interactions with the leadership and the
associates of this company I can tell you that
they are refreshingly different from many other
companies, and it’s clear to me that they truly
want to do right by their associates.
Yet…in some recent employee satisfaction
surveys, they received feedback that indicated
they could do a better job of showing their
associates that they care about them. So the
company embarked on several great initiatives
to make sure their people know they do care.
Why does it matter to this company? Because
they know that happy employees are far more
productive and effective, which in turns creates