Today, most leaders are so focused on survival. They don’t even dare to dream of being able to win praise from their employees, or truly find a way to consistently manage both their time and their energy. However, this might not be as out of reach as it seems.
“I think it has never been challenging to be in a leadership or management position as it is today. But also probably never more important. We have reached a point where employees are leaving due to the relationship with a manager, companies. Workplaces are having a harder time attracting and retaining employees, as well as finding good people to be in management roles,” said Herdis Pala Paldottir, co-founder of Opus Futura and a specialist in leadership.
While so much of the focus in boardroom and c-suites has been on identifying and implementing the newest technology, many companies overlooked what was happening in Human Resources. Hence, when they were hit with a raft of resignations or when employees started to ‘quiet quit’ they were startled – never saw it coming.
Aside from extreme cases where an employee is overly demanding or clearly slacks off in their work, most people simply want a stable, upbeat workplace where when they do good work it is recognized and rewarded.
“A lot of people talk about the ‘Great Resignation’ however it’s not so much resigning from work as it is resigning from employers and looking for employers that actually are a better fit and a better partner for the ambitions a person might have,” said Ralph Specht, creator of Sol System, and author of Building Corporate Soul and a founding partner of Spark 44.
“The key reason that employers think employees are leaving is inadequate compensation.
When you ask employees why they're leaving, the number one reason is, they're not valued by the organization or not valued by their manager."
While a lot of the talk centers around brutal bosses who need to be reformed to the point where they are not much more than a glorified office concierge, the reality is less exaggerated.
The Personal Touch
Part of making an employee feel recognized is seeing them as an individual. A bit of personalization can go a long way building stronger workplace bonds.
“The key reason that employers think employees are leaving is inadequate compensation – they’re just looking for a better job, or they’re poached by another company. But when you ask employees why they’re leaving, the number one reason is, they’re not valued by the organization or not valued by their manager. They want to do something about their work life balance, and want to find some sense of belonging. So you will look at the two, and they’re like black and white,” said Mr. Specht.
“Individualism is on the rise.People want to feel special. We can go online and order all kinds of things and have it customized to our personal preferences.
“In the workplace, we want someone to really look at us not only as an employee, but as an individual. That requires a lot from managers and leaders. Overall management needs to be more human. My master’s is Human Resource Management, but I joke that we should call it human beings management instead because that’s what it’s really about.
“You need to look at your employees as individuals and get to know them and build a relationship, because that’s how you improve their performance and their loyalty, so it’s a win-win for everyone,” said Ms. Palsdottir.
“Simply by showing up during one of those shifts and talking to some of the team, management can build the connection that is the foundation of a harmonious workplace.
Yet few senior executives bother to do this."
Building these relationships with employees doesn’t require some kind of outsized initiative. In fact, it’s more often the simple but often overlooked gestures that are the most meaningful.
“Many companies have employees that work a different shift from when senior management is on site. Too often those people have little visibility, and hence no feedback, or from anyone above their immediate supervisor,” said Paul Glover, a former labor and employment law attorney and union leader, and founder of The Glover Group, a management consulting firm.
“By showing up during one of those shifts and talking to some of the team, management can build the connection that is the foundation of a harmonious workplace. Yet few senior executives bother to do this. Too busy. Other things took priority. Then everyone wonders why suddenly people are quitting.”
Family vs. Tribe
If some companies err on the side of thinking of their employees are little more than machines, others veer too far in the other direction.
“I think the idea of ‘family’ inside the company is an interesting concept, but you need to be a bit careful with the family aspect. In families, the psychological relationships are vastly different from the workplace. So it’s not a 100% accurate comparison.
“I feel the right terminology is probably a ‘tribe’ rather than family. In a tribe, people have a shared interest and a shared objective. And that does not exclude competition. Competition is helpful in getting the best results. But it needs to be fair competition. And as long as that’s happening, there’s nothing wrong with competition at all.,” said Mr. Specht.
Replacing Mission with Purpose
Most companies have a mission statement or some sort of slogan that describes how they see themselves. However few are able to use that as a centerpiece around which to truly build strong bonds with their employees.
"Organizations need to have good EVP or employer value proposition.
Talent can choose where they want to work so employers must demonstrate why working at their company is a good choice."
“The word ‘purpose’ has been the buzzword for the last 10 years. From my perspective, it should be named ‘shared purpose’. Too often, a company’s ‘purpose’ is just a nice phrase sitting somewhere on a shelf or behind the receptionist’s table in the office, but isn’t actually fully embedded into the business.
“Once you’ve created the shared purpose, then the second level is what I call the shared understanding, which looks at all the key elements of corporate strategy. This includes vision, mission values, and what I call spirit, which to me is the intended culture. Then the third level is where the rubber meets the road. That’s what I call the shared behaviors,” said Mr. Specht.
A Re-Balance of Power
As companies find it more difficult to recruit the right talent, they are finding that they now have to sell themselves to job applicants in a way they had not needed to just a year or two ago. This starts by conveying the company’s purpose to those applying for jobs – all the way through to senior management.
“This is part of what has been called EVP or employer value proposition. Talent, especially people with good experience and good skills, can choose between where they want to work. So the employers have to really be clear on what’s in it for the employee to work there. There’s a power shift within the labor market, where before the workplace had all the power. They ran the ads, they had people apply, and did the interviews, and then they’d choose who they wanted to hire.
“Now the employee is choosing where they want to work. They can choose where they want to work. They have the power to accept a job and use the first two days or a few weeks to evaluate if this is a manager that I want to work for? Does this workplace have a healthy workplace culture? Am I supported as an individual? If the employee feels the job isn’t what they want, they can just leave and go somewhere else,” said Ms. Palsdottir.
While right now the power pendulum has swung towards the employee, at some point it will shift more towards the center.
The ultimate goal is to create a workplace where everyone feels recognized and rewarded – from entry level staff to senior management.
