I could start with things you should do to full leverage your most valuable partners (your employees). However, I think it better to start with things to avoid. Because we as business leaders have to take responsibility. We have to understand our own limitations and the ramifications of our actions before we have a reason to change how we approach things.
Here are four standard beliefs and actions which actively contradict the very notion of an employee being your most valuable partner. If you want to increase productivity and morale, examine your actions and stop engaging in the following:
Don’t limit your employees’ activities to their job title.
A highly-motivated employee will bring insane amounts of value to the table. They will innovate without being asked, point out inefficiencies and solve them preemptively, and have the potential to completely revolutionize your departments. In short, they will single-handedly increase your company’s success.
Most companies limit their capability to do so. “Your job title is Sales and Service, we don’t pay you to think. Thanks for the ideas, but just do your job. We don’t think you know as much about your department as the experts we hired from a completely separate division, because your job title doesn’t say Expert.”
A driven employee will buck the system and find ways to influence the department for the better despite those roadblocks. But they’ll also burn out and leave. My question to you is: would you rather drive them away, or leverage their insights? The choice is yours.
Don’t assume you know more than your employees.
Your employees are the ones using your systems, utilizing the requirements you created, interacting with your company’s customers directly. When was the last time you took that sales call, handled the average escalation, used the program, worked within the confines of your operational restriction?
We leaders really don’t have any idea what our employees go through, even though we’re the one who write the rules. We can’t know, unless we are either doing the work on a day-by-day basis or frequently touching base with our employees and engaging in active listening.
“Trust the system” rings hollow when the system is completely broken, and the only one who miraculously doesn’t know is the boss.
Don’t assume your experience matches your employees’ experience.
As a business leader, we are the small percentage of the company which does not dabble in daily operational activities. We exist and are paid to handle things on a completely different level than our employees.
As such, we truly have no clear picture of the average employee’s experiences. We make more money, accrue more PTO, have more flexibility, and handle completely different stressors than our employees. (Research has shown time and again that employee stress is far more tangible and harmful than leader stress.)
Don’t say “We’re in this together” when you enact restrictions. Don’t say “I’ve never seen this before and I need more data before I can act.” And if you do that…don’t be surprised when people leave.
Don’t assume employees just want to contribute without recognition or reward.
Yes, I believe (and studies show) that people work for you to be part of your tribe. They want to contribute and forward your vision and values. The best employees bring massive value without asking for more.
My question to you is: when does your refusal to adequately reward these employees turn into taking advantage of them? Do you really want to be known as the company that doesn’t recognize or adequately reward contributions?
If you fail to recognize and reward the value an individual brings, at some point they will leave. Because even the most naive, positive, self-motivated employee will eventually realize what’s happening. And then you have a fire on your hands, and you lose the massive value they bring as they walk out the door to get paid for their skills by your competitor.
The Emperor may not be the only one running around without any clothes.
It’s dangerous for employees to say so. As such, every leader should invest in a mirror.