I was reading a post from Ask A Manager this week about a challenge he was taking on from The Happy Employee. The blog’s author is asking HR folks to post the 5 things they would say to managers if they were on their deathbed and had nothing to lose. (He even stressed that our honesty would be held against us in our next life!) I found this idea intriguing and decided to give it a shot. Here it goes…
#1 - Ask, don’t tell. Or in employee development terms, coach, don’t instruct. The biggest deficiency I see in managers today is their inability to coach performance. Managers constantly tell me how frustrated they are with employees because of their lack of skills, but who’s to blame? Skills are developed through effective coaching techniques that help an employee navigate themselves to the right solution on their own, allowing the opportunity for the most fundamental productivity enhancement equation to take place: experience = learn = grow.
#2 - Employees hear what they see. Managers always seem to use the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ approach on-the-job. They claim they believe in working “smarter, not harder” and that they embrace a “work-life balance,” but they never seem to practice what they preach. i.e. When employees get an e-mail from a manager at 3am, their subconscious thought is, “I don’t want to be like him.” When managers demand employees be on time, but can’t seem to make it to a scheduled meeting, employees say, “What’s the point?” Managers need to model the way so their staff can see first-hand how to have a satisfying career AND a successful life with their firm.
#3 - Generational differences are important to understand. There are four different generations in the workplace today, all with very diverse career realities. That means, their definition of key terms like ‘loyalty,’ ‘commitment,’ ‘communication,’ ‘feedback,’ ‘professionalism’ and even ‘work-life balance’ are dramatically different. Managers need to be keenly aware of differing generational perceptions and attitudes and make sure they know how to coach performance to these varying viewpoints in order to get teams to work more effectively together. i.e. How to coach Gen Y employees who believe loyalty to their employer is something that should be re-assessed daily and who anticipate jumping jobs as many as 10 times in the first 10 years of their professional lives.
#4 - Employees act entitled when they are encouraged to do so. Managers and business owners need to take note: employees feel entitled and act accordingly when they are bribed to do their work. Give an incentive, and going forward, it will always be expected as part of the reward for a job done. Moreover, the employee feels they are doing the work for someone else’s benefit, not their own. If you want employees to appreciate their jobs and approach them with excitement, then create a corporate culture and working environment that provides employees with professional satisfaction and personal growth - only then will the entitled attitudes will disappear.
#5 - If you don’t love being a parent on-the-job, then get out of management - now! These days, being an effective and successful manager means being part psychologist, part teacher, part rules enforcer, and part care-taker. If you don’t get personal gratification from being a parental figure to your team, then it might be time to step aside. Effective communicators with a passion for helping people work through their problems are the right people for management today. If you aren’t skilled at inspiring and empowering employees, then consider a role that plays to your other strengths. There’s just no room for poor management styles anymore because employees are fighting back by quitting. HR knows best: replacing ineffective management is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce turnover.
There - I said it. Wow, that felt good! Thanks Etienne for the assignment…
