Traditional management is about control and accountability and some of the ways we handle accountability breeds fear and kills employee engagement. 70% of our employees are disengaged and 44% of exciting employees cite their manager as their primary reason for leaving. We need to retool our managers to leave command and control, fear-based management ideas behind. Managers should be leaders in creating environments based on collaboration and support for doing the best work. They should be the champions of projects and communicators of clear expectations. They should play a supportive role, helping the people they manage by making sure all of the roadblocks to success are removed. They should work to build solid, positive work relationships with employees that create, energize and support a highly motivated workforce. Managers need a new mindset and new skills around their approach to managing people. A manager’s focus should be on moving people to get things done not just moving to get tasks done. Management must demonstrate it C.A.R.E.S™
Traditional Management Structures and Theories Aren’t Keeping Pace
When you think of traditional organizational hierarchies, managers are typically positioned above their direct reports. I once worked on an organization chart with a client who insisted that he be at the bottom of the organization chart as his role was to help and support his staff to get their work done easily and effectively. He felt depicting it any other way sent the wrong message. There is something to that. There is or should be a supportive component to management, yet many managers don’t see it that way. Many organizations don’t see it that way either. The manager’s key responsibility should be to create work experiences that satisfy, inspire getting the work done, motivate to meet the goals, boost productivity and increase the bottom line. You don’t create experiences that inspire and satisfy through fear and control.
People have evolved. They don’t want to be told what to do. They want to be involved in creating the solutions for what needs to get done. Making this shift in thinking makes a huge difference in employee motivation and engagement and we need to better prepare our managers to think differently about their roles in the organization. This is a key strategy for engagement and retention. Flattening the hierarchies and involving employees as partners in solving problems and creating innovative solutions can increase productivity, profit, job satisfaction, results, loyalty and employee retention.
We all know that numbers are the language of business. Are we collecting numbers that measure how well managers are performing their roles as motivators, relationship builders, coaches, communicators, innovate problem solvers and how well they carry the torch of a people culture?
Do Your Employees Feel Like Management CARES?
We have developed the C.A.R.E.S.™ Method of Management and Leadership Development to help retool managers and tie their success to employee satisfaction, productivity, building trust and collaboration to achieve results rather than just completing tasks and assignments. This can go a long way toward reducing fear and bias by improving transparency, communication, acceptance, and appreciation. C.A.R.E.S.™ stands for Coach, Align, Appreciate, Relationship, Relationship Bias, Expectations & Supportive Leadership.
People want to be understood, have a deeper level of connection especially in this detached world where much of our communication is masked in social media and handled on devices. People are starved for human connection, respect, caring, appreciation and being listened to and heard. It is simply human nature. People have evolved and management has not kept pace. Most people want to do a good job and they don’t need to be managed in the same way we have thought about it for decades. They want to have input into your success. They want to be a part of something. They want to belong. The talent you seek has progressed beyond the basic work for survival. Organizations need to level up their management game so they are supporting the talent they want with the needs and desires the talent is pursuing. Show your employees management C.A.R.E.S.™
I would like to invite you to learn more about the C.A.R.E.S.™ Method of Management. We have developed a class that offers valuable information about how to manage differently, How To Develop Productive Employees That Stay. Follow this link to register for and get immediate access to the class with our compliments. REGISTER FOR THE CLASS HERE Enjoy.
Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, MS, is a Workplace Strategist, Leadership Coach, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Unlimited Talent: What Every CEO Needs to Know to Win the Workforce War. She works with CEOs, senior executives and business owners to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent. She can be found at https://nancyokeefeconsulting.com