It's the Manager: This book focuses a lot on what employees want and how managers have to work to ensure that the best is gotten from employees.
All companies run for profit, it being the raison d’être for doing business. Success is ultimately linked to customer engagement as this is the way to improve profits, because at the end of the day someone has to buy the goods or services.
Some people feel profits can be achieved by cutting costs, but such an approach is not sustainable as it can work only in the very short run. And often reducing costs by cutting down on staff is self-defeating. This way, companies lose out on experienced staff who are always on the lookout for opportunities outside once such a culture is created. In such a situation, even the high-performing staff members feel insecure and tend to leave. To successfully engage with customers the answer is to have very good employee engagement. Engagement is a stronger term than satisfaction, as the latter helps to maintain interest, while the former works to make them a part of the company’s plans.
This book focuses a lot on what employees want and how managers have to work to ensure that the best is gotten from employees. Machines can do the menial part of work, but finally it is the employees’ minds that work to ensure that business moves ahead. How does one understand what employees want? Here the Gallup Surveys show that millennials don’t just want remuneration, but to grow meaningfully with the company. They keep looking for an exciting career where they are mentored by their manager and allowed to grow and hence use their talent. A surprising finding is that they do not really look out for freebies like free food and indoor golf courses in office. Long working hours are agreeable, but it has to be meaningful. In a way they are judging their managers all the time and hence the latter, too, have to take on the role of grooming the workforce. That’s why the title of the book is It’s the manager, as finally everyone’s boss has a role to play.
The interesting finding is that if there are 50,000 employees, there will be 5,000 managers at different levels of hierarchy. Of them, 30% will be excellent and 20% lousy, while the rest will just about exist. If one doubles the 30% to 60% and reduces the 20% to single digit, the firm will do well and the CEO does not really matter.
There is a playbook for managers where their role changes from boss to coach. They need to meet the high expectations of the employees and have to work in this direction. It is a continuous process and in doing so, they have to give employees more responsibility. Managers have to continuously converse with the employees and give them feedback and direction. Therefore, progress reports are important and cannot be kept just for the end of the year when the appraisals are done. They need to be transparent in the way in which promotions and pay hikes are given so that the employees understand the reason. Democratic functioning where everyone gets the same reward for differential work no longer works in successful organisations.
Let us look at elements of a successful team that emerges from these surveys. Employees should know what is expected of them and have access to all the tools required to do their work. They should be given opportunity to take on projects and receive fair feedback along the way, including remuneration. The supervisor should be interested in their work and aware of what they are doing. Employees need to be involved in the decision-making process at all levels so as to feel important. If these elements get a tick mark from the employees, then the company is on the right track.
Gallup Surveys in USA since 2001 show that over two-third to 85% of employees have never felt an engagement with their work. Clearly the onus falls on the managers at all levels to ensure that this is rectified. The responsibility starts with the CEO, who should take it upon herself to engage the immediate echelon reporting to this position, which, in turn, will percolate downwards.
There is a section on the future of work where some very interesting concerns are raised. The first is diversity in terms of gender and race that has to be balanced by all companies as there are laws which ensure fair play but have to be followed in spirit. Here the Me Too movement and differential pay and representation on management have been taken up. Second is remote working where employees can work from home. There is no clear answer here as to what is the best situation, as there are different views on working from home all the time, as well as being in office all the time. The clue given is that it depends a lot on the kind of job that is involved where remote working works. Where customer interaction is required or strategic planning, it has to be in the office space.
Third is the role of technology, which is scary as humans become less relevant. Here, too, it is felt that to run robots one will require differently skilled people to guide them and write algorithms. An example has been given of Amazon hiring more people, even as robots can be seen in their warehouses. Trainers, explainers and sustainers will still be required in this environment. Fourth is the growing prominence of gig workers who work part time with less commitment to the company, and which is also going to be a thing of the future.
Hence, going ahead, the workplace needs to change and the practice of management has to adapt to the change. The workforce wants a mission and purpose and not old-style command and controlling bosses. It wants people who can guide and mentor them and this is how the future of successful organisations will look like.
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