How Do You Create Responsible Employees?
| Kelsey Ruger | Dec 6, 2005 | 4 Responses | Leadership |
I recently had lunch with a buddy of who wondered out loud why her employees didn’t always respond to her constant requests for them to take action and be responsible. “They just don’t follow instructions. Why is it so hard for them to be responsible?” My response was “Maybe they aren’t getting what they need from you, maybe they’re missing the why“. “Why!” she said. “The only why they need is that I said so, I’m the boss, this isn’t management by committee!”. That’s true but when people are given tasks without a clear direction or purpose they sometimes express their confusion through resistance. You could compel them to do it; and sometimes you have to; or you can have people do things because they are committed.
As a manager it is easy to give out orders and delegate tasks. The hardest part is developing people. Here are some observations I have made on creating an environment in which employees are more likely to behave responsibly:
Raise the Commitment Quotient
Ask Yourself: Do Employees Know What They Should Be Committed To?
Giving employees something to commit to it a good first step. You organization is fueled by the vision and direction you set. It’s the ideal that employees are supposed to be working toward bit by bit every day. To be the most powerful employee, you need to know and understand the vision.
- Create a Clear Sense of Direction.
- Make working for your department/division/company a sense of pride.
- Match skills to the right job and make it challenging and meaningful.
- Be their lead blocker – identify problems that impede and prevent good results.
Become Their Lead Blocker
Ask Yourself: Do They Understand what they need to accomplish?
When you play lead blocker its all about clearing the path to make it easier for employees to do their job. Doing this coupled with proper coaching builds employee self-confidence, and their ability (and desire) to take initiative and think for themselves. Employees can then determine the best decisions by because they begin to understand concepts like problem solving, communication, conflict resolution and time management.
- Make sure employees understand their job, how they will be judged and the criteria for success- and failure.
- Make sure employees understand how their job, its activities and outcomes affect the company.
- Provide the tools and resources they need.
- Do you recognize your employees?
- Encourage results – reward them.
- Do your employees know what they need to do to participate in rewards?
There is an old saying that says “Generals do not win battles, their soliders do.” When you don’t give your team the right tools it has a demotivating effect that can cause people to leave or worse stay and become disengaged.
Great points all around. What I take away from ‘Creating Responsible Employees’ is that it starts at the top of the company. I’m not referring to the owner, president, vice president, etc. I’m referring to the leader(s). The leader(s) can be the owner, president, etc. However, an owner, president, etc. can be just that, a person with a title. There is a clear difference between 1. a manager – one who simply manages people, problems, processes and 2. a leader – one who provides direction and develops people. I like to think of leaders as people that are capable of extracting what’s needed out of others for personal growth, accomplishment, or the achievement of a common goal. It goes without saying but can’t be expressed enough…Leadership is vital to the success of any business.
I agree.. Out of the 4 functions of management, I believe Leading is the hardest one to learn and not many managers posess this skill. I also feel that trust and respect towards employees play a big part in creating responsible employees. This is definitely not done by ordering people around. You will have employees who will want to put in the extra effort and perform better for you.
Fabulous blog entry here, Kelsey. Chris made what I feel is a great comment, in follow-up.
There is indeed quite a difference between just managing, and truly leading, as I have witnessed and experienced throughough my years as a working person; a student, and a competitor.
Whenever I find myself in a position to act as a manager in my other endeavours outside of my current job, no matter the level of the project, I participate and project myself, as part of the team. Although a manager does indeed almost always have inherent authority over those lower on the totem pole, I have found that success has come more often and in bigger ways when management believes in and acts upon the same methods you have mentioned here in this post.
With micro-managing teammates and projecting a sense of no return on investment of time and concentrated effort, a serious disconnect is birthed and almost always ultimately snuffs out a significant amount of potential success.
At this point in my life, I am lucky to have met and worked with some great leaders, and am currently involved with some quality projects. As I am one to always better myself, I find that I am gravitating more heavily, and quicker to those who truly lead; because I am able to recognize them from the get-go.
Well written. There is a long list of responsibilities a leader has to / for their constituencies; leading, mentoring, communicating are only a small part of this long lost. This list starts with the responibility to Lead and Manage, despite the unpopularity your decisions may sometimes incur. For example – Ronald Regan said, “Trust but verify.” Employees require leadership that clearly communicates job requirements and then follows up on said expectations; rewarding or punishing as deemed neccessary. Like a parent that tells their child to use proper table manners, don’t touch a hot stove, eat your vegetables… Leadership (and love / concern) is also having the guts to say something unpopular or even that angers the other person… B/C you care.
Last, a leader has to recognize that they can’t change other people…they have to seek that change themselves. Great employees are found not changed. I just read “We don’t teach people to be great. We simply hire great people. We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need.” – Jim Rohn