Perfect Storm of Management
September 7, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
A recent article shares something most managers know as fact: The employee – employer relationship has changed. They offer 3 reasons why the relationship has changed:
- The psychological contract has been broken.
- There’s increased competition.
- Employees and employers aren’t engaged.
So what? Why do you care if the relationship has changed? LOTS of reasons, but I’ll give you 2 of the most important:
Lower performance of existing employees– If nobody is engaged, performance can’t be at the highest levels and thus productivity will decrease and nobody will be at their absolute best. The lower the performance, the less money the company makes, which in turn means employees will be paid a smaller percentage of profits (if there are any profits to share)
Higher turnover – All of this naturally leads to higher turnover, as employees search for places they can be valued and fully utilized, and as employers search for those who are fully engaged.
Sounds like a perfect storm of employee – employer disengagement, where nobody wins…not the company, not the employee, not the shareholders, nobody.
Just because employee – employer relationship has changed, I”m not going to stop trying to engage my team, and I encourage you to work towards overcoming these problems. Knowing there’s a problem is half the battle; it’s up to you to find ways to overcome these challenges.
Perfect storm photo credit to Jeff McNeill
Good insights, particularly with respect to engagement.
“It’s imperative that employers understand the importance of motivating and engaging employees, not just with money and perks but with strong leadership and managers who are held to a higher standard. Employees want to lead and be led with good ideas and creative and winning strategies, and companies should develop their people to be able to lead in the context of a much broader and more flexible workplace.”
Personally speaking, simple recognition is powerful and easy, yet it is largely underused. My co-workers are emotionally and mentally beat down from a tough year, and just a little bit of one-on-one time with their manager would do wonders to make them feel like a respected and valued contributor.
This speaks to me:
“The psychological contract has been broken.”
I am in an industry that is getting hit hard by layoffs. Morale is so low, and so many employees – many that will not even be affected by layoff – have shed the loyalty that took years to build. It is terribly damaging.
Managers must remember to use whatever tools available to them to recognize and listen to their employees.
You are absolutely right Melissa! Managers do need to do whatever they can, however they can, whenever they can.
I’m thinking about how I can do something powerful tomorrow for my team tomorrow. One-on-one time will not be possible tomorrow due to one associate having a sick child so we’ll be short staffed (one is already out on FMLA). Perhaps a cup of coffee for each associate is in order.
Whatever I do, I always try to remember the platinum rule: What would the other person want done for them…and then I try to deliver that. I’m not always successful, though that doesn’t stop me from trying to be.