The Most Common Mistakes Managers Make #1

In recent times, shortages of talent in many industries have meant that employees can be choosy when it comes to their jobs. Employees have increasingly been able to specify or demand conditions that enable them to fit work in with other aspects of their lives.

Many managers have fallen out of touch with their employee’s needs and wonder why they have a staff turnover problem…or why their people don’t want to work long hours or hang around for a drink after work, like they used to. They may feel that their team is ‘falling apart’. This mistake is a classic trap that managers fall into – they forget their employees are people with lives outside the organisation.

So what are some of the reasons for this mistake?

The nature of work and its role in people’s lives has changed enormously over the last decade or two. Where once work meant everything to an employee, and they often gave their lives to the organisation, nowadays things are different.

The need for flexibility in the workplace is paramount…part-time roles, flexible hours to enable pick-up and drop-off of children, new pre and post retirement work options…a plethora of alternative work models that could, understandably, send many an ‘old school’ manager’s head into a spin. Yet delivering this flexibility is essential to the needs of today’s employee.

“Ian the Insensitive” was becoming increasingly frustrated with his team. “I don’t know what more I have to do”, he moaned one day. “I’ve given them a job, I’ve given them training. We offer drinks on a Friday night. What else do they want?” Ian’s frustration, and his belief that he’s done all he could for the team illustrates the mistake – he hasn’t really invested the time to truly understand the individuals in his team and tune the organisation to their needs.

Remember, employees are merely volunteers in the organisation. Yes, they are paid, but they have the ultimate power…they can withdraw their resource at any time, for any reason.

So what can be done to avoid this mistake?

Among the options available to managers, many require an investment.  The investment of time to get to know what makes people tick, what motivates them and how the organisation can “tune-in” to their lives, is critical.

But so too is the investment of the manager’s attention and focus – to commit to developing a greater connection with their people. Rather than just giving an impression of committing, managers need to actually commit.

To maximize the output of the team, managers also need to invest in tailoring the workplace to suit individuals. Happy workers are productive workers, and in today’s workplace, happiness may come from a variety of sources unrelated to the work itself.

“Ian the Insensitive” needs to find the spark that ignites the interest and engagement of each and every employee…is it the chance to earn more, is it the work itself, is it collaboration and teamwork or a combination of these?

With this knowledge, he can work with individuals to develop a work environment that they will be happy to ‘volunteer’ in for years to come.

Consider this approach. As a starting point, identify the top three people in the organisation that you’d prefer not to lose. Arrange a time with them to have a chat or go out for coffee and spend some time understanding their needs. Then do the same with other key people in the organisation.

In time, you’ll find you know more about the team and are more focused on providing conditions which satisfy their needs. The results will flow accordingly. Finally, encourage other managers in the organisation to do the same.

Being in touch with employees’ needs provides managers with the basis for productive relationships – the foundation on which high performance organisations are built. When a manager recognises and respects the needs of their people, they can better align the organisation with those needs and retain valuable people more easily. The ability to retain quality people is one of the greatest challenges currently facing organisations and a manager’s ability to hold on to their people is a key indicator of their effectiveness.

A keen understanding of the factors that motivate their people shows that a manager is in control and connected to their team. With this connection, the team is able to achieve much more than would be the case if the manager failed to understand.