It fascinates me that many company owners, directors and senior executives claim their “people are their biggest asset” yet their behaviour bears no reflection of that statement. So why do they even bother to make the statement in the first place?
That is the million dollar question. Coming up with the answer however isn't quite so easy. Having spent over a year researching and investigating companies that have outstanding people management skills (strategies) I've come to a few of my own conclusions:
- People will avoid (if we ignore this it might go away) conflict or dissent rather than deal with it out in the open.
- Many managers and executives don’t realise there are more effective ways - you don’t know what you don’t know.
- Executives look to get through today and tomorrow not next week or next year – pressure to survive.
- People development is seen as an expense not an investment – a narrow perspective.
Businesses with an engaged and committed workforce will return a much better result for shareholders or another way to express this is, people who enjoy their work and feel appreciated will tell others and even advocate their employer as a good employer or an employer of choice. Another observation is that these businesses make more money. I love the fact that being decent pays off in many ways.
How do you unleash the true power and potential of a workforce? How do you get past HR myopia? All the HR executives just tuned out...or did they? The first thing is that the gap that exists today between businesses with good "people practises" or what I refer to as a Good Boss Culture will widen. So those doing well from their people strategies will continue to do well, though I predict they will do even better in the next few years as others try to catch up and other influences kick in.
- An aging population and a deep seated conditioning that we need youth or another take on that statement, we don’t want "old people" they’re too slow.
- A declining birth rate in most developed countries.
- A chronic and worsening skills shortage, in many professions and vocations.
So the competitive advantage some businesses are gaining from their people will become an even bigger advantage in coming years. An effective strategy to attract, retain and motivate quality talent does not occur in a vacuum or by accident. They are the result of outstanding leadership. These businesses (they are still in the minority)take a longer term perspective and are reaping the rewards.
How to develop an effective people strategy
The biggest issue is admitting that you can do it better and be more effective. It is a head space, an attitude. Without harnessing your workforce you’re never going to make substantial improvement and the likely hood is that you’ll actually regress.
- You need to decide where you are right now
- Decide where you want to be
- Decide what matters and what to measure
You need to decide where you are right now
The data produced is an ideal starting point to begin talking about the culture and leadership effectiveness within your organisation.
My experience over 10 years has shown that you can’t build a values-based organisation without high levels of trust, and that the leaders of organisations need to earn that trust rather than attempting to demand it. Those who involve their employees in the process of establishing their purpose, values and vision are more likely to encourage greater levels of engagement, commitment and self-directed behaviour.
Using an approved Psychometric tool to obtain a snapshot of the extent to which people are in sync with (on the same page) where the organisation is heading and the level of trust within that organisation. This matters, because the more in sync and the better the trust, the better the results.
With high levels of trust expectations are clear, disagreements are resolved and individual performance is agreed without a formal process. Information is freely exchanged. Feelings and opinions are openly discussed. There are no hidden agendas and differences are valued, making employees feel respected so that they enjoy the input they provide to make the organisation more successful. They are committed, strive for excellence and support their colleagues. Everyone enjoys coming to work.
Using responses to validate just where the business is, enables effective intervention and planning to reach new levels of excellence in people development.
Respondents who perceived that their team or organisation was displaying a commitment to the values that build trust such as:
- Honesty
- Receptivity
- Disclosure
- Respect
- Keeping Commitments
were likely to report higher levels of staff engagement and self-directed behaviour.
Decide where you want to be
Once you’re aware of where you are as a business it is easier to decide where you need to be and to develop a strategy to get there. The most important thing is to get peoples “buy in” to feel (behaviour around here) their values and those of the company’s are congruent. What management says is based on trust and good open communication, making staff feel appreciated but also doing, as well as saying, so that management is seen to be walking their talk.
Getting this right is crucial to making positive progress. Failure is evident in many organisations where their vision and mission holds pride of place on the reception area wall as the holy-grail when everyone knows that isn’t how people behave around here, especially senior management. So the effect is people who come to work do what is necessary and stay out of trouble. In short they are not motivated nor are they engaged (they don’t trust management) and as a result productivity is poor.
Decide what matters and what to measure
Once you have consensus on the goal it is necessary to put appropriate measure in place, some key performance measures.
None of this is easy and to pretend otherwise would be negligent as an author and consultant. Most businesses find it impossible to get the amount of leverage necessary from within and turn to outside practitioners to make such a quantum leap.
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Effectively Find, Inspire & Retain Talented People