AN ALTERNATIVE DAY AT THE OFFICE By Amanda Menahem, HR Director, Hastings Direct Insurance www.hastingsdirect.com
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aving just read ‘Just another day at the office’ I was forced to smile as I reflected on the day at the office I had just had. I had just finished a staff listening group; this is where I get a random group of employees together to tell me how it really is, what’s really going on and what the issues are that make them anything less than completely joyous about coming to work. It’s something the Senior Leadership team at Hastings Direct do regularly. It’s vitally important to us that we remain ‘in touch’ with our valued front-line. After all, it is they, not us, who serve our customers. They are the ones who make or break our business and hold the answers to most business challenges. And, of course, as HR Director I’m often afforded a level of candour that my colleagues don’t always get. So what did I learn on this particular day in the office? Our brilliant front-line are passionate about what they do. If you recruit the right people, this tends to be the case. So it’s crucial that you don’t stifle or kill that passion; more on that in a moment. Our front-line love working for us because of the people they work with. And isn’t that true for most of us? When I think of my happiest times at work, it usually involved a team achievement, a sense of camaraderie, an ‘in it together’ feeling and having, frankly, a good laugh and regular banter. This also includes the boss. In fact, the boss is the most important element in making sure you have a happy and productive workforce. This isn’t simply some trite and obvious statement. This is a deeply important and very specific ‘blueprint’ for anyone leading a workforce. And it comes down to some very simple steps. So simple it
makes me crazy when leaders don’t do it. It’s about creating the environment that encourages that sense of team, community, and belonging to flourish. Yes, to an extent this means a physical environment, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about recruiting people for personality and ‘fit’ as well as technical competence. It’s about being clear about goals, tasks and direction and then letting people have the freedom to deliver.
“Our front-line love working for us because of the people they work with. And isn’t that true for most of us?” Dan Pink, in his famous book ‘Drive,’ cites three key factors for creating employee motivation: 1. Autonomy: don’t micro-manage; let people have freedom, ideally, in each of the three “T”s: Task (what they do to achieve the task), Time (when they do it) and Technique (how they do it). Otherwise, you stifle that passion and talent you recruited them for in the first place. This is about flexibility and trust. 2. Mastery: this is about providing them the opportunity to get better at their job, to learn new skills or take on more responsibility. Human beings like to feel that they are making progress, that such purpose is recognised, and this can take many forms.
3. Purpose: having a clear goal, understanding how they contribute to the greater good knowing that what they do is important. This is the floor sweeper, to use a Nasa analogy, feeling ‘I’m helping put a man on the moon’. So what has all this got to do with the boss? The boss has the power to make all three happen by simply being clear about the business goal, how the efforts of their workforce contribute to that, writing down clear goals for their people and verbally showing the link between those and the success of the company. Finding ways to push decision-making and responsibility down to their employees rather than holding onto it themselves, involving employees in business challenges, finding ways to expand responsibilities, and then letting them get on with it, making sure there’s lots of recognition (and I don’t mean a bonus) for a job well done. At a more basic level, I’m astounded by how some bosses don’t seem to get the basics right: • Communicate changes that are coming up – make sure the team know the plan; • Explain the reasons behind decisions; • Solicit views, ideas, and areas for improvement, and then follow up; • Show genuine interest and care for individuals. Just those four things, if lacking, will result in a disengaged and unhappy team who are more likely to leave and less likely to perform well. By all means, paint the walls nice colours, create spaces that encourage workforce social interaction, a chance to have fun and even ‘play’ at work – these are all important. But without the factors mentioned above that create motivation, and frankly, without a good boss, it won’t make a blind bit of difference. 71