The difference in quality and tangible outcomes between a committed employee and one who simply works for the next paycheck is stunning. As a business owner, having a committed workforce vs. simply having a workforce may mean sustainability and future for your business. Yet many businesses struggle to attract and sustain a committed workforce – Why?
“Objectives are not fate; they are direction. They are not commands; they are commitments. They do not determine the future; they are means to mobilize the resources and energies of the business for the making of the future." Peter Drucker
In Sally’s business they talk a lot about desired outcomes and results. They put together budgets for their team to accomplish and have them come up with action plans on how the team plans on achieving them. During these hard times with COVID restrictions and challenges, Sally’s team is having a harder and harder time coming up with action steps on how they would accomplish the company given budgets. In fact, their business has had a hard time not only with revenue, yet also with turnover and they have lost a number of team members to other businesses in town making things financially even more tight as hiring more inexperienced team members has cost quite a bit of money. Why is this happening? What elements are at play that financial goals are hard to achieve and good team members are leaving for other jobs?
"Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it." Stephen Covey
Did you catch the key words? “Without involvement, there is no commitment.” You may think “But they involved Sally’s team in creating the action steps for how they will achieve the company budgets.” The answer is yes, yet that is only after the budgets were completed or finalized by the company. That is not “involvement.” Even if they had a meeting going over the company created budget, the involvement did not happen at the most important stage!
I have come to embrace the notion that with the same information, most people will reach similar conclusions and make similar decisions. In my experience, this has been true even when pay was at stake for team members. Sharing information and then soliciting direct feedback from those affected by impending decisions is true involvement. Committed employees need to feel that their input truly matters. When the US car industry had tremendous quality issues in the 1980s and researched why Japanese cars were so much more reliable, they not only found out that the US had actually taught the Japanese how to make reliable goods (See Malcolm Baldridge biography and award). They realized that in order to increase the US car quality, factory workers had to have an opportunity to say “stop” on the production line. The simple installation of a stop button that was available to anyone seeing inconsistency or a quality issue empowered every line worker with input. The interesting fact is that the feared constant production interruptions went down – despite everyone’s ability to stop the process.
Many supervisors do not involve the stakeholders in critical decisions that have to be lived out by the very people who were not asked when the decision was made. A seasoned leader has learned that even though the decision may be the same when stakeholders are involved as if they had made it alone, stakeholder commitment will never be the same without involvement. The consequences are hardly ever visible immediately, however, they are usually rather significant long-term.
How can you change your business culture? Make a few permanent adjustments to how you lead and conduct business and stick to them consistently no matter whether your industry is doing well or is challenged at the moment. Help your team members feel connected to your business by including them in the company vision and mission creation, conversations, or in initiatives your company supports under an already existing Mission. Help your workforce participate in business objective and goal creation at least in their area of responsibility and ensure complete clarity. Challenge them to come up with innovation or innovative solutions that help your business adapt to market needs and do everything you can to implement viable options. Most importantly, find opportunities to connect your workforce (and you with your workforce) beyond work and the work environment.
As Abraham Maslow discovered many years ago, human beings have needs that change based on their stage of personal development. Your business may not keep their most valuable team members forever. However, if you can create an environment that reflects and inspires the personal growth of the people you employ, business culture and outcomes may reach surprising dimensions.
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