Are Your Employees Surviving or Thriving?

Workers most value a manager who is a problem-solver, decisive, compassionate and can manage time effectively. According to SHRM, employees want managers who can help them tackle challenges at work from start to finish. This means identifying the root cause of the problem and the right solution while helping employees think critically about how to approach similar challenges in the future. SHRM identified the following steps for managers to use to help employees solve workplace problems. Nearly all of them require solid communication skills: 

• Identify the root of the business challenge that has the employee stumped. Ask questions to identify key stakeholders, the metrics used to determine if the problem is solved, whether similar problems have occurred in the past and the impact the solution will have.
• Work with the employee to identify and prioritize the solution.
• Help the employee analyze solutions.
• Assist the employee in pitching the solution to colleagues, including voicing logical arguments to the proposed solution prior to the employee's presentation.

The ability for managers to help their employees succeed has a lasting impact.

Better Managing with Active Listening. Harvard Business Review (HBR) Analytic Services studied how organizations around the globe are shaping their people strategy. A survey released in May found that 59 percent of 717 respondents drawn from HBR's audience said their organizations incorporated active listening/asking open-ended questions in its leadership training. People managers can learn to be the leaders their employees need them to be by utilizing active listening. Managers that focus on developing soft skills such as active listening further enhance their leadership skills and the emotional intelligence needed to create high-performing teams. 

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​Give Employees Autonomy. Workers want bosses who give them the autonomy to make decisions and encourage them to try new things. Workers want more responsibility and a boss who motivates and inspires them, not someone who constantly looks over their shoulder. Today's employees thrive when their leaders motivate, coach and provide enough independence to develop skills that can have a real impact on the business and their own careers.
Organizations that continue to operate in a highly hierarchical culture, where decisions are consistently made without consultation, will be left behind.
 
Adapted from SHRM 2019.