Disconnected employees
As an entrepreneur do you feel:
· That your team is not capable of handling the projects on their own
· They are not worth the salary paid
· Constant monitoring is required
· You end up doing the work and
· Your client is happy with you but unhappy with your employees
Then your company is suffering from something called as the ‘Disconnected Employees’ syndrome.
Most companies recognize this issue and blame ‘salary problem’ or ‘people are not competent’ as the cause. However, the root cause for it is completely different but easy to address.
You want your employees to be your doppelganger. You want them to
· Pitch like you
· Manage the clients like you
· Multitask like you
· Be innovative & creative like you
· Do or die for the company like you
· You want to find someone who you can leave the project to and relax
· Someone creative who doesn’t need to be told what to do
What you actually need is: Employees with an entrepreneurial attitude
Do you think your company culture is favorable for an entrepreneur to flourish?
As an entrepreneur, money is not the only factor that keeps you going or giving your best.There are tons of other things that motivate you. Similarly, money is not the only thing that motivates an employee, there are other things that help in building the required passion.
You, as an entrepreneur do every thing in your stride to manage your team.You get a detailed employee hand book, focused job descriptions and proper structure to formalize things. But these things do not ensure that your employees will willingly put in extra hours for a project when required, will help each other out or will always be high on morale to complete the work with the best results.
What it takes for employees to work with passion and turn into your doppelganger is – A Positive work culture.
Culture is the way you behave, the way you take your decisions and plan your strategies. It’s an amalgamation of who you are , what your company values are and the purpose of your business. Everything defines your company culture. Culture is how your clients, partners and employees see you. So, it is extremely important for you to build a positive culture.
I often mention along with proven statistical data that a positive culture leads to a happy workplace and an increase in the happiness quotient leads to increased productivity and rise in performers. The challenge is how do you do it and how to do it right.
Here is a 4 step process that will help you to build a positive culture in the company and overcome the disconnected employee syndrome.
STEP 1
Share the Why?
Share with your employees about why you started the business, what is the purpose of the work. Every individual connects with a belief or a cause. Once the purpose is established and the employee connects with your why , he/she will give their best to the company forever. Eg: You often find people volunteering or working for NGOs for a minimal pay or no pay, the reason being that the people are connected with the purpose or the cause of the NGO. They feel so strongly about the purpose (The Why) that they do not mind volunteering for free.
STEP 2
Transparency
Keep employees informed about the company all the time. Be it about winning a new client or losing a client, keep them aware of all the company dealings. This helps in generating a sense of belonging. This also helps in battling the employee insecurities if any, regarding the job. E.g.: Zingerman, a famous Deli, uses open book management, where everyone participates in running the business.Its about people understanding how the whole organization works and their role in it, it’s about accountability, collaboration, and taking initiative. Its about looking forward and working together to win.No wonder they are a fast growing company.
STEP 3
Learning & Collaboration
Lunches, workshops, industry meet-ups, training sessions, and a healthy dose of on-the-job learning mean everyone is always collaborating and learning. This ensures that the employee’s learning needs are taken care of. Moreover, having regular happy hours, fun events, sports , and more will keep the team close-knit. At the end of the day having friends at work is the only way you can ensure that your employees stay happy at work. Eg: Vodori a famous digital marketing & design agency often have people doing jobs outside their job descriptions. They are a nimble team who are excellent at growing their skill sets.
STEP 4
Regular Feedback with Recognition
Businesses succeed on agility, speed and passion. The only way to ensure this agility and speed is by regular feedback and recognition. Nothing motivates a person more than knowing that he/she is doing an excellent job and adding value to the company. However, very rarely do companies take the effort of showering some recognition on the employees for their good work or taking the time out to give some feedback on a regular basis. Most often than not, the feedback sessions are reduced to a yearly or a half-yearly phenomena and clubbed with appraisals. These sessions end up doing more harm than good. A regular, weekly, feedback is the only way your employees will stay at the top of their game. Eg: Zappos, a fast growing e-commerce company, ensures that employees are given regular feedback on the work they are doing. This ensures that employees are always altering their craft to get the best result that helps in serving the clients better. This in turn helps in getting more clients and more business.
Building a positive culture will ensure that your employees work like entrepreneurs and will take care of the company like you do and take it forward.
Use this step-by-step process in your organisation and create an independent team. At the end of the day, you want to leave your company in capable hands so that you can take a break, go on a vacation without worrying about the projects being handled.
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