Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 November 2017
This particular post I write today will be different from others I have written since 2017 began.
I do not wish to recount stories and histories or travelogs.
There will few pictures in this post, because I want the reader to truly focus on what I have to say, rather than be distracted by too many photographs.
And this post is a plea to those who have been given responsibility over others.
Above: Coronation picture of Queen Elizabeth II
Let me first begin by saying:
Bosses, especially those in middle management, you have my sympathy.
I am not blind nor deaf to how difficult your job can be, how much pressure is put on your performance, how hard it can be to find good employees.
Life ain´t easy.
But the line between being viewed by the vast majority of your workers as a good boss and being viewed by your workers as someone who needs to be handled as delicately as walking on eggshells is a line that too many managers cross.
I believe that the first problem that managers often have is learning the difference between strategy and tactics.
The fundamental principles of strategy are the same for all managers, all times and all situations.
Only the tactics change – and tactics are modified to constantly changing situations.
Strategy is doing the right thing.
Tactics is doing things right.
Above: Statue of The Art of War author Sun Tzu, Yurihama, Tottori Prefecture, Japan
I believe many managers are confused by this distinction.
So, where does strategy end and tactics begin?
Strategy stops at the headquarters door.
Tactics begin with the customer.
Those in direct contact with the customer need to be motivated and shown how to motivate their customers.
Customers are individual people who, if given the illusion that the salesperson actually gives a damn about them and their lives, will cheerfully pass onto the organisation their hard-earned money.
They will not do this if those that serve them have not been taught that compassion wins more money than the big hard sell.
Richard Branson said it best:
“Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers.”
Above: Richard Branson
Those on the front line of consumerism, those with direct contact with the customers, will not be motivated if their needs as individual people are perceived as unimportant as compared with filling the coffers of the higher-ups.
We may be seen by management, especially the higher up the ladder of power one goes, as being nothing more than defenseless kittens.
But abused or embarrassed kittens become enraged tigers and will manifest their discontent either…..
Aggressively with a “Hell be damned” attitude towards keeping their job, where they tell management that they are mad as a cat thrown into a bathtub and are “not going to take it any more”, or….
Passively plant their feet in quiet stubborn resistance by increased absenteeism or a “I simply don´t give a damn” attitude when the boss is not breathing down their necks.
Which is then perceived by management that the employees have an “attitude problem”, not realising in their complete and total blind ignorance that the problem is not so much with the employees as it is with the manner in which they have been dealt.
Profit is a matter of vital importance to the organisation, a matter of life and death for a company, the road to ruin or survival, therefore management must constantly be aware of five factors:
1. A Spirit of Mission:
Everyone must believe that their role is important and right, so that the entire team can rally a fighting spirit and generate a firestorm of loyalty and commitment.
Generating profit for the upper echelon with no perception of the individual worker´s importance will not motivate the worker to give his best effort to the job.
2. Outside Forces:
Everyone should be made aware of where their company is in terms of competiton and should be taught the tangents of the industry which the company is in.
Teach and train your employees not only how to sell a muffin but also what is in the muffin and how the muffin is made.
This product and process knowledge makes the employee more knowledgeable and more of an asset to both the customer and the company.
Teach and train your employees to view their job not only for the workplace that they actually work in, but give them the larger picture and teach them to look at how other companies do things and encourage employee feedback and ideas from their observations.
3. The marketplace
A manager is, theoretically, chosen for his/her knowledge and experience within the organisation or industry, but in industries with high staff turnover what is often the case is that a manager is simply chosen for the fact they showed up to work over a long period of time, which is similar to the idea of a homeless person sleeping in a tunnel for over a year being promoted to the position of tunnel engineer.
Employees, especially those with management potential, need to be taught how to deal with people (customers or not), how to maximise the potential of their workplace, product knowledge, and the art of promoting the product, and not just the price of the product.
4. Leadership
Employees need to be taught that regardless of their position within the firm that they represent the firm in their actions and thus their intimate knowledge of their firm makes them leaders.
In other words, a McDonald´s counterperson should know more about McDonald´s than the customers.
5. Guiding principles
Employees need to be taught the process of how to do their job, where they fit in the overall process and how they can improve within their job in a motivational manner rather than with only negative criticism.
Throwing a new employee into “the deep end of the pool” and expecting them to suddenly be Olympic caliber swimmers and criticizing them when they fail to meet these expectations is quite simply cruel.
So, managers, ask yourselves:
Are you a bad boss?
If your employees can answer “yes” to the following questions, then you Sir, or you Madame, are a bad boss:
– Is your boss someone who demotivates or demoralises you?
– Is nothing you do ever good enough?
– Do you have a boss who yells or throws tantrums when things do go his/her way?
– Are you working for someone who is moody as if on an emotional rollercoaster – one day he/she is cheery and friendly, the next day he/she is downright mean?
– Does your boss take credit for your work or play favourites or worry only about his/her own career?
– Is your manager someone whom you don´t respect?
– Is your boss a negative role model – an example of someone whom you do NOT want to be like when you manage others?
If your employees are nodding their heads to these questions, then you Sir, you Madame, are a bad boss.
The bottom line, and this is important, is that a bad boss is someone with whom the employees can´t do their best work or someone they dread seeing when they go to work.
Their failure to be good employees is often caused by your inability to motivate them to be good employees.
There are two ways to drive a mule: the carrot and the stick.
Too often employers believe that the stick should be used more than, or instead of, the carrot.
The opposite is true.
Micromanaging your workers expecting them to be lazy or incompetent is not motivational.
Bullying your employees, especially in public, is not motivational.
If you will not listen to your employees, but only insist they listen to you, then this is not motivational.
Show them what to do, occasionally and quietly assessing their performance.
Trust that they will do what you expect them to do and make certain that it is clear what it is you expect and then leave them to do their jobs.
Praise them publicly and criticise them privately.
Lead by promises of rewards (and follow through with these promises) rather than by threats of punishment.
The average person works 80% of their adult life, so most employees with any sense of pride in their accomplishments identify with the work they do.
If a person is not enjoying their job, then what is the point of devoting most of our limited lifespan to the job?
There must be more to life than simply paying our bills.
If our jobs do not lend our lives purpose, then what is the purpose of life?
Sources: Wikipedia / Sherrie Gong Taguchi, The Career Troubleshooter: Tips and Tools for Overcoming the 21 Most Common Challenges to Success / Gerald A. Michaelson, Sun Tzu´s The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules