Who's that Girl?
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2 Emerging Themes in the Changing Workplace
Originally posted: October 4, 2010 on TrishMcFarlane.com
- Treat employees like adults
- Simplify
- Break down the silos by moving from a paternalistic relationship with work/ boss to a collaborative relationship. Employees, “should not display loyalty, but discretionary effort and relevant skill for the work at hand”, said Erickson. By focusing work on projects, offering options on the time and place work can be done, and specifying principles, you’ll be treating employees like adults and fostering collaborative relationships.
- It is the individual’s responsibility to do a good job. This outdated look must be challenged. Responsibility also lies on the manager and the organization as a whole. If they are not providing an environment to facilitate optimal work performance, who is really at fault if the job is not done well? I personally believe that 90% falls to the individual, but there has to be some accountability by the manager and organization.
- If you can see your employees working, they’re working. This is an unrealistic view as a manager unless all your employees are making widgets and you can monitor each one made. With more and more employees working in a matrix reporting relationship and with work being done predominantly via computer, it is nearly impossible to walk by an employee and really be able to tell if they are being productive and really working. If you, as the employer, focus on results, then it shouldn’t matter if the employee adjusts their work schedule or location for positions where this can work.
- The org chart tells a story. It shouldn’t. What are the horizontal ties? Make them more visible. Give employees access to opportunities to make change and determine how to connect different groups.
Be sure to check out Tamara’s new book ‘What’s Next Gen X’ for more information on how this generation will shape the workplace as the emerging leaders. And, I’ll talk more about simplification in an upcoming post. What are your thoughts about truly treating employees like adults and changing that paternalistic relationship? Can it be done? Should it be done? Chime in with a comment.
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