As a senior manager, one of your priorities is making sure your employees are focused on doing the ‘right things’. Employee engagement is a key success factor of ‘doing things right’. A proven method to achieve this goal is to empower employees to serve customers, the life source of the organization. Employee engagement in the service delivery process is the first step of ‘ownership’, control over their performance and their responsibility to the company.
In our opinion, one has to focus on what people want to get this engagement. What senior management want from their employees is that they take responsibility for their role in the organization and be accountable for the performance they produce. What employees want from management is confidence that leadership knows what they are doing: leading the organization on the ‘right’ path and maintaining respect and fairness in the organization.
Understanding wants versus expectations is where the rubber hits the road. Many employees expect respect and fairness but they usually want more: more money, more job security, better benefits, and more opportunity to advance. Most customers want the lowest price and the highest quality and the best service. Most seniors want the highest profits, lowest cost, and happy satisfied customers and employees. Creating a system that allows employees to take ‘ownership’ of these inherent conflicts between wants and expectations is a proven roadrubber principle.
So how do you get employees to take ‘ownership’? Studies have shown participation and clarity are the key leverage points. Most people want to be involved in designing how they spend their work life. Participation in planning and creating the performance criteria on how they are ‘judged’ is vital. Control over decision-making within their roles is absolute. Clearly defined roles and behavior standards that are created (designed –innovated) from customer expectations is the place to start. Let the delivery chain process determine structure, performance criteria, and compensation.
As a successful senior manager, you know how vital the service delivery process is to customer satisfaction. Tuning up this process is a perfect project candidate. Having a project provider (independent outsider) help you clarify your customer expectations, and then help you imbed these expectations into your service delivery system, is a formula for success. Helping employees taking ownership of this delivery system eliminates the ‘rental car’ attitude in your culture. Aligning customer expectations with employee behavior is the genesis of performance management. Figuring this all out and having it ‘work’ creates meaning and everyone’s job satisfaction. And as you know, the benefit of you doing the ‘right things’ and having employees doing ‘things right’ is where the rubber hits the road. Enjoy the trip. GMO