As we dig deeper into employee motivation, this post we explore Allowing participation in decision making. Not making the decision, but participating in the decision making process.
Some decisions preclude employee involvement, but they are much rarer than you think. In a previous role I was part of the Global Leadership Team (LT) and we meet weekly to discuss the state of the business, agree on plans around our transformation, product evolution, competitive environment etc. and for 2 hours every week the entire organization was invited to join the call. They were all muted on entry so only the LT and guests could speak. But the power of everyone being involved was palpable. Sensitive topics were moved to other calls, but the weekly LT call was a fixture in everyone's calendar. But there are so many ways to create that involvement. Here are a few I've found. What would you add to this list?
Create Strategy days Why not give your team the chance to brainstorm ways of reaching pre-determined objectives? Try breaking employees up into smaller groups and asking them to brainstorm initiatives to help the business reach its goals and increase employee motivation. By allowing them to think creatively and find their own routes to success, they are likely to feel happier and more invested in carrying out the work and achieving the results, alternatively you might start
Invest in capability building (and coaching) up front deliberately cultivate decision-making skills, such as solving problems, assessing performance, and analyzing risk. Managers need to spend meaningful time coaching and upskilling employees and giving them step-up opportunities
Involve them to set their own performance targets and goals Instead of telling employees how you feel they should develop, try to balance business and team objectives with the development path that employees want for themselves.
Quality Circles: A quality circle is a group of five to ten people who are experts in a particular work area. They meet regularly to identify, analyze and solve the problems arising in their area of operation. Anyone, from the organization, who is an expert of that particular field, can become its member. It is an ideal way to identify the problem areas and work upon them to improve working conditions of the organization.
Ensure that your organization has a well-defined, widely understood strategy (see Sharing facts data and knowledge) . If everyone knows what the organization is trying to achieve, teams can pull in the same direction without requiring the leader’s constant supervision.
Clearly define roles and responsibilities The foundation of all empowerment efforts is for everyone to know exactly who is responsible for making which decisions, who has some other form of input—and, equally important, who doesn’t. RACI anyone?
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