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The evidence is clear but many managers are unaware of the pivotal influence they hold
Marcus Buckingham’s salutary warning (from ‘First Break all the Rules’) is often quoted. The way this dynamic starts is that many people target employment with a specific company because of its reputation as a great place to work. After all, if you’re looking for a new job you might as well start with companies who have a reputation of being very good to their employees.
A well-known example is the John Lewis Partnership – it’s virtually impossible to find a ‘disengaged’ employee at John Lewis, everyone has a sense of ownership and clearly loves working there.
Companies that sustain such an excellent reputation with their employees derive many valuable benefits. Engaged front-line employees go the extra mile, so create engaged customers - customer advocacy, loyalty and repeat business is assured. Also, engaged employees take less sickness absence, are more productive and innovative, and are less likely to leave.
Promotions and succession planning are easier to make from within the company because people don’t want to leave the firm when looking for personal career advancement.
Recruitment of new-hires is easier since the HR department will almost certainly already have a list of CVs from people who are specifically targeting the company and have sent in their resume hoping that a job needing their skill set would become available. What’s more, talented people are more likely to be attracted away from companies that treat their employees poorly, because of their desire for a better work environment.
And this last point is where the second half of Buckingham’s salutary warning kicks in. Today it’s a rare ‘company’ that mistreats its people as a cultural norm – they would not stay in business too long. No, people are far more likely to leave their employer because of issues connected to their immediate manager. Indeed, after studying 60,000 exit interviews, PWC’s Saratoga Institute reported 80% of staff turnover is related to an unsatisfactory relationship with the boss. In reality it seems that “a company is only as a good as the manager you work for.”
So while people will join a company because of its reputation as a great employer, once hired it is their manager that has the biggest single impact on their daily work environment. If people don’t feel that their manager treats them fairly and honestly, takes their interests into account, and appreciates the value of the work they are doing, they may choose to leave and seek employment elsewhere.
If you currently are a line manager with people-responsibilities, don’t underestimate the role you play regarding the quality of work-life for the people reporting to you. When you look back on your own experience, were not your happiest and most successful times at work when you worked for managers that you respected, who were honest and fair with you and other team members, who showed appreciation for your work, and who communicated clearly what needed to be done but did not micro-manage you? Of course, being a great manager was good for their direct reports - but it was also very likely good for them. Over the years, their reputations as great managers no doubt helped to propel them to senior management positions within companies they loved to work for.
So, perhaps the most important message of all from Marcus Buckingham’s words is that a company gets the managers it deserves. If the organisational culture is toxic, then toxic managers can survive and even thrive. Over time, they are on a journey to high attrition and staff turnover, a disengaged workforce, poor customer service and advocacy, and uncompetitive productivity. No prizes for guessing where that will eventually take them.
The NextGen manager programme is today assisting managers in many organisations to adjust their management style to better engage with their people and bring out their best. To discuss the programme, call the NextGen team on 024 7641 1288.
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