Last week, an HR person called me to do a reference check on a guy I worked with a while back. Let’s call him Craig. She asked 4-5 of the usual reference check questions. The final question she asked was:
What do you think Craig needs to flourish in this role?
Its an interesting question to answer off the cuff because, by definition of the situation, the response is spontaneous.
In other words, because I have almost zero time to think about it, my answer is right from the gut.
My response was something like this:
“Well, I think its important for Craig to feel involved with what he’s doing and involved with other folks to make it happen. You could “put him a corner” and ask him to do his thing and he’ll perform his duties, but he won’t thrive. He needs to be entrusted to do his thing and he will flourish in his role which is good for him and for the company.”
I paused for a moment and then said …“Actually that’s true for any employee isn’t it?”
Which brings me to my relatively simple point. There are many things that small biz CEOs do to motivate their employees and 90% of the time they are well intended. But they are all for not (or may be percieved by employees as window dressing) if the fundamental environment for employee success isn’t there:
1. Make sure the employee is part of a team.
2. Give an employee a clear sense of what is expected from them
3. Link that expectation to the goals of his/her team and to the larger company objective so they know how they contribute
4. Finally, entrust them. This means you don’t tell them how to achieve their goals. You coach and guide them towards the end result and trust them to use their skills and attributes to get there.
Its not complicated and I submit that 9 out of 10 employees will respond well to this approach and your business will be rewarded accordingly.
Thanks for reading my blog and please visit again.
Vincent out
Related posts:
- Employee retention and engagement? Give them Freedom and Involvement
- Quick Tip #8: Smallbiz Leadership is Listening and ….Guidance.
Authored by Geoff Vincent
