This special two-part series of posts was prompted by the last series – Questions Every Boss Needs Answered by Their People. (BTW…if you didn’t read this series, I highly recommend it. It was crammed with practical tips to help any leader get better at managing and leading their people!).
One of the posts in that series emphasized the importance of helping your people grow in their jobs and in their careers. Studies showed that helping your people in this way increases their loyalty to the organization and leads to higher retention rates. A recent article in The Harvard Business Review emphasized the important role that managers play in this process…
As employers grapple with a profound shift in the labor market, the burden of retaining and developing employees doesn’t have to rest with HR and training teams alone. Managers are in a unique position to drive employee retention and engagement — companies should give them the structure and tools to do so.
Are you highlighting the good work of your team members????
This post is about the role that managers can play in supporting the success of their people by helping them maximize their impact within the organization. This isn’t just about helping your people get “promotions” – it’s about promoting their successes and skills with higher-ups and colleagues. That means enabling the organization to leverage the strengths and gifts of your people. You do that by helping others in the organization become aware of who your people are; how they can support the success of other people; and how they can bring greater success to the entire organization.
Let me give you some real-life examples of what I’m talking about…
Up Close and Personal
In one of my training seminars, I met an employee who—ON HER OWN—acquired extra skills and education to help her improve her work. She also proved to be an able teacher of her peers by sharing her insight and strengths with other team members. The best thing her boss could have done would have been to talk to HIS peers and arrange more venues for his subordinate to share her skills and knowledge. Her boss did nothing and so it didn’t happen.
One of my former colleagues took on the management of a team of telephone agents in a call center. Under his inspiring leadership, his team demonstrated extraordinarily high productivity and shockingly low tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover. The best thing his boss could have done would have been to have this highly effective manager share his leadership practices with his fellow call team managers, to encourage a higher level of success with the other teams of telephone agents in the call center. His boss did nothing and so it didn’t happen.
One of my favorite leadership “heroines” was the manager who ran a nation-wide program for a global company. The program grew substantially under her leadership without any addition of staff. The best thing her boss could have done would have been to help her gain the support of higher-ups to continue to run the program remotely, when her family situation forced her to move to another city. Her boss did nothing. It didn’t happen. The program failed within a year under the leadership of her incompetent replacement, losing millions of dollars of potential income to the company.
These examples beg the question:
What was lost to the company and to other employees because of the short-sightedness of the manager?
The lost value is really an INCALCULABLE loss, especially when you factor in the possibility of MULTIPLYING the impact of a skilled employee many times in the organization. That kind of multiplication happens when a highly effective worker is able to equip others in the organization to achieve the same high level of effectiveness. That’s a very real multiplication of influence and impact!
So… who do YOU have on your team – a subordinate who has the potential to bring real value to other employees and to the organization as a whole? Here’s what we recommend:
1. Make sure your team members are benefiting from the special skills and knowledge of one another! I call this “sharing best practices.” I encourage managers to set aside time in their team meetings to allow team members to exchange ideas and tips for doing their work easier / better / faster /cheaper / smarter / safer. This can entail many different things—like ways to streamline processes; software shortcuts; time management practices; even better vendors or suppliers to use.
2. Tell others in your organization about your gifted and talented workers. Let YOUR peers know about their special skills and knowledge, so your employee can share these strengths with others in the organization who might benefit from their help.
3. Tell your boss about your high-achieving team members. Leverage your boss’s relationships in the organization to open doors of opportunities for your people to shine!
Introduce your awesome team members to YOUR boss!
4. Involve your team members in your special activities. If you are active in a professional association, bring your subordinates to an association event or gathering. It’s a great way to help expand their network. It’s also allows them to share their expertise and insight with others in your network. I have seen leaders do this very effectively when they present a workshop at industry events and have one of their staff give part of the presentation. That kind of experience can be extremely affirming and motivating to a team member!
When you use your influence to widen the impact of your team members and broaden their influence in the organization (and also in your industry), you are seen as a true “team player” by higher ups in the organization. This raises your reputation as a leader and contributor, and it also positions your people well for potential advancement within the organization. We’ll explore this latter scenario in the next post. Don’t miss it!
Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!
