Businesses today are all about people. Success of a business depends on the combined wisdom of its employees. An hence there is a growing focus on building conducive work environments for employees where they are secure, happy and satisfied ready to give in their best everyday. The growing focus on strategies for employee engagement and inclusion is proof to this paradigm shift of focus from production to people.
The other day a manager I was training told me that he always tries to make Monday morning special for his teammates, since he felt that the entire week would be impacted by “The Monday Morning Impression”, as he called it. This set me thinking. I realised that the manager plays a huge role in creating satisfied employees , a fact that most businesses sadly overlook. If each manager in an organisation is given the onus to create an environment where people enjoyed coming to work , then imagine how happy workplaces would be.
If managers can be empowered decision makers through behavioural assessment tools like DiSC profiles, then they would be able to fine –tune their own behaviour to match those of their teams. This would open up a culture of open conversations and deep understanding of self and others, where a need – based approach is used to motivate an employee to perform.
I’m sure any manager who has been with people for the major duration of their career would agree with the fact that the managers who put in the best performance at work are the ones who have been able to read themselves best. The advantage that these managers have over others are that their self -awareness help them orchestrate their day to day interactions at the workplace to their favour, which in turn impact their performance. Such managers would be able to not just excel in interactions with colleagues but also do extremely well in client facing roles. Self – awareness is key to manage the transition of a manager a boss to a leader.
Delegation is a managerial competency, and delegating the key task of a manager – which is ignored in many organizations. In fact it is assumed that managers are great at delegation and if at all they go wrong with that, they are expected to clear the mess themselves. DiSC profiles can be a useful tool when it comes to understanding who does which job best. Each individual can be assessed in terms of their core strengths, their need, aspirations and motivation levels . They can also understand their insecurities and apprehensions. Armed with this learning, delegation is a cakewalk and the manager can rest assured that he has given the right job to the right person.
When DiSC profiles of employees are shared with their managers, it would be good to sensitise them on how the learning has to be shared or used. It is important for them to understand the thin line that differentiates criticism from constructive feedback which if crossed will negate the objective of the exercise. The employee should be assured of the fact that the objective is not a total change of personality that is required. Rather it is just about flexing behaviour to adapt to the situation at hand.
