Transformational Leaders Let Go of the Ball
Transformations involve major shifts in an organization’s capabilities and culture in order to deliver improved sustainable results, with the goal of developing an ongoing mastery of change and adaptability. Successful transformations may be relatively rare, but they do exist.
Fear is usually the largest obstacle to change, and when leaders insist on micromanaging their employees they are in reality showing that they fear trusting their employees to perform–whether that is their intent or not.
The result is exponentially increased fear instead of employee buy-in on the proposed changes and the new direction/culture/focus.
A 2016 Global Survey by McKinsey & Company regarding organizational transformations focused on the failure to involve frontline employees and their managers in such efforts.
The survey drilled into seven specific roles and the actions the employees took in the roles during a transformation. Not surprisingly, companies that experienced successful transformations reported higher involvement of frontline employees in the effort.
On the other hand, those companies who neglected to fully involve managers and employees reported only a 3 percent success rate. One consistent factor for less involvement was the size of the organization seeking to transform. Just 45 percent of respondents at larger firms, compared with 58 percent at smaller firms, say frontline employees and managers felt engaged in transformations.
There are four effective steps an organization can take to engage all employees.
1. Assign the correct role to employees. So much has evolved in talent measurement and retention strategies that this should be accomplished more frequently than is often the case.
2. Provide them training. Planning workshops and other training tools should be part of every initial and ongoing discussion around transforming. Not only does it address talent acquisition and retention, but it also builds trust among managers and employees that they will have the skills and ability to be properly held accountable.
3. Create accurate measurements. Proper measurements allow employees to see their value and contributions—making them more engaged. It also creates the requirement for leaders to move from annual reviews to more involved and regular coaching. It also leads to step four.
4. Create engagement feedback loops. It’s not enough to speak about engagement; there has to be a process for complete engagement. This means providing opportunities for receiving feedback from employees that can be initiated by them outside of formal coaching times.
