Imagine an everyday situation: you are in an electronics store talking to a consultant about the terms of purchase. At first, he quickly tells you everything, famously broadcasts a memorized text about the company's promotions and offers and describes in every detail the advantages of the device you have chosen. But then you ask him a question: say, is it possible to hold the goods for you until next week. As soon as he heard something for which he was not ready, the consultant convulsively lowers his eyes and, muttering something like "Now I will check with the manager", headlong runs away from you into the back room.
Annoying, isn't it?
In fact, a similar situation can arise in companies of all sizes - from small stores to global industry giants. Such an employee, who will be afraid to make his own decision without the approval of the manager, has every chance of being in your team, and his indecision will relate to absolutely any area: work with clients, relationships within the team, workers, or even personal issues.
In such situations, the employee is inclined to experience the illusion that he is just a performer, and that the leader should direct all his actions - forgive us our tautology - directly. But is it really so?
Solving subordinates' problems is only part of your job as a boss, and you are not always the one who should be spending your time helping employees in need. We talked with HR experts from two Russian companies and found out what a manager can do so that problems in his team are solved in a regular manner and do not slow down the work process.
Intervene selectively
The danger of providing trouble-free help to your employees is that they may henceforth see you as the one-stop solution to all their problems. You quickly get used to good things, as they say, and chances are good that in this situation you can do yourself a disservice. Firstly, you will spend the lion's share of your working time on what, all other things being equal, you might not do, and, secondly, in the end, you will ensure that the team in your absence will perceive any work difficulties as the end Sveta.
“Problems arising in the course of the employee’s work process, which he is able to solve independently by virtue of his competencies and experience, must be solved by himself,” says Evgenia Gordon, Head of the Personnel Service of the Mir payment system. "But if the problem threatens the interests of the company, it is better to involve the head."
What are these threats? Unreasonable client pressure, conflicts in the team, crises, violation of working conditions, harassment - in short, everything that does not belong to the direct competence of your employee. Experts also note that the employee's private difficulties may also be a reason to intervene. “Of course, when it comes to any personal issues that affect work or the degree of involvement, the manager simply cannot remain indifferent,” says Anna Krasnyak, HR Director of Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “And although the leader is not mom or dad, he must constantly be in touch with his subordinate, understand what is happening in order to take timely measures.”
On the other hand, in anything related to work issues or discussing project concepts, your employees can potentially prove themselves without your direct control. “The manager should encourage any aspirations for learning, self-development of the employee and moving forward,” says Evgenia Gordon. The more your subordinates will put forward ideas that, in fact, do not require your approval, the freer and more confident they will feel during force majeure if you are suddenly not around.
Give them room (including for mistakes)
Professionalism comes with experience, and experience comes with practice. In fact, it is in your power not to solve all incoming problems yourself, but to organize your team so that it can cope with certain difficulties autonomously and independently.
Of course, we understand that you have work here, not business coaching, and when a problem requires a quick response, you cannot give your employees time to figure out the right decision themselves (read also: “5 simple ways to make decisions effectively and fast").
But what if you don't need a quick response, and you can easily invest that time in developing your team? Be abstract and do not rush to take the initiative into your own hands - your employee will make more mistakes and look for a way out of the crisis longer than you, but this will be his practice and his success, thanks to which the next similar problem will no longer cause him a stupor.
“In some situations, it is enough just to provide the right to make a mistake and to make sure that it does not happen again, in other cases - to give the opportunity to rest and deal with life's troubles,” Anna Krasnyak is convinced.
In any case, the fact of trust plays a key role here. “To achieve autonomy in the work of a team, a leader should not be afraid to delegate tasks,” Eugene Gordon comments to us, “to trust subordinates, motivate them for results and encourage the achievements of everyone” (read also: “Do it for me: 7 principles of effective delegation of authority”) …
Patience is your best friend
Once a group of researchers at Harvard University conducted a social experiment in one of the neighboring hospitals, asking its management to take minimal participation in solving minor administrative tasks and, in principle, not to scold or punish subordinates for mistakes, reacting to them calmly and impartially. The percentage of errors of subordinates then increased by only 5%, but the frequency with which employees reported problems and came up with their own independent solutions increased threefold!
It is certainly very annoying when your subordinate cannot cope with something, but, as our expert from Procter & Gamble put it, “invoking the conditional incompetence of your employees means undermining your own reputation in the eyes of higher-level management. After all, the manager who made the crisis is always to blame for him."
“You don't need to blame the employee,” Eugenia Gordon agrees. "In most cases, it will be enough for the manager to explain what his mistakes and weaknesses are, to correct the actions of the subordinate and give a chance to improve."
"Accusations are usually triggered by emotions, but emotions are not resolved."
Training your employees is as much a part of your job as organizing the entire process. Another question is why your subordinate is not coping. If it's all about a permanent lack of motivation or a violation of ethics, then it's more logical to just say goodbye to such a person. In other cases, when your subordinate makes a mistake or does not meet the deadline, you can “make an attempt to“transfer”the employee from the category of“problem”and“passive”to the category of“active”,” says the representative of the Mir payment system.
Do not order
Direct assignment is the easiest way, which will give your employee a very vague idea of how you came to this or that way out of the situation and how he should act in the future. You will have to ensure that your subordinate himself develops decision-making mechanisms in himself. However, here a minimum of effort is required from you.
Tell them not to ask you for help without first preparing at least three possible solutions in stock. When the employee comes to you for a consultation, discuss with him all the strengths and weaknesses of his proposals.
Another way is leading questions, which, in truth, will be useful to both of you. You - in order to delve deeper into the specifics of the problem, and the employee - in order to talk through the whole situation and find a way out of it himself.
Finally, do not forget about your own authority - when you do not offer a ready-made solution, but in fact demonstrate it by your own example. “To teach a team to solve internal problems autonomously, a manager must be, first of all, a leader, an example for employees, so that they strive to work for him and not for a position,” sums up Anna Krasnyak. - Only by creating a favorable climate in the team, ensuring productive relationships and encouraging movement towards a common goal, can we talk about independent problem solving, but under the control of a manager who is ready to intervene if necessary”(read also:“A leader with a capital letter: who are superbosses (and how they become) ").
Experts:
Anna Krasnyak is a member of the Board of Directors, Director of Human Capital Management at Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Evgeniya Gordon - Head of the Personnel Service of the MIR Payment System.
Photo: archive of press services
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