It is fair to say that recent developments haven’t made life easier for organisational leaders. Not only have rising cost-of-living and increases in NI and Living Wage made it more costly to run our outfits. Post Covid, we are also experiencing a tight labour market and a shift in expectations from workers. On top of that, employee engagement is at an all-time low, with Gallup reporting 90% of British workers being disengaged from their jobs. [1]
These factors all make for a difficult environment in which to recruit, retain, and engage our employees, and charities and social enterprises are certainly not spared these challenges. And as these are less able to compete on salaries and perks, other avenues will need to be explored.
In my work with organisations on alternative working practices, I have found the solution to involve the resetting of the relationship between organisation and employee. A re-set that is based on the realisation that some of the old truths no longer apply, leading to some important questions that need answers. Five questions stand out:
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How can organisations make sure employees have the autonomy to do what is right?
There is a growing dissatisfaction with the power imbalance between organisations and employees, translating into people ‘quietly quitting’ or leaving the job market altogether. People want to be trusted and treated like equal, adult partners. Nearly all workers come in to do a good day’s work every day. They are well educated and come with great experience, work and lived. Policies & procedures that focus on the ‘rogue’ minority risk disenfranchising the vast majority that bring the dedication and creativity the organisation needs. How can leaders provide the autonomy and empower employees to do what is right, while achieving the organisation’s objectives and upholding the regulatory environment it operates in?
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How can we help our managers shift from supervising to supporting?
Most employees’ day-to-day motivation does not come from bonuses or free lunches. It comes from being able to make a difference, from personal growth and from support from managers and colleagues. Of course, appropriate remuneration is important, but only goes so far in driving performance. The key is for organisations to have managers adopt the skills and behaviours that create a culture in which ownership, initiative and impact are supported and rewarded.
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How to re-define the ‘deal’ between employer and employee?
Organisations no longer offer lifetime employment with all the trimmings. This has long gone. So rather than claiming to expect – and offer – loyalty, how can we engage in a mature relationship that recognises that employer and employee are sharing their lives’ journeys for a while, in which both strive for the maximum benefit for each other? Not as a trade-off, but to mutual gain. This includes helping employees to grow and develop, and facilitating the next career step, even if that is possibly outside the organisation.
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How to become comfortable with difference and complexity?
Perceived wisdom dictates that uniformity equals efficiency, and efficiency is good for the bottom line. However, this efficiency obsession has led to losing sight of what really matters to our clients or service users. And uniformity has led to a simplification of what real people need, be they clients or employees. How can leaders bring back acceptance of difference, of the variety in people’s needs and wants, and organise for that? To allow employees to find solutions that work for them, even if team A comes up with something different to team B?
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How to become better listeners?
We have grown up to believe that us leaders have all the answers. But how can those on the management team and in the boardroom possibly know more than the combined, experienced workforce? Leaders should shift from telling to listening, towards recognising that we don’t hold all the answers. By listening we will hear a variety of perspectives and ideas that can help resolve complex issues and learn about the obstacles that prevent our employees from delivering the best possible outcomes.
Intrigued, but wondering where to start? In practice, there is so much you can explore to empower your employees and make your working practices fit for 2025. And thankfully, charities and social enterprises are probably better placed to experiment with some of these concepts than most, as most of your effectiveness flows from the passion, creativity and dedication of your employees.
To take it to the next level, there are some radical examples out there to take inspiration from. Innnovators such as Mayden (software), Happy (training) or Buurtzorg (community care), have abandoned hierarchies almost entirely, allow most decisions to be made by their workforce, and in some cases even have salaries set by their employees.
But the road to increasing empowerment is often a gradual rather than a radical one, in which each step that demonstrates more trust in the employee is rewarded by improved organisational performance and a more engaged workforce, followed by increased confidence in the next step.
At Trust Works, we help organisations discover how trust-based working practices might help them achieve their objectives in an increasingly demanding environment and provide support to help them on their way. The positive impact on the recruitment, retention and engagement of your workforce is then only one of many important benefits.
Paul Jansen is founder of Trust Works, a consultancy that provides coaching and programmes that help unlock organisations’ capabilities and intrinsic motivation through trust-based working practices.
In his career, Paul led and created several employee-owned social enterprises and as COO of Buurtzorg Britain & Ireland introduced concepts of self-management to many organisations in and outside the UK. He is a Non-Executive Director for two social enterprises.
References:
[1] ‘State of the Global Workplace’, Gallup, 2024