How Do You Show Respect?
Showing respect for employees in lean and non-lean environments was recently explored in my periodic email from the www.leanexecutive.com.
First the non-lean approach: hire smart people, give them great latitude in how they do their work to show trust, and hold them to objective measures of performance. On it’s face, this sounds OK.
A lean environment approach: managers ask employees what the problem is with the way their work is currently being done, followed by challenging the employees’ answer and entering into a dialogue about what the real problem is. On it’s face, this sounds almost disrespectful.
Assumptions in lean environments are that the employee has the best knowledge of the process they are responsible for and the manager has the ability to offer perspective outside the process. As long as these roles are clear, then valuable engagement occurs and respect for relative roles increases.
The lean approach engages on a level that the non-lean approach doesn’t. The non-lean approach is generic and passive while the lean approach is specific and active. The email went on to compare two distribution centers- one had a 70% (fairly typical) turnover rate, while the other had a 1% rate. Which one do you think had more respect for employees? Which one had virtually no new employee training programs and a high-expertise workforce? How do you show respect for your employees?
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Tags: assumptions, dialogue, distribution_centers, email, environments, latitude, new_employee_training, objective_measures, perspective, relative_roles, turnover_rate, workforceRelated Stories
POSTED IN: 101 Basics
2 opinions for How Do You Show Respect?
ActiveEngine Sensei
Dec 24, 2007 at 8:08 am
I challenge my team to constantly evaluate their solutions, as they game can change constantly and something that you considered to be non-essential can take on different dimensions when requirements change.
I also think smart people like to be engaged, and the challenge to their premises forces individuals to break out of their comfort zone and grow.
Bob Turek
Dec 24, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Sometimes I need to be pushed as I get bored unless something very interesting or innovative is going on in my work. I’ve always found that professionals need challenge and relish the opportunity to prove their method, point, or business case. I’m always looking for improvement as a manager and definitely use change in requirements as an “opportunity” to do the job better. I think what we are talking about is an mindset toward being open to change that is high value.
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