My early career was one full of education. I was taught exactly what my employer wanted me to learn (sheep dip style) and then had the opportunity to test out what I had learned in the real world. Being a keen learner, and one who always challenged what he was told, many of my training sessions were full of interesting debate, as concepts being driven into me were quizzed and challenged, no matter how well they resonated with thoughts and experiences I already had.
One of the most interesting was the concept of diversity, one that was really only just being formed in the corporate world in the early 90’s, but that is still much discussed today. Whilst for many, diversity still brings images of race, colour and religion, for me it has always been much beyond that, something I often have to explain when discussing with other leaders. Unlike many, I know the true value that different backgrounds can bring to problem solving, strategic planning, a marketing research program, or anything else that benefits from multiple inputs. Yes, managing different (and often conflicting) ideas can be difficult, but surely, that’s what we, as senior leaders, are paid for?
Outcomes from any such activities have always benefited greatly from the breadth of input, thus avoiding any kind of ‘group think’ or similar narrow vision. Potential pitfalls are avoided, good ideas are ‘green-housed’ and developed into something stronger and bigger, and actions are bought into by all those engaged in its development. Having worked across multiple sectors, I have also now been fortunate enough to see how this plays out across a wider range of experiences, with Engineering principles applied in prisoner transport and then logistics thinking applied to a HR service centre, for example.
Ultimately, the process of working in diverse teams increases engagement and, with other controls in place, enables high degrees of empowerment, which every business needs, if it is to grow, especially if it wishes to grow in a multi-site environment.
The recent pandemic brought about many empowerment challenges for leaders across many sectors, as employees were forced to work from home. The 9-5 became the 8ish to 7ish as employees had to fit home schooling and other personal activities into the working day…and leaders had to enable employees to take time management into their own hands, splitting up the working day as they needed between work and personal time. As we come out of the pandemic, it’s interesting to see how businesses react and change as things that were once imposed, now become options…choices…
Remote working: Is Big Tech going off work from home? – BBC News
What is clear to me, is that diversity, engagement and empowerment are all intertwined, and not just with each other, as the basic principles of lean, which result in getting more for less, also play out at a personal level, and getting these three elements right in your business, really do result in the whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Yet despite this being clear for me, for others it simply is not. I cringe when I hear senior leaders wishing that employees would just do what they were told to do, and stop thinking for themselves. And whilst I understand (perhaps) the true meaning of what they are saying, the thinking behind it is completely dis-functional. Who hasn’t spoken to someone at a call centre and jointly slated the process the call handler is required to follow? The photograph that goes with this week’s article says it all. At the end of the day, when the employee is told that every load must be strapped down, and isn’t given the freedom to think for themselves, this is exactly what happens…you will note, this article was not published on April 1st…