All you need to know to give your employees more autonomy
10/05/2019 by Hicham HMICHE
10/05/2019 by Hicham HMICHE
No one can deny the increasing need for freedom felt by employees. The problem is that they are not very often satisfied and therefore often source of frustration. French managers seem rather reluctant to give more autonomy to their employees. On the one hand, work intensity and objectives are becoming more demanding year after year. On the other hand prospects for independence and autonomy are unfortunately very slim. Worse, they are sometimes even weaker than in the past. This is a mistake! In the world of work, There are always many advantages to promoting autonomy.
First of all, autonomy is a great source of motivation for work teams. In addition to increasing the feeling of well-being and integration in the workplace, it contributes greatly to reduce the social and psychological threats to the health of employees and the company. In addition, it provides positive effects in terms of productivity! Companies that agree to give more autonomy to their employees often end up by gaining in performance and agility. In other words, they benefit from better results. The question now is how to go about introduce autonomy into a structure accustomed to rigidity and traditional hierarchical models. How do you accept to let go when you are a manager? How to delegate certain tasks without losing everything? control in his team?
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You can't give more autonomy to your employees without reviewing your managerial style. To do so, there are several pieces of advice you should be aware of. First of all, it is crucial to define a performance obligation for employees made more autonomous. However, let them evolve on their own as they wish. They must be able to manage their missions with complete freedom. This also includes working conditions (telework and schedules for example). It is a question of giving them greater self-confidence. This involves more than just valuing success. The efforts are just as important! Without trust, there is no possible autonomy. At the same time, encourage risk-taking. Everyone has the right to make mistakes. It is often mistakes that the most beautiful creative initiatives are born. However, your employees must not be cut off from the global vision of their work. If you let them work on a project in its entirety, take the time to let them explain why the objectives were set in this way. At all times, the teams must remain informed of the results of the structure.
No. Problems can occur in any type of organization. The important thing is to know how to solve them. More autonomous, your employees can be brought to take responsibility and think about their own problems. themselves to solutions. Training can be an interesting tool to use to anticipate blockages. The more an individual is trained, the more versatile, competent and able to be autonomous and professional. active. What happens, for example, if an employee tells you about a dissatisfied customer? Naturally, you may be tempted to blame the employee. Avoid this attitude at all costs! Instead, look for the origins of the problem and discuss it together. Why this dissatisfaction? Is it serious? How long has it been going on? Who is at fault? It is essential to maintain a positive frame of mind, always focused on purpose and conflict resolution. At all times, you need to know your strategy, the context of application and the resources to be exploited. Employees must also be aware of this. They must also know what limits to respect and whether there are emergency exits to be mobilized. In any case, always be in favor of speaking out in discussions. Your employees have something to share? Let them express their ideas freely!
The era of control is over. Today's managers know that an excessive taste for control is counterproductive. Its first negative effect can be found in the bad image of your authority. You will appear as someone with little confidence. It shows a lack of skills and intellect and above all it blocks risk-taking. But without taking risks, it is the growth of the company that is found directly threatened. Just accept that you have less control. This will prevent many burnouts. It's in everyone's interest!
Is it therefore necessary to definitively give up all control? No. Autonomy implies big changes over the long term. Prefer regular feedback to inflexible controls. Of course abuse of liberty must be corrected. But never generalize a power gap. It is important to trust your teams. Trust is created. This is how abuses can be limited. Dialogue is an essential tool to use. Managing a team means listening. Stop being a superior, think of yourself as a coach instead!
If possible, reduce the steps in the decision-making process. Prefer a less rigid hierarchy. For example, instead of a long meeting held once a week, opt for a small dot of a few minutes every morning. Ideal to get everyone involved! Everyone will be able to share their goals for the day. Collaboration will be facilitated on a daily basis. Employees should be able to have a role in the organization. One option may be to let them choose their own time off. It is important that they feel fully integrated into the life of the company. For a better progression, you can also consider a audit of managerial skills.