How Risk, Failure, and Investment Impact Engagement and Talent
Tom Peters, author of Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism and In Search of Excellence, wrote that managing by wandering around was the centerpiece of a true people-first culture. Nowadays a people-first culture requires us to:
Manage by Zooming around.
Last week, a client complained that he was having difficulty getting his team to engage more in Zoom meetings. His firm has several offices, and there is a mix of hybrid and remote workers in addition to traditional "in the office" team members.
He was frustrated about what to do and was seriously considering just not having any more meetings. I dissuaded him from doing that. That's the opposite of what you want to do.
Engagement Now More Than Ever
More than ever, your employees want to be engaged. But as is usually the case, staff members hesitate to step out and volunteer for the juicier projects, probably because of fear of failing or looking foolish. It's human nature to avoid stepping out on those skinny branches.
So how do you get them to participate in your meetings? What would you do in this situation?
If you want your teams to be more engaged, you have to show them how. A few will ask for more challenging assignments, but the majority likely will not. A few will raise their hands in meetings, but most will not.
As the new kid in town, having just joined the Miami office of my former firm, I was asked to go with a partner to visit one of our largest out-of-town clients. On the trip back, he asked me if I would be interested in joining the team to work on an upcoming project. I jumped at the chance to contribute and demonstrate my skills and commitment.
There are many ways to engage with your employees. This requires a mindset and a culture that encourages taking risks, that rewards others for stepping outside their comfort zones and has psychological safety built into the fabric of your company.
Bill Packard of Hewlett-Packard said,
If you don't fail on a regular basis, you are not trying hard enough.
I recommend you "fail fast and fail cheaply", i.e., limit your losses and learn from your mistakes.
Risky Business
You have to be willing to take some risks (calculated ones are best) and provide your employees with meaningful assignments that enable them to grow. Doing so means that you, as a leader, and your team of leaders will need to develop higher levels of trust in them.
If you want your employees to trust you, you must first trust them. Trust that your employees want to do their best to achieve successful results. You will find, over time, that there will be those who relish rising to the occasion and those who whither and let the company down. But don't let that get them or you down.
We learn best from our mistakes and failures. It's part of the growth experience for you and them. Yes, there will be times when you need to cut your losses. This will happen. That said, there's nothing worse than prolonging the inevitable if there is little chance of saving a strategy or project.
Talent Magnetism
In a recent McKinsey Global Impact report, Performance Through People, the most successful companies have figured out how to have high expectations regarding performance and a culture of nurturing, collaboration, training (including on-the-job training), and challenging assignments.
McKinsey found that these companies invest heavily in human capital and organizational capital. They take developing their employees' growth seriously and have better results in retaining talent. They are seen as talent magnets.
Your Most Important Capital Investment
In Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism, Tom Peters proposes that we stop considering training as an administrative expense. Consider training under a new paradigm: It's a Capital Investment.
The right training, supported by distinctive organizational capital investment and effective management systems (McKinsey), will give your employees the skills to succeed and enable your company to serve your customers with excellence growing your business exponentially.
Until next time!
