When workforce takes ownership

Today, I will be putting on the cap of an entrepreneur (an entrepreneur with agility) but let me start with my introduction.

Success, according to a popular strategic thinker, is not a comfortable procedure. You cannot succeed if you stay in your comfort zone. Success must be earned. It must be deserved, because in order to achieve expected results, you must put in efforts and hard work. John Bezos (one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world) said “you must get uncomfortable to be comfortable.” He pointed out that to succeed, business leaders must choose between “a life of ease and comfort or a life of service and adventure”.

Success in business is creative and innovative planning, analyzing the environment, and setting goals to achieve success. The leader must understand the competitive landscape, seize opportunities, know his rivals and outsmart them.

Let us move forward with a little explanation on “mental agility”, a critical necessity for today’s uncertain marketplace. These two distinct but related capacities or attributes include; high level but very clear details, and the ability for “strategic shifting”.

Today, we will focus on the workforce and the determination to powerfully mobilize it for enhanced performance.

Let us ask ourselves this fundamental question: how do we align and at the same time, fully mobilize the vibrant energies of the workforce? How do we connect (them) to lead (them) in order to achieve enhanced performance?” We will open the door of this vibrant energies with empathy. We will in addition, influence the workforce with the leader’s competency, reliability, integrity and vulnerability (I am human like my colleagues).

The focus today will therefore, be on processes or capabilities. That is, the flow of information, decisions and resources (including materials) to serve customers.

The signposts of the organisational direction are the clearly identified and well-understood processes around strategic intent and capabilities. They must be “intentionally” worked on to achieve day-to-day progressive change and innovation.

The organizational architecture includes: shared mindset (workforce commitment to effectiveness) competence (knowledge, skills and abilities that exist among and across individuals and teams), consequence (performance measures and appraisal systems), governance (decision-making processes, communication processes and workforce relationships), capacity for change (established processes must guarantee day-to-day innovation) and leadership (daily shaping and re-shaping of organisational direction).

Dave Ulrich, author of Human Resource Champions described workforce processes or organisational architecture as the bridge between strategy and actions. This architecture begins with customer focus or the “various flows” that generate and deliver value to customers. These processes accomplish values such as customer intimacy, operating efficiencies and leveraged relevant technology.

Other drawdowns include; agility in work processes to foster creativity, experimentation and innovation, daily improvement of efficiencies to achieve customer service leadership; flexibility and collaborative decision-making to innovate quicker than rivals; enacting and implementing strategies around differentiated customer success; partnering with customers and organizing around them to totally eliminate churn, effectively enhancing customer loyalty and word-of-mouth loop; sharing and deliberating on strategic vision to achieve total buy-in by workforce. Also, have regular sharing of information, collaboration across teams and departments and promotion of a work environment without boundaries.

It was David Nadler, an organisational expert that used the architecture metaphor to describe processes within organisations. He pointed out that like buildings, organisations have interfacing processes that must be clearly integrated and creatively managed by smart leaders.

Let us summarize: the architecture must align in shared and committed mindset. Competence by way of knowledge, skills and abilities must be systematically enhanced. We must rev-up performance management standards and governance by improving reporting relationships, decision-making processes, policies and formal and informal communication processes. Leaders must also, fully galvanize the organisation for unwavering commitment.

Primarily, process is the series of events through which we faithfully execute tasks and produce expected results through the workforce, the “Human Resources or Human Capital”.

Experts are however, saying that referring to an employee as a human resource, is derogatory. The description, they say, signposts: raw materials, personnel, office staff, or the individual who provides “just” labour in an organisation. Human capital, they say, looks more like it because capital is about knowledge, awareness and proficiency (ability, skill, competence and command).

There is another expert opinion that we should refer to employees as “Our people”. Respected stakeholders in the organisation that always add value and enrich value delivery. They are valuable and not fungible (replaceable or easily dispensed with).

In this new dispensation, in order to effectively re-direct the workforce to value chains, leaders must enact management policies to guarantee (in a sustainable manner) employee engagement and fully committed attitudes.

As I said earlier, I am wearing my entrepreneur-with-agility cap today. Let me also walk you through the foundational elements of communication in effective team dynamics. Effective communication is pivotal to establishing and maintaining trust as well as enhanced and value-adding competence.

There are three levels of trust which leaders must make genuine efforts to achieve, according to Doug Fisher. The First is Relationship Trust which is achieved when the leader is credible, consistent and accountable. The second level is the Role Trust. It is achieved when the leader is competent, reliable and honest. He buoys competent leadership through enthusiasm in his daily activities. Employees are happy to follow him and even go the extra mile for the organisation. He encourages and implements initiatives and genuinely has the best interests of colleagues at heart.

The third category is the Practice Trust. Colleagues who report to him, judge his competence through “how he communicates, how often he communicates and the ways in which he communicates”.

Let me conclude with these thoughts on Peter Drucker’s recommendations on how leaders can “make greatest contributions”. They must improve their skills and also, acquire new ones. They must fill the gaps in their knowledge and never contemptuous of knowledge in areas where they have deficit. Leaders must always check and do something about what they do or fail to do that inhibit performance and effectiveness.

He added that “leaders must discuss brilliant ideas with smart colleagues, adapt it and ensure that execution is properly and intelligently carried through. They must regularly and consistently decide how best they will always contribute to the success of organisations”.

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