Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think that employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?
The engagement of the employee is crucial to the effectiveness of the decision. Engaged employees are not only more productive, but they want things to work - there is a great amount of self fulfillment that comes from knowing that you made a significant contribution to the overall performance of your team or your company. We have already learned from a previous module how people are perfectly willing in their spare time to work hard at creating something for the greater good of people, and then giving that away for free - all because of the satisfaction of doing so. In fact, there is probably no greater tool than having an employee engaged with the company and pulling in the same direction. It certainly trumps pay, bonuses and work schedule every time; "While a paycheck is important, even more engaging rewards include human connection, peer recognition, self-expression, a stimulating career path, personal growth, sense of community, and other intrinsic incentives." (Mylar, 2013) There is also a transformation that happens as more and more employees become engaged. The morale in the workplace increases in line with the number on board, there is a sense of community, of belonging of wanting to make a difference - that cannot be replicated any other way.
What are some impediments to good decision making?
There are many impediments to good decision making - the first is one of clarity. Sometimes people are not sure who makes the decision, or who is involved in helping to make that decision and so are not sure how to act. Having all the right information is the second impediment to good decisions. Unless the decision maker is fully aware of all factors, the decision is not going to be the most effective one. This information may include facts, but also feelings of everyone the decision affects as well as the knock on effects of the decision on the employees home and personal life as well as other departments in the company. A third factor is leadership behaviors. Often decisions are made before everyone has been consulted or are involved in the decision, and so the real questions are being asked after the decision has been made and not before. Finally talent and hierarchy are factors that have to be considered. The company must have the right talent at the sharp end of instigating the decision and making sure it is executed, and that that talent is not cut off by middle management hierarchy to make the decision less effective. Often hierarchies can get in the way of a good decision fully realising it's potential. This point is not only a reflection on managers, it can also happen that a well placed employee can throw a wrench in the works for personal reasons that were not previously discovered, rendering the decision ineffective.
When I worked at Pickfords in the UK, our International Sales desk was run through one rep out on the road quoting for business and one support staff who would type up and do the necessary paperwork once the deal was accepted. In the busy periods of the summer, we always had a truck shortage, and a decision was made by me and the director that the highest revenue jobs of this period would maintain priority at that time, but the lady supporting the International rep realized that most of her jobs would therefore not be accepted and she would have to be re-allocated temporarily to domestic support - which she now felt was beneath her. Accordingly, she continued to accept and process smaller less profitable jobs, tying up valuable resources in the busiest of times. She had a myriad of excuses - "this deal was accepted before that decision was made", "this customer is very important to us - a no now will effect future business", "on a per square foot basis this job is more valuable even though a whole truck is tied up for a quarter load" etc etc. She clearly was not on board - but quickly became on board when a semi-permanent transfer to domestic loads became a reality and I trained several other staff members to be able to do her job. Her position of "exclusivity" ("no one else can do what I do") and control was diminished and she finally came on board.
Blenko suggests that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?
I believe that missing from the list are execution, deliverable targets and collaboration. Often, companies have to focus more on collaboration than on pure speed and yield - especially in industries like healthcare. While the speed and quality of the decision are important, the execution of that decision is vital to it's success. Talent must be available to ensure proper execution, but any decision must also be enacted in a way that involves the employees and obtains their buy-in. Finally, decisions made that are have targets that are not achievable are pointless. Targets if possible need to be set in collaboration again with those being targeted so they feel that they own those targets, and that they start feeling that they can obtain them.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
The biggest take way from this exercise is that of employee engagement. So many companies get this wrong, and don't value the potential of engaged employees. One company I worked for as Sales Director was Avon in the UK. This company really knows how to make the employee feel valued and part of something greater. It's hard to put the finger on just the one thing that they do to gain that engagement - I think it is now more of a habit for the staff there and less of something you have to think about all the time. The whole experience there was frankly the most engaged I have ever been in any company.
Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.
- Are companies making more decisions or better decisions?
- Which of the four factors (quality, speed, yield, and effort) has the greatest effect
- How do you measure employee engagement - is it all a measure of profitability?
- How valuable is collaboration over decision making?
- How flexible is any given decision - can it change or morph as new problems or better results unexpectedly arise?
References:
Mylar, L. (2013). Why Are 70% Of Employees Disengaged, And What Can You Do About It? Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymyler/2013/09/02/why-are-70-of-employees-disengaged-and-what-can-you-do-about-it/
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