It’s the calibre of the boss that matters most
Making staff feel valued by enabling them to take advantage of their skills, instils a sense of pride in their work
Managers frequently look to make their workplaces more productive. Tools for doing so can range from asking staff to work harder, faster, or longer. Rarely though do we stop and consider just what we mean by a high-performing workplace, and indeed just why we want one and how to achieve it.
UNSW Australia Business School has conducted a two-year study into these high performing workplaces, and we came to some surprising conclusions.
We already knew that leadership capabilities of managers at all levels of organisations have the highest correlation with profitability and productivity.
Drilling down into this, one thing that stood out in terms of performance difference was people management, was that leaders in high-performing workplace are spending more one-on-one time with staff, mentoring and encouraging team members and involving people in decision-making processes.
Leaders in the high-performing organisations also showed themselves to be more responsive to customer and stakeholder needs. That should be obvious – but they also made their staff feel valued by enabling them to take advantage of their skills and instilling a sense of pride in their job.
Our research focused on the services sector for several reasons. Unlike traditional companies, service firms rely on intangible resources – such as people, relationships with customers and other stakeholders, information and communications technology and innovation – to produce economic output. This intangible aspect has implications for management and for operating successfully and profitably.