12 – The Elements of Great Managing

Prosper Through Your Employees
Employees feel a big difference between putting in time going through the motions of the job, and being part of a high-performing team. Now you can replicate the elements of a great work experience for your employees. After more than 10 million workplace interviews, Gallup found 12 concepts that great managers use to create quality employee experiences. These principles do not require rare talents or extreme performance. You simply have to apply them.

1. Knowing What’s Expected
Employees want to know what they are supposed to do to accomplish their assignments. A job description alone doesn’t ensure that an employee will perform well, and an employee can’t let the company down because his or her job description does not spell out necessary tasks. As a manager, coordinate with your staffers to make sure that you and they understand their jobs.

2. Materials and Equipment
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to perform a job without the right gear. Employees must be ready to work, but managers must facilitate that work by making sure that staff members have the equipment they need when they need it. Too many employers make the mistake of dictating work to their employees instead of listening to them and providing the resources they request. Front-line workers understand their jobs better than anyone else and can help the company improve by explaining what they’ve learned.

3. The Opportunity to Do What I Do Best
The intersection of what a person is good at doing and enjoys, and what his or her company really needs, is the “sweet spot” of employment. A manager is responsible for aligning people with the jobs that are closest to their sweet spots, then helping their positions grow and develop into jobs they might not even realize they can do well. Companies sometimes place good people in jobs that are wrong for them. Recognize this and redirect misplaced staffers so they can thrive.

4. Recognition and Praise
Showing appreciation for your employees is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal, so use it generously. Your employees will be delighted and you will get to know them more deeply, which enables you to manage them better – all at no cost. Wise managers know the power of frequent pats on the back and recognition. Sincere praise triggers a pleasure response in the brain, a feeling people want to repeat.

5. Someone at Work Cares About Me as a Person
Great managers know that people are not machines. No matter how hard you push, you cannot force great work from people you debase or abuse. And your organization cannot compete if your employees provide only perfunctory performance. They must bring all of themselves to work. To nurture their involvement, create an environment that recognizes that real people have lives outside of work. When people feel that their employers respect their dignity, they work harder.

6. Someone at Work Encourages My Development
Human beings are not static. When managers give employees opportunities to grow and pursue individual career paths, employees are willing to stretch to accomplish big goals. If you provide them with mentors, their enthusiasm becomes job-performance rocket fuel. People learn by watching masters and imitating what they see.

7. My Opinions Seem to Count
You will undo all your progress if your employees get the message that their viewpoints do not matter. Do not wait for them to push into your field of vision. Ask for their opinions about their jobs, the company and your management. You don’t have to agree with them, but don’t disparage anything they say. Simply by acknowledging them, and demonstrating that you hear and understand what they are saying, you give them powerful affirmation. They will likely give you ideas and information you can use to improve your team’s performance.

8. A Connection With the Mission of the Company
Don’t be satisfied teaching people solely how to perform their tasks. To make each staffer’s work more meaningful, demonstrate how it connects to the team’s goals and the company’s performance. People who realize that their tardiness or sloppiness could compromise another pivotal operation will perform their jobs even better.

9. Coworkers are Committed to Doing Quality Work
When you ask people to describe their peak employment experiences, they usually cite working on a great team. This is because high-performing teams encapsulate the most important aspects of a meaningful job experience. Great teams know what they are doing. Team members support each other. They coordinate their tasks, bond and recognize each other’s contributions.

10. A Best Friend at Work
Employees who have close friends at work have the lowest turnover and the most positive performance ratings. Polls with sentences that use the specific phrase “best friend” have the highest predictive power for employee performance. Having deep friendships with colleagues greatly enriches a person’s work life. Friends can communicate more freely, exhibit more trust and support each other. As a manager, foster friendships and support employees who are the least able to find friends for themselves.

11. Talking About Progress 
The research found that a manager who focuses on his employees’ strengths essentially inoculates them from being actively disengaged. Those who focus on weaknesses get more polarized results; the strategy rarely works as well as a more positive view, but the manager gets credit for at least “focusing” on the individual.

12. Opportunities to Learn and Grow
Although a few people prefer learning one job and staying with it, most people regard such monotony with a special kind of horror. Nearly everyone wants to learn and grow. However, many employees will avoid taking risks if they perceive that the company will punish them for even the smallest failures. To reap the rewards that come from helping employees improve, even with some risk, create an environment that supports risk taking and the inevitable failures that accompany it.

The Heart of Great Managing
All CEOs say employees are their companies’ greatest assets. This praise is usually meaningless, because these executives’ actions contradict their words. Gallup’s findings show that the managers who elicit the most out of their employees are those who give their employees the most – not necessarily in terms of wages, but in humanity, dignity, and support. The managers who derive the best financial performances from their employees are the ones who are the least motivated by money.

About the Authors: Rodd Wagner is a Gallup Organization principal and an expert on high-performance management and the interplay between employee commitment and company performance. James K. Harter, Ph.D., a chief scientist at Gallup, focuses on its international workplace-management program. He has written or co-authored more than 1,000 research studies.