Jasmine is concerned with practical, tactical ways to bolster employee engagement, diversity and ultimately improve organisational cultures. She gives actionable advice to help HR professionals improve their organisations one step at a time and is known as a trainer, consultant and public speaker. Prior to moving to London in 2008, she was a professor teaching international business majors at the State University of New York. Her clients include PepsiCo, CBI, HarperCollins and Prudential. Jasmine’s book, ‘Employee Engagement: a little book of Big Ideas,’ is available to buy.
People often link personal opinion or preference with decision-making. The same way in which I might decide to have strawberry ice cream because that’s my personal preference, people might think a manager makes a decision because it aligns with that manager’s personal opinion about what’s ‘right.’
However, good decision-making should be about objective problem-solving, and as such, it should be divorced from subjective preferences. “I think this option is the right one” is very different from “this option solves the problem.”
The manager who says, “I think this option is the right one,” may have an emotional reaction when others disagree, because the implication is “you are wrong.” It can feel like a challenge to his or her position, experience, and authority. On a more fundamental level, it can even feel like an aggressive act.
The manager who says, “this option solves the problem,” will be more open when someone else disagrees, because it’s not necessarily an attack on the manager’s ability. It will be seen as a joint effort at arriving at the best solution to the problem.
I have seen decision-making clearly linked to problem-solving in many of the companies I work with (I’ve also seen the opposite, and the ensuing problems).
For example, years ago, I worked with the HR Director at a mobile phone company. The company was facing a redundancy situation. Tim, the HR Director, had explained the company’s strategy to his team, and how redundancy was a repercussion of change. The team took the information away, and a few days later came back to him with a further option that made fewer people redundant and saved the company money.
Say “this option solves the problem” rather than “this option is right.”
What do you think Tim did? “Well,” Tim told me. “I said, ‘thank you,’ and the employees’ plan became the new plan.
More recently, another company had come up with a shift change for their workforce that was deeply unpopular. The employees came up with an alternative that would have kept the workforce happy and saved a huge amount of money. “They came up with a really solid option,” John, a senior manager, told me about his employees. “And, more than that – the management team hadn’t thought of it!”
The reason this can work so well is that managers and employees bring different, dovetailing strengths to the table. The managers have their eye on the strategic narrative, on guiding the company successfully into the future. The employees understand the day-to-day workings of the company and the best and most efficient ways to get those daily tasks done.
Here are some tips for managers to communicate about their decision-making:
- Frame your decision-making as problem-solving – what is the problem you’re trying to solve? How does your strategy do it?
- Be open to alternative solutions or tweaks that employees bring you – they have their feet on the ground, they’ll know the best way to get the work done, as well as what their colleagues think (check out this 2011 Harvard Business Review article about how Toyota does it)
Here are some tips for employees to communicate about management decision-making:
- Frame your fears and concerns as a request for further information
- Do put forward suggestions and strategies – show how your option is the best one by building a solid business case (how does your strategy move the company forward into the future?)
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please comment below, and I’ll get back to you.
