I’m not a CEO. I don’t know the pressures faced by the head of large companies. I can imagine, though, that it’s huge and endless. After considering this, I decided to look into what separates a regular CEO from those that run amazing companies, with very satisfied employees. I found that their practices not only make for a happier, healthier workforce, but could relieve some of the pressure on management. Granted, it may require a complete change in mindset – somewhat turning the company over to the people who make it run.
Ownership matters – really.
It’s a fact that homeowners take better care of their property than those who rent. The Joint Center for Housing Studies, performed by Harvard University, states that “Personal investment in home and neighborhood are thought to lead to improved levels of social, psychological, emotional and financial health,” and further explains, that’s because the owner directly benefits from from a property being well-cared for. In other words, when the person doing the maintaining isn’t the owner, it doesn’t benefit them in the longterm and the “why bother” attitude sets in. When it’s their permanent home, and they know they have a future in it, every detail matters more.
Great Place to Work’s Great Rated lists employees’ picks for the top 20 tech places to work. Some of the best known on the list are Workday, World Wide Technology, Google Inc., Twitter Inc., Convergence Consulting, and Intellinet. What makes these tech companies unique and adored by their employees, is the fact that management – all the way up to the CEO – makes them feel like they aren’t working for them but with them, and that the company “belongs” to the whole.
“From senior leadership all the way down through the organization, the culture here is one of inclusiveness, success and growth. It’s a very unique company, whereby everyone is made to feel special and important.”
Riverbed Technology Employee to Great Rated!
Trust equals results
Hand-in-hand with the feeling of belonging, is trust and the endowment of power over their own work. Employees say their bosses allow them to truly own their work. They are given complete responsibility in regards to the process they use to complete their work, and in some cases, the schedule on which they work. Instead of poor results that one might expect with minimal management, this freedom and trust lets them produce amazing results because they have no constraints.
“Every person here can drive change, new features and product improvement. There’s a strong sense of trust between everyone that we’re all trying to do the right thing and if you have an idea that you think can make things better, you’re empowered and given the freedom to implement it. The rigorous hiring process allows managers to be very hands-off and instill a sense of trust in the employees. Some of the best product/decisions come from non-management layers instead of getting stonewalled in complex/unnecessary middle management battles. This allows for agility and quick feature turnaround like I’ve never seen at any other place I’ve worked.”
Twitter Inc. Employee to Great Rated!
Finding your company’s name on this list, or your name on the top of Glassdoor.com‘s list of the Highest Rated CEOs may not be high on your list of priorities, but surely keeping your employees productive is. Instead of micromanaging, allow them to do the job you hired them to and the freedom to do so efficiently and with personality. Chances are if they weren’t a good match for your company’s culture you wouldn’t have given their resume a second glance, so have some faith that HR made a good decision and let them flourish. Again, admittedly, I’m not a CEO of a tech company, but have started a fire or two and know that when a flame is smothered it will extinguish – give it room to breathe and it will take off.
Shmusings 