Responsive Management to engage employees

Do you work in a team where not everyone gives 100%? Are you this person? If you're feeling less engaged than before, or even disengaged, it's time to find out why! Managers, project managers and managers face this challenge constantly. How to keep a motivated team and employees enthusiastic about their work?

Many companies today struggle to retain their workforce. Indeed, when an employee is no longer involved he ultimately makes the radical decision to leave his position. So the goal is to avoid this. But above all to understand the reasons, and to implement new practices to help everyone find their place in the company and facilitate adaptation to new tools and practices; and integration into the team.

1. Engage your employees

If we stay down to earth, we immediately see the effects of employee disengagement on the company. Firstly, the impact is considerable on productivity and performance as a whole. Then of course, the cost of an employee for his employer sometimes amounts to more than €10,000 per year.

Finally, as in all areas, this type of behavior can only be an obstacle to going further in terms of innovation. Sometimes all it takes is one disengaged person to create an unstable environment for other employees. This slows down production overall. Result: not all client expectations are met, the quality of work is not optimal and some people do not feel comfortable in their team.

Who should we throw stones at? What is the cause of the indifference of certain employees? We cannot ignore certain classic factors such as lack of flexibility (and again, this is improving more and more these days), lack of communication or listening or overload of work or on the contrary very little assignment on tasks. Some may feel ignored or not considered for their real potential and skills.

The need for recognition

The need for recognition is not just a philosophical concept, but is very real in the world of work. Forbes reports that 37% of employees say recognition is essential to increasing productivity. It is true that an employee recognized for his work and his skills has more self-confidence. 

Today we must realize the importance of putting human relationships at the heart of our ways of operating at work. 

Read this article on how to form an agile team . 

But other questions arise, other factors come into account and these are linked to the rapid advancement of technologies and new tools. Let's also take into account the lack of training at this level (no explanation, unavailability of managers, insufficiently qualified people assigned to unsuitable tasks, etc.)

What is expected of a manager

Does this mean that managers are also a little behind, that they do not take their responsibilities as seriously as they should? Their lack of commitment logically and inevitably leads to the same thing among employees. Unfortunately this is often linked to the fact that not everyone chooses the position of project manager or manager, which explains this relaxation in their responsibilities. 

What employees expect from their manager or project manager is that they share their clear vision of the company's objectives and current projects. Also, be available and listen to train them and answer their questions. It's easier said than done, managers are not robots! They too face various challenges and annoyances which slow them down in their ability to work effectively. This is why it is imperative to find solutions so as not to make other employees suffer. 

Employee engagement

Employee engagement in France has been falling for ten years already according to Forbes, but this has increased with the health crisis. The line between professional and personal life is becoming increasingly thin. Many felt helpless. At the same time, this fusion of the two aspects of our lives has its benefits. We can use our personal experiences at home and at work to better communicate with others.

The confinement and the unstable situation in which the crisis has placed us have played an important role in our ability to manage strong emotions and to develop essential soft skills in our homes, but also in the office. 

“From office to home, from home to office, we mobilize these life skills for the benefit, in particular, of this emotional work which is so essential in both spheres.”

Forbes

That said, measures still need to be taken so that employees can navigate this context that is not very conducive to personal development. 81% of employees say they are considering leaving their current job (Source: Smarp). And the majority of leaders realize that a new engagement strategy is necessary. But only a quarter of them actually do it. Is it a problem of commitment on their part, or of resources.

2. Responsive Management

This still somewhat new term refers to a new style of modern leadership adapted to the changes that our constantly evolving society is going through. Note that these changes concern the market and employee expectations as much. Traditional business management styles are no longer applicable in this day and age where technology is only advancing and its integration into processes must be understood by leaders. They must constantly train themselves and their teams. A new management style is therefore necessary, managers capable of adapting to change. 

Responsive management is a way of rethinking the management of your employees, whether through practice or through psychological support. Managers must find how to constantly renew themselves and adapt to the different needs of each person (their employees, customers, superiors, market, organization, environment, etc.). An involved manager can re-motivate his disengaged employees. 

“New practice management is an understanding of developments in technology and society. This leadership style focuses on dreams as well as strategic goals, on networks as well as hierarchies, on experimentation as well as planning. It is a leadership approach based on people and engagement, both with customers, shareholders, society and employees.” Source: Wearebeem

Less rigid management

As we said previously, what employees expect are less rigid operating methods. This is why responsive management focuses on more collaborative and engaging approaches. This encourages everyone to participate in the life of the company, to get personally involved in projects and to become more autonomous. Just like recognition, these methods requiring soft skills on the part of leaders, have the capacity to create a healthy environment and working environment. 

Finally, let us emphasize that managers putting responsive management into practice are versatile players and their task is not easy. A lot of questioning work must be done regularly to continue to steer the boat to a safe port. Leaders are constantly learning. They are looking to understand how to better use technology to accelerate their organization's processes. They remain open to new possibilities while retaining some aspects of traditional management or leadership. 

“ Responsive Management aims to combine speed of execution, adaptability and efficiency, with the aim of providing solutions with high customer experience content. “

Forbes

3. Use a tool to have better collaboration

A disengaged manager will not seek to innovate and may not even see that his colleagues are facing difficulties of their own. An involved manager can better see the obstacles to the commitment of his teams. And very often this is linked to a poor understanding of digital tools or poorly performing tools. 

Using an ERP can make the difference. It promotes the sharing of information and allows everyone to have better visibility on the schedule, their tasks and the progress of projects. This type of software involves the entire team in reporting and time tracking.

Save time in project management

The goal here is to allow everyone to save time and allow the manager to do better project management. This is all the simpler if everyone takes responsibility for their tasks according to their role. By using a tool like this, leaders, managers and team members obtain the data they need to work better. This continuous sharing of information puts everyone on an equal footing to some extent, and it is this kind of mindset that encourages employees to be more engaged.

Sharing data to collaborate better

Many employees are used to having very restricted access to company data. Today, confidentiality is not the same if you use security software. resource planning like Stafiz. The information is reported by everyone and is visible. Of course, certain functionalities remain reserved for managers and other roles depending on the assigned tasks or hierarchy. However, we can say that everyone finds their place and this radically changes the dynamic of a team working in project mode. Individuals have everything they need to make better decisions and invest 100%.

Another read: Better management of your teams thanks to a management tool resource planning

To find out more about resource planning in Stafiz