Author: Alexandre Palma
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The business reality has gradually changed, globalization, a phenomenon that has been taking place in the last century, and the business context have become an authentic battlefield, in which each company invests in all forms to gain a little more space compared to its competitors.
In this way, it is consensual that for a successful organization it is decided that both managers and employees feel comfortable and valued in what they do. So, a critical dilemma arises and should be analyzed.
The top director’s board, in general, usually interacts with stakeholders (shareholders, board council, market analysts, etc.) because they are responsible for announcing the financial information relevant to the company and do not usually ask many questions, simply deliver compiled data.
Several studies show that power reduces levels of empathy, as a result of the higher and farther the position of the head to the front employees, the less they identify with them.
Long-distance relationships could be supported by an intermediary that we can call a middle manager, which in the background is what has direct contact with both the top management and the front employees. One of the steps middle managers can take is to work with the top management to increase their sense of “compassion”.
The first step to “educate” them to a more humane aspect may be through data sharing like situations or problems that front employees feel or experience.
Another vital aspect that can serve as a support tool for middle managers will be conducting simple and fast surveys to figure out staff concerns and stress levels. Another approach, since there are middle managers who do not like to saturate the leadership with this type of issue, will be through the promotion of direct contact between the top management and employees, for example, the organization of formal meetings. These are some measures that middle managers can set up to mitigate this gap between the top and the lowest level inside the company.
Employees’ empowerment, connection, and motivation must prevail for the company’s success. Although there is trust in showing “compassion” for employees, this is not synonymous with the fact that we will have to patch it all up for them. Instead, there is a need to provide them with tools that empower them in a way that makes them more autonomous. The first measure is empowering employees with data, from the creation, for example, of a digital platform where several aspects relating to the productivity of each worker are visible. In this way, the worker can have a perception of how the performance of his function is if it has aspects that must be revised.
Another action that can be taken by middle managers is involving all workers in a connected network. In most companies, some workers work shifts and often do not know much about their colleagues since they work either in the morning or at night. Developing and promoting a connection between all workers will allow each other to understand the company’s production process from a macro view. In this way, each worker will be able to recognize the true value of the function he is performing, not in the case of an isolated act, but as a piece of a process that allows the company to have the success that it has. In the context of this theme, it is also decisive to talk about the pressure from the top regarding the worker’s performance. Performance and stress are always associated. This pressure is felt especially in companies where senior executives do not have or spend little time explaining what pressure factors of the company.
In these organizations, there is no understanding of why the employee has to have that performance, just what role they will play. Several studies have already proven that employees perform their function in a much more motivating way when they perceive their purpose within the company. In this way, the stress gets relieved if the executive council is willing to explain to the worker how the company works in general. We can relate this idea to the distance index to power. In organizations with a great distance of power, employees recognize that their position is inferior, respectful, and submissive to their superiors, who are more likely to give orders rather than consult them in decision-making. Employers or managers do not eat with their subordinates. In the background, a company in which there is a high rate of distance to power will be an organization that “silences” employees and despises their opinion within the organization.
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This dilemma will always exist, whether good or bad, but something we cannot question is that we all like to feel good, valued, and heard in our workplace. This appreciation will only bring benefits to the overall picture of the company. Listening to the employees makes them feel respected, and then they will feel more motivated to do their best within the company.