I deliver management workshops and coaching to a number of organisations and it has been interesting to see how differently organisations have reacted to the change in economic fortunes.
One approach has been to push those left in the organisation to work
harder, picking up the slack of those made redundant and putting in more
hours to drive up productivity. This often has a positive short term
effect of getting more done with less cost, but arguably is not a
sustainable over a longer period of time. Those of Generation Y will
certainly kick hard against a newly imposed micro management and
managers need to be thinking as much now of how to engage and inspire as
they ever did. See more about Generation Y motivators at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html
A
move towards transactional rather than transformational style of
management has also been apparent. A reliance on having people motivated
by simply being scared they will lose their job and being ever more
closely told what to do will surely be counterproductive if maintained
for long. People still have a desire to develop and learn and expand on
their roles and if companies want to retain their best people for when
the upturn comes they will have to address these needs now.
Some organisations have been making the time to step back and look at how they might be innovative in terms of the services or products they offer, how they now need to sell them. This includes getting ideas from all parts of the organisation. People like to feel they can contribute.
I was reading on the news pages of the BBC how a garden center is
blooming as it is now selling 300% more grow your own products than last
year. Capitalising on trends is a good example of how innovation
doesn’t have to be revolutionary, but must be relevant. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7970639.stm
Those
who are thinking the most creatively are the best placed to succeed.
Having a structured way to think of ideas, plan the implementation and
critique their effectiveness is a bonus at any time. Now it could be
critical.
If you are interested in developing your leadership or creating more effective teams we would love to have a conversation.
