Ducks in a Row: What People Want
by Miki Saxon
Does promotion cause deafness? Is that why it’s so difficult for bosses to hear?
Does it erase memory, so that new bosses forget the desires and aspirations of their pre-boss days?
These questions aren’t meant as a joke; decades of studies and surveys indicate there is some basis in fact.
How else do you explain findings such as these,
- Eighty percent of respondents who reported a good employee-supervisor relationship claim that the most important thing a boss can do to create a positive working relationship is to both solicit and value their input.
- Among respondents who claimed to have a poor relationship with their boss, 42 percent stated that one of the top reasons the relationship was strained was due to their boss’ failure to listen or take their input into account.
- Of the managers surveyed, less than 25 percent identified soliciting input as an area in which they wanted to improve.
What many bosses don’t get is that this desire isn’t a demand driven by ego, entitlement or insecurity.
It is simply a display of intellectual self-worth on the part of employees and what they are looking for is an affirmation of the boss’ trust, belief and reason for hiring them.
I got it, maybe because I felt the same way, and focusing on that desire put me in the top 10% of MRI recruiters for 12 years.
Think about it; if the people on your team aren’t capable enough to comment intelligently and offer viable input why in the world did you hire them?
Flickr image credit: zedbee
