How can you show appreciation for employees? What are ways to encourage employee autonomy?
It’s important to acknowledge others as distinct individuals with unique needs and challenges. Your employees will appreciate when you don’t see them as obstacles or objects.
Here’s how to make employees feel valued, using three of The Outward Mindset‘s strategies.
1. See From Other People’s Perspectives
You must adapt your perspective to understand how to make employees feel valued. For instance, a supervisor might take the time to understand the personal circumstances of an underperforming employee instead of immediately resorting to disciplinary measures.
Adopting an outward-looking perspective motivates individuals to modify their actions to enhance the success of their peers. When learning of a coworker’s project challenges, an executive might offer their expertise or resources to help overcome those obstacles, demonstrating flexible methods to enhance the team’s success.
Recognizing how one’s behavior affects others is crucial for cultivating a perspective that focuses on external impacts. A team leader might consider strategies to enhance their decision-making process to foster unity and effectiveness, ensuring their actions positively impact the overall harmony and achievements within the group.
2. A Strategy for Different Viewpoints
An external perspective is defined by recognizing others, modifying personal behaviors, and assessing the outcomes. This involves systematically assessing how to enhance the support for others’ success by understanding their needs, goals, and obstacles while monitoring how one’s actions affect them.
The Arbinger Institute promotes a structured method for acknowledging the needs, aspirations, and challenges of others. A team leader might regularly arrange individual sessions to understand the current challenges faced by team members and provide assistance to overcome them.
People who embrace an outward mindset adjust their approaches to support the success of others. For instance, when the individuals working at Ford recognized the difficulties faced by their peers, they were motivated to modify their roles to better assist one another.
Embracing an outward mindset involves evaluating the impact of one’s actions on others to ensure they are beneficial rather than detrimental. Charles often conducted personal evaluations alongside his client to confirm that his actions were advantageous for them.
3. Adopt the Outward Mindset in Different Teams and Organizations
The Arbinger Institute provides guidance on applying the outward-mindset strategy across teams and organizations, emphasizing the importance of shared goals and collective responsibility.
Unite the Organization to Pursue a Shared Objective
It’s important to align the efforts of individuals and teams toward a common goal that prioritizes the welfare of others. For instance, if a company aimed to enhance customer satisfaction, it might establish a unified target to improve its Net Promoter Score by 10 points within twelve months, necessitating that every department coordinate its actions to achieve this common goal. This alignment fosters a sense of shared responsibility for the collective outcome, as seen when the team at Ford was encouraged to focus on collective goals and shared objectives. The Institute notes that leadership strategies and perspectives that fail to consider the interconnected nature of individuals can result in problems on both personal and institutional levels.
Encourage Individuals to Embrace Ownership
The Arbinger Institute encourages leaders to foster a sense of complete responsibility for their tasks among their teams. This empowerment fosters an environment where creativity, individual initiative, and self-management are standard. For instance, should a non-profit organization aim to increase the count of individuals it assists twofold, this would necessitate a unified endeavor from all staff and volunteers to reevaluate their duties and work together innovatively to achieve this challenging goal.
Reduce Status Distinctions and Hierarchical Barriers
The organization known as the Arbinger Institute advises companies to minimize the perks and symbols of status that separate leaders from their team members. This can be achieved by fostering an environment characterized by mutual respect and a common goal. For instance, if a hospital department prioritized patient care as a unified objective, each member, from doctors to administrative staff, would coordinate their goals and actions to guarantee the best possible outcomes for patients. They should consider the goals, requirements, and difficulties faced by their colleagues in various positions.
The Institute prioritizes fostering a culture characterized by mutual respect and a shared objective. This culture thrives when leaders lower hierarchical barriers and work closely alongside their team members. For example, if a project manager opts to participate actively in daily team activities rather than merely delegating and supervising, this could diminish hierarchical distinctions and foster a setting that promotes team collaboration.
