How to overcome the disconnect between management and employees

Why do you need to defeat the ‘us versus them’ mentality?

The very strongest businesses thrive because everyone from the cleaner to the Managing Director knows what they are doing, where they are going and, more importantly, why. They feel they have a sense of purpose. Everyone understands what the business is about, and what image should be presented to clients, potential customers and the general public. They also understand that anyone in the organization can have the next brilliant idea that might move the business leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

In an ‘us versus them’ mentality, employees feel left out and uninvolved, which is a short step to resentment and the dreaded ‘why should I?’ train of thought, where they don’t share those amazing ideas and don’t communicate problems or try to think up solutions. They also don’t implement your ideas as effectively because they don’t know why they are doing everything, and they don’t feel that they can ask for help or advice. All of that is an even shorter step to otherwise excellent staff feeling dissatisfied with their jobs and looking elsewhere.

How do you know if that’s happening in your organization?

Do your staff feel they can talk to you? Do they come to you with suggestions for process improvement or new ideas to improve the bottom line? Do you feel like part of the team, even though you are the manager? Do staff communicate with you and tell you what is happening in the team or ask for your advice? If you’ve answered ‘no’ to all, or even most, of those questions, you could have a problem.

As a leader, whether that’s of a single team in the business or the entire organization, dealing with any feelings of ‘us versus them’ is down to you, but the good news is that there are things you can do to bring the business around and get everyone feeling involved and engaged.

How can you defeat the ‘us versus them’ mentality?

The very first step is to have a good look around and realize that you have a problem. You can’t fix what you aren’t aware of. Listen to your staff; take a look at their body language and the language they use. Do they sound happy and enthusiastic, or defeated and down? Try and put yourself in their place and understand where they are coming from and what you could do that would make all the difference.

1. Get involved

If you want your staff to feel involved and engaged, you need to get involved too. Be sociable, take the time to have a chat with people and ask about their weekend. Go on staff nights out. Try to remember your employees’ interests, and if they’ve just been on holiday or had a baby – the little informalities that you ordinarily do outside of work without thinking.

You could dismiss this as a waste of time, think that chatting and actually listening to the answers is simply taking time away from getting the work done, but this is the very thing that greases the wheels of your business and helps it run more smoothly. Be human. Don’t just act like ‘Mr or Ms Manager’. Share your own life and experiences, your hobbies and interests, even the mistakes you’ve made. You’ll come across as far more approachable, and your staff will be more likely to talk to you about their problems and ideas.

Build your relationships with people just like you would when networking – that is, because you’re genuinely interested, not just because it’s good for business – and you’ll reap the rewards with a better atmosphere all round, and staff who feel that you care.

2. Communicate

Don’t blow off team meetings or send your assistant manager instead. While sometimes that’s unavoidable, if you always do it, you’ll feel out of touch and your staff will feel that they have a distant and uninterested manager. Have regular meetings with your teams and managers to give and get updates, share ideas, give feedback and plan for what’s ahead. Be upfront, clear and honest, or people may wonder if you have your own hidden agenda, and don’t be afraid to admit your own mistakes – people respect that. Communicate as far as you can about the company direction and the future, even if it’s bad news. Known is better than unknown – especially the guessed-at and blown-out-of-proportion unknown.

3. Encourage ideas

Let your employees know that you welcome ideas. Consider having a rewards scheme for the best idea, the one that makes or saves the most money, the most innovative – whatever categories suit your business – and think about what will motivate your staff, with everything from finishing an hour early to a paid holiday as prizes.

When you do get ideas or suggestions, take the time to listen carefully and consider what your employees are saying. Be responsive and praise staff members for their contribution. If a suggestion will work, make sure it is implemented and that credit is given where it’s due; and if the idea can’t be put in place, make sure to tell your staff why so that they don’t feel that you’ve ignored what they’ve said.

Take risks and have a little faith in people’s ideas. You won’t have a 100 per cent success rate, but then no-one does. Develop the kind of atmosphere where trying new things is encouraged and there’s no blame game to play if something doesn’t work out, and you’ll soon have an abundance of ideas.

4. Deal with issues

When staff come to you with problems, be proactive and do everything you can to resolve them. Keep people informed along the way, so they know you have things in hand. Don’t ignore problems or pass them off to other people; take responsibility, and people will start to feel they can come to you for support and help.

5. Be consistent

Staff like to feel that they know what they are getting in a manager and that both people and issues will be dealt with fairly and consistently. Treat everybody with equal levels of respect. You should also be consistent in your values and mottos. Practice what you preach, and make sure people know what to expect from you.

In summary, consistency builds trust and develops relationships. Don’t suffer with an ‘us versus them’ mentality. Take the time to communicate, listen and understand, and your employees will respond with increased engagement and involvement.