Tips on empowering employees and developing a team (series, part 5)

In this 5th article in the How to Design a Successful Shared Services series, transformation veteran Steve Moore shares tips of getting more value out of your team. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard, "Our people are our best assets." It’s one thing to say this and another to actually put those words into practice. Showing you are committed to developing the workforce, nurturing it and listening to your staff actually pays dividends. I have often said that management think they know what’s happening on the shop floor – but only the teams actually know what is going on! Providing direction and leadership without adequately preparing the teams for the way ahead is a recipe for … hard work! Employees need to know they are valued and that their views matter. They need to understand what is expected from them; however, they also need to know what they’ll receive in return. Introducing a robust business improvement strategy, with feedback, is key. There are lots of buzz words – Lean, Six Sigma, etc – and I, myself, am an enthusiastic practitioner in these methodologies. However, tailoring the approach and understanding the culture of the organisation will determine the level of engagement and, ultimately, the pace of change. There are two main areas to focus on: one is for your current employees, and the other for new employees joining the business. Below are two approaches to consider. Engaging Current employees One method I have used with great success is to have the teams map / model the service they are delivering and then identify what is value and non-value add. The teams can then determine what key skills are needed to deliver that service, and team members can score themselves against these needed skills to generate a training plan / budget for that service line. This encourages participation and enables employees to actually identify and target training where it is needed. This process can be formalised into personal development reviews, where the employee is setting their stretched targets and development – leading to a win-win situation where employees understand the reason for, and benefits of, delivering the targets they have set! Engaging New employees The Induction program. "Oh, no…", I hear you say, "not that old chestnut!" One approach that has been successful for me is to balance the induction as follows: Provide a vision as to the business’s aspirations (the road map) Celebrate success – where have we come from? Demystify terminology, acronyms, etc Explain the business improvement strategy and their involvement/their role Let the new employees meet the customer and hear firsthand what is important to them! Empowering employees and developing a team is a big investment for your business, in terms of time and money. Implemented properly the rewards will outweigh the investment – and keep outweighing it. Engaging with employees, listening to their views, up-skilling them, and operating through cross-functional workgroups will help to develop new processes which deliver enhanced services. Editor's Note: This is part of an ongoing series. Read the previous articles here Have an experience, good or bad, in shared services implementation? Tell us in the comments box, below. Next month: How to run a successful shared services operation.

Tips on empowering employees and developing a team (series, part 5)

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