In the past month or so, I’ve been focusing on the qualities and characteristics of a leader, and what job requirements a leader has. Today, we’re going to flip our thinking to think from the worker’s point of view. So, let me ask you, do you know what your workers want in a job?
A Public Agenda Foundation study, co-authored by Daniel Yankelovich, came up with these top ten qualities that today’s workers want in a job:
- Work with people who treat me with respect
- Interesting work
- Recognition for good work
- Chance to develop skills
- Work for people who listen if you have ideas about how to do things better
- A chance to think for myself
- Seeing the end results of my work
- Working for efficient managers
- A job that is not too easy
- Feeling well-informed about what is going on
Ponder that list. Notice what isn’t included in the top ten: job security, benefits, vacation time, and high salary. Yet most companies still operate as though they are the big four, the only ways to motivate and keep their employees.
Now, think about your company. Do you think any of the above might apply? Do any of them apply to you? How is your company meeting the changes and challenges of today?
Ours is a new world. We cannot exist as though it isn’t changing. Remember, 21st-century leadership is not about telling employees what to do and monitoring their progress like a hawk, it’s about creating and maintaining an environment where employees feel safe and motivated to contribute to their fullest.
So, do you have a vision? Have you communicated it to the point where your employees internalize it? How do you treat your employees? Do you give them the respect, guidance, information, freedom, and authority to act as they see fit?
If you would like help answering those questions, or you’d like to know what it means to give your employees respect, guidance, information, freedom, and authority so they can act as they see fit, book a free call with me.