Managers often think that it’s faster and easier to perform a task themselves rather than taking the time to train someone else to do it. The adage, “If you want something done right, do it yourself” may often be true, but that approach doesn’t allow employees to learn and grow.
Strengthening the Manager/Employee Relationship
If you’re doing most of the work yourself, then your workload is likely too heavy. According to Gartner, the average manager has 51% more responsibilities than he or she can effectively handle. Learning to delegate would allow for greater efficiency and flexibility in the organization.
For a manager to feel confident in sharing tasks and responsibilities, it’s important to strengthen relationships with employees. Experts say that innovation and growth come from human-centered leadership that utilizes soft skills such as emotional intelligence, listening, empathy and communication.
Good communication includes expectation-setting and frequent check-ins. In our experience, workers say that more consistent, regular feedback resonates with them much more strongly than the traditional annual performance review. Recognition and praise go a long way and have quantifiable results. In one survey, employees who had received positive feedback or praise over the previous seven days were associated with at least 10% higher productivity and revenue.
Cross-Training Improves Productivity
If only one person in your company knows how to do specific tasks around the office, it creates vulnerabilities if that person suddenly becomes unavailable and there isn’t a backup. Forgoing cross-training and employee development comes at a cost to the business, particularly in day-to-day work tasks. In its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, PwC estimated that the cost of ‘enormous inefficiencies’ across routine activities is equivalent to a self-imposed $10 trillion tax on productivity.
When employees can contribute to different parts of the business, it improves service, increases production capacity and makes jobs better for the people doing them, Harvard Business Review found after surveying food industry businesses. For example, previously strict boundaries between front-of-house and kitchen teams at one regional restaurant chain made it difficult to adjust to peaks in demand. By striking a balance between flexibility and specialization, the restaurant was able to reduce bottlenecks during peak times.
As an employer, you can avoid lost productivity and gaps in client service by putting intentional processes in place to share and transfer knowledge and experience. Cross-training not only teaches employees specific tasks or skills usually done by others; it helps employees build their skill sets and fills gaps when an employee leaves, is out sick or on vacation.
For advice on employee engagement and creating more efficient workflows, MarathonHR is always happy to offer our expertise.