Managers are out of touch with their employees’ needs. Whether due to stereotyping or lack of training, the effects can be devastating to business. To overcome the divide, employers should turn to communication platforms and open the floor to honest discussions.
89% of bosses believe their employees quit because they want more money. In truth, only 12% of employees actually leave for this reason – 79% of them cite lack of appreciation as the main cause for abandoning ship. The undeniable takeaway of this statistic is that employees don’t leave companies, they leave bosses.
Another example of executive disconnect can be seen in a recent Google study, which indicates that executives and their team members have entirely different measures of workplace effectiveness. While executives are more concerned about numbers and results, team members care far more about team culture.
How did managers become so out of touch with the needs of their workers? One explanation could be that over half of them report never having received any management training. On average, people are promoted because they’re good at what they do, not because they’re good at managing others.
Another reason for this disconnect could be down to stereotyping. Managers might think they know what their employees want, but they may be missing the mark. For example, a Baby Boomer boss might assume their Millennial workers only want to communicate via text or online chat groups – after all, Millennials are techies, right? Or maybe they think they’ll attract young employees with promises of flexible work schedules and in-office ping pong tables. However, there’s very little evidence that various generations behave decidedly differently at work, or want markedly different things.
In fact, most of the data on generational differences in preferences and values imply that the differences between these groups are pretty nominal and that there is actually a significant mix of preferences and values within these groups. So, at the end of the day, what we’re dealing with is not the actual differences between generations, but people’s beliefs that these differences exist. These beliefs can not only have a destructive impact on how people are managed and trained, but it can also obstruct constructive collaboration between colleagues.
Considering that there are, on average, five generations in any given workforce today, each with their own preconceived notions about other generations and how they believe themselves to be perceived, it’s no wonder that a majority of Americans feel disconnected and unhappy at work.
So, what can be done to bridge the divide between managers and their employees? The first and most obvious step would be candid communication. Talking openly about wants and stereotypes, emphasizing commonalities and shared goals, recognizing achievements, and realizing that employees’ desires evolve over time is the most effective way to dispel preconceived beliefs and home in on teammates’ actual needs.
But how do we ensure that beliefs and biases won’t follow us into the conference room? The answer lies in facilitated online discussions, where employees and managers are rendered anonymous, stripping them of their preconceived ideas and enabling them to express themselves without fear of judgement or stereotyping. Luckily, this kind of platform is only a click away.