Capability invisibility is a term coined via Deloitte to mean that when capability is not visible, employees can be given tasks they are ill-equipped for or their useful skills are not fully utilised.
I think there are two sides to the capability invisibility coin.
Leader visibility
As a leader, you need to know the capability of every member of your team. The wide range of capabilities may be less visible in virtual working environments.
DELEGATION
You should ensure that when you give an employee a task, you categorically know that they are equipped to carry it out.
This does not mean that the task will be a walk in the park. Good leaders know how far they can push their employees to develop and become the best they can be.
What you do not want to do is give an employee a task which makes them feel they have been hung out to dry. If they feel they have no idea how to approach it or accomplish it, it can lead to high levels of stress and anxiety.
If this is repeated over time, an employee can become fatigued and eventually burnout.
Therefore, when delegating a task, check that your employee is comfortable in taking on the task at hand.
This is often easier to note when there is physical face-to-face interaction and whilst the words may say yes, the body language says “no” or “not sure.” An employee’s confidence to take on a task may be harder to determine when working remotely.
Reassure them that there is no shame in stating that they are not comfortable. This is where last week’s topic of psychological safety comes in. None of your employees should fear speaking up, asking questions and talking about how they feel.
Discuss with them what it means to step outside of their comfort zone. If they never do it, they will not grow and develop. The comfort zone will always remain the same size.
Each time they step outside the comfort zone, they grow and develop and the comfort zone gets bigger every time.
Of upmost importance is for your employee to know that you are always there to provide support and remove obstacles when needed.
They are not going to drown because you have the lifebelt at the ready if they need it.
Also remember that delegation does not equate to empowerment.
Empowerment comes first. Ensure that when delegating tasks, your employees are empowered to undertake them.
When delegation occurs without empowerment, the task assigned is often dictated in a step-by-step fashion leaving no opportunity for your employee to be creative or innovative. There will be little learning and little motivation.
When you empower your employee and then provide them with a task, you are also handing them decision-making rights and freedom to complete the task as they best see fit. Lots of learning and motivation.
UTILISATION
You need to know the skills of your employees so that you can fully utilise them. There is nothing more demotivating to an employee to have worked hard to master a skill appropriate to their work, and not have it used.
Under utilisation is an engagement killer. Even your highest performers can become quickly disengaged if they don’t feel their skills and capabilities are being utilised in the best way.
Employees need to feel that their knowledge and experience are being put to good use.
Everyone needs an element of challenge to feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement. Without it they can switch off and disengage.
It can be harder to recognise disengagement due to underutilisation when employees are working remotely.
Your challenge is to recognise when an employee is feeling under-utilised before they become disengaged. They may be performing well on the tasks you have given them but are still bored as they have no challenges.
Good leaders need to ask and gather data on employee capabilities so that they can be effectively leveraged.