WorkLife April 2017 | Page 31

OPINION COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS BY LEADERS IN A WORKFORCE The impact of effective management on employees is significant. Lucy Adams, CEO of Disruptive HR and former HRD at the BBC, discusses common manager errors and the importance of putting humans at the heart of HR. A s an employer you’ve surely questioned whether the processes your team have created are delivering results. Appraisal schemes, talent management processes, succession plans – so much work, and so little impact! Yet, when working long hours and dealing with another operational crisis, it’s hard to take a step back and question the traditional HR wisdom. Today, so much research shows how people learn, stay motivated, feel valued and so on. Many progressive companies are already planting humans at the core, instead of focusing on creating HR processes valued for being scalable, monitorable and cost-effective. processes. However, if you’ve hired a poor leader or manager, no process will ever make them better. While our desire to compensate stems from a positive intent, the impact is corrosive and damaging. It’s not always the big and sophisticated stuff that matters, but the small things. Saying thank you. Being visible when times are tough. Remembering people have lives outside of work. These are the things that really matter to people and increase happiness. I led BBC People during a period of enormous change and challenging times working with some fantastic leaders, others less fantastic. Both at the BBC and in my work since, I learned three key things. We tend to think that happiness is a constant state that we can achieve and measure. However, for sustained growth and performance, you need people who enjoy what they do, get satisfaction from a job well done are recognised and rewarded for their achievements, and are treated as individuals. We’ve developed a model called EACH (Employees as Adults, Consumers and Humans). Treat people like grown ups and you’ll find they’re capable of using their judgement when coping with difficult changes. Conversely, treating people like children will stifle their ability to grow and adapt. If we look at employees in this way, we will quickly see that the processes and procedures we’ve put in place will not give us the results we want, nor will they cause happiness in people. People follow human beings more than processes. In HR, we often compensate for poor managers by implementing It’s time to disrupt our thinking and do something different. That’s what’s important to a business. 31