A new style of leadership is emerging and employees are over the roof with joy. These managers take a more open approach to the workplace and want to see their employees grow. From remote work to emotional intelligence, the modern managers' mission is to increase employee engagement, motivation, and retention.
If you want to become a better manager and help your company evolve, you need to take a few crucial steps:
- Give flexibility to employees.
- Invest in your employees' professional growth.
- Create diversity in the workplace.
- Think differently about locating talent.
The Modern Manager Gives Flexibility to Their Employees
According to a study by Harvard Business Review, 96% of employees said they need flexibility at the workplace. However, only 47% said they have the types of flexibility they need. This is a gap of 54%. Although men and women had equal needs for flexibility, only 34% of women said they have it.
Employees crave different types of flexibility from their managers. They are the following:
- Part-time option: employees want to work on a part-time schedule.
- Remote work: employees want to have the flexibility to work remotely. They want to be able to work from anywhere and to attend occasional in-person meetings.
- TimeShift: employees want to work fixed hours. Having a more flexible schedule can boost their productivity and performance.
- DeskPlus: employees want to have location variety. They can work at a place of their choosing for some portion of their time.
- TravelLite: employees want to have minimal to no travel. The TravelLite option lets them travel only for 2-4 days per month and communicate via virtual meetings.
- MicroAgility: employees want to have the freedom to adapt. For example, they want to be able to step away from their work to accommodate small unexpected tasks.
Offering flexibility to your team members is one of the most sought-for traits of a good manager. The benefits will include a boost in employee satisfaction, but a drop in employee disengagement.
A LinkedIn Survey Shows That Employees Would Take a Manager’s Suggested Course
Today's qualities of great managers and role models include encouraging development and growth. Investing in employees is investing in the organization. Employees want to work for companies that care about them and help them reach their full potential.
When a leader invests in an employee’s growth, that employee feels empowered, flattered and motivated. By actively choosing to foster growth in your team members, you’ll create a workforce of higher engagement and productivity.
A LinkedIn survey showed that:
- 94% of employees said that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career.
- The #1 reason why employees skip learning is that they don’t have the time.
- Another major challenge is getting managers involved in employee learning.
When asked, 56% of employees said they would take a manager’s suggested course. For this reason, managers should strive to play a proactive part in their employees' growth. They need to support their employees with their learning ambitions and make the experience easier for them.
Inclusive Companies Generate up to 30% Higher Revenue Per Employee
In the past years, awareness around diversity and inclusion has grown. Diversity at the workplace is now highly important for talent acquisition and a company’s reputation.
The major reason why diversity is so popular nowadays is that there are indications that diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams. A study by the software company Cloverpop found that inclusive teams make better business decisions up to 87% of the time.
However, if we look at Adeva’s tech research, we’ll see that:
- Only 3% of female students would consider a career in technology as their first choice.
- Nearly 40% of women who earn engineering degrees either quit or never enter the profession.
- Women hold only 25% of computing jobs. Nearly 16% are white women, 5% are Asian women, 3% are African American women, and 1% are Hispanic women.
This report shows that diversity and inclusion in the workplace are still challenging for many companies.
Modern managers must see diversity and inclusion as a long-term strategy for enhancing employee engagement. But also for improving employer brand and driving employee performance. The qualities of a good manager incorporate closing the diversity gap and offering equal opportunities to every team member.
The New Age Manager Thinks Differently About Locating Talent
In only one decade, there has been a shift from a traditional to a modern form of talent sourcing. Today, there’s a major innovative world of advanced techniques that companies use to find and retain the best talent.
What are some of the best game-changing talent sourcing techniques great managers can use?
Recruitment software
HR software accelerates the process of recruiting and attracting top talent within a company. They streamline the entire hiring process to make it easier for companies to screen and hire workers.
From posting jobs and reviewing resumes to interviewing candidates and background checking, the software does all the work for you. There's a wide selection of software to choose from. The list includes JobVite, Zoho Recruit, BambooHr, and RecruiterBox, among others.
Events
Events are a great place to be seen, meet new people, and also to promote your brand. Different conferences such as Web Summit and Startup Grind are a fun way to network and broaden your talent pool. Make sure you attend these different events, even if it means taking the extra mile.
Third parties
To hire the best talent, many companies also rely on third parties to screen and vet employees ahead of time.
Companies like Adeva help startups and enterprises hire world-class talent from around the globe. Using tested approaches for sourcing, screening and evaluating engineers, Adeva brings untapped talent to hyper-growing tech companies.
Be the Change You Want to See in This World
Currently, all aspects of our lives are under development. The way we communicate with each other, the way we love, travel, run business, and educate ourselves. We might not see it because we’re standing too close to it.
The way managers recruit, hire, and retain their employees is also changing. An increased emphasis is placed on open communication, employee flexibility, life/work balance, and diversity. Every manager, who has decided to become a modern leader, must incorporate these strategies into their company’s vision.
With one step at a time, every modern manager is steadily changing the course of history.
Conclusion
- Offering flexibility to workers is one of the most important traits of a good manager and leader. The benefits will be major and will include a boost in employee satisfaction, but a drop in employee disengagement.
- Today's qualities of a good manager and a leader include being a coach and encouraging development and growth.
- The qualities of a good manager incorporate closing the diversity gap and offering equal opportunities to every employee.
- To hire the best talent, modern managers need to incorporate game-changing sourcing techniques in their strategy.
