By Sue Bingham
These 33 policies assume the worst about employees; ditch them, and treat employees like adults instead.
For decades, traditional management practices have infected leaders. As a result, executives continue to endorse Neanderthal workplace policies and freedom-crushing micromanagement. Employees? They’re left craving empowerment, wishing they could buck the status quo and put energy toward achievement and growth.
The only antidote to a command-and-control style of workplace hierarchy is to toss out what no longer works and envision an environment built around people being inherently valued. In such an atmosphere, all workers are seen not as dispensable or stupid, but as irreplaceable team members who deserve to be treated as respected peers.
How can leaders create the liberating workplace employees crave? Identify and eliminate anything that minimizes an employee’s feeling of value to the organization.
Timberland, the company behind a leather boot that’s a cultural phenomenon, is somewhat of a “cultural” icon for other reasons. It has combined its deep commitment to community service with policies that value employees by offering up to 40 hours of paid time off to volunteer.
According to Jim Pisani, Timberland’s global president, people come first: “When certain corporate policies are necessary, we aim to trust and empower our employees and have them come to the office every day knowing they can work for a company that gives them that flexibility to live their values,” he told us. “We’re not only representing who we are as a brand through service, but the employees also have the freedom to serve in ways that are meaningful to them.”
During my years working with brands like Timberland that want to proactively invest toward a self-managed model, I’ve witnessed plenty of small and large ways companies send devaluing messages to their employees. In particular, 33 rise to the top as the biggest demotivators in action today:
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About the Author: Sue Bingham is the founder and principal of HPWP Group. She works closely with company leaders to analyze their organizations and facilitate the implementation of commonsense systems that have a positive impact on their organizations’ bottom line. She has a passion for helping companies embrace and transition to high-performance work environments. Sue is the bestselling author of Creating the High Performance Work Place.