Employee retention is often very closely linked with how happy or unhappy the employees are with their leaders and the overall workplace environment. According to a survey conducted in New York, it was found that the employees do not leave organizations, but they ditch their leaders or managers as we may call them. A bad team leader can make an easy job look like a hard task and consequently affect the employee performance. Gallup has observed that around 75% of variance in employee engagement score is affected by their manager’s impression on the employees.
This report is based on a future practice in organizations where employees can elect their own leaders or managers. The purpose of this report is to identify the right process of electing the leaders, the advantages and disadvantages of this new practice and its implication for both employees and the human resource management department in the organizations. The overall change in the work culture will be observed in the introduction of this new practice and the way it can be beneficial for the business is discussed.
The role of a leader has always been among one of the most crucial roles in the organization. A leader or a manger doesn’t just have to lead but also has to additionally perform duties like motivating employees, training, reporting, disciplining, prioritizing, planning, hiing and retaining the employees. Some people view the role as a apth to gain power over others, while some people view it as a task where one has to be accountable to everyone in the organization, including the subordinates. One thing that has often been realized is that the empployees of any organization play a key role in making the leader successful or unsuccessful. A leader no matter how good cannot be successful if he/she does ot have the support of the team (Atkinson, 2015).
It is very important to first jot down the key qualities of a leader. A lot of theories have been developed on how a leader can incorporate certain qualities in order to become successful. The common characteristics in all these theories include Motivating, Experience, Open Mindedness, Passionate and somebody who pays Personal Attention. Motivation is very important characteristic in a leader’s personality. If the leader is constantly encouraging his/her teammates to give their best, then he can actually increase the productivity of the employees. On the other hand, if the leader is not motivating , he can bring down the spirit of the whole organization. Experience is something which is required in almost every position at work (Toller, 2015). Companies nowadays look for managers who have a had a past experience in dealing with the employees as a leader. The reason for this requirement is that a lader plays a very important role when it comes to making the business profitable. Experienced leaders are often better at breaking the ice between themselves and their teams than a feshers since they tend to understand human psychology better due to their differentpast experiences. A leader should be open to the ideas of his teammates. Open minded leaders encourage employees to give their point of view which in turn make the employees feel an important part of the organization. Also,when leader invites the opinions of the employees, it gives him a chance to get to know the expectations of his employees better. The flow of ideas can overall be very benficial for the organization. It brings creativity at work place. Another important characteristic in the personality of a leader is passion. Pasion will always push the leader to make the most of his resources. A leader who is not passionate enough not only wastes his own potential but also wastes the potential of his employees. Passion is the driving force behind a leader’s work and hence forms a very important aattribute of a successful leader. Last but not the least, personal attention is also a key feature in the personality of the leader (Haskett, 2014). These days due to high work pressure, emplyees tend to feel lost at work. If the leader pays personal attention to his employees, the employees will be more comfortable at work. Personal attention also gives the lader a chance to recognize the best ways to get the work done through different employees as every individual has a different personality.
Prior to actually introducing elective leadership in the organization, a hypothetical situation should be narrated to the current leaders of the organization, by giving them a number of ‘what if?’ questions. For instance, What if there were elections being held in the organization to be chosen as the leaders? Or ‘What if they were given a chance to convince their employees to vote for them?’ Or ‘What would they want to do something differently if they knew they would be elected by their teammates?’. All these questions would put the current leaders in a mode of self analysis, where they would actually sit by themselves and think upon the way they have been leading their teams and treating their employees (Vanderkam, 2014). This process would be highly beneficial as it provides a way to the leaders to think from the point of view of their employees for once at least. It is often said ‘Become a leader that you would want to be led by’.
In a company named SumAll, the practice of electing leaders by the employees was originated. The reason for starting this practice was to have a work environment where employees don’t feel threatened by their leaders and can feel empowered. The founders of the company believed that if the employees perceive that their imposed leader is crappy and deceitful, they start taking everything negatively at work. All of this negatively affects the employees’ capabilities and adversely affect the work culture. Constant environment of non-cooperation can waste a large amount of money, technical and human resources of the organization. Hence, the company came up with the idea of empowering the employees to elect their own leaders and make the managers answerable to their subordinates and peers. The base of this idea was a strong belief that if the leader cannot earn the respect and loyalty of its teammates, he/she is not a good enough leader (Galanakis, 2015).
The organization’s election system was very flexible and a number of changes were introduced in the original system to maximize the degree of democracy whilst keeping up with the business goal attainment. The teams had a maximum number of 10 people so that communication within the team does not unravel. The elections to choose the team leader were held after every three months. Anybody could contend the elections; the ballots were kept a secret and the person who gained the majority of votes was elected as the team leader for the quarter. The elective leaders’ phenomenon was expected to scrape away bureaucracy inertia and fear from the organization. The elections for the VP of engineering and C-level executives were not held quarterly. They were rather conducted at any time of the year (Carol, 2016).
The leaders that get elected by the employees tend to have a list of values and actions that they intend to accomplish during their tenure of leadership. They know the problem they are appointed to solve, which gives their leadership a better vision. Additionally, the leader can develop his/her strategies based upon the vision and mission, he has recognized during the elective process. Here the leader needs to understand that his role and action should consider the impact they will have on the employees as he is chosen by them. Talking to the employees at regular intervals and generating feedback can be very beneficial as it will help the leader to see how happy or unhappy the employees that have elected are with his work. Electing leaders also encourage transparency I the organization. Every employee wants to have a transparent relationship with their leaders wherein they can share their honest opinions ad points of view without appearing disloyal. Trust and transparency have become a very essential feeling between the workforce and their leaders nowadays (Heilpern, 2016). Employees have grown tired of decisions made in the dark of night. When you eliminate the skepticism and unknowns, your culture will flourish. The days of picking one company and working there all of your career are over, but you’ll not retain top talent if the environment is foggy. Just think how many careers would have been salvaged if transparency had been part of the corporate culture equation. People leave if they don’t understand what’s happening. It’s too scary and most people are not comfortable taking a gamble when their career is at risk.
Elective leadership practices also eliminate the issue of petty politics at the workplace. In an organization where autocratic leadership is practiced, at least one member of the team would suck up to the leader in order to become his/her favorite. Whereas democratic leadership discourages such team mates since they know that they will not get the votes of their teammate when they are in need. This further inculcates unity in the teams at work. Also, the teammates tend to have greater respect for the chosen team leader (McGregor, 2015). The employees relate better with the elected leader rather than feeling that he/she has just been imposed on them by the management. The team empathizes with the challenges of their leader and hence cooperate with them. This brings an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect towards each other. In case of democratic leadership, the biggest advantage to human resource management is employee retention. If the employees are not happy with the leader, they do not leave the organization, rather they just get rid of the bad leader. This makes the operation of human resource department very easy as they do not have to go looking for new talent every now and then (Osburn, 2015).
Even though the concept of electing the leader by employees seems like a very healthy concept for both the employees and the business, yet there are certain complications in the process. Firstly, in order to choose the right manager, an employee needs to possess a high degree of self awareness. The employee should be clear about what kind of management style he can work best under. An individual might prefer an easy going boss, but might work the best under a strict boss. The preference and requirement of an individual can be very conflicting parameters when it comes to choosing the right kind of leader. Secondly, the way people perceive the role of a manager can be entirely different. Some employees may think of a manager as their leader, while others might think of a manager’s role to be procedural. There are several ways in which the role of a manager can be redefined or changed. So, the way people perceive the role of a manger can cause difference of opinions aong employees. For instance, some employees might think of a person as a good eader and hence vote them while others might feel that the contending person is not good enough according to their perception of a manager and not vote for them. Also, electing the leader would ultimately put a stop to hiring form the external talent pool for managerial positions. This can prove to be disadvantageous for the business as they might be losing on the fresh talent outside the organization (Sorkin, 2016). Since the leaders will get chosen from the existing employee base, this will eventually give rise to politics. People will plot against or in favour of an individual on the basis of their personal experience more often than on the professional attributes of the individual. Lastly, this practice does bring transparency in the organization, but too much transparency can be harmful too. There are certain situations where transparency can act against the benefit of the compay. Hence, when employees are given the power to elect their own leaders, they might just do it in way that keeps heir personal interest in the priority and compromise the benefit of the organization.
Conclusion
To conclude I would say, leaders and managers play a very important role in making or breaking the business. The role and responsibilities of a leader has always been a very debateable topic in most of the organization. The leader appointed by the management or by way of hierarchy, often faces the dielemma of choosing between the benefits of the employyes and the benefits of the organization. It is obvious that the organizations’ benefit should be a top priority for the emplyees at every level, but in this process it is very important to make sure that the values and expectations of the employees is not overlooked. Huam resources form the most important capital of the organization. Since the rise in work pressure and competition, employee retention has become a very critical issue. According the above analysis, it can be concluded that the employees will be happier to work for the organization if they are given the chance to choose their own leader. This inculcates a sence of empowerment in the employees and they feel that they have a say in the management. The leader chosen by the employees is seen as the face and voice of its team rather than a dummy of the top level management. Employee retention can only be increased if the work environment is good. The elected leader must be a part of the team ibnitially and could co-relate to the issues of its team better. Also, this will constantly push the leader to give his best as he would be aware that he could be taken down at any moment. The idea od practicing democratic leadership at organizations in future seems to be highly effective for both the organization and its employees with a very few flwas which could be corrected with time and experience.
References
Atkinson, D. (2015, July 21). Executives And Managers Should All Be Elected. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/21/executives-and-managers-should-all-be-elected/
Carol. (2016, January 05). Why You Should Let Your Employees Elect Their Own Managers. Retrieved from https://www.profitguide.com/manage-grow/human-resources/the-case-for-electing-managers-workplace-democracy-97997
Galanakis, R. (2015, February 25). Could employees choose their own manager? . Retrieved from https://dzone.com/articles/could-employees-choose-their
Haskett, J. (2014, September 03). Who Should Choose Your Boss? Retrieved from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/who-should-choose-your-boss
Heilpern, W. (2016, August 25). What it’s like to work for a company where employees vote to elect the CEO. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/What-its-like-to-work-for-a-company-where-employees-vote-to-elect-the-CEO/articleshow/53857045.cms
McGregor, J. (2015, July 23). This CEO lets his workers elect their bosses. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/07/23/this-ceo-lets-his-workers-elect-their-bosses/?utm_term=.1a8c3c59c41f
Osburn, J. (2015, March 15). What if Leaders Were Elected By Employees? Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-company-leaders-were-elected-jan-johnston-osburn
Sorkin, A. (2016, September 05). Whom to Vote For? Employees Tend to Follow Their Leader. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/business/dealbook/whom-to-vote-for-employees-tend-to-follow-their-leader.html?_r=1
Toller, C. (2015, December 22). The case for letting teams elect their own managers. Retrieved from https://www.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/electing-managers/
Vanderkam, L. (2014, November 11). Should new employees choose their managers? Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3038312/should-new-employees-choose-their-managers
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