Empowering Frontline Success: Stop Killing Engagement with Micromanagement
Empowerment or Micromanagement?
The success of frontline teams — and your entire business — depends on the level of empowerment your teams feel to do their job well. Do manage with Empowerment or Micromanagement?
We can bet that not one team member in your organization enjoys being micromanaged or directed around all day like a mindless robot. Nor do they wake up in the morning excited to clock in for a shift where they have zero permission to use their unique strengths to accomplish their work. Yet, too often, businesses take the bait and waste valuable dollars on expensive hardware that promises to help compensate for poor employee engagement and performance instead of solving the fundamental problems of underutilization and disconnection. Or worse… they succumb to the pressure to increase wages in hopes to invigorate productivity from existing team members or attract new quality team members altogether. The problem with these solutions is that none of them help businesses achieve the changes they need to make in the first place.
As businesses continue struggling to build high-performing teams due to the nationwide labor shortage, empowering existing team members to do more with less has become more critical than ever. According to a Gallop study, when employees feel empowered and enabled to use their strengths, they are 6x more likely to engage with their work fully and 15% less likely to quit their jobs. Additionally, organizations that cultivate employee empowerment achieve a 50% higher success rate in executing customer loyalty programs.
So, why do most businesses focus on masking weaknesses instead of investing in tools that help them play to their strengths?
Micromanaged to Mediocrity
No one enjoys being micromanaged or told what to do with brute force, yet most providers position workplace solutions to help leaders do just that. Unfortunately, instead of utilizing the strengths team members were once hired for, often these solutions are designed to help leaders dictate every team member’s action, falsely promising to offer employees a sense of clear-cut purpose. But instead of fulfillment, employees are more likely to feel obligated to check in their brains at the door and robotically follow assigned tasks all day long. Workplace culture like this is bound to hinder team members from exercising autonomy, working productively or providing quality service.
When businesses waste budget on solutions that merely cover up employee weaknesses, they mistakenly fall prey to the allurement of conventional wisdom. This “wisdom” may provide some short-term benefits but typically ends up routing teams back onto a clear path to mediocrity, leading to further disengagement and workplace burnout. However, when businesses provide teams with tools that empower them to use their strengths and invoke genuine engagement, the long-term benefits speak for themselves.
Unlocking Your Team's Full Potential
At Theatro, we believe that empowering frontline team members and establishing a high-performance culture brings out the best in people and attracts the best people to the fold. Providing team members with necessary tools to help them unlock their full potential empowers them to collaborate with each other and easily find information on their own, granting them access to everything they need to be successful… even on day 1. Plus, with a fully connected and engaged team, leaders are freed from the responsibility of micromanaging team members, allowing them to shift their focus to how they can effectively lead their teams and achieve business goals.
To learn more about how Theatro is helping organizations achieve immediate success in streamlining operational processes, reducing turnover and enabling them to do more with less, connect with our Sales team today.
