In nearly every dimension of business success, the manager makes the difference. From diversity and inclusion to productivity and retention, the manager plays a singular role in the life of an employee. In fact, Gallup’s analysis has shown that the quality of a manager accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement.
Source: Gallup, December 30, 2019. Link [ä]. Only a third of U.S. employees strongly agree that their opinion at work seems to count. But when a manager takes an employee’s opinion seriously and acts on it, that employee feels respected, connected and committed to the team. And, of course, a good idea improves outcomes for everyone else. Even if you can’t make additional changes to a plan, hearing someone out is still valuable.
INSIGHTS: Initially employees may seem reluctant to share their opinion. This is often is a test to see if their manager is really interested in what they think. So, keep asking until they get used to being asked “what do you think?”