Is your workplace clear about what’s expected of you?
Lack of Clarity is currently the most common workplace Issue and is Costing Corporations at least 25% off of your bottom line.
When surveyed, staff will tell you that the area of their workplace, (in a hybrid work from home and back in the office) that is lacking attention and thus driving disconnection and non-engagement is Not knowing what YOU, the employee, want from the work you do and not knowing what your work wants from you.
Instead most of your team members feel like they are running from fire to fire with no real plan, focus or strategy. And if you ask their direct managers, they would say the exact same thing. So here we are, all expert fire fighters, doing ‘busy’ work and no one knows what the hell they are really supposed to be doing. When asked, “do you find the work you do meaningful?” the easy answer is hell NO.
The numbers don’t lie: according to ‘Effectory’ a research company on employee engagement. straight up ask: Do your employees know what is expected of them – not just on paper but in the dynamic context of your ever-growing organization? Chances are that they are unsure, or perhaps border on being clueless as to where their roles start, end, and fit within the bigger picture. Our research shows nearly 50% of employees across all sectors currently lack role clarity in the workplace.
Role clarity is the degree to which employees have a clear understanding of their tasks, responsibilities and processes at work. This clarity is not limited to their own role; it also includes their colleagues roles. Clarity is an essential precursor of productivity, and a lack thereof can cause stress and confusion. To reduce these feelings and improve both personal effectiveness and the organization’s overall performance, role clarity is crucial.
Here’s what happens when you invest in clarifying what your teams are supposed to be doing and what each other is doing. So get clear and reduce the silos you have unwittingly created.
Employees with high role Clarity report high levels of:
Effectiveness up to 86%
Intention to stay with the company up to 84%
Increase in productivity up to 83%
Satisfaction with leadership up to 75%
What these numbers are telling you is staff with role clarity are 27% more effective at work than employees who have role ambiguity.
What your team wants from their work is to know what they do makes a difference to the overall operation of the company. And because the mass majority are continuously putting out fires, they have no idea if what they do is making a difference which ultimately leads to indifference. Which is the killer of all relationships, whether at work or at home. And the slippery slope to disengagement becomes a avalanche of apathy.
Where to start:
- Provide employees with clear goals, priorities and boundaries within which they are free to find their own way to get the job done.
- On the other hand, your people aren’t looking for endless freedom without a framework for their own responsibilities (as well as an understanding of their colleagues’ roles). Providing clarity enables your people to align their priorities with your organization’s purpose without the risk of drowning in a sea of conflicting expectations.
- Let them know what you expect from them, and ask them what they expect from their work. Conduct a simple Values exercise with your teams, and have a conversation with them as individuals, as to how they can express what’s important to them (their personal values) through the work they do. Leaders, pay attention. Set the framework and keep tweaking as you go.
This Holiday Season, aka: the season of reflection. It’s the “back to the drawing board” mentality. So let’s choose Clarity as this New Year’s focus and energy.
We all would love to hear from organizations who are getting it right. What are you doing to clarify for your employees? Send us your comments.
