Two-time MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner recently announced his early retirement.
Interestingly, the reason cited was not lost love of riding motorcycles, but his disillusion regarding how the sport is run and managed.
Business leaders make key decisions about the way companies operate and behave. This is true of every organisation, large or small, including the Moto GP. These choices ultimately determine whether working there is enjoyable for everyone else.
Tackling a role that plays to your strengths, for an organisation that’s consistent with your personal values, is central to your enjoyment.
Alas, it’s the latter that was missing for Stoner.
Minus those elements, an employee’s role becomes something to be endured, not enjoyed. They lose the discretionary effort that’s needed to help an organisation thrive. As a result, businesses get hands and even heads, but no hearts.
In other words, they miss out on the best of their employee.
Common sense time: it’s important to create a workplace where people enjoy themselves. Wentworth People has compiled five tips to help businesses do just that:
1. Evaluate employment
Like everything else in business, enjoyment is measurable. Use anonymous feedback tools to understand the enjoyment level of your company. Find out what’s working well and what areas need to be improved. Most importantly, act on the results.
2. A sense of significance
Make sure employees understand how their individual contribution feeds into the bigger picture. It’s important that they don’t feel like a small cog in a big machine. Outline what the business or project goals are and make the employee part of achieving them.
3. Expectations change
Yes it’s important to set measurable goals for employees, but don’t forget to turn the tables. Ask employees what they need from their manager and boss to help them become the best they can be.
4. Play on passion
Folks that work out of position don’t perform well and generally find it hard to enjoy what they’re doing. Ask employees’ managers where they excel and what they’re passionate about and provide the employee opportunities to build on their natural talent
5. Nurture culture
Culture needs to come from the top, so employees can be part of the leaders’ vision. However, it’s not a process that can be put in place then forgotten about. Constantly look for ways to build an environment that follows the vision, where employees can work collaboratively and where feedback is the norm.
Richard Wentworth-Ping is the founder of Wentworth People and has been running the business for over 22 years.
