No matter what a leader thinks about their organisation, if it isn't written down, there isn't a commitment. This is a poor process.
A process is also poor when it is written down but then it isn't carried out. For example if an employer says there are regular salary-reviews, but then those reviews don't take place without reminders. In simpler terms, a promise was made and then broken. This is a poor process.
Finally some processes are poor processes because they don't help the employee or the employer/organisation. For example some processes (such as remote working expense policies) focus more on preventing one rogue employee from shirking or skimming than enabling the majority from doing their job well.
The human factor refers to processes or policies that deal with intangible or uncountable aspects, like feelings. Processes or policies are there to help manage work situations that they deal with these messy human aspects. They include social-constructs like trust or loyalty. As well as complex psychological concepts such as pride and work-ethic.
To get a better idea of what's going wrong inside organisations I 'asked' the people on the ground; employees. I looked for research that showed me the common problems. I looked for surveys that were carried out with robust numbers (several thousand respondents) and across organisations and time periods. This way we can be confident that these are common issues. I didn't need to search very long, the issues are common and ongoing.
Here are two examples of surveys that asked employees "what would you do to improve the organisation?".
Create goals for employees (35%)
Increase employee pay (34%)
Foster team bonding (33%)
Focus on improving office culture (33%)
Give employee bonuses (32%)
Upgrade workplace technology (27%)
Roll out new initiatives (25%)
Meet more frequently with employees (24%)
Hire employees (19%)
Decrease micromanagement (18%)
Improve communication (15%)
Want their boss to quit or retire (11%)
Seek to improve empathy and people skills (10%)
Increase wages (8%)
Better team leaders (7%)
Firstly, bear in mind that we are using two separate surveys, with a robust number of respondents from different organisations, in different time periods, answering different questions. The fact they gave very similar answers shows us that these opinions & issues are common-place. It might be tempting to assume that your organisation isn't the same. Until you've asked (i.e. run a survey) it's more likely your organisation is similar than less.
Secondly, many of these issues should be managed by basic processes.
Employee goals should be managed by appraisals or PDRs (personal development reviews)
More frequent meetings with employees are also part of appraisals
So is improved communication.
Micro-management happens when a manager or leader doesn't trust the employee to carry out their tasks. If this is happening, it too should be pick up by appraisals.
In fact, all of these issues are better handled by having just one process in place. One process could help get rid of nearly 50% of employee dissatisfaction.
Communication is also at the root of many of these issues. Empathy and people skills, team bonding, more meetings, fostering culture and, erm ... improved communication could all be solved with better communication.
It tells us that poor processes are a significant cause of employee dissatisfaction. And it shows us that employees are want leadership and clear communication more than they want money. Nearly 75% of all the things that employees would change are about better processes and only 26% are about more money.
It also demonstrates that the current mindset is one of unkindness (lacking in consideration, friendliness and generosity) and that a kinder mindset would naturally address these issues.
i.e. Researching & thinking about the other persons experience.
Leaders don't think enough about their employees or their situations. Instead they make hurried judgements such as "they'll ask for more money". If they were to ask, they would find that wasn't the case. And, as we can see, simply asking might be enough.
i.e. Acting, whether seen or not, in a pleasant and un-harmful way.
Many of the processes are about communication and negotiation. It seems that these are avoided, possibly because leaders assume that the outcome will be difficult and negative. This assumption alone demonstrates a culture of adversity instead of collaboration.
i.e. Doing more or giving more than the absolute minimum.
Almost all business leaders will tell you the two things they need the most are money and time. With this in mind, almost every initiative is started with the aim of doing it as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
i.e. Researching & thinking about the other persons experience.
Make finding out about your employees one of the basic processes. Find out what works best for them and you, rather than going for the basic, quick and cheap.
i.e. Acting, whether seen or not, in a pleasant and un-harmful way.
The term human resources exists because employees are an investment/asset. Instead of treating them like adversaries that are trying to take, try considering them like valuable assets that should be protected and maintained.
i.e. Doing more or giving more than the absolute minimum.
Doing something the cheapest and quickest way often means it doesn't satisfy the employees needs. It gets sorted temporarily but has to be done again. Giving something more time or resources will often get rid of a problem for the long term.
The business is running fine, getting from A to B, until finally something explodes. Key employees leave, jobs gets dropped and clients are let down. Kinder processes now means less explosions later.
This costs isn't event the price of a talented employee; just an average one. More considerate and generous processes might cost more but will save you money in the long run.
Better processes and clearer communication could give you one days extra resource a week per employee without any out-costs.
UK supervisors are spending most of their working day on meetings and admin. Better processes mean less need for pointless meetings and less admin.
Are your processes considerate, friendly and generous? Are processes in place to do help employees 'be the best they can be' or are they to 'keep them in line'?
Talk to your colleagues and ask them what prevents them from doing more or doing better? Could spending longer on a process or trusting employees make them more productive?
There are two things you can do: 1) Use the Stronger Kinder pillars to review your current processes and decide what needs changing. 2) Find kinder processes in the Stronger Kinder Maps section.