Women May Be Better Managers Than Men… Because They Tend to Have This Crucial Skill




In a Gallup report based on over four decades of research, including the analy­sis of 27 million employees’ responses, female managers outperform their male counterparts when it comes to driving employee engagement. Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are in­volved in, enthusiastic about, and com­mitted to their work and workplace.

Regarding the day-to-day practical evi­dence, the study found that if you reported to a female manager, you were more likely to reply “yes” to the following statements: • “There is someone at work who encour­ages my development.” • “In the last six months, someone has talked to me about my progress.” • “In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.”

Why is this such a big deal? The main rea­son is that 87 percent of employees world­wide report being disengaged at work. On the flip side, companies that have engaged employees outperform their peers by 147 percent in earnings per share. That’s a lot of uncapitalized potential.

Let’s take a look at the four components of employee engagement that gave women an advantage over their male colleagues.

1. Setting basic expectations

One of the quickest ways to create confusion and stifle productivity is to be ambiguous about expectations. A major indicator of an engaged employee is own­ership over one’s role, and it’s awfully difficult to take control without baseline responsibilities. To ensure that your em­ployee is crystal clear about their posi­tion, make sure you: 1.Have a job description review and dis­cuss areas of importance, key contri­butions (what tasks affect others), the potential for impact and areas of ac­countability. 2.Lay out the consequences, in a friendly manner, and be consistent. This in­cludes both the positive and negative side-effects of your employee’s per­formance. 3.Establish clear metrics, key perform­ance indicators, and behavior stand­ards. Everyone wants to understand how they will be evaluated. 4.Clarify areas where your employee can be autonomous. 5.Ensure all process-based capabilities are handed down, a.k.a. department

“know-how”, training, and standard op­erating procedures.

Word to the wise, be careful about as­signing accountability without authority. It’s frustrating, as an employee, to be held accountable for something you can’t man­age or make a decision on.

2. Building relationships

Great managers understand engage­ment is an outcome of meaningful rela­tionships. What constitutes a meaningful relationship? Here are some of the top characteristics, as defined by the Mind Tools Editorial Team. • Trust – If you could pick a cornerstone for a good relationship, trust would definitely be the best option. It ena­bles employees to be open, honest, and transparent. You’d be surprised how much energy employees can conserve

(and redeploy) by not having to con­stantly watch their back and question everything they say/do. • Mutual Respect – You can’t expect re­spect without giving it first. We must value everyone’s thoughts, ideas, and input. Then, it will be much easier to develop solutions based on collective insight – a key to engaging your em­ployees in your vision and mission.

People don’t take direction and learn from those whom they don’t respect. • Mindfulness – We must take responsi­bility for our own actions, words, emo­tions (or lack thereof), and the effects they can have on those around us. Em­ployees are products of their environ­ments. Make sure you’re mindful of the one you’re creating. • Welcoming Diversity – “People with good relationships not only accept di­verse people and opinions, but they welcome them. For instance, when your friends and colleagues offer dif­ferent opinions from yours, you take the time to consider what they have to say, and factor their insights into your decision making.” (Mind Tools) • Open Communication — This one is pretty simple: the more we communi­cate with our employees, the richer our relationships will be.

3. Encouraging a positive team environment

In efforts to automate and systematize our work, we’ve become obsessed with computing outcomes and collecting data to drive decisions. Don’t get me wrong, data is necessary and there is definitely a place for it, but it does not replace the need for leadership.

Unfortunately, this obsession with measuring throughput and efficiency has created mechanistic manage­ment crutches. News flash: peo­ple don’t thrive in standardized environments. Our employees are naturally different and diverse. Forcing them to conform stifles creativity and limits leaders to the role of a delivery system. Instead, focus on creating a hu­man system, one that is characterized by team harmony, respect and caring for employees’ welfare. Then, watch as these humanistic conditions unearth your employees’ engagement.

4. Providing employees with opportunities to develop within their careers.

The feeling of stagnation is terrifying. Help your employees stay relevant and challenged by investing in their devel­opment. If you don’t, others will.

It may seem like engagement is just another buzzword that HR departments throw around to create more work for managers. However, this Gallup report proves that higher levels of engagement produce higher-performing teams

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