Reason 1: Development Reasons must be essential here.
It has been proven that, from the moment we are born, we develop increasingly slowly over the years. This begins immediately after birth with learning to breathe on our own, and later with learning to walk and eat independently.
Furthermore, it is actually a shame that this development is slowing down, because it is precisely this individual development within organizations that leads to collective innovation.
And innovation is one of the success factors for being or becoming a growing organization. My advice is to facilitate that innovation.
Moreover, you don't do that by placing a suggestion box in the canteen into which, besides a discarded banana peel, an idea is dropped once every few years about how the next company outing should be organized differently.
So how do you facilitate that innovation? You do that by dropping a crazy idea, for example, that you want to double revenue over the next three years and improve the margin by 20% on that doubled revenue.
Furthermore, by delivering such a message within the organization, you force managers and employees to think outside existing frames of reference.
Bear in mind that a good plan often simply stems from a crazy idea! Also, the well-known saying 'if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten' is no longer a hard and fast rule, because it has now been proven that it can be less, much less even.
Next, what does the above have to do with growing up? Well, let me explain: children are constantly learning how to get things done, and parents who give them the space to do so see things happen that amaze them.
The familiar: 'Just look at what he or she is doing now or can already do?'
So let yourself be amazed and facilitate innovation. And above all, don't forget to say: 'Well done!'
Reason 2: Energy
Moreover, healthy children are bursting with energy. They are, as they say, 'on,' running and flying in all directions all day long. Energy is input that ultimately leads to results. Achieving good grades is output as well as the result of all actions taken to achieve it.
Since we like to focus on input, it is therefore very logical to work on the energy of managers and employees. So cherish that seemingly ADHD employee and let him or her transfer that energy; that gives others energy as well.
In short, that is all well and good, of course, but what if you have less or no energy for a while, or are simply naturally less energetic? Well, there are already many known ways to gain more energy, such as moving, exercising, eating healthy, and of course not smoking and not drinking (too much).
In addition, the way you receive or give feedback, and lead or are led, plays an important role. And then there is another important influencing factor, less known to many people although it is increasingly being recognized lately, and that is sleep!
Incidentally, not only at night but also during the day, for example.
A question of conscience! Do you have the opportunity at work to take a 'power nap'? And would you accept it if an employee said they were just taking a quick power nap? It has been proven that it works.
However, afterwards the energy levels are restored and can be put into work. Small children do the same thing: take a nap!
The reassurance is that changing diapers can be omitted, because as far as I know, most managers and employees are potty-trained. And no one benefits from coddling these colleagues.
Reason 3: Fun
Therefore, let me start by saying: if you have a job you really enjoy, you never have to work. Too easy? I don't know, but the fact is that we are all jealous of the people who have turned their hobby into their job.
Why couldn't it work the other way around, then? That you have come to enjoy the work you do so much that you experience it as a hobby. The moment you reach that point, the number of hours you put into it becomes less relevant, because it is simply that much fun.
After all, give employees and managers room to play. That is the space within which they are allowed to move and also make mistakes.
There are companies that are very good at this, where, for example, the office layout is determined by the employees—after all, they have to 'play' there, I mean: work. It is not uncommon to find a foosball table, billiards, and even game consoles there.
Nevertheless, given the current situation regarding working from home, it might be a good idea to take a close look at the office layout. Consider the employees' needs and take the applicable RIVM measures into account during the redesign.
This helps employees escape social isolation and allows them to work together again in an inspiring environment, which in turn increases job satisfaction.
Reason 4: Naughty
On the other hand, according to the 'Dikke van Dale', the meaning of 'naughty' is: bold, disobedient.
Now I can already hear you saying: 'That sounds nice to want in my organization, doesn't it?' And yet there are advantages to it, and particularly to that disobedience.
However, 'naughty' is more difficult to apply in practice, and you undoubtedly have your own idea of ​​what it entails; by all means, hold on to that, because I will not devote any further attention to it. I will, however, focus on 'disobedience,' because that relates to the saying: 'Rules and procedures don't work, people work!'
There is a group of employees for whom it works exactly the same way as with children: if you say, 'they are not allowed to do something.' Exactly, they do it anyway!
There are known examples within organizations where employees have undertaken activities that were actually not permitted; and it is precisely those 'violations' that have led to enormous success within the company.
Also, it is difficult to encourage this in a measured way, but what certainly helps is not imposing too many rules. By doing so, you create space for employees to display 'naughty' behavior that might make you say: 'Wow, that takes guts!'
Reason 5: Honesty
You've probably heard the saying: 'little children and drunk people speak the truth'. Which in itself is a truism. Now, in my opinion, it is a bad option to get all managers and employees drunk in order to find out the truth, so this solution is rejected.
So, what is certainly possible is to conduct a satisfaction survey among the employees. The problem with that, however, is that I don't want 'satisfied' employees, but 'engaged' ones.
When it comes to honesty, you have a role to play as a manager, and if you demonstrate in that management position that honesty is the best policy, employees will follow your example.
Moreover, if everyone does that, we call it 'the company culture,' and that, in turn, determines the enjoyment as I described in reason 'three.'
By now, you will also have the experience that one colleague is easier to 'read' than another. One person is an open book, the other a closed book.
As a result, you will need to adapt your form of communication accordingly. For example, by paying a home visit to an 'uneasy-to-read' employee.
This gives you a good picture of the home situation with his or her family members in a relaxed atmosphere. If your colleague has children, they may be able to provide you with even more insight.
Likewise, the comments from those children that make your employee blush or feel unsure of how to react are often the reality! After all, you want that honest reaction; it helps you turn a satisfied employee into a passionate one.
Finally:
See if one of the above reasons is applicable in your own organization and get started. You will experience that developing and/or improving will actually be childishly simple.
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At the same time, you can find more background information about the reasons needed at reasons must (Wikipedia).