Featured Article from Unified Communications Headsets

Worker Autonomy Key to Productivity

By Tara Seals
Contributing Writer

Old-school management has always been about oversight and control—a supervisor is keeping an eye out, whether that’s on a factory floor, in a call center or amongst the cubicles in an office building. But a fresh trend towards granting workers added autonomy is translating into better productivity and employee engagement for forward-thinking organizations.

Remember the movie Nine to Five? After Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton get their controlling boss out of the way, they implement changes like the elimination of time cards that fly in the face of conventional management wisdom—and result in productivity gains that get the attention of the big boss. The movie was prescient on many levels.

Advances in technology have made it possible for organizations in the real world to grant increasing flexibility to their workers, through enabling remote working and allowing business tasks to be done on the go. The days of clocking off for a doctor’s appointment are long gone—today’s worker is still checking emails, at the very least, in the waiting room. Many employees log on to the company unified communications system from home on the days the kids have a day off from school. Call centers are enabling telecommuting. In fact, for most employees, the freedom to do their jobs flexibly isn’t just a perk; it’s an expectation.

But along with that comes a fresh requirement for managers: The ability to let go, and trust that your workers will get done what they need to get done. Is this a good idea? At least one expert sees no shades of grey here.

“Of course you should be granting additional autonomy and flexibility to employees,” said Louise Harder, an external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School and a Ph.D. fellow in productive practices in the modern workplace at IT-University Copenhagen. “Every organization should be doing it.”

There’s enormous value in providing employees the latitude to do their jobs as they see fit, Louise explained. Studies show that employees with greater autonomy are happier, more creative and increasingly engaged in the workplace. This results in higher productivity and reduced employee turnover.

Where does that leave management? Still with a very important role, of course.

“Leadership is as important as ever with a more autonomous workforce, but in a different way,” said Holger Reisinger, vice president at GN Netcom (News - Alert) A/S, in a blog. “Instead of peering over workers’ shoulders, leaders should act as coaches, mentors and facilitators. With their skills and understanding of the organization, they can provide valuable advice, support and encouragement; coordinate necessary communication between more autonomous employees; and act as problem-solvers.”

To make autonomous working conditions a success, Harder advocates a few best practices: Define expectations; create a culture of self-motivation; avoid micromanagement; and mentor and coach where needed.

For autonomy to succeed, leaders must ensure that the work employees do aligns with corporate objectives. That means setting and continuously reinforcing performance expectations, and making sure that workers know that they should be proactive: They should recognize where they lack skills and seek out resources and training to do their jobs effectively.

“Enabling employees to work how, when and where they want requires leaders to accept that there are things they can’t—and shouldn’t—control,” said Reisinger. “Instead, have confidence that workers will figure it out.”

In the end, this can pay off in loyalty, more productivity and happier employees that have a healthy work-life balance. Organizations that get it right have found a sort of Nirvana.

“Louise even relayed a story about a client who trusts his employees so much that he actually encourages them to return personal phone calls and browse Facebook (News - Alert) during work hours,” Reisinger said, which speaks volumes for a system that’s working, even in today’s digital era.