Find Success Through Empowering Your Employees

Most make minimum wage – for students, that’s $9.60 an hour; liquor servers make $8.90 an hour.

So, if you get good service, most people happily dig a little deeper for a tip.

The only snag is that recently some restaurants have been “tipping out” – a practices that forces staff to share their tips with managers and owners of the restaurant.

It’s petty, it’s cynical, it’s essentially feudal – I give you the privilege of working for me, you even get a salary; you owe me for that privilege.  I’ve written previously about this dominance-model mentality where the boss sees themselves as a feudal lord, entitled to do whatever with their employees, who are essentially beasts of burden.  In today’s economy, this generally takes the form of employers telling employees that their carrots and sticks will be determined not just on the quality of their work, but their ability to find new directions for a business/company to pursue.

Here’s the thing; though we tell ourselves that whoever has the gold makes the rules, the reality is there are social and motivational laws, almost like gravity, that trump any of our impositions.  We don’t motivate employees the right way, because we can’t be bothered to think of them as equals.  When one’s eye is so firmly fixed on the bottom line, you miss the opportunities you have to raise the bar.

If you want more money out of a business, don’t give your employees less and pressure them to do more.  That leads to poor service, higher turnover and lost customers.  Empower them.  Train them.  Give them skin in the game – make them feel like it’s as much their business as it is yours.

This is even truer in the creative sectors like consulting or policy.  Employers, fixed in their ways and uncertain where tomorrow’s opportunities lie are turning to employees and pressuring them through carrots and sticks to come up with new ideas and new markets.  They’re making it a competitive game between their teams to see who can be the most creative and get the perks.  This is so counterintuitive as to be comedic.

It’s also a trend that’s dying out.  Whether employers like it or not, the rules are changing further still – social media is empowering the individual in ways we’re just starting to grasp.  Knowing their personal brands are at stake through association, young folk are demanding more from their employers in terms of accountability.  Smart employers are realizing this trend now and twinning an increasing demand on employees with workspace accommodations, flex time and skin in the game.

People are spending more and more time working – as such, they want to enjoy what they do and feel that it means something.  In this world, success won’t be found by nickel and diming your employees, but by empowering them to share their two cents.