Does Your Leadership Style Fit Today's Workplace Needs? (The Answer Might Surprise You)

The “modern workplace” has drastically changed over the past decades. In the early twentieth century, most employment was in the agricultural and manufacturing fields. This kind of work is arduous, monotonous and laborious. Undoubtedly, it requires a controlling management.

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A fast forward leap to today’s workplace confirms that it has transformed, unrecognizably. Work has become much more abstract and a spin of creativity has been added to the mix. So why are some, if not many,  workplaces still operating like factories? 

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In the old days, management’s main role was to ensure every employee stayed in their place and performed a number of assigned tasks for the day. This management style was effective for the nature of the old workplace. Today, the elements and the equation have changed in many ways deeming this managerial style not only ineffective, but a complete failure. 

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In the modern workplace, the main objective shifted from following up on tasks to motivating employees. Again, the industries have grown and developed in which much of the work undertaken is about forming relationships between teams, creating web pages and online content, as well as research to count a few. Unlike in more menial forms of labor, productivity doesn’t increase when employees, involved in skilled types of work, are pressured to work harder. In fact, pressure might degrade the quality of work. For this reason, the modern workplace does not need managers. It needs leaders.  

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Leaders will motivate and engage employees. Motivation is the single greatest contributor to productivity. Many studies have proven that employees perform better when they are happy and motivated. Back in 2016, one study by Gallup researchers had elaborated how companies benefited from engaged employees. It quantified that motivated employees had less turnover rates, less negative incidents, less absences and better customer satisfaction and productivity overall.

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Yet the golden question that remains is: How many employees are actually motivated?

Only a third, according to Gallup. A lot of potential waste. 

The focus of leadership therefore must shift from “the work” to “people doing the work.” If you get them motivated you can get them to produce better work.