It’s the Manager – Jim Clifton, Jim Harter | Free Book Summary

It’s the Manager – Jim Clifton, Jim Harter

A must-read for leaders, CEOs and Founders.

Creating a culture of high development

Two-thirds of U.S. employees have been either not engaged or actively disengaged in their jobs and workplaces during this time. A high-development workplace requires much more than just administering surveys. Measurement on its own doesn’t inspire change, boost performance, or improve the workplace or business outcomes.

Traits of great managers

About half of great management comes from hardwired tendencies, and the other half from experiences and ongoing development. 

Great managers inspire teams to do exceptional work, set goals and align resources for the team to excel, persuade others to act by overcoming adversity and resistance, build committed teams with deep bonds, and take an analytical approach to strategy and decision-making.

How to develop your managers

 Managers report higher levels of stress and burnout, poorer work-life balance, and poorer physical health than individual contributors on the teams they lead.

Gallup suggests development programs that are consistent with creating a strengths-based culture, shifting from being a boss to more of a coach, and requiring executives to have strengths-based conversations with each manager or team leader once a week.

Diversity and inclusion

Race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, lifestyle, personality characteristics, height, weight, other physical characteristics, family composition, educational background, tenure with the organization, political ideology, and worldview are examples of diversity categories.

How leaders should address diversity and inclusion

The answer lies in how your employees perceive the three requirements:

“Treat me with dignity,” 

“Respect me for my abilities.”

“Leaders will follow the right path.”

The gender gap

Globally speaking, businesses require a much higher percentage of female employees because it’s good for both business and women. 

Women tend to be more engaged than men, and female managers typically have more engaged staff members than male managers. Unfair treatment, unequal pay, and work-life flexibility are the three main issues that women who hold paid employment face.

Women in the workplace: work-life flexibility

Men and women almost universally cite “balance between work and family” as one of the greatest difficulties faced by working women in their nations. There is a difference between a company saying it supports flexibility and actually doing so.

Women and men alike define what a good life and career mean to them as individuals.

Benefits, perks and flextime

The modern workforce does not require amenities like game rooms, complimentary meals, or high-end espresso machines. They are seeking perks and benefits that will enhance their well-being, i.e., those that give them more freedom, flexibility, and the capacity to live better lives.

The new office

Employees of today demand autonomy and flexibility in every aspect of their work life, including where they work and how their workspace is set up. A little bit more than half of American workers claim they would switch jobs if they could have more flexibility in their schedules.

Employees desire their own offices, personal workspaces, and privacy when needed.

How to control and foster creativity

In businesses, innovation is crucial. Many businesses claim to value strong creativity in their workforce. Despite the fact that every job has the potential for creativity, the majority of employees don’t think they are expected to be original or come up with new ideas. The people doing the work are the ones closest to it.