By Nick Carson
“The new generation is lazy.”
“You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.”
“Nobody wants to work anymore.”
These are all common statements used to describe how organizations view employees. Managers are sick and tired of losing good people, let alone people at all. Volunteerism is a massive challenge, and many public safety professionals are leaving the field, citing new opportunities with more work-life balance or better pay.
There are certainly morale issues, burnout, dysfunctional leadership and poor workplace performance. However, a common complaint from managers is that the employee is underperforming in the assigned role.
Correlating the attrition rate directly to the subordinates’ ineptitude to submit to the manager’s expectations is short-cited and, at best, counterintuitive. Organizations tend to assign blame to an individual much faster than performing the more arduous task of looking introspectively.
It is much easier to hammer the nails that stick out than to address the systemic leadership shortcomings of the entire organization. An employee treated with more of the stick than the carrot may produce results at a high level in the short term, but they will leave as soon as possible.
The real question is how we build a team where the employee has the qualities every manager dreams of including self-motivation, productivity and responsibility, with room to mentor others on the same path. The solution is primarily a top-down approach.
There have been some significant changes in the workplace over the last few decades with the introduction of rapidly changing technology such as Artificial Intelligence, remote work options post-pandemic and a higher proportion of the workforce seeking a college education over traditional entry-level jobs.
Students are leaving the comfort of their parent’s homes to strike out on their own at a college campus where they spend four years determining how to change the world. Generations raised in the 21st century have quicker access to information and grew up with work hacks like programming automation.
Every byte of data is at our fingertips; information is faster, easier to access, and summarized in six-second clips. Society has made information gathering as frictionless as possible. The unique challenge of organizations such as the fire service, EMS and policing is that these specialized jobs require a new skill set beyond the cognitive skills encountered in secondary education.
These tools were traditionally memorialized in apprenticeships or on-the-job training. Communication, relationship building, hands-on-technical skills, and gestalt take years to develop properly with intense training, mentorship and real-life experience.
This sets the stage for a clash of identities: the battle-tested senior member with a wealth of knowledge and the new rookie, motivated, educated and ambitious. Both have something to offer. This develops into an unhealthy struggle for control, leaving both coworkers dissatisfied.
The idea that these groups cannot coexist in a symbiotic relationship is a false dichotomy. Organizations are spending time, money and significant energy to conform one to the other. Managers should recognize that they have the responsibility to strengthen and integrate both.
Here are three tips to start the organizational change that engages tenured members and the ambitious newer staff.
Get to know the individual and what motivates them
Our culture embraces uniqueness. The college experience (which we know is now more common than ever) is designed to help identify areas where the individual shines brightly. If that person enters the workforce and is told that they are a number who can be easily replaced, this bond between employee and employer is severed almost immediately.
The only thread tying the new member to the organization is the need for job security. Once that problem is resolved, they will leave in search of a safer workplace with better morale. In centuries before, workers were defined by manual labor, where many members of the same occupation lived and worked together nearby.
The need for organizational buoyancy was mostly absent, apart from a few powerful families. The expectation was for the workers to perform a task in a way that was a well-known expectation. This can be summarized by the statement that manual laborers of the early civilized world were often told what to do.
Individuals of the 21st century want to manage themselves. They run their social media pages, small businesses and employees look to make their mark. The Harvard Business Review classifies these as “knowledge workers.”
Knowledge workers want to be part of the fabric of the company; they want the values of the organization, leadership, and coworkers to match with their own. A fundamental belief workers need to believe is that the organization understands and is rooting for them to succeed.
If employees are confident that the organization has them in mind, they will prioritize a diligent, self-motivated effort to support organizational priorities. The manager is the conduit for the messaging of the organizational culture.
By prioritizing time, understanding, and accommodation for the staff, employees will do the same for the manager. Remember the old mantra: First, seek to understand, then be understood.
A supervisor’s temperament has the strongest correlation to organizational success
Studies have shown that an unpredictable manager is one of the largest hindrances to organizational progress. If the supervisor of an organization is temperamental, unpredictable and explosive, the staff will not want to be transparent with information.
Employees will struggle to interact productively with the supervisor, and many will avoid interactions altogether. The best manager is one that has a predictable response and a high degree of emotional intelligence. Employees should feel comfortable sharing information without fear of “shooting the messenger” situations.
Mood is one of the largest factors in organizational morale and is chronically under-discussed. Good leaders will seek counsel from trusted counterparts who pull no punches because information traveling from the bottom of the organization to the top inevitably gets “buffed” on its way there.
The information the CEO receives is likely a PG version of the message that was sent. A confident leader is open to direct feedback and understands that some messages may be hard to hear. A well-developed leader in this position can receive difficult messages and respond with questions that promote a deeper understanding.
An adverse reaction teaches the messenger that it is not safe to share information and that the supervisor is not interested in feedback. This creates a top-down power dynamic that enforces the perceived emotion that the employee is inferior.
The manager is the boss; there is no need to deliver a negatively charged emotional message to the employee that they are a subordinate. Everyone should know who is in charge; this should be well-defined in an organizational structure.
Organizational transparency helps all parties
Every decision should be made for a reason. Many hands make light work, and the diverse backgrounds of the team are what make it a team. The common analogy used with staff is to put the new information into your “toolbox” so it can be reused when the time is right.
The toolbox contains tools of many types to be used in a variety of situations. A carpenter with only a hammer will not be as effective as one who also carries a saw, measuring tape and a bucket of nails. To best capture the best products of your team, organizational priorities should be shared, revised, edited, analyzed and tested by all levels of the organization.
Strong leaders have confidence in the rationale behind their decision and are confident in explaining the process that led them to the conclusion. If new information is presented, they are quick to investigate the new approach and offer praise for the perspective.
A successful career of doing does not always equate to a successful legacy of leadership. The conductor of a world-renowned philharmonic orchestra does not need to be the best violinist on stage, they need to know how to coach, coordinate and direct the talent so that the best possible piece of music is delivered.
Small closed-door meetings should be limited to HR-protected personnel issues and trade secrets. Balancing the budget, designing a new apparatus or writing policies are not top-secret endeavors.
If you have a high-functioning new employee, put them in charge of something. Even a small task will show them that you value their contribution. They will pour time and energy into making that project successful, which empowers them to help achieve shared organizational goals.
Share information up and down the chain. When unable, explain the reasoning. Most importantly, always tell the truth. If the right decision is being made, the truth will explain, if the right decision is not made, leaders should know when to admit they are wrong.
These three fundamental principles of organizational retention apply to all levels. The move to incorporate these strategies is a series of systematic, intentional and thoughtful choices completed over a consistent period.
Employees require a greater commitment from the employer than ever before. Many employees are leaving large-paying jobs to work in smaller organizations where the culture is aligned with their values. The promise of a pension, good pay, benefits, and a corner office are no longer the only factors for retention.
The modern workforce requires a modern approach. Organizations that value transparency, emotional stability, and meaningful connection will outpace those who do not. When these conditions are met, productivity improves, sick time is reduced and the employee works feverishly to improve the organization.
The hard truth is that the way we have always done it is not the way anymore.
This article was written in partnership with Mind the Front Line to empower first responders with the tools, resources and knowledge needed to prioritize and enhance mental well-being.
About the Author
Nick Carson is a flight paramedic with the University of Vermont Health Network. Nick is a national conference speaker and has authored multiple training programs across emergency response agencies. He has worked in the career fire service, municipal EMS and critical care medicine. Nick also works for Mind the Frontline Inc., a 503(c) non-profit committed to the mental health and wellness of first responders.
