When it comes to employee motivation, there is inevitably a close link between a vibrant leadership culture and the commitment that employees show day after day in companies in Germany. But when the desired top performance is miles away, this essential connection is all too often ignored. Now that the first part of the interview series focused primarily on the challenges in corporate structures, part two now follows: Barbara Wietasch takes a very specific look at the problematic aspects of current forms of employee management. Among other things, she explains why employee commitment in particular is being so badly affected - and what approach companies can take to resolve this dilemma.

If you want to motivate top performance, you need a real change in leadership - an interview with Barbara Wietasch

Hello Ms. Wietasch, according to the Gallup Study 2019, more than six million employees in Germany, i.e. 16 percent, have no loyalty to their company, with consequential losses of approx. 122 million euros. How come?

Honestly? Who decides which tasks are carried out every day? That's right, there is a defined workflow, a superior or someone higher up who specifies this! One person, a manager, delegates the tasks or assigns to-dos in fire-fighting mode. And this is still the case in most companies. Basically, it's the same hierarchies, the same cascading and the same feudal organizational structures. This is why companies today more than ever resemble soulless production halls or service centers where there is no room for people. We know that employees join companies, but sometimes leave them again very quickly because they are disappointed with their manager. But often no one asks about this in the severance interview. And unfortunately the top performers leave and the others stay. An absolute no-go for a company with a future!

This means that one thing is clear above all: companies and, above all, managers need to wake up. The Gallup study must be a wake-up call.

What about the committed employees?

According to the latest Gallup survey from September 2019, only 15 percent of employees are wholeheartedly involved. Unfortunately, this percentage has not really changed compared to previous years. This is despite the fact that many organizations are now focusing on agility and self-responsibility, enabling methods such as working out loud, and even peer2peer coaching across silos, hierarchies and even organizations is gradually becoming commonplace.

On the other hand, billions have been spent on leadership development since the 1980s. In other words, the support is there, and some people accept it. Nevertheless, the percentage remains relatively low when compared to other levels of engagement.

Millennials, digitalization, Gallup - with all the highlights of our time, the fundamental question arises: How can employee management still work and be attractive?

With Generation Y in particular, we see that we need a starting signal for a new generation in the company. Young people are asking questions about meaning, they want to help shape things and are looking for a satisfying "life-life balance". All the classic concepts such as annual employee appraisals, long-term project planning, top-down announcements, thinking in silos and hierarchies are simply ridiculed. They ask: Why should I do this, what do I get out of it, what added value does it bring me and the organization as a whole? This is a major challenge for the organization and managers. Because until now, the thinking of the baby boomers has prevailed: Work is work and leisure is another life. But millennials think completely differently - and what they think is immediately shared on social media. Kununu and Glasshouse are mirrors for Employer branding and also act as a means of exerting pressure.

Let's get back to the tour: What specifically makes the work of managers so difficult?

Today's managers are torn between their roles as promoters and challengers. This naturally raises the question: can a manager actually demand and encourage? Or is this a farce if a manager wants to motivate and manage their team and individuals to achieve top performance and strive for the best results? At the same time, the same person is supposed to be a promoter, mentor and coach. That is a real contradiction in terms. And people cannot be fooled.

So today's managers have to tug themselves apart between manager and leader, between employees and value creation, between demanding and promoting, and between the old and the new world. They are publicly accused from all sides, so to speak, and basically they can't please anyone. Whichever side it turns to, it neglects the other. As a result, she inevitably becomes increasingly overwhelmed herself. It is not for nothing that we have a growing number of burn-out cases to do. Or to look at it the other way round: the attractiveness of taking on leadership is rapidly decreasing, especially among subsequent generations.

Ultimately, however, this is no wonder, as change continues to advance, demands are becoming ever more global and the world ever more diverse. All these highly complex requirements can hardly be grasped and managed by one person alone. This is why a shift towards shared leadership is also called for here. This has the advantage that performance, the team, the individual and also the customer can be given a firm place in management.

So if we summarize the challenges that managers are currently facing, this means that we are primarily dealing with three major "construction sites", namely employee engagement, the changing mentality of generations Y and Z and this dilemma of encouraging and demanding?

In my opinion, there are more like four. Because these three aspects are also influenced by the much-cited VUCA world. At the end of the day, the world really is changing - and organizations are changing too. And we keep hearing that "the new VUCA world" is mainly perceived as a threat and much less as a hope that opens up new opportunities.

Indeed, our world is becoming ever faster, more uncertain and more complex. The framework conditions for companies are constantly changing. Innovations, disruptions and greatly shortened product life cycles are necessary to stay in the market. The customer is increasingly demanding his placeeven during the development of products and services. As a result, organizations are now more than ever required to realign themselves.

That's why we believe that the country needs new heroes - and a real change in management and companies. Otherwise we see really dark clouds on the horizon. In future, complexity, diversity and dynamism can no longer be managed hierarchically, but in flexible structures - and no longer by one person, but by a shared leadership force.

Thank you very much, Ms. Wietasch, for your fascinating comments on the essential question of what really ails employee motivation in today's world and how this is fundamentally linked to the question of the right management model in the company. We look forward to part three of the interview!

The interview with Barbara Wietasch was conducted by the TCI editorial team.

Editor's note: You are also welcome to read the complete interview!

• Here you can find part one of the series: How management models have developed: Quo vadis, employee leadership?
  
• Part three: Shared-LeaderShift© and what's behind it: a new sow in the village?
• Part four: Leadership redefined: How Shared-LeaderShift works in the company and leadership tasks are properly distributed

About your authors

Barbara Wietasch is a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in personnel and organizational development and has been passionate about supporting people, teams and organizations in change for more than 20 years, as a coach, trainer and consultant. Her roots are in sales & marketing. This is why she always focuses on people - i.e. internal and external customers - in all organizational changes. In her work, she fundamentally assumes that systems carry the solution within themselves and are knowledgeable. On the journey to "New Work", she sees herself as a bridge builder on various levels.

Eva-Maria Danzer has been a specialist for people and organizations in transition for more than 25 years. She is the managing director of "The Company Journey Guides", a company for corporate development in Munich with over 20 employees. They see themselves as development companions for organizations on their own journey. They work internationally, particularly in four focus areas: Mindset first, Leader-Shift, Hero Customer, Zeitgeist Learning & Organizational Development.

(Cover image: © Jacob Lund | stock.adobe.com)