For the third consecutive year, we are living in very challenging times for business, and alongside many other issues, companies are also struggling with a labor shortage. To retain the necessary workforce, they must take responsibility for their people on a much broader scale than they have done so far. Their managers play a decisive role in this, much greater than any type of employee benefit can compensate for.

“If they want the job, they should work” – these were the words of my first boss, a foreigner who led the regional human resources department of a large multinational company at the beginning of my career. This was her response to my question about what profiles of candidates we should choose for a position where people often worked 24/7 under great pressure. I was too inexperienced to recognize that my question contained a hint of potential discrimination, which my boss seized upon, stating that she did not want to discriminate against candidates in any way (for example, if they had a family) and said: – If they want the job, they should work.

Dream Job

Today, I feel that I simply recognized then that such working conditions, where people were expected to live at work, whether they had a family or not, are unsustainable for anyone, especially not in the long term. I learned so much in that company and accepted such working conditions for a while, taking it for granted that for a job that was then more valuable than winning the lottery, one had to make sacrifices. After a year, one management team left for organizational reasons, a new boss came in, and the working conditions improved significantly. In the same company, in the same job, with the same or very similar tasks and the same salary (even lower overall, as there were fewer overtime hours), my job satisfaction and quality of life dramatically improved with the departure of one person and the arrival of another in a managerial position.

The results of our work, and then the company results, as you might guess, did not suffer. We continued to be successful. Due to the change in my immediate supervisor and the way of working, I was happier, healthier, more fulfilled, and I approached my dream job with much more joy. My experience actually confirms Gallup’s statistics, which state that a manager can influence changes in employee engagement factors by as much as 70%. Many of you reading this have probably had or are currently having a similar experience.

Significant Changes

Fast forward 20 years later, and here we are in a labor market in a quite different situation. Employees have much greater influence than before, as there are more job openings than people with the appropriate competencies. Companies are struggling with both hiring and retaining people. I often hear the comment that younger generations 'are not loyal' like we were (presumably…). Everyone probably has a different definition of that loyalty, but if it is expected that a person be loyal under conditions similar to those I described above, just because they work in a 'great company for a good salary and experience', I think that train has left the station.

However, to attract and retain people, many companies have made a really significant and positive shift in improving what is popularly called employee experience, or the experiences we have daily at work. From various benefits, notorious foosball tables, tennis, fruit, quality meals, business parties, flexible working hours, and enabling remote work, to significant improvements in accommodation quality for seasonal workers, five-day work weeks in some chains, adjustments to employees’ personal needs and their life circumstances, to recent salary corrections caused not only by the labor shortage but also by the current geopolitical and economic situation – there are indeed many improvements. There are also negative examples of catering to employees beyond measure – it may sound conservative, but alcohol definitely has no place in the refrigerator of the shared kitchen (and I don’t exactly remember the Occupational Safety Act, but it seems to me that it is not very lenient regarding this), as people spend their time daily with gin tonics, beers, and other 'mood and work energy enhancers.'

Increasing Demands

All of this simply describes how companies are taking various (even desperate) measures to please employees and achieve the level of engagement needed in such a fast and unpredictable economy. When we add the psychological pressures that we have all faced and continue to face over the last two years, it seems that the challenges for people are endless. And where does the duty of companies in caring for their people actually begin and end – with their arrival and departure from work? The systematic impact of companies on the community and the environment is enormous, regardless of their size. Stakeholders who are interdependent and part of the ecosystem of a company include, besides customers and clients, suppliers, the local community, employees and their families, sometimes unions, the state, etc. Therefore, there is a very significant responsibility for companies to ensure that all stakeholders in the chain are well. Because as soon as one stakeholder falls out of the chain, the entire system collapses.

Returning to employees, companies are expected to take care of much more than just work tools and regular salaries. Because if they do not, their employees will not give their all. However, it seems to me that managers at all levels are still a poorly utilized lever of influence in the organization, including management. All the previously mentioned benefits, salary increases, and flexibility we provided to people will not be enough if the immediate manager still has the attitude of 'if they want the job, they should work.' This can be frustrating at times and feels like a Sisyphean task, but the role of the manager is crucial in motivating people. And as research indicates, it has a greater impact than any other activities the organization undertakes in this regard.

Communication Style

Let me not be misunderstood – it is very important to set clear expectations for team members. However, the way of communication, if you will, and the way of dealing with people, support, and development is something that needs continuous work. And if we look at the story from the beginning of the article, and my personal experience in various companies confirms this, what reliably yields results in motivating and engaging employees, and thus in business successes – is the building and development of good managers (or if you prefer – leaders). Because business results are nothing more than output of the work of managers and their teams on business challenges. And it often seems that companies place management in one drawer (when there is enough money for it and in good times, because those are 'HR spikes'), while business encompasses everything else (work, processes, systems, organization, clients, projects, etc.). These HR 'spikes' are actually a bit soft, difficult to measure, and poorly connected to business goals, and that is the main reason why managers are skeptical about them. But there is a remedy for that too.

The British Institute for Human Resources (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) also states that immediate supervisors have a key influence on the health, wellbeing, and engagement of their people. And again, I must emphasize that companies are more likely to pay for a systematic check-up and gym membership than to try to influence the change in behavior of their managers (especially those who 'have results' – and how they achieved them is not something we are questioning now). It is absurd that they will give people a pill for a headache in the form of, for example, a gym (for those who use it), but will not try to remove the cause of the headache. The behaviors of managers – from the top to the first level – directly shape the organizational culture and climate, no matter how many times we blame better financial offers as the main reason for people leaving the organization.

Investing in People

The company itself also benefits greatly from teams that are engaged and achieve results. They are more productive, provide better service to clients, and the impact on sales and financial goals is clear. Indicators such as employee retention, fewer absences from work, and fewer employee complaints are just some of the benefits. Additionally, investing in the development of managers will directly impact the company’s employer brand, much more than benefits, no matter how generous they may be, can affect long-term employee satisfaction. However, benefits are now the standard, and companies will have to invest in them, as they will not be competitive enough.

One of the main reasons why developmental initiatives fail to bring about long-term change in behavior or in the culture of the organization is their poor connection to the daily challenges and business goals of managers. And the main reason why employer branding campaigns often do not have the desired effect is that they are not practically supported by the key population in the organization – managers at all levels. Even if companies organize leadership academies, they are periodic and insufficiently integrated into the processes in the organization. Management finds it difficult to connect the impact of development on business results, and it is perceived more as a nice to have than a prerequisite for good business results. The HR department itself in the organization often does not have enough resources to ensure the integration of what has been learned through business partnering.

Both large and small companies often do not have enough resources in HR to carry out these activities appropriately, especially when they are 'ground down' by high turnover and hiring. Such initiatives are simpler for the organization (and often cheaper than large academies) and will have a significant long-term impact on the stability of the organization. Companies have no other option but to take responsibility for their people on a much broader scale than they have ever done before. And managers play a decisive role here, much greater than any type of benefit can compensate.