When coachees and employees talk to me about great experiences at work, having ‘autonomy’ is nearly always cited. People crave having direction and control of their own lives -it is crucially important and a key feature of intrinsic motivation as found by Dan Pink(1) and many others.

But giving autonomy is not always as common as it sounds…

Consider this scenario – Bob’s boss has just told him that his dept is responsible for developing a new, high-profile project. He feels good because it’s just like the successful project he was a part of in a previous job, plus it’s one of the first significant tasks that his boss has given him as a new manager. Bob’s team is excellent but fairly inexperienced, and the work delivery has tight deadlines. Bob doesn’t see these as problems because he has the experience to help the team. He lays out a very detailed plan for his team members. He’s happy because it is so detailed that their inexperience won’t be a problem: all they have to do is execute. Yet as time goes on, the work isn’t unfolding according to plan. The team isn’t meeting deadlines, and they seem to be unmotivated. Bob assumes that they must need more help from him. He begins to chase and give more and more details. Still, there’s not a lot of progress. He is now spending almost all his time doing their work to meet the deadline, and he’s extremely frustrated. Bob can’t understand why this otherwise high-performing team seems so unmotivated and uninspired. He starts being resentful that they don’t just follow his plan and trust his experience.

What’s wrong here?

Well, the problem is that Bob is so prescriptive in directing the team to complete the job that the team probably feels smothered. In an earnest and well-meaning effort to help, Bob has instead demotivated them. How did this happen? In short, the team has been given no autonomy to complete their work. This is a mistake (mostly an unconscious one) that inexperienced managers often make (well, probably more experienced ones too, unfortunately). Managers develop a wealth of expertise and experience. However, one of the first lessons a successful manager and future leader needs to learn is to let go of the details and focus on the higher goals of the department and the Company. In other words, managers need to learn how to delegate and to give their team autonomy over its work.  As a manager you need to now manage people, not tasks.  In Bob’s case he needs to shift to a place that now he’s the coach who provides the overall plan and the tools to those who are directly working on the project. Giving staff the autonomy to do the work their way within the overall strategy, set is the foundation for building a high-performing team.

 What is Autonomy, and why is it important to EX and to success?

Autonomy is people’s need to perceive that they have choices, that what they are doing is of their own volition, and that they are the source of their own actions. The way managers and leaders frame information and situations either promotes the likelihood that a person will perceive autonomy or undermines it.(2)

 A quick exploration of the science of motivation can help us to not only understand why autonomy is so fundamental to brilliant employee experiences, and to peak performance but also why so many EX and manager practices fall short, no matter how well intentioned.

In the early 1900’s, Taylor argued that work involved mostly simple, uninteresting tasks. He wrote that incentivising employees, together with careful monitoring, was the most effective way to get people to fulfil their roles. This approach is still prevalent in many organisations today: reward the behaviours you want to see, and punish those you don’t. A whole billion-dollar industry of rewards and benefits is the result of this approach and there are numerous EX products, services and approaches which are based on the ‘carrot and stick’ approach. It seems intuitive that an EX based on rewards is a good thing, but in fact this approach is flawed, and out of date. We now know that using the reward-punishment approach doesn’t often produce the outcomes we would expect. And we would argue that the reward-punishment approach doesn’t make for a compelling EX.

In his book ‘Drive’ Dan Pink shows that with the onset of more complex and creative jobs, traditional rewards can actually lead to less of what is wanted and more of what is not wanted. Pink’s research gives evidence to demonstrate that the reward-punishment approach can result in:

  • Lower intrinsic motivation
  • Lower performance
  • Less creativity
  • Unethical behaviour
  • Short-term thinking

The explanation for this phenomenon is that “rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus” and bring us away from intrinsic motivation.

Deci and Ryan’s theory of self-determination (SDT) proposes that we have an innate drive to be autonomous, competent and connected to each other. When these conditions are present, research demonstrates links to a whole range of positive outcomes, including higher levels of positive emotion, wellbeing and employee engagement. Deci concluded that human beings have an “inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capabilities, to explore, and to learn.”

how do we go about designing experiences which provide our people with more autonomy?

If you want your staff to live up to their full potential, then telling them what to do, how to do it, and when to do it “because you said so” is not a recipe for long-term success!  So here are some ideas to get you started on how to give your employees more autonomy:

Consider what work gets done (task) – examples include:

  • Helping employee’s co-design their goals – with self-chosen goals they’ll have more intrinsic motivation to fulfil them.(3)
  • Using design thinking tools to enable creativity over the role they do.
  • Discuss goals to ensure staff know why the goal they have been assigned has value and is desirable.
  • Hackathons and open-source projects are good ways to enable people to work on different projects which help make use of broader skills and interests.

Consider when work gets done (time) – examples include:

  • Focusing the roles on outputs rather than time.
  • Flexibility over employees completing tasks.
  • Flexibility over working patterns and hours.

Consider how work gets done (technique) – examples include:

  • Freedom to figure out the best way to do their jobs.
  • Involvement in defining how they do their jobs.
  • Recognising when one’s own feelings of identity of being ‘subject matter expert’ might fuel insecurity about giving up control.

Consider who work gets done with (team) – examples include:

  • Facilitate opportunities for collaboration.
  • Opportunities to join cross-company projects.

Consider how you’ll recognise and reflect – examples include:

  • Meaningfully recognise team member efforts, ensuring no key player is ‘missed out’.
  • Hold mid-point and wash up sessions in which you make time to coach individuals through problems and learnings they’ve uncovered.

Conclusion

Autonomy brings with it flexibility and promotes a feeling of respect; respect for individual abilities within the organisation which would otherwise be missed. Autonomy sets employees free from limiting micromanagement and demands good communication within the organisation. This instils freedom for employees and communicates a level of trust, both of which are powerful enablers of great experiences.  In short, to bring out the best in your staff, utilise their power!  Set the clear and purposeful goal and trust your team to figure out how to get the job done, and you will be rewarded with engaged, high performing employees!

 

If you’re interested in finding out more designing experiences and management to facilitate autonomy please get in touch on Hello@HROptimisation.co.uk we would love to hear from you.

 

 

 

Hannah Powell

 

References:

    1. Daniel Pink.Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (ISBN: 9781847677693). 2011.
    2. Susan Fowler, >“What Maslow’s Hierarchy Won’t Tell You about Motivation”Harvard Business Review, November 26, 2014.
    3. Heidi Grant Halvorson,“How to Give Employees a Sense of Autonomy (When You Are Really Calling the Shots),” Forbes, September 15, 2011.