Short Description
In this article, Freestone Companies CEO Trevor Forbes discusses the importance of delegating tasks within the corporate world, specifically addressing the issue of employees feeling overwhelmed. He emphasizes that delegation helps maintain productiveness in a work environment and fosters a sense of mutual trust and competence between employers and employees. Forbes discusses the pro tips for optimal delegation in this article, which include considering limitations and employee suitability.
Every individual who has held a job title has undergone an extraordinary amount of stress while working. This all-too-common reality has unfortunately led to some of the highest employee turnover rates in modern history. In fact, around 47% of employees, on average, either leave or switch jobs within a year of labor. Even worse, over 4 million Americans decide to quit their jobs every single month. The reason, however, is simple: employees feel unjustly and immorally overwhelmed.
The Role of Delegation
While an overwhelming atmosphere addresses why so many employees leave, it only scratches the surface of why they are feeling overwhelmed in the first place. One plausible answer is they have overburdened themselves, biting off far more than they can chew. In the present-day workforce, the world has become fierce, competitive, and dog-eat-dog. In attempting to climb the company ladder, employees practically sell their social and home lives away, committing themselves to late-night hours at the office. The problem is: that work should not run a person’s life, nor should one person take on a multitude of tasks at once. This is where company leaders need to do a better job at delegating work tasks.
Delegation, put simply, is assigning different tasks to team members, especially within their realm of knowledge and competency. Leaders must know their employees well and consider their strengths and weaknesses when assigning these tasks. Delegation ultimately helps to be more productive in checking off items on the company’s “to-do” list.
Why Delegate?
Leaders often question, “Why delegate tasks when I can do it all myself? Would that not save everyone’s time and energy?” While these are generous thoughts and signs of a caring, thoughtful leader, a business executive should never take it upon themselves to complete every task. There are actually multiple components to this mindset that will backfire, such as losing trust, lacking competency, and overburdening oneself.
Trust
Trust and rapport are crucial between employees and employers. Employees will respond better when a leader entrusts them with tasks they can handle. This is a proven strategy that positively inspires employees to accomplish their goals, whether daily, monthly, or annually. If executives show they only trust themselves with work tasks, employees will wonder why their leaders lack faith in them. In turn, this could harm relationships between employer and employee, and executives could end up paying the price by completely losing their trust.
Competency
Executives must also take on the role of empowering their employees, believing they truly are the best people to take on the job. Employers need to know their employees well enough to understand what makes them the most equipped, unique, and ideal candidates for the tasks at hand. This is why it is best to delegate assignments to the most competent employees who have direct experience and profound knowledge of the tasks.
Learning to Let Go
Additionally, avoiding burnout and ceasing to overburden oneself is no different than learning to let go. Nobody enjoys working for or with a control freak. Plus, delegating tasks will automatically alleviate stress, as more eyes and hands on an assignment are better than just one. No one should have to take on everything by themselves. This mentality provides avenues for employees to learn, which is crucial in fostering a positive work environment and boosting employee morale and self-autonomy.
On the contrary, an overly stressful work environment will decrease employee morale, leading to higher employee turnover and creating an atmosphere in which everyone has to “walk on eggshells.” Work will inevitably cause stress at times, but it should never cause stress all the time. This is why executives and employers should follow the four “C”s of delegation, which aim to reduce stress, provide clarity, and open lines of communication that build stronger trust among workers.
4 “C”s of Delegation
Clarity
Providing clarity should be a top priority as an executive; otherwise, your employees will undoubtedly struggle to understand standards or expectations. Clarity at the workplace resembles a smile on every employee’s face because they know exactly what they are there to do. It is only in fear that employees start to fumble the ball, make mistakes, and lose sight of their professional purpose. Giving them a sense of clarity by delegating skill-specific tasks will influence their productivity and motivate them to perform efficiently.
Communication
This is where communication plays a role, as you cannot expect your employees to be perfectly sharp every minute of every day. Leaders must use clear and concise language, especially when communicating expectations. Without doing so, employees may perceive work as more of a free-for-all instead of completing tasks diligently. Communication means clarifying every role, assignment, and expectation regarding when and how assignments are to be completed.
Capability
Additionally, it is factually relevant that employees perform better when producing high-level work, especially that which they are capable of completing. This plays into workplace competency, which comprises the various skills and knowledge needed to complete important tasks. If employees feel a lack of competency, their morale decreases, thereby reducing their productivity in the office. Executives, as a priority, should only assign roles that their employees feel confident and capable of completing. If, however, an assignment is beyond an employee’s scope of experience, leaders should always provide appropriate training to enhance the skills required by the assignment.
Control
Once these skills are acquired, company leaders can then begin delegating some of the control to other trustworthy employees. These employees must act with integrity and complete assignments thoroughly and on time. When executives can see their employees performing as they should, releasing some of the control is made that much easier.
Pro Tips
With delegation comes the responsibility of ensuring the completion of projects and duties. This will automatically require trust between employers and employees, which stems from building strong rapport initially. The following are some tips that may help you with the art of delegation:
- Consider limitations, specifically the number of employees, budget, and deadlines. If not readily prepared, delegating tasks becomes nearly impossible.
- Ensure that all employees will work on the most suitable work tasks, according to their capabilities. That way, there is little room for confusion, slackness, or incompetency.
- Use thought leadership as a means of inspiring employees and building up their morale. This can be done through delegating assignments that one feels confident in performing.
- Provide sufficient training and constructive feedback. Make sure to let employees know what they are thriving in and how they can improve. The best way to ensure competency is by giving employees the appropriate training that suits and challenges their current capabilities.
- Build trust and rapport among employees. This helps executives get to know their employees better, which directly affects how they delegate tasks to them. Cultivating this level of trust requires open communication, honest feedback, and giving away some of the workload and responsibility.
With all this in mind, delegation becomes much simpler, though it will always be a little challenging. A strong, mindful business executive knows how to delegate work tasks according to employee competency, suitability, trust, and responsibility. Without these key components, delegation, as a strategy, becomes ineffective.
Sources
https://www.oacbdd.org/clientuploads/Docs/2014/Convention/Session%20302%20(Deb%20Maloy).pdf
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/employee-turnover-statistics
Guest article written by: Trevor Forbes, CEO of Freestone Companies, is a seasoned business executive with a background rooted in logistics and strategic acquisitions. He served seven years as President, and then CEO at Summit Vehicle Solutions. Under his leadership, the company experienced exponential growth, with EBITDA growing 6-fold through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Trevor’s leadership and established expertise extends to Grant Street Investments, where he serves as both partner and investor. Drawing from deep industry insights, he also serves on the board of Peak Auto Auctions. Trevor holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.