This morning a friend told me about their work colleague who is having a difficult time at the moment managing the morning routine of her daughter who has autism. This has resulted in her arriving at work about half an hour later than her designated start time and being continually berated by her manager and now facing a performance management process.
There are a few options available to a manager in this scenario.
One option is to insist on the employee arriving at the prescribed time resulting her being stressed, a a decrease in her performance and engagement, and potentially facing disciplinary action. The flow on effects of this are reduced performance and engagement, and low morale. This also impacts on her family's wellbeing and the organisation's ability to retain her in the business. This is certainly also felt by the broader team and will affect the engagement and performance of others.
The second option is to create a work environment where there is trust and strong communication to allow an open discussion about the needs of the employee and the needs of the business, and agree to a flexible arrangement that satisfies the needs of all stakeholders. This will improve the relationship between the manager and employee, create loyalty, increase effectiveness and engagement and improve morale.
Creating positive work cultures and improving communication will impact the performance of all team members and the results will be measurable.
It's not hard to work out which is the better option, but guess which one was implemented in this instance!
Contact me on 0414 808 060 for a confidential discussion about improving your workplace culture and employee engagement.