The difference between employees’ intentions and their actual actions greatly affects work efficiency and reduces the productivity of the entire company.
Gallup statistics in the article “How Is Life at Work Going?” confirm the alarming picture: 60% of employees are passive in their professional sphere and do not strive to implement their own ideas. Such a lack of initiative leads to economic losses at the global level – the damage is estimated at 8.8 trillion dollars, which is approximately 9% of the world’s GDP.
The gap between desire and action
To overcome the problem of low employee initiative, it is necessary to focus on the following:
- Clearly formulating objectives and expectations: This helps employees better understand the end goals of the project.
- Creating a positive corporate culture and reward system encourages employee creativity.
- Clear opportunities for professional growth increase employee engagement and initiative.
- Regular exchange of information between management and employees reduces the level of uncertainty regarding the intentions of the company’s management and the direction of its development.
- Systematic monitoring of task performance and provision of feedback are important for course correction and improvement of performance.
An appropriate strategy in these areas can not only reduce the gap between intentions and actions, but also lead to significant improvements in the overall performance of the organization.
Fear of taking initiative
This phenomenon is common among both management and subordinates. The desire to bring something new, to express criticism, or to move forward is ultimately lost due to indecision and fear. According to research by DecisionWise, 34% of employees hesitate to share their ideas for fear of negative evaluation from management.
In this article, we will describe five typical work scenarios when an emerging initiative disappears due to uncertainty and how a corporate messenger can become an effective tool for improving teamwork.
Working with a new partner
Let’s say an employee has a plan in mind for a potential partnership. However, he or she lacks the courage to bring it up on a conference call. So, a valuable idea remains unfulfilled and becomes one of the missed opportunities.
Fear of possible negative attitude of colleagues has a huge impact – the employee is afraid that his initiative will be met with disapproval or ignored. Such uncertainty restrains his ambitions and creative potential.
