Hire-Archy. When employees want to have their say

For two consecutive quarters Google disappointed analysts with its results and finally, the share price tumbled by 3 per cent recently. To top the bad news, in the search giant’s annual internal poll, known as Googlegeist, CEO Sundar Pichai’s ratings were lower than the year before. Should the Google board focus on fixing the former or the latter? Or does the latter have a bearing on the former?

According to the Harvard Business Review , a CEO’s personal reputation is one of the most valuable assets of a company. Employee critics can be far more damaging than outside commentators, due to their insider’s perspective, access to sensitive information, and a greater degree of credibility. Amongst many factors that led to founder and CEO Travis Kalanick’s exit from Uber, an important one was employees raising their voice against toxic working conditions at the firm.

The question I ponder over is, should companies take the voice of the employee — especially those who vacillate with seasons — seriously? After all, many organisations tend to take employee feedback with a pinch of salt. Several CEOs behave as though they know better than the employees what’s good for the company. But, Google isn’t any other organisation and prides itself as a talent magnet.

Employee activism

Yet, not too long ago, we witnessed a significant number of Google employees staging a walkout against some of its recent policies. How should organisations react to this new age of employee activism? Is it any different than the industrial era Trade Union strikes or agitations over higher wages?

I would argue that it is similar in many ways except that in this knowledge workers era, employees create more coherent, sustained, collective pressure than the earlier union style of striking.

Growing clout

What gives the knowledge employees more power today is the portability and scarcity of their talent. Unlike the industrial workers of the past who had limited job opportunities, IT workers are aware that they are the powerhouse of the organisation and the demand for skilled tech professionals is immense.

This knowledge gives them the power to protest intelligently and influence key decisions of their employer. Employees work typically in two zones — safety or fear — depending on the culture or context of the organisation. Perhaps, in marquee brands like Google, employees have the trust that their voice will be heard and they won’t be penalised. They definitely have the confidence to get the jobs of their liking. Do you think that makes them additionally confident about expressing themselves without restraint?

The dilemma of action

Should the management or board act against their leaders or CEOs immediately upon hearing employee feedback or let these aberrations pass? We know that these situations are all contextual and do not have straitjacket answers.

Once, in my CXO life, I was confronted with a situation where the majority of my direct reportees reached a stage of ‘no confidence’ with me. My boss had just put me in this role as a reward for my previous performance. He also understood that the change I was driving was making me unpopular.

It was a high performing team and he felt that the risk of this team falling apart was high. He soon brought an external facilitator and put us all in a day-long workshop for us to see each other’s point of view and bond better.

When he realised that even that did not work, he took me into confidence. He offered me a better-looking role and over a period of time replaced me with another external leader. It sort of worked both ways as he didn’t lose me or any of the team. There was no face loss for anyone.

Not all situations can be win-win. I have seen leaders being shifted into ‘parking roles’ after complaints from their reportees only for them to feel insulted and leave eventually.

Social media & millennials

Today’s employees are a brand by themselves thanks to social media. They have visibility and voice thanks to their online identities. They take on their friends, relatives and strangers with their honest views, via social media, on celebrities, sports and current events on a daily basis. This emboldens them to bring the same personality at work too. Add millennials to the employee mix and there is a vibrant workforce which wants to have its say.

Employees’ voice can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they get the employers to celebrate their top ratings on Glassdoor and showcase their best employer awards trophies on social media.

But in some extreme cases, when they revolt, they can cause upheavals for their top leaders.

So, let’s celebrate our employees when they are nice to us.

Kamal Karanth is CoFounder of Xpheno, a specialist staffing company

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