SCD 2006: In the Knowledge Worker Age, People Count

Imagine if your company were 50 times more productive. How big would it be? How many more branches would you have and how big would your staff and equipment fleet need to be to handle 50 times the work fro 50 times the clients?

For most companies, these types of increases may be unfathomable. Growth takes time, money and marketshare in an age when competition abounds. But for a nation’s workforce, or even that of an industry, huge increases in productivity may not be that far off. According to Boyd Craig, director of Stephen R. Covey Publishing, Provo, Utah, the incoming ‘Knowledge Worker Age’ promises great productivity gains for companies and workers that approach it the right way.

In his keynote presentation at the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET) 30th Annual Student Career Days held at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Craig spoke to several hundred members of the knowledge worker age with insight on how to make an impact in the workplace.

KNOWLEDGE WORKER KNOW-HOW. “Humanity has collectively moved from the hunter-gatherer type of economy, to the agricultural/farming age and into the industrial age,” Boyd explains in an interview with Lawn & Landscape. “Movement into each of those new ages was caused by workers leveraging the tools and capital at their disposal and, each time, increased our productivity 50 times. The difference between then and now is that in the agricultural age and the industrial age, productivity had nothing to do with people. It was a lot of ‘check your brain at the door, do what you’re told, don’t cause trouble and get the work done.’ But that’s all changing.”

Now, Craig says, productivity is people. “We’ve entered into the information or Knowledge Worker age where creativity and intelligence are propelling us forward,” he says. “The challenge now is that many managers still have their mindsets in the industrial age where the approach was to control people in order to meet goals of production. Nowadays, it’s up to managers to provide their employees with a compass instead of a to-do list and ensure that they’ve been taught the necessary company principles so they can use that compass to achieve goals and growth.”

Any worker – even those not in management positions – can be knowledge workers, Craig says. Though he admits that many managers are afraid of giving their employees too much liberty. Similar to the delegation path managers must take in order to move from working on their businesses to in them, Craig says employers must offer their workers a continuum through which they can develop their own skills.

“The knowledge worker age totally shifts the role of a leader from ‘manager’ to ‘coach.’” Craig says. “You won’t give everyone every freedom in the workplace, but you can entrust them with responsibilities that will let them develop their skills.”

Another key, Craig says, is that in the role of “coach,” managers must do their best to accept employees’ mistakes and use them as teaching opportunities. “If you believe in your employee’s potential and they end up taking a risk that results in failure, make sure they learn from it,” he says. “Don’t take away their accountability – resist the urge to jump in and fix the problem – but help them understand what went wrong and what they need to do differently next time in order to be successful.”

FOUR-PART NATURE. While most of Craig’s audience was made up of students participating in Student Career Days, his message was equally important for business owners and mangers. His explanation of the four aspects of human nature provides an interesting insight into what keeps employees happy in their jobs.

“The four part nature includes the body, heart, mind and spirit, and there’s a need associated with each part,” he says. “Only by satisfying all four parts will we truly be able to enjoy our lives and what we do.” The four parts and their associated needs include:

Moreover, Craig says most workers operate along a continuum that determines reactions to circumstances in the workplace. The continuum looks like this:

                         6. Creative Excitement
                    5. Heartfelt Commitment
               4. Cheerful Cooperation
          3. Willing Compliance
     2. Malicious Obedience
1. Rebel or Quit

“When you combine these two measures, you come up with a number of scenarios that show just how important it is to have all four of your basic needs met,” Craig told attendees. “For instance, if you’re not paid fairly, you’re not likely to get above number three on the continuum. If you’re paid well but you’re discouraged from being creative, you probably won’t get past number three. Even if you’re in a situation where you’re paid well, allowed to be creative, your respected – which meets the ‘heart’ need – if you find that your job has little meaning, you still probably won’t get past number three.”

Being successful and happy isn’t about having just one or two needs met, Craig says – it’s about meeting all four.

CULTIVATING SUCCESS. In speaking to Lawn & Landscape, Craig added insight into how future green industry leaders and up-and-coming professionals already in the industry can leverage their skills, knowledge and creativity to increase their presence and profiles.

“Leadership is a choice you make to be an island of excellence in a sea of mediocrity,” he says. “By being aware of what results are headed and being as creative as you can within the parameters you’re given, you can offer your boss the success he or she expects and present yourself as a problem-solver for the company.”

Craig says the first step in becoming a problem solver is to understand your boss’s world – what challenges does he or she face on a regular basis? What does their boss expect of them? What could make his or her life easier? “Start small by making these kinds of observations, then make a presentation to your boss of how you think you can make a change,” he explains. “When you’re given the chance to do this, you can build your credibility and also your sphere of influence.”

Overall, Craig says his biggest take-away message for anyone coming into a leadership position is to recognize their own genius and help other people discover theirs. “Your job,” he says, “is to communicate to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.”