A635.2.3.RB - How Companies Can Make Better Decisions

Decision making is not an easy process and many people struggle with making decisions because once something is decided, one must move forward with that choice. Organizations have to make decisions and their choices impact more than just one person, the decisions made by leadership in an organization impact everyone from the highest in leadership down to the newest member of the team. Blenko, Mankins, Rogers (2010) stated there is a tight link between performance and decisions. In addition (2010) shared that decision effectiveness and financial results correlated at a 95% confidence level for every country, industry, and company size in their research. Research supports the data that shows the importance of involving employees in decision making within an organization. Stark (2010) shared six reasons organizations should involve their employees in decisions which include, employees feel they are a valued part of the team, they are able to make better day to day decisions, they feel a strong bond of responsibility for decision making, they will focus more of their energy on future-oriented problem solving rather than blaming their current problems on management, the morale and motivation is higher, and it frees up manager’s time to contribute to the department’s success in other areas.

I see first-hand how employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness. If the leadership in an organization makes decisions without consulting or involving the employees they will feel left out, unappreciated, and their input does not hold any value within the organization. I have worked in an organization where the leadership would make decisions or changes, many of which would be drastic and impact the employees, however; supervisors did not listen to the employees and many of us felt our voice did not make a difference. This was a struggle and the motivation to work hard began to diminish because we did not feel valued as employees.

Blenko (2010) stated there are four elements of good decision making which include quality, speed, yield, and effort. I feel that feedback should be included in decision-making. An organization can make a decision, carry out the effort, but fail to openly accept feedback for the decision made; this leaves employees frustrated because they do not feel their voice is heard. When leadership listens to employees for feedback, this is known as bottom-up leadership. Lesonsky (2013) shared four ways for mastering bottom-up leadership, which includes walking in your employee’s shoes from time to time, solicit opinions- listen then act, listen to what your employees aren’t saying, and give and get lots of feedback. These are important for companies to make better decisions because they should hear their employees since they are the one’s doing the work and experience the changes first hand.

        

    Overall, the video is a great learning tool and I can use the information to continue to learn as I progress through my career. I find the information in the video to be a great reminder that when I see valued and appreciated leaders within an organization they are the ones taking the time to listen to their employees and hear them instead of ignoring their input.

Blenko, M., Mankins, M., & Rogers, P. (2010, June). The Decision-Driven Organization. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from Harvard Business Review website: https://hbr.org/2010/06/

     the-decision-driven-organization

Blenko, M. (2010, October 13). How Companies Can Make Better Decisions, Faster [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxpg6D4Hk8 

Lesonsky, R. (2013, December 11). 4 Tips For Mastering Bottom Up Leadership. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/  4-tips-for-mastering-bottom-up-leadership/ 

Stark, P. (2010, February 1). 6 Reasons to Involve Employees in Decision Making. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from Peter Barron Stark Companies website: https://www.peterstark.com/key-to-engagement/#