Under New Management summary

Introduction

Under New Management by David Burkus. Modern organizations must adapt to new work realities. Why is the traditional command and control management style obsolete today? We are now in an era of knowledge work.

This work is creative and unpredictable. It requires autonomy and flexibility from employees. Leading organizations are already abandoning business as usual.

employees first

Employees First. Did you know that keeping your workforce truly happy will magically create intensely loyal customers everywhere? Your employees should always remain your primary concern throughout every single business day of the week. Happy workers consistently lead directly to satisfied buyers who return again and again for more purchases.

Extensive research shows that employee job satisfaction is closely tied to overall customer satisfaction ratings. Clients of joyful workers perceive the delivered service quality to be much higher than average standards. This strong correlation holds up remarkably well even for customers with very little actual employee contact. So it clearly makes exceptional financial sense to always put your valued employees first in priority.

The absolute key to unlocking happy and creative workers is offering them deep and meaningful trust. Business leaders should cut loose rigid rules and avoid constantly checking up on their team members. Nobody in the modern professional world truly enjoys being heavily micromanaged by their direct supervisors. Wise managers set a few simple boundaries that allow staff members to use their common sense.

You must trust them to excel brilliantly when they are granted this wonderful level of freedom. Consider how Netflix has no standard working times and no traditional vacation policy for staff. Employees set their own daily schedules and take time off at their own personal discretion. The primary guiding rule for travel expenses at this enterprise is to act in its best interests.

Giving workers this tremendous freedom did not cause operating costs to spiral out of control. Instead, it encouraged everyone to think like owners and make smart decisions for the firm. This approach produced far more engaged employees who wanted to invest deeply in their enterprise. Workers who experience this level of autonomy are also much less likely to move on elsewhere.