When bosses walk in employees’ shoes

6 min.

Recently, I heard a story about a top manager who came to a factory to inform approximately 300 workers that the company couldn’t afford to pay their salaries on time and that the payment would be delayed by two weeks. This Mr. X arrived in the factory yard in a brand-new BMW X7. There’s just no way to explain this. Although this manager had sold his Porsche and Ferrari in the meantime and bought something more "ordinary," people noticed, and the subsequent meeting with the workers was far from peaceful.

I was intrigued by an article in The Economist on the topic of empathizing with employees, and I’m going to delve into it a bit more.

Every manager worth their salt knows the value of “walking in their customers’ shoes.” There are many ways to do this. You can observe customers in their natural environment. The CEO of Pernod Ricard recently mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg his habit of visiting bars to see what people want to drink. This kind of research is much less fun if your company makes soap dispensers for public restrooms, but the principle remains the same.

However, this inspiration doesn’t only apply to customers. It can also be useful within the organization. "Walking in employees’ shoes" is a way for bosses to understand what hinders productivity, what drains morale, and what makes employees feel valued. A sense of affinity can arise if you live in the same community as other employees. Recent research found that CEOs in Denmark who lived within 5 km of their offices tended to create better work environments than those who lived farther away. But if moving isn’t an option, how else can managers gain insight into how employees see things?

Even if a boss genuinely wants to hear the unvarnished truth, employees may not be willing to say it. The CEO of a domestic bank regularly hosted breakfast meetings twice a month with rank-and-file workers, aiming to learn as much as possible firsthand. Unfortunately, the CEO was a foreigner, and the truth is, not many bank clerks at the front desk are fluent in English. When you add to this the awkwardness of being in an expensive restaurant with the top boss and a translator by his side, spontaneous inspiration and the real state of the bank are unlikely to come to light. Being chosen for such a breakfast was more of a punishment, and the atmosphere was many things, but relaxed was definitely not one of them.

So how can this be done? One option is to return to working alongside colleagues. One of my clients goes to the production line once a month to work a shift at the machine, another canceled his secretary's position and fills out his own travel expenses, and his door is always open. Another client introduced mandatory practice for all future managers at the front desk of their company. Their goal isn’t to hassle anyone or bother them with less skilled work, but rather to bring them closer to the reality of everyday workplace life or the company they are supposed to manage.

Another option is to strengthen so-called upwards communication. Most companies have well-developed downwards communication—decisions are made at the top, and everyone below finds out through meetings, memos, emails, or bulletin boards. However, everyday problems from the bottom rarely make it to the top. There is, of course, a great app from an Indian company for this, or even a "suggestion box" for ideas and feedback. Strengthening active and systematic upwards communication is always an advantage.

But to be fair, the opposite is also not easy. Many employees see a top manager in a suit and a fancy car, thinking of them as some “deity descending to earth” or more often as a “shiny jerk.” However, they often can’t imagine the responsibility behind certain decisions, the risks the manager takes, or simply the time sacrificed for work at the expense of relationships and family.

Do you know of any interesting ideas or companies that help both sides get to know each other better?

Pavel Plachý is the founder of Flow-r Executive Search. He began his career in business intelligence, working for both Czech and multinational companies in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. He has also held international top management roles, leading teams in three countries with a total of more than 700 employees.

In 2008, he founded his own company focused on finding strategic candidates and, since then, he and his colleagues have been dedicated to executive search. He finds top managers and strategic experts for his clients.

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