Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think that employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?
What are some impediments to good decision making?
Blenko suggests that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.
An article in the Ivey Business Journal explains “An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work. Blenko discusses decision making process and employee engagement within an organization. Effective decision making in an organization affects not only the executives but the lower level employees as well. Decision-making can contribute to employee engagement by keeping employees involved in the decision-making process of anything that affects them positively. Employees want to feel a sense of ownership in the decisions that are being made in organizations. They want to be a part of the process to ensure that their opinions and feelings are being valued, and if they’re not, it will be hard getting them bought into the decisions that are being made. Blenko (2013) also stated a few setbacks to good decision making:
- Employees may not understand who the decision-maker is.
- The lead gets bad information
- The information does not get to the decision maker at all (HBR, 2010).
The quality factor of decision making affects employees the most, so if they are high in quality it could contribute to employee engagement.
I think the biggest impediment to good decision making is time. Organizations of every industry are forced to make split-second decisions that have significant impacts on their business, but often times it’s hard to make a quality decision in so little time. That is why organizations hire managers who have good decision making and critical thinking skills to be able to do this and have the most positive impact on the ones who are affected by the decisions. Another impediment is failure to collaborate amongst the organization. With so many different opinions, levels of experience, and perspectives on decisions it can be hard to agree upon a decision that is best for the organization. Collaboration and teamwork on all levels of decision making is essential organizational success through decisions.
There are five steps that can help improve decision-making effectiveness (Bain, n/d):
There are five steps that can help improve decision-making effectiveness (Bain, n/d):
- Score the organization
- Focus on key decisions
- Make decisions work
- Build an organization
- Embed decision capabilities
Blenko, M, Mankins, M. and Rogers, P. (2013). The five steps to better decisions. Brain Brief. Retrieved from: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/the-five-steps-to-better-decisions.aspx
Crim, D. & Seijts. G. (2006). WHAT ENGAGES EMPLOYEES THE MOST OR, THE TEN C’S OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from:http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/the-workplace/what-engages-employees-the-most-or-the-ten-cs-of-employee-engagement#.VApAMvmwIyM
Harvard Business Review (2010). How companies can make better decisions, faster. Video presentation. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxpg6D4Hk8&feature=player_embedded
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