How A Leader Removes Friction?

The slow sale of Starbucks made headlines on media presses like Wall Street years ago. As the coffee joint faced critical times, it needed a boost. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, came up with an idea to replicate the taste of Starbucks coffee in an instant form. While his team focused on executing the plan, he cleared off all the tech barriers they stumbled upon previously. He brought in some of the best minds on board, cracked the code through technology to create an instant coffee, and it was a complete success!

Becoming Frictionless

Howard Schultz strengthened Starbucks by focusing on many aspects, such as boosting bottom line numbers, streamlining operations, coming up with new ideas, and marketing. The approach chosen by Schultz to pull off the success of Starbucks was successful as his strategy was purely built on identifying the bottlenecks. From having streamlined a firm’s operations to ensuring a great employee experience, a leader like Schultz believes in being frictionless in every approach. I also focus on the same method, especially after seeing how being frictionless benefits the firm and the workforce. However, how well does the trait of being frictionless contribute to leadership?

In a frictionless leadership approach, the priority is to remove the bottlenecks in the organization. In the process, leaders concentrate on streamlining the internal aspects of a firm first – as external forces usually remain beyond a leader’s control. The focus is more on improving the work culture and employee processes at work. Simply put, a leader with this approach aims to remove all the internal frictions that hinder their employees’ and firms’ growth.

Here’s What A Leader Can Do!

I knew that behind every successful company, there’s an effort toward the firm’s processes and customer journey. But, what about the employee journey? A frictionless approach has been most effective with employees. 

I started shifting my focus toward eliminating obstacles hindering employees’ interest in the firm and focused on creating a great employee experience. 

The last two years of the pandemic left plenty of friction for a leader to pay attention to. An employee today demands skill-building opportunities, perks, and job security, which, if provided by the firm, may increase employee engagement. On the other hand, most firms are spending their time recouping the losses and working on their processes to dodge such calamities in the future. The difference in priority of a firm and workforce is the major friction. Somehow I had a hint of this happening!

A leader, in such a case, should soul-search every possible solution involving one-on-ones, soliciting management’s assistance, and formulating benefits for employees. When leaders take on the complexities employees face and become solution providers, they unintentionally end up creating a huge impact on the employees. It is the efforts of a leader that make employee experience positive in the firm. This constructive approach will help a leader to reduce internal friction by enhancing the employee experience.

The Framework

A frictionless workplace stands out as a desirable goal, and leaders are swamped with the expectations employees carry from them. As a leader, I admit to the first fact that friction is recurring and critical. Second, a CEO or a leader cannot be everywhere with every employee, physically. It’s the right time to let the HRs chip in! 

Start off by framing the company policies that are employee oriented and support the employee’s interests. Such policies help employees understand what a firm expects from them and the perks a firm is providing to its employees. In such situations, employees see the firm’s thought process and are more likely to trust the company. When the basics (policies) are taken care of, introduce digital support in the firm. Due to the transition to remote and hybrid working methods, employees have had to find new ways to balance the competing demands of personal and work-related collaboration tools. By introducing digitized workplaces, employees can take maximum advantage of learning tools, stay connected through robust technology, and progress. Additionally, the presence of a digitized workplace can promote an employee’s well-being. 

These behavioral frameworks and tools provide employees with a greater sense of control over their experiences, resulting in a positive work environment.

A Simple Approach

There is no ideal model or framework that automatically promotes a  frictionless functioning of a workforce. A leader with a mindset of awareness and a problem-solving approach only can make a difference in the firm. A simple approach to leadership is all it takes to remove the friction preventing the untapped potential, whether it be through communication, technology, or old-school workplace theory.