Nothing beats a truly empowered workplace

Q: I’m a firm believer in a workplace that values the opinions of staff members and fosters a work environment that actively seeks to improve by incorporating the views of internal and external stakeholders. What sort of advice can you offer to executives so that they can become more aware of their own shortcomings and create a better working environment for their staff? What can you do to retain good workers?

Success in business is all about people, people, people. Your team is your biggest competitive advantage, no matter what industry you’re in, which is why it’s so important that business leaders look after their people.

The ability to motivate and inspire is a critical skill that every modern-day leader should strive for — you have to be very effective at praising staff and bringing out the best in them. The way I see it, employees are like flowers: If you water them and give them ample sunlight, they flourish. If you praise people and give them opportunities, they flourish.

We also seek to motivate staff members and keep them continuously engaged by providing them with well-designed, environmentally sound offices that offer plenty of natural light, by giving them stimulating tasks to work on and by making sure that their health and well-being is taken care of. We know that a happy and healthy employee is a successful one — and a successful employee builds a successful business.

But even more crucial: Business leaders must be great listeners. Your top-floor corner office might offer some wonderful views, but if you’re not getting out of that office on a regular basis, you won’t have a proper understanding of what’s going on in your company.

A good leader should be visible, accessible and approachable. She should get out there, listen to people, take notes on what they tell her and help to drive solutions that quash any anxieties that may arise.

‘We’ matter

Since the very beginning, our team at Virgin has placed a firm emphasis on “we” rather than “I”. Our businesses are focused on breaking down the silos that can inhibit or stifle collaborative team efforts that drive innovation.

We also believe that innovation should not be solely reserved for so-called creatives or leaders with titles — it’s for everyone. We tend to value everyone’s opinions and ideas, and we’ve found that employees who are working on the front lines every day or dealing with our products or services firsthand are often best placed to suggest improvements and come up with solutions to problems.

We make sure to give all of our people a real sense of autonomy. We encourage them to take advantage of flexible work hours so that they can manage their work-life balance effectively. And we identify our star contributors by highlighting brand ambassadors in our internal newsletters and by celebrating the achievements of individual team members.

Simply put: It’s up to those in charge to empower their employees, not to rule over them.

Empowering workers is not only key to attracting great people, but also to retaining them. If employees feel that their ideas are not being heard, or their voices don’t count, they are more likely to go elsewhere.

Employers often shrug off this fact, making the excuse that workers who leave were simply not right for the role. This, in my opinion, is lazy thinking.

Executives who give their people outlets to express their ideas not only give the staff a sense of purpose, but also give their company a better chance at success. It’s a win-win.

So when people ask me what I look for in leaders at Virgin, my answer is simple: What we value most is a leader’s ability to show a genuine interest and duty of care for their teams. We want our enterprises to be successful, and we know that when leaders take care of our employees, those employees will take care of our businesses.