New Employment Management Model - EDGE

Over seven years ago, I created this management model and have been using it ever since. The model ensures that employers attract and retain peak performers. It's direct, to the point and easy to adopt no matter what the organization size or budget.

The employee management model is called - the EDGE. EDGE is an acronym that stands for: Educate, Develop, Guide, Empower.

First, you need to EDUCATE your employees to give them the knowledge, skills and abilities to do their job well. It not only ensures employee productivity but also creates a reputation that you, as an employer, is willing to invest in your people – this, in turn, will help to attract better quality talent to your organisation and help retain your current talent.

It’s not just about their current job, as a manager, you need to DEVELOP them and have a vested interested in their long-term growth within the company; expand your focus from simply getting excellent performance out of them in their current role to providing them with opportunities to grow; this makes it more attractive for talented team members to stay on board and helps you build a robust leadership pipeline. Without this step, employees will likely receive promotions as a reward for being competent in their current jobs and will then become incompetent to do their new job (Peter Principle).

The third component is to GUIDE; that’s about the hands-on coaching and mentorship. Make an effort to have regular conversations, don’t wait for scheduled annual reviews. Regular ongoing guidance will serve to mark their development progress and encourage them to develop and pursue meaningful learning goals. The key here is to coach and mentor them on a regular basis, provide them with timely feedback so that they have an opportunity to optimise and correct their development path.

Then, you need to EMPOWER your people; they have the KSA’s, now don’t micro-manage them, empower them to make the decisions. While it’s important to hold them accountable for the outcome, the key here is to clarify what needs to be done, give them ownership of the task, foster open communication, and support their independence by allowing for small failures; this demonstrates that you value and trust their judgement. The only time you should intervene is when the risks are high or when the employee wants you to remove a barrier (then you should follow the guide principle).

As a boss, simply focus on educating, developing, guiding and empowering your employees to foster a healthy and productive work environment.