When a business is successful, it seems like everything just falls into place. However, the success of a business lies in the management techniques of its leaders. An inspiring leader can build enthusiasm and morale to encourage employees to make positive changes within a company to lead the business to success. Unfortunately, a bad manager can have just as much influence, damaging your business and driving away qualified workers. Gallup research reveals that 50% of employees who quit their job do so to get away from their manager. Even employees who like their job find that a bad boss contributes too much stress to make staying worth their effort. Employee turnover adds unnecessary expenses to a business with the need to constantly train new employees.
Workplace culture is the environment created within a business. It is the combination of personalities, shared behaviors, and work ethic of all employees within a company. Managers who strive to build a positive workplace culture often find greater success. Productive managers use techniques that engage employees to create a system that provides maximum work with minimum effort. Employees also thrive in these situations because the business is using the necessary elements to provide overwhelming success without creating a hostile working environment. A combination of smart management tactics is required to create a successful workplace. These tips can help managers build a positive team to accomplish the tasks that lead to success.
1. Create Employee Engagement
When your employees are truly interested in the success of the company, your business will thrive. It seems obvious enough. Employees who are just building time towards a paycheck aren\’t invested in the future of the company. Surprisingly enough, the reasons why employees become engaged are not always easy to detect. If your employees are treated like low-level workers with no value except the ability to fill a space every day, they have no reason to become invested in the interests of the company as a whole. Simply put, for employees to become engaged, there must be personal benefits involved.
Employee engagement isn\’t built with a bigger paycheck. It is a combination of actions that increases the daily satisfaction of working within a business. The way you engage your employees depends on their values and lifestyles. These actions can help you engage employees to become invested in the success of your business:
Improve communication to show employees their feedback is valuable.
Offer rewards for employees who reach company goals.
Create flexible schedules to improve work/life balance.
Increase hands-on training to build strengths.
2. Delegate Thoughtfully
It\’s no secret that every person has strengths and weaknesses. Usually, we are happiest and most efficient when performing the tasks we already do well. There\’s no reason this natural selection of task management shouldn\’t be utilized in the workplace. Some reasons managers hesitate to delegate tasks to include a lack of confidence in employees, guilt about piling on too much work, and habits developed over time. This reluctance ultimately harms the employees, managers, and success of the company.
Effective delegation isn\’t the act of simply assigning work. Delegation requires a manager to carefully choose the right employee for each task and ensure all workers have the proper training to meet those expectations. A manager must follow through by monitoring progress and providing feedback about the completed task. Praise for accomplishments combined with suggestions for improvement will help strengthen a team for future assignments.
3. Develop Clear Communication
Friendly communication between co-workers is vital to create an agreeable working environment. However, communication between all levels of management and employees is even more valuable. An Interact survey found that 69% of managers feel uncomfortable communicating with employees. This hesitation adds tension and confusion within the workplace. Consistent communication is necessary for collaboration within the workplace.
Building an effective communication system doesn\’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Honest communication whether it is positive or negative works to build trust between employees and management. A combination of techniques can easily be integrated to naturally encourage employees to communicate with managers, including:
The practice of an open-door policy to allow employees to approach managers with questions or concerns at any time.
The use of communication apps that streamline collaboration throughout the workplace.
Meetings that encourage feedback and new ideas from employees.
The practice of giving clear instructions and honest evaluations about employee progress.
4. Celebrate Milestones
A success for the company is a success for every employee. If it isn\’t, your employees have no reason to be engaged. Each step that leads to the success of your business was generated by the actions of all of the employees in your company. Including employees in the celebration of these successes builds morale. There are many simple ways to recognize employees for their efforts.
Company lunches to celebrate milestones
Employee recognition programs
Bonuses or rewards
An afternoon off work
Verbal recognition
5. Lead by Example
It is the job of a manager to lead employees to make competent decisions that will ultimately bring about the success of the company. It is impossible to lead others by the power of words alone. If you direct workers in one way but act in another, your employees will doubt your intentions and lose confidence in your ability as a leader.
A manager\’s example is a powerful influence on company culture. When a manager is visibly stressed all the time, that stress will rub off on the workers which can quickly lead to burnout. The ability to show employees that things are under control with delegations and clear communication can eliminate work overload. As a leader, your style of communication will be followed as well. A manager who participates in office gossip builds a toxic workplace with unengaged employees. An engaged positive manager can lead his or her team to success.
Increase your management potential with the right tools for better communication. HeyBuddy is an application platform that encourages seamless communication between collaborators and allows content to be shared and tracked automatically. Check out our blog for more great tips about how to improve your business.
Multi-Generational Communication in the Workplace