Any good manager knows that getting employees engaged and excited about work can be tricky. An employee who isn’t involved and enthusiastic at work is a major drain on your company, costing you time and money through his or her poor performance and eventually dragging down the company through his or her apathy. There are a few key characteristics that separate great managers from poor ones and that can inspire employee loyalty to create an amazing work environment.
Communicate Freely
Healthy relationships rely on good communication and employees need their managers to be open and consistent with their communication. Regular meetings, emails, or even phone conversations will keep a relationship between employees and managers healthy and open. But great managers go beyond superficial conversations and take the time to be truly invested in their employees’ lives. Learning about employees’ passions, families, and relationships will make the employees feel more invested in their jobs.
Set Clear Goals
Managing employee performance is more than just staying on top of numbers and goals. When employees don’t understand their goals and how they relate to the bigger picture or the success of the company, they will struggle about their role in the company and why they should perform their assigned duties. Annual reviews are important but don’t address the day-to-day stress of not knowing how to truly define their roles. Managers who discuss responsibilities and progress on a regular basis with employees will see a not only a higher satisfaction rate among their staff but also improvement towards reaching goals.
Play to Employee’s Strengths
It’s best to focus on an employee’s strengths than to harp on his or her weaknesses. When strengths are focused on, employees tend to learn faster, stay more engaged, remain at a company for a longer period of time, and consistently produce better work. By helping employees to focus on their strengths and use them to reach their goals, managers create happier employees who are willing to work hard for their company. Using an employee survey tool is an easy way to make sure that as a manager, you are engaging your employees to their fullest and focusing on what they are good at doing.
Allow Them to Influence Others
It’s important to allow employees to be in a role of influencing others. Good managers will watch how their employees relate to others while working on projects together and how they lead others. Make sure that as a manager, you’re not micromanaging every employee who works under you. It’s important for them to feel independent and valued for the work that they do.
Being a good manager takes much more than simply showing up to work and observing while others do their jobs. It means being engaged, caring for your employees, and allowing them the chance to grow and better themselves.