Managers: empower your team to boost the value of the business

4 mins, 53 secs read time

Creating a successful company culture is about more than just hiring the right talent. While hiring strong employees is important, it is the company’s responsibility to mold and create a valuable employee experience and contribute to employee development. Enabling an employee to boost the value of a business all starts with excellent management and development.

There is perhaps nothing worse than seeing great talent get squandered. This unfortunate phenomenon can happen for many reasons. Ultimately, for a company to be successful, it needs to be a place where people are motivated to do their best work without holding anything back. Here’s how you can ensure your talent is able to do this.

Ease up on micromanaging

Micromanagement is more than just a common complaint and annoyance in the workplace. It conveys there is a lack of trust between leadership and employees, and can lead to reduced productivity in the workplace.

Micromanagement suffocates talent, hinders creativity, and kills job satisfaction in the long run, potentially leading to a reduced employee lifetime value. Proper management, on the other hand, should encourage individual development and push people to be better.

While you may consider yourself a natural leader, enrolling in management courses can help you avoid micromanagement and empower your employees. Online course from Knowledgehut, for example, can aid you as a manager and give employees in your organization the freedom and opportunity to independently gain expertise.

From shoring up the fundamentals of management and beyond, structured training lets employees proactively grow your business from within. Rather than “managing” them, you can encourage them continue their education and sharpen their skills. Ultimately, this will directly impact the overall success of your business.

Prioritize efficiency in internal workflows

Many employees trace their top complaints in the workplace to poor communication. When you are working as a team, it is necessary to develop a system to effectively communicate with each other. Lack of communication or poor communication can easily lead to frustration, mistakes, missed deadlines, and even conflict in the workplace. If you want to build and maintain valuable employees, implementing proper internal communication and efficient workflows needs to be a top priority.

Technology can come to your rescue here. Workzone, for example, is a useful task management solution that lets you automate your projects, campaigns, processes, and workflows. The project dashboard clearly displays every task assigned to specific members or departments, so employees know exactly what is expected of them.

Another management tool to consider is Asana. Users can easily share files and edit documents directly within the program while the shared team calendar keeps everyone on track for upcoming deadlines. Tasks are assigned to specific members, along with the level of importance. With integration capability with other tools like Dropbox, Slack, and Google Drive, sharing documents and changes are much easier than crafting long email chains.

Encourage open feedback

There’s a common misconception that people dread hearing progress reports or feedback. However, that is actually quite far from the truth. According to an in-depth report on feedback in the workplace, 65% of employees wish they had received more feedback from management. 82% said they appreciate honesty and openness when it comes to evaluating their performance, even if the comments are negative. This report also found that not incorporating honest feedback was a direct cause of employee disengagement.

You can’t improve when you don’t know what needs improving, so creating a productive environment that welcomes open feedback is a great way to nurture positive development. This type of open communication regarding performance needs to work both ways, allowing employees to also voice their own opinions to management.

Consider using a feedback software system like Reflektive to encourage these discussions. Managers can set up customized monthly or quarterly reports, and teams work together to create goal charts for them to measure their successes and areas for improvement. You can even create constant progress reporting with instant feedback through Gmail and Outlook integrations that allow users to rate jobs and leave constructive comments.

Make sure hard work doesn't go unnoticed

When workers feel unappreciated, it is difficult for them to find the motivation to do their best work. This is exactly why recognition and encouragement are vital to building valuable employees that remain loyal to your company.

Recognizing hard work doesn’t always require major promotions or large raises (although these are certainly viable options depending on the circumstances). Little things like sending an email that expresses gratitude can go a long way. Taking employees out for a celebratory lunch or giving appropriate rewards are other easy ways to show your thanks.

Zugata makes it easier for managers to stay on top of performance management and take notice of developments and improvements. The system keeps track of employee performance data with goal management and proficiency assessments. The program even helps your employees stay on track with self-evaluations and development resources to help them brush up on their skills. Managers can visually see the progression of team members through graphs and charts, and can offer positive feedback within the program.

Creating a culture of engaged and connected employees through shared appreciation leads to more productive workers. Again, the responsibility of sharing this value begins with managers who seek to develop these positive aspects in their company. In addition to growing a business, as a leader, one of your primary goals should be to develop stellar talent and keep people motivated.

Over to you

Maintaining a culture of high-performing employees requires actively engaged management that understands the value each person provides to a business. Through leadership, effective communication, and a culture of appreciation and honesty, managers can ensure employees are encouraged to be their best and do their best. This is the formula for a work culture and business impact that is sure to thrive.