Sparking your employees’ enthusiasm and increasing engagement is as easy as following these rules
After shutting your office door, you quickly plop down into your desk chair and bury your head into your hands. Your end of year meeting with the employees at your company was a dismal failure. Several of the workers kept their eyes and hands on their cell phones during the entire 90 minute fiasco. Some employees looked as if they’d rather be enduring a root canal than sitting in the meeting. If you can relate to this common scenario, you might desperately desire to spark your employees’ enthusiasm in the coming year. By adhering to the following rules, mastering engaging employees may not be out of your reach.
Get to Know Employees
One of the easiest ways to engage employees is to make a sincere effort to get to know them better. When managers and supervisors reach out to workers on a personal level, employees feel important. Make small gestures to show you care about each employee. For instance, you might want to:
- Establish an open door policy
- Share a cup of coffee with individual employees
- Create a company sports team
- Send birthday cards to employees
Give Workers Space
Do you catch yourself attempting to hover over or micromanage your employees? While this habit can be hard to break, it often stifles employee creativity, productivity, and engagement. Give your workers space to do their jobs. Trust your employees to come to you if they need help with a particular issue.
Annihilate Fears of Failure
Giving workers space enhances their sense of ownership in the company. However, offering employees independence won’t preclude them from making the occasional mistake. If workers fear failure of any kind because of severe criticism or a punishment, they might avoid taking risks at all costs. Strive to create an environment at the office where workers don’t fear the consequences of failure.
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Provide Effective Job Training Opportunities
Most employees desire to excel in their jobs. When they make important contributions to the company, they often feel feelings of pride and accomplishment. Unfortunately, when workers don’t believe they’ve been adequately trained to complete their tasks, they can quickly become disengaged. Consider creating a detailed training program. You can utilize it to periodically update employees on the skills and knowledge necessary to complete their assigned duties. Also, think about paying the tuition cost for employees to take courses relating to their job responsibilities.
Focus on the Positive
At some companies, the only time managers communicate with employees is when they’ve done something wrong. To engage employees, strive to focus on their positive attributes instead of constantly dwelling on their negative ones. Identify the activities that excite individual workers. Consider revamping workers’ job descriptions. Steer them into roles they relish participating in the most. Pairing your workers’ passion with concrete job responsibilities will help your business achieve success.
