The majority of us would struggle to run our businesses without the support of a strong team. Everyone that works for you, from managers to cleaning staff, plays an important part in ensuring that your company runs properly. A good team, on the other hand, needs a good leader to guide them. There is no one who can tie all of the jobs together and ensure that everything runs smoothly if there is no coordinator. But, how do you go about it? Unfortunately, there is no definite answer, and much of what you learn will be by trial and error along the way, but here are a few pointers to get you started in the right direction.
One of the most essential things you can do as a manager or business owner is to demonstrate to your employees that you value their contributions by recognizing them for their efforts. Although you must pay them, knowing that your efforts are appreciated by your superiors can be a powerful motivator to go the additional mile on occasion. The gesture need not be grand or extravagant; a box of cookies in the cafeteria on a Friday afternoon, an afternoon off to attend their children’s school play, or even a simple pat on the back and a heartfelt ‘thank you or gift cards for employees can go a long way toward showing staff that you value their contributions. Rewards also serve to foster employee loyalty, which results in lower rates of staff turnover, which in turn lowers recruitment and training expenses while also motivating employees to be more productive.
Communication can be done on a daily basis via email or communication systems such as Zoom, but nothing can truly replace conventional beginning and end-of-week complete team meetings that have been held for decades. You should take advantage of this opportunity to congratulate everybody who has achieved success, remind them of any major events coming up, and overall get a sense of how everyone is feeling at the time.
This can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish as a leader because you must strike a balance between demonstrating that you are in command and not allowing your staff to walk all over you while still demonstrating your human and caring side. It is inevitable that situations with your employees may arise when they have an ill child, a lack of childcare, the death of a loved one, or even something as simple as needing to take their car into the garage or have their boiler fixed at home. When you allow your team members to take time off when they are sick or injured and demonstrate compassion, you will gain their respect and loyalty, which will ensure that when they do return to work, they will be highly driven and productive to the greatest extent possible.
Finally, the most important thing you can do is to treat everyone who works for you with dignity and respect, from the cleaner to the CEO and everyone in between. Businesses cannot function without the help of those individuals, and they are typically the ones who keep things running smoothly on a daily basis. Make certain that they are treated as such, and you will have a more loyal and productive team.
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