Engaging Employees
Engaging Employees
When you own a business, you want everything to run smoothly for you. This keeps things productive and light for you and everyone working under you. Like any machine, sooner or later a cog is going to get stuck or a wire come unplugged. Also like any machine, these problems can most times be avoided with proper maintenance and inspection. Keeping tabs on your employees and being involved with them while at work can help keep your company running as a well-oiled machine. This comes in three main parts, which for simplicity will be referred to as Give, Take, and Push.
Give: When it comes to giving, it means making sure employees know about what is happening in the company, where the company is planning on going, what this means for the employee, and other items such as benefits, upcoming events, etc. If there is a company picnic or softball game coming up, don’t just place a memo on a bulletin board. Engage with your employees; ask if they are coming in a playful way. If someone has put in extra hours or has a noticeable increase in quality of work, compliment them. If they are due for a raise soon make a small comment on it.
Take: On the other end, when an issue is occurring in the workplace, the employees will typically notice it before the management. They are the ones working on the equipment, spending their time on the floor, and spend time around each other. Communicating with them is the best way to find out about these issues. Sometimes an employee is experiencing personal issues outside of work. Although it is typically not recommended to get too personal with employees, being understanding is actually a positive trait. If an employee is noticeably distressed at their station, let them take a break. Lessen their workload a little if possible or let them head home a little early that day. If someone feels they are being underappreciated it is best to find out before they consider ending their employment and going elsewhere.
Push: While being kind to your employees and engaging with them, don’t forget to push them a little as well. Not too hard of course, but with a little proper challenging you can motivate and indirectly compliment an employee. Challenging them shows you believe they are responsible or capable enough for a new challenge. It is also a good way to see how capable an employee truly is. If you push an employee to work a little harder and they succeed at the tasks, then maybe it is time to move them up the ladder. Give them a new position, a new pay scale, and let them prove themselves for real this time. If an employee does not rise to a challenge or has difficulty with it, then you know they are best being left in their current position.
These steps don’t mean you have to spend hours away from your desk. Owning a company comes with plenty of meetings and paperwork. You can spend less than an hour a day engaging employees outside of your normal routines. If you are looking to free up some more time to interact with employees, you could look at outsourcing some responsibilities such as payroll and human resources. A company like Vision H.R. can take the stress from payroll and give you the information you need to make financial decisions about your employees and their paychecks. If you are looking to outsource and own a business in the Lake Mary area, contact the Human Resource experts today and get a free quote.
