Getting the Most from Your Employees
Understanding Management Theory
Management theory is key to driving a team’s success. When you have staff, they need to be managed – and there are tried and proven theories out there that can be put to use to get the most out of each and every employee while they’re working for you. There are way too many out there to explain here in this one article, but you can find management theories explained here. Different principles apply to different employees and different areas of the business. So make sure you only implement practices that are a proven success within your field!
Make Them Feel Appreciated
Employee retention is a huge issue for many employers nowadays. Many people will leave one company and skip straight to the next in a bid to advance their careers.This is no good for your company. Remember that taking on and training new staff is a costly process. Finding replacements and retraining them is a costly process. You want to keep operating costs as low as possible and retain your staff as much as you can. This will also help your business advance, as having lots of people at hand who are familiar with your brand and its products and services means less time spent explaining company, product or service history to new recruits. The best way to keep staff on board? Make them feel appreciated. Recognize hard work and achievements. Congratulate hard work. You could even offer end of your bonuses, or simple small bonuses around key times of year, such as chocolate eggs at Easter or a small gift at Christmas.
Carry Out Team Building Exercises
Team spirit is essential for every work force. Sure, being able to work independently and individual brilliance are desirable and admirable. But if you find that your company has an “every person for themselves” kind of attitude amongst employees, you can quickly find yourself facing problems. These can range from finding yourself in a relatively hostile and overly competitive workplace. You can find that some workers will walk all over others in order to shine themselves. Perhaps most notably? You’ll notice that your business doesn’t progress as quickly as it should and your profits will become negatively impacted. Your business is a machine and all the different cogs need to work together to keep things running and ticking over. So, if you haven’t yet, it’s time to get your team engaged in some team building exercises. Why? Well, these activities will break the ice between employees. Once they already feel they know each other, they won’t feel as awkward asking each other for information, help, or anything else they could benefit from back in their day to day roles. It can also make your workplace a nicer space to spend time, with your staff becoming more satisfied and generally working harder within their roles.
Set KPIs and Goals
KPI stands for key performance indicator and a goal, well, is a goal. Set these for your staff. It will help you to monitor their progress and ensure that they’re working to the expected standard. It will make sure they know your expectations of them and meet them or surpass them. Of course, it’s absolutely essential that you are responsible when setting these milestones. You don’t want to set something unachievable, as this will simply deflate morale and have a negative impact on productivity. Instead, set your employees’ KPIs and goals just above what you genuinely expect of them. This will push them and they’ll feel thrilled when they achieve them.
These are just a few different areas that you might want to focus on when it comes to getting the most from any employees you do take on. You can also consider making sure your employees have the best tools and equipment for their job, whether it is masonry tools and materials or software. Each of these tips will help you to encourage them and support them in a different way, so make sure to take time to consider all of the suggestions outlined above!