You can have all of the right processes, technology, and creative marketing, but you’ll only ever be as good as your weakest link. And if you don’t pay attention to your team, that lowest link typically ends up being your employees.
6 Simple Ways to Empower Your Employees
Your employees might have a confident exterior that’s unflinching in the face of pressure, but they have needs. They’re much softer on the inside and must be cared for and cultivated.
Here are several of the best ways to do so:
1. Start With Onboarding
There’s no better time or opportunity for giving your employees the support they need to succeed than during the onboarding process. And no one has a greater impact on a new employee’s success than the individuals who hired them. Involving these hiring managers in the onboarding process helps them become fully integrated into the organization.
“Research has shown that being methodical in onboarding brings many new employees up to speed 50 percent quicker, which means they’re more quickly and efficiently able to contribute and achieve the targeted goals,” Harvard Business Review mentions. “An efficient onboarding also dramatically reduces the chances of failure and increases employee engagement and retention.”
Consider the biggest challenges they face, as well as the questions they’re most likely to have. Be proactive, rather than waiting on them to come to you. (Because, in many cases, they won’t. For fear of looking unprepared, they’ll adopt a fake it until you make it approach. You obviously don’t want that.)
2. Live Out Your Culture
It’s not enough to have a culture. Mission statements, core values, and shiny brochures of smiling faces aren’t culture. Culture is how your team operates on a day-to-day basis. It’s the interactions between employees and the way people approach their work.
If you want your employees to be successful, there can’t be any separation between the documented culture and the lived culture. They must perfectly mirror one another.
3. Set Clear Goals
Each individual team member needs to understand precisely; what’s expected of them. They need to know what their version of success is. You do this by setting specific and measurable goals.
When your employees have a clear vision of what’s expected, they’re much more likely to take the necessary steps to achieve (or even surpass) these goals. On the flip side, when expectations are vague, doubt and trepidation tend to be the defining moods.
4. Supply The Right Tools
In addition to setting goals and providing emotional support, encouragement, and training, you need to give your team the right tools to carry out their responsibilities with a high degree of efficiency among your employees.
For example, if you’re a fleet manager who is responsible for overseeing fleet drivers and mechanics, supplying them with fully integrated fleet maintenance software can help automate time-consuming, energy-depleting tasks (so they can reserve their creative energy for tasks that bring them joy and fulfillment).
5. Communicate Clearly
Communication is so important. Your employees need a clear understanding of expectations and goals (as discussed previously). However, this goes both ways. They also need the ability to provide feedback in real-time.
Developing simple yet effective feedback loops allows you to stay in constant contact with your team and keep a finger on the pulse of what’s happening throughout your organization. In turn, you can iterate and adapt to ensure your team has everything they need to be successful.
6. Encourage Balance
The importance of work-life balance can’t be overstated. If you want your team to perform well on the job, you have to give them space to spend time with family and friends. In other words, they need a life outside of work in order to be effective inside of work.
You can encourage better balance by allowing for flexible work hours, remote work, and other benefits that give employees some level of freedom over your employees’ schedules.
Give Your Employees A Leg Up
Anything you can do to strengthen and motivate your employees will come back to benefit you in the future. Even though it costs time, money, and energy on your part, these investments will pay dividends. Trust the process, love your people, and set them up for success every step along the way.
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