How Great Managers Engage Great Employees

Being a great manager or owner isn’t simply about you and your team performing well. Being a great manager is about engaging with your employees and helping them want to perform well. It is no secret that employees who are happy in the workplace tend to perform better. But those same employees who perform better will also likely care not only about their own performance but the performance of the company as well. So the question still begs, how do I, the manager, engage with my employees to help them grow into caring and dedicated individuals? Here a few ways to get started. Add these to your managerial to-do list and watch your employees engage:

Communication is key. Communicating with your employees regularly is the most important way to connect with them. Whether it be in person, on the phone, or by email your employees will value the fact that you are taking the time to help them learn, grow and improve the business.

Life is not all about work. Your employees have lives outside of the workplace, and so do you. While you don’t have to be best friends, it is a great idea to know at least some things about your employees’ lives. Talking about more than just work will help them to see you as a person and not just their boss.

Let the positive shine through. Providing positive feedback to your employees instead of only acknowledging the negative will help them learn what is important to you, what you want from them, and how they can exceed your expectations. All of that will increase their effectiveness in the workplace. Dwelling on the negative will only make your employees feel worthless and unhappy, when they should feel like an asset to your company.

Be clear with what you want. Employees will struggle if they are unsure of what they are supposed to be doing to move the organization forward. Setting clear goals and expectations will help to keep your employees from getting frustrated and worried about disappointing you.

There is so much more you could do to engage with your employees to make them feel comfortable and happy in the workplace. Trying out these four strategies is a great basis for creating a foundation for employee engagement.