When you morph from employee to employer because you have started your own business, it can be challenging to be a good boss. You remember your days as a full time worker through rose-tinted glasses. The office camaraderie was great, you had a good wage, and you enjoyed some decent perks. You may have received excellent employer’s pension contributions, a generous holiday package, car allowance, and chances for promotion. However, these perks can only make up a small percentage of your day to day contentment within a company.
As an employer, you need to go beyond these perks to offer something different. You need a cohesive team that will be productive, that buys into your business vision, and that will go the extra mile for a business that they care about. A staff team won’t just magically do this – you need to facilitate an environment and an ethos that fosters creativity and dynamism. Your business needs to thrive, not just survive. Take a look at how you can be an incredible boss to inspire your employees to be productive.
Environment
During these coronavirus days, you may have implemented a period of flexible remote working. Working from home has been frowned upon by many employers in recent years, as trust has been lacking in employees. Companies used to worry about procrastination and productivity levels. However, what the recent Covid-19 crisis has taught us is that employees can be trusted to produce a high standard of work from the comfort of their own home. If you have embraced flexible working, make sure that this forms part of your future plans when it comes to employee engagement. A staff team will appreciate the trust that you place in them.
If you have an office environment that has seen better days, it is time to give your workplace some TLC. There’s nothing worse for an employee than dreading going to work every morning because the office is grim with peeling paint, damp on the walls, and drafty windows. This creates an uncomfortable and drab environment where morale is low. You cannot expect your team to produce their finest work in this sort of environment. You need to get the white paint out, add some greenery, and install some collaborative working pods. The environment that you create needs to mirror the ethos that you want to foster amongst your workforce.
Relationships
You need to treat your employees as human beings, not just payroll numbers. Provide a package of support as and when they need to access it. This can be in their personal life as well as their professional life. If they need counseling, provide access to it. If they need to get in touch with an accident attorney, make sure that you guide them toward the best in the field. This help for their non-work related concerns shows your staff that you care about their health and well being.
The relationships that you foster with your staff will be beneficial to productivity levels. You need to communicate effectively to empower them to work at their optimum. Have a Monday morning briefing every week, whether this is face to face or remotely. By asking for their views and ideas in business tasks, and by providing them with the necessary information they need to perform well in their role, you are empowering them. Be transparent and honest in everything you say to them. Communicate what has gone well and what needs to be done better every week. Every Friday, send out an email namechecking those people who have performed exceptionally well in the past seven days. This little bit of positive praise always makes people feel warm inside. This fuzzy feeling of recognition harks back to our school days when the teacher used to praise us for good work. This feeling boosts morale and helps your staff to remain productive.
As an employer, you need to foster that feeling of mutual respect. As a young business, you might not have the capability to offer fantastic wages and exceptional bonuses. However, you can offer the chance to feel like part of a family and give staff the opportunity to be part of a business that has an upwards trajectory. You can promise chances for promotion and job satisfaction.
Forget about the gimmicky employee perks to seduce the best candidates, and instead, facilitate an excellent working environment, communicate effectively with your team, and treat your staff with respect. You will be an excellent boss that sees maximum productivity from your team.
