Management for Beginners - Things your team needs

If you want outstanding employee performance with high levels of morale and job satisfaction – there are only three things you need to do.

Doing these things often and well will produce great teamwork, increased productivity, work quality and profitability, to name just a few. Moreover, by practising these three things every day, your management acumen and social capital will also literally skyrocket.

The three essential things you need to do to manage your employees effectively, to keep them happy and satisfied and feeling respectful about you and to show that you genuinely value them and their contributions; are:

·      Giving Recognition

·      Providing Support

·      Facilitating Growth

A supportive company culture is essential for every workplace because it engages everyone. When employees are engaged, they perform better and are far more likely to reach their full potential.

An important part of building a supportive culture is encouraging feedback, concerns and praise. Managers must go beyond an open-door policy and must reach out to employees. Part of being an effective manager is building healthy professional and personal relationships with employees so they can develop a sense of trust for their managers. When there is trust, they are more likely to share concerns or ideas they may otherwise not share.

Giving Recognition

From an early age, we crave recognition from parents, teachers, and friends. So strong is our need for positive affirmation that we can even perceive a neutral reaction as a negative one. We all need and highly value recognition of our efforts, our contributions; we need regular feedback to understand how well we are going and if our work is hitting the mark. An employee of the month award or positive comments in front of peers is a good way to go as well as simple, genuine expressions of thankfulness which inspire people to do their best.

Recognition shows employees that their company values them and their contributions; it helps employees create a sense of security of their value to the company, motivating them to do great work. Employee recognition is a method of support that helps employees know their contributions are recognised and appreciated. Employees want to know how they are doing, and recognising employees demonstrates what success looks like. Companies recognise employees for going above and beyond, for their achievements, tenure or service, or desired behaviours. Employee recognition helps to:

·      Retain top talent

·      Increase employee engagement

·      Encourage high performance

An employee survey included the question, “What is the most important thing that your manager or company currently does that would cause you to produce great work?”  Respondents answered in their own words, providing a variety of responses, but a clear pattern emerged. 37% of respondents said that more personal recognition would encourage them to produce better work more often.

While other themes like autonomy and inspiration surfaced, recognition was the most common theme that emerged from responses. In addition, the study showed that affirmation, feedback and reward are most effective for motivating employees to do their best work. See the chart below.

What you need to do

Recognition is absolutely essential in the workplace, and it doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. In the workplace, it looks like this:

·      Showing acceptance and respect.

·      Giving approval.

·      Respecting a person’s Individual preferences.

·      Finding out an employee’s likes, dislikes, and personal wishes.

·      Being sensitive as to how you say things.

·      Making comments such as:

-       “That was a great monthly report you wrote, it helped me a lot.”

-       “I appreciate all of the work you put in on your latest project.”

·      Being specific. Recognition is more meaningful when it is tied to a specific accomplishment or business objective.  When recognising employees, explaining what the recognition is for helps employees relate the recognition to their behaviour. This encourages continued strong performance.

·      Being timely. Recognition needs to be timely; the longer it takes for managers to recognise employees, the less likely employees will see the affirmations as authentic.

·      Just saying thank you. While it’s crucial to recognise major accomplishments, just saying thank you every day is just as important and effective and motivates employees just as much (and sometimes even more).

Providing Support

Committed employees feel supported and perform far better at work, are absent less often, and are far less likely to resign. This is because employees want the organisation to value them, to have their contribution appreciated, to have an organisation that cares about their well-being and is ready to offer help when needed. This is referred to as “Perceived Organisational Support. The main effects of which are:

·      Increased commitment. If an employee feels valued and cared for, they are likely to value the company in return. They are also likely to feel a sense of belonging and support so that working for the organisation becomes part of their identity and sense of purpose and meaning. These things increase the employees feeling of commitment and loyalty to their organisation.

·      Improved job satisfaction and mood. Employees who feel valued have greater job-satisfaction. They feel happier at work, and their overall attitude towards work is more positive. They expect that hard work will be rewarded and feel that help will be available if needed.

·      Increased interest in work. People are more likely to be interested in a task if they feel they are good at it. Support from the workplace can help increase an employee’s feelings of competence and, therefore, their level of interest in their work.

·      Increased performance. Employees who feel valued and supported perform better at work and go beyond their required duties. They might help other employees gain knowledge and skills that benefit the workplace or use their initiative to help the company or protect it from risks.
·      Decreased psychological strain. Organisational support is believed to help employees cope better with stress, as practical help and emotional support are available. Previous studies have shown organisational support can help reduce psychological stress and reduce reactions to stress, including burnout, anxiety and headaches.

·      Increased desire to remain working for the organisation. Supported employees are less likely to leave their job for another one that offers slightly better pay, more status or greater freedom.

·      Decreased lateness, absenteeism and turnover. Employees who feel valued are less likely to withdraw from work. Employees might withdraw by taking sick leave, arriving late or quitting.

Perceived organisational support has a strong effect on commitment, job satisfaction, mood and desire to stay with a company. The main factors that increase perceived organisational support and make employees feel more valued and cared about are:

·      Fairness. Employees who believe their organisation is fair, feel more valued.

·      Support from supervisors. If employees feel valued by their managers, they tend to take this to mean that the organisation values them as a whole. Employees are also aware that their manager’s evaluations will probably be passed on to higher management.

·      Rewards and job conditions. Recognising an employee’s contributions increases their sense of being valued, achieved through recognition, pay or promotions.

What you need to do

Support in the workplace increases an employee’s feelings of competence and their level of interest in their work. Employees who feel valued and supported perform better at work and go beyond their required duties. In the workplace, support looks like this:

·      Providing appropriate work tools.

·      Providing training.

·      Providing material assistance.

·      Providing encouragement.

·      Always offering to help.

·      Providing examples.

·      Doing walkthroughs of what it is you are after.

·      Being more interested in the person having a go as against what they produce.

·      Understanding when it’s time to step in.

·      Not waiting for performance reviews to give feedback.

·      Providing mentorship.

·      Actively promoting a healthy work-life balance.

·      Showing your employees that you trust them.

·      Thanking your team for their hard work.

Facilitating Growth

Every employee needs a workplace that develops them personally and professionally, where there is growth that increases their competencies and capacity for external accomplishment and inner fulfilmen

The rate of development varies from person to person, as does how the development is delivered. Therefore, it is vitally important to understand and accept individual differences (e.g., some people receive more encouragement, some more autonomy, others firmer standards, and still others more task structure), and it follows that when delegating tasks, it should be done as a means of developing your employees.

What you need to do

·      Provide training opportunities like chairing meetings, leading a project or giving a presentation.

·      Increase a person’s energy. Giving recognition and providing support with added motivation increases a person’s energy levels, and the higher their energy, the greater their capacity for accomplishment.  

·      Provide challenges. We grow when we are challenged to be our best and exceed ourselves, and this is best done by delegating tasks outside a person’s comfort zone, skillsets, experience and knowledge. 

·      Make sure the person is organised. Organisation converts energy into accomplishment. The more organised someone is, the greater the results they can achieve.

·      Capitalise on a person’s skills. If not challenging someone, the greater the skill they possess, the less the time and effort needed to perform the action and the greater the result.

·      Create performance goals. Help your employees establish individual performance goals that are aligned with (a common goal) their strengths, interests and experience, as well as with the overall business strategy. Establish goals and expectations to help them set their sights on career aspirations.

·      Help them build their networks. Recommend opportunities within the organisation, as well as networking or professional groups that will help them build strong connections.

·      Show employees, you trust them. If you want to help, employees develop, trust them to do their jobs by getting out of the way. Let them know your expectations by modelling the behaviour you expect—show them you trust them. This not only lets employees know what they need to succeed and gives them greater ownership, but it also shows them that credibility and trust are important in your organisation.

The best way to do all three - Mentoring

As a manager in an organisation who wants to be respected, looked up to, and wants to develop teamwork, you must have a good understanding of your people. Spending time with them, talking to them, is how you understand what they care for individually; this is how you discover what makes them tick. Managers who actively support and motivate feel closer to those whom they are helping. By showing a sincere interest in your employees, you are building trust and inspiring them to achieve higher levels of performance. Mentoring is the best way to achieve these things and the three primary employee needs discussed above.

The purpose of mentoring is to create a working relationship that is positive and supportive that provides you with a management tool to develop your employees to their fullest potential.

Establish a weekly formal mentoring session, the scope of which should change and evolve as the needs of the employee being mentored changes.

At the start of your mentoring sessions, explain why the sessions are being held, their purpose of providing review current work activities, provide recognition, provide support and foster personal and professional growth. Then try to exchange background information about yourself and the employee before you talk about anything else; take the time to get to know each other. Try to understand the employee’s situation and out of work stresses and obligations. Use your situation as an example. Being as frank and honest as you can helps build repour and encourages the employee to do the same. You are building a working relationship here, and you want to be able to quickly and easily, openly and honestly, discuss any subject, no matter how contentious or troublesome.

At subsequent sessions, the employee being mentored should be encouraged to share information about his or her career path aspirations and be given guidance, motivation, emotional support and assistance with problems.

Without a mutually understood agreement to speak freely, the relationship is unlikely to reach its full potential. Commit to honesty. Both parties should be prepared to offer frank feedback as appropriate, even if the feedback is critical. Listen and learn. Mentors, especially, need to remember that the relationship is not primarily about them. These sessions should reveal employees preferred working styles and as mentioned, professional aspirations. You are their role model, leading by example, remembering that your words and actions will create a lasting impression and be copied.

Be careful of language; for example, never criticise anyone even when the situation warrants it. Instead, I strongly suggest that you tell them that you have an observation to make, albeit negative. The word ‘criticism’ or being perceived as critical is negative; it turns people off; they stop listening and are unlikely to take on board what you have to say. If, for example, you have made the same mistake yourself at some time or exhibited the same poor behaviour that you have ‘observed’, say so; it builds trust and reiterates that we all learn from our mistakes. Language is important. Always try to follow a negative observation with a positive one.

If you are running a team-building process, use this time to explore how the employee is adjusting, any concerns they may have and any suggestions for improvement. Work to get them to take on increased ownership of the team-building process, its outcomes, and new ways of working, new habits. After all, it’s for their benefit. It is important to impress on each employee how important it is to adopt, practice and make permanent the new team building ways of working. It is strongly recommended that you repeat this message every time.

Recognise that employees have individual differences in terms of needs and desires, aim to exploit their strengths and challenge them with new tasks to address weaknesses. Accept that there will be individual differences between team members (e.g., some team members require more encouragement, some more autonomy, others firmer standards, and still others more task structure). Aim to understand their preferred working style and be prepared to address failings.

You can find a Management Guide to Mentoring here

Conclusion

The three essential things you need to do to manage your employees effectively, to keep them happy and satisfied and feeling respectful about you and to show that you genuinely value them and their contributions; are giving recognition, providing support and facilitating growth.

To give recognition you need to be provide positive feedback, show approval, understand how each person accepts compliments, be timely and say thank you. To provide support you need to provide tools and training, material assistance and always with offers to help. To facilitate growth, you need to provide challenges, create performance goals and show employees that you trust them.

Finally, the best way to deliver all three is by doing a weekly mentoring session with each employee.

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