Chances are, if you’ve ever been in a managerial position, you’ve often wondered if your employees are deaf. You’ve made their tasks clear, you’ve repeated yourself several times and yet somehow the work still isn’t being done. Managing a group of employees is already a stressful task as you often have to deal with strong personalities, differing opinions, bad attitudes, etc.
However, this is where people are mistaken, you do not have to “manage” your employees. Running a business should be a team effort so keep on reading to find out why your staff doesn’t always seem to do what you say.
1. They don’t know you.
Most managers are so focused on accomplishing their goals that they forget the team assisting them.
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” — Phil Jackson.
If your sole focus is your company and not your team, your employees will quickly catch on to that. You will lose credibility and they will simply act as robots, i.e. only doing what you ask of them and never acting on their own initiative. The workplace is bombarded with many different personalities and what may work for some may not work for others. This is why it’s important to get to know your employees. Getting to know your staff means knowing what motivates them, which environmental factors hinder or enhance their growth, their skills, strengths, etc. Once an individual believes that their boss genuinely cares for them, the caliber of their work will greatly improve.
2. You are relying on power and fear to lead.
A great number of employers are of the opinion that talking down to their staff will make them work harder and faster. This is not true. Speaking condescendingly to workers will not push them towards wanting to succeed but rather towards a path of reluctance. This also creates a very toxic work environment. Being a dictatorial manager can and will trigger catastrophic consequences on your company and can even push your employees towards quitting, thus, leaving you without a team.
For example, the company IKEA conducted a “Bully A Plant” experiment to prove the destructive effects of negative comments. The well-known furniture company set up two identical plants and for 30 days allowed students to compliment one plant but bully the other. After the 30 days, the plant which was “bullied” started to wilt whereas the other one flourished.
Ikea Bully Plant experiment
3. You don’t motivate them.
When an employee’s work is not up to par, the boss tends to question the employee but never themselves. However, sometimes, the employee is simply just lacking motivation. Motivation to employees is like water to plants. It is INDISPENSABLE.
So how exactly do you motivate your staff? Create friendly competition between workers, reward them and show gratitude when they’ve done a good job. Connect with your employees and ask their opinions about certain ideas. This will make them feel valued, appreciated and inspired to do even better than before. Give them honest feedback but don’t be rude and most importantly treat them with respect.
All these things create a domino effect — a very healthy work environment creates an increase of motivated employees which then leads to an increase in business productivity. Your employees will be happy and so will your pockets.
No job is easy but no job should have to be difficult. This is why your team is so important. Listen to your employees more, ensure that you have created a healthy workplace and motivate them as often as you possibly can. Influencing a team comes with its challenges but following the advice mentioned in this article can make it a lot less stressful.
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