Building a Stronger Relationship With Our Employees
People's differences are seldom is obvious, and your employees need to learn to be sensitive even to the delicate ones.
Employees are a lot like plants: give them a place in the sun, just enough attention, but not too much, and room to grow and they'll thrive. Keep them in the dark, hover over them too much, or neglect them outright, and they'll fail to produce. If building a stronger relationship with your employees is important to you, you can't go wrong by shining the spotlight on their achievements, giving them enough positive reinforcement without micromanaging, and allowing them to develop their talents.
1.Have an open door policy. If employees feel comfortable coming to you with new ideas, concerns, or, in the worst-case scenario, complaints, then it's easier to establish the natural give-and-take that comes with strong relationships.
2.Be present. Email, instant messaging and webcams may make communicating with your employees more convenient, but it's no substitute for the real thing -- namely, you. Don't become so busy that you neglect to be visible to your employees.
3. Spend quality time with your employees. It's not enough just to be present for meetings and other essential tasks. If you want to have a real relationship with your employees, you have to be there for the ups and downs. Volunteer your assistance on a difficult project, provide a lunch for everyone during a hectic time -- and eat it with them -- and make the monthly employee birthday party special.
4.Be fair. Nothing creates discontent in the workplace faster than obvious favoritism toward certain employees, or worse yet, a relative. You're not going to like everyone equally, of course, but the important thing is to treat all employees equally. Enforce rules uniformly, reward hard work and exceeded expectations the same way for every employee, and try hard to have a positive attitude, even toward employees that are difficult to get along with.
5.Set reasonable goals and achievable expectations. No matter how personable you are, or how well your employees like you personally, you're asking for disgruntled employees if you ask for the impossible. Never ask employees to do something you would not do yourself.
6. Include employees in important decisions whenever possible. When employees work together to create policy, set organizational goals, choose the tools they need to work and make other decisions integral to the organization, they feel valued and important to the organization and to you.
7. Play by the same rules your employees are expected to play by. Don't take advantage of your status as a manager or supervisor to make exceptions for yourself, or you risk creating an "us versus them" environment.
8.Remember that honesty is the best policy. When you lie to employees, you erode their trust, and that erosion of trust results in a damaged relationship. Even when telling the truth is difficult, bite the bullet -- they may not like what you have to say, but your employees will appreciate your candor
Towards Better Industrial Harmony.
Source of Inspiration: Small business chron
