Managing employees is a reality of
becoming a manager. But you have to make sure that you manage employees in the right way if you want to inspire confidence and boost morale. If you get it wrong, it could cause productivity and efficiency to drop.
This guide is going to show you how great managers go about managing their employees.
They Listen
There’s nothing worse than a manager that never listens. You give them advice and you give them feedback and the first thing they do is promptly ignore it. But those are not the worst managers. The worst managers are those who actually ask for feedback and then ignore every word.
Listening to your employees makes them believe that they have a stake in what’s actually going on. That’s going to make them motivated enough to give their all.
Talking to Employees
You would be surprised at how many managers never take the time to even greet their employees at the start of the day. A manager should have an intimate knowledge of their employees. They should know their names and a little bit about each of them. Even just greeting someone and asking them about their vacations before work is enough to create those positive vibes that will get them through the day.
The managers at
Bella Bathrooms went one step further by organizing regular feedback sessions every week. This gave employees the chance to say what they wanted to say about how the team and the company were being run.
This dialogue allowed the opinions of employees to be heard.
Be Clear About Advancing Up the Ladder
Advancement is a big factor in any company. Employees want to move to the next level. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to guess at what someone is looking for, though. This is a more common scenario than you might think.
As a manager, you are responsible not just for making sure things run smoothly but also for the progress of your team. Tell your employees how they can move to the next level. Inform them about what you are searching for and what it could mean for them. You should be able to spell it out for them.
Give them something to aim for.
The Carrot and the Stick
Great managers aren’t necessarily your best friends. They are not there to be ‘one of the guys’. On the contrary, the best possible outcome is a manager who is disconnected from all this because they can remain objective at all times.
The best man managers know how to wield both the carrot and the stick. They can pat people on the back when they’ve done a good job, but they also know how to be firm when someone clearly isn’t doing their best.
This may not always make you popular, but it will make you respected because you are both firm and fair.
Admitting Where You Went Wrong
Managers are notorious for passing the blame on to someone else. This isn’t the right way to go about things because it’s only going to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. If you made a mistake, you should own up to it.
This is something
many managers struggle with, and it’s what costs them the respect of their peers. If you pass the blame to someone else, they and the rest of the team will remember it. And it will take a long time for these bad feelings to go away.
According to
Chad Baker, "Admitting you are wrong doesn’t make you seem stupid. It makes you seem honest. Nobody believes that you are invincible. You are a human being like everyone else. Possessing the courage to admit your flaws and to apologize for your mistakes is an incredible attribute to have."
Watch the Best
Do you have a leader to look up to?
Management is a long-term process. You cannot expect to be a great manager at such an early stage. It takes years to reach a level you can be proud of. Learn from those who have come before you and study what they do.
Try new things and if they don’t work you can try something else. Don’t try to be perfect.
