Help Your Employees Be Successful

If your employees are successful, they will help you succeed. After all, they are performing the work you asked them to do. For them to be successful, they need the right tools as well as the right environment. Giving that to them will get them well on their way towards succeeding.

The first step is to make sure your employees are comfortable. Cramming three workers into a space that is made for one is never a good idea. Companies do this all the time. If you are tight on space, ask your company to expand that area or try to come up with creative ways to better use the existing space.

Next, foster an environment where employees feel relaxed in sharing their ideas. This is not as difficult as you may think. You can let them come up with ideas as a team, or each can come up with ideas and then present it as a group. Your goal is to make sure the ideas are in line with whatever business initiative you are trying to accomplish. When you focus on that, it becomes easier to explain why their ideas may not work, and it becomes less personal.

Good managers will often structure projects to under promise and over deliver. They will add more time to the projects than employees had estimated. It is always better to come in on time with a project than to pile more work onto the employees and risk missing deadlines. When that happens, you have to give your management an explanation. When you allow for ample time, explanations will not be needed, and you will establish a trust that you and your team can get projects done correctly and on time.

Handle matters of discipline delicately. It’s usually not a good idea to criticize employees in front of others. Do so in private meetings so the offending employees can speak to you alone. On the other hand, praise can be given openly for the entire group to see.

When your employees need certain tools and supplies, you should be the one to advocate on their behalf should a need arise. If what they need is justified but requires the project to go over budget, explain to your management that the job cannot be done without those tools. Often, it can’t be known that those tools were needed until the project got underway and more information was discovered about them.