5 Simple ways you can Empower Employees at the workplace!

Do you know with great leadership comes great responsibility?  Well, of course, you do!

And one of these responsibilities is giving your employees the autonomy to work, to take initiatives and encouraging them to be the best versions of themselves. We admit, being a leader is not easy, but it is your duty to help your employees without constant micromanagement. Looking beyond employee benefits, there’s a lot that the organizations can do to best support their employees at the workplace.

In rather fancier terms, Empower them! By employee empowerment, you are giving them a chance to make certain decisions on their own, giving them a chance to work independently and most of all giving them a chance to learn and grow! Bottom line is, empowering employees can have ginormous benefits not only to the team but to the company as a whole; it improves accountability, job satisfaction and helps you in finding the solution to all your problems, collectively.

Harvard Business Review conducted a meta-analysis of all available field experiments on leaders empowering subordinates – examining the results of 105 studies, which included data from more than 30,000 employees from 30 countries.

Their study showed that empowering leadership can motivate employees and also, fuels workplace creativity. Empowered employees are happy employees and happy employees are more productive.

Are you interested in the empowerment of your employees? Follow these 5 simple tips and transform your work culture:

Must Believe in Your Employees

According to Steve Jobs  – a force behind leading Apple to corporate success:

“It’s not the tools you have faith in–tools are just tools–they work, or they don’t work. It’s the people you have faith in or not.”

Building trust in your workforce is one of the key factors. Successful business relationships are founded on the sacred principles of trust, and respect.

Without this, the ability to overcome challenges and workplace issues is greatly compromised. There are many reasons why you can not afford to not trust your employees. Trust inspires confidence and confidence leads to success, which helps employees to further their own career and growth. It will make employees more inclined towards taking on new challenges and pushing themselves beyond limits to achieve the best, not only for them but for their organization.

In short, believe in your employees and encourage them to do the same, others will follow.

Inspire Creativity

Do you feel that your employees are not creative enough at work? What are you doing wrong? Business creativity starts with employee creativity! Well, that’s a given. There are many reasons why employees lose their creativity for example not enough resources, lack of autonomy, lack of recognition, so on and so forth.  Now, what you can do to stop that?

Start by accepting their ideas and inputs. Make them a part of an active decision making or even goal-setting. At first, they might face difficulty and hesitation while making a decision on behalf of your team but you learn as you live.

Additionally, it’s not just about decision making, its’ also about finding better ways to accomplishing a task and solving problems, rather than using the same age-old techniques. Encourage your employees to bring creative ideas to the table. Not only, will it help empower your employees, it can also open up doors for many new and innovative ideas that might have the power to lead your company to greatness.

Makes sense, right?

A little appreciation can go a long way!

You have to admit, that we all crave appreciation and recognition in one way or the other. Either it’s work, or not, it’s always helpful to receive some applaud.

Women appreciating the employees

Have you ever noticed that we human beings have a tendency to repeat behaviors, good or bad? Similarly, positive feedback reinforces a spark in employees. Showing employees the appreciation for their work well done makes it even more likely that they will continue to be creative, and innovative.

It ensures continued high-quality work in the future as well.

Whether it’s a goal they have achieved before time or a report that was presented flawlessly, let them know when they have done a good job! It doesn’t cost anything.

Autonomy, give your Employees Autonomy!

Do not let your employees view their jobs as simply ‘work for pay’, and nothing more, nothing less.

Employee autonomy is crucial for learning. As a leader, yes it is your job to manage your employees, but instead of worrying about the small details, direct your focus on the goals and strategic objectives of each individual team member. Let them exercise choice and take care of the minute details. Rather than micromanaging, communicate the end-result and then help them build on that.

Bonus: Granting autonomy to employees improves workplace retention!

Have an Open-door Policy

Well-defined open door policy is what every workplace should have and need. No, it doesn’t mean it gives employees an opportunity for continuous complaining and nagging, No.

Maintaining an open line of positive communication with your team is an important aspect of running a successful business venture. It leads to higher job satisfaction and shows employees that you care about what they think. In order to truly empower your employees, carefully listen to their opinions and let them know that they are valued. It will enable them to play an active part in your company.

A simple gesture as this can do wonders!

And the list continues…

The success of organizations depends on the success of its’ employees.

Managers need to understand that empowering employees in the workplace is crucial for companies to thrive.    

The bottom line is, empowering employees at the workplace is about accountability and trust. However, if you follow the ways outlined above, you’ll be able to achieve a healthy workplace.

What have you done in your workplace to empower your employees?

5 Reasons why your Employee Engagement may be spiralling down

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

— STEPHEN R. COVEY

Do you have a high employee turnover rate?

Are you facing a difficulty in figuring out what to do about it?

If you thought of ‘yes’ to both of these questions, this article is for you.

If you want your employees to stay, you need to give them a reason.

Imagine this:

You hire employees at the rate of 10 per month but lose them at the rate of 12 per month. All new ones leave within the first two weeks, including two of the older employees.

The very next month, you hire 20 employees and the cycle continues.

Disengaged employees cost organisations between $450 and $550 billion annually, according to The Engagement Institute.

This needs to stop and here’s how you can do it.

Before I dive into the reasons for your company’s downward sloping employee engagement rate, I need you to ask yourself these questions:

  1. Do you offer your help to your team?
  2. Do you ask for their advice before taking any major decision?
  3. Have you ever asked your team for guidance on your leadership style?
  4. How far has your team progressed in achieving their goals?

If the answers to one or more of the above questions are negative, don’t panic!

There are many companies that face a difficulty when it comes to retaining their employees.

In fact, according to Globoforce, an estimated 36% of the businesses find employee engagement as a top challenge.  

Over the years, we have gathered enough data from our employees and I bring you these few gems of information that I believe will help your business grow.
Let’s get started!

Conclusion

The gist of the matter is this:

To keep the employee engagement rates stable or always going up, you as a business owner, need to take to care of five major things. 

1. Ignoring causes and criticising effects | Focus on WHY, not the WHAT.
    Figure out why your employees may be underperforming.
    It could be a personal or work-related issue. Try to help them.
2. Dragging and ineffective surveys | Plan out and optimise your feedback process.
    No one likes to spend hours filling out a survey with 100 questions on it.
    Be fair and keep them short and relevant.
3. Focus on actions instead of feelings | Perks are temporary, inner drive is not.
    Giving your employees perks will make them happy temporarily.
    Make sure they are achieving personal and professional goals as well.  
4. Lack of Training and Development | Invest today, reap benefits tomorrow.
    Train your employees. Help them grow with the company.
    Stagnant employee development will greatly hinder the company’s growth.
5. Non-existent or rare employee recognition | Acknowledge employees’ efforts.
    Employees work better when they know they are cared for and appreciated.
    Even a ‘Thank You’ goes a long way.

That’s pretty much it!

Feel free to apply these tips to your business and see the employee engagement rates go up in record time!

Team’s productivity and company’s revenues are bound to see a rise too.

Why is Employee Motivation more Important than ever?

What is Motivation?

Employee Motivation is an abstract entity. It is the stimulus that triggers actions in individuals and a driving force behind all the wonderful advancements that we experience today. Moreover, motivation is the intrinsic quality that makes individuals get up goals for themselves. It is also the drive that pushes the individuals towards attaining those goals.

Researchers identify two kinds of motivation:
Intrinsic Motivation: This type of motivation pushes a person to achieve a goal because it is personally rewarding. As a result, the person feels happy and satisfied.

Extrinsic Motivation: This motivation results in a drive to do something in order to achieve a tangible goal or to avoid punishment.

Why is Employee Motivation more Important than ever

A few decades ago, employee motivation and satisfaction was not really a top agenda for Management. But today it totally is. And the reasons are the following:

Competition is fierce

Today, the competition is fierce. A slight loophole and neglect pave way for the competitors to barge in and steal your clients. No business can afford that.

This is exactly why businesses need motivated employees all the time— the kind of employees who live and breathe your mission. 

Motivated employees will not only treat your business as their own but also will increase profitability.

Individualization is the new trend

Due to the mushroom growth in nearly every business domain, there are way too many similar products and services. How do businesses make themselves distinct? How do they stand out? The answer lies in individualization.

Today, all businesses try to build, manage and retain an individual identity and this individual identity helps them stand out from the crowd. Additionally, it also helps the brands attract and retain clients who relate to brand identity.

Motivated employees play a great role in building a positive brand image. They contribute to the brand image and help in retaining it. If your employees are demotivated, imagine the kind of energy and message they would be permeating to the world.

Human Resources is the greatest asset

There are a lot of resources that are required for an organization to function properly. But Human Resources are by far the most important resources that an organization possesses. The reason is that it is the employees of the company that uses their knowledge, expertise, and skills to take the mission of the company forward.

Without the right kind of employees, the organization cannot do anything. And with demotivated employees, it cannot do much either. Motivated employees are the greatest asset to a company. People who feel motivated about achieving the day to day tasks deliver amazing collective results.

Employee Motivation brings out results

The Rat-pellet experiment by B. F. Skinner proved that rats tapped the button because they believed that they will get a pellet. The motivation stemmed from the expectation of reward and hence the rat made an effort. We all can learn from this experiment that motivation drives us to make an effort and bring out results.

Employees who are motivated to keep up their performance. They make efforts to deliver even better results because they feel that their performance is appreciated. And this cycle of motivation— efforts— outcome — appreciation is never-ending and it brings great profits to the organization.

Employee Retention is very important

Employee motivation is like an investment. With the passage of time, an employee learns the craft and becomes a very valuable asset for the organization.

After spending a considerable amount of time, an employee becomes equipped with the right kind of knowledge and expertise. Replacing this employee is not only very costly but finding a perfect replacement is not always easy. This is why corporations spend so much time and money on their retention policies.

It is very easy to retain a happy and motivated employee. The employees want to stay at a workplace where they feel valued. So if you want to hold on to the good people, keep them motivated.

How to keep the employees motivated

The Entrepreneur suggests great ideas about keeping your employees motivated. It suggests that

  • The employees shall be allowed to maintain their individuality and a sense of freedom.
  • Empower the employees with the right kind of tools so that they do not feel handicapped.
  • Invest in employee development. Ongoing learning and development boost employee morale.
  • Let the employees know that their efforts are acknowledged and thank them.
  • Reward your employees for the good work that they do. Sharing profits helps them feel connected.

Conclusion

Motivated employees are an irreplaceable asset to a company. They are the reason that an organization grows and reaps profits. Many organizations around the world invest a lot in keeping the workforce happy and motivated.