If you genuinely care about your role as boss to your staff, you’ll be open to making changes to continually improve your management techniques to keep your team happy, reduce turnover, and keep your business operating smoothly. While simply being open to change can improve your boss status, here are three other ways you can be a better manager.
1. Assess Your Management Style
How you interact with your staff and lead them will impact how they respond to you. Rule with an iron fist, and your staff will likely fear you. Be too soft, and they’ll walk all over you. Paying attention to how people react to your management style will give you insight into whether or not it’s even effective.
If your turnover is higher than it should be, or if your staff doesn’t seem happy, you may want to assess trying out other styles of leadership. Aim for a middle-of-the-road approach that the majority of your staff responds positively to.
2. Know Your Team
Each of your employees has his own personality and way of getting work done. You may not be able to treat each in the same manner to get the same results. For example, Pinch Hitter Patty may pick up the slack when other employees aren’t doing their jobs, while Guide Me Gary may need more handholding. Tailor your approach to get best results from every staff member.
Simply knowing the personalities, back stories, and quirks of your staff can help them trust you. And when they trust you, they’ll be willing to work harder for you. Engage in chitchat daily, and get to know them.
3. Properly Train Your Employees
Set your staff up for success by ensuring that they are appropriately trained when first hired, and that they continue to have access to resources that will help sharpen their professional skills and keep up their productivity at your company.
Consider paying for certifications, continuing education courses, or even webinars to keep your staff engaged as well as competitive with their peers.
The more effort you put into being a better boss, the more it will pay off in the loyalty and hard work of your staff.
This article was originally published by ScheduleBase
Published: December 5, 2014
