Do you know who works for you? Do you understand your employees? Understanding who works for you is a crucial part of motivating your employees. With a multigenerational workforce, we cannot just assume all employees need the same things. Here are some ways we can truly find out more about our employees.
Study Your Employees
When you were in school and you had to learn math, you studied hard to understand it. Your employees are the best assets you have. In order to understand who they are, you need to study them. This is more than just finding out what they like and don’t like. We have to dive into why they want to work their job. Or even why they don’t want to work their job. These things will help you to understand when you need to assist your employees through something.
Understand How They Communicate
Do all of your employees speak the same? Even if they tried, the message that they give may not be conveyed the same. Understand not only how your employees speak, but also the non-verbal cues that they give while communicating. Speak with them often and clarify if you don’t understand. Your employees shouldn’t be afraid to speak freely to you, even though consequences may arise from them. Just as a parent knows their child based on how they communicate, we must also learn about how our employees communicate.
Understand How They Function
Do you have an employee who is organized? Messy? Distracted? Focused? Understanding how your employees function and what environment they function in is crucial to understanding when you are stretching them. Challenging your employees can be a good thing, but in order to do so you have to understand what is challenging to them. Observe your employees and notice what makes them uncomfortable. Encourage them to get outside of their comfort zone and be there to give them praise when they do so.
Ask Them What They Want Out of Their Work Life
Do you know what your employees need in their work life? Ask them! If your employee has small children at home, they will be more likely to stay if you ask them how you can help them balance work with their other obligations. That’s not saying that you should stop requiring as much work from your employees, but they may need to leave early some days to pick up kids or whatever they have going on in their lives. Ask them what they need and do what you can within reason. This will give them a sense that you value them as a person not just an employee.
In conclusion, many employees do not look for unrealistic ideas in their workplace. Learn who your employees are and use this knowledge to better the work environment for them. Without this understanding, you will perpetually lose employees and have no idea as to why. Save yourself from this problem and dive into your employees. You won’t be sorry you did.