Dealing with people is not easy. All of us have different personalities, personalities that need to be understood, accepted, and catered to. But there are certain things managers can do to make this process easier. Here are three of them.
The Right Work Environment
There are many reasons why many people want to work in companies like Google, Microsoft, or Apple. First, they are innovative enterprises that continue to push the envelope as it pertains to developing products and services and enhancing the customer experience. Second, high-paying jobs offer employees regular and fringe benefits, promotions, and growth opportunities. Finally, their campuses are, in a word, awesome. For instance, the Googleplex in Mountainview, California, has, among many other things, a 24/7 gym, an on-site doctor, massage therapists, and dry cleaning facilities.
Of course, as a small business owner, you cannot do this. There are not enough financial resources to grant your staff whatever they may want or need. Still, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put in the effort to make sure your facilities are the best possible places for your employees to do their jobs.
Along with office settings that stimulate creativity and productiveness, access to a cafeteria, and a clean environment, this also includes regular HVAC testing and tune-ups, fully functioning fire detectors, and dust monitoring and mitigation. Keep in mind that if workers feel safe and wanted in their place of labor, they will more than likely do whatever is in their power to perform at their best.
A Sense of Belonging
In simple terms, an entrepreneur is defined as an individual who starts, organizes, and operates a business while taking a higher financial risk level. If you are putting your hard-earned money into an endeavor, it belongs to you and nobody else. This is as obvious and straightforward a statement as there could ever be.
But while your company does not belong to your employees, the best managers can create and nurture a sense of belonging among their staff. They guide them through the day-to-day activities with passion and optimism while granting them the opportunity to make decisions independently and take on higher levels of responsibility based on their expertise. In essence, they build leaders, individuals that can drive the organization forward while at the same time achieving personal growth.
Naturally, not everybody can be in a managerial position. If such were the case, there would be nobody available to handle crucial clerical tasks that help maintain a strong foundation on the enterprise. But even if some members of your workforce can get a promotion and others can’t, if your employees show the potential to lead, they should be given the opportunities to do so. For instance, junior staff can join managerial meetings on an only-listening basis, or top salespeople can serve as mentors to younger workers.
Fairness and Equality
One of the biggest mistakes many starting entrepreneurs make thinks that fairness and equality are the same things. To treat everybody the same, they fail to recognize that every employee is in a different, unique situation to themselves. Thus, it should be dealt with accordingly. Let us look at an example to illustrate this.
Imagine one of your staff is a single mother of two living more than an hour away from the office. On the other hand, another worker, a single guy in his mid-twenties who owns an apartment less than five minutes on foot. If you were to treat them both equally, you would demand them arrive at the office at nine AM sharp to start work.
But if you were to treat them fairly, maybe you could allow a bit of flexibility to the lady. As long as her performance level remains high, and she doesn’t take the entire arm when you are offering her a hand, chances are everybody will understand, even the guy. Better yet, they will see you as a compassionate individual who cares about more than only the bottom line.
If employees feel you prefer certain people over others, they will more than likely not be satisfied, and productivity will suffer. Yet, not everybody wants the same thing. If they get what they feel they deserve, what you give them doesn’t have to be what you give everybody else.
If you want your business to have happy, motivated, hard-working employees, provide them the right work environment and make them leaders within your organization. Finally, treat them with fairness and respect. By doing so, you will grant them the skills and determination they need to make your enterprise flourish.
