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Competing in the high stakes world of business can be simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. The potential for immeasurable rewards is there, but alongside it is a gauntlet of potential obstacles and hazards. Excelling in the commercial arena is no joke, but it can be made all the more possible with a competent and cohesive team. Here are the tips you’ll need to know in order to elevate your staff so that they might elevate your business.
Invest In Communication
Communication is one of the single most important facets of working with a team. In order for the team to succeed, everyone within that team needs to be on the same page. Communication with your staff can be strained at times, especially considering the anxiety that often comes with needing to talk to your boss. However, you’ll need to overcome this hurdle in order to create a powerful workforce. A good place to start is making yourself an approachable figure around the office. Make it clear with your actions, demeanor, and/or stating it outright that your staff doesn’t need to be afraid to make their needs or opinions known. This kind of openness needs to extend to your expectations and goals. For example, when you assemble a sales presentation, it needs to contain all of the pertinent info in order for your team to gel with the task at hand effectively. Your team can only function as such when everyone has the same set of instructions, so be sure you make your needs as clear as possible.
Prioritize Morale
On a similar note, employees are often afraid to come to their supervisors with concerns for the same reason that many workers hate their jobs. Employee morale hasn’t been a priority among business owners and managers throughout human history, and only now is the smallest hint of that discussion finally happening. Scientific studies have shown that the age old technique of demanding excellence and sacrifice from your employees is actually detrimental not only to the morale of the team, but also to the company’s profit margins along with it. Employees are simply more productive when they feel good and like their jobs. Even to those who already know this, you’ll still have to contend with the expectations that come from years of working with toxic bosses, so your work will be cut out for you.
Reward Excellence
Instead of demanding excellence, you need to reward it if you want your staff to aspire to it. By placing a bounty of top of the line performance, you will ensure that more of your staff is gunning for that bounty, and your company will necessarily be more productive as a result. One great way to do this is to reward your employees with paid time off for reaching certain milestones. This will give your employees the much needed vacation they deserve without needing to sacrifice the money they’d earn by simply working as much as possible. The kind of commitment to work that is required for poorer employees to make ends meet is ultimately unhealthy and will eventually cause them to burn out, leaving them unable to give their 100% to your company. It’s also not uncommon for employers to withhold promotions, and this is problematic, as well. It’s easy to avoid promoting a worthwhile employee in order to save some money, but that constitutes breaking a bond of trust between your employee and you, one from which you most likely won’t recover. That employee will likely continue to phone in their performance until they can find another job.
Building a company from the ground up isn’t easy, and the best way to do so is by surrounding yourself with only the best. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor was it built entirely by Romulus and Remus. By investing in your employees, you improve your odds not only of survival, but also of success, and these tips will help you do just that.
Related: 5 Tips for Helping Your Staff Maximize Efficiency With New Technology