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How To Motivate Your Supply Chain Managers and Employees

How can you get your managers and other employees to be productive and do their best work? It’s all about style – your management style, that is. How you relate to your employees has a huge impact on how well they work for you. So how can you make sure you’re doing it right?

They key is to understand what motivates them. And to do that, you need to get to know them. You don’t have to be your employees’ best friend. You just need to:

  • Communicate. Don’t just give it lip service! You need to encourage two-way communication and make your employees feel comfortable about speaking their minds. Ask for their opinions and their perspectives. And most importantly? Listen to what is being said—and what is not being said—and make changes based on their feedback or incorporate their suggestions whenever possible.
  • Provide real support. In addition to following up on their requests, ideas and complaints, ask them what they need to feel more valued—and follow through! They may need more or better equipment, or buy-in from another department. They may just need to hear “well done!” after an important project is finished on deadline.
  • Step up, then step back. As a leader, share your vision with your team, give them directions, then trust them to get the job done. Don’t micromanage. Check in regularly to make sure progress is being made, be available to troubleshoot and be open-minded to suggestions along the way.
  • Give constructive criticism. Practice being direct and truthful but positive. Remind your employees that you’re giving constructive feedback to help them improve and grow. It’s important to tell your employees what they need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear—and they need to hear it from you, not through others
  • Encourage big-picture teamwork. You probably have teams within departments, or throughout your entire company, but don’t forget to recognize and reward employees who help others and contribute to the company as a whole. Help teams find their strengths and weaknesses so the entire company can figure out how best to move forward together. Forget about job descriptions if they limit the diversity of your work teams; it’s important for team members to contribute different ideas and a variety of strengths.

To avoid your supply chain employees getting either complacent or frustrated, you need to remember: it all boils down to how you treat people. If you treat them with respect, openness and trust, you’ll see your supply chain business grow and improve by leaps and bounds. That’s how ZDA Supply Chain Recruiting in Memphis, TN treats both our clients and our candidates. To experience working with a professional niche recruiter, call us today!

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