Do You Want Your Employees to Do the Right Thing?
Many leaders wonder why their employees have a hard time following instruction or staying motivated.
Well, sometimes the painful truth is: Employees are being led by inconsistent leaders who say one thing and do another. Effective leaders consistently follow the core values laid out by their organization, reinforcing those desired behaviors in staff members. This ensures the team will stay productive when they have to do things on their own.
Follow through by taking action
Leaders who say they are taking action and then don’t keep their word quickly lose the respect of their employees. Whether it’s recognizing an employee, disciplining bad behavior or addressing worker concerns, you need to do what you say you are going to do.
Often, following through means not procrastinating. Constantly putting off action erodes the trust of your workers, and when you finally come through, it can be seen as less than genuine.
Prioritize fairness
Employees often complain that they are on the wrong end of a judgment. While you can always make everyone happy, you can at least keep their respect by being fair and impartial. Playing favorites or making exceptions for certain employees can quickly sour your employee’s attitudes.
Avoid passing judgment
Employees will make mistakes. They will come in with bad attitudes on some days. In handling these situations, it’s important not to pass judgment on the person or the situation.
This is particularly important when it comes to injuries and personal situations. For instance, if someone is taking a lot of time off work to look after a loved one or personal illness, being cynical about the person’s situation can not only kill morale among your workforce, it can also get you in trouble with respect to issues of discrimination.
Properly recognize worker contributions
No one likes to feel unappreciated. Even worse, people hate to see credit given to the wrong person.
Make sure you are regularly recognizing your workers, even team members who don’t make flashy contributions, but who do a good job – day in and day out. If you get personal recognition from customers or your supervisor, make sure you give due credit to your entire team.
Be upfront and honest
Being honest when everything is going well is easy. It’s when the going gets rough that honesty often goes out the window. Leaders need to deliver bad news promptly and honestly.
Resist the urge to shield your employees from bad news. They will respect you more if you are upfront and honest with them. Often, your workers will hear about that bad news anyway through the grapevine, and when they do, they’ll lose respect for you for not telling them about the situation to their face.
At ZDA, we know that good leaders can’t be effective without talented hardworking employees. If you need a supply chain staffing solution to help you achieve your goals, please contact us today, and we can discuss a custom staffing arrangement for your company!
