When it comes to having employees, it is so important that you are both fair and likeable. The Ice Queen and Ice King attitude may work for moguls like Anna Wintour and Lord Alan Sugar. But for the most part, distant and unlikeable leaders lead to unhappy and demotivated staff. With this in mind, read on for a short guide as to how you can gain more respect from your employees by being fair… but likeable.
Ensure team leaders and managers are sufficiently trained. It may be the case that you have managers that are not great at dealing with issues that their staff bring to them. Perhaps they are fantastic with clients and sums, but really struggle to connect with their team when it is important. It is crucial that these managers and leaders display emotional intelligence in the workplace. If they don’t, they may deal with issues indiscreetly, clumsily and entirely unprofessionally. Thankfully, there is help out there for improving this kind of thing. If you have staff members who are leading others who you think lack emotional intelligence, find a solution. This might be an in-house training session on the topic. You could even bring in specialists on the topic, so you can ensure the message will be delivered with care and discretion. Delivered with emotional intelligence, you might say!
Ensure your employees working environment is safe and pleasant at all times. Your staff will respect you if you respect them. One way you can demonstrate respect is by actively showing them that you care about their health and wellbeing. So, keep them healthy and protected from illness by having the office or working environment cleaned daily. Consider initiatives like free fruit bowls on every floor, along with water coolers that are kept in good working order. If there is noise from building works going on outside, find the time to send around a company-wide email. Explain why the noise is there, and let them know when it will stop. Even opening up lines of communication like this can make a big difference to your staff feeling like you care about them. Finding five minutes to send out an email like this can make a difference.
Show that you are listening to the things your employees are saying. We all know that there are few things in the workplace more frustrating that not being listened to. This is especially true when the topic we are speaking on is pertinent, or of real importance to us. It isn’t enough to just tell your staff to come to you if they have a problem. You have to be more proactive than that. Keep reminding them. Ensure you have a room or space set up so that any meetings can be had privately and without watchful eyes. Open-plan offices may be all the rage these days, but they aren’t very conducive to private conversations. So, make sure their is a space where employees can come to you without everyone else knowing about it. A suggestion box is another good idea, but ensure that it really is anonymous. If people have a complaint, they make not make it if they feel like it can be traced back to them. Without these comments, you can’t know exactly what your workforce are thinking and feeling. You also can’t grow a business, and your staff turnover could get higher and higher as a result.
Mia Guerra
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