Trust...From the Employee's Perspective
4 Minute ReadOne thing that makes employees unhappy is working for a company that doesn't believe in them. From an employee perspective, we don’t want to be given the “easy” tasks. We want responsibility. We want trust. To know that you are comfortable giving things to us, even if you’re unsure of the outcome. We want to know that you are willing to let us go through our trial-and-error phase. Will we always knock it out of the ballpark the very first time? Probably not. But the fact that you’re willing to let us try – that’s worth the effort.I’ve noticed in the different companies that I’ve worked for the different types of employees that exist. The one thing that I’ve learned is that every employee is different. Some like to do the same day-to-day activities and are fine doing that the rest of their lives. Some want something different every day to keep them on their toes. Just because you have two accountants in the same department does not mean that they are motivated by the same things.The similarity between all employees is that each wants to be trusted. Whether they’re doing the same thing every day or whether they’re playing multiple roles, if they are constantly being questioned, you are likely to end up with disengaged, unhappy employees. Bottom line. How do you get engaged, happy employees?Well, let’s start with this:
Hire the right people.
If you’re hiring someone only because you think they have the needed set of skills and are willing to accept the wage you’re offering, that’s your first mistake. Do they need experience? Yes, but they also need to be able to create that relationship with you. As a supervisor, if you look at this person and think, “There’s something a little off about this guy, but I’ll hire him because he’s got all the experience,” then you’re in the wrong mindset. If this person isn’t someone that you can see yourself being able to trust, then why hire them? There’s a world full of people out there that you can develop great working relationships with. You just have to look.
Delegation, delegation, delegation.
You are a supervisor. Delegate! You have to be willing to take a look at your workload and decide if you really need to be doing everything that you’re doing. Could you let your employees work on this excel spreadsheet so that you can be doing something more valuable with your time? Could you give someone else the responsibility of scheduling your appointments so that you can spend time generating more client meetings? Sure, it’s easy to just do it yourself – but that’s not the point. Delegation works two-fold. First, it helps to free up some of your time so that you can focus more on high-payoff activities. Second, it helps you build relationships with your employees because they feel that you trust them to take on this new responsibility.
Remember where you came from.
It’s highly unlikely that you finished your degree and started at the top – being the President or CEO, sitting in a fancy desk at some fancy company. Most people in today’s workforce have had to work to get where they are today. By acknowledging that and remembering where you started, you can have a better understanding of how your employees may feel. If no one ever gave you a chance or put their trust in you, it’s unlikely that you would be where you are today. That should reflect in your interactions with your employees.Most of us report to someone. Most of us have a supervisor. We also have opinions, ideas and need to feel valuable; as does every employee. Supervisors and managers need to start by understanding those three things. I was once told that any employee can be happy as long as they are working less and being paid more. Let me be the first to say it - that’s not true! It takes more than that. Whether we work twenty hours or forty hours, we need to feel valuable. If you, as a supervisor, can start by understanding the fact that employees want to be an asset to your company, you just might be able to get engaged, happy employees.Trust and responsibility all begins with you. Read here.You can find more information on how to delegate responsibility by clicking here.