How to keep good people in your Team
What makes high-performers stay!
As managers and leaders, one of our primary concerns is to keep the people on our team focused and motivated on the task we look to accomplish. We want people to be productive on the teams we lead and in so doing, contribute to getting the team the desired result eventually. However, a good number of us at one point or the other struggle to achieve this. We look to systems and beliefs and at the end of the day, on some of these projects, end up frustrated. People are some of the most difficult set to manage and our productivity and level of expertise can be hampered in no small measure by how functional members of our teams are. Whether in your personal space or in a structured organisation, chances are that you have been faced with this challenge.
Here are a few tips to help you solve this problem:
Ensure that you find out and meet the needs of the people you lead.
Now this does not mean that you should go out seeking whether Amaka has a challenge in her relationship and needs to fix that or Ben has issues with his car and needs to fix that too. Although that cannot be ruled out as well; this involves finding out the need of the people you work with on that job and ensuring that your leadership meets that need. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Self-actualization, otherwise known as fulfillment, is one of the core needs of the average man. When people decide to work in a particular place, money can only keep them for so long. The primary thing that keeps them is the level of self-actualization that they are able to get from the work that they do. Do you make them feel like a part of something big? or do you make them feel like statistics? Whichever mode of leadership style you adopt, ensure that you make the people involved feel like a part of something significant. You have to always have this at the back of your mind that your leadership style sets the atmosphere in the work environment. it is the difference between a highly motivated work force and a demotivated workforce. Make it easier for the people who work with you to work with you so that they can have a good atmosphere to function effectively. For instance, it is good to put pressure on the people you work with, but there is a thin line between an over demanding boss and a result driven leader. Learn where to draw the line and become considerate about how your actions affect the people you lead. It is better to be fully engaged when you assign demanding tasks to your team members than for you to be detached, pile them up with excess work, become rigid and adamant to new opinions.
When you lead people, as much as possible, identify and meet their needs. This will make them a lot more productive and produce an environment for them to be efficient at what they do. Listening is an art and as a leader, you need to learn to really pay attention. The people you lead are constantly communicating. Listen and your leadership journey would become a lot easier.
Help the People you Lead Become More.
If there is one thing you must understand about the people you lead, it is that they actually make an effort, like really remarkable efforts, in significant areas of their lives. If one of them is a mother, chances are that she does her best at her role as a mother. She most probably goes the extra mile to ensure that her children are well catered for. If he holds a leadership position in his religious organisation, chances are that he is doing quite well there with his efforts in that community, otherwise, he would not have got to that position in the first place. Believe in the people that you lead. Statistics show that individuals perform a lot better under leaders who believe the best about them. When they make mistakes, don’t define them by their mistakes. They are not their mistakes and their mistakes are not them. In The One Minute Manager, Kenny Blanchard talks about giving one minute reprimands. He explains that it is important to give reprimands, however, after one has given a reprimand, it is crucial that one does not go back to talking about it again. This helps you gain the trust of your subordinates and makes them want to put in their best. Blanchard also speaks on giving one minute praising(s) like one minute reprimands. Don’t just assume that s/he would most definitely know that you are impressed that s/he put in extra effort to get the desired result; tell them. People cannot read your mind. Believe in the people that work with you even if you are tempted not to and help them become more productive at their jobs.
Your Character is Crucial.
In our society today, most people waive how important integrity is in the work place. Your skills can only get you so far. ‘Without integrity you can never develop trust. without trust you will never develop people, without developing people, you will never maintain a following. And without followers you have no one to lead.’ (David Cottrel). The truth is, integrity is very crucial especially in a leadership position. People are not to be underestimated and tossed around, they are a lot more smarter than that and believe it or not, these people are watching you. Being a leader brings you up to the limelight and you cannot afford to have a questionable character in that position. People cannot follow someone when they find it difficult to trust them.
Another pit hole to avoid in this integrity talk is thinking that it is so easy and that you most definitely are a person of integrity. The challenge, however, is that there is sometimes a difference between what a leader terms as integrity and what the followers perceive it to be, which is why you have to pay close attention to this. Integrity in leadership involves more of the little things than they do the big things. The people you lead pay attention to your day to day actions and you do not want them to question your integrity. Integrity is the most crucial leadership quality. When you tell a little lie or tell one of them it is okay to make something up, it dents your integrity and raises a subtle question of trust. Ensure that you keep the promises you make; when you have to make some difficult decisions that involve them, ensure that you are fair about it.
Be Very Good at What You Do
In other words, be the best at your job. You cannot expect to keep high performers by being a mediocre. The truth is, at every given point in time, you are always at the fore front. You are always leading at every given point in time. Your drive for excellence will rub off on every other member of your team. On the other hand, if you are not good at what you do, it will affect the other members of the team and their productivity is sure to drop. Have it at the back of your mind that you are always leading and that you can never not lead which translates to the fact that there are no off days for you and that your actions will always count.
Treat them with Respect
Deep down their hearts, the people you lead want to be understood. They want to be treated with dignity and respect. How you can achieve this is by picturing, every time you want to treat them a certain way, how you would feel if someone else treated you that way. Walk a while in their shoes and see if that’s the best approach to take. This sort of solves a lot of the problem and puts things in proper perspective.
Know Where Y’all are Headed
Know and be confident about the outcome you hope to achieve. Then, ensure that their personal aims are aligned with this outcome you hope to get. When people follow a leader, they like to be secure in knowing that the leader they have chosen to follow knows exactly where they are all headed. For no reason should you leave the people you lead wondering exactly where y’all are headed. This goes beyond writing a vision statement and posting it somewhere, or everywhere. Do your words and actions align with that vision? Communicate clearly with them and give them enough information about where you are all headed so that they do not waste time on the wrong thing.
Trust Them
This cannot be overemphasized. People are more inclined to want to do better when they find that they have earned the trust of their leader. Trust them with all the information that they need to run their jobs effectively.
