Listen to your “employees” — The most valuable asset
Yesterday, while browsing my Facebook newsfeed, I saw this status that disturbed me in real:
“A few days back, I got shuffled into a new project in my company. There were new things to learn, new techniques and a new team of course. And it does take time to adjust, but my Manager does not seem to be aware of this same fact. To her, everything is like the same. She started asking me to go above and beyond at each task from day one. Apparently I was being the object of her cribbing every day without realizing my position and knowledge. My manager was being partial showing sweet behavior towards other team members and being arrogant to me for some unknown reasons. I was being pushed to quit and harassed to resign. I find it really hard to face the same situations everyday. Should I quit to work for such a manager?”
As a business manager, such kind of concerns from employees make me think about my team. Business has a lot to with me but I understand how equally it has as much to do with people who work with me. I have seen companies being clueless of what needs to be assessed for the employees’ best performance. They do not realize the need of assessing the employee’s performance. I believe it is like a cosmetic fix that can add up value within your organization.
Keeping in mind the wise words of Richard Branson, “Great leaders are great listeners, who know their best asset is the people they work with”, I usually spend a lot of time listening to my employees and they help me resolve disconnections within the company.
Why is it important to listen to your employees?
Tune into what your employees want to tell you because it is certainly important for some reasons;
- To build trust
- Initiates active committed employee base
- Impacts company’s bottom-line as employees ideas are heard and encouraged
- Improved employee engagement and innovation
- Reduces employee conflict
- Improves employee morale and motivates them
Tips to how to listen to your employees
There are million of ways to listen to your employees, but I would just put light on some of the best ways to begin your listening adventure, and make your employees feel more valued.
Controlling reactions
An effective way to listen to your employees is to control your reactions. Do not just focus on employee’s way of working, also focus on your body language. In case of bad response from a client, some leaders often overreact to conversations which delivers an overall bad message to employees. The leaders should use strong voice command and control their body language. They should maintain a sense of calmness irrespective of the news received.
Pro Tip: Avoid the rush and reaction to the employees. This is one big way to listen to employees.
Encourage people to speak up…and listen to them
First of all, asking employees about suggestions for changes or what they expect from the organization is really important for their upbringing. Show that you value them by considering their feedback. Provide them the tools or whatever you can do for improving conditions for them to deliver their best. This will also push them further to bring out ideas for your business as they know their ideas will be heard. Employees want to be heard and build that kind of respect and builds trust.
Pro Tip: It is just not enough to ask for employee feedback, you need but also it is required to implement their suggestions and act on it as well.
Showing understanding of nonverbal cues
When employee talks to you regarding some issues, make sure to focus on not just content, but also on context. It is good enough to show that you have a solution but there is a need to know that many of the conversations are non-verbal. During a conversation, an employee might say out only certain things, but their body language is just the opposite. Make sure not to miss these cues.
Pro Tip: Acknowledge the information they want to deliver to you both through words and body language.
Follow up
Usually the employees expect to be kept in loop for the important tasks going around. If you are not keeping a follow up with your employees, you are surely missing out on getting the efforts they want to put, the chance to increase engagement and motivation in the workplace. Also, with frequent follow up sessions, employees can easily share their achievements and career plan with their managers.
Pro tip: Put emphasis on conducting follow-up sessions and use the information effectively.
This list is made to bring some insight into leadership that most of the leaders miss on. Though, you may not agree with whatever your employees say but this will surely help you to have a bigger view of your business. It will also work as a great way to improve employee morale.
What has been your experience with bosses you do not listen you? How do you handle it?
“Want to become a leader who gets things done? Start using ProofHub.”
Originally published at LinkedIn.com
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Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016 & 2017. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.
Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.
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