We get it. Leaders of small businesses are burdened with so many tasks, that often building employees relationships is the last thing on their mind.But maintaining positive work relationships is important to employee engagement and overall business success. Research by Gallup shows employees are more likely to be fully engaged in their work when they maintain good relationships with leaders and peers. With 70% of the workforce not fully engaged, this can be a real game-changer. The truth is, people are looking for more than just a paycheck from their job. They want to find meaningful work they actually enjoy. Here are four simple things from a recent blog on Talent Culture that leaders can do to get the ball rolling:
Celebrate the good times
Take the opportunity to celebrate with your team whenever possible. Bring in a cake once a month to celebrate everyone who has a birthday (and/or work anniversary) in that month. Get the team together to celebrate when company or team goals are reached.
Find creative ways to communicate internally
Don’t rely on just one method of communication. Be sure to use a combination of email, face-to-face, phone and even text communication to connect with employees. Also consider whether using an internal instant messaging program like Skype for business or a software program like Slack could help you connect with your team in another way.
Encourage feedback
Encourage employees to provide feedback to you and to one another. Ask employees for feedback on your leadership skills. If you see someone doing something awesome, tell them! Create a culture where feedback is welcome and rewarded. To make this happen, provide some training and guidelines for peers to provide feedback to one another. Emphasize the importance of providing a balance of positive and negative feedback at all times.
Emphasize shared values
Employee engagement is the highest when a company clearly ties the employee’s work to the company’s shared values and goals. Everyone wants to know that their work has value. Keep you values and mission statement at the forefront of everything you do.
The great thing about these suggestions is that they don’t take a lot of time or money. Simply building these into your routines will allow you to build meaningful relationships with your employees. Do you have great ideas for connecting with your employee? Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.