Managing personnel is an integral part of running your business. While overseeing your staff is a challenge, you can make your job easier by maintaining a good relationship with your subordinates. If you can gain your employees’ respect, they will follow your orders willingly and will help you fulfill your organization’s mission.
Take a soft approach
The first step to building a good relationship is to make sure that you maintain a calm demeanor. In most situations, you can accomplish more by speaking softly than by losing your cool. If you keep a casual, laid-back attitude, you will improve your employees’ production:
- They’ll be more likely to admit to mistakes that affect you and might not have been brought to light otherwise.
- They won’t worry about making mistakes and will be willing to try new tasks that are not an exact fit with their job description.
- They’ll have a better attitude throughout the day because they won’t be uptight every time they see their boss.
- They will learn from you by example and will be more courteous to the other employees.
Your employees need to know that you are a constructive person who will support them as long as they’re willing to do their jobs properly. Without saying a word, they’ll be able to feel your mantra if your approach is right. By being a calm, straightforward person, you’ll be sending them the right message.
Show that you care
People who feel that you care about them will show concern in return. If you take an interest in your employees’ personal lives, it will motivate them to perform for you ꟷ nobody wants to disappoint a nice guy. Showing personnel that they mean something to you will also boost their morale and have a positive impact on their entire workday.
Work with them
While it’s never a good idea to micromanage your staff, there’s nothing wrong with doing projects together with them. They will respect you for it and will grow closer to you ꟷ everyone loves a boss who is willing to get down and dirty. It will remove the feeling of separation that typically exists between supervisors and their subordinates.
Building trust with employees is never an exact science; however, you will make great strides if you work on improving yourself and how you treat your personnel. If your employees can sense that they mean something to you, they will mirror your feelings, and you will mean something to them.
