With a continuously changing and evolving workplace, it’s more important than ever for leaders and managers to support their employee base holistically. As the Great Resignation continues on, people are quitting their jobs at record rates, with a common reason being that they are unhappy with their current position and want to change their careers. Employees often don’t feel respected or trusted, and they lack a clear future with their current company or manager.
Now, more than ever before, effective management is the key driver of future success of any business. Leaders and managers can focus on four key areas described in the article below: career development, company involvement, financial wellness, and mental health to successfully listen to employee wants and needs and support their overall success.
Professional Support
Career Development
While essential job functions and day-to-day tasks are crucial for employees to complete, leaders should also have a variety of strategies to help their employees grow professionally. One way to do this is through career development and delegation. Delegation is a great tactic to allow employees to learn different company tasks. This may be in the form of allowing them to present more in larger team meetings to prepare for client calls.
Or, that could be having them prepare presentation materials instead of only internal documents. Avoiding the leadership mistake of thinking, “If you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself!” mindset will also help alleviate tasks that others can help you with. To get started, follow this simple but powerful delegation process, “DELEGATION: Like a Journey in 4 Stages.”
Another way to allow employees to grow is through job shadowing and mentorship. By pairing employees with another person in a separate department, you can improve cross-cultural collaboration and understanding. Some great conversation starters for these meetings may be, “What is the most challenging part of your job?” or “What is one characteristic that helps you be successful in this role?” This strategy can also help leaders retain top talent by providing visible and achievable methods for internal promotion and advancement.
Finally, be sure to stay in touch. Conduct weekly 1-1 meetings with all of your direct reports and others as needed. Be sure to start with check-in questions and ask about how they are doing personally as well as professionally.
Company Involvement
The internet offers great opportunities for employees to be involved in the company. Messaging apps are effective forms of direct communication that may connect employees thousands of miles apart. Before purchasing or implementing one of the many types of apps, leaders can compare the pros and cons of the top messaging apps for 2022, such as Flock or RingCentral, to see what would best meet their needs.
Not only can these apps help employees collaborate on tasks, but they can allow them to connect on a personal level. For example, companies can create specific Slack channels if they’re interested in talking about their favorite Netflix series, hobbies, or local restaurants.
Leaders can also provide experiences surrounding community involvement for professional support. While this may be through conventional methods such as business partnerships with local charities or volunteer opportunities for employees to give back, it doesn’t have to be. For example, employees can start their own 501(c)(3) nonprofit to serve their specific community. Companies such as Foundation Group even offer their expertise to help passionate individuals learn about bookkeeping, state and federal taxes, and compliance filings for nonprofits.
Personal Support
Financial Wellness
Each day, management not only has the opportunity to give its employees valuable insights on professional skills such as finances/budgeting, negotiation, and leadership, but they also have the chance to show employees how to apply these skills to their personal lives. One way to empower employees to use the financial management skills they learn in the workplace is through open-book management.
By incorporating this hands-on learning style where employees are brought to the decision-making process, employees can learn mindful money management practices to apply to their personal finances. Not only is it beneficial for workers, but it can also be helpful to increase employee engagement and satisfaction by showing all employees that their opinions matter.
Another way that leaders can give employees the tools to succeed is by providing them with supplementary or online resources to improve their financial literacy further. As a leader, one thing to remember is that while you may be familiar with financial jargon, employees may not be. By talking about personal finance topics such as what credit score is needed to meet major life milestones and make large purchases like buying a home, employees can feel supported and encouraged by management to accomplish their goals. Another topic to give employees information on is what to consider while comparing a traditional versus a Roth 401(k). One easy way to do this is by making these resources available to the entire company through monthly online newsletters, bulletin boards, or links on the bottom of internal emails. You can also ask us at PBC about referrals to professionals who can help implement this.
Mental Health
Management also has a tremendous role in promoting mental health and a healthy work-life balance, especially as the pandemic continues. By reassuring employees that they have the means to care for themselves and their loved ones holistically, they can have peace of mind knowing that they’re being treated as real people. For example, not receiving paid time off to get a COVID-19 booster may be deterring some employees from getting vaccinated.
Employees may need flex time to attend to a sick loved one. In the end, not only will benefits drive company loyalty, but they will also help increase employee performance and motivation.
Yet again, online resources offer free tools that in-person, remote, or hybrid employees can all utilize, regardless of where they’re physically located. These online mental health resources are especially important for subsets of coworkers who deal with increased emotional stress in the workplace. Studies show that women are often the “emotional custodians” at work, especially if they’re in a managerial role. While it’s important to have leadership that’s diligent in checking in on others, women should also be sure to look after themselves to avoid burnout. Some ways that they can do this are through using these top mental health apps or one of the seven best free online therapy and mental health services for the new year.
As a manager or leader, don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to implement all of these suggestions at one time. Instead, focus on one or two suggestions to show your employees how much you value, respect, and appreciate them in 2022. Those are the keys to talent retention.
If you have any questions on how to implement these ideas in your business, please get in touch with us for a complimentary consultation.
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