Every team has the potential for success. However, the realization of this potential heavily depends on how well they are being managed. In the second quarter of 2022, productivity in the nonfarm business sector fell by 4.6%, while output decreased by 2.1%. A possible reason for this may be due to how teams are run, with employees becoming less willing to work with the same enthusiasm if the style of management used isn’t the most beneficial for them.
As an employer, you can take steps to maximize business performance — and it starts with how you empower your team. Here’s how you can lead your team to better results.
Make sure your team is well-rounded
Hiring people with diverse backgrounds and qualities helps you approach problems more effectively from all sides. This diversity may come from race, gender identity, age, or socioeconomic circumstances. It may even be attributed to educational backgrounds, as they help contribute new insights into recurring issues.
That said, look beyond the typical business major or industry veteran when building your team. One helpful qualification is a liberal studies degree, which helps professionals develop a well-rounded and customizable skillset.
The critical skills acquired here can be leveraged in a business environment to ask good questions, analyze data, make unexpected connections, and make creative and sound decisions.
Another is a background in sociology. This equips workers with a comprehensive understanding of people, their relationships to the workplace, and the political, social, and cultural environment beyond it. Having team members with diverse skillsets ensures that your group doesn’t stagnate from having a singular approach to problems that will evolve.
Offer career development opportunities
Career development opportunities have multiple benefits for your company. They are vital to fostering employees’ career growth, which is a significant priority for many workers, especially knowledge workers. Satisfying this goal helps you increase employee engagement and retention and avoid turnover costs. Providing resources for career development also keeps your employees’ skills — and, therefore, your company’s methods and outputs — relevant and innovative.
This fosters continuous progress in the workplace and encourages employees to find more-effective ways to work, analyze, and solve problems.
Provide regular feedback
Holding regular feedback sessions is the best way to support your employees. Between 2018 to 2020, there was an 89% increase in employees who wanted formal performance feedback at least monthly, but a quarter of employees reported not knowing how to ask for feedback. Giving recognition where it’s due and acknowledging your employees’ strengths allows them to understand what areas they can best contribute to moving forward.
On the other hand, failing to alert them of their shortcomings can be one of the quickest ways to compromise productivity, efficiency, and collaboration in the workplace. Scheduling periodic one-on-one feedback sessions benefits new and experienced employees. It also helps cultivate a healthy workplace culture that promotes a sense of belonging and community. This ensures that you foster a workplace culture that is constructive, helpful, and communicative.
Allow flexibility in your employees’ work habits
Considering how different workplace cultures have grown these past few years, employers shouldn’t expect to see everyone performing their best under a rigid workplace structure. Some work best in a structured environment, while others work best in a workplace with a little more variation. Allowing your employees to control their work hours and location ensures that their work is accomplished efficiently and in good quality. It also allows them to pursue a greater work-life balance, as they have more control over their free time.
Cultivating a nurturing, flexible, and collaborative environment empowers employees to perform at their best. Over time, these four steps can help you optimize your team’s output and efficiency to ensure continuous growth for your company.
Article written by Rose Grace James
Exclusively for Professional Business Coaches, Inc.
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