Seattle Small Business Blog

It may appear that all great managers know the secret to improving an employees performance. But what these managers know is no secret at all: everything you ever needed to know about enhancing the productivity of your employees is actually contained in a few simple techniques that are guaranteed to increase the efficiency of your business.

5 Things That Every Great Manager Knows

These five things are not profit margin, gains, losses, tax deductions, or assets – but instead are the human factors of management.

You cannot put a price or value on the factors that drive an employees performance. This is because most people remain with an employer because of the quality and satisfaction derived from a rewarding and balanced workplace.

Great managers recognize and respect this “x factor” of the business world and work to improve it with these simple tips.

1. Motivation – Every employee is unique; therefore the motivation to perform better will be different for each person. Identify the motivator for each employee and provide opportunities that encourage their interest and performance.

2. Setting Goals – Make sure you have a vision for how you want your business to operate now and in the future. Communicate your vision to your employees so that they are directing their energies toward a common goal. They will feel like they are a part of the business and this will enhance performance.

3. Praise – Take advantage of big and small opportunities to praise your employees for work well done. Your recognition of their performance means a lot and it is important that you acknowledge their efforts.

4. Feedback – Be lavish with praise but selfish with criticisms -but do offer kind words of constructive feedback that makes your employees feel respected and valued.

5. Management – Be available as a resource to your employees. They should feel comfortable to approach you with questions and concerns and not feel as if they are imposing on your time. They should be able to depend upon you for guidance and as a model of what excellent performance is all about.

A Last Word…

As you can see, there is no one secret to improving the performance level of employees. You can start today with these simple tips that are easy to implement into the everyday workings of your business. After all, your employees and business deserve anything and everything that will help them flourish and continue to grow.

How many people do you know that say they hate their job or their boss? Well, it’s called “work” and not “fun” for a reason. However, a work environment doesn’t have to be dull and oppressive. Employees don’t have to feel like they are chained to their desks all day. With some creative management techniques, you can enhance employee motivation and maybe even increase your employee retention.

One of the biggest morale boosters you can provide your employees is to give them a voice in some of the company’s operations. That doesn’t mean they should set the stock price or decide on a hostile takeover. Those are decisions correctly left to upper management and the board of directors. However, there are little things that affect the employees directly.

Managers should not try to fake this method. Listening to your employees’ input but implementing what you had already decided will only grow resentment. After all, employees can quickly figure out that none of their suggestions were chosen, even though those suggestions were the majority! Let your employees decide their own fates every once in a while and you will make them happier.

One office function that employees dread is the office party. For many companies this occurs during December’s holiday season. If your employees don’t like being at work with you, they certainly won’t want to spend their free time with you at a party. Employees also feel obligated to attend such parties; for fear that they will not be seen as a team player.

There is an easy solution to the office party problem. Let the employees vote on whether or not to have one! If the company is having a bad year, yet management throws an expensive holiday party, what kind of message does that send to the employees?

Have the employees vote on whether to have a big party, or to simply take the party money and divide it evenly among themselves. If the money would be spent anyway, shouldn’t it go directly to the employees that helped the company earn it?

If you think hard about similar functions that you “make” your employees do, you can probably imagine other ways to empower them. Perhaps a randomly chosen employee gets a paid Friday afternoon off once per month. Little things like allowing radios in offices or flexible work hours can make big differences in employee morale.

Show your employees that you really are listening to them, and give them a few extra benefits. You might just find yourself with a more loyal work force that stays longer with the company.

Your time is your life and your business. Master them by being forceful and deliberate! Lose no time in choosing how to use your time. Control your time and you control your life. Let others control your time and your time is not your own. Own it NOW!

If there is something you want done and want to do, then schedule it and nothing else for that allotted slot of time. The most important work you can do is work at a schedule that you have planned yourself. You’ve marked a time for your endeavors and if anyone asks what you’ll be doing at that time just say you will be busy.

The best way to be productive is to set aside time to focus on a project. Do the project. Ignore distractions. Say no to interruptions. Dedicate yourself by dedicating your time to what you are doing. Do that one thing either for the whole time or until it is done. Only then do you move on to something else.

Lock the doors and put up a “will be gone until such and such o’clock” sign. Shut off the phones and leave a message in your outgoing voice mail saying you will be unavailable until such and such a time. Set an alarm to go off, signaling when you have put in the time wanted on that activity for the day. Then work straight through until the alarm rings before going on to the next item in your schedule. That way you don’t always have to be looking at the clock, which is one more distraction you have gotten rid of.

That is how you make the time to do one thing at a time. If you want to accomplish more, schedule more. With a schedule there is no need to hesitate and procrastinate wondering what to do with your time. It does not take long to plan a schedule. Figure it once and write it down. It is simple, it is structured, and it brings success, which brings satisfaction. Time management equates to increased output. You can apply it to business as well as to your personal life.

Try to track down the things that waste your time. Find and eliminate them. Cut out excessive television, computer games, sitting doing nothing. Those things get you nowhere. Write goals so that you can be doing something worthwhile. That way you can have a streamlined upwardly mobile direction and a dynamic proactive life.

See what you could be doing more efficiently than you are doing now. Sometimes we are doing something simple that can just as well be done while we are also doing something else (listening to motivational or informational DVD’s while driving is one example) thus we get more done. Other times we try to multitask and the complexity and the details make us have to do them again, when if we concentrated on just the one thing then we would have done it right the first time and thus saved a lot of time. There is also the sometimes-smart option of not doing the work at all. Hire someone else to do it instead. And by all means, if there is a way to automate the task using technology, see what you can do to set it up.

To make time truly your own, find out when you have the most energy for doing things. Maybe it is in the morning, afternoon, or night. That way you know how to best make your schedule, which just might include a siesta nap in the middle of the day. Working tired equates to dragging your feet and is inefficient.

A schedule is a tool you use to control your time. With your own schedule, you rule your time and your life. Do you want more than 24 hours in a day? Then schedule a 36-hour day! A study was even done of people living in caves where they couldn’t see the daylight and the study found that a 36 hour cycle was natural in that situation. The people would sleep for 12 hours and be awake for 24.

So what is it that you would like to do with your life or your business? If for instance your main objective in business is making money, then you should focus on marketing. Make it the priority in your schedule. The value of time is in how we use it. We can spend it mindlessly, or invest it wisely. It is your life; it is your choice.