What business owner doesn’t scream this (silently, inside their monkey mind) at least 10 times a day? Ever wonder why your employee, who you feel is intelligent and more than capable, is so timid at times to learn new things or take initiative?
“I keep every sticky note my boss puts on my work with a smiley face,” a support team member told me recently. “That’s how he shows he is happy with my work. My anxiety immediately lessens and my productivity soars every time I receive one. Otherwise I rarely know if I’m knocking it out of the park or failing miserably.”
The natural question then would be, is your boss unhappy most of the time with your work? “No, I’ve asked him and he is very happy with it. He just doesn’t give a lot of feedback.”
Those are real comments heard during most (95%) of our team training calls.
There is so much training and information out there about how to “train” your team, but what about building their confidence, having them self-led and actually lead YOU? What about having your back and forecasting? Owning and leading all the “office stuff”? and nurturing clients? That’s the stuff you can’t get in most training, hallway conversations between meetings, books or one-hit wonder webinars. No one can perform their job with confidence, compassion for clients and a high energy level if they are missing “locker room huddles” before going on the playing field and most business owners don’t have the time or skills to train and guide their team. we get it, you SHOULD be spending time behind closed doors in conference rooms…getting hired!
We often hear bosses say, “I pay them to do a job. Their paycheck is their feedback.” If that’s your mindset, then there’s no wonder you find it challenging to keep great staff! Would you buy a premium racehorse and never provide it what it needs to flourish and be healthy and strong? Would you raise children and never tell them when they do something well or comment on their achievements – only giving them general instruction and hallway critique?
Of course not, you know that won’t produce the best results. The people you work with are humans, and sometimes in the blur of work, budgets, technology and to-do lists we lose sight of that. And you end up with employees who are timid, won’t take initiative and are scared to learn new things, because they have zero confidence that even the things they do correctly will meet with your approval.
Give your team members what they need to perform at their best.
What people need is a path and plan, to understand how what they do is a direct contribution to the company and the bottom-line. Do you want employees who could care less if they provide value to you and your company and “just get their work done”? Don’t avoid it, encourage it – empower it- celebrate it – when you have an employee who cares instead of a clock-watcher!
If you struggle with how to give team members feedback and cultivate an environment where employees can grow with a self-governing technique (not dependent on you to constantly direct), purchase The Team Empowerment Academy™ for a special NEW YEAR pricing of $197 after January 17th it will go up to $460. Click here for The Team Empowerment Academy™
