22 Mar 5 Tips for Taking Care of Your Employees
By: Megan Jones
As employees you want to feel valued in your place of work. It can motivate employees to work harder, and valued employees are positively correlated to employee retention. As a manager, it is important to advocate for your employees and ensure the workload and culture make your employees feel valued. However, it is not solely up to managers, it should be within the responsibility of the organization. Therefore, here are 5 tips for taking care of your employees.
Offer Assistance
As a manager, employees greatly appreciate it when you are available. This may be difficult to balance at times, as you have a myriad of things to manage throughout your workday. If you are feeling overwhelmed within your workload, communicate to your team and set a timeframe for your duration of unavailablity. Otherwise, ensure you are checking in with your team. Offer assistance or support as needed. Moreover, I appreciate it when my manager checks in to see what my bandwidth is. Additionally, as a manager it can be beneficial to see what workload feels comfortable to your team.
Schedule Social Time
For some, we may view a job as just a job and may not prioritize connecting with other colleagues. However, for others the social aspect and culture is imperative in feeling connected to the organization. As a manager consider scheduling time for your team to connect. Whether you all bring your lunch and eat together, to going out to lunch, or doing an after work “happy hour”. It allows your team members to connect personally in addition to their professional relationship. Moreover, it allows colleagues to talk about what they are going through and the complications within their role. As a manager it can be a great opportunity to see where your team is struggling or similar complaints about workflow or organizational processes. It can be insightful and beneficial for all!
Support Career Growth
When you start a job within a new company you may consider making this organization your career. There are many benefits both to you and the organization to have you move vertically or horizontally within the company. In my experience I have always appreciated managers being advocates about my career growth. I appreciate when they ask what trajectory I would like to take. Moreover, I also appreciate when managers are understanding that your growth may be outside of the current department you are in. As a manager, take it as a compliment when an employee wants to stay within the company. Furthermore, they reflect you, when they excel and get promoted it is a reflection of how you trained them and acclimated them within the company. It can be difficult to lose a team member, however, I believe a great manager will continue to support your growth, regardless of how that growth is shaped.
Recognize Hard Work
Every employee will have a different way they prefer to be recognized. Some may prefer verbal affirmation while others may prefer a special project as a symbol of trust between manager and employee. Learn how your team likes to be recognized and remember to show your appreciation and recognition that you can see how hard your employees are working.
Ensure Your Employees Take Time Off
When your employees schedule vacation time, ensure they take that time. They should not answer emails, take calls, or have any work correspondence when they are out. It is their time to away from work so they can come back recharged. Likewise, this extends both ways, managers, you equally need to take the time for yourself, and employees should know the people of contact to reach out should they have any questions while you are out of office.
Taking care of your employees involves setting appropriate boundaries, when it comes to work life balance. It can be difficult, however the reward is happier employees who are more likely to feel motivated and stay within the company.
