When you do have small gaps in business during the day? As a manager, those times are excellent opportunities to engage with your employees.
Here are 5 things you can do to motivate your staff:
- Genuinely ask how they are: If they feel you care; they will care. By understanding what what is important to your employees, you can learn what motivates their work. There is a fine line between personal and TOO personal, but you as a manager CAN manage that. (Note: Ask to know enough, don’t ask to get involved.)
- Buy them lunch: Don’t just give them lunch; sit with them, talk to them, listen to them. Lunch is supposed to be a fun time, though – so, make sure you don’t “cramp” their style in a way that makes anyone uncomfortable because you are there. Be genuine. Even though yours is a manager/employee relationship, you’re co-workers. Remember that.
- Give them a break: Make it a productive break from work. Say you’ll step in for 5 minutes. This gives employees on the frontline a break, so they won’t have to produce and/or interact with customers, but they’ll still be present to learn something new. It’s a perfect opportunity to role-model, and to gain insight into how you might improve operations.
- Give them another break: A real break! Let an employee take a walk, get outside, breathe some fresh air, sit in the office and stare at the wall… whatever it is, it’s time to re-group, re-charge, and re-energize in a positive way.
- Be ready: For those down times, you can be pro-active and have a list of small things that you NEED to review with your employees. You may need to mention something important, train for an upcoming marketing campaign, or plant a seed of advice. Whatever it is, keep it positive.
When it comes down to it, all time should be productive, and down time spent re-charging is productive. It ultimately impacts overall productivity in a positive way. Stay positive, be a good leader of your team, and always strive to be better as a team.
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At JTI, w
e try to follow this advice every day. Would you like to work here? Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to find out when we’re hiring, or check our website for openings.)
JTI Inc. Cleveland 