We are still in the season of love, so we talked about how you can show love to the most important people in your organisation; your employees.
Employees are the most important people in your organization. They are your number one customer. Treat them right and watch them go all the way for you.
See Also: Resources that will help you start, market and grow a sustainable business.
We already defined love when we discussed how to show love to strangers as an unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the good of another person.
Showing love to your employee can be very intimidating, it’s always easy to appear as this invulnerable taskmaster who is just concerned about the bottom line. We oftentimes don’t want to show our human nature, we feel it’s not good for business to show our vulnerability in front of our employee but it’s not right. Let’s look at the ways we can show love to our employees.
10 Ways To Show Love To Your Employees
Freedom of action and autonomy
When you have a new recruit, you train and micromanage for sometime until they understand the job and can do it. You have to know when to stop micromanaging and trust their ability to perform the task. When you show them you trust them enough to do their job they would really appreciate it and this would breed mutual love and respect as well.
Who they are versus what they are
You should always see your employees as who they really are and not as what they are. This means you don’t judge them based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientations or titles. When you see your employees as who they are, you begin to see their passion, skills and ability and this will help you delegate work appropriately. This means that a person can be drafted to a different role still within the same organization because their abilities suits it.
You should form the habit of asking “what problems within the organisation are you inspired to take action on and lead change in? For example in our organization (ReDahlia), we had to move someone from clients service management to the consulting department because we felt she was better off there. When you look beyond the job title, you begin to open your mind to their other skills and ability. This way, you have a team that can give their all not just people that can go as long as their job title permits.
Do not show favouritism
This happens in our homes and amongst friends without us realizing it. However, it’s important you are not tempted to show you love one employee than another. This is an easy way to kill the team spirit. You have to learn to treat everyone fairly without favouritism. If you make a rule, make sure it applies to every single person in the organization. As long as you are fair and the rules applies to everyone, people don’t mind you being strict.
Be a good leader
A good leader is one who leads by example. You have to lead, not just leading but lead by example. If you want to be a great boss, do not ask your employee to do what you can’t do. Great bosses don’t do that. Employees want to be inspired by your examples. Sometimes the best way to motivate your employees is not by giving great speeches, it is by doing. Business schools will tell you to delegate rather than participate. However, experience has shown that if you want your employees to feel loved and respect you, they have to see you getting involved with them in performing daily task.
Listen to your employees
Yes bosses likes to talk and dish out orders. However, employees have a perspective to the work that can improve profitability, functionality and reduces waste for the business. Try holding weekly meeting and involve your employees, you will be amazed at their perspective. Allow them talk, ask them questions; how they think things can be improved. It would be interesting to know that you will get perspective that you didn’t think existed. Also listening to know makes them feel important as part of the organisation.
Having a sense of humour
Workplaces typically mimics the character and personality of the founder or boss. If you are this grumpy or gloomy person, employees wouldn’t be comfortable around you and wouldn’t be able to express themselves. Employee’s wants to know you are human and they want to be comfortable around you and not always having their guides up. Tamper things with a great sense of humour and don’t take yourself seriously.
Be an inspiration
They see you and they think that you have always had it together. It’s actually nice you inspire your employee by showing them your humanity. Share stories of your struggles and difficulties in life and career. Make yourself vulnerable. People show up to work for people not titles. Employees want to know that it is okay to fail sometimes.
Be warm and accessible
Communication is key in every relationship. It is very important in the employer/employee relationship as well. You have to be understanding and approachable to your employees. They need to know they can come to you to seek advice of a friend. If you are too intimidating or simply never around, they cannot depend on you for leadership and assistance. For instance, I share the same office space with my team and it has never been a problem, in fact it has improved our relationship and we are more productive.
Acknowledge their contribution
Go out of your way to acknowledge their contribution. Be liberal with your praise. When you correct, do it with love. Be real and transparent with them especially with feedback. Go out of your way to have their back always.
Care about their personal life
You can show you care about your employee’s personal life without being creepy. Show interest in their significant other, their parents, child, stories, etc. Remember and celebrate their birthdays.
I know a song that says “there is beauty all around, when there’s love at home” and I will say, “There will be profit all around when there’s love at work”.
This was live from Wary Pen at ReDahlia Workspaces, 43B Emina Crescent, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja.
Wary Pen is our co-workspaces training facility and lounge.
If you run a successful business and want us to feature you on our platform, then send us an email at business@entrepreneurs.ng or give us a call on 08038874148.
Let’s create visibility for your brand and put your business on the world map. Contact us today to make your brand the preferred choice for our audience of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
