Not only do managers have to set clear goals and expectations for their employees, they also have to lay down what’s in it for them. Rewards and recognition have to fit the achievement and also the employee. Here are 3 tips that will help you get the point across to your employees that you want to recognise jobs well done: Make it public A good rule of thumb is to praise in public and to criticise in private. Most employees would appreciate being recognised in the company of

Every time you communicate with an employee, you get a chance at fostering engagement and a sense of belonging to your company. Here are 5 tips to help you build up engagement: 1. Use stories Stories stick around in the minds of people, but facts can be easily forgotten. If you want people to remember key learning points, incorporate that into a story. Use the power of storytelling to describe the history of your company, share examples of employees going the extra mile and i

When we invest time in hiring the best people for the company, we need to think of ways to keep them in the company. Here are 3 tips to retain your staff: Richard Branson has a famous quote that reads “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t have to.” Money is not everything As the title goes, financial rewards are not the only reason that determines whether employees want to stay on at your company. Take time to find out what your emp

Employee engagement starts from engaging with your employees on a one to one basis. Here are 4 tips to get to know your employees better. 1. Understand their strengths When you focus on the strengths of your employees, it encourages you to spend more time acknowledging when your employees shine, rather than trying to fixate on what their limits are. While it is true that most managers will focus on the areas of improvement during performance appraisals, this means that we spe

As a manager, your responsibility is to ensure that everyone is contributing in a team. Here are 5 tips to help you bring out the best in your team: “Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold.”—Proverbs 11:27 1. Be a good coach An important skill for any team leader or manager is to be able to coach effectively to draw out the capabilities of your team members. Your ability to ask the right questions and bring different insights becomes more i

It can be tough when it comes to reaching a decision that is agreed upon by everyone in a team. What are some of the behaviours that good teams adopt in making decisions? 1. Develop a well-defined criteria Before making any decision, the team must develop a set of criteria to determine whether the choice is a good one. One way to use this is to adopt the use of decision matrixes. The use of decision making matrices is a good evaluating tool that allows the team to score eac

Like any business objectives, there is a need to develop metrics to measure the results of employee engagement within your organisation. Here are 5 metrics to consider: 1. Employee engagement surveys These surveys are an outlet for employees to give feedback on aspects of work such as benefits, working environment and managerial effectiveness. Conducting these surveys shows that the company values the opinions of their employees and that they have a voice in shaping their wo

As a manager, do you pay attention to your employees doing their jobs? Do you know what turns them on or what puts them off? Knowing what drives them will let you know how to motivate them to perform better at work. Here are some tips for knowing what drives your people: 1. Establish employee focus groups Setting up focus groups at work gives you insights on what employees would like to get from work. Hold regular sessions so that they can brainstorm on ways to make work m

Good managers make employees feel like they are partners in business rather than hired help. When people feel like they are stakeholders of a business, they will look out for it and ensure that they produce better results to sustain it. Here are 3 ways to make employees feel like they are part of the business: Show them how the business is run Help your employees to understand how your business works. Educate them about the company’s history, highlight the company’s vision,

Social networking sites are a good way of reaching out, making contact, sharing experiences and offering support for working professionals. Here are some ways to harness social media for networking: 1. LinkedIn is one of the most popular business networking site. Rather than typing out a detailed resume on your profile, summarise the highlights of your career. List down specifics that differentiates you from others. For instance, replace “A project manager with 8 years of exp

The majority of us display features from both personality types - extrovert or introvert - but for many, one of the character traits is dominant. Here are some networking tips for both personality types: Extroverts: Many non-extroverts view extroverts as intimidating with their larger than life personas at events. Hence it is important not to intimidate others at first sight or overstep their limits. Be careful not to end up acting like an entertainer rather than a networker.

Everyone has emotional needs and it is necessary to recognise them when we interact with our co-workers. Here are 3 ways to recognise the emotional needs of others: 1. Identifying emotional cues Anger, sadness, fear, envy and guilt are some of the emotional cues to look out for when you communicate with others at the workplace. You will need to correctly identify these cues with the types of behaviour and actions demonstrated by the other party. 2. Observing body language Rea

Having a purpose in life, desiring job security and having a sense of autonomy and control are some examples of emotional needs. Different people have different emotional needs. Here are 5 ways to empathise and respond to the emotional needs of others. 1. Clarifying by being tactful and sensitive When you do not understand something, be sure to clarify in a tactful and sensitive manner. You do not want to make the other person feel as if you are interrogating him/her. 2. Use

When you are newly promoted, it doesn’t mean that everyone in your organisation knows about it. Rather than rely on the email memorandum from human resources department, take this chance to raise your visibility by networking actively in the following ways: 1. Join cross departmental teams Working with other departments can bring you new perspectives and allow you to gain new skills along the way. It is also a good way to get to know your colleagues from the other departments

Getting drawn into the detail of all the information available wastes a lot of time. Managers feel that they have to keep up with the information in order to perform well, resulting in burn-out for them. Here are some tips to keep your head above water when it comes to information overload: Be in control You need to decide what your boundaries are and create a system of managing information that works for you. This could mean setting limits on the time spent on replying ema

Today’s rapidly evolving business landscape means that managers not only need to actively manage their careers, but they need to provide career guidance for their employees. Here are some ways on how to help your employees develop their careers. 1. Create growth opportunities Give your team new and professionally challenging work experiences to get them out of their comfort zones. Different assignments allow your employees to grow rather than remain stagnant. 2. Offer fina

“The grass is greener on the other side”. While many of us may consider changing jobs at one point or another in our career, it is wise to first think about the reasons you are leaving your current job and evaluate if it is a good move to jump ship. Here are 5 questions to consider when deciding your next career move. These are bad reasons for leaving: You dislike your boss “People leave managers, not companies”, yet this could be a bad reason for wanting to leave. No boss is

There are many threats that organised managers have to overcome in order to maintain an efficient schedule. Here are 3 tips to eliminate time wasters at work. 1. Avoid engaging in wasteful conversations There is nothing wrong with building rapport with your employees vis-à-vis small talk, but some managers make the mistake of engaging in mindless chatter about topics that are unrelated to the job. Not only does this undermine productivity, it may cause employees to distance t

Being aware of your emotions, understanding your personality and what motivates you are some factors that are important to developing effective managerial ability. If you cannot manage yourself, you will not be able to manage anyone else. Here are 4 steps to increase self-awareness. 1. Seek honest feedback We may not always be aware of how we come across to others, hence it is important to seek out someone we can trust to give us honest and direct feedback. This could be a

There are many reasons why a person can feel a certain way at the workplace. Certain thoughts or events may trigger positive or negative emotions. Here is a guide on how to manage your emotions at work: Recognise your emotions When an incident arises, it is important to recognise your own emotions. If you are not able to identify them, you cannot manage them effectively.2. Determine the source of the emotions Ask yourself what caused you to react in that manner. Perhaps you w