It’s important for any manager to be a strong voice in their office while leading the team to improve productivity and success. What some of the managers do not understand is that it’s just as important to listen to the employees and give them a voice. The manager needs to make sure that the employees feel heard, respected and valued. Employees will be more productive and loyal when they feel that they are valued. Therefore, it’s very much important for managers to learn to listen to their employees. This promotes an environment of value and mutual respect, which can lead to the success of the company.
There are numerous benefits to giving a voice to your employees in the workplace. This can not only improve productivity, but can also offer chances to consider new ideas that you may have never thought of. When you offer your employees a voice, this gives you the ability to create a workplace culture that is motivating, encouraging, and supporting to all the staff.
Now that you have understood the benefits of offering a voice to your employees, you might be unsure of how to actually start the process. The below shared tips will help you listen to your employees and increase employee engagement.
Put time aside for One-on-One Conversations
It might seem time consuming for you to find time to talk one-on-one with all your employees. However, it’s essential for the success of your business. If you have other supervisors or managers in your workplace, it will be easy for you to divide the time between each supervisor to meet one-on-one with their direct reporting staff.
It’s very important to have an authentic connection with your employees in order for them to feel heard. Therefore, make sure that all employees are getting a chance to talk with their managers, share thoughts, address issues and concerns, and provide feedback. Active listening and eye contact are important tips to let your employees know that you are paying attention to them. While using active listening, you essentially paraphrase to the speaker what you heard. This will let them know that you hear and understand what they’re saying, and in turn, this offers them a chance to clarify if you did not understand what they meant. These things can offer further employee engagement.
Another idea is to make use of story-telling in conversations. This is a good means of empathy and connection. You can share with your employees to let them know that you’re also a human being, rather than always being portrayed as the one in charge.
Offer Surveys for Feedback
You can always offer your employees surveys allowing them to give honest feedback about your business. Your employees should feel safe to give honest answers to these surveys and should be aware that they’re no repercussions for their honest answers. Surveys you conduct can be about your business in general or on some specific topics. You may also provide space for ideas and commentaries.
An important aspect of these surveys is showing your staff that their ideas and opinions matter. Do not just collect answers to these surveys and do nothing with them. Always pay attention to brilliant ideas and implement those ideas whenever you can. While making changes, ensure that your staff is informed about the changes that are happening due to the feedback that was given in the survey.
Keep an eye out for Non Verbal Cues
People do not just communicate with words. Facial expressions and body language speaks loads about your employees. Always pay attention to the non verbal communication of your employees and address the things that you notice. If you find that one of your employees, who are usually active, is moving slowly and slouching, ask them if they’re okay and offer help if needed. Likewise, if you share some information in a meeting and notice a spark in the eyes of one of your employees, talk about it. Ask them the reason for the excitement and if they would like to help in anyway.
While listening to your employees, make sure that you are not only hearing what they say, pay attention to their non-verbal communication also. Often times, it’s the non verbal communication that is more important than the verbal one.
Offer Slack Channel for Employee Engagement
Make use of Slack to promote open and honest communication between management and employees. You’ll be able to make different channels for communication. You can create a Slack channel for the complete team to share comments, opinions, ideas, thoughts, and to ask questions.
Just like in the case of surveys, let your employees know that they can share without any retribution in the Slack channels. Otherwise, they will not share anything that needs to be shared, and the tools that you introduce will be useless.
Show Genuine Interest in Employees
This is really important for any leader out there. You need to be authentic and genuine with all your employees. If your employees sense a hidden agenda for your listening, they will never be honest to you. Moreover, they will not respect you and will never grow loyal to the company. Ask your employees about their family and seek to connect to them. Try to understand their aspirations and hopes, and advice them on how to make their dreams real. Always be a genuine source of motivation and encouragement to all your employees. In addition, follow up with them about the things they’ve shared.
When you show your employees that you genuinely care, they will be comfortable with you, feel heard and will be loyal to the company.
