Those who are in managerial positions know what it is like to constantly strive to get your employees to work hard. It may be a battle that many mangers lose because their employees either don't respect them or do not care enough about their job to maximize their efforts. You should ask yourself this question first, ''Am I doing all I can as a manager to get the most out of my employees?'' If you answer ''No.'' or ''Maybe not.'' then you may want to reevaluate your managerial approach.
Are you the type of manger who lets your employee do whatever they want (to an extent), e.g., long lunch breaks, taking frequent smoking breaks and so on? Your employees will take advantage of your kindness and thus you will not see them work as often as you should. Now, you shouldn't rule your employee like a tyrant but you should set firm rules to ensure that your employees are using their time wisely. If you rule your employees with fear then you can look for them to rebel against you in the near future. You can only rule with fear so long before it stops working.
You shouldn't be worried about making friends in the workplace if you are in a position of authority, as work comes first. That doesn't mean you can't casually speak with your employees at certain times, but let them know that this is a place of business and you need them to give their best efforts.
Depending on what type of business you are in will determine what type of motivating tools you can use to help bring excellence out of your employees. You must let your employees know that the work they are doing is extremely important no matter how small the job is (a hundred small jobs equal one larger goal).
To ensure you are getting the best out of your employees, you must first look inward. What is driving you to achieve excellence at your job? Is it the money? Is it to support your family? Once you understand what makes you get out of bed every morning then you can better understand what drives others to do the same. You can relate to your employees by speaking with them on a personal level and ask them what they hope to achieve with their job.
Now that you know what drives them, then you can instruct them how to maintain a certain level of professionalism and excellence in order to help better achieve their goals.
In the end, you need to be able to trust your employees and not look over their shoulder every step of the way (try not to micro manage). If you instill trust and acknowledge them when they do a good job, they will (or should) maintain a high work ethic for you regularly.
Related Articles