8 Steps You Can Take To Boost Employee Success at Your Business

You’ve grown your business to the point where you’re ready to take on staff, you’ve interviewed the best and the brightest, and you’ve added some true rock stars to your team. So now, you can sit back and relax – right?

Of course not! Your staff is an important asset and it requires a lot of investment after the initial hire. Unfortunately, after hiring and training, many business owners and managers think their job is finished. They completely forget that they need to keep up with their employees and help them continue to develop and grow. As a result, they don’t get the revenue, retention, and overall level of success they’re looking for.

To help you avoid these same mistakes, consider the following eight steps you can take this year to boost employee success at your business.

Share the Vision

Having a sense of job significance is an important factor in job satisfaction. When you make it a point to regularly share the vision and direction of your company with your staff, they’ll feel energized and excited about the work ahead. Many times, day-to-day responsibilities can feel like a grind, but a team that knows the purpose and big vision of their department and of the company overall is able to power through and succeed at a high level.

Encourage Job Ownership

To help employees be more successful in their work, encourage them to own their jobs. From your customer service staff to your VPs, help all of your staff members feel that their work is valuable to the company. Help them understand and care about the company as much as you do by involving them in goal setting and empowering them to do their best.

This may mean that you or your managers need to step back and give your staff more latitude in their choices, but with proper guidance, putting your faith in your employees’ ability to do a good job will be rewarded with increased job ownership and satisfaction.

Give Positive Feedback

Too many organizations only give feedback when an employee has made a mistake or can improve. But to help employees succeed, it’s just as important to give positive feedback as well.

In the book “1001 Ways to Recognize Employees,” author Bill Nelson demonstrated that the top two drivers of work performance are the perception of making a difference and being recognized for successful work. Unfortunately, 68% of the employees Nelson spoke with hadn’t even heard “Thank you” in the past six months. If you want your staff to succeed, you need to show your appreciation and give them positive feedback.

Know Your Employees’ Career Ambitions

Having employees should be a win-win for both parties – you should be getting the benefit from their work, and their jobs should be bringing them closer to their professional goals. But the only way you’ll know if this is happening is to ask. Be aware of your staff’s career goals and help them move forward (within your own organization, if possible). This will keep employees engaged and continually reaching for better results.

Communicate VERY Well

Nothing discourages your staff more than feeling like they’re being lied to or kept out of important business discussions. Owners and managers should communicate consistently and constantly about important changes in the company or work structure. This will help employees feel secure in their positions and keep them committed to the company and their jobs.

Clearly Define Roles and Responsibilities

Employees struggle to succeed when they don’t know what standards or expectations they’re being held to. Even within a single project team, results will suffer if nobody knows what his or her specific role is in achieving the overall goals.

Instead, make sure your team members know what their responsibilities are, and align them carefully with their skills and expertise. When everyone is aware of their specific mission, they can focus on their success as an individual and also contribute to the overall success of the company.

Build Team Unity

Everyone loves to focus on their own success, but part of having a great company is team unity – which is why it’s so important to build activities into every month or quarter that help bring the team together. This could be a social time outside of work or a low-key lunch during the week – whatever you and your staff prefer. When people bond on a social and professional level, they’re more energized and excited to tackle their work.

Carefully Listen to Feedback

One way to help employees succeed at your business is to create a company culture they can brag about. This doesn’t have to mean expensive perks – many times, simply listening goes a long way.

While employees know they can expect feedback for their work, they also need to have an avenue to provide feedback to their managers about the team and the business. In order for staff to share their ideas, they need to feel that they won’t be judged or punished for suggesting a new way of doing things. Train your managers and yourself to listen carefully to employees – you’ll be amazed at what new ideas and improvements will be brought forward.

Boosting employee success at your business doesn’t have to involve throwing money around (although few employees will reject your efforts to enhance compensation packages). By taking the eight steps above, you’ll position yourself, your managers and your employees to become more successful than ever in the coming year.