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From the Top Down: Tips for Getting the Best Out of Your Employees

StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Getting the best out of your employees|From the Top Down: Tips for Getting the Best Out of Your EmployeesEmployees are the lifeblood of any company. Without them, nothing would get done. Employee productivity is key to the success of any business. When employees are productive, the company benefits in several ways: lowered costs, increased output, and higher profits. But how can you ensure that your employees are productive? There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to getting the best out of your employees. Every business is different, and every employee has their own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. However, there are a few general tips that can help you get the most out of your team. This blog post will discuss four ways to motivate and inspire your employees from the top down!

Set Clear Expectations

One of the best ways to get the most out of your employees is to set clear expectations for them. This means making sure that they know what you expect from them and what their specific job duties are. It also means establishing standards for performance and behavior and communicating these standards clearly to your team. By setting clear expectations, you can help ensure that your employees know what they need to do to meet your expectations and succeed in their roles.

Encourage Employee Engagement

Encouraging employee engagement is another excellent way to get the best out of your team. This involves creating a workplace where employees feel engaged and motivated and can contribute ideas and suggestions that can help make your business more successful. In addition, an engaged workforce is more likely to stay loyal and productive for years to come, which ultimately translates into more robust profitability for your company.

Communicate with Your Employees

Another essential tip for getting the most out of your employees is communicating with them regularly. This means keeping an open line of communication so that you can discuss any issues or concerns they may have about their job duties or responsibilities. It also involves taking time each day to check in with employees individually (or as a group) so that everyone feels heard and valued at work! When workers feel like they are being listened to, they will be much more likely to put forth their best effort.

Create a Sense of Ownership Among Employees

When employees feel like they own their work, they’re more likely to take pride in their work and do their best. So encourage employees to take ownership of their work, and give them the freedom to make decisions and develop new ideas.

Reward and Recognize Achievements

Last but not least, one of the best ways to get the most out of your employees is to reward and recognize their achievements. This can involve anything from a simple “thank you” for a job well done to awarding them with bonuses or promotions for exceptional work. By recognizing and rewarding employee achievements, you are helping to motivate them to do their best work possible.

These are just a few tips for getting the best out of your employees from the top down. However, it’s also vital that you give the best team possible from the get-go. Apart from making sure your employees meet the requirements for the job and having a pre employment medical done, you can also add a virtual experience to the interview so that your possible employees know what they are being expected to do before signing the contract. Follow these tips, and you’ll be on your way to creating a successful and productive team.

Standards and Expectations Best Practice 1 – Provide Examples

StrategyDriven Standards and Expectations Best Practice ArticleWhat is clear to one person may not be so readily understood by another. Unlike quantifiably defined procedures, standards and expectations documents frequently rely on qualitatively defined concepts. Reliance on qualitatively conveyed performance guidelines, in turn, invites interpretation latitude and a higher probability of misinterpretation. Therefore, leaders should employ addition mechanisms to bolster standards interpretation consistency among individuals with varying backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and experiences.


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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Standards and Expectations Warning Flag 4 – Always an Exception

StrategyDriven Standards and Expectations Warning Flag ArticlePerformance standards and expectations drive managerial decisions and personal actions within an organization and serve to align an organization’s members to its vision, mission, and values. Such requirements necessarily demand an exertion of resources to perform the mandated actions.


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Standards and Expectations Warning Flag 3 – Changing Standards Based on One-time Arbitrary Errors

StrategyDriven Standards and Expectations Warning Flag ArticleHumans make mistakes, whether the result of carelessness or unintended misfortune. And no set of performance standards can fully alleviate all errors and their associated adverse outcomes.


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Standards and Expectations – Defining Performance Standards, part 1 of 8

StrategyDriven Standards and Expectations ArticleStandards and expectations define how work is to be performed; providing guidance for the consistent, efficient, value-based execution of tasks. At the outset, developing a comprehensive set of performance standards often appears to be an overwhelming and daunting task as employees within even the ‘least complex’ organizations perform countless different activities every day. However, it is not intended that performance standards be developed for every conceivable activity. Rather, standards should be formulated for those activities reflecting organizational values, implementing corporate strategy, and presenting significant risk. The documented basis behind this finite set of standards provides the guidance needed for employees to make rational judgments about the conduct of less significant activities.


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