subject: Different Ways to Manage Your Employees [print this page] Different Ways to Manage Your Employees Different Ways to Manage Your Employees
However, all too often, they are less than successful in achieving this goal. Here are three tips you can use, to help you get more when managing your employees:
Keep the work environment as fun as possible An enjoyable work environment is best for getting the most that you can from employees. A large amount of work gets done when employees contribute with discretionary effort, and this added effort happens when they enjoy the workplace. While your business may require your employees to be serious during work hours, there is always the chance to keep things lighthearted either before work begins, or after it ends.
Cross-train your employees in other positions When your employees are able to do more than one job, this has many benefits. If one of your team leaves suddenly (whether due to them being fired, so they can work for someone else, for retirement, or due to death or disability), the rest of your group will be able to survive the sudden loss better, at least for the short-term. This also has the benefit of reducing the risk of employee theft or other misconduct; having other employees aware of how things should be done means that the secrecy needed for wrongdoing is harder to achieve. While you will still have to exercise reasonable caution, some of the potential problems are reduced when employees can perform more than one role well.
Create rewards for employees who resolve ongoing business problems If you have problems which have not been easily resolved within your business, you might create a bounty for those employees who are able to come up with a good solution for them. Certainly, no reward should be worth more than the problem is costing your business, yet if all your employees are working towards solving intractable challenges, it is almost inevitable that they will come up with some good solutions to them. You might use a gift card, cash reward, or other incentive to get employees to give their best efforts at developing solutions.
So, when you maintain an enjoyable workplace, cross-train employees in other job functions, and create rewards for those who solve ongoing problems in your business, it is more likely that you will experience positive results. These can all help in making your business a more productive work environment.
Copyright 2010, by Marc Mays
Marc Mays is the creator of http://www.myplatinumparachute.com/, which helps first-time small business owners obtain the critical skills needed for their small business success.
