10 Ways to Know if You Are Supporting Your Employees
Introduction
As a manager, you may feel like it is difficult to receive truthful feedback from your employees because you are in a position of authority. Moreover, you may be struggling with methods to seek out this feedback from your employees. Here are some key ways to seek out advice from your employees that will likely lead to honest answers:
See more: Subscribe to The Thoughtful Leader newsletter to discover exceptional leadership insights to elevate your team's performance.
Why Is It Important To Support My Employees?
All your employees present different skill sets and talents. Learning how to support their different strengths will allow them to prosper and be most productive in your workplace. Moreover, supporting your employees will lead to higher happiness and increase turnout to work every day. In addition, Gallup suggests that companies who are engaged with their employees will increase profit by 21%. Therefore, supporting your employees will truly impact the rest of the company.
How To Know I Am Supporting My Employees:
Here are 10 ways to reach out to your employees to ask about your leadership and support:
Are you getting the feedback you need to prosper in the workplace?
According to Zippia, 65% of employees want more feedback on their work performance and tasks. Asking your employees if they would like more feedback will let them know you are engaged in their work and willing to guide them more. Consider using ManageBetter's ReviewBuilder to formulate employee feedback efficiently with 3,000 curated phrases.
How can I better support your work tasks?
Consider asking your employees what you can do to improve their performance. Maybe your employee needs help with a software or topic and is afraid to ask for help. Frequently asking your employees how you can support their work demonstrates strong engagement in their productivity.
Hey Team! I was wondering if I could get your feedback on my leadership. I’m sending out an anonymous survey for your tips.
Sending out a survey to your employees for feedback can be helpful to get honest advice. However, the structure of the survey is crucial to receiving feedback you can actually use. Here is a format that may be beneficial for you:
Add One Goal to For Me
Add One Piece of Positive Feedback
Add One Piece of Negative Feedback
If you were a manager, how would you work to achieve the goals you listed?
This sort of format will allow the employee to place themselves in your shoes and brainstorm methods of improvement in a realistic way.
I notice you are great at _____. I was wondering if you had any tips to help me improve at _____?
Asking your employees for advice, while mentioning their strong skills, serves as a compliment to the employee and can benefit you as a manager. Learning from your employees demonstrates an acknowledgment that you are not perfect, and your employees will notice that you are eager to become a stronger manager.
Hey Team! I want to remind you that honesty is always appreciated here. If you have any feedback, let me know.
Assuring your employees that their honesty will not be met with repercussions can foster a positive work environment. Employees will be more likely to seek you out for support or feedback on your performance. It is important that your employees do not feel intimidated or frightened to reach out.
Do you have any projects you would be interested in working on?
Sometimes employees may feel worried to speak up about something they would like to be working on. Asking your employees if they have suggestions shows you are open to hearing their opinions and considering their thoughts. You may even come up with the next big idea from doing this.
Hey Team! I want to know your thoughts. I am going to send out a workplace satisfaction survey today to hear more from you.
Instead of asking for feedback on your performance, look for thoughts on their workplace satisfaction. Make the survey anonymous and create a multiple choice ranking section so employees don’t have to elaborate too much. Here, employees will express their thoughts and you can formulate an action plan accordingly.
Hey Team! I am going to have some office hours today to make myself available to chat about how I can support you.
Allow time for your employees to talk to you. Doing so will make you more engaged in their work and you can hear their thoughts. Scheduling this out will avoid not having time to speak to your employees.
Hey Team! I was wondering if you have any ideas on how to improve our meetings.
Meetings can be something employees dread having to go to. Allowing your employees to offer feedback on meeting productivity and usage can make the experience more beneficial.
Hi Team! I would like to know if I am supporting our successes well. Please feel free to reach out with any ideas you have.
Team praise is critical to supporting your group. Asking for ideas the employees have will make the rewards more meaningful and continue to prevent burnout in your workplace. It demonstrates your acknowledgment of the employees’ hard work.
Conclusion
Supporting your employees is crucial to their happiness. Learn how to listen to their thoughts with respect and take negative feedback appropriately. Your growth impacts your team, and taking the time to ask for their feedback is crucial to their productivity.