6 Ways to Show Your Employees You Have Their Back

Your employees support you – they come to work every day to help you grow your business. So, you should show them that you have their back.

Supporting your employees benefits you and your staff.

• It helps you retain your team. They’re happier and more confident in their job, so they’re more likely to want to stick around the company for longer.
• It gives them the confidence and resources they need to grow. They’ll have the ability to learn new skills, which will then be used to help you grow your business.
• It can help you recruit top talent. Everyone wants to work for a company that supports their ideas and their goals. Then, they’ll tell their friends and family every time you have a job opening.
• Your workers will be more engaged and more productive. Which means your company as a whole will be more productive.

Keep reading to learn six ways to show your team that you care about them.

1. Create a growth plan

No matter how much your employees love their jobs, they don’t want to do the same thing day-after-day, year-after-year for the next 10 years.  They want new challenges. They want to move up the ladder and pick up more responsibility.

Each year, sit down with your team and talk about what skills they want to learn or improve in the next year. Then, create a growth plan together. Determine whether they will learn by reading books, taking a class, or shadowing someone else in the office. When you meet next year, talk about which methods worked and which didn’t.

2. Don’t wait until performance reviews for feedback

Performance reviews often get a bad reputation. You don’t like giving them, and your employees generally don’t like receiving them. Without performance reviews, however, your staff won’t know how they’re doing and what they can improve on. You won’t know what your workers really think about the company.

Instead of waiting until the end of the year to hold performance reviews, regularly meet one-on-one with each staff member. Having informal performance reviews throughout the year makes them more useful and less terrifying. Then, no one will be surprised during their formal, annual performance review. Read also: 12 Questions to Ask During a Stay Interview

During your conversations, discuss ongoing projects, obstacles, and achievements. You can ask each worker what they need from you to do their job more effectively, and they can ask what you’d like them to do to make your life easier.

3. Create a mentorship program

Everyone in your company brings different skills and strengths to the table. It’s a big reason why you hired them – because they possessed a quality that was missing. Because your company has such a wide range of skills and talents, create a mentorship program so your employees can learn from each other.

Consider your conversations about career development to handpick each worker’s mentor. For example, if someone in your customer service department eventually wants to work in sales, ask a current salesperson to mentor them.

4. Actively promote a healthy work-life balance

Since your staff members have lives outside of work, encourage them to have a healthy work-life balance.

Encourage them to set boundaries. For example, urge them to check their work email only during work hours. Don’t expect them to answer work calls if they’re not working. Make sure they’re actually taking vacations occasionally. You should lead by example. If you’re responding to emails at 2 a.m. and never take a vacation, your team will think they’re expected to do the same, no matter what you actually say.

You can also do things around the office to help your employees’ lives outside of work. Consider offering flextime or work from home opportunities or hosting regular yoga sessions at work to reduce your workers’ stress.

Learn more about how to achieve a healthy work-life balance.

5. Show your employees you trust them

Trust goes a long way. If you’re micromanaging your team, they’re going to feel like you don’t trust them because they have to do everything your way. But, if you entrust them to do their jobs well, they’ll be happier and more productive.

6. Thank your team for their hard work

Beyond a receiving paycheck, your staff wants to know that their work is contributing to the company’s success. So, give them a heartfelt “thank you” occasionally. Tell them they are doing a great job and to keep up the good work.