Employer and Employee Relationship Building

It is critical that every business-owner realizes the importance of strong internal relationships in their company and acknowledges the numerous ways that they directly affect the company’s productivity, efficiency, and level of employee loyalty.

When employees feel included and respected, they feel as though they are an important component of the company and go the extra mile to ensure top-notch performance, creating a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Give credit where credit is due. Proper recognition and acknowledgment of a job well done is a huge motivation booster. It is imperative to commend your employees whenever they have successfully completed a task. This helps them feel as though they matter and are directly helping the efforts of the company – it also shows them that you care.

Include employees in the decision making process. Your employees have thoughts and opinions and would love the opportunity to express them. In the military, we are taught three styles of leadership: Authoritarian, Participative and Delegative.

In the first style, you are directing your subordinates (your employees) to complete a certain task a certain way without any discussion. In participative (the subject of this point) you allow them to express their thoughts and you mutually establish the best course of action. Finally, in a delegative style of leadership, you entrust decision-making authority to a subordinate.

Each of these three styles has a proper time and place, but it is recommended that you exercise the participative style whenever time and resources allow. Delegative is another motivation-boosting style as it allows specific employees to exert their leadership and management abilities.

Think before you speak. Always commend your employees in public, but condemn them in private. Never speak ill of any employee publicly or privately under any circumstances. Any non-constructive criticism should never be voiced, as it is only destructive and counter-productive to your work environment.

It’s not what you say, but how you say it. The tone of your voice can tell someone a lot about how you’re feeling. It has the power to incite both negative and positive effects, and you should always be mindful of the way that you speak. Also keep in mind your nonverbal communication methods, such as eye contact, posture, body movement, and facial expressions.

The Power of Promises. It is often best to refrain from making promises on a regular basis… especially ones that you aren’t certain you can keep. This is especially apparent in political situations. Candidates make promises and then fail to keep them, which lowers popularity and trust. The best thing to do is simply show results. No promises required.

Acknowledge the other facets of life. Contrary to what some bosses believe, your employees have lives. Many of them have families, friends, and other obligations outside of your place of employment. If you refuse to acknowledge these, and demand that your employees throw them away and provide you with 100% dedication around the clock, you will ultimately drive them away and create a bad reputation for yourself. Be realistic!

Open the lines of discussion. As I mentioned above, employees love to be included in discussion. Always allow them to present you with questions, comments and other feedback freely and productively.

Be mindful of the feelings of employees — treat others how you would like to be treated. This point is very self-explanatory and quite obvious. If you treat your employees badly or neglect their feelings, they won’t be productive and certainly won’t hang around very long. They are human beings and deserve respect. Treat them as such, and they will be loyal to your company… it’s also good karma!