What are the really important things every manager should provide to his subordinates? Peter Economy, author of more than 60 management books and articles on Inc.com, brought up this question recently in an article. He cited last year's Gallup study which showed that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged; that is, psychologically dedicated to their work and interested in helping their organizations achieve its goals.
"Forget the employee-of-the-month award or the big holiday bonus; they have little lasting effect on positively motivating employees," writes Economy, "instead, focus on daily interactions."
What should you give your people?
1. Interesting work
Your task is to ensure that at least a part of their daily work is interesting. Find out which tasks your people enjoy the most and try to base their future tasks on this information.
2. Sufficient information
Employees need to know from you how well they perform their job and how well the company is doing. You should give them information, and you should also allow them to ask questions and share what they learn.
3. Decision-making
Involving employees in decision-making, particularly in cases when they are directly concerned, is a matter of respect. However, it also has a practical aspect in the form of greater employee engagement and being able to introduce new ideas faster.
4. Independence
No employee will tolerate working for a control-freak boss very long. Let your people work as independently as possible.
5. Recognition
Every well-deserved success should be celebrated so that your employees do not start feeling you do not notice them. A highly effective form of recognition may be assigning them another interesting task and giving them opportunities to learn something new.
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