Managing Employees

Everyday you are responsible for solving problems and creating an environment that enhances your employee’s creativity and productivity.  Your success depends on your ability to ask the ‘right’ or ‘effective’ questions. 

What do you gain by asking the ‘right’ questions?

• Helps you to identify the real issue.
• Learn how to build the success of your business.
• Enhance your problem solving and communication skills.
• Motivate your strong performers to contribute even more.
• If you have employees who are not performing or their behavior is not supportive of the work environment, you want to find out how to best to support them.

Your employees watch closely how you manage them, your boss and your peers and they will emulate your behavior.  How you manage your relationships with other managers will affect the relationship you have with your direct reports.   You lead by example!

Becoming a strong manager means you will need to develop skills in managing up (your boss), managing employees and managing your relationship with other managers.  All departments in a business need to interact and effectively work together for the success of the company.

My last post excited you about the possibility of including a Coach into your support system.   Top performers know it’s important to find and utilize many different areas of support in developing their careers.   The right one-on-one coaching can move your career and your life forward faster and better.

Depending on what area you want to move forward in, you would want to find the right Coach to collaborate with you in this process. 

“Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
(International Coaching Federation)

Today, there is so much managers need to know in business.  You have to manage a constant flow of industry information each day. Besides being an expert in your business function, you have to manage your employees so they perform at high levels.   You are responsible for the profit and loss of your department. 

Can you do it alone?   No, you need three separate support systems in order for you to be successful in your management role:

• Your employees
• Your manager
• Your Coach

Responsibility for both the department’s deliverables and managing employees can be challenging for any manager.    Since you need to guide your team’s well-being, make sure you are taking care of yourself.    Managers don’t always want to acknowledge their own burnout feelings, yet all employees, no matter what role they play in the company, are potential candidates for “burnout.” 

What is Burnout?

Merriam-Webster definition:  exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.

Symptoms of “Burnout”

• You’ve lost interest in your job
• Can’t concentrate which means you are not producing